Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 28, Number 6, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 7 August 1897 — Page 3

CANOE MEN

THEIR ANNUAL MEET AMID THOUSAND ISLANDS.

The Canadian Division In Command

CLAYTON, N. Y., Aug. 2.—For the seventh time during its life of 18 yeart the American Canoe association is coming to the Thousand islands. Lake George, Lake Chauipiain and other lo calities have been tried, but this region seems to be the most satisfactory, especially to the racing men. The meet will be on Grindstone island, the site of the camp of 1896, and the time limits are from Aug. 6 to Ang. 20. The

tkr

WING AND WINO.

camp is equidistant, abont seven miles, from Clayton on the American shore and from Gananoqoe on the Canadian shore.

There are foar great geographical divisions of the association, one inclnding the New England states, another the Atlantic seaboard states, the third the central and western states and the fourth all of Canada. Ono year in four each division takes its turn in deciding where the meet shall lie and in conducting tho same. The third division controlled last year, and the fourth divisiou controls this ywir. The Canadians have made a great effort to have the meet a success, and it is probable that they will not be disappointed, for the com modore, John N. MucKendrick of Gait, is a man of great energy and executive ability.

Since last year many improvements have been made in the camp. The headquarters have been moved to aI more convenient spot, and gravel walks connect Squaw point with the main camp. Of tho more than 2,000 mem-| bers of tho association about 800 will be present, and of these about one in five belongs to tho gentler sex. While the presenco of ladies in tho camp is not approved by soino, yet it is favored by the great majority as a restraining influence. Since they began to come excesses have been rare. Indeed excesses never wero frequent because tho canoeists as a body aro a very temperate set of men. To illustrate this it may be stated that no bets of any kind have ever been made on the result of the races, and that if any oue tried to bet ho would be drummed out of the camp. The racing is good natured rivalry, and that is all. Tho victors have the hearty congratulations of the vanquished, and tho vanquished, profiting by experience, often become the victors the next year.

The Canadians usually beat the Americans iu paddling, and there will be a dozen races of that sort, but in 1800 Noack, an American, beat the Canadians, and this year both sides will do their very best. Noack

Bat

In sailing races the Americans have been surcessful for the most part. They oarried everything before them in 18H8, but in 1800 the Canadian. Archibald, brought a new boat to the camp and had his own way over Butler, Gage, Stewart, IIulo ntul the rest of tho Americans. Now everybody is wondering what the Americans will bring with them to beat Archibald. Fifteen sailing races will be called.

Tho races make up only a part of tho camp life. There aro many days when no races are possible on account of rain, too much or too little wind or a heavy! sea. On such days new friendships are made, and old ones are cemented. A oaiuptlre of some kind is held every\

A CLOSE CALL.

racing, and

the

most popular

men air

tbo«e who can sing or dance or tell stories. Ex-Commodore SVinne teems to

be the most popular of all, for he can do all three. Then there are choruses, in which all can join, and the camp band of mandolins, guitars, cornets, etc., gives a pleating variety to tbe entertainment

0 MP *na^8 camp attractive to visitors at

THE

Grlnd«ton« Island ThU Yrar—Rac«« With Paddle* and Sail*—Regulations ol Camp Life—The Delight* of Canoeing.

[Special Correspondence.]

in his

boat, a most heretical posture in the opinions of the Canadians. Thus tho coming contests will bo over postures as well as between nationalities.

Tbe camp is opened in the morning in billy, heavily wooded country

and closed at night with as much form ality as if it were a post of the United States army. The international signal code is need for the catling of tbe race# and for everything else, inclnding the warning that suspicions characters are abont and trunks bad better be locked. Visiting yacht* are sainted and their occupants are invited on shore. In a word, the camp is ran by the signal office under the direction of the commodore. Tbe best of police arrangements

Every little while the story is pub-

lisbed that canoeing has had its day and that the bicycle and golf have been too much for it, bnt nothing oould be more remote from the troth. The membership is larger than ever, and the additions for the past year have been greater in numbers than for many years before. Many of the canoeists are enthusiastic bicyclers or golfers, but they still keep to their first love, canoeing. "Once a canoeist, always a canoeist," is their motto. On a lazy day in camp one may sometimes see a game of baseball, but no other games are approved, and bicycles are never among the "daffel" that comes along with the canoes.

It will be a sad day for oat of door sports when canoeing goes into a decline, for there will be nothing to take its place. No other water sport is so restful or so reasonable. Canoeists who are not used to much muscular exercise at home need not overdo themselves in camp, for they can paddle or sail at their leisure. They can drift idly before a gentle breeze with their sails "wing and wing," or if they are iuclined they can climb ont on their sliding seats and fight with the strong puffs to see which shall be the master. In sailing, as in most other things, it is the man who dares that wins, and what may seem "a close call" to others is just what the racing man wants in order to send him to the front. His racing machine, with raised sails, will not stand by itself any more than a bicycle will stand alone. Like the bicycle, it stays upright as long as it is going, and also like the bicycle the faster it goes the less is the danger of going over. Good bicycle riders therefore make good canoe sailors, and bc'h the bicycle and the canoe bring out the best there is in a man of courage and capability to meet any kind of an emergency.

FREDERIC G. MATHER.

AN OLD STONE FORT.

One of the Mysteries of Texas—The Scene of Many Bloody Battles. [Special Correspondence.]

NACOGDOCHES, Tex., Aug. 8.—This town possesses one of the most interesting mysteries in the United States in the form of the queer old yellow stone fort that stands facing one side of the public square. It is not a handsome building either as to 4sign or finish, the walls being laid with little or no pretense to regularity, while its ground plan is a simple rectangle, but it is oi of the solidest, sturdiest old structures in tho world. Its walls are 13 feet thick, and the stones of which they were erected are firmly bound with a sort of mortar that seems indestructible. J~o one knows when the fort was built even, though, from the fact that one of the stones in the wall bears the inscription. "1(310 Anno Domini," it is be lieved, by many Nacogdoches folk at least, that Mie structure was erected by La Salle and that it was one of bis famous chain of fortresses to stretch from Canada to New Orleans for the protection of the French of Louisiana from the Spaniards of Mexico.

At all events, it was standing when the first Tennesseeans entered Texas. They found the fort a roofless ruin, and established their settlement around it, repairing and roofing it and using it as an arsenal and a refuge when attacked by their enemies, who were many and oantankerous. These incloded the Kick apoos, the Comanches and the Mexicans, and the hardy American settlers had many a bloody fight with them before either Houston or Austin went to Texas, By the time the republic of Texas was formed Nacogdoches had become a large and flourishing settlement for those times, and at first was the capital of the new government. It was during this part of its troubled hitfory that the old fort saw fiercer fighting than ever before.

While Houston, Austin, Crockett and others were struggling with the Mexicans at Sau Antonio and elsewhere the Indians, actually much better fighters than the Mexicans, were seeking to aid them by making desperate assaults on Nacogdoches. The Texans there were commanded by Kelsey Harris Douglass, a Tennesseean who had settled in Texas early in the century and had conducted a successful trading post before the breaking out of the war. Time and again be was attacked by overwhelming numbers, bat be never was beaten. Even after the independence of Texas was assured the Indians made occasional attacks, and finally General Harris sallied out, bnrned all their towns and whipped them into a state of absolute submission.

The interior walls of the old fort bear many aucient inscriptions in French and some iu Lat and from their wording it is belie jbd by many persons that instead of being built by La Salle the structure was put up by a Frenchman named St. Denis, who, according to tradition, established a little republic in the western wilds some time in the eighteenth century, holding it against Indians, Frenchmen and Spaniards as long as he lived, the fort being his stronghold. He had the help of tbe Nate he* Indians, so the story runs, and attracted to himself many restless Frenchmen from Louisiana and a nampirates who bad been obliged to

give up their buccaneering lives, but there is no documentary evidence whatever to

prove

that the legend of the re

public of St. Denis is correct Nacogdoches is not much of a town now. It began to decline in 1840. It is tL

cannot be made suitable for cultivation without much bard labor, and settlers prefer to pasa the seat of tbe old atone fort by and go to the smooth, fertile, treeless prairie* farther west

Q. P. SWKXSCHI.

Ctltmr*

Amos the

Btaibl*.

"Does your daughter enjoy Boston?" Yea She says even tbe people there who eat witb their knives can quote Emerson."—Chicago Record.

.*'

THE SPECIAL AGENT,

REPRESENTS THE UNITED STATES TREASURY AT CUSTOM HOUSES.

The Government's Chief Belianee for the Detection of Frauds In Undervaluation o£ Imported Goods—He Looks After

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2.—Lees is known by the people at large probably about the special treasury agents attached to the United States customs service than any other class of government employees. Yet these men perform most important functions, and their vigilance in years past has saved millions of revenue to the country. It is their duty to assist tbe appraisers and customs collectors to ferret out frauds in the nature of undervaluation and false classification and to detect smugglers, and though perhaps it is not creditable to the mass of mankind to write it, they are kept pretty busy most of the time.

There are 26 or 28 of these special agents, and they are detailed to duty at the headquarters of 19 different districts, tbe chief of which are located at Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, New Orleans, San Francisco, Suspension Bridge, Ogdensburg, N. Y., Chicago and Detroit Some of tbem also do duty in Europe and other foreign countries. They all work under the direction of a supervising special agent, whose office is permanently located in Washington, but they are themselves likely to be moved about from place to place on the shortest notice.

Perhaps there are no more secretive men in the world than these same special agents. Though they are under a discipline quite as rigid in its way as if they were in the military service, they wear no uniforms, nor are they marked by any distinguishing badge. It is their study indeed to dress as inconspicuously as possible. Tbey must look like schoolmasters, clerks, small business men, anything brt the keen, shrewd fellov»s they really are. On occasion they must know just how to draw out of a man all tbe information they may desire to get without making their questions too pointed. They must understand the -rt of patient investigation. They must al-

AN INOFFENSIVE LOOKING StRANtfERTAPPED HIM ON THE SHOULDER. ways be discreet. They must be honest, and, besides, they must be thoroughly conversant with the details of whatever tariff schedules are in force, and also witb the various qualities of every dutiable article of commerce that fix its olassificatioi: and the rate of duty that should be assessed upon it. It would take half a newspaper page merely to enumerate their duties.

Their Duties.

For instance, they are empowered and directed to examine the books and papers of appraisers and collectors within their territory at least once a year. They must, look sharp to see that no appraiser's examiner is allowing undervaluations of imported goods to go through. They must watch the transportation of goods in bond and goods that have not yet been appraised. They must examine the entries and invoices in the custom bouse and compare them witb foreigu price lists, trade circulars and consular reports on file in the appraiser's office and otherwise obtained. For the purpose of ferreting out smugglers they must visit vessels from foreign ports and take note of the manner in which the unloading is going on, and watch to see that no dutiable good* get away scot free. Tbey must keep tab on the revenue cutters and tbeir method. Acting in conjunction with the postmasters, they must examine the foreign mails, and they must keep a lively eye on the bonded warehouses to see that no goods re taken away through back doers or cracks in the wall. In short, they mast constantly be on tbe watch to see that nobody robs our Uncle Samael, and tbeir lives are one continuous whirl of nervous tension.

TEBBE HAUTE SATTTKDAY EVENING MALL, AUGUST 7,1897.

Smuggling and a Host of Other Things.

[Special Correspondence.]

Tbe man Mustered and fumed, de- iSseeoasttoetkmaodafllts •taring that be bad been grossly insult- r«ulta, easily and thoroughly. 35c. AOdragglsts. ed, and arnooncing loudly that be rreparcd by Hood Oo_ Lowell, Mass. should oomplain to the collector of the Tbe onto PU2s to take with Hood's Saraparffla.

...

did have the assurance to complain to the collector. That official turned the matter over to the special agent of the port, and he went to a big book, in the front part of which there was an elaborate index. Running his finger dowu a column of names, the special agent soon found the one he wanted, and then he said to the complainiHg man: "You have paid some hundreds of dollars in fines here for smuggling dogs before. The special who spoke to you did wrong decidedly. He should have allowed you to take the dog ashore and I then put you in jail." I That was the last heard of that complaint

Although it is the function of tbe treasury agents to assist collectors and appr&isers in preventing fraud, they are by no means under the control of these officials. On tbe other hand, it is not only the privilege of the special agents to examine independently into tbe methods of appraisers' and collectors' employees, but it is their bounden duty. They like to do it with the full approval of the officials, but it has happened in the past occasionally that these latter have looked upon the agents when engaged in this branch of their work as interlopers, and tliete have been some exceedingly lively rows in consequence, but so far as recorded tbe agents have always come out ahead.

Careful, Patient Work.

The detection of smuggling and dishonest employees of the customs service, though among the highly important duties of t' treasury agents, is by no means the most absorbing. Their heaviest work consists in bringing to light the undervaluation of goods. This is almost always done on complaint of some merchant who finds himself being undersold by a rival dealer in imported goods. He states his case in a written complaint to tbe collector, who in tui~ refers the case to the special agent. Perhaps the latter can detect the fraud, if there be any. in a short seance with the examiner thereof, but very often indeed it requires v.eeks and months of attention. Some'inies even atrip abroad is necessary. In some cases the first suspicion of undervaluation is got through a tip from spccial agent abroad and from a United States consul.

When a case of undervaluation, or rather frauu, has been fo!jy established, the facts are communicated to the collector, and the violator of the law is made to puv full duties and pnniti\e duties besides. If lie desires, he may appeal to the board of uiue general appraisers who have jurisdiction over the entire country and aie located in New York. Such cases are generally decided by one member of the board, and if the culprit uppcal again the case is then passed upon by a special board of three, but tbe appraiser making tbe first decision is never a member of this board. From tliis decision there is no appeal save to the courts.

DEXTEB MARSHALL.

Tired. Nervous, Sleepless.

Men and women—how gratefully they write about Hood's Sarsaparilla. Once helpless and discouraged, having lost all faith in medicines, now in good health and "able to do my own work," because Hood's Sarsaparilla has power to enrich and purify the blood and make the weak strong—this is the experience of a host of people.

Hood's Pills are the best family cathartic and liver medicine. Gentle, reliable,

Right and Left Sides.

The majority of human beings exeroise the right side of the body more constantly than the left, and in consequence it is superior in strength. It would be far better if both sides of the body worked equally, and if the habit of osing tbe left arm and the left leg as readily as the right is formed in childhood tbe physical strength will not only be equalized, but increased.

Ivory.

Until a few years ago the wholesale price of ivory was $8 a pound. In consequence of the opening up of new districts in Africa to colonization the value has fallen to $2. An ordinary elephant yields about

120

merchantable ivory.

Of course 26 «ncu can't do all tbis, and so the treasury agents have a lot of special employees, special examiners, clerks, etc. Jnst how many there are of these persons no fellow can find out, but while they are probably not very numerous they are likely to turn up at the most unexpected places and under circumstances most untoward to the man who proposes to pay leas duty than be ought to, or none *t alL This was discovered the other day by a man who hoped to get a valuable English dog off a transatlantic steamer that bad just entered one of the Atlantic porta. The man was about to lead the brute down the gangplank in a nonchalant, matter of coarse manner when an inoffensive looking stranger tapped him tbe ahoalder. "If you take that dog off this ahip, 1 shall be obliged to arrest you for smuggling, said the inoffensive "rtranger quietly. nw-. pm.

pounds of

Attractive

Dresa.

A circle enclosing the words "Purity, Strength, Perfection/' makes the label used on Cleveland's baking powder particularly attractive.

Tbe Cleveland Baking Powder Co. has not only set a high standard for quality of goods, but has adopted a frank method of dealing witb the public, which should be followed more generally. All the ingredients used in this baking powder are published on every label.

Kdnrat* Yoar With CancarcU. Camljr Cathartic, euro constipation forever. 10c. 25».

itc.CC

faff. drrorriMJirefund

i£

treasurv

agents tbey are not often subject to changes when a new administration comes in. They are now included iu the civil service, though there were comparatively few changes before they were thus classified, but their pay seems strangely inadequate. The supervising treasury ag°nt is fairly paid, but the others get only $6 and $8 a day, while the special inspectors and other employees get about $4. Of course there are proper expense allowances.

money.

Constipation

Closes

folly

ball tbe sickness in tbe world. It

retains tbe digested food too long to the bowels and produces MBoosaess, torpid Bver, indt

Hood's

Pills

iV ,\ '... ... ... ...' -"Si'V

'A,-

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10*

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A tablet now and then will prercnt dlnrrhr

...

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BETTER THAN EVER"

The 1897^ BEN-HUB BICYCLES embody more new and genuine improvements in construction than any other bicycles now before the public. Never before have 103

various options offered, is such that the most exacting purchaser can be entirely suited. CENTRAL CYCLE MFG. CO.. 72 GARDBN STRBBT. INDIANAPOLIS. INIX

OUR FINS roaTM OATALOOUB MAILBD PON TWO fi-OINT STAMPS.

George Rossell, Agent,

Wabash Avenue. TERRE HAUTE, IND

Printing

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Get the very best, and that is the product of the

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If you are going to build, what is the use of going to see three or four different kinds of contractors? Why not go and see

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