Daily Greencastle Banner and Times, Greencastle, Putnam County, 16 August 1897 — Page 2

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THE DAILY BANNER TxMES, GREE^CASTLE, INDIANA

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Mr. Charles H. Metralf. writing from ] F>awson City on the Klondyke river,

under recent date, says:

"Here I find myself at last in the midst of the greatest and most wonderful mining camp the world has ever seen. Gold Is so plenty that it has to I he carried about in cotton bags, and four or five men are required to pack and protect the products of many of the claims. I have seen the result of one day’s washing on a claim in Eldorado creek, and the figure was $18,000 for

He will locate here for the winter. While this town is a wouder at present and growing fast, 1 think its life will be

short.

At Dyea, one hundred miles from Juneau, the actual journey begins and this is the most difficult and discouraging part of the many miles to be

the snow soft when we started but I could see that there were light clouds on the mountain and some indication of wind. As we went up the wind began to blow a little from the south or at our backs. As we came nearer the summit we began to meet the Indian packers coming down, having quit work above as the wind was getting so strong. There are two benches or narrow flat places up the side and our windlass was placed on the first one about 1,000 feet from the foot. We ar-

of nine miles through the snow and

wind storm to this camp.

“Before the first few miles were passed the drifting snow had so covered the trail that the dogs could not follow it and I had to go ahead and keep the. road while Booth looked after the team. | To find and keep a blind trail we use ■ a long sharp stick and by constant |

OUR SMALLER COLLEGES.

traversed. The most favorable time for top. This is no small task. I can tell

In Many Re,pert. They Are Doing Retter Work Than the I.arger One,. “There are a few striking facts about the small American college,” writes Edward W. Bok in the Ladies’ Homo 'Journal. “One striking fact is that CO per cent of the brainiest Americans who

punching we" can 'telT the^hard' tr'ail'l have risen t0 Prominence and success from the soft snow at the side. I broke 1 are graduates of colleges whose names trail that day most of the time on the are freely known outside of their own

run for nearly seven miles, through a | • states - It 18 a I* 01 - a,s0 > ‘ ar rived at the foot a little before 1 o’clock snow storm so thick that nothing could the V** 1 ten y ear * the majority ()f ! * e to find that the first load w'hich con- be seen and the wind howling at our new an, I I* 681 methods of learning ha\ e

emanated from the smaller colleges, and have been adopted later by the larger ones. Because a college happens to be unknown two hundred miles from the place of its location does not alw'ays mean that the college is not worthy of wider repute. The fact can not be dis-

A WAYSIDE TRAGEDY.

tained our beds, had gone up. but before this time the wind had gained such velocity above that oar men had all quit work and left. We could not turn back now so concluded to follow our beds. After making everything fast I unhitched the dogs and calling them along we started to climb to the

going into the interior is before the snow melts from the mountains, which does not occur till the middle of April,

tw-elve hours’ work of four men. This for the abrupt passages and what is claim was sold less than six months known as the “summit” are better acago for $300, and will produce more complished by hauling supplies on than $1,000,000 before the end of the : sleds, while the pass is covered with year. The excitement is now so great | snow. After leaving Dyea goods must that no one will sell at any price, so j be hauled six miles over the Dyea there is no chance for newcomers in Flats. From this point the route lies this immediate vicinity. The country is j through what is known as the canyon full of prospectors, and every stream where the trail leads up the steep and

w ithin a hundred miles is located and claimed from one end to the other. On the big creeks where the gold Is found, namely Bonanza and Eldorado, there nre many men who tried in every way to sell their claims for a few hundred dollars last winter but could find no takers. These men are in possession of great wealth, which is even yet beyond their capacity to realize. I could not even attempt to picture this camp or city to you. Thousands of men. and women, too, for that matter, are here living in tents, or log sheds, or houses of boards with cloth roofs, each habitation taking a position to suit itself with no regard for its neighbor or any form of regularity. The sawmill is running night and day, and men are rushing about at all times of day and night and buildings of all kinds are going up. Such is the power of gold that before cold weather comes In September this wilderness will be a city in fact of many thousand people. I shall go out to Bonanza creek in a day or »wo and look the ground over there. T doubt, however, if anything can be ■done while everybody is in this pres"Cnt state of excitement. Circle City is a city no longer; with one or two exceptions all the stores and shops are

and

>cJc!sed

iraiufrrred itself to this new Eldorado,

rugged sides of the mountains along a timbered shelf overlooking the canyon until Sheep Camp is reached, a distance of twelve miles. Here a rest is taken to await favorable weather, which at best is something terrible with the thermometer as low as 60 to 80 degrees below zero. This stop is to prepare one for the summit which is eight miles further up and 3,600 feet high and the most difficult and tedious part of the journey. The trail leads up a narrow' and precipitous defile to Stone House, another well-known resting place, with a purely imaginative name. This place is at the beginning of the more abrupt climb and is three miles from the summit. In fact, it is nothing more nor less than a ledge. An extract from one of Mr. Metcalf’s letters describing his first trip over the

summit is interesting.

"I had ten men working at the summit hauling up goods with a windlass, which we made, and about 4,000 feet of rope which I brought for the purpose. The work had been delayed quite a time by storms, which are very frequent on the mountains, but on Sunday night last I concluded that the work was far enough along so that we

you, and when we arrived at the first bench it was after 2 o’clock. Here the wind was blowing very hard and cold and the small particles of ice that came with it cut my face and hands so that I could not face it or take off my mittens. Hero we found our beds and I also managed to find a can of frozen corn beef which tasted very good while we sat for a short time behind a pile of goods to rest. We packed our beds from this bench to the next. The wind had now become so strong that it would almost carry me up the side. I believe it would have been next to impossible to go down again even.

backs like a pack of hungry wolves. At the top of the canyon the wind was less severe but the snow was drifting and the gathering darkness made our trip down the gorge rather uncanny. “We arrived safe and well only to find that our tent was not yet up. Two

hours more, at 10 oclock, our regular , - . meal of bacon, beans and bread found Putwl that th most direct teaih.ng.an a very hearty reception, after which I necessarily the teaching most pne uc

went to bed very tired, of course, after

THE SHOOTING OF SCHOOLTEACHER MERRILL REAGAN. The Whole Community in Hint About Annlngton, Illinois. Worked Cp to a High Tension o’f ^Excitement—Al Is t’slial Sides Are Taken.

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nineteen hours of constant exertion but comfortable in the feeling of good health aryl strength which successful combat with these grand and rugged mountains must give to any one, and not sorry to have seen this strange land and its elements while at play in one of their wildest moods. A trip to the interior abounds in many such hardships and adventures. The safest way to get there is to cross Lake Llndeman in February or March, while it is frozen, and stop at Lake

tive of good results, is being done in the smaller American colleges. The . names of these colleges may not be fa- j miliar to the majority of people, but I that makes them none the less worthy | places of learning. The larger colleges are unquestionably good. But there are smaller colleges just as good, and, in some respects, better. Some of the finest educators we have are attached to the faculties of the smaller institutions of learning. Young girls or young men who are being educated at one of the smaller colleges need never feel that the faet of the college being l

Verry’s charge of vive his injuries, a section of his

ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCENES ATTENDING GOLD EXCITEMENT IN THE KLONDIKE DISTRICT.

might break camp the next morning

the entire population has | and come to Lake Lindeman. I had

taken the precaution to send over a small tent the day before in the event of trouble in getting down on the other side, but did not expect any. I had not been over here up to that time but the trail was being used constantly and was hard and well marked. Well, Monday morning came and with it a clear sky and no wind. 1 was up at 3:30 and while Booth was getting breakfast I

each and all full of hope in the great golden handicap. Prospectors are rushing all over the country looking for gold, but nothing of any consequence has been found outside of the two big creeeks I spoke of. A few men will be made rich here, but everybody Is spending money in the most lavish manner, and I am getting good prices for the goods I have to sell. Y'ou remember the two dogskin robes that cost me $4.50 each, and which I wanted so much to bring a quantity of? Well, I sold them both yesterday at $40 each, and could sell a hundred more if I had them: and this is a fair sample of prices. We had no trouble on the river this year, but I do not relish making another trip if I could help it. I don’t mind the intensely hard work so much, but 1 find the worry and anxiety about getting the goods safely over (he lakes and river very trying, and people tell me 1 am looking thin. I hear indirectly that Booth (a young man Mr. Metcalf took with him) is doing very well on my claim, No. 3, on Mastodon creek. The weather is very hot and will result in much sickness and suffering in this damp marsh. Dr. Le Blanc has begun business already, and will do exceedingly well I feel sure.

had one load of our camp outfit and my the dogs In and start for the last climb, dog team ready to start. Breakfast J I never again expect to see such a consisted of fried bacon, cold bread, storm as was raging at the top! Snow coffee and beans. Soon after 4 o’clock ; was now coming with the Icy wind and I started for the summit, three miles j drifts were forming in all the protected

away, up the steep mountain side. I was early at the foot of the summit or last great rise, which is so steep that everything must go up on men’s backs or by windlass. The angle is so great that one might think the mountain was leaning over and would fall that way. Of eouYse everything is covered with many feet of snow. No men were working yet, so I left my load to be taken up when the windlass started and returned to camp. The round trip had taken four hours. Booth had been taking down the big tent and getting the last things ready while I was away. Breaking a camp takes some time so that 10 o'clock found us but just ready to start. The sun was quite warm and

small one places them at a disadvan tage in comparison with the friend oi companion who has been sent to a larger and better known college. It is not the college; it is the student.”

"At the second beneh I had hard work to keep my feet at all but managed to bind our beds on a sleigh, get

places. The noise of the storm was so great that no other sound could be heard. The war of contending elements was magnificent but I felt quite too insignificant long to be a witness and was glad to get away as soon as possible. The decent on this side is very steep but not so long. After letting the sleds go down we just sat down in the soft snow and slid or dropped to the level below, which is quite a large body of water called ‘Crater

Bennett to build boats anil wait for the ice to break up. The journey is then continued by drifting down a series of lakes and down the Yukon river. Before the traveler can realize it he is at tlie much talked of and treacherous White Horse Rapids" going through

vo a i k cano 8UP H S li^ t< fa b r e abovfihe' timber which miU »' men have lost their lives.

line and is always frozen. Just at the foot there was very little wind and we stopped for a short time to rest before starting out on the long run

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As soon as the warm weather begins gnats, poisonous flies and mosquitoes make life a burden. The stories told of the numbers and voraciousness of the native mosquitoes are almost incredible. Lieut. Schwatka states in his report of a voyage down the Yukon that he has seen mosquitoes in such numbers as to cloud the sun and obstruct the vision. Doga and game have been killed by the bites of mosquitoes; even the huge black bear is not exempt from the pest as the continual bites produce inflammation of the eyes, causing blindness. Judging from reports an asbestos mosquito net should be In the outfit of every miner. Mining operations cannot begin until the ice melts, from June 1st to the 15th. About the middle of September the sun drops so low that ice soon forms and active operations must be discontinued until the following season. The season is short, yet from June 15 until Aug. 1 the sun shines twenty-two hours out of I the twenty-four, and during the re- ; maining two hours work can be done. Accordingly when a rich claim is found two or three sets of men are employed

and work goes on continually. The Yukon country is no place for a

Years ago a Lousiana planter, aptly named Wildeson, went to establish himself on the Rama river in Nicaragua, where he raises bananas and rubber trees with profit. A Mr. Drew, who visited him on business, describes his three-story house as literally built in a tree a sturdy eboe-tree—sixty-three feet from the ground. To get up and down between tha ground and the house an elevator Is used, so constructed with block and tackle that the person using it raises himself or controls his descent by means of a rope. There is also a chicken-house suspended from a limb into which the poultry is collected at night. After a day of free picking and strolling, the feathered bipeds come of themselves to be raised to their roost. A good snake story goes with the rest. Mr. Drew says: “A thing that struck me curiously was the sight of a twelve-foot boa-constrictor gliding about on the ground at the foot of the tree, climbing over the roofs of the laborers' cabins, even entering them, and in general making himself perfectly at home on the plantation. “ ‘Nobody'd think of harming him,’ said the old man to me when I spoke to him about the big snake. ‘He's perfectly harmless to any one, and he keeps the place clear of mice and moles that eat the roots of my young banana and chocolate trees. Eat chickens! Never knew him to do such a thing. Still, while they’re little, I don't put temptation in his way, but keep them in a snake-tight coop gf wire-netting.' ”

HE farming com- j munity in the vicinity of Arlington, 111., is greatly agi- | tated over the Ver-ry-Reagan tragedy, meagre details of which were given

j in the press dls-

t/ J patches some days

ago. Reagan, the victim of Farmer buckshot, may sur | The shot tore away shoulder blade and 1

made a desperate wound. Guards have been hired by Reagan or his friends to watch his house nigh* and day, it being feared that Verry of J one of his sons may attempt to finish the work attempted by the desperate father. It has been discovered that Reagan had gotten an inkling of Veri y's intentions to attack him, and had preparations partially made to get away. He was engaged to teach the district school the coming year, but nevertheless had mortgaged the crops on a tract of land he was farming and was to have received the money. It is believed that if lie had not been wounded by Verry, he would have been seeking safety In llight before this The most affecting feature in connection with the tragedy is its cause, the alleged betrayal of the young and beautiful daughter of Mr. Verry by Reagan, who was formerly her teacher in the country school in the Verry district. Lillian Verry is now aged 16 anil has just budded into womanhood. She is a very beautiful and accomplished girl, who has had every advantage that wealth and the love of fond parents could give her. For some time past the neighborhood gossipers have been talking of the attentions paid to Lillian by Reagan. The latter is aged about 30. He has a wife and three children and lives not far from the Verry homestead. He was a successful teacher and had the esteem of the people and ’he affection of his pupils. Mr. Verry had been receiving reports that clandestine meetings of Reagan and hidaughter were of frequent occurrence. It was said that they frequently met in a lonely part of the timber and remained together a long time. It was known that Reagan and the girl had met in Pekin, where a teachers’ institute was held, and that their actions there had been exceedingly indiscreet, and that a similar occurrence took place on the occasion of a teachers’

institute at Mlnei.

Mr. Verry and his wife did not, it seems, object to their daughter’s going with Reagan on these and other ocei> < '- ions. Tney trusted him implicitly, believing that he entertained for his former pupil only the most honorable feelings. According to information from a friend of the family, the schoolteacher had been writing letters of an Improper character to the girl, and isome of them fell into the hands of both families. The letters had been left In a log in the timber, where she called (or them, and had been found and their contents made known to the Verry* and to Mrs. Reagan. From these letter" and other information Mr. \ erry became satisfied that Reagan was a scoundrel, and he resolved to he avenged. Such resolution does not comport witli Mr. Verry’s past life and conduct, for he lias always been a man of peaceable ways and gen-

happened. The neighbors were sum moned and sought to comfort the ouu raged wife and screaming children while others took steps to cheek th« approach of Verry, who, it was feared would pursue and finish the wounded man. A messenger was dispatched to McLean for a doctor and made the trip of nine miles on a swift horse, returning with Dr. C. M. Noble of that place who performed an operation, removing a number of splinters of the shattered shoulder blade. Verry at once went to Armington and gave him up. He was promptly admitted to bail. The whole community sympathizes with him and he can obtain any amount of bail if it is necessary. It is said that Lillian has made a full confession. Mr. Verry swears that if Reagan survives he must leave the country and declares that if he does not he will kill him on sight. Mr. Verry is a farmer and stock raiser. He was born in Boston, Mass., in 1819. and was brought to Illinois by his parents when 1 year old. the family settling near Jacksonville. In 1843 he went to Tazewell county and bought forty acres, where he has since lived. Every possible suecess in a financial way came to him. He now owns 3,000 acres of the finest land in central Illinois and is worth from $150,000 to $200,000. He has always been an honorable and upright man. He has a number of children His life up to the present has been a happy one.

MASKED MEN LOOT A BANK. They Held I p Right Pcnous and tiet Over i* 1 0,001). Four masked men made a desperate raid on the Butte County bank at Belle Fourche. S. L>.. the other day. Enter-

Momiing of Town Names.

The meaning of various names of cities is suggested by the discussion concerning the proper orthography of Pittsburg, Inasmuch as the “h” has much to do with it. Old Paris was formerly called by its Roman inhabitants Lutetia, meaning “Mudtown.” Ixindon derives its name from the old fortified hill of the Britons, standing where St. Paul’s cathedral now is. Dublin means “the Black Pool,” and Liver-

man without money. Every man who ' pool “the pool of living creatures.’’

THE GOLD FIELDS OK ALASKA—THE DIRECT STEAMER ROUTE FROM SEATTLE TO CIRCLE CITY. (The Klondike district, which Is in British Columbia, lies to the eastward of Fort Cudahy and Fort Reliance. The nearest approach by steamer is Circle City, from which point the journey is made cverland.)

goes there must expect to work and work hard. No credit is given on a man's face. That day is gone. Mr. Mitchell :««*, ; that before men make a rush from Michigan to the Klondyke gold fields, it would be well to remember that while miners make from $15 to $20 a day, it is at the most for only about sixty days, and provisions are about 50 cents an ounce; that there are 2,000 men existing in about 150 log huts, and thousands more were expected during the spring and summer and that the mails are mo«t infrequent, and uncertain. Gold is there in abundance to be sure, but the difficulty in getting it is exceedingly great. Mr. Metcalf eannot emphasize too strongly the difficulties and dangers and hardships of a trip to the interior and would warn everybody to keep away unless provided with several hundred dollars and clothing and provisions to last for at least one year.

After wit is everybody’s wit.

Rome is said to mean "the cross roads’’ and Berlin is variously translated as meaning “the short Hike,” “the free and open place," “the river island” and “the marshy spot ” Pernambuco means "the mouth of hell," Bombay "good boy,” while Cairo is a corruption of “El Kahirah,” the victorious.” Ispahan is “the half of the world;” Astrakhan “the city of the star;*’ Bagdad, “the garden of justice," and Copenhagen "the merchants’ harbor."—Exchange.

An Unfortunate Coinblaatlon, Typewriter—I am rapid enough am understand business forms all right,but I must admit that I cannot spell. Business Man—You won’t do, then, even at the price. I can’t spell, either."—Indianapolis Journal.

The German marine is only half a century old, the first naval officer having been appointed by King Frederick William on May 27, X$i7,

MERRILL REAGAN. tie manners. This determination was the result of the overwhelming indignation that overcame him when he learned the awful truth as to h's daughter and the villainy of the teacher. The evening of the tragedy Lillian told her parents she was going to the woods to pick wild blackberries! Her father suspecting her object in go! ing to the timber, followed her. He took with him the old army musket tluit he had carried in the union army during the war. He secreted himself and watched the meeting of his daughter and her betrayer. He waited until the girl and Reagan separated. Reagan had mounted his horse and was riding away from the scene, when Verrv stepped from behind a tree and bbw.'

away.

His aim was good and the hi* ,nii 0 t hit Reagan in the left ghoule, Th , I teacher was knocked from hi, horse hut quickly regained his feet ami sue’ ceeded in remounting. Verrv rushed after him, loading his musket for an other shot, but Reagan escaped the infuriated father and made his way t his home, where the terrible outcome of the scandal created a shocking EC ene Mrs. Reagan fully realized what had

LILLIAN VERRY.

lug the bank with revolvers drawn, they ordered the customers present and the bank officials to throw up theit hands. A little hesitancy on the part of Cashier Marble drew a shot from one of the robbers, which clipped oil a piece of the cashier's ear and enforced compliance with the demand. In the safe on the counters there were bills and coin amounting to about $10,000. The robbers scooped it all into a sack, | backed out of the bank, and mounting their horses, which had been conveniently stationed near by, rode away, I The alarm was given immediately, and i in a few moments a well-mounted and armed posse was in pursuit. Within a few miles from the town the posse came up with the fugitives and a running fight ensued, which resulted in one of the robbers surrendering. The man who was captured is a stranger in the hills, and it is believed he was used to locate the place and fix all details, j The older men are believed to be the remnants of the once famous band of Laughing Sam Carey that nourished in the Black Hills until 10 years ago. | when they held up the iron-bound treasure coach of the Wells-Fargo Company at Buffalo Gap and were almost exterminated. They got $50,000 in gold at that time, and the surviving members got out of the country with it. Several men who saw the escaping robbers the other day declare that ths leader was Carey. None of the men carried rifles, but all were armed with heavy revolvers. The men made for the Bad Lands. They evidently figure on standing off the posse or hiding in

some of the many recesses.

There were eight men In the bank at the time the robbers entered, three cf whom had pistols in their pockets. Most of them were men who had lived on the frontier a long time, and knew j that an effort to draw a revolver would merely precipitate a fight that might end in the killing of all those in the bank. The men worked at the job coolly as if they were performing a legitimate transaction. When they were overtaken by their pursuers they had discarded their masks and were counting the money. They quickly got their revolvers into action, and showed by the way they used them that they were old-timers at the business. The bank has offered a reward of $5,000 for the

robbers dead or alive.

I'liralx-zcd by a Rhoeptlrk. The 3-year-old daughter of 5 Mrs. D. Reese of Waltsburg, 0 fame partially paralzed recent] upon making a careful examina was found that a sheep tick ha causing the trouble. The tii buried itself in the back of the neck, and was hidden by the hail bead. Since the tick has been r< the child has improved.

Gradually Coming to It. I wo young women employei prominent office building in Kan ty astonished the girl in charge cigar stand during the noon he other day by shaking dice for ettes.

The population of Bos spring of 1775 was abou thousand.