Daily Greencastle Banner and Times, Greencastle, Putnam County, 4 September 1897 — Page 2

THE DAILY BANNER TIMES, GREENCASTLE, INDIANA*

LUCK FADES AT 11

Hit iiALnw i> stii r i« faith FOIt 11 \E.

KIS MILLIONS RUN OUT.

Willi RTerylhlns >IorlB>iKed to H*«* Hilt tho «l«l Miner E*pect« t« Strike a l\ew t’orantook at K Ion41 > ke. SAN FRANCISCO, -A liltlr. wparc man. dn'ssoo m Mack . Within, with a thin, scrawny neck, a sh:iri>, wpazrned fnc't', suapiiy little <‘y.*s that arc* never still, a face that is lined and seamed, thin gray hair and a forehead that would grace the cranium of a university professor, this is Elias ,T. Baldwin, always restless, always nervous, eternally in hot water, tin* target of score's of bullets, once tin owner of JL'O.OOO.OOO, and now, at seventy-six years, ready to hazard the perilous trip to the Klondyke f.l Dorado to rebuild his shattered for tunes; this is the man Unown in every corner of the land as "Ducky Bald

win.

And he still believes he is lucky, lie has mortgaged everything he owns up to the hilt, and to keep his possessions from going under the hammer lie must put up Interest to the tune of $1t>5,U(J0 a year. Ills properties are not earning that amount, and unless I something favorable turns up he will] he m a predicament. But nothing ever , made the man turn a hair. He* says that his properties are worth five times , the amount of the mortgage, and that Is probably true if they could he sold Under favorable conditions, hut if slid denly forced upon the market it would h<* a different matter. Confident in his luck. Baldwin is not worrying; instead lie is planning for ids Klondyke trip next spring with the ardor of a youth of twenty. Baldwin is remarkable for many things, lie lias spent a dozen fortune's on women, hut in the ordinary affairs of life he is mean to the point of pentiriousness. He lias been the husband of four women. His private life has been far from the Sunday school type, and he has never tried to conceal the fact from his fellowmon. Fast summer, when Miss Lillian Ash lej sued him for $75,000 for breach of promise, he denied he r right to bring such a suit by claiming that no woman who had a reputation to lose ever associated with him, anil that any who did so placed herself without the pale of respectable society. This of itself shows the moral char actor of the man. and it is needless to ,lraw upc.t the abundant evidences In his career to further substantiate it. Two women have shot at him. one the sister of Miss Ashley, and the other a woman who called herself Verona Baldwin, and passed as his niece. Miss Ashley’s bullet clipped a few hairs from his bald pate and the other woman landed a bullet In his left arm. 'There Is a less unpleasant side to his life, and that is his iron nerve In the presence of danger. He lias never hesitated to take the most desperate <•11:111008, and as ho never failed u> win nut, he firmly believes that ho has a charmed life. It was this faculty which first won for him the sobriquet of "Lucky.” He lias been called a handy man with a gun. but he has always been a vile shot, because of Ids nervousness, not from fear, lint from his lack of physical control. His reputation of gun handiness was won by his readiness to draw at any time and Maze away with sweeping reckless-

ness.

Baldwin is an ludianinn by birth, lie received little or no schooling, and the first thirty years of his life were spent upon ids father’s farm, where he drudged and labored with the patience of a cart horse. But the first news of the gold finds in California offset his patieuee and started him off across the country in the van of the hordes from the more eastern States. He prospected In one camp and then in another, but he never had any luck. If he got hold of a claim next to one that was panning rich the gold always steered around the edges of his hold ings. lie had the energy of a steam engine hut the luck of a hoodoo. Year after year he labored on, barely milking enough to fill his stomach, but his stock of patience was Inexhaustible. There was not a mining camp In the country that didn’t know him, for he tried them all. In the early sixties he was prospecting with a companion in Ftah when a hand of five Indians suddenly opened a fusilade. Baldwin's companion was killed In the first volley, hut lie crouched behind a rock, and, getting his rifle into action, succeeded in kill lug throe of the marauders. The other two were frightened off, and Baldwin got away with a sound skin. His luck began to change with that Incident. The claims lie established began to work better, but he was far from being a successful miner. Things kept improving light along, however, until finally he got in on the ground !'i>or when the famous Comstock lode was struck, and then he became a millionaire almost in a night Money rained upon him after that, and when be came to San Francisco the great magnates. Sharon. O’Brien, Flood ami Ralston, were glad to admit him to their dealings. In less than five years In* was credited witli possessing $’J0.000,000, and the estimate was not an exaggeration. Baldwin’s nerve was displayed by a little Incident eonnected with the Ihtnk nf California, in which he had extensively Invested through his relations with tin* late Senator Sharon. Sharon and the other directors proposed a stock deal. In antagonism to the wishes of Baldwin, and Intended carrying it through at a secret meeting. Baldwin secured a restraining injunction, but, finding that the deal would be consummated before the papers could be served, he resolved upon an expedient characteristic of the man. 1’lacing two guns in his clothes, he went to the bun!; ami reached the directors’ room before ihe others had arrived. They came along in a few’ minutes, and Sharon was about to call the meeting to order when Baldwin stood tti). ‘■i> | d, placing his back against the door, told Sharon that if he attempted to organize the meeting he would blow Ms brains out. He pro4ui*d his gnus, told the whole party to

1 ' i ), •* £

‘LUCKY’’ BALDWIN, AT 76. EXPECTS TO REBUILD HIS SHATTERED FORTUNES.

keep their hands in view "ti the toiiw the table, and then said they would have to wait until his attorney came

with the papers.

His reputation as a fighting man carried the day. and for an hour and a half he kept the directors looking down the barrels of his guns. Then the attorney came with the injunction and the meeting broke up. Later the matter was fought out in the courts, and Baldwin again won. It is said that Baldwin has sunk $10,000,000 iii iiis 00,000-acre Santa Anita ranch, where some famous race

A FLAMINGO HUNT,

LATHER IV FI.OIKS OF 10,000, HIT

ARC H \ ItI) TO SHOOT.

birds are often found In flocks numbering 8,900 and 10,000, but even then it is a matter requiring considerable skill to get within shooting distance of any of them. But the very sight of an enormous flock of the birds, with their gorgeously colored plumage, together with the rich foliage of the country, is adequate compensation for the Journey, even If the hunt Itself

proves fruitless.

The flamingo is a fisher of considerable skill, anil the amount of food consumed in a single day by a 10,000 fiock is something beyond ordinary computation, but the natives seldom bother themselves to disturb the birds, us, notwithstanding the tremeudoua number of fish destroyed, it has no apparent effeet upon the seemingly Inexhaustible supply in these African

rivers and lakes.

The flesh of the flamingo Is never eaten by the natives except lu cases jof dire necessity. It is very oily and | fishy, but foreigners frequently acquire a taste for It, and then find it exceed- | ingly palatable. But there Is no explaining the mystery of the native j taste. He will travel for miles and i miles, passing flock after flock of the J birds, to kill snakes or crocodiles, and sometimes a hippopotamus, the flesh of the Latter being valued above all else, with the single exception of decaying cadavers of a peculiar kind of fish which he finds rotting in the sun on the river banks, and the very smell of which turns the white man faint. The flamingo hunt Is usually pursued at night, when the birds are at rest and are less likely to scent danger. The smaller the hunting party the greater the chances of success, and if i it consists of only two, the hunter and | a native guide, the prospect is gener-

ally favorable.

The outfit required is most simple, j i he two necessaries being a repeating [ rifle and a headpiece. The latter is made of a peculiar melon growth, re semhling somewhat our squash, and in I this holes are cut for the eyes and i the mouth. This is placed on the head i for the purpose of deceiving the birds j into believing that it is vegetation. Au additional precaution is sometimes adopted, that of clothing the upper part of tin* body in a foliage covering of branches and leaves, but as this re tards o.uiek action at the critical moment it is seldom employed. The hunter must strip himself to the waist, and his feet and legs from the knee down must be bare. When the flock is sighted away off in the distance the hunters at once take to the water, and holding the guns above the head walk along with the water

up to the neck.

Great enre must be taken to make the smallest disturbance possible, as the tiniest ripple on the water’s surface is sutfleient to alarm the nervous birds. The flock invariably rests In vers shallow water, and as the ap proach becomes nearer it is often necessary to get down on the knees and on one hand, and with the other holding the gun just above the water, move along in that uncomfortable way. If skillfully managed. It Is (Hisslble to get within thirty yards of the flock without disturbing them, and so thick l.v are they massed together that a blind man could not miss the shot. At a signal from the native the gun is brought into play. The first bullet fired often passes through six or seven Jof the birds, either killing or wounding

IN THU ODD CORNER.

SOME STRANGE. QUEER AND CURIOUS PHASES OF LIFE.

' Caution to Middle*-Ag<‘<l Ilicyclititi Odd for Perfume The Wheel In Warfare and the Doff Seout—Mysterious Glass Halls.

The Little Old < lerk.

little old clerk, m me uapims .•«». i faded coat and the boots so worn. Sits writing on. In a human hive, With a slight respite for a meal between, Sits writing on in a humble hive, The busiest bee ’mong the drones, 1

ween

Smart young fellows, in well-made suits, (His fellow-clerks) sneer, with a scornful eye*. At the faded coat and the old patched

boots.

And ask him if better he cannot buy. File little old clerk takes bis napless hut I From off its peg, when his toil is o'er, I Brushes the coat that they all sneer at. Then, with patient smile, passes through

the door.

Twenty long years he a clerk has been Iri that office dim—yet no higher goes; J Many placed over his head he’s seen—The old clerk's passed by in his shabby

clothes.

HE little old clerk is thin amt gray, And his coat is shiny at every

seam,;

His hat belongs to a long-past day. And his boots are the blacking s

gleam.

• Shabby genteel,” or

scarcely that, dub him, with

i he passers - by

vulgar scorn-

in the napless hat.

the evening's

1 be little old clerk,

gloom.

Enters his cottage, with anxious eyes; Some simple blossoms brighten the room; A crippled form on the sofa lies. Ax a sister’s lips to bis own are pressed— (The one for whom shabby through life he goes)He thanks (Jod that he with her love is

blest

The little old clerk In his faded clothes! Elsie Harrington, in Chambers’ Journal

SCENT DANGER

edges of the Sahara are the remains of what were probably lu remote ages vast seas of water, but are now shallow lakes, scarcely more than marshes. This is particularly the case In the country south of Tunis, and again lu

the Soudan to the south of the desert J them sufllelentiy to'make their capture and extending through the breadth of ..ortain. So quiek are they to take the llgyptian Soudan to the Red Sea. alarm that almost before the second of these bodies of water, like shot can he fired the whole flock Is off QURe' Y, Lake Tchad, are formidable In their with the speed of an eagle dimension, hut flamingo hunting Is But the hunt ls not oror ot , )eoaU8e found at its best on the more inslg- J )hp flamingo Is a peculiar bird.

- A flamingo hunt in the African t t n fleaut waterways south of Tunis and SOPS tllHt K()m ,. of i lis comrades are horses have been bred. He practically dan Is one of the quaintest sports that along the line of the proposed I.ihhi- wounded, ami hundreds remain in the retired from the turf in after the touring American oau ever hope to mile h ronch railway from Constantino, vicinity, evidently with the Intention

encounter, and when it has once been ' ll Northern Algeria, to Lake Tchad, on i Q f succoring the helpless ones ‘ '

tried the average hunter willingly *■ - 1

gives up thought of till other game to

losing a pot of money, but he still maintains the breeding establishment. He built a beautiful palace on this estate and transformed the immense tract into a vast fairyland. Wonderful lakes were formed, orchards were laid out, covering more than a thousand acres, with orange and lemon trees, and thousands of other acres were given over to vineyards and the cultivation of fruits. A broad avenue three miles long and 1 ’JO feet wide was con Ktrucled and lined with eucalyptus trees. In the centre was placed a row of pepper trees to temper the summer | heat, while numerous fountains were ''

set at intervals along its course.

Water was furnished to each one of the trees in the orange and lemon orchards by individual pipes, tills piece! of work alone costing tt fabulous sum,] and to keep it In operation makes the product of the trees cost their owner , three times as much ns the fruit could

be bought for in the market.

This ranch, the fruit and the horses | have been a tremendous drain on the] Baldwin millions. So has the hotel ( which hears his name. In this city, anil when ids second wife left him site secured a lump sum of a solid million. But Baldwin still has faith In his luck, and, although nearing the fourscore mark, believes that life has yet many

pleasures lu store for him.

Although they do not appreciate confinement in a paddock, it is easy to tame a fawn, and It makes a delightful pet until it attains years of Indiscretion. A tame roc used to follow the children everywhere round the old castle of Duntroon. and even up the stairs and into the rooms. One of his little play fellows had been obliged to j give up "his room to a gentleman who , had come to stay there, and the stir- 1 prise of the guest was unbounded! when the head and neek of a roe pro-1 traded through his half-open door, j “Dear me!” he said, "game must he extremely plentiful in these parts!” Yet, just as a kitten would be the most delightful of is-ts, except for its unfortunate habit of growing into a cat, so a roe, and especially a buck, becomes too much of a handful as a pet when it grows up. Their beautiful little horns arc Isith sharp and dangerous, and a tame roebuck very nearly put an old woman off the road and into the Crlnan (’anal by Its obtrusive attentions. It meant no harm; it really expected to get a lump of rock salt, with w liieh it had usually been rewarded for its caresses, but the old datue did not appreciate its un- | canny approaches, and narrowly es-

caped with her life

Dobson—I’m going to open a temper-

ance hotel.

Hobson (persuasively)—1 wouldn’t. If! I were you. old man. Selling liquor without a license Is extremely risky business. Newcastle Chronicle.

It U

the southern boundary of the Sahara. I possible to got in three or four more „ Many travelers in the Mediterranean shots before the last of the loiterers

keep pegging away at the long-legged V1M ' runls / 01 ' ,ho express purpose of are put to (light, and then, if the bunbirds of the inland lakes and rivers. taking a flfty-mlle Jaunt into the in- ter he lucky, he has ha' r,r ed debt T 'tmn that part of Africa flanking the tertor to hunt the flamingo. Hera the I ten of the birds. ~ ^ r

C'atitloa to Mid tile-Aged Hlcyclititi*. Any form of exercise or sport, says the British Medical Journal, which makes serious demands on the attention, on quickness of eye and hand, and on endurance, ought not to he taken up by people who have reached middle life and are engaged in sedentary occupation, only with great circumspection. The lesson has been learned by Alpine climbers through many bitter experiences. It is pretty generally held by them that most of the fatal accidents in mountain climbing occur through the failure at the critical moment of some man who has taken to mountaineering too late in life, and who is. perhaps, also out of condition. An old dog cannot he taught tricks, according to ihe proverb, and, though it is disagreeable to have to realize that we have passed the age when we can excel in a new pastime requiring special skill to avoid accident and youthful adaptability and elasticity to avoid overstrain, it is the part of wisdom to accept the inevitable. There is no reason why mid-dle-aged men. and even those who have passed middle age, should not take to cycling; but it should he with a frank recognition of the limitations which age imposes. Great speed, long distances and hill-climbing put a strain upon the constitution, and will find out the weak places—the parts of the system which are aging faster, perhaps, than the rest—the heart, it may be. or the vessels of the brain. So, also, in regard to riding a bicycle in crowded thoroughfares, the strain on the attention is considerable and the risk not small, if a man has lost the quickness of youth.

BOW THE FLAMINGO IS HUNTED LN AFRICA.

I m* of l*frfuute8, Anything that will destroy the ullpowerful and ubiquitous microbe should be gladly welcomed, and when the agent comes In the pleasant form of perfume It is certainly the more acceptable. We now find from experiments that are said to have been made with the perfumes of flowers that bv means of them many species of microbes are easily destroyed. The odor of cloves has been known to destroy these minute creatures in tnirty-five minutes, cinnamon will kill some spei cies In twelve minutes, thyme in tnir»y five. In forty-five minutes common ] wild verbena is found effective, while the odor of some geranium flowers | .has destroyed various forms of mt- ; -robes in fifty minutes. The essence | tif cinnamon is said to destroy the iyphoid fever microbe in twelve minj -ites, and is recorded as the most <*f- ] fective of all odors as an amisentic. j ll is now believed that flowers which , are found In Egyptian mummies were | placed there more for their antiseptic I properties than as mere ornaments or | elements in sentimental work. If perfumes are so singularly emcacious ! as this, then the flower farmer must j he a fortunate person and his life a \ healthy one.

Auti*t»ptir Nurjjery. The medical value of cleanliness has j not been fully appreciated until within ; the past few years. Indeed it is even I yet scarcely allowed its full importance. There are yet in the medical profession men who seem to forget that cleanliness is often of quite as much importance as surgical skill. One of this sort of men. a dentist, with a tolerable practice, recently demonstrated his right to be called a back number by a most objectionable performance, attd one of which he Is no doubt guilty every day of his life. In giving gas |,e used a cork attached to a string to keep the patient’s jaws apart while the gas was being administered. The cork was dirty and covered with the marks of goodness knows how many teeth It was soaked with saliva, and yet this doctor put it precisely In this condition into the mouth of a patient who wlslu* some teeth extracted. Such u pram as this should bar any man from prac

tice. If there is no article better than a cork to keep the jaws apart, tuPl the cork at least ought to be cleansed In some way after each time of using Earache. Earache is such a common symptom especially in children, that domesti remedies are often used tinu. s . ease demands the advice of a special ist. By that time often great harm has been done, and perhaps seriou; consequences have resulMd. Dr. F. w Hinkel calls attention to the grave slgl nificance of earache and the importance of early treatment. Earache in children may be the first indication of an approaching meningitis. An earache should not be passed over with a superficial examination, but tfi e child should he given hot foot-baths and put to bed. The bowels should be freely acted on. Hot, dry applications are better than moist ones. It Is better not to instill solutions of laudanum morphia, or cocaine into the ear. OpL ates, too, often mask the pain and conceal the real trouble. Delays are dan gerous, and in case of approaching rupture the tympanum should be freely incised. No physician should ever hesitate to call in an aurist when ir doubt.

Mysterious Glass Halls. The small Island of Billiton, between Sumatra and Borneo, has long been famous for its rich tin-mines, which are controlled by the Dutch government. In describing the geology of Billiton before the Royal Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam recently, Mr. Verbeek gave an account of the mysterious “glass balls of Billiton.'' which are found in Borneo and Java, as well as in posits. They are round, with grooved surfaces. Similar halls are occasionally found in Borneo and Java, as wess as in Australia. Mr. Verbeek thinks they cannot be artificial, and there are no volcanoes near enough to support the theory that they are volcanic bomfH. Besides, he says, the glassy rocks produced by the nearest volcanoes are quite different in their nature from the materia] of the balls. He suspected that the mysterious objects were ejected, age* ago, from the volcanoes of the moon and afterwards fell upon the earth. A New Fo<* to Amerirau Ire Specimens of a strange caterpillui discovered this spring on pear-trees in Cambridge, Mass., are pronounced by iTof. Samuel Hensliaw to lie the “goldtail,” or euproctis chrysorrhoea. hitherto unknown as an inhabitant of this country, although it is found locally in England, and is ‘'abundant In central and southern Europe.” When numerous, these caterpillars are very destructive, feeding on such trees and plants as the apple, pear, plum, hawthorn, bramble, elm, willow, beech, oak, hazelnut and hornbeam. At present the invaders in Massachusetts are said to he c fined to a limited area in Somerville and Cambridge. The first specimens seem to have made their appearance a year ago, and thus far they have confined themselves to pear and apple trees. How they got across the ocean nobody apparently knows. It is suggested that by vigorous measures they may be stamped out.

The Wheel lu Warfare. The French soldier on his bicycle is giving his neighbor across the Rhine no little trouble, and the latter has been driven to find a new method of dealing with these troublesome skirmishers on their steel steeds. The latest idea put into practice is the training of large dogs to drag the Intruders from their saddles. The canines are taught to attack only those soldiers In the garb of the enemy, this being accomplished by dressing a German rider in a French uniform

A DOG SCOUT. during the training. The mistake of assailing a friendly uniform results in severe punishment, and the dogs soon learn their lesson. It is no easy matter for a man to ride a wheel over a rough, strange country, laden with a gun and outer equipment of a soldier, and the advent j of a pack of fierce hounds is greatly dreaded by the unfortunate spies. The Frog in the Block of Stone. While a great many persons have 1 heard that the qnarryman sometimes breaks a block of stone and a live frog hops out, no one has yet been found to verify these statements. Experiments have been made u]K>n frogs, and In no instance have they been found alive | after an imprisonment of from one to * two years. That they will survive for what seems a great length of time is an unquestioned fact, hut that they have been imbedded in solid rock for almost countless ages, and when released by the blows of the hammer, have skipped out as brisk and jolly as possible, Is by scientists looked upon as an absurdity.

Zena King, of Fairlaud, Mich., kicked at a dog and missed it and broka his leg against a post.