Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1891 — Page 3

ROYAL RANGER RALPH; The Waif of the Western Prairies.

BY WELDON J. COBB.

CHAPTER XV. THE PURSUIT. On and on with the speed of the wind dashed the.two horses, bearing in flight to safety the intrepid Darrel Grey and the courageous and lovely Jnoz Tracey. Before them, mile after mile, spread the broad, level prairie, in Diaces like «n emerald carpet dotted with spangles ■of flowers of the rarest hue and beauty, •and again grown high with rank, heavy grass. The horses they role were rapid travelers, and within an hour, as they glanced backward, they saw no sign of their pursuers. “Your enemies havo either abandoned the chase, or the long grpss hides them,” remarked Darrel, as he allowed the horses to proceed more s'owly and glanced over tho fair mconlit picture spread before them, and then at the girl at his side. r Darrel Grey had led an adventurous li/e and had seen many fair women in many climes, but, he confessed, as he gazed at the lovely creature who was his companion ia flight, none so beautiful as Inez Tracey. Perhaps it was the novelty and excitement of their situation; perhaps it was because two earnest, ingenuous spirits ihad met and recognize 1 a magnetic congeniality in youth and beanty; but at all events, as their eyes met, love became mutual though unexpressed. Inez Tracey found an interested listener in Darrel Grey, when she briefly rekited her past and the events that lia<l •culminated in the adventure 6f the night. In return, Darrol told her who ho was —a surveyor sent West on business. He had become fascinated with a wild Western life, and had for some years been engaged in the iaw and mining business in California. He was about to return East in a few weeks, and quite by accident had come to the little station at Ten Spot, crossing thither in a stago coach from a mining settlement located in the mountains that day. Darrel briefly related tho episode of the wounded messenger, and moiestly referred to his adventure at the trestle. The deep blue eyes of Inez Tracey looked into his own, as she listened breathlessly to bis story of the attempted signal to the train. “We have been proceeding aimlessly, thinking only of evading our foes.” said Darrel, finally. “I am, in a measure, unacquainted in this locality except at the mining camps in the bills.” “I wished to reach Miner’s Gulch, if possible,” said Inez, “but I am at a loss to locate it.”

“Then you have been here before?” asked Darrel. “Yes; I came to see my father about five years ago. Since then I have been at school in California, which I left last week when I received a letter directing me to come here, and that a friend of my dead father would meet and care for me. ” “And this man whom you call Despard —he is a relative, you say?” inquired Darrel, curiously. “A very distant one of my father, who never liked him and warned me against him Last summer he met me at a summer resort, whither our teachers had taken us for a week’s vacation. I had met him at my father's ranch, beyond Miner’s Gulqh, and I never liked him. He annoyed me with his attentions, and left me very angry when I avoided h : m, and told him finally that I did not wish to continue the acquaintance, for I received a letter from my father warning me against him, and telling m i that Dyke Despard was plotting against him and myself, and that he was a renegade and an outlaw. “And since then?” asked Darrel. “I have never mot him until to-night, when you heard what he said, and know that he must have some deep object in preventing my going to the Gulch. ” “Then he will be disappointed for once, Miss Tracey,” said Darrel; “for we can find the place by morning. Ob, it Just occurred to me! You say you expected a friend to meet you at the depot?” “Yes; an old friend of my father; a mas who has been known in this region for years as a scout. His name is Banger Ralph.” “I have heard of him. Do you know him—that is, well enough to recognize him from description?” “I have not s.een him since I was a child. Ido not think I would. Why do you ask?” “Because I have an idea that these horses belong to him, and that he is the man who to'd me first of the trainwreckers. If this is so, the horses probably came from Miner’s Gulch, and we will allow them to proceed their own way. They may lead us to the very place to which you desire to go.” Darjel loosened the rudely improvised bridle and allowed the steeds to take their own course. They now began to leave tho prairie and finally entered a canyon, following the course of a little stream. “There seems to be a regular trail here,” said Darrel. “I beiieve we are on the right road at last, Miss Tracey.” “Ycju are taking a great deal of trouble for me,” murmured Inez, gratefully. “What! in .running away from the outlaw myself to a place "of safety?” laughed Darrel, bauteringly. “No, no; we were partners in peril at the railroad train, and but for you I might have remained and been killed As it is, as soon as I havo placed you out of danger, I will return and learn the fate of those who were attacked by the train wreckers. ” As they rode on, however, Darrel wished that such charming companionship could last always. The dawn had come while they were ■riding through the canyon. It was scarcely distinguishable from the moonlight as yet, but soon they knew the full day would break, • enabling them more accurately to determine their whereabouts. That the horses were leading them direct to Miners’ Gulch Darrel did not donbt; but a new discovery soon caused the animals to come under the guidanqe of Darrel again. For at a point where the canyon divided into several minor branches, the girl startled him with a low cry ot alarm. “What is it?” asked Darrel quickly. “Look!” He repeated her own ejaculation of -concern, as the advancing daylight showed an obstacle to their onward progress down the main canyon. Coming rapidly toward them from the direction in which they were going were four horsemen. The/were some distance away, but as Inez shnddered and paled, her escort knew that, like himself, she had reoognlzeti the leader of the quartette. “It is Despard and his men!” she gasp* ed, in tones of horror and alarm. “I fear so. Miss Tracey. ” “Aid they are coming straight toward «*. Oh, what shall we do!”

Darrel Grey had taken a revolver from his belt and a determined look came into his face. “Drive the horses around the rocks yonder so you will be sheltered, ” ho said, as he prepared to dismount. A trembling hand detained his own. “No, no! Atr Grey, you must not meet thjjsfi men, they arb armed and desperate, and four to one ” “I see no way except to meet and repel them,” taid Darrel, stanchly; “these 'mon have not come across us again by accident. ” “By design?” “Evidently. They know the country and knew we would probably come this way, and have intercepted us by reaching the canyon here in advance of us.” “Are we discovered?” “They cannot but have seen us. Miss Tracey, I beg of you to obey me, and leave mo here alone.” “But your peril—for my sake!” “I will not invite any unnecessary risk. Ride as rapidly as you can down on e of tho side canyons, and do not wait for me nor delay on my account. I will cover your escape and, once satisfied ypu are out of danger of recapture, will rejoin you unless you reach the gulch before I do so. ” Darrel cut loose the connecting strip of lasso as he spoke. Inez cast an anxious, longing glance at her brave protector. “Heaven g ant you may not be forced to meet Despard and his men!” she breathed fervently. “Fly!”-spoke Darrel, excitedly. 110 cou d see that the horsemen down the canyon ivero winding in and out the rocks as sapidiy as they could, and would soon reach the spot where he was. Dar.el dismounted and led the horse toward the shelter of a small c.ump of high, thick bushes Then ho hi i.self sele:ted a place of espionage and defense behind soma rocks. The four riders came into view as he caso a qu.ck glanoo down the canyon wheie Inez had gone. To liis surprise ho could observe no trace of her. “She mu-t have reached some diverging gulch and have pursued a new cour.-e, ” l.e decided. “At all events, she is not in sight for the bandits to discover ” Darrol lose ved to force no encounter with the latter unless necessity demanded it; for his single revolver would be a poor match for the full accouterments of his enemies. The hoofs of horses rang out sharply on the clear morning air, and the quartette rounded the last of the rocks which had temporarily shut out a view of the persons they tought. “Nowhere in sight, Despard,” spoke one of the men. “We certainiy saw them here,” remarked Danton. “Then they have taken the side canyons,” spoue Despard. , URntop laughed triumphantly. “They are our game if they have,” he said. “W hy so?” asked one of the men. “Because every last one of them ends in a blank wall.” Darrel Grey, from his place of concealment, started violently.

“What shall we do, Captain?” asked one of the men of Despard. “Divide. Here are four of these side canyons Down one of them our people have certainly gone.” “They are nowhere in sight. ” “They could have gone nowhere else. Let each man follow one of these side branches, and signal when he discovers them. ” “They will be found, never fear,” said Danton. “They thought to escape, but they are in a trap this time. Hold on, Vance.” The man he had addressed had started his horse toward the side canyon down which Inez had disappeared a few moments before. “Why, what’s the master?” “You needn't search that pass. ” “Not search it?” “fro. ” “Why not?” “It would be no use, and dangerous to yourself. That is Quicksand Gully. ” “I never heard of it before,” said Vance. “That’s because you don’t know the country as I do. The man who rides into the shifting sands at the endot that guliy never comes out again. ” The heart of the horrified watcher behind the rocks stood still. An appalled sense -of peril overwhelmed the startled Darrel Grey. “Quicksand Gully! Great heavens!” he gasped wildly. “Can this be true? The quicksands! Is that the meaning of the sudden disappearance of Inez Tracey?”

CHAPTER V. THE QUICKSANDS. “Help!” The cry rang out wild and alarmed, but it met no responsive echo from the gloomy depths of Quicksand Gully. It emanated from the lips of Inez Tracey, and announced precisely the peril to which Dauton had alluded—the quicksands! When Inez had iqft Darrel Grey she started down the side canyon, satisfied that to delay or disobey her brave protector would be only to enhance her own peril and to obstruct his movements against their enemies. “When he sees I am at a safe distance he will fol.ow me, and a conflict with Despard and Ms men may bo avoided,” murmured Inez hopefully. The horse she rode made rapid progress, but when she came to a point where the road bed of the gully narrowed and descended, the animal seemed loath to proceed. It was with difficulty that she induced the steed tp proceed, and. when he did so, she noticed tnat his footing was insecure and that there seemed no outlet beyond the narrow cut’ she had entered A little stream seemed to lose its way by a sinuous course around a sharp curve in her path, and, hopeful that beyond that the canyon might widen again, Inez urged tho horse over a sandy stretc i of soil. Above her the ledges of rocks frowned down ominously, and she felt a vague sense of uneasiness, as once or twice the horse came to a dead stop and neighed and trembled with a strange terror she eould not comprehend At last his fore feet sank deep in the sand; he made a desperate effort to lift his hoofs, and then, stumbling, came to a second stop, panting with fright and inability to proceed. “This is strange,” murmured Inez, concernedly. “The horse must be exhausted with tho long drive.” Her face became white as marble the next moment, however. She had made a sudden discovery, so startling and appalling that a low cry of dread escaped her lips. “The horsp is sinking!” Merciful heavens! I understand now!” she gasped “We are in the qhicksauds!” For a single moment the thought paralyzed every energy. She saw the horse flounder and try to free himself vainly, she feR the shifting sands incase her own feet, and then she made a desperate effort at escape. A blank despair settled down over her mind as she did so. Behind and on all sides of her the dawning day showed plainly tho full extent of her awful peril. A sickening dread possessed her, and her eyes closed In prayer as they fell upon the changing mass of sand, to step Upon which meant to ensnare herself more deeply in its grasp. “Help!” One single cry for aid, one last prayer to heaven, and Inez Tracey resigned

herself to a fate that seemed Inevitable! Meanwhile, in the mak canyon, Despard and nis men were searching every nook and corner in the branch gullies for the missing girl and her companion. The latter, Darrel Grey, knew but one impulse as he reca.lcd the terrible words of V’anco. Inez Tracey had rode on to peril, perhaps to death itsolf, and he knew that every moment of delay might be fatal to the devoted life of the girl he was fast learuing to love. He t'ou’d not secure the horse and lea'v'e the Spot unporceivod, however, for Despard and his men were In the vicinity. There was only one way to gain the side gully, down which Inez Tracey had disappeared. This was to crawl along the ground, and, reaching the dense undergrowth which abounded in the place, reach the edge of the roadway, ascend the deep side of the canyon which was not high at this point, and drop down on the other side. This Darrel started to do at once, and succeeded so far that five minutes later, with somo few bruises, he dropped into Quicksand Gully. His gait was a rapid one as he sped down the gully, taking the same course followed by Inez a few moments previously. A cry of mingled hope and suspense broke from his lips as he turned a point in the gully which enabled a view of the stream. Across the treacherous sandy bottom of tho gully he saw the missing girl. The horse had sunk deep into the shifting sands, and held the animal and its rider secure prisoners. “Inez! Miss Tracey.” cried Darrel, in agitated tones. A glad cry broke from the lips of the imperiled girl. Darrel comprehended the situation at a glance. He knew that to rush towards her over the sands would only be to involve himself in similar peril. He therefore began to climb the ledge of rocks by the side of the place, eagerly scanning the ground as he did so. Then, with his hunting knife, he cut a long length of heavy trailing vine. “Do not despair,” he cried down to Inez, as he leaned ovor the edge of the rocks. “I am about to ipwer a vine to you, seize it, and hold firmly to it” The girl grasped tho extended means of escape a minute later. \Vitn prodigious strength, nerved by love and courage, Darrel Grey pulled at the other end. He thriMed with wild delight as he observed that the effort freed Inez from the encroaching sand. She clutched at the shrubs on the rocky wall as she began to ascend. “Thank heaven, you are safe!” It was a wild, grateful aspiration that escaped Darrel’s lips, as he lilted Inez over the ledge, and telt her soft, clinging touch, and saw-the light of love and dovotion in her grateful eyes. The horse, relieved of the weight of its rider, made one last effort to free himself, floundered and turned. Then, with a wild neigh of delight at escape, the steed dashed down the canyon road in the direction whence it had come. [to be CONHNUED.|

Bait Fishing.

A very important trade in the small villages scattered along the coast of Newfoundland is that of selling bait, and in many cases the catching of it forms the sole employment of the majority of men in those localities. Very early in the year the first bait purchased by the cod-fishers is frozen herring. The fish are caught iu seines, by the liviers, as the natives call the bait dealers. They are frozen and placed in the vessel’s hold, where they are covered up and thus kept fresh for three or four weeks until the weather becomes too warm to allow of their use. Theii it becomes necessary to pnt ice on the bait, which is placed in pens in the hold, a layer of chopped ice being spread between each layer of herring. About the middle of June a change in baiting is made, capelin—a small fish greatly resembMng the smelt—being used. These are captured in small drag-seines made especially for the purpose. They are stowed away in the same manner as the herring, large quantities of ice being broken into small pieces and spread over them in the bait pens. The most popular form of bait, however, is the squid. The liviers first begin angling for them in the latter part of July and continue until they disappear in Ofctober. At the beginning of the season they are taken in enormous quantities, so many being caught that in a single day a vessel can secure 30,000 or 40,000 of them without stopping in the harbor long enough to make it necessary to haul down her sails. The method of procuring this variety of bait is quite interesting, the only apparatus being a kind of hook called a jig. This consists of a stout line secured to a lead cylinder three inches long, fastened to which are several stout pins bent upward. fro bait is used, the jig being let down into the wadsr and kept constantly in motion in imitation of a small fish. A squid will throw its long tentacles around, the jig and immediately become canght in the pins, when it is dextrotasly hauled into the boat. Squids have a very unpleasant habit when being thns landed of discharging a stream of salt water into the faces of their captors, and this is almost instantly followed by a jet of dirty, black, ink-like substaflee. As a matter of course this is decidedly disagreeable, even to a weather-beaten squid-fisher. Occasionally giant squids are caught, some specimens beiDg so bnlky as te furnish bait for two vessels—an amount equal to 60,000 to 70,000 of the small variety. Salted clams are very frequently utilized for baiting purposes, and very often birds —such as the hagdon or great puffin, noddy and stormy petrel —serve the same purpose. These birds are caught with a hook and line, and upon being pulled on beard are killed with clubs. When bait runs short, fish entrails—called “gurry" by the fishermen—are called into requisition. In addition to these, lady-fish, lant, fish eggs, alewives, porgies, pickled menhaden, jrellow fish and salmon are used by both the trawlers and hand-line fishers on the Banks. When the time comes for ns to wake out of the dreams of the world’s sleep, why should it be otherwise than out of dreams of the night? Singing of birds, first broken and low, as, not to “dying eyes,” but to eyes that wake to life, “the oasement slowly grows a glimmering square,” and then the gray, and then the rose of dawii; and last the light, whose going forth is to bo the ends of the heaven.— RusMn. Wool— Mv cook left to-day in spite of all I could do. Van Pelt—What was the trouble ? Wool—The children annoyed her; I offered ,to kill the children, but she was afraid the authorities would detain her as a witness. The difference between an ordinary balloon and a “flying machine” is that the former does ascend and the latter does not.

BY POST AND WIRES

COMES THIS BATCH OF INDIANA NEWS. A Catalogue of the Week’s Important Occurrences Throughout the State Fire*. Accidents. Crimes. Suicides. Eta. Contagious Diseases Prevalent. Secretary Metcalf, of the State Board of Health, has issued a circular to the town, city and county health officers, urging them to bo particular in enforcing the rules passed by tho State Board with references to scarlatina and diphtheria, as those diseases are raging considerably in many localities in the State. In some places it has been found necessary to close the public and private schools. The duty of the health officer does not end with the mere posting of the required notice on the liouso that a disease is prevailing within, but a rigid quarantine on such houses must bo maintained so long as the disease exists. The Board has received knowledge of cases during the past few months where the funerals of persons who havo died of scarlet fever and diphtheria havo been held publicly. Becauso such funerals are hold in the home and not in a church does not make tho affair private, if tho public is allowed to attend just the same. Tho county boards of health failing or refusing to promulgate or enforce all the rules and regulations of the State Board of Health in their respective counties shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and the Secrotary of any board of health shall be placed liable to a tine of SIOO on first offense, and imprisonment for ninoty days on the second. Bllnor Statn Items. A petrified human head lias beer* found in Jasper. Teachers of Floyd County, will hold a joint institute at New Albany, Doc. 6. They have corn-husking parties in Shelby’ County. Of course, the rod ear goes. Daviess County jail is crowded with alleged murderers, house-burners, and burglars. Georoe Crawford, brakeman at Seymour, was fatally crushed while making a coupling. By the burning of George Kern’s farm near Frankfort, six horses were roasted. Loss. $2,000. The Presbyterians have dedicated a handsome new church building at Mount Moriah, near Spencer. Ike Bush, who was badly hurt in a runaway at South Bend lust week, is dead from his injuries. The American Coping and Glass Cresting Company has been organized at Anderson. Capital $40,000. Duck shooting is not very good in tho Kankakee marshes any more. Too many people have been hunting there.

Mb. P. R. Stoy. of Now Albany, has been superintendent of the Wesley Chapel Suud ay-school forty years. Three National banks in Greensburg havo filed suit in court to keep the Auditor from increasing their taxes. James C. Blacki.idoe, of Kokomo, gave a severe whipping to Charles H. Bliss, editor of the Industrial Union. Casper Mohr, Evansville, was scaldiug hogs, when he fell into a vat filled with hot water and was badly scalded. Philip Kreigbaum, an agricultural implement dealer at Huntington, was thrown from his buggy and received fatal injuries. Thieves effected an entrance Into the residence of Charles Resch, in Clarksville, and carried away a quantity of provisions. The forest fires near South Bend havo been controlled by farmers. Tho damage to the farmers in St- .Joseph County will be considerable. Rev. David Harold Snowdown, pastor of the Blrst Congregational Church at Kokomo, has been admitted to the bar in.that County. Charles Riley, aged 15, noar North ' l7 ernon, while attending the Grandview School, attempted to force a pencil point into a dynamite cartridge. In the explosion his hand was torn to pieces. The bones of a mastodon were found in a swamp near Wabasli by some ditch diggers.. The skeleton has been mounted and is on exhibition. It stands thirteen feet high and is nineteeu and a half feet long. Charles Horxback, of Lawrenceburg, attempted to stop a runaway team and he was knocked down and trampled upon. His arm, collar-bone and four ribs were broken, and his head was badly disfigured. The farmers all over Floyd and adjoining counties attribute tho recent destructive forest fires to tho carclessnoss of hunters, and are forming associations for the purpose of prosecuting all persons found trespassing on their farms. Gov. Hovey has pardoned Emmet Wilson, a boy sent up from Indianapolis for five years for burglary. His term had half expired. A singular feature of Wilson’s case was that it was his own father, who was a policeman, who ar rested him. The Trustees of Wabash College will meet during tho week before Christmas, and it is currently reported that the coeducational committee, appointed at the meeting last June, will make a favorable report. There is some decided opposition to it, however, but the indications are that the champions of co-education will win. Water in the mineral wells at Orleans has suddenly ceased to flow. Ever since theso wells were first in operation, about a year ago, a very large constant stream has been forced upward and considerably above the surface in pipes by natural pressure. The wells are owned by a stock company and have attracted a great number of people during the summer by their supposed curative powers. Some think that dry weather has caused the stoppage of the flow, as many cisterns and springs have gone dry. Indiana papers are all saying, “Now for Thanksgiving.” One editor says he has only one pair of shoes and a new shirt to give thanks for'this year. James Picket’s case against the town of North Vernon has been changed to Columbus. The man was thrown from his buggy by a chuck-hole ip the road and badly injure!. He asks SIO,OOO damages. Because Win. Snyder’s wife, Columbus, donated $20,000 of her first husband’s money to the Hartvlile College, Wirian got mad and tried to have her adjudged insane. She was proven not ciazy and now wants a divorce. George Derby and his wife, who moved to Fort Wayne in October, are found to be a runaway couple, Derby havinß deserted a wife and several children at Bort Byron N. Y., and the woman having left Dr. A. Bordon and three children at the same place. At the Prison South is the largest and best equipped prison library in the country. It contains 3,500 volumes, all purchased with what is kr.owu as the library fund, which is raised from the fee of 25 cents paid by each visitor shown through the penitentiary. There will be 500 volumes added to the number now on hand in a short time, and next year several hundred dollars more wilt be expende’’

Til* fcoundaries of Wabash will be extended. Parties killed a wild cat Id Crawford County. More weddings occur at Noblesville than any other place. Dr. John P. Brown is dead at Martlnsvillo of pneumonia. Several boats have stock in the mud in the harbor at Michigan City. A new paper is being published at Cannelton called the Telcphohe. llellol The Citizens’National Bank at Crawfordsville has moved into new quarters. Mrs. James Buskirk. Anderson, bas trichiniosis from eating a Diece of ham. Enoch Able, 14, shot an eaglo near Jasper, which measured six feet from tip to tip. A fi.ag has been hoisted at the school house in Darlington, aud all the people are rejoicing. A car wheel weighing 700 pounds fell on Emil Farber’s foot at Fort Wayne and broke it. Georoe R. Matlock and his sen have been White-capped near Kurtz by twelve masked men. The Bosserman homestead, near La Porto, was destroyed by Are, causing a loss of 85,000. The largest Good Templar Lodge in Indiana is at Raub, where there are 155 active members. That 8200,000 fund has been raised at Muncie to secure factories. Thu town is full of wild men. Some thief took time enough to steal a clock from the wall of Dr. Sanford’s office, Terre Haute. William Farmer, intoxicated, was run down and killed by thecars between English and TaswelL Lewis Adkins of, Seymour, was crushed to doath by a falling tree near Isaac’s saw-miil, east of town. J. A. Johnson, a big furniture dealer at LaPorte, has made an assignment. Liabilities and assets unknown. The strikers on the Midland railroad tied up the rolling stock until the company has been brought to time; A skeleton and a pair of largo deer horns have been dug up on H. A. Cottingham’s farm, near Noblesville; Brcwnsbcirg, Morgan County, was nearly wiped out by lire. The lbss beihg i 25,000 with only $5,000 insurance. A four-foot vein of coal within sixteen feet of the surface lias boon found 1 at Steamboat Landing, Ripley County. At Greensboro, John Cook had his hand shot to pieces by a young Mr. Woods. The boys were rabbit hunting. Mrs. Margaret Bowman, aged 88, of Seymour, is dead, a fall which she received some weeks- ago hastening the end. Freeman Shrill, a farmer residing near Fortvlllo, suddenly became insano and was removed to- tho Central Insane Asylum. A wooden spittoon Is said to have caused W. ,T. Grover’s grocery store to born at Shelbyvllle. Down with wooden spittoons! A tramp was caught in a Marion kitchen when tho cook ordered him away. He exclalmod that he would have a scrap first. Mrs, Dora Adams, an agod and respectod woman of Evansville, whose husbano died some timo ago, committee suicide from grief. Charles Buchanan was fatally Injured at Valparaiso by being caught between two buffers and almost literally crushed to death. Smith Bai.skh, yardmaster of tho Pennsylvania railroad at Madison, was stricken with paralysis and now lies in a critical condition. Dr. Hiram M. Ashy, a druggist of Genena, and Thomas Manley, of the same place, have boon arrested for criminal malpractice. Mack Wright, residing near Dunkirk, was arrested and taken to Portland, where he was held under 8400 for stealing twenty-five bushels of wheat. Daniel Smith, a boy near Alamo, Montgomery County, died from wounds received from the discharge of a gun he was carrying while running from the house.

Loris Kasper, John Lang, John Ryan. Ed. Mezer, and Josse Ross, of Evansville!, en route South seeking work, were victims of a railway wreck near Nashville, in which all wero Injured. Musgrave, who tried to swindle a life Insurance company out of *25,000 Insurance bv putting a skeleton In his house and then setting lire to It at Terre Haute some time ago, has beon captured, at St. Paul, Minn. Two convicts in the Prison South had the shackles removed from them by virtue of executive clemency, which Gov. Hovey extended. They are James Douglass and Edwin Kellis. ‘Both were sent up from Morgan County, in September, 1890, to serve three years each for burglary. Owing to the protracted drouth which has prevailed.in Southern Indiana a genuine water famine has set In, and hundreds of people are compelled to go> miles to the Ohio River for their supply. Wells and springs which have never been known to fall, are as dry as a pocket, and there are but lew cisterns that can be depended upon for any lengthof time. Thore Is groat suffering among stock on account of the drouth, which has tong since dried up every creek and running stream. A horrible accident was narrowly averted In a manner next to providential at Muncle. While William Sutton, 14 years old, was dumping dirt Into a bin \ that feeds a hopper at Mock Brothers’ I brick-yard, the boy got his left foot caught between two cast-iron rollers and was being drawn into the machine through a space of one inch, when the belt luckily broke and stopped the wheels. The other employes were at work some distance below the boy in a pit, and could not have got to his rescue until his flesh wou«d have been ground up with the mud and pressed Into brick. His leg was mashed half way to the knee where it was amputated. A mysterious animal, supposed to be a wild-eat or panther, has been devouring sheep, hogs and small stock near the Loblolly swamp, which extends through a portion of Jay and Adams counties. Burglars are reported as having made a clean haul at the Atklnsvllle postoffice, taking all the stamps, supplies, and a largo share of merchandise in the same room. William Bowmax. a 50-year-old resident of Morgan County, assaulted i his 10-year-old grand-daughter, and was taken from home by W’hite Caps and beaten with hoop-poles into insensibility. Citizens of Memphis believe natural gas can be found beneath that place. The place Is only ten miles north of Louisville, and people there are Investigating the matter. Hugh Patterson, a farmer, of Webster Township, Harrison County, went to New Middletown, and became Intoxicated. On his way home he Stopped at a straw stack, and, after sleeping awhile, arose and undertook to light bis pipe. He could not stand upon his legs and fell down, the lighted match dropping from his band and setting the straw on tire. He managed to crawl away from the burning stack, but not until be bad been so booty burned that he has sinco died from the effects.

IT DOES NOT SMOKE.

Samples of the Improved Powder Br might from Europe. Some months ago the War Department sent a special agent abroad to get samples of the different smokeless powders used by the European powers. While the idea was good, says tha New York World, the task gvas hopeless from the start. The war depart* ments of France, England and Gen many make their smokeless powdel and no outsider can enter theli factories, mqcli less get samples ol their powders. The process of manufacture is considered a state secret. Even active officers of the countries named have to apply for special permission to visit a powder mill belonging to their governriient. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that the United States agent found it impossible to get samples of the%mokeless powder used

GERMAN WALSRODE SMOKELESS POWDER.

In tho armies of France, England and Germany. All he could do was to buy samples from private powder mills. This-lie did, and lie brought back samples- of the English Maxim and Houghton, the French 13. N., the German Noble and Walsrode and the Belgium Werdencn, All these have been tested by nearly every European Government and found not satisfactory, in spito of the improvements made upon thorn. Each company assured the agent that its powder was tho best and that it would liko to supply the Ignited States Government with as much smokeless powder us tho whole army could puff away. Ciiptain Blunt, of Springffeid, at the head of tho board of army officers for testing tho new magazine rlilu to bo introduced into our army, was assigned to thoroughly test these powders. According to Captain Blunt’s report all the smokeless powders brought from Europo, as well as tho one manufactured by tho United States navy, is valueless for use in small ilrcarms such as infantry rifles. The forco of smokeless powder is much greater than than that of ordinary gunpowder, because of the high explosive character of tho substances used. Its combustion ia so rapid that one grain more than the normal chargo of a cartridge will cause an increase of 15,000 pounds pressure to the square inch in the breech of a gun. Unfortunately the most skillful hand cannot measure a powder charge to tho nicety of a grain, more or less. Tho Increased pressure causes an increased velocity of the missile, and as by far tho largest number of cartridges will be a trifle irregular in weight, tho produced pressure and tho actual velocity of each bullet will differ. With such material marksmanship would become a farce, and an infantry body forced to use it might as well throw rifles away and essay to hit the enemy with a baton. Only a few trials have been made to establish tho value of the sample* of smokeless powder for large guns. The 8-inch breech-loading steel rifle, the smallest of the American big guns at Sandy Hook, was tired a couple of

FRENCH B. N. SMOKELESS POWDER.

times with the German WaLsrode. The results, In a measure, surprised the experimenting officers. The nottnal charge of ordinary powder for an 8-inch rifle la 130 pounds. Only forty-five pounds ol the German smokeless powder were used, and the low pressure of 30,000 pounds per square inch to the breech of the gun, with extraordinary velocity of over 2,000 feet per Second was obtained. Taking Into consideration that the full charge of 130 pounds of ordinary powder, with a pressure qf at least 35,000 pounds to the square inch would not have given more than 1,750 or 1,800 feet velocity, It would seem that this smokeless powder has some good qualified. All these foreign powders have been carefully analyzed, but their composition remains a secret. It has been Impossible to determine the chemical bases of some of the compound ingredients, and until this is done It will be hard for our powder-makers to Improve upon these products. Thy value of smokeless powder In warfare is beyond dispute. The War Department seems to Realize this, add the ordnance department does at present, with its limited means, all it can to keep abreast with the progress of modern times. This government should follow the example of foreign powers and establish laboratories, placing them in charge of skilled chemists, who might study the smokeless powder question thoroughly. The French smokeless powder has the appearance of thin sheets of glue, which are cut in strips two inches long and half an inch wide. The charge is bound together with a string and then put into the gun. The German Walsrode is cut in cubes onethird of an Inch square. It is dark black and under the knife acts like soap. A thin piece cut from it is almost transparent. One of the chief components of all smokeless powder is now nitro-cellulose, which seems to have transplanted the straw cellulose. The national emblem of Russia Just now should he a turkey gobbler.

CURRENT COMMENT.

(Miners and Convicts. Ji? all of' the other States In which tbs ccwm'.-ts are 'eased the same 1 sue will be made that hft» been made in Ten-nes-ce, and the p eOtfe of these States! should begin at once to consider how settle it«—fe'avanuah News. Tho trouble at Bricevilio, Tenn , wa» to be expected, and no emo can be surprised at it The State was duly warned, and should baro made some preparation, for an outbreak that was inevitable.— New Orleans Times-Democrat If it takes the whole power of the State—every man and every dollar —the Governor should call out the one and expend the other in bringing the perpetrators of the arson and attempted murder at Briceville to justice.—Memphis. Commercial. The news from Bricevilio and Oal Creek, Tenn.. i-hould mrpri-o no one. It is the legitimate outcome of the failure of tho Legislature of that State to take act! n, at Its lecent extra sess’on,. In lefeienco to the convict lease system; as it now stands. —New Orleans Delta. The greatest insult ever thrown in theteeth of Tennesser was that which :i,OOO armed arid rebellions miners porpetoatert in overpowering State employes and turning loose State convicts. No rtep should be left untaken to wipe out most effectually such insult.—Nashville American. Thera is no justification for the acta of violence on the part of tho free labor minors nor for the liberation of the convicts. That was lawlessness, but there Is little- doubt that the acts of these enraged inen will have a very wholesome effect upon the people of Tennessee.— Minneapolis Journal. \ Tho action of the Tonnessoe miners In wiping out the convict camp at Bricevlllo and releasing the prisoners cannot he justified, it is dangerous to appeal to violence. It Is nothing short of revolution, and revolution Is never Justifiable until all other remedies have been exhausted.—Atlanta Constitution. The Brlcoville miners, having successfully routed the Tennessee militia and lot loose a numbrr of (onvlcts from tho Brlcoville stockades* are justly esteemed a courageous and formidable body. Why not sentence them' to transportation for a term of mouths and make Chill their destination?—Milwaukee Sentinel.

One Hundred Miles an Hour. With such achievements Edison Is worthy of all tho decorations and enconlums showered upon him—Philadelphia Press. The Koely motor will have to hurry If it wants to keep Inventor Edison from wiping out Its last slim cbanco.—Washington Star. Edison has just completed an electrical dovlco for producing a speed on railroad trains of 100 miles an hour. All that (s needed to make Hu invention a welcome ono la a perfectly secure salety attachment—l oston News. Mr. Edison promise* to give us a motor that will make the speed of a railroad train 100 miles an hour. This will entirely blot out tho lands-apo, and suggests that some of tho “blessings of civilization’’ are dearly bought.—Now York World. Edtem has a company ready to exploit his latest application of electricity to rapid transit, and several railways have offered their tracks for the purpose. The wor d will soon know what tho now Invention is worth.—Philadelphia Inquirer. Edison says his new system of applying oloctrleity for traction purposes makes it possible to run railway trains at u speed of 100 miles an hour, or even faster if equipment aud roadbed can be made strong enough What the world now waits for is the practical demonstration of this assert!*©.— Providence Telegram. When Mr. Edison agrees to furnish a motor that will speed a railroad train 100 miles an hour, has he provided a ballasted track that will stand such going** After wo have successfully attained a uniform rate of a mile a minute on our railroads It may be questionable If comfort or necessity calls for any greater speed.—Romo Sentinel. Edison, the oloctrlc wizard, seems to labor under the improssfon that we are not traveling quite fast enough, and now comes to the front with a new electric motor that will enable railroads to speod at the rate of 100 miles an hour. This will help a man to sail Into tho unknown regions of eternity with lightning grace and ease.—Cincinnati Enquirer.

More “Artificial" Shower*. An “Artificial Ra'n Producing Company," with six Stevens County “capitalists” for directors, has a cloudy look. It Is to bo feared nothing will be watered but the stock.—Kansas City Star. The Government rain experiments in Texas have proved a sublime failure. But the money has been paid out all the same. Why not expend a few millions in an effort to soe whether a man can pull himself up by the straps of his boots?—Cincinnati Enquirer. Dyrenfnrth and Melbourne have a rival In irrigation that beats them all. It Is the California earthquake. It starts artesian wells and fountains and rivers, not only of cold water, but of hot, which, the rainmakers do not pretend they can furnish —Dotrolt Journal. Already rival rainmakers are exchanging charges that the one Is stealing the other’s thunder. As all stealing savors of sin, it may be recalled in this connection that the most thorough case of ralnmaklng on record was caused by the world’s sin—stealing Inclusive—some 4,000 years ago —Philadelphia Times. The Russian Navy. Russia has launched three new ironsides, Is leading her armies up to the “roof of the world” In Pamir, and has been sending war transports out at the Dardanelles all summer. And yet we are told there is no prospect of war la Europe.—Baltimore Herald. Russia has just launched three new ironclads, one of them of immense size If the English-German-Austrian combination expects to have its own way with Russia and France on the water. It might do weil to commence operations pretty soon. —Denver tun. The Russians are getting quite a navy for a country with but one western seaport, and that closed by ice more than half the year. The launching of the three Ironclads will cause the naval authorities of Germany to take a careful glance over their lists of modern war ships —Providence Telegram. Great in Dogs. The official dog census of New YorK City shows the canine population of that burg to be 38,503.—Louisville Commercial. New York City’s dog census havinn been completed, the valuable information is at hand that the metropolis haa 36,503 dogs of all klnua That is about one dog to evory forty inhabitants.— Rome Sentinel. A census of New York City dogs has been taken, showing that they number 36,503. This is a large number to think: of, but it Is only at the rate of about one dog to forty inhabitants, which would seem very is said that every poor man keeps one dog and every very poor man keeps two. ■—Albany Express; 1 !