Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1892 — Page 3

ROYAL RANGER RALPH; OR The Waif of the Western Prairies.

BY WELDON J. COBB.

CHAPTER XIX. THE MODOCS. Walford, the old hermit, started Slightly as Inez stepped before him. He peered anxiously, curiously into her face, and then seized her hand, his impressive face ag ow with sidden emotion. “Yes," he murmured, “it is indeed tho daughter of my o d friend —I could not mistake that face ” Inez stood with downcast eyes and pallid countenanced did not reply to his words. DespariL hissed but one menacing sentence her shrinking ear: “Remember your promise!” he breathed fiercely. “Your lover dies if you fail me now.” Then aloud he said to Walford: “You are satisfied that this is Inez Tracey?” The hermit bowed assentingly. “She has a letter from her father written just previous to his death If you wish to seo it she will show it to you." “I wouid like to see it.” Inez produced a missive she had received some weeks before. The hermit perused it, returned it .to her and asked, “This gentleman is your intended husband?” For a moment Inez faltered. She seemed about to deny tho query when she met the fierce, threatening glance of her captor. “Yes,” she gasped, almost inaudibly. “And you wish mo to deliver to him the trust left me to execute by your dying father?” “If you will. ” Warford drew a time-worn paper from his breast. “In this document,” he said, “your father left his fortune to you in my charge. The fortune consists of lands in California near the sea coast, which are already deeded to you, and a description of which is contained in this paper. ” He handed Despard the document as he spoke. “These lands,” he continued, “are comparatively worthless; but, besides them, Mr. Tracey left a fortune in tangible shape. It comprises a casket containing diamonds, into which he converted his wealth in Peru; diamonds which, while they only fi.l a small metal box, repre sent a value exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. ” “And you have these diamonds’” asked Despard eagerly. “Yea My friend Tracey told me to deliver them to his daughter. I now do so ”

The hermit retired to a darkened portion of the apartment,-and was gone for some moments. When he returned he bore a small black box in his hand. The avaricious eyes of Despard gleamed with secret exultation. The coveted fortune of the Traceys was within his grasp at last, and he could scarcely contain himself for joy. The old scout, a silent and interested spectator of all that had transpired within the past few moments, was terribly excited. He saw the apparent accomplishment of all Dyke Despard’s evii plans. He saw the Tracey fortune wrested from its rightful owners, to enrich a desperate villain. He saw .Inez the wife of tho renegade. He resolved to act boldly. Drawing his revolver he sprang past the bandits. “Hold!” His voice was clear and commanding. The startled Despard recoiled. Ranger Ralph had wrested the casket from his grasp just as‘ the old hermit had handed it to him. “Walford, do you not know mo? It is I—Ranger Ralph!” A cry of amazement broke from the old hermit’s lips. “You!” he cried. “Yes, yes. Youder man is Dyke Despard, the outlaw, and the girl is acting under his threats. ” “Down him!” The enraged Despard shouted the order to his men 1 hoarsely. He himself sprang upon the scout as he spoke. The box fell with a changing sound from the hand of Ranger Ralph to the hard stone floor of the cavern. The other outlaws to press forward to aid their companion and leader, when a sudden episode diverted them from their purpose. < > A lithe form, that of a yyoman,. darted suddenly into view. Springing from a dark corner of the cave,’ she revealed the face and figure of White Fawn, the Indian princess. She glided to where De'-pard and the scout were struggling in deadly combat. With one blow she drove a knife into the back of the outlaw leader. Then, stooping, she seized the box of jewels and disappeared like-a flash down one of the dafk cdrrfddrs bf the place. With a cry of pain and rage Dyke Despard staggered back. “Shoot them down!” he cried hoarsely to his men as he retreated to their ranks. The old hermit seized the scout as the latter was about to spring forward to rescue Inez. At the same moment the outlaw fired at them. “This way,” spoke the hermit quickly. He drew Ranger Ralph out of range of the bullets of their foes. “Follow me, ” he oi dered. “But the girl!” “You cannot rescue her now. ” Walford had darted down a dark corridor. Suddenly he paused. A series of savage yells emanated from the apartment they had just left. They were mingled with the alarmed cries of the bandits. Loud reports of continuous firing awoke all the silent echoes of the place. “What doe 3 that mean?” demanded the mystified scout “The Indians ” “Modocs?” “Yes. They have penetrated the cave. See! They are coming this way. Hasten, old friend and partner, I have a safe retreat if we can only reach it in time ” The truth flashed across Ranger Ralph’s mind as he obeyed his companion and stumbled down a dark corridor. White Fawn, he reasoned, had reached the tribe, and they had returned with her to wreak vengeance on the renegades. In this theory, however, the old scout was only in a measure correct What had really happened was this: White FaW’n had rode toward the place where she supposed the Moiocs were encamped. She had seen her father and had told him all the cruel story of her wrongs. Within an hour the warriors were aware of Despard’s treachery, and were on the war-path, wild with emotions of revenge and rage. One hour after Despard had left the outlaw stronghold with Inez Tracy, the savages arrived there. The bandits left behind fell immediate victims to the vengeance of the Modocs, but White Fawn managed to Induce her lather to spare Darrel Grey. Provided with & horse, he was led out

out of sight of the tribe by the chief and told to hasten to some of the settlements, as the savages were b'ooithirsty and intoxicated, and he could not restrain them. The Fawn then led them after Despard. She was the first to enter the cave of the old hermit, and as has been seen she secured the diamond casket and fled. She was lurking in one of the numerous corridors of the cave when the Modocs penetrated to the p'ace. A scene of the wildest confusion ensued. The savages attacked the renegades mercilessly. The a armed Inez was borne away captive by two of the Indians. Despard had disappeared mysteriously at tho very commencement of the attack. The wily outlaw leader foresaw his peri l , and, wounded as he was, managed to escape. Shadow Snake ordered a thorough search for the Crow, and by accident the savages went down the corridor where the hermit and Ranger Ralph had gone Wa'ford g anted back as ho heard the savages. “They are following us,” he said to his companion. “Is there a way out of the place?” “There is a place of safe refuge for us, yes,” replied the hermit. “As to these savages, we will stop their pursuit. ” “How?” “That you shall see.” The hermit had halted at a place where tho corridor widened. Watching his grim features silently, the scout saw him draw a keg fiom a recess in the rock. Walford p'aced it across the corridor. A minute later a flaring, spluttering fuse, emitting brilliant sparks, told the scout that the old hermit intended in a a summary manner to close the pursuit of their savage fees.

CHAPTER XX. THE HOUSE IN THE AIR. “Powder!” ejaculated Ranger Ralph, as the hermit hurried him from tho spot. “Exactly. The Indians would have overtaken us, and we had to cut off our retreat ” “Have we done it?” “Wait and see. ” Tho corridor they were pursuing,came to an end at last. It terminated* at a shelf of rocks overlooking a little ravine that was a branch of the main canyon. So precipitous was the descent, and so frail the area of the rock they had reached, that the scout looked dismayed. “I see no way of escape,” he remarked. “Wait.” Both stood silent for some moments. Suddenly there was a deafening explosion. “The powder?” “Yes. ” “You believe it will block up our retreat?” “I am sure of it.” “And now how are we going to leave here?” “Look out and see.” Ranger Ralph advanced to the edge of the rock. He uttered a cry of interest and delight, as his eyes met a curious spectacle. From the rock a dead tree ran like a bridge across to a high perpendicular column of rock. Twenty feet beyond this was another rock. Between the two, he!d firmly in place, was a rude, dilapidated hut formed of logs. “That is my retreat,” said Walford. “And a safe and strange place it is,” remarked the scout. “But how did that house ever come there?” “It was built by me ten years ago, when the two rocks were one. ” “I understand. ” “Gradually they crumbled away. ” * “And left the house between them’” “Exactly. ” “Is it safe?” “For the present, yes. Some day it will go crashing down. Cross over on the tree. ” A few minutes later they had reached the first rocks. Thence thay gained admittance to the hut. It was a singular place, indeed. From the window thoy could look for many miles down the ravine. Beneath them was an open space lor many hundred feet. The hut seemed tightly wedged in between the two rocks. “What do you intend to do?” asked the scout, after a careful survey of the strange surroundings.

“Remain here for a while.” “Until the Indians go away?” “Yes. ” “But the girl?” “Wo will think about that later. We can do nothing by precipitate action. ” “You saw the Indian girl?” asked tho scout “I saw a quick form dart thiough the cave and secure tho diamonds, yes.” “It was White Fawn.” “And an enemy—one of tho Modoc spies?” “Nc, a friend.” “She has disappeared. ” “But she will return the diamonds. ” And Ranger Ralph related what he knew of the Indian princess. For over an hour the two men discussed the situation. It was just coming on nightfall, when tho scout happened to glance from tho window. “Look!” he said. The hermit hastened to his side. The valley below them was filled with Indians. They could see that the savages were about to camp In tho ravine for the night. Among them the scout made out the girl prisoner, Inez Tracey. “See,” he said, “the girl is safe.” “Yes, and W 9 will rescue her if they remain for the night.. Too late! We aro discovered.” Botn men drew back from the window hastily. Evidently they had been seen by some of the Indians in the valley below. They could see them point to the strange house in the rocks. Then several shots were fired at them. “I am sorry they saw us,” remarked Walford. “Thoy cannot injure us. ” “Perhaps not; but they will try to dislodge us. ” “They are trying it already, cried Ransrer Ralph excited y. “What do you mean?” “Look yonder. ” “At the tree bridge?” “Yes. ” A cry of alarm parted the hermit’s lips. On the shelving rock were several Indians just about to cross the treebridge that led to the strange house in the air.

CHAPTER XXI. NIGHT ADVENTURES. The attention of the two bordermen was now entirely centered upon the tree that had crossed the ravine. At exactly the place whence the scout had first seen the house in the air, several savages were visible. The explosion in the cave had evidently only temporarily blocked their progress. So far, apparently, they had not seen the occupants of the cabin, but as they regarded the strange hut and pointed to it, the hermit knew that they meditated a visit “They must not come here,” he said to his companion. “Of course not,” replied the scout; “but how are we going to prevent them?” “Get your revolver ready. ” “All right.” “Now take a position by this rock,*

Hanger Ralph did as directed. “If any of them attempt to cross, firs at them,” said Walford. “And you?” “I am going lo destroy the means of access to our place of refuge. ” “Aud cutoff our own retreat!” “ifotatall. There is an outlet by the other rook.” The scout remained on guard behind the rock. The old hermit crept cautiously toward the spot where the dead tree rested on the first cliff of stone. Ranger Ralph could observe all the movements of the savages without being seen. He saw one of them finally make a movement as if to cross the impromptu bridge. The scout drew a bead on him and tired. The astonished Moooc fell back with a cry of pain. His companions, too, retreated further into the cave. They were completely mystified at the strange attack. Their 'bewilderment increased when they saw the tree go hurtling down the ravine. The hermit had pushed one end clear of the rock, and it fell, depriving the savages of any opportunity of crossing to the rock. A minute later he rejoined the scout. “There is no danger to be apprehended from our enemies that way?" “None. ” “They may fire at us. ” “The rock intervenes, and they cannot reach us. No, they will soon retire from the cave as they came. ” “And then?" “An attack from below, I presume.” “That won’t amount to much. ” “I don’t know,” remarked Walford concernedly. “Now they have discovered us, they will exercise all their cunning to dislodge and.destroy us." For over an hour, however, there was no especial commotion visible in the valley below. The Modocs had moved their camp farther down the valley. Quite a party of them had sought shelter behind some rocks directly under the cabin. From their frequently pointing to the cabin the hermit and the scout realized that they were forming somo plan of assault. Ranger Ralph looked anxiously but vainly among the savages for some sign of White Fawn. He believed that she could Induce Shadow Snake to cease hostilities if she was there. The Modoc Drincess, however, was nowhere to be seen. As the scout learned later, she had mot with adventures that prevented her appearing to her friends for many a long day. Finally, just at dusk, the Modocs below were joined by several more savages. “Thoy are the Indians who tried to cross on the tree,” explained Walford. Their enemies seemed to discuss the question excitedly. They separated, but the watching men in their strange eyrie could see that they were disposing themselves for a combined attack upon the cabin In tho air. The hut was perhaps a hundred feet from the ground. The savages first began to fire at tho windows of the cabin. Then, realizing that this was a useless expend ture of powder and ball, they ceased all hostilities for somo time. [to be continued.]

Our Railroads.

The marvelous growth of railroads in the United States is shown by the following statement, which gives the mileage finished at the close of the decades named: Miles, 1830 23 1840.. 2,818 1850.. 9,021 1860 80,180 1870 62,922 1880 08,296 1830 166,817 August, 1831 ; 170,003 The aggregate capitalization of these roads represented by their share capital and funded and unfunded debt reaches the enormous sum of $10,600,000,000, or a little more than $60,000 a mile. In rolling stock there is an average of one locomotive engine and one passenger car for every five miles of track and seven freight cars for every mile of track. Our estimate of the rate of increase in the wealth of our country to-day is $2,200,000,000 a year, or at the rate of $6,000,000 a day, and an average of $1,100,000 of this wealth goes daily into the expansion of our railroad system. We now have nearly one half of the railroad mileage of the world. It is a fact that the cost of carrying freight and passengers has steadily grown less in the past twenty-five years, greatly to the benefit of the people, as the decrease has tended to cheapen the necessaries of life. If a barrel of flour is now carried a thousand miles for sixty cents when twenty-five years ago the cost of such service was $3.50, it means a saving of $2.90 a barrel to consumers. In the present mode of distributing breadstuffs 62,000,000 barrels of flour (which is our present home consumption for a year) are carried on an average 1,000 miles. The saving of $2.90 a barrel to consumers means the aggregate of $180,000,000. Nothing more forcibly than this statement exhibits the enormous gains to the masses of the people which mechancal appliances bring, hut which they do not adequately appreciate. And bread Is only 10 per cent. In its cost of the food consumed by our people, and mechanical industry, including railroads, gives almost an equally large saving to the masses in the other foods consumed. Some idea of the magnitude of the work done for our people by railroads alone is shown in the fact that during 1890 they carried one ton of freight 1,250 miles for every man, woman, and child of the population. In the end all these wonderful appliances have not favored individuals alone, hut the whole race. The earnings of the year per passenger mile were 2.185 cents, against 2.198 cents the year before, and the earnings of the roads per ton mile of freight were .935 of a cent, against 1.057 cents in 1889. The net earnings on the capital invested averaged 3.4 per cent. Railroads have been the greatest civilizers of the world. The missionary enterprises of Christendom have been as nothing compared to theni in raising the human race to higher levels, and securing food, clothing, and shelter, and the manifold blessings which come with the better modes of life which those tendrils of the earth’s great heart have made possible. The cause of true civilization has been advanced further during this century than during all the other centuries of the historic period, for more has been done during this time to subjugate the forces of Nature to man’s uses. No matter what may be the intentions or motives of the men who have built the railroads, they have simply been agents in the hands of an all-wise Intelligence in carrying out His plans for the betterment of the whole human family.— Pullman Journal.

FROM LAKE TO RIVER.

A BIQ BATCH OF INTERESTING INDIANA NEWS. Fresh Intelligence from Every Part of the State—Nothing of Interest to Our Readers Left Out. Minor State Items. Burglars are walking away with everything at Memphis. Columbus will have a fuel-gas plant The peoplo say coal costs to blamed much. James Dalton, a notorious crook, got a two years’ sentence In the penitentiary at Valparaiso. James Lewis, a prosperous farmer and stock buyer, of Pendloton, died from the effects of a cancer. Esquire Benjamin Coi.kman, an old and well-known citizen of Grcencastle, died of Bright’s disease. John Leach, a Bartholomew County farmer, was crushed beneath a load of wood and canuot recover. Frank Aerhart, living near Marlde, was Instantly killed by tho accidental discharge of his shot gun. Rev. M. Swadeneb, of Marion, is conducting a series of meetings in the M. E. Church in Crawfordsville. Harriet Bennett was killed by a locomotive a( the Big Four crossing on Washington street, Indianapolis. An 8-year-old son of Dr. Isgregg, of Pendleton, wa# kicked on the face by a horse, IJis fow&Was badly disfigured. Sami'el Powell, of Harrisburg, accidentally discharged his shot gun while climbing a fence and was instantly killed. Mr. and Mrs. Joski’h Brown and family were all poisoned at Fort Wayne eating canned fruit. They will recover. A freight train was wrecked on the Chicago and Indiana coal road near West Union. A broken frog was the cause. John Briggs, shoemaker, at Newburg, got full of liquor and fell on a lamp. It sot fire to his clothes and he was burned nearly to death. William Stein, of Crawfordsville, who became Insane a short time ago, was in favor of turning the Government over to tho women until 1892. Crawfordsville now falls in line and wants an institution for tho cure of the drinking habit. Inebriate asylums are becoming all the rage.

A Goshen landlord and several merchants have been cleverly victimized by a young man traveling with a nickel-in-tho-slot phonograph. Superintendent Kinyon, of the Anderson Insane Asylum, has been acquitted and exonerated on tho charge preferred against him by a female inmate. Isaac Taylor, who ran the ongino In McCoy’s saw-mill, near Richmond, was hurled through the building and Instantly killed when the boiler exploded. In tho Museatituck River. Thursday, near Seymour, a young man named Busch, from near Salem, was drowned together with his team, while trying to cross tho swollen stream. The body was not recovered.

William H. Johnson, of Goshen, who is aconfirined drunkard, cards himself in papers as such, and asks hoi pin reformation, also instructing all friends and officers In case he takes a drink to jail him as a man unsafe to be at largo. The young people from Rush County are suffering from an attack Of something just now more general than the grip. Tho clerk of tho court issued five marriage, licenses in thirty minutes, and this broke the record for tho county. The CitvCpuneil at Crawfordsville has decided to borrow $20,01)0 with Which to enlarge the capacity of its elective light plant. This has been ipado necessary by the city furnishing incandescent light to stores. ,At present there are 975 lights in stores, bringing an income of 40 cents each per month. Bent Bryan, of Connersvllle, compromised his suit against tho Big Four for $4,500. Four years ago ho was in a wreck and got $l,lOO from tlie railroad and S6OO from tho American Express Company, by which ho was employed, with two years on the pay-roll of the company for S3O per month. Ed. Jones, a young man of Jefferson Township, Putnam County, had both hands shot off by the accidental discharge of his gun while climbing a fence. His hands were over tho muzzle, and he was thus supporting himself in getting down when Ills foot struck the hammer and the cntlro load passed through his hands. Two fingers of one hand were amputated, and the other hand cannot be saved. That the Indiana oil field Is likely tb eclipse the Ohio field In richness Is evidenced every day by the new wells being drilled and the offort of Ohio operators to obtain territory near Portland. Leasos are bringing good prices, and several good sales are reported. The Shoemaker, Litts and Engle wells, just drilled, aro each good for 100 barrels a day, and the latest developments indicate that tho best part of the field lies in Jay County, comraencinar at a point two miles west of Portland Riid extending oiglit miles north. ’ WilLiam Shaffer, a young man employed at the American wire nail mill, Anderson, engaged in a friendly scuffle with a fellow workman.' During the scuffle Shaffer received a blow on the nose that caused it to bleed violently. It ceased after a time, and he went home. Ho was there but a short time when tho hemorrhage began again. Local remedies were of no avail, and tho life-cur-rent gushed on and on, while young Shaffer grew weakor and weaker. A spiritualist physician named Hibbard was then called, and, after working a day, gave it up with the patient scarcely alive. A regular physician was called, but the sufferer was at death's door and died shortly after his arrival. His parents aro simple people and are almost crazed with grief. The attending surgeon thinks a blood vessel was ruptured during the scuffle. The workmen near Tipton who were frightened by a “ghost,” while drilling for natural gas, believe it to be tho ghost of Alex Yohe, an old farmer who always opposed searching for the new fuel. He committed suicide over a year ago.

Jackson Gakver is the most innocently ridiculed man in Dolson Township, Park County, just now. A few days ago Mr. Garver’s favorite brood mare gave birth to twin colts. Shortly afterward a cow on .the place dropped twin calves, and now comes the intelligence that his wife has given birth to healthy twin babies. . The other night some evil-disposed person entered the barnyard ot N. W. Smith, a farmer living a half mile south of Cicero, and maliciously discharged three bullets into the head of a valuable mare. Mr. Smith has no clew to the prepetrator of the heinous deed. The mare will probably die. While playing around the Wabash railroad tracks at North Manchester, little Boss Bash, aged 6, fell under a moving train, and had both legs legs cut off. His brother aged 8, and another little boy were with him at the time, and hastened home to notify the mothc-, a widow, who fainted when she saw her boy lying near the track. He will probably die.

Washington isßoinjt to bore for gas. South Bend has erected nearly (>OO buildings within the last year. Thk water works building at Wash* ington City was destroyed by ,ttro. The loss is $35,000. .-•»-! i. Thk skeleton unearthed by woTkirien at Tipton is believed to bo that of a murdered man. Otto Heusk, leading Madison leather merchant for forty years, died of pneumonia, aged 75. Fuank Smith, a rolling-mill hand, and Charles Deal woro both nearly killed in a saloon fight at Brazil. White in a iit Mrs. Frank Uerrett, of Franklin, fell on a hot stove and was badly burned. Slio will die. Not a singlo suit has been Hied for trial during the January term of the Scott Cirouit Court at Jeffersonville. Wiley Euion, of New Providence, accidentally discharged his gun and the contents lodged in his left arm. Mrs. .Tosei>ii P. Kapi-s, wife of a wealthy German farmer llylng hear Vincennes, suddenly dropped dead. Mayor Allen, of Torre Uapte, died of pneumonia, resulting from grippe. Ho was elected Mayor last spring. Mns. Frank Gkruett fell on a hot stove at Franklin, during a lit, aud was so badly burned that she will die. The people of Craw'fordsville at last have natural gas. Now run along little boys, and don’t talk about it any more. John A. Long, who is serving a term in the Northern Penitentiary from Montgomery County, has fallen heir to SI,OOO cash. Caleb Burris, an old eltizon of Moorosville, died of lockjaw, resulting from injuries roceived in a gun explosion recently. Twelve-years-old son of William Flagg, of Terro Haute, had his foot crushed by a freight car. Amputation necessary. F. P. Waltz, of Marengo, has been appointed Treasurer of Crawford' County to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joal Stroud. Rowe & Harding’s large livery stable at Osgood was burned last week, with a loss of $5,000. There was insurance In the Phoenix for $2,000. Frederick Schweitzer, who cut Peter Fisher’s ear in a Crawfordsvillo saloon last week, has boon sued by the latter for S2OO damages. The First Ward In New Albany, which has a population of 10,000, and covers nearly one-third of the city, Is to be divided into three wards. Well drillers at Farmland have struck what they behove to bo one -of the boat natural gas wolls in theStato. The roar of tho escaping gas can be beard for miles At Molllo Station, four miles south of Montpelier, John Butterworth s store and the postoflice woro destroyed by llro. The loss was SSOO. No insurance.

A military company was organized at Elwood, with tho following officers: Captain, Charles S. Tarlton; First •Lieutenant, G. V. Newcomer; First Sergeant, D. F. Day huff. Morgan County erocted a Jail and sheriff’s residence in Martlnsvillp a tow years ago at a cost of $20,000. Tho Jail Is now, for tho tirst time since Its occupancy, without a prlsonor. Frank Simmons, tho well-known trot-tlng-horso trainer, was to have married Lillie Konnlson, of Madison, but while tho guests waitod ho did not arrive, and tho 10-year-old Intended bride is Inconsolable.

“Nithy" Shutkii, an Osgood tough, attended a country ball near Milan, and when Miss Maggie Pate, of Napoleon, refused to dance with him, he drew a knife and Stabbed htfr irt tho back and arms. He escaped, and the' girl is’ in a serious condition. 1 After tho doath of Henry .Sachs, the old man who was found drowned In a. small branch one mile north of New Albany, a handsome sum of money was found at tho house, on tho Moorosville Knobs, wheroho had lived a recluso for many tears. Sam Coryell, a convict In tho Prison South who is undergoing a ten-year sentence for killing Arthur Boablo, his brothcr-in-luw, in a light for tho possession of Coryell’s body, will bo taken to Brownstown, Jackson County,by Wurdoii Patten, Where ho is to bo retried, the Supr’emd Court having granted him a new 1 trial. Coryoll oxpects to be acquitted. 1 ''' Eliza Elinger, a soldier's widow, and Elijah Evans were married, ftk May, 1801, at Richmond. A month later she found Evans was the husband of Susannah Evans, ho nover having been divorced Under laws enacted slneflrdw. marriage to her bigamist husband she would bo entitled to a pension as the widow of her real husband, and she now flies a petition to have her marriage with Evans annulled.

Mrs. John Wake, of Brazil was agreeably surprised a day or so afro by a visit from her son whom sho had not for three decades. Thirty -years afro, in England, when her,sou was but a child, sho gave him to a neighbor family who were childless, and after Mrs. Wako came to America she received word from England that her child was doad. Her surprise can bo better imagined than described when her son, now a man l of family came walking into the house and announced himself, lie is now a prosperous farmer near Peoria, 111. Mrs. James Brown and her 10-year-old daughter Myrtle were terribly burned at their residence in Goshen. The mother and daughter were in the act of pouring some kerosene into some wator in the wash-boiler, which was on the stove. The material caught fire, and the oil-can exploded. The firo communicated to their clothing, and Mrs. Brown was terribly burned about the hands, face and breast. Miss Myrtle was seriously, if not fatally, injured.The hair was burned from her head, her face and neck badly scorched, both hands completely roasted, and her legs below the knees burned. Her clothing was burned from the body. At 'last reports the chances for the girl’s recovery is doubtful. ' Burglars entered the grocery store of J. L. Dille & Co., of Greensburg, and secured a small amount of money and goods. They also cut through the door of Lanham’s gun-shop, but did not get inside.

Gov. Chase has pardoned William Gant, sent from Princeton to the southern prison for seven years for stealing a pair of boots. He has served five yearp of the sentence. The Governor also pardoned Barton S. Hill, sent from Frankfort for three years for larceny. Hill is 19 years old. Ho has become weakminded and has consumption. His time would not have expired until March. The following patents have been awarded to citizens of Indiana: Harvey S. Fuller, Butler, lead or crayon pencil; Joseph F. Gent, Columbus, macaroni; John H. Green, assignor of one-half to G. F. McFarran.Bluffton, bag tie; William S. Hackett, Roanoke, trunk; Alfred R. Heath, Covington, car-coupling; Frank E. Herdman, Indianapolis, electrical operated elevator; William 11. Hufford, Selma, trace fastener; Sherman Joh and W. Barlow, Sims, car-starter and brake; Edward Kuhn, New Albany, stove-lid and lifter; Jacob V. Rowlott, Richmond,, pawl and ratchet mechanism; R. Thickstun, Belmont, band-cutter and feeder for threshing-machines; Homer T. Wilson, New Albany, roller tablet.

CLEVER BALANCING TRICKS.

Seemingly IrttfMMtble Tents Which CM Be Done ARM 1 Patient Trials.

Balancing an egg on a bottle’s rim by means of a cork and two forks.

Two ways of balancing a cup on the point of a knife.

A very delicate trick in equilibrium with knives, pencils and scrapers.

Keeping the balance of power botween a decanter, a bottlo and thrao ■•vine-glasses.

Catching Terrapin.

In the shoal waters along the coast south of Cape Hcnlopen terrapin are caught In various ways. Dredges dragged along In the wake of a sailing vessel pick them up. Nets stretched across some narrow arm or river or My entangle tho feet of any stray terrapin in their meshes; but It requires the constant attendance of the fisherman to save the catch from drowning. In the winter, in the deeper water, the terrapin rise from their muddy quarters on mild, sunny days and crawl along the bottom. They are then taken by tongs, their whereabouts being often betrayed by bubbles. Turtles will rise at any noise, and usually tho fisherman only claps his hands, though ea<fh hunter has his own way of attracting the terrapin. One hunter whom 1 saw, uttered a queer, guttural noise that seemed to rise from his boots. Whatever the noise, all the turtles within hearing—whether terrapin or snapper —will put their heads above water. Both are welcome and are quickly sold to roarketmen. Tho snapper slowly appears and disappears, leaving scarcely a ripple; and the hunter cautiously approaching usually takes him by the tail. The terrapin, on tho contrary, Is quick, and will descend in an oblique direction, so that a hand-net is jjeeded unless ho happens to come up near by. If he Is near enough the man jumps for him. The time for hunting is the still hour at either sunrise or sunset.—St. N icholas.

How Insects Breathe.

If we take any moderately large Insect, say a wasp or a hornet, we can see, even with tho naked eye, that series of small, spot-llke marks running along the sides of the body. These apparent spots, which are eighteen or twenty in number, arc, in fact, the apertures through which air Is admitted into the system, and are generally formed in such a manner that no extraneous matter can by any possibility find entrance. Sometimes they are furnished with a pair of horny lips, which can be opened or closed at the will of the insect; in other cases they are densely fringed with stiff interlacing bristles, forming a filter which allows air, and air alone, to pass. But the apparatus, of whatever character It may be, is always so wonderfully perfect In Its action that it has been found impossible to Inject the body of a dead insect with even so subtle a medium as spirits of wine, although the subject was first immersed in the fluid and then placed beneath the receiver of an air pump. The apertures in question communicated with two large breathing tubes, which extended through the entire length of the body. From .these -main tubes were given off innumerable branches, which run in all directions, and continually divide and subdivide, until a wonderfully intricate network • r is formed, pervading every part of the structure and penetrating even to the antennae. —Great Divide.

TRAINING HIGHBINDERS.

Flesh from Savage Animals Believed ts Impart the Requisite Ferocity. 1 At the corner of Sansome and Clay streets yesterday morning half a dozen Chinamen were bidding for a dead wildcat in the hands of a quail peddler, says tho San Francisco Examiner. The beast was shot in Marin County the day before, and the eagerness of the Chinese, together with the spirited bidding, was a., source of much arauseojcqt to the crowd that collected. Representatives of the dreaded Chee lvung Yong society were there, and so also was a member of the Ping Ong Tong, and both sides were determined to secure the cat. Two dollars , and a half was first offered, and from this the bids raised to five dollars. The old man who had the cat merely smiled. A truce was declared while the body of tho feline was examined. Many grunts of approval emanated from the warriors when it was found that the wildcat was fat. “Fi dollu hap,” said one of the Chinese. “Six dolla hap,” promptly came from a member of the Pings. The other sldo held a conference and raised the amount another dollar. At the close of the contest the representative of the Ping Ongs inarched proudly away with the bobtailed cat, after having deposited sls in gold for it. “That’s nothing,” said tho quail peddler, “I sometimes get more than that for ’em, They eat ’em so’s to get bravo.” Last night about twenty members of the Ping Ong Tong society regaled themselves on wildcat, and consequently increased their bravery. The custom of eating tigers, lions, and other animals of a fierce nature by tho Chinese dates from the days of Confucius. Moy Sing, one of tho most intelligent Chinamen in San Francisco, thus gave his opinion on tho subject last night. “A Chinaman believos that if he oats a portion of a lion or tiger tho bravery and courage of the animal will enter Into his system and ho will become daring. In China the smallest piece of a tiger is valuable for this reason. I have eaten lion meat, and tho effect is to make a man very brave. Hero in California,, wo eat wildcats and foxes, and think whenever we oat of tho flesh of cither kind wo becomo bravo or cunning like thoso animals. I think the man who sold the wildcat to thoso Chinamen made them believe it was a young lion, or they would not have paid so much for it, becauso the flesh of a wildcat is not of near as much value as that of a lion.”-

Vegetarianism.

A theory carried to ,an extreme throws its light on queer sides of human nature. Many peoplo believe that it Is not only foolish but wrong to eat meat, and their conclusions, pushed to their furthest bounds, have an odd sound in the cars of carnivorous mankind. One enthusiastic gentleman announces his intention of eating merely the raw fruits and grains of the earth, believing that cooked food was not intended for man or boast. Ho acknowledges that a diet of nuts and fruit has hitherto made him rather ill, but cheerfully hopes to adopt it, after a longer trial. Another gentleman, 'who is not only a vegetarian but a conscientious eater of thfise fruits and grains which meet fil'd approval, would not discard tho rind of a fruit merely because it may be tough. Having grown there, he says, It must bo intended for some good purposo, and he concltitles that this pur [lose is connected with the palate of man. “I believe there must be something ' medicinal or nutrlttous in the peel of an orange,’.’ he writes.a friend, “and so I always eat it with the rest of the fruit. I must confess, however, that it never seems to agree with me." Far removed from these ultra enthusiasts, however, are many persons who have adopted the mild form of vegetarianism which consists in eating vegetables when they are to bo conveniently found. In London, especially, will such wanderers from tho beaten track find ample sustenance in vegetarian restaurants, one of which, “The Apple Tree,” is so entirely satisfactory as to merit many a visit.

Its bill of faro is long and elaborate. If one desires French names, they arc hero to bo found. Translated, the tempting titles inevitably suggest the presence of meat, and Inspire the inexperienced eater with an excited longing to know how it is all done, You order “Saronny Steak,” with & triumphant feeling that here, at last, tho cook has been caught in his own ambitious toils, and beguiled into serving up flesh. A sort of browned cake is produced, and when one investigates, it offers a hint of many grains and vegetables, so cunningly mingled and so deliciously flavored that neither eye nor tongue can distinguish form or distinct taste. A vegetable ragout sounds marvellously insipid, doe? it not? Yet when one has before him a steaming plate of tender young carrots, turnips and other spring benefactions, flavored with wondrous herbs, ho must be an exacting man, Indeed, if he is not content. From “The Apple Tree” also are to be gathered delicious puddings of figs and dates, plates of fruit smothered in cream, and many-colored salads, which delight the eye and tickle the palate. Surely, in a land where such provision is made for the flesh-hating to6th, it is bv no means so bad a thing to be a vegetarian.

Snake Farming.

Rattlesnakes are raised for their oil by a man named Jaynes, near Gainesville, Mo. He has 10,000 snakes, and the “crop” which he kills each year is about 2,000. The oil sold for liniments brings $1 a pint. Self Is a wonder, a mystery as deep, maybe as God. “Thou sbalt love thy ueighbor as thyself” is all that is required. Selfishness is the.counterfeit, self-love is the true coin. Many a fool thinks he loves himself when all wise men see that he is acting as if he bated himself.