Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1885 — TALES BY TELEGRAPH. [ARTICLE]

TALES BY TELEGRAPH.

Occurrences of a Sensational Nature in Various Parts of the Country. Curious Incidents, Death-Dealing Accidents, Dark Tragedies, and Other Phases of Life. A HARD WINTER. Long Island Sound Frozen from Shore to Shore. For the first time in ten years, says a New York dispatch, Long Island Sound is frozen over. A solid field of ice extends from Hell Gate to Jtew London. The powerful Sound steamers are the only boats that have been able for several days to cut a channel through, and one of them—the Narragansett—was fast in the ice for twenty hours. She was released this afternoon, a good deal damaged by her struggle with the heavy ice-floes. Navigation of the Sound is now practically suspended, and is likely to remain so for some time. The embargo to navigation will cause a serious loss to shipping interests. A large number of craft of every description are ioe-bound, some severely damaged thereby. Two Men Frozen to Death. [East Tawas fMioh.) special.] Last Thursday morning John and Abram Johnson, Finlanders, left here for Gardner's Camp, and on Sunday three others left for the same place. About three mi es from there they found John Johnson lying in the snow unable to rise. Both his legs from the feet to the knees, and both his hands were frozen. He was brought here and died during the night. He said that feeling tired he told the other man to go ahead, and he would soon follow. He had been out two nights with the mercury at 26 degrees below zero. The other man was found dead one mile farther on. Lake Michigan Frozen Over. Milwaukee dispatches state that Lake Michigan is frozen from shore to shore, the ice ranging from nine inches to three feet in thickness. The propellers City of Ludington and Wisconsin are frozen in somewhere in the lake. Some distance north of South Haven seventeen men of the missing steamer Michigan came ashore, having traveled on the ice a distance of twentythree miles from the vessel. They left thirteen men aboard, with rations for a month and ninety tons of coal. The Severest Ever Experienced in Montana. A recent dispatch from Helena (Montana) says: “This is the most severe winter that has been experienced here since the first visit of Lewis and Clarke, and has no parallel in the history of Montana. Killed Himself Shoveling Snow, Frank LaVesee, of Roscoe, near Rockford, DI., strained Lis system so severely In shoveling snow during the late blockade that he died from the effects. Coal Famine in an Illinois Town. The scarcity of fuel at Saybrvak, 111., caused the citizens to seize forty tons from a train going through on the Lake Erie Road, for which they offered pay. Michigan Fruit Injured by Frost. The injury by intense cold, to fruit trees in Michigan has been so severe that but half a crop is anticipated next season. SOUTHERN SENSATIONS. Fiddled for a Dance with a Bullet In His Head. A negro named Edward Goode, while full of benzine, undertook to show how he could fire a blank cartridge into his mouth, says the Charlotte (N. C.) Obse/wr. Unfortunately the pistol was loaded. Ha called the attention ot his companions to the fact that he was going to commit suicide and pulled the trigger. He reeled, and as he gasped for breath smoke rolled from his mouth and blood trickled down on each side of his chin. At the time he fired he had about an inch of the pistol barrel in his mouth, and his head was thrown slightly backward. The doctors sAy that it was the most marvelous escape from instant death on record. Wounded as he was, Goode returned to Mount Holly and played the bass fiddle for the dancers until past midnight, when the bullet began to make itself felt in his head. His mouth is badly burned by the powder, and this gives him more pain than does the bullet. A Romantic Kentucky Tragedy. (Louisville special.) As a train irom Louisville to Shelbyville was crossing the junction at Hansborough the engineer discovered the dead bodies of Wlßiani Adams and Tena Wilmouth lying side bv sltje on the track. Between Adams’ legs was a revolver with three chambers empty. Near them stood the buggy in which they had been riding, and in the shafts lay the dead body of the horse. Adams, Miss Wilmouth, and the horse had each been shot in the head. All were stone dead and cold. William Adams was but a youth and the dead girl had not yet gone through her teens. They had long been sweethearts, but parental objection had prevented their union, and it is supposed that they agreed to die together rather than submit to separation. Desperate Fight with a Mad Dog. A mad dog was killed, after a desperate fight, at the residence of Mr. H. J. Lewis, in Eastatoe Township, this county, last Tuesday night, says a telegram from Richmond, Ga. The dog was a black hound, and fought Mr. Lewis’ dog tor nearly thirty minutes before he was killed. Mr. Lewis and Messrs. W. E. and J. ,M. Nimmons pounded the dog with hoes, guns, and sticks. Finally a sharp-pointed iron bar, weighing about ten pounds, was thrust clear through the dog, and a load of shot sent through his carcass. After all this he sprang up and jumped on Mr. Lewis'dog again before he died. The dog never made a particle of noise during the fight, except when shot. No damage was done by the dog, except the biting of Mr. Lewis’ dog. A Hen, a Hawk and a Man. The following comes from Cochran, Ga.: P. M. Solomon, ot this place, was at T. J. Renfroe’s, in Laurens County, and while sitting in the house he heard a fuss among the chickens outside. Upon looking out he discovered a large hawk and a hen engaged in a desperate combat. They fought like two gamecocks about fifteen minutes, when Mr. Solomon put a quietus on the hawk by putting a load of shot under his feathers. The hen-seemed to realize that she had a friend, and strutted around her victim and gave vent to her joy in vociferous cackling. The hawk had devoured all of her brood but one, for the safety ot which she was fighting. A Boy and His First Cigar. A 14-year-oM son of Mr. B. Bunch, of Economy, Marion County, Mo., reports a St. Louis telegram, smoked a cigar and died from tobacco poison in about half an hour. The bbv was smoking in a store and soon began vomiting violently. He was carried home and his father went for a physician, about 100 yards distant, but when he returned with the physician the little fellow was dead. Killed by Kerosene. A few days ago in Hawkins Countv, Tenn., says a Knoxville dispatch, James Reynolds put kerosene oil on the tops of the hi ads of his three littfe children, aged 2, 4. and 6 years, for the purpose of killing vermin. Two of the children died within two hours, but a physician saved the other. REMINISCENT. A Congressman Killed bv Chagrin. Senator Vest’s reference to the two Representatives from Ohio who brought from a -newspaper man and had published in the Record the same identical'speech w.thln two weeks has stirred up some reminiscences of Congressional plagiarism. It is told’by one of the old-timers at the Capitol that Speaker White, of Kentucky, came to h.s death as the result ot exposure for doing something «ot thia kind. While he was Speaker of the House, in the Twenty-seventh Congress, and was an able man, he was so pressed with business that when he had to deliver his valedifftorv ho got one of these men who are always on hand to make a little money to write his address. It was handed him just a little while before the time he had to deliver it, and he put it into his pocket without reading. When the time came he rose, and, slowly unfolding the manuscript, read the address. It was very brilliant, but it was Aaron Burr’s famous valedictory to the Senate. The Speaker never recovered from the shock. He weut home, was taken very ill, and it is supposed be killed himself for shame. The Reaper’s Swath. [Washington telegram.] Ex-Vice President Hamlin, who is hero to attend the dedication of the Washington monument, said to-day that only nine men are now Brink who were members of the Senate in 1848, when .that body attended the laying of the corner stone of the Washington monument. These are Yulee of Florida, George W. Jones of Nevada, Bradburn and Hamlin of Main?:,''Fitch of Michigan, Jefferson Davis of Miaeisslppt,

Atchison of MiMourt, Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Hunter of Virginia. GRAVE STORIES. Graves Opened by Ghouls. Three miles south of Point Pleasant, W. Va., is a church called Pisgah, attached to which is a rural burying-ground. The other morning, savs a telegram from Point Pleasant, wh n the sexton wen to dig a grave, he was horrittel to find half a dozen graves open. The corpses had been taken from their coffins and stretched on the ground. In one or two instances limbs were severed irom the body. The graves bad been opened without regard to family. The bodies lay in one place, arranged in the shape of a Greek cross. There is no clew,' and no reason was assigned for the horri le act The bodies had evidently been exposed for a day or two. Blushing in Her Coffin. The vault in a Baltimore cemetery, says a dispatch from that city, in which the remains of Mrs. Charles Henderson, of Dubuque, were placed, is being closelv watched. The woman died suddenly, and the body was shipped to Baltimore for burial, where the casket was opened, and a blush was noticed suffusing the features of the supposed corpse. Some physicians think Mrs. Henderson is in a trance. Recalled to Life. John Wisholm is alleged to have died at Newport, R. L, but the agonizing walling of ids son is said to havd recalled the old man to life, he then relating a joyful experience during his transitory stay in the other world. Mr. Wisholm, it seems, died for good last week, and now rests beneath the snow.

TALES OF THE FOREST. A Faithful Dog and an Heroic Boy. [From the Portland (Ore.) News.] There are some irwerosting side points relative to Funk’s poor, starved babies, who wandered away in the hills of Mehama Bunday morning, which we previously published in the JVews. They were not found till Monday noon. A shepherd dog. which was a household favorite, followed and guarded them during the long, dark hours, when the rain came unceasingly down. Nq doubt the faithful creature protected them from the many wild animals In the deep woods. But the heroic deed of the older child, which the wires failed to correctly record, remains to be added. He took his own little coat from his shivering borty and put it on his weakenbrother, saving him from freezing, while he endnrjd in a cotton shirt, hours after hours, the keen blasts ot that mountain storm. Think of this from a child but 6 years old, and let any'who can say he is not as much of a hero as any of the fullgrown Spartans of old, of whom the classics so eloquently telL He Killed a Red Bear. [Troy (Pa.) dispatch.] Peter Brow, of Liberty, Tioga County, while In the woods a few days ago discovered the track of an animal which was strange to him, although resembling a bear’s. He followed the track, and came upon the animal and shot and killed it It was a bear, but no one In this region ever saw another one like it Its legs are much longer and»thlnner than those of the native bear, and Its nose is longer and sharper. Its fur is nearly red. The animal is much smaller than the black bear, although it is evidently a full-grown one. old hunters say it is probably a specimen of what is known in Michigan as a cranberry bear. This is a bear occasionally killed in the marshes in that Stare.

NEW WAY TO COLLECT OLD DEBTS. The Novel Contrivance Introduced in Chicago. (Chicago telegram.] A debt-collecting firm styled “The Retail Merchants’ Protective and Collection Association" has started a “Black Maria” collectors’ wagon in Chicago. This will till a long-felt want. The “Maria" is a large, four-wheeled vehicle, something of a cross between a grocers' wagon and a wagon and a hoarse. It partakes largely or the characteristics of the famous “Black Maria" prison vans of England, and also of the dime museum advertising wagons of this country. The purpose of the wagon is to attract attention, and thereby shame the debtor into paying, consequently it is necessary to have something unique. The Maria recently started iiere Is a large black box, with openings at the front and sides. At each side and on the back the following legend is displayed in large white letters:."Old bills collected promptly by this association." The plan of operation is simply to keep the wagon standing before the debtor’s house a pertain time every day until the debt is paid. The manager speaks proudly of the success of his firm in Cleveland and other cities. Be says Cleveland is able to keep two "Mafias" constantly employed, and he does not see why Chicago should not have half a dozen. He intends building a splendid new “Maria” for Chicago in a very short time. He says it will have grand mirrors on the sides and back, and plumes or wax works on the roof, just like a circus wagon, and will be such a contrivance as any landlady or housekeeper will be proud to see at the door. in The toils. The Notorious ex-Gov. Moses Again In Prison. [Boston special.] In the Superior Criminal Court at East Cambridge the case ot cx-Gov. Moses, of South Carolina, charged with obtaining $34 under false pretenses from T. W. Higginson, of Cambridge, came up for sentence, the defendant having pleaded guilty. Moses made an eloquent apireal tor mercy, reviewing his past career, and said that his mind had given wav under his troubles, instancing the paltriness of the crime in proof thereof. He was sentenced to six months in the House of Correction.

Indicted. (San Francisco telegram.] G. W. Tyler, leading counsel for Mro. HillSharon in the Hill-Sharon divorce case; Max Gumpel, the handwriting expert; T. C. Cashman, and J. F. McLaughlin have been indicted by the State Grand J ury for Implication in obtaining $26,006 from Senator Sharon’s counsel for the spurious document known as the TylerGumpel contract McLaughlin has absconded with the money. The three others have surrendered, but were released on ball. PERISHED BY FIRE, He Gave His Life for Another. George Scott. 70 years of age and a wellknown resident of Gibson, 111, seized a yonng lady who had set her clothes afire at a red-hot stove and carried her out into the snow. She escaped with slignt injury, but he was so badly burned that he lived only a few hours. All Escaped but Nellie. A tenement house on North street, Cincinnati, burned the other night, A colored family named Brice, living in the second story, were aroused by the flames. The father, mother, two boys and the baby escaped through a window, but Nellie Brice, 12 years old, perished. Two Miners Burned. An explosion of gas occurred at Packer Colliery No. 2. near Girardville. Pa. James Lafferty, of Girardvl le, was fearfully burned; Daniel Kerwick, of Lost Creek, his partner, was badly burned and so mangled that he can not recover. THE DEADLY COAL-PIT. Half a Dozen Men Killed In a Pennsylvania Mine. (Wilkesbarre (Pa.) special.] A terrible accident occurred at the Hillman vein mine, within the limits of this city. A brief stoppage of the air-tans, caused by the heating of a journal, allowed the gas to aecumulate in the mine, and a terrific explosion was the result. Twelve men were so badly burned thdt four of them have since died. The recovery of five of the others is extremely doubtful. THb injured men. who are m the City Hospital, ureserrt a frightful appearance, their bodies being burned all over. They were stripped and covered wl:h oil, and are constantly bathed with a solution of oil and other ingredients. MOST TALK. A Blood-and-Thunder Anarchist Meeting in New York. The anarch’sts, led by Herr Moat/met eight hundred strong in Concordia HalLNew York, says a dtspatoh from that city, and talked blood and thunder mixed with dynamite for two honrs. The meeting was to commemorate the death of August Reinsdorf, but very little was said abont him. One man said it wonld be a very good thing to kill a million women and Children, even if they were innocent, provided the cause were advanced one week by so doing. Herr Most also thought it might be well to kill that number of Xteople, and spoke very strongly in favor of dynamite. LIFE IN TEXAS. Train-Wreckers at Work. 5 A Marshall (Texas) dispatch reports* that an attempt was made towrock and rob*a passenger train from Ht. Louis, near Wayne, betweea Jos- - and Texarkana, by removing a rail. A freight train running in advance ot the pasaen-’ ger fell into the trap, and the engine and eight freight cars were wrecked. No one was hurt. Maine has aenT4o,ooo barrels of apples •cross the water this season.