Ligonier Banner., Volume 32, Number 22, Ligonier, Noble County, 2 September 1897 — Page 6

FROM THE KLONDIKE.

~ Eteamer Pcertland Arrives, Bringing Much News. ; Lucky Miners Among Her Passengers 5 =They Say Alasky’s Fields Are Rich in Gold, But Awful Hard- . +ships Threaten Prospectors. Seattle, Wash., Aug. 30.—The steamer Portland arrived here at three o’clock Sunday morning. It was 14 hours after the Portland was sighted oft Cape Flattery before she arrived here. The Portland carried 13 miners, each of whom brought only a small part of his stake. The total amount of dust on the vessel is perhaps $575,000. The Portland was delayed by the failure of the P. B. Weare to arrive at St. Michaels and by ‘a storm on the North Pacific ocean. The miners on board, with the amount . of their total mining profits, parts of which were brought with them, are as follows: J. Rowan, $50,000; Jim Bell, $45,000; Joe Goldsmith, $35,000; N. W. Powers, $35,000; W. W. Caldwell, $35,000;- W. Oler, $30,000; C. K. Zilly, $25,000; F. W. Cobb, $25,000; W. Zahn, $15,000; A. Buckley, $10,000; M. S. Lansing $15,000; B. W. Farnham, $10,000; M. R Camler, $15,000. The Portland made the trip from St. Michaels without a convoy of revenue cutters. DBut she will be guarded by Unecle Sam’s armed ships on her next trip. She brings news from Dawson City that provisions are very scarce Coffee is worth 80 cents a pound. . Country KFabulously Rich. :

While the small amount of gold brought from the Yukon by the Portland was a disappointment to many the miners who returned unite in saying that the country is fabulously rich. The claims which have been worked promise well, and, in fact, many of them give assurance of proving very rich. All estimates of the amount of gold which will be taken out of the Yukon next Ycar must necessarily be very rough, asthere is no means of determining how much work will be done. If men could be secured to work tke claims already located t‘here would undoubtedly be many million&of dollars taken out, but the majority of men who go there prefer to prospect on their own account, notwithstanding the fact that high wages can be had wherever claims have been located and have proved rich. Statements have been made that the steamer Portland on her mext trip will bring fully $2,000,000 in gold, but the most reliable men from Dawson City say that no such amount of money will come, as it has not been taken out of the ground. One miner who came down places the outside figure at $1,000,000. Will Produce $70,000,000,

One of the returning miners sésjs that the remarkably rich claims on Eldorado creek will number 140. He estimates that at the rate these 140 claims are now producing, and considering the ground Yet to be worked, in the next three years they willaggregateabout $70,000,000. To this must be added the favorable possibilities of new gulches and the development of claims already found, but not opened so as to permit of the greatest production, There have been other rich strikes on Stewart river, Hunker, Henderson and Indian creeks, but none of these are as rich as claims on Eldorado and Bonanza creeks. ' Until the wonderful discoveries on - the&londike were made, ground worth ten cents to pan, with two or three feet of pay dirt, was considered very good for the Yukon, and miners made fair money with rockers and sluices. This year miners are passing entirely over ground of this richness in their | search for sand and gravel that will pay like that of the Klondike discoveries. Up to date none of the claims show any sign of exhaustion, and scarcely a dozen are more than well opened. Every one has large area of ground to be worked. > Mr. Ogilvie, dominion land surveyor, panned out dirt which ran $3OO per pan. He says that bedrock of Klondike and tributaries lies in great broken slabs like pieces of rock imbedded in cement. He does not credit the story that the dominion government will levy tribute in form of royalty on claims. Last Trip Up the Yulkon. The most important news from St. Micliaels is that Yukon river steamers left there two weeks ago for their last trip up the Yukon. It was not certain they would reach Dawson this fall, in which event passengers who left the sound on the steamer Portland as early as July 25 would only reach Circle City before navigation closed. This makes it certain that hundreds of miners who have left the sound and California since August 1 for St. Michaels will have to winter there. At least they can scarcely get started up the Yukon before the river freezes over solid. ; ‘ : - Should Wait Until Spring. Seattle, Wash., Aug. 30.—H. N. Stan‘Jey. who went to St. Michaels for the Associated Press, returned to this city or the steamer Portland. He says: *I have been seven weeks at the mouth of the Yukon, at St. Michaels, where 1 - saw all the miners coming out and interviewed them. As a result I feel it my duty to advise everybody to stay out until next spring. Wild, and in many cases exaggerated, reports have been circulated since the first discoveries were made. The strike, however, was and is one of the greatest, | if not freatest, in the world’'s history. Frobably §2,000,0000 was cleaned up - this spring, and next spring I look for from $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. The fields have hardIy been opened up as yet, but those going ‘in now must bear in mind that everything in that region was staked long before any reports reached the outer world, and that those going in now must prospect for themgelves, buy claims from the present owners or work for the owners. . : ‘“No new strike has been reported up to the time of my leaving, and another may not he made for five years, althouga Alaska is an- enormdus ccountry and will vet, 1 believe, produce more gold thah is dreamed of. But it is also in many ways a bleak, barren, desolate country—a country incapable of supporting any great amount of animal life, and a country of such rigorous climate, both winter and spring, that none but the most hardy can possibly live in it. Even they must have abundance of food and warm clothing. There is a popular impression that supplies can be bought in the vicinity of the mines. They may at present be bought at six times Seattle prices, but they are taken at even these figures faster than they can be got in; and before winter is half over, | if the present population stays in, there will be actual starvation. Grub was completely cleaned out this spring, and last _winter there was such a scarcity that ~moose hams sold for $3O each, flour $l2O per 100 and bacon one dollar per pound. ""Ag to shelter, 90 ip'er cent. of Dawson is 1i tz in tents, daborers scarce, and houses cannot be built, How are 7,000 ~people to withstand the rigors of a nine - menths’ winter of semi-darkness when the mercury goes 70 degrees below zero. As 1o labor, it fs true that last winter, the ~ winter succeeding the great strike, when | . men were scarce, jwum‘f s were szgs: gay@, ABut if no new strike is made, what {a to | - wages ma‘ vinter? There are | IS, RN o a«izi” S S,

worked this winter—an .average of eight men to each is liberal. If but 2,700 men are employed and there are 5,000 or more seeking work, what must be the result? Wages must go down. : “The Klondike is a land of ice and snow, as well as a land of gold. Let it not be made one of gaunt hunger, wretchedness and death., Let no one be allowed to wrest from the foolish people a few hundred thousand saved, borrowed or begged dollars. There will be as good chances for mining in the future as now. Let the people wait. This is not a Cripple Creek or Deadwood proposition. If ®Taught, they cannot walk outd Food Supply Very Short. W. A. Ryan, one of the special correspondents now en route to the Klondike gold fields, writes from St. Michaels island, Alaska, under date of August 15 as follows: = *‘According to all reports from the upper country, it will be impossible to land sufficient food at Dawson to support the population already dependent on that base of supplies. Miners returning from:the upper country, who left the Klondike in the middle of July, say that provender was already running very low and that it went out of the warehouses/just about as fast as it was put in off the steamers. They say that old-timers realize the situation and that the down-river boats will be crowded with men eager to get to some safe place for the winter. Distress and' death are predicted by them as the result of the Klondike craze. ‘ , Some of the Lucky Ones.

There were 20 persons here when the Excelsior arrived who had come down the river from the diggings, 15 of whom were miners. They are said to have all the way from $lOO,OOO to $400,000 among them. Few care to say exactly how much they have, but preferring to remain silent on that point, giving as their reason the fact that they have too little money compared to what those who went out earlier took away with them. C. B..and Z. B. Patrick, father and son, brought out $lO,OOO. They took passage on a sailing vessel which left port two days after they arrived. F. W. ‘Cobb, of Boston, is credited with $13,000, and C. K. Zilly with a like amount. Thomas Rowan, of Sitka, is $16,000 better oft; W. W. Caldwell, of Denver, has $20,000; Timothy C. Bell, of Vancouver, has $31,000 in Canadian money, the result of the sale of his holdings. M. S. Lansing, of Bozeman, Mont., has $lO,OOO. The others refuse to say how much they have. The remaining members of the party are Wiler, of Baltimore; Willlam Zahn, of Minneapolis; B. H. Farman, of Goodell, la.; A. Buckley, of St. Joseph, Mo.; H. N. Goeler, of Winnipeg; Thomas H. Dunkesley, of Tacoma, and N. W. Power, of Tucson, A. T. Each has won what is called in this region a ‘‘home stake,”” namely, the amount which he believes sufficient to take home to remain. Very few intend to come back. The hardships they have endured make them dread the country in which they won their stakes. : What the Passengers Say. There are two facts about the Klondike brought out clearly by interviews with passengers on the Portland. They are, first, that Alaska’s fields are rich with gold; _second, that awful perils threaten those who seek it. The Yukon miners who came back on the Portland without exception estimate that not less than $10,000,000 will be taken out of the Klon_dike district next winter. Many of them think the amount will reach fully $15,000,000. Following are extracts of interviews with some of the passengers: ; ‘“You can believe almost any statement about the richness of the Klondike diggings. that you hear. They are rich beyond deseription.’’

“It’s hardly fair to judge the Klondike by the returns of this year, sensational as they may seem. The work that has becn done is little more than ‘gophering.’ It was impossible to do systematic and thorough prospecting of claims. Next winter they will get down to solid work. Then look out for results.”

““These two creeks (Bonanza and Eldorado) are richer than anything that has ever been found in the world so far. Larger nuggets and richer pockets have heen found in many places, but history has no record where the pay streak has been so wide and the gold so evenly divided as on these two creeks. They will be enormous producers for the next ten years at least.’” ¥

““There are big chances for capital on the Yukon. There are many miles of good ground which will yield handsomely when ~worked on a large scale, which the average miner cannot afford to work. A year’s outfit costs from $750 to $l,OOO, and a prospector must find it pretty good in order to make his board bill. Consequently he looks for the rich spots only, whereas capital could work ground that the miner has rejected and make it pay big.” ; *“lt is just as good and even better than the Canadian side,” says a firm believer in the American part of the Yukon. ‘“There is lots of rich gravel on our side. Outside of the Klondike strike nearly all the gold diggings have been found on American territory. There are good chances there for prospectors and for capital.” ~ ““Warn people to stay out of the Yukon this winter. Tell them it means starvation there. Telegraph to every paper in the country that miners will starve there if more people go in.” “In warning people to wait until spring I simply act for the miners, who speak in the name of humanity. There is gold in the Yukon country, plenty of it, but to seek it this season under these circumstances is sheer madness. It is even worse, it is criminal to those who already are in the country.” o **lt is almost impossible tofike in enough supplies, and to go without s¥pplies means starvation, as there is not near enough food in there now for the peopie already in the district.” “Buildings cannot possibly be put up to accommodate everybody, and wintering in tents is out of the question." ‘‘Anyone who has a good situation would be foolish to throw it up and go into the Yukon until more is known apout the country. So far only glowing accounts have come out. There are plenty of hardluck stories which are yet to be told. No one will lose anything by not going to the Yukon this fall.” ‘*“‘The Yukon Is the last place on earth for a man to look for a soft snap. The very best will be hard living there.”

STRIKES HIS SOVEREIGN.

German Officer Blacks-fmperor WilHams’ Eye and Commits Suicide.

New York, Aug. 30.—A German family in this city has received a letter from the Fatherland, purporting to give the true story of the so-called accident to Kaiser Wilhelm, by which one of his eyes was blackened recently on board a German man of war. l'he accident was said at the time to have been caused by the dangling of a piece of rope. According to the letter referred to, a Swedish steamer was sailing ahead of the German warship, and the emperor commanded an officer in command of the warship to order the steamer out of the course of the warship. *““We cannot do that on the high seas, your majesty,” replied the officer. *‘lnternational law gives them the right to be where they are.” “l am the emperor,” cried the kaiser, smiting his breast in anger, “and 1 command you to make that steamer get out of the course.” : - “And I am in command of this ship and refuse to do so,” replied the offi--cer, also becoming excited. The next instant the emperor, says the letter writer, slapped the officer’s face. The latter struck the emperor with his fist in the eye. Then, realizing what he had done, and that his life was ruined, the officer jumped overboard and Was drowned., . Can’t Find n Suitable Umpire. London, Aug, 30.—The Daily Chron- | iele says it thinks the delay in the ap- | pointment of a commission for the settlement of the Venezuela question js %@w the difficulty experienced in | finding a suitable umpire, R e s G D e L eet

MAY HELP MINERS.

Small Operators Revolt Against the Rule of Their Big Rivals.,

Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug..3o.—The big coal operators who control the lake business are about to face another force in addition to the strikers. The small operators, who are in the majority in the Pittsburgh district, have at last broken out in open revolt against the dictation of the “big thirteen,” as the lake shippers are called. They openly defy their former masters, and declare they will open their mines at once, conceding the price demanded by the strikers. If the plans formulated by the small operators are carried out it is more than probable that their mines will be in operation by the latter part of this weelk, and the price paid to the miners will be 69 cents per ton. They have been willing to pay the demands of the miners ever since the strike was inaugurated. Owing to the fact, however, that they sold their coal to the *‘big thirteen,” or companies composing the lake-shipping syndicate, President Dolan refused to give his consent to allow their miners to work. These tmaller operators now have plans which they will present to the president of the United Mine Workers, and it is thought he will approve of them, and the strikers will gain a temporary viectory. -

The “big' thirteen” are the owners of the different mines where the most bitter ficht against the demands of the miners is being made, and they practically control the coal trade in this part of the country. The small operators had to sell their coal to them for whatever price was offered, and the rate paid hardly allowed them enough to pay expenses. Last year the price offered to the independent operators was so low that several of them closed their mines entirely. They have been wanting to throw off the yoke of dependence on the “big thirteen,” and think they now have a plan by which it can be done. District President Dolansaid thatif the small operators could show how they were going tosell their coal ouside of the syndicate he would readily give his consent to their plans to resume work.

A BAD WRECK.

Passenger Train Derailed Near Alton, Ill.—Many Badly Hurt.

St. Louis, Aug. 30.—The passenger and train crew of the midnight special of the Chicago & Alton railroad, which arrived in this city at 7:45 a. m. from Chicago, narrowly escaped death in a wrecknear Alton Sunday morning. Near the outskirts of the city the engine was derailed while proceeding at d high rate of speed by spreading rails and thrown down a 45-foot embankment. The tender, three baggage cars containing the scenery and wardrobes of the Digby Bell company and a postal car followed and rolled on top of the engine, under which Peter Rafferty, of Bloomington, the engineer, was pinned. He was taken out fatally injured. Fireman Charles Johuson, of Bloomington, 111., Mail Clerks Robert Mattimore, of Jerseyville, 111., and W. F. Simper and Samuel Grobbs, of Chicago, crawled out of the wreck severely hurt. Several Pullmans in which were the theatrical people remained on the track, but the shock threw the passengers from their berths, and Manager Duncan B, I;arrison, of the Digby Bell company, was seriously hurt about the chest. Others were injured more or less seriously. The injured were taken to a near-by house and cared for.” Engineer Rafferty was found to-have a fractured skull, internal injuries, a broken arm and two broken legs. The trainmen said that a tramp who was stealing a ride was under the wreck and was probably dead. Heavy loss of life was prevented only by the support given the Pullmans by the overturned baggage cars. All the scenery, property and wardrobe, as well as the personal effects of the Digby Bell company, were completely destroyed.

ROBBED A BANK. Burglars Secure a Big Sum from a Kansas Institation. - Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 30.—A special to the Times from Elmdale, Kan., says: Shortly after midnight Sunday cracksmen literally blew the vault of the Exchange bank to pieces. Nitroglycerin was used three times and explosions were heard for miles. Before the third explosion occurred citizens surrounded the bank and fired into it promiscuously. During the great excitement the robbers escaped from a rear door, taking with them $l,BOO in money and $7OO worth of drafts. This made up all the money in the vault, save 128 silver dollars, which were on a top shelf. , HENDERSON LOSES A LEG, ' lowa Congressman Submits to an Operation at Dubuque. Dubuque, la., Aug. 30.—Congressman D. B. Henderson’s left leg was removed at the knee joint Saturday. The amputation was made to arrest the decay of the bone and was completely successful. The operation also proved that it had not been delayed too long, for the bone above the knee joint was perfectly sound. He was shot in the foot at the battle of Corinth. The foot was amputated the following February and the leg has troubled him at irregular intervals since. Want to Purchase Palestine. Basle, Aug. 30.—The Zionist congress opened here Sunday. Two hundred delegates from various pants of Europe were in attendance. Among other subjects the congress will discuss the plan for the purchase of Palestine and the settlement there of the Jews. Dr. Herzel, the originator of the scheme, and Dr. Nordau were elected presidents. Sane

} Colorado College Gets'slo,ooo. ~ Colorado Springs, Col., Aug. 30.—Coli orado college will receive another $lO,000 bequest, bequeathed to the insti‘tution by Charles Wilder. of Wellesley. 1 Big Cattle Deal. ~ St. Louis, Aug. 30.—A special to the Republicfrom Wichita Falls, Tex., says: The largest deal in cattle that h een made in Texas in several years)was consummated Saturday. Waggdyer & Son sold to Harrold & Seott 10,500 ste at $3O, aggregating $315.000. They are shipping them to Chicago. Five trains were sent forward at once. To Strengthen Her Navy. Madrid, Aug. 30.—The government is arranging a fresh credit with the view of strengthening the navy. The navigatiou tax will be the security for the ;{ loan. /i R e B

A NEW MILE MARK.

Star Polinter Paces the Distance in 1:539 1-4 at Readville, Mass. :

\ Boston, Aug. 30.—Star Pointer, the wonderful pacing stallion, owned by James A. Murphy, of Chicago, on Saturday wiped out forever the two—miz:lte mark and ended the controversy which has been going on for years as to the speed qualities of the light harness horse. Accompanied by a runner, the big bay Tennessee-bred pacing stallion went the distance in 1:59Y,. It was the most wonderful performance ever made by a light harness horse and was witnessed. by about 8,000 people. It was the more wonderful because on Friday Joe Patchen, with the great Geers behind him, had made a shot at the mark set by Robert J. and John R. Gentry and had failed to réach it by a second and a half. Because of this it was not thought possible his greatest rival in the race line would get down below the two-minute mark.

The great event occurred on the track at Readville. The track was in excellent condition, and Star Pointer made the record with hardly an effort. When he started it was not thought he would do better than 2:02. When he passed the quarter post in 30 seconds flat, however, there wasintense excitement. The kalf mile was turned in :593, and the third quarter in 1:29. On the stretch the horse seemed to fairly fly, and crossed the tape in the wonderful time of 1:591,. Star Pointer was driven by McClary. _ When the big audience realized the greatness of the performance a mighty shout went up. Men yelled as though possessed. In the grand stand the owner of the horse had his hand wrung until it ached. Over the fences jumped men who knew horse and driver or who were carried away with the enthusiasm of the moment. Hardly had McClary got the horse to a standstill before they had him on their shoulders and he was borne down the stretch to the judges’ stand, and there, as the band played “Hail to the Chief." he was introduced to the throng. A tip of the hat, and then renewed applause.for the horse, owner and trainer rang out. A fairer mile was never timed. Not a watch in the stand but what agreed with the time announced, while on the other side of the stretch the watches in the grand stand caught it equally fast or better, not one slower. C. W. Marks, also of Chicago., and owner of Joe Patchen, the greatest rival of Pointer, looked at his watch earnestly and then remarked: “If anything. the mile was faster, rather than slower. My watch barely got over to the fifth of the second. Tt wasa 1:59 performance.”

Star Pointer and Joe Patchen, the pacers, have been matched for a mile race at Mystic park on September 11 for a purse of $4,000, the winner to take all..

[Star Pointer i{s a Tennessee product, having been bred from pure pacing stock by H. P. Pointer, of Spring Hill, Tenn. The horse is now eight years old and came prominently before.the public in 1895, when 10. Geers gave him a mark of 2:0415. In 1896 he was considered unsound, and was sold at auction to Edward Mills, of Boston, for $5,600. Last year he won the fastest three-heat race on record, took a race mark of 2:021%, and defeated all the horses in the free-for-all brigade with the exception of John R. Gentry, and the owner of the latter would not give Star Pointer a chance’late in the season. Last winter the Boston owners found him too valuable for them, 'and he was sold in February in New York at auction to his present Chicago owner for §15,600.] .

THE LUETGERT TRIAL.

Jury Finally Secured in the Murder inquiry at Chicago.

- Chicago, Aug. 30.—T1he Jury in the Luetgert case was completed Saturday when the last four jurors were selected and the whole 12 were sworn 1n to the long task of trying the case. Saturday evening a human body, obtained from a medical college, was boiled in the vat in which it is maintained by the prosecution the body of Mrs. Louise Luetgert was reduced to fluid and then flooded away with the sewage of the sausage factory. Those who were present at the experiment were the lawyers and scientists interested in the defense of Luetgert. The boiling was done under the same conditions in which it is alleged the murder was committed, and the witnesses of it say the test will disprove the state’s theory. Dr. John H. Long, head professor of the Northwestern medical college, who was in charge of the experiment, said that at the end of three hours’ boiling the big bones were still intact. This, he says, will have a tendency to destroy the state’s case, as the testimony on that point is to the effect that Luetgert did the weork in two hours. v

Gold Discovery in Michigan,

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Aug. 30.—Excitement is running high here over a recent gold discovery near Michipicoten, on the north shore of Lake Superior, which has just been made public. The find is a- wonderfully rich one, assays showing from $lOO to $l,OOO per ton, the samples being taken at random from the surface. The quartz is free milling. The sale of a portion of the claim is now on the tapis, the owners having been offered $lOO,OOO by Montreal capitalists for it.

A Holy War in Prospect.

Paris, Aug. 30.—-The Memorial Diplomatique asserts that the ameer of Afghanistan has ordered the faithful to hold themselves in readiness for a holy war, and that a meeting of mullahs has been convened at Cabul to discuss the situation. Fatal Earthqualke, Tacoma, Wash., Aug. 30.—The Japan steamer Columbia, just in, brings news of severe earthquakes in Japan on August 5, followed by a tidal wave and great floods. A thousand houses were inundated and 200 persons‘were killed and injured. Sixty-five Chinese villages were inundated. ! j Mountain Climbers Killed. Berne, Aug. 30.—Two guides were killed and an Austrian tourist was seriously injured recently while attempting the ascent of the Jungfrau, by being tLrown over a precipice by the collapse oL & snow cornice, ‘ Great Benefits Result. New York, Aug. 30.—The officers of the Merchants’ association estimate that the benefit by the visit of buyers from all parts of the country this fall to New York will approximate $50,000,000, and say that the benefits to be derived in the future by the extension of trade are inecalculable. ' Specie Exports. ; New York, Aug. 30.—The exports of specie from the port of New York for last week aggregated $899,255 in silver, There were nogold shipments. The imports for the week were: Gold, $782, 872 wilver, SIOOB7B -¢@ ¢ Lo a 0

X RAYS TO FIND GOLD.

Use of the Light May Be Valuable in Mining Operations.

The miner who starts to the Klondike without finding out whether or not the X rays can be made use of in laying out his claims and searching the land and gravel beds, may miss a fortune. It will be all that thousands of men can do to reach this region with enough food, clothes and ordinary mining tools, but there are scientists who believe the X rays may be made to revolutionize gold mining inh this region before another year has passed. Nikola Tesla is ‘one of the highest authorities in the world on the X rays and its possibilities. He has often given it as his opinion that mountains can be radiographed with this new light, and that gold mines will be found with as much precision in the earth as a bullet or a needle is now located in a person’s body. He was asked for his opinion on the value of the X ray in gold mining in the Klondike. He said such mining was not only possible, but perhaps practical, though at this moment to a limited extent.

‘“Some. of the X rays,” said he, ‘“are without limit as to length and radiography. They are limited now because of our almost toy apparatus for producing them. Our instruments in the present state of electrical development have generated rays only . a few feet in length at best, but we know that they can be made longer. Itis a question of tubes and currents, and at any moment we may find a way for producing rays that will penetrate stone walls and hills and mountains, not to speak of the earth itself, which is certainly a possibility. The X rays, however, could be made valuable now in searching small beds of sand and gravel that have been thrown up by a shovel for washing.” . Dr. S. H. Emmons, of New York, a noted metallurgist and electrician, who is an authority on the X rays, said they could undoubtedly be used with great advantage in the Klondike. He has in his offic a radiograph of a piece of quarg showing gold imbedded in the center of the rock and concealed from the naked eye. This radiograph shows most clearly the black spots of gold in the gray quartz. Said he: “The X ray could now be used to great advantage in the sand and gravel beds in placer mining. For instance, these beds could be thrown up in shallow ridges and mounds here and there, and by the aid of the rays from one side the miner with his screen could search this sand and -gravel and estimate whether or not it was worth washing. Along the g¢reek and river banks this sand and gravel could be piled in ridges, and as the miner searched he could make great headway with his washings, taking off with a certainty only the richest dirt. 1 have no doubt an immense amount of labor could be saved and a great deal more gold could be mined.”—N. Y. Journal.

RULES IN LAUREL COUNTY.

“Big Liz” Vauwghn a Terror to the Eastern Kentueky Officers.

Down in the eastern part of Kentucky folks tremble when they speak about “Big Liz” Vaugn. Peace officers and town authorities steer clear of her, and she sort of runs things in Laurel county, where she lives on a farm. Liz is a trifle over six feet in height and weighs 225 pounds, which is pretty fair for a woman in that part of the country. She has a large family, some of her children being married. She rules not only the entire crowd, but also the neighbors and all the surrounding territory pretty much as she pleases. One thing which helps to make people a it shy about crossing Mrs. Vaughn’s path when she is looking for trouble is that she has a big knife which she calls “Abe Lincoln.” She knows how to use it, as many past experiences have proven, and is not afraid to cut loose when occasion offers. A few years ago her husband got mixed up with a party of eight or ten neighbors on the farm and they began to beat him up, but Liz was there with *‘Abe Lincoln,” and when the marauders saw it flashing they cleared out in a hurry. The escapade which brought Mrs. Vaughn the most fame, however, was the killing of her soh-in-law, Cortez Brown, this spring. Brown had been hanging around the place drunk and disorderly for a long time and annoying his wife, who hadtaken refuge with her mother. Mrs, Vaughn finally warned him to keep away or she would shoot him. He did not have the same wholesome fear of his mother-in-law that the rest of the folks exhibit and tried to force his way into the house. Big Liz filled him up with 44-caliber bullets and he died on the doorstep. The body lay in the dooryard for tem hours before anyone dared to enter to remove it. Finally the coroner arrived and took charge of it. Mrs. Vaughn is a comparatively young woman, but old enough to take care of herself.—Chicago Chronicle.

A Revolutionary Eagle.

Eagles are not so scarce in this state as is generally believed. Tt is said that there are hundreds of the great birds in the Higklands near West Point, but though the matter of “hundreds” may be doubted, the fact remains that there are many. Among these is one old fellow that lives on Turk’s Head above Garrison. He dates from revolutionary days, and still bears a scar made by a British bullet. John . Donohoe, whose father and grandfather passed their lives in Garrison, has frequently seen him., His habit of flying sideways and the peculiar swoop of his right wing makes him an easily recognized object. Tais droop was caused by the shot of a British soldier who, while passing up the Hudson on a man-of-war, was ordered by his captain to shoot the eagle as it soared quite a distance aloft. - The soldier’s marksmanship was good, but it cost him his life. A band of patriots, hidden in the rocks, saw the deed, and, as the ship lay well toward the shore, their volley killed the sharpshooter. The wounded eagle was cared for by the patriots.—Buffalo Express. \ ! A

A Grievous Charge. Mr. Cawker—Miss Perkasie is a society kleptomaniac.. Mr. Cumso—What is a society kleptomaniac, as distinguished from any other sort of a kleptomaniac? - : “She has stolen the affections of & dozen men or more.”—Up-to-Date. —All cold vegetables left over shoula be saved for future use in soups or salIS o s L v

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. NIGHTINGALE AND THORN. A nightingale quite forlorn ,@ Thus made her plaint to the morn: “I've hunted in vain,” ran the pitiful strain, “And I can’t find a sign of a thorn. There’s nothing to make me sad, There’s not a thorn‘to v had, All the rest of my years’’—here she burst into tears—“l'll have to be merry and glad.

“T always sing my best When a cruel thorn is pressed (So my friends have said, and I've fre quently read) i Quite close to my tender breast. O birds with grievances great, O men with grievances small, Think what it would be if you, like me, Had never a grievance at all!”

The moral, my little dear, Is quite remarkably clear: When lessons are long, and things go wrong, And every one’s acting queer, ) Don’t murmur and bewail, Don’t rue the day you were born, But think of the poor, poor, nightingale, - Who hadn’t a sign of a thorn. | —Ethelwyn Wetherald, in Youth’s Companion. - - SHOE-BLACKING BOX. One That Any Boy of Ordinary Intellisence Can Malke. How many boys are there who have shoe blacking boxes of their own ‘in which to keep brushes and blacking? Perhaps - there are not many who haye, but here is a box that every boy can own, because he can make it himj self with hammer, saw and plane, and some wood that can be purchased from a carpenter at a small cost. Obtain four pieces of pine, two inches square and fifteen inches long, for the legs; and. four pieces, each sixteen: inches long, five inches wide, and sevencighths of an inch thick, to form the sides of the box. Screw these flat pieces tcgether firmly to form a square, and then screw on the bottom pieces of tongued and grooved boards. When this is done, fasten the legs in position with long, stout screws driven down through the bottom of the box and into the tops of them, and brace them with eight iron shelf brackets screwed firmly, as shown in the drawing, with one side against the legs and the other against the bottom of the box.

These will strengthen the legs and prevent the box from rocking, and as they are of the ordinary cast iron style they can be purchased at a hardware store for a few cents each.

With a thin piece of board, make a partition inside the box to hold the brushes, and on top of it at one side fasten a square piece of board on which a box of blacking can rest. i 1% is sometimes a good plan to attach the blacking box to the wood with a

///(,'/;Q/ A =il s-..*""lm:‘ i/ ; ‘ b {tfi . 8 4 LY : | i 1 === i " i ‘l‘! ’ . Es‘l = ' SHOE-BLACKING BOX. screw passed down through the middle of the box; but if a standard size of blacking box is always used, it would be well to cut a hole in the wood with a compass saw so the box will fit in it, and another thin board or a piece of tin may be tacked to the under side to prevent thebox fromdropping through. Next a cover is to be made of tongued and grooved boards to fit the box, and at the outer edges a strip of wood, called a batten, can be screwed fast to the ends of the boards to keep them together. Strap hinges and a stop chain will hold the cover in place. When arranging the chain do not allow the cover to go backward too far, but only enough to prevent its falling forward when the box is in use. Make all the joints nicely and putty up the cracks, then give the entire box, inside and out, two coats of some dark colored paint. When the paint is dry, the front tqg edge of the box can be bound with a strip of sheet brass or iron on which to put the feet when blacking shoees. This metal strip will prevent the wood from wearing away, and the painted front from becoming shabby. : In this box the shoe polishing equipment can always be kept, and everyboy that makes one should take pleasure in keeping it tidy and in good order.

Pepper for a Bloodhound.

Tt has frequently been remarked that if rogues were as ingenious in hounest ways as they are in crime, they would make a respectable living. In some of the southern states convicts are kept in camps, and from one of thése campsa convict recently escaped. After searching the vicinity without avail, a bloodhound was set on his trail. The convict was easily tracked to a village store, where he had purchased crackers and cheese and a half pound of ground pepper. The utility of the latter purchase was soon made apparent when they took up the trail again. The convict had dusted his tracks with the pepper. The dog almost died from the effects of the pepper, and had to be called off.

Horse with a Memory.

That horses have memories, and good ones, too, is shown by an incident which took place on the fair grounds at Wooster, 0., recently. Last year the Rusgian filly Woodbird, while quartered in a stall on the fair grounds, was terribly frightened by a small snake which got into her manger. She was in such fear that she had to be removed. This year the same stall was assigned to Woodbird. When she saw the manger she began trembling violently, and finally fell over and acted as if she was taken with a chill. An effort to quiet the filly failed, and she was taken to another stall, where she became quiet and contented.—Horse World. i e

President Lincoln’s Sentiment. It is said that President Lincoln thus replied to a letter asking for a sentiment and his autograph: *‘Dear Madam: When you ask of a stranger that which is of interest only to yourself always inclose a stamp. There’s your sentiment and here's your autograph: A. Lincoln.” Youth’s Companion.

- THE USEFUL GIRAFFE. How Driver Bill Came to Be Shifted from the Band Wagon. : “On the road,” said the old showman, “we always used to look to the giraffe o supply us with apples. He was a tremendous big giraffe, about 18 feet high, and he could reach almest any tree in the orchard; all we had to do was to. drive him up alongside the fence. ;

“Thegiraffe keeper’sparticularfriend in the circus was the driver of the band - wagon, a man named Gabsly, and whenever we came to an apple orchard the keeper always used tp see that his friend Bill was well su%plie_d{ The giraffe’s place in the line on the road was just ahead of the band wagon, and whenever Bill came along and saw the giraffe at work, why, he’d just haul up and wait for his share, which he was sure to get, for the giraffe had been AT : ::j‘”(‘,% f%u; S I . B - \,é; "'“/I/‘/,‘. : A : & 2, ‘S\j »R 24 it ¥ "’évr"’ \,&,\\\Q;}‘ “Qfié | .Ll ,!_, 2 2 A\,{%,}\'Z C7N . - Nha s AT, S G | e ¢oy ’( v (@H’ifi‘ff“é‘a«" ANI ™ey P il Tl NN (@ 3), )y i “ ’i' ‘ ¥ .d"*?)é,fi?& /: . -~ FILLING THE BASS HORN. taught to hand up apples to the man on the high seat till the man told him to stop. : ‘ “At the ends the band chariot swept upward with a great curve. At the rear end, away up in the air, was the bass drum; at the forward end, just. under the back of the driver’s seat, was the big bass horn. The man who ; plafled the bass horn in our band could probably get more thunder out of that massive instrument than any other man 'that ever played one, and he was proud of it, of course. But he was too powerful to suit the driver of the band lwagon. Bill liked music as well as | anybody, and if anything he liked the bass horn a little better than any other instrument; but he didn’t like quite so much of it as he got in the band wagon. He was driving a 20-horse teamy; and he was just as proud of his driving as the bass horn player was of his playing; and he used to sayf;lég& the vibrations of the wagon at that’end: caused by the heavy blasts of the horn shook the wagon so much that he couldn’t do his driving justice, and he asked the bass horn player to let up a little on parades, but of course hg never did. . ‘

“One day, late in summer, when we came to an orchard of beautiful red apples, the keeper of the giraffe at once set the animal to work; and when the band wagon came along Bill halted, as he always did, to get his share. It was a still, drowsy day, the jolting had been just enough to keep the flies off, and the whole band was scattered along the band wagon asleep, from the bass drummer up at the other end with his head resting on his arms and the great drum in front of him, down alongthe whole length of the wagon to the front seat, where, with one or two others, under the overarching rear edge of the driver’s seat, sat the big horn player, the great horn beside him, the bell opening upward under the edge of the driver’s seat, like a rainwater cask under the eaves of a hquse. Driver Bill leaned over back, and dropped the first apple that the giraffe handed him into the mouth of the big horn, and he kept on dropping them there as fast as the giraffe handed them up. Altogether, he must have dropped into the big horn about a peck of apples, and ithe jolting of the wagon after that wedged ’em in pretty tight. We were taking a long jump that day; no day show, and no parade that day at all. “That night when the bass horn player tried to sound his horn it wouldn’t- sound, and people missed: it. You can’t do without the oomphah, oomphah, oomphah of the big brass horn any more than you can without the sharp notes of the E-flat cornet, ‘and folks began looking over toward the band to see what was the matter, and when they saw what the bass horn player was doing they called the attention of the others, and pretty soon the whole audience was looking over that way. They saw the leader: leading, and everybody but the bass lrorn player playing right along as usual. The bass horn player was trying to play, pushing in keys and valves and blowing himself red in the face, but making no sound at all. But suddenly there shot out of the mouth of the great instrument, like a ball out of a roman candle, a single big red apple. Then all of a sudden the big horn began roaring and rumbling and spouting red apples like a fireworks. ° “Even the clown laughed, and it was 15 minutes before the audience got quieted down enough so that the show could go on. . “Of course, the old man had to know all about it, and the upshot of it all was that Driver Bill was sent back to the tiger cage, and the driver of the tiger cage was promoted to the band wagon. And after that the bass horn player used to play louder than ever. When he blew oomphah, oomphah, oomphah, now, the forward end of the heavy band wagon would surge and sway like a.light carriage does when you jounce on the seat.”— Alvin Dipperton, in Chicago Inter Qcean. : ,

Little Boy's Rare Courage. While trying to arrange the reins on a spirited horse, P. J. Conway, of New York, lost control of the animal, and the carriage dashed away with Mr. Conway’s two sons, John and Edward, aged 12 and 4 respectively. The elder boy commenced to cry, says the Journal, and finally slipped from the carriage, leaving Eddie alone. The brave ‘little lad, however, grasped the reins and proceeded to pull on the lines. Several park policemen and a erowd of bicyclists started in pursuit, and when near the bottom of the hill at Seventysecond street and the drive in Central park Park Policeman Edward Dougherty succeeded in stopping the animal. When little Edward recovered his breath he exclaimed: “Gee whiz! Mr. Copper, but didn’t I go!” : ' _ The Italian government intends to levy an annual tax of 12 francs on all Dirrcie i ot BAL Mutabe e