Ligonier Banner., Volume 29, Number 51, Ligonier, Noble County, 4 April 1895 — Page 3

ißy Ml S 0 J 4T . X Nenezanie ' , AT N 2 g lfﬂ JLL=R e o f’%‘("o’l ‘ﬂ"s‘. 2 " ~ 7 % ) By Capr. (Hartes Kine. USA. . Copyright, 1893, by J. B. Lippincott Co. i CHAPTER Vl. ; A . It was one o'clock that afternoon before the sheriff reached the post. Buitevillepthe thriving county seat, lay just five miles away to the southwest, and a hard prairie road connected it with tke post As a distributing point to the msmss and a market for the ranchmen the growing town had shot rapidly into importance. Two banks, both reliable, two. hotels, well patronized, and shops and stores in good number, were barely able to supply the demands. Dozens of bustling men breakfasted every morning at the - big eating-house of the railway company, where the west-bound express was supposed to find ample sustenance for its passengers before pushing on for the long day’s run through the mountains. The sheriff and the coroner, as was thé case. in most frontier cities of the day, were by long odds the hardest-worked officjals, and just now the sheriff ‘was fairly used up. The first intimation of anything wrong east of Butteville was the sudden stop of the wires. Up to daybreak traindispatchers and night operators sitting, red-eyéd and weary, over their instruments, after the long hours of vigil,. found everything working smoothly. The might had: been still, neither storm nor excitement anywhere along the line, until just about four o’clock Butte, called up by Fawnee station, was asked: “What’s afire at Alkali?” Butte didn’t know—hadn’t ‘heard. Pawnee explained that a dis- - patch for Paymaster Graves from Minden met No. 3 at Pawnee, and said bridge was down at Alkali.\ Two ranchmen from over Painted Lodge way rode into Pawnee at three a. m. and said hell was broke loose down the Mini Ska—Sionx scalping and burning everything in.sight. Where were Col. Winthrop and the cavalry? Butte answered: The colonel and six companies had marched for Painted Lodge fiwo - days before; couldn’t. be far from Alkali. now. = Sioux wouldn’t dare come that far up the valley. Who said the bridge was down and burnt? Pawnee replied: Hold on a minute. More refugees from valley are reportedhurrying to the railway, and Pawnee wanted to see the ranchmen who first came before they got good and drunk and couldn’t talk reliably. Perhaps Minden could tell about the bridge at Alkali. DButte called Minden accordingly. Minden said some of the caval"ry had come up from Alkali an hour before, said they’d been sent to Alkadi in thg first place to meet the paymaster on No. 3, but they found the bridge across the Mini Ska afire, so the am‘bulance, escort, etc., were all on the way up to Minden, and these two rode ahead with a dispatch for Maj. Graves, explaining the situation and telling him tokeep on and meet them here. Minden sent it to Pawnee, and Pawnee gavé it ‘to the porter of the sleeping " ear. That’s all Minden knew about "fire or anything else. Butteville was the west end of the division, however, and Butteville demanded further particulars—told Minden to ask the cavalry if any of the buildings at Alkali were reported afire. Minden said wait a minute, he’d find out: No. 3’s’ headlight just coming around Buffalo Bluff. The soldiers had gone out to meet the lieutenant as soon as assured that the dispatch had been delivered to No. 3, and they were now watering their horses at the creek. It was just " light enough to see them out there. Then No. 8 reached Minden, was duly reported in and out, and then the wires went-down. No. 8 came into Butteville at breakfaston time and all right. The = division superintendent asked what was the matter at Alkali station, and the conductor replied, nothing that he knew of. They-had come lively down Antelope grade and struck the Mini Ska valley, running forty-five miles an hour, which they didn’t check, as Maj. Graves telegram said: ‘‘Come ~on to Minden.” Had he seen the dispateh? Why, certainly. It was all right, signed by some lieutenant or other, commanding escort. Had he seen no fire at Alkali? Oh, yes, over on the bank of the stream five hundred yards or so from the station there was some fire. Thought it was only a campfire or two. There were two or three men, soldiers, he thought, on the old platform, b;u't it-was barely dawn, and the engine left such a trail of smoke -and steam that the men were enveloped in it; and he couldn’t make them 1

out distinctly. N 0.3 dropped the major and his clerk at Minden, where other soldiers met him, and then hurried on. “What's the trouble?” ‘“Well,” said the su%erintendent, ‘‘since the moment yot pulled out from Minden to this moment, Mr. Hart, we have been cut off. Not a word can we get from the east.”: . .

By the time the expréss pushed on for the west again a couple of handcars had been dispatched eastward in the vain hope of finding the break near town, and these were overhauled ten miles out by the engine and caboose sent sCoutinér down the valley. Not until they were within & mile of Minden did they find the gap, and along there the wires had been clipped in half a dozen places. The superintendent gathered the particulars while his men were patching. Here at the station, surrounded by a knot of excited ranchmen and settlers were Maj. Graves and his clerk, but all they had to show was the telegram. It read plainly enough: : : “MINDEN STATION, June 3, 3:05 a. n; Maj. Graves, U. 8. army, on No. 3, Pawnee Station. Bridge down at Alkall. Cannot eross Mini ska. ‘Come on to Minden; escort méet you there, - . “EDWARDS, Lieutenant Cémmanding.” Never suspecting -anything wrong, Maj. Graves sent his clerk to notify the conductor and show him the dispatch. - The porter made them coffiee and a light -breakfast at the buffet, 80 as’ to, emable -them to, start at~oncé for the tongenr ride that their going on to Mindén would necessitate. They were met as they jumped off the | car by a couple of troopers in overcoats, thimble belts and the slouch hat then much m‘tedby e cavalry on Tﬁiﬁs;g *“This way7sir,” said one; “‘the lieutenant says the escort’s roady -to start the moment the msilﬁ lg"; He | mﬁd“mﬂﬁo m«mgga W ut in--stinctively the major held on. “The mmmuwm

the stream. “The boys will be glad to see you, sir, and we've a long ride ahead of us,” said his conductor, and in another moment Graves was tripped, thrown heavily to the ground, bound and gagged, and there he lay helpless, while his clerk was similarly handled, ‘and away went the valise with its precious thousands, he had no idea whither. He saw only three or four men in all, but they were all in cav‘alry overcoats, and the horses and equipments, so far as he could judge in the light and distance, looked like those of the regulars—not cowboys or roadagents. They vanished in the twinkling of an eye, and not until they had been gone fifteen minutes or more did the station agent discover the plight of the paymaster and release him. Meantime the wires had been cut. Pursuit was useless. Nz one knew who the robbers were, or which way they ‘had gone after crossing the bridge. But an early bird around the station said he saw twosoldiers galloping west along the north bank of the stream, and all Milden—what there was of it—was ready to swear that soldiers were at the bottom of the whole affair. - It was ten o’clock before they could send a dispatch to Butte. ' It was barely 4:45 when' the robbery took place. It was noon, as we have seen, when the news reached the fort, and one o'clock when the sheriff got there. *‘Cowboys! Road-agents!” said he, indignantly. ‘‘No, sir. We hung the last of them two months ago. There isn’t a road-agent left in Latimer county. These robbers were soldiers—cavalrymen, deserters from Col. Winthrop’s command. . Fisk, -the operator at Mindenpwill swear to their identity, at least of the two who came in with the dispatch. Of course he sentit when he saw Lieut. Edward’'s name signed and they told him so straight a story. You send couriers after Col. Winthrop, find out who are absent from the battalion, and you’ll know who your robbers are.. Then I can do something.” “Did you pass any of our men on your way out of town?” asked Rhett, after a moment’s pause. “Your men? Soldiers? Nothing but the ordnance sergeamt and some wagons. \Who were they, and where'd they go?” b ‘I don’t know that they did go—that way, at least. Two.courierscame with dispatches this morning from Col. Winthrop and left at 11:30 to rejoin him. Some one said they didn’t go east, however, butftruck out for town.” “What Ywere! their names? What: were thef like?” asked the sheriff, eagerly. ; - “They are two of cur best men,” answered the major. “Mr. Morgan, here, knows them well. They are Germans—about the last men likely to become highway robbers.” ‘ “Humph! I'd stake my commission on their innocence,” said Morgan, briefly. e |

~ “Oh, of course all men are innocent until proved guilty,” said the sheriff, crushingly. ‘‘All the same it’s my business to look after them. You say they went to town instead of back on the trail of the battalion, major?” “I did not,” was the major’s chilling reply. ‘‘l said somebody else said that they had struck out for town. Very possibly they had business there; and they were not under my jurisdiction, anyhow.” ' - “Noj; they’re under mine,” said the sheriff. ' ‘“‘Men need funds, as a rule, to transact business in Butte, and soldiers without money have little business so far off their track. If they have money when their comrades haven’t, where’d they get it?” 5 “Well,Schultz, the sergeant, has been in service some twenty years, and is reported to have saved up much more money than I ever hope or expect to,” said Rhett. “I presume his bank-ac-count can be ascertained at the First National. Scliramm, the other, isn't a yearin service.” “Schramm?” exclaimed the ‘sheriff. “A good-looking, blue-eyed little Dutchman?” | , **A good-looking, blue-eyed, mediumsized, slender young German, if you like, Mr. Sheriff,” said Morgan. “What have you to say about him?” _“Oh, I'm saying nothing. [ want you/ gentlemen to talk. That- young fellow gets nearly thirteen dollars a month, doesn’t he, major?” ol “Well, rather less than that, Mr. Sheriff,”? 0 ; “Does he own a mine or a faro bank hereabouts, or is he in cahoots with Curran?” asked the civilian, . = 4lf he is, he’s a dead loser this time,” said the post adjutant, shortly—he being a young officer deeply imbued with the proper idea of deference to a commanding offier and resentful of eivilian impertinence, even on the part of a sheriff. ‘“Old- Curran was at Alkali waiting for first piék at the pay-

ﬁ ’%@ ey U 1 (\{\ &5 X ’@% - s [[= L 0 =M '.,_?21 g Q AND IN ANOTHER MOMENT GBAVE‘S‘%WAS ; TRIPPED. G

master’s dollars. Now his beggars on horseback are off for' six months’ service against the Sioux, and he’ll lose most of their accounts.” - : “‘So he has no means outside of his pay, this young Deutscher? Well, that’s what I wanted to know.” | ° “Fortunes outside of the pay are not often to be found in the army,” answered the major. . ‘“What makes .you think Schramm has one?” o “Oh, I don’t,” said the sheriff. *‘But I believe he has more money than he can easily account for, and the sooner be -is overhauled .the quicker welll know something of this mom%g work.” And with that the sher whirled his cayuse about, and, gififig him a touch with the quirt, w@t bounding lightly away to the corrals’ _ “That fellow's a brute,” said M| Woods, presently. “You dont suyp pose he really suspects Schrammy da you, Morgan?” But Morgan, grip pmng his stick, was already trudging angrily away. : LS ~ That night the paymaster mmsé%q arrived at Fort Ransom, leaving his faithful :;z;: in conference with the officials of the town. Graves was sdog the center of “?u.rewge:hﬁa{nhe ing at Ehwity guariars By wis time, 105!

ternocn freight. Hs had gone down to Alksli by the eaat-bound express the previous evening. The escort was already there, bivouacked for the night at the edge of the strcam. They were ‘up betimes and had a hot breakfast all ready for Graves, and were surprised to see tli;a train shoot past instead o¥ stopping to let him off. Not until the engine sent out from Butte came steaming down at noon did they know what had taken place at Minden. Then there ‘was hothing left him but to return by the first opportunity. The sergeant and detachment remained awaiting orders, as the paymaster might draw funds from the bank 2t Butte and come on again. Just as he was leaving on the afternoon freight a courier came to Alkali with orders for the sergeant. and the messenger said that the battalion had reached Willow Springs and was surprised to find no paymaster there. . News from the lower valley was so threatening that Col. Winthrop had determined, after resting a couple of hours, to push on for Painted Lodge, upon the supposition that the paymaster had missed No. 3. The escort was ordered to wait for him until the next train from the east, and then, whether he came or not, to rejoin the battalion by the shortest route, following down the left bank, and bringing the extra ammunition shipped from Ransom. ! Curran was utterly disgusted with the whole affair. “Ten chances to one,” said he, ‘“‘them fellows will never come back to the post, and I'll never get a cint of me money.” Curran, as the party most interested;, was persistent in his cross-questioning of the major, who was eager enough to explain, but not to Curran. In brief, he said he had broughtin that sole-leather valise nearly twelve thousand dollars with which to pay Winthrop’s command. The rest of his funds, sealed in the little iron safe, were turned over to the express company to be forwarded to Butte two days later on, by which time he had expected to return to pay the infantry at the fort and then go o to the outlying posts to the nor¢hwest.

5, o ‘ : ! “,';3 L/“: ‘-:.' Ao 5, W e At C=pner® 0 oy {0 L : & ",“%,Jfo_b‘ e A e E R /-—‘\ , e ; o \ e e r 3= rnJ U lot . = - T A A ,_/"‘. Fa)e ‘‘oH! OF COURSE, ALL MEN ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVED GUILTY.”

By evening, too, Rhett had received telegraphic orders to hold his little battalion of foot in readiness to take train to Pawnee and thence march across the range to the lower Mini Ska. Although exaggerated, the reports of rapine and murder were only too true. The Sioux were indeed at their.devilish work. In the subdued bustle of preparation the paymaster’s excitement and distress of mind created less sympathy than would ordinarily have been the case. Eagerly he was showing his dispatch to officer after officer, and asking whether anyone would not have acted just as he did under the circumstances and on receipt of so genuine a message, and gentlemen who under other circumstances would unhesitatingly have said yes were now disposed to be a Dbit conservative, to look judicial and suggest inquiries. Wouldn't it have been better to stop the train at Alkali and see if the report were true? The bridge was only half a mile from the station, and somebody would have been sure to know. These are times when everybody’s backsight is so much better than his foresight. Everybody could see with half an eye that had.the paymaster caused the conductor to stop the train at Alkali some of the escort would have been on the platform to meet him, and they would have told him that there was nothing in the world the matter with the bridge, that the whole thing was a plant. But Graves pointed out that he didn’t own the road and couldn’t make the train stop unless he meant to get off, which he didn’t. Lieut. Edwards had wired him to come on to Minden. Everybody knew Edwards. He had escorted Graves on the winter trip to the Black Hills cantonment. It was most natural Edwards should have been selected to escort him this time. He was with the battalion, first lieutenant of Capt. Frank Amory’s troop. True, as matters tarned out, Edwards had not been sent at all. Old Sergt. Daly, with eight troopers, was considered amply sufficient. Of course it was a plant, a most successful plant, and more than likely, said the paymas- | ter, somebody closely connected with the cavalry had engineered the whole scheme. Everybody knew there were some very shady characters among the men enlisting during the centennial year. Everybody knew what train would fetch him out from department headquarters. The plotters would not wife in time to admit of his making inquiries, but waited untii the last moment, then, dressed and. equipped as the cavalry were dressed ‘and equipped, they had sent two of their number in to Minden station with a dispatch signed by an officer whom they reported a mile or two be- | hind, coming up with the wagon and main body. Everythinglooked straight } to the operator, and so it was sent to | Pawnee and there handed to the Pull- ; man porter. What could have been more complete? The troopers who met him at the platform addressed him confidently and respectfully, saluting | exactly like old soldiers. Of course, he | hadn’t a personal acquaintance with the entire regiment, but this he would say and did say, that he believed Mr. Lagy, his clerk. was willing to swear that the two smen who met him at Minden were bona fide members of the Eleventh cavalry; Mr. Laey had seen ‘them before, and could identify them if he were to sce them again. The sheriff’s people were already working. onthedlew. o B ; vl Mo msomensiio) . 0 A gentleman had been up in a bal- | ;ﬁammmm little girl with | T ."’ ** iu”w w‘ : uh '$ f ~ “How did you fee}?” asked a friend | Wy, stid e, “when wa wero up | but & short distance my lirtle girl | way, 100"~ Yodth's Corsomplon. |

! . CANADA IN CLOVER. Some of Her Pet Trusts—She s Well Pro- ' tected from the Pauper Labor Products " of the United States. i . , Oh,-what a blessed thing is protective tariff! especially in a country with small population and dependent upon foreign countries for many of its,supplies. Canada is just now enjoying this blessing. Her tariff wall is not half as high as was our dizzy McKinley wall, but it is doing most effective work in shielding the numerous trusts which are springing upall over Canada singe the protection cap-stone was added to the wall. This blessing is expressed in advanced prices for manufactured' goods and in mills elosed to restrict production and advance prices. Consequently the Canucks, who dislike work and are very fond of high prices, -are enjoying themselves immensely. Their joy is added to nearly every day when they read of some new trust that issupporting or advancing prices. The Iron Age of February 21 contains several items in its Canadian notes which must make thousands of little McKinleys in Canada dance with joy. Here | are some of them: : **A large manufacturing firm in the western part of Ontario claim to be able to import wire nails from the United States at a cost of §5O a carload less than they can buy them at home.” - The Canadian duty on wire hails is 114 cents per pound. The price of wire nails in the United States being about $1 per keg of 100 pounds, the cost of these nails in Canada would be at least $2.50 per keg, aside from freight and other charges. But even this is considerably below the price fixed by the Canadian trust. ' ‘“No, thank you,” says the Canadian mechanic, jqyfully, to his cousin across the line, ‘‘we don’t want any of your pauper. American nails over here; we much prefer to pay $3 per keg for our patriotic Canadianlabor nails than $1 per keg for your cheap and nasty nails.” i *“The manufacturers of steel clad ‘bath.tubs have agreed upon a list and a discount of 20 per cent., with an extra 5 per cent. off for dozen lots.” A duty of 30 per cent. protects this steel clad bath trust. © “Wrought iron pipe manufacturers have reduced the trade discount on some of their smaller sizes, the change being equivalent to an advance of 5 to 7Y% per cent. The advance has been made on Y4-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch.”? The duty on pipes and tubes: varies from 15 per cent. toone cent per pound and 30 per cent—the highest duties being on these smaller sizes thus advanced in price.. The lot of the Canuck is a happy one. He is removed from the temptation of drinking or bathing in water contaminated by coming in contact with cheap American pipes and tubes. ' - ‘““The new nail combine seems to be holding together, though the Halifax men are in under protest. They think the lease price, $2.10, is too high. They have not on their side, as the Montrealers have, prohibiting freight rates to shut out American competition, and they want to be free to lower the price wlien they please, as the Americans | can easily afford to cut $2.10. Also i they want to be left alene in their ter- | ritory free from Montreal competition. } The latter point was yielded.” . This refers to the cut nail combine formed a few weeks ago and which includes all manufacturers in Canada. { Prices .were fixed at $2.10 per keg for | nails that sell in Pittsburgh for 85 and | 90 ecents per keg. The duty beiiig only ' one cent per pound there i a margin ! of 25 cents to overcost of getting each keg into Canada. The benefits to labor, f’from protection and trusts, are made | clear in anotheritem in these Canadian notes. Itsays: - o ‘A nail strike, lasting some time, has been brought about in Montreal again this winter. The proposal the men rebelled against was a reduction of 10 per cent. during the depression. They finally yielded.” - - This shows that the laborers in the nail mills of Canada are unwilling to work for whatever their protected bosses may offer, but that they are drifting towards the dreaded pauper i wages across the southern ‘border. It i also shqws that a ‘“‘depression” may oci'cur even in a protected country. But probably the ‘‘depression’” and the ' wage reductions there, like those in ithis- country in. 1893, were caused by some wicked son of a free trader who broke up the whole protection procession by shouting tariff reform through ‘a crack in the fence. Protection isa " very delicate and sensitive institution. It works like a charm when everybody has implicit confidence in it, but is ; completely “discomboberated” at the first sign of skepticism. 4 Other items among these Canadian ‘notes indicate annealed wire and barbed wire combines, both of which have had to lower prices somewhat to keep out the cheap American products. The unpatriotic Montreal merchant is kicking because the wire combine is charging him $3 for barbed wire that it sells to the Ontario and frontier trade at $2.87, competition being keenest there from the American side. . But the one item which more than all others will give our-dear McKinley unalloyed joy is the following: Notwithstanding the duty of 35 per cent., .imported bicycles from the United States sell at the same price here as Canadian. - This duty was the source of a large amount of revenue last year.” ‘ i This demonstrates the truth of MeKinley’s oft-repeated and oft-denied statement that ‘‘a protective tariff is not a tax; but if it is a tax, the for- | eigner pays it.” In this case the foreigner is the American. A half million Americans generously pay $2O or $3O more for their wheels in order that our manufacturers may be able to supply the Canucks at greatly reduced prices. This benevolent or missionary spirit developed.in foreigners, by protection,. is one of the most attractive features of the whole beautiful system. et 0 BYRow W Hotn.

I DECIDEDLY UNFAIR. Do Not Protect the Unprotected Farmers, : but Help the “Squalling Infants.” The unfairness of taxing some interl ests in order to give bounties to others was made clear in the house ghe other ! day by Hon. J ohn De Witt Warner. ' Mr. Warner had before him the Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, | whichwag complaining about “‘adverse legislatioff in crippling south Louisiana ‘and high produce taxes, brokerage charges, ete., which had caused 'the value of sugar plantations to decline.” After sympathizing with the overtaxed sugar growers he took up the question ~of farm values in thisway: = ~ “In another number of the same ‘paper a point is made of the fall in values of sugar plantation property, and. the suggestion is offered that

where an assessment had been $50,000 it should be reduced to $40,000. Now, I believe this to be fair. 1 believe that sugar plantations are probably worth fully 20 per cent. lesss than they were worth a few years ago. But is there a wheat eld in Dakota from the former valuation of which you would not now have to take off a greater discount? Is there a cotton fleld in the -south which, based on thie price for which its product ean be sold to-day, is worth 80 per cent. as much as it was worth a. few years ago? And, if the sugar planters of Louisiana have lost 20 per ‘cent..in value of their property is that any reason why the wheat growers and the cotton growers of other parts of the country, who have lost 30, 40 and 50 per cent. by the depreciation of their property, should be taxed to make up this loss to the planters of houisian? I do not believe it is.” In another part of his speech Mr. Warnef held up before the unprotected farmer the great profits of the protected sugar trust. He said: : : ‘There is another matter to which I want to call attention, and that is the scale upon which those who, on behalf of the refiners, are now opposing this report in favor of the removal of the one-tenth differential, expect that we should give a largess to the refiners and planters. lam quoting now from the sugar trust’s organ of January 3, 1895. 1t calls attention to the action of European countries, and especially Germany: : 5 ° ¢“‘ln promoting, fostering and. protecting their béet-sugar industries under a system of bounties which, even at such reduced prices, enable their sugar factories to pay 20 per cent. to 40 per cent. dividends, and ‘as the beet raisers or farmers have prospered and become stockholders in those factories, the agriculturists reap the full benefit. There 4s’ no .reason why the last increase of 1,000,000 tons in our consump-= tion should not have been provided by our own agriculturists under exactly the same stimulus as has been given by Germany. Our own farmers are throwing away their energies and their capital in raising wheat at 50 cents a bushel or less and for which there is no market.’ )

“Such is the moderation of the trust’s demand—that we assure it only 20 per cent. to 40 per cent. annual dividends. Such is the salvation offered American wheat and cotton growers—to tax themselves to give the sugar trust profits, so that they can get rich by bnying sugar trust stock. Was ever anything more simple—in every sense of the word?”

THE *“PATENT HORSE.” Bicycles at Reduced Prices for Export—Nos 5 for Home Use. ; Because of bicycles and trolley cars prices of horses have almost fallen to nothing in some parts of this country. Undoubtedly bicycles® are a boon to mankipd. But, unfortunately, bicycles in this country belong to the class of tariff-protected manufactures. Hence, while we are rapidly becoming the greatest bicycle manufacturing and using nation, we have to pay more for American wheels than they can be had for in other countries. :

Our manufacturers. are selling their wheels so much cheaper for export that American wheels are selling for the same prices in Canada as in this country, although an import duty of 35 per cent. has to be paid when they enter Canada. In this case McKinley would say that the foreigner was paying the tariff tax. If so, the tens of thousands of wheelmen in this country. are paying the Canadian tariff tax. How do they like the arrangement? Will they vote to abolish all tariff duties on wheels, so' that they can get American wheels for the same prices at which they are sold abroad? They will do so sometime, for they are mostly educated and intelligent citizZens. | £

That no duty isnecessary for protection is practically admitted by the New York Tribune, our leading high tariff paper. On Februnary 25, 1895, it said: ‘“‘The making of bicycles has begome a business in itself, and the capital.invested in it is enormous. Those interested in home productions will be glad to know that the American manufacturer of wheels easily leads the world. It is not so many years ago that the English manufacturers controlled the trade of the world and when the expert rider would disdain to ride anything but an English make of wheel. Now the exportation of wheels from this country has become anr important item of commerce. Only yesterday one local firm shipped over 100 high-grade wheels to France.” The Tribune also quoted Elliott, of ‘the Pope Manufacturing Co. as saying: “The American wheel is becoming popular on the other side, and we no longer import wheels to any great extent. The English wheel is gone, as far as America is concerned, for the simple reason that they cannot compare with us.”

FACTS AGAINST FUSTIAN. A Statement That May Astonish the Gen- : eral Reader. Ever since the new tariff was passed the republican organs and orators have denounced it as ‘‘democratic free trade.” The monetary panic of 1893 and all the ills that have followed it have been attributed by these partisans to this revision. Some of them have even proposed that the McKinley law be restored to ‘‘revive American industries.” : s .

It now appears from the official record that the average rate on dutiable goods during five months under the Wilson-Gorman tariff has been 45.14 per cent., against an average rate of 45.05 under the republican tariff of 1883 and 48.19 under the McKinley law. It thus appears that the new duties average a fraction higher than under the Arthur tariff, and are only 3.14 pointa below the McKinley tariff. ~ The Tribune in noting these facts says that ‘it may be granted that the demoecratic party intended to accomplish much more, but did not know enough.” . Say rather that it was thwarted by a treacherous cabal of trust agents in its own ranks in the senate. But let that.pass. The important fact is that the tariff isnow a shade higher than it was before the McKinley congress revised it upward in the interest of monopolies, and that on all imports, free and dutiable, it is less than half of 1 per cent. below the McKinley level. e ~ This being.so, what fustian it is to keep up the cry of ‘‘free trade!” How fatuous is the partisanship that would agitate for a reopening of the question when the country needs most ofalla period of peace! Except to repeal the odious tax of the sugar trust or to cor-. rect. technical errors there should be noﬁwiﬂﬁnm}m%mmim{ yearsat least.—N, Y. World. - .. |

'FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. .. THE NOST DOG. | - Now, keep very still, and a story T'll tell, - Of brave little Edward and good little Nell, . Who went out in search of a dog they had lost, Without ever thinking the trouble it cost. - They started one morning at dawn of the light, And did not come homeward until it was night. “Poor Rover is gone—he is lost!” they -would : say, . . : S To all, old or young, whom they met on -the - way, . . g e 5 ‘And once Nell grew bolder and spoke to a man: **We've searched all the day, sir, as hard as we oan, o o T For our pretty Rover—oh where shall we go? We fear he is dead in the cold and the snow!™ “Pray, what'is his color?”’ the gentleman said.’ *‘He is black, with four legs anda tail and.a head!” ‘ SR Baid brave little Edward: “We know him so - welll” 0 e “Oh, yes, we both know him and love khim,” said Nell. ; 3 “You'll find him, my dears,” said the man, “without fail, , e Though so many dogs have four logs and a taill Just turn round that corner, behind the show- .- 'slide, : =4 il You'll see a:fine dog there, and children be- : side!” - : T Away they went Tunning, and oh. what a sight! Poor Rover was there in a pitiful plight, - . Hitched fast to a wagon, and driven by boys, Who beat him and jeered him with deafening noise. : L “Poor Rover—our Rover!’' screamed: Edward _ . and Nell, T ‘When off ran the boys with a laugh and a yell. And soon came the kind man who set Rover free, F s e The happiest dog that you ever could see, . { Though all he could do was to jump and to bark. " ; : £ “Go home,” said the man, ‘“for 'tis growing quite dark, o § il I told youyou’'d find your pet dog without fail, With all of his legs and his head and his tail!” : —Zitella Cocke, in Our Little Ones.

. o WONDER WHY®2.O "o A Suggestion for Young People Who Want ‘a Little Mental Training. - . “Blotting paper for programmes? I wonder why!” and the three girls, after a moment’s stare at the unusual spectacle of world’s fair music programmes printed on moist blotting paper, dismissed the question from their minds end began a vigorous use of the programmesas fans. * : S “Send me a recipe to make mse think,” writes a young girl. = “‘I cannot follow out things in my own mind.” I ‘wonder why!” S R “I wonder why! I wonder why!” My dear young ladies, your words are admirable. The trouble is with the punctuation. ° Exchange the exclamation point for the interrogation,and teach your minds better manners than to ask a question withoat waiting for a reply. Be severe with i, Say: ‘“You want to know? then find out. If not now, tomorrow; and, ntind, no sugar: plums or love storiesuntil yourlesson'is learned.” Blotting paper for programmes! T wonder why! Mr. Theodore Thomas could have answered that question, He might have said:- ‘‘The rustle from a thousand stiff papers in careless hands would seriously interfere with the music. It is a trifle, perhaps, but attention to trifles is the secret of success.” - b I wonder why?—Lucy Elliot Keeler, in Outlook. At 52 g el YOUTHFUL MARKSMAN. | Little Willle Douglass Is a Sure Shot at . Forty-Five Feet. : : B There is a secret'desire in every Amer-. ican boy’s heart to become the sole proprietor of a gun which will shoot real powder and bullets. As he reac}g of the heroes of the French and Indian wars he wishes that these stirring times were of the present day. Then he thinks of how, with a trusty rifle, he would have gone forth against the savage red men. It is no idle day dream. He is only showing the true American spirt and pluck which is strong in every boy born in this great country of ours. . =~ = . The famous rifle shots have all begun when they were boys. Daniel-Boone

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could acecomplish wonderful feats with his flint-lock rifle before he had outgrown his teens. : e Col. Wil%&’m Cody, familiarly known as Buffalo Bill, had achieved fame as a sur? shot before he had reached his twenty-first birthday. L a There are few boys who have an -opportunity to develop skill with firearms nowadays. Those who do usually live in‘the west or'in the rural districts. KEvery now and then one of these lads: comes to the front to prove %athmerica leads the world in the handling of this favorite weapon of the frontier, -~ = . We recently learned of a youth whose record is so good that every boy will wish to learn more of him. ' This young rifleman is Master Willie Douglass, of Lafayette, Ind. He has been shooting but a short time, but has shown a won-: derful proficiency already. The illus-, tration presented herewith shows Mas- | ter Douglass; also his targets, with shots made ata range of 45 feet. It shows a score which counts 97 out of a possible 100. The target shown is full silze, Ho S e i

Willie Douglass, this youthful disciple of Leather Stocking, says the New York Recorder; is about 10 years of age. Ile weighs 51 pounds—just a trifle over five times as much as his rifle. This handsome model of the gunmaker’s skill he handles as~cot¥qtly as does a veteran marksman. Ne is very cool and reserved in manner. He has a pair of keen, steel-gray eyes, and is a youth of striking appearance. His rifle is a 22-caliber, Willie Douglass is very fond of his rifle and the sport it affords him. He has a medal which shows his prowess. =~ = o Lo o

» ' : Dangers of City Life. . Birst Citizen—~The spirit of anarchy ean only bs found in large cities. . Second Citizen—Guess that’s so. A man never feels like slaughtering the t‘whole human _mcesgytii;%eylivés ina flat, with a plano above and a baby be-

‘“'; -~ WELL-TR A&WEE&#W«»W ‘An Englishman Once Educatsd a Swarm .. "+ of the Busy Inseets. . - In the education of animals it is more | remarkable to see the smaller ones trained to exercises that seem absurdly out of place by the patient care of the human brain that devotes itself to - this educational process. Mice, canary - birds and fleas! They have all been upon the boards. The idea of teaching the vivacious flea to perform certain specific antics] How was it instilled into its small imperceptibls faculties that in obedience to certain, signals from the master, man, i% sho&d do things which would. never enter into the mind of the simple, natural fiea! - _ Among the smaller animals there is none that seems so intelligent, so praectical and sober-minded as ‘‘the little busy bee.” He will mount in the air, and fly in a straight line for his hive. It has :passed into a proverb, and when a man'wishes to say that he has gone by. the shortest line from one point to another (and that, #s mathemathics teaches, is the straight llne), he says he ‘“made a bee-line” for the place. So in the structure of their - cells they apply by instinct the form ‘and proportions which reason proves to . be most -effeetive and economical of space. They are fine subjects and obey implicitly their queen, and they ‘talre good care of thedrones as long as - they are useful to the well being of the community, and kill them as soon as they cease to be so. : ; It would appear, therefore, a very simple thing to teach bees tricks and introduce them to a professional life as performers on the amusement stage. Yet probably very few have ever seen ‘them trained, 'ln 1881, however, a man named Wildeman, of Plymouth, did train a troup and exhibit them for the recreation of tlie curious public. He got swarms of bees so.well trained that he could make them enact maneuvers with as much precision and unity as - troups of soldiers go through field tactics. This man uséd to exhibit the bees in a large hall, outside of which was a garden. When the bees got through working as trick performers they could ‘have a good time playing among the flowers. Wildeman would -appear before the audience with the bess swarming all oyer -him. They were on his face, on.his%xands, crawling over his clothes, and his pockets were full of them. -It looked as if he were

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a great flower' full of material from which honey could be made, from the assiduous attention which these busy little bees paid to him. Whether they nad been despoiled of their stings or not is not said. But he must have felt pocomfortable if he knew that many scores oOf bees; were they so minded, could have stung him at will. Such a guantity of bee stings as that could easily settle a man.and leave him stung to death. ‘Anybody who has ever been unlucky enough to receive the sting of even oné healthy, vigorous bee will not find it difficult to believe this. s ~ The hives of the bees were in a certain part of the large hall quite removed from the stage where Wildeman stood with - them thickly clustered on him. All at once he would give a whistle and prestol The bees started off and flew straight to their hives. When they had got well settled there he would whistle again, and back they flew and settled on his face and hands and clothes once more. This was done with the greatest promptness and regularity. ‘lt must have been with some solicitnde ;that the spectutors assisted in this performance. But it is due to the bees,;and perhaps to Wildeman, to say that no one was ever stung by them.> » i oie. .

| Virgil, the great Latin poet, who wrote four poems on different 'agricultural themes, devotes one of ‘these Georgics, as they are called, entirely to bees. But he nowhere says they can be taught to do the things .which this man of P@lymouth trained them toperform. Virgil’s bees know a _great deal, but they have learned it all from nature.—St. Louis Republic. , L oh o The i)ogvaad Interrupted. ! . " The signs were all about in the fair ’g_roqnds that, at a certain tent, Tom, a Skye terrier, would correctly play upon the piano a certain ‘air. The people crowded . the' tent and waited for the wonderful . performance. The piano was opened, and Tom came out, and gravely got up on the stool and placed his fore paws on the keyboard. The music was as promised, but a man back in the andience, who doubled Tom's musical -ability, called out: *Cats!” “Cats!” Tom jumped from the stool and ran round the stage madly, barking with all his might. It did not interrupt the music! The piano was played by machinery arranged inside the case by the owner., :

Frozen for Over a Century.

- *“While at Birch Creek, in Alaska;” sald an American who recently returned from the mines, “I saw a wonderful cave, lately discovered. After entering through a small aperture, the sides of which are composed of granite, the ex-plorer-enters a solid ice-chamber, from ‘which hang numerous stalactites. In this chamber Schumann, the discoverer, found a black bear frozen stiff in'a bloek of ice. He took his ax and chopped a .piece off the animal and found that it crumbled at the touch. It probably had been frozen for a century ormore.” sl

: Some Boys. : e - A boy in Maine, aged thirteen years, was going to the pasture after the cows one afternoomn recently, carrying his ‘gun loaded for partridge-shootimg. On his way he saw a deer, the first deer he - ‘had ever seen alive. He raised his gyn and killed it. Another Maine boy has had a different kind of success. He, and his brother, aged nine - years, have dug a well nine feet deep and stoned it themselves. The well is a guccess in every way. They carted the stones that were used in the well half & mile Dutlaok ol i