St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 17, Number 9, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 12 September 1891 — Page 2

WALKERTOR INDEPENDENT. WALKERTON, ... INDIANA The murderous lover AGAIN BEGINS HIS.WORK WITH THE WRONG PERSON. Whe Scheme of Northwestern Farmers to Corner Wheat—Notable Event In a Quaker Church—Nicaragua Sets a Commendable Example—Ohio Storm. Love Ends in Murder. Dr C. E. Ballard, member of a .prominent family at Saybrook, 111., I shot and killed Miss Bertha Ison at ' her mother’s house in Bloomington, : 111., and then killed himself. The tragedy startled the entire city, j where all the parties are well known. I Some few months ago the Ison family j moved to Blooming.on, and two months 1 ago Bertha met Dr. Charles E. Ballard, ; of Saybrook. Ballard, who was the son | of a promin nt doctor of Saybrook and! a graduate of the St Louis Medical Col- I lege and a rather brilliant and good- ; looking young man, fell desperately in ; Jove with the beautiful Miss Ison, and he persistently pressed his 1 suit He was accepted, b t quite io- । cently the engagement was broken by j Miss Ison for various reasons, among ’ which were that she had heard he had l been drinking and that her mother be- i lieved she should contract no engagement while so young and inexuorienced. Notwithstanding, lie obtained a marriage license to wed Miss Ison, and took oc- ! casion to show it to a number of his I friends and to have the fact of his ob- J taining it published. He also told I several friends that the girl was all right, but that her mother was making | trouble, and added, “If I uon’t get her, j no one else will.” And he kept his word. BASE-BALL. Standing of the Different Clubs According ta the Latest Contests. Following Is a showing of the standing of ca h of the teams of the different associations. NATIONAL LEAGUE. „ W. L. Uc. W. L. ^c. I Chicago 71 43 .623 Clevelands. .51 61 .455 Boatons 63 47 .573 Rrooklrns.. 49 61 .415! New York... 58 4 6 .558 Pittsblirgs. .48 65 .425 Philadelp’s. 58 12 .527 Cincinnatis..4s 68 .898 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. W. L. ^c. w. L. Uc. Bostons 79 33 .705 Columbus.. .54 66 .450 i St Lcui5....72 43 .126 Milwaukees.4B 67 ,417 Baltimores. .64 49 .566 Washingt'n.39 70 .358 ! Fiuladelp s. .63 54 .538 Louisvilles. .39 76 .339 WESTERN ASSOCIATION. W. L. £c.| w L Be Sioux Citys.62 51 .549 Omahas 49 55 .471 Kansas C’ys.s9 55 .518^>envers 49 62 .411 Will Hold Their Wheat. Hundreds of farmers in Eastern Ore- ■ gon and Eastern Washington are holding their wheat under orders from the Alliance until spring in hope of getting b -t---ter prices. The highest price paid in the Northwest for wheat this season was 1 75 cents per bushel. This was at Walla । Walla three weeks ago. Since then I prices have declined from 5 to 8 cents I — ??£ bushel. It is believed that values • ! "Washington will have about 35.000,000 J bushels for export" this ycir, and the I bulk of it will go to Portland for shipment. Departure from Quaker Rules. For the first time in the history of the old Quaker Church, at lowa Falls, lowa Sunday services were enlivened by the sweet strains of a musical instrum' nt. After a long and prayerful consideration the congregation decided to purchase I an organ and notwithstanding the strenuous objections of some of the older members, one was placed in the church and will probably remain there This i is the first instance in which Quakers I have eVer been known to depart from ; their rigid rules against the use of mu- I sical instruments. Saved from Death'by a Ticket Punch. Conductor Shockley, of the Central Bailway of Georgia, had a remarkable escape from death. A burly negro pointed a pistol at him and fired. He was only a few feet from Shockley, and the passengers who ran to the conductor expected to find him at least badly hurt, but he was entirely unharmed. The j ball had flattened against the punch in his vest pocket almost directly over his ! heart. Fastidious Nicaragua. A correspondent writes from Fan Juan del Norte that the Government of Nicaragua has issued orders to the Gov- I ernor of that port not to allow Italian ■ immigrants to disembark unless their respectability is officially vouched for. i The importation of pistols at this port is • also forbidden by the President. Destructive Storm in Ohio. A most destructive electrical and rain ; | storm passed over Alliance, Ohio, j ’ Twelve houses and barns were de- > stroyed, resulting in a total destruction aggregating a loss of from §5'3,000 to * 815,000. Dau ^Jail-Birds Nabbed. A dap.ing plot to break from the State ! prison at San Quentin, Cal., has been frustrated, and seven of the most des- : peratc among the 1,300 convicts have been placed in solitary cells. Among the seven are three who escaped last year and defended themselves in a fortress ! among the hills until the warden made terms with them. Fatal Quarrel Among Convicts. In the penitentiary at Frankfort, Ky., I Eli Lucas and William Bell Meyer, both long term convicts, fought. Lucas fatally cut Meyer with a knife and Meyer beat Lucas till he was unconscious. Rode Them on a Rail. Ruben Mock, aged 18, eloped with Anna Hughes of Fox Hill, Pa , aged 16. When the couple returned, the neighbors objected, and they were ordered to leave. They refused, and their house was broken into and the young couple were taken from their beds and given a ride on a rail. Killed by an Angry Bull. At Elizabethtown, Ky., Col. William "Wilson died from injuries inflicted by a maddened bull.

J EASTERN OCCURRENCES. At Bradford, Pa., a suicide mania has » taken possession of the aged members of I a local agnostic circle, which was foundu ed byrthe late Dr. Stuart, who himself । led the way by taking his life. Since j then three other members of the circle I have tried to kill themselves and two L have succeeded. The last case occurred j when Elias Ilasley, aged sixty six, took । rat poison and died. 1 j Frederick Bushenhagen and his ; wife Emily, each past 70, were found in : a.n old well on their farm near Hartford, . Conn., showing evidence that they had I been murdered. It is thought a tramp, ■ whom the old couple had fed, did the deed. Death came like a flash upon a driving party of |our at the Hudson avenue railroad crossing in Peekskill, N. Y. । The second section of a fast train from I the West struck the front wheels of a ■ carriage, throwing the vehicle fifty feet. | George Travis of Amawalk, N. Y., who i was driving, died of his injuries before I midnight His daughter, sitting beside j him, was instant’y killed. Two young । women on the back seat escaped with i severe bruises. The Suffolk Trust Company of Bos- : ton has been placed in the hands of a t receiver. Its investments in Kansas I have proved disastrous. At the Gettysburg celebration Illinois ; representatives presented, with fitting ' ceremony, monuments marking the place i where three regiments from that State j opened the famous battle. The monu- | ments cost $6,000, and are highly credit- ’ able pieces of sculpture. WESTERN HAPPENINGS. At Terre Haute, Ind., Frol Markie, a ■ brother-in-law of Mu grave, the former ! real-estate dealer there who forged deeds and mortgages and who was supposed to have been burned to death in the log cabin ten daysago, confessed that it was | a conspiracy to defraud the insurance 1 companies, and that Musgrave was alive lin Chicago. Charley Trout, the friend I of Musgrave, who helped him find the । cabin, also confessed. Word was sent ।to Chicago to arrest Musgrave The j story is that the skeleton placed in the cabin was purchased in St. Louis for The dynamite factory owned by F. A. Reynolds & Co, near White Pigeon. | Mich., exploded. There were twenty tons of dynamite in th) building, ' which was a three story brick, i Scarcely a vestige of it remains । Sixteen workmen, mostly Swedes and : Norwegians, were comp etHy aunihiiat ed; not an atom of them is to be found, ' and it is impossible to learn their names, i ; as the company's books, pay-rolls, etc., | . are lost. As it was early, none of 'the proprietors were in the building at the time of the explosion । Tho loss is estimated at $35,000. I The concussion in White Pigeon was awful, and citizens were badly frightened. Goods in tho stores were thrown from the shelves and houses rocked to and fro. The spiro of the German Lutheran C hurch fell with a loud cra-h, and the walls of several buildings are cracked and damaged. Mus. Richardson, an aged woman, living near Long Prairie, Minn . apparently died of apoplexy and was laid out ready for burial in due V»h n tho ’ —■ M-ru kUW place, the > supposeß ^'W begWrTTSWw signs of ■ II fef h hannrnTnrt ti mo revived so that she could speak and knew the friends who gathered about her. The Central Market Company of Chicago assigned Its liabilities aro 8160,000. Inspector V/Eiiiof tho Chicago Health Department discovered a ear load of cattie infected with Texas fever. The cattle had been sold by a local broker to an Eastern firm. The cattle, were at once placed in quarantine Near Sedalia, Mo., a pc uliar disease 'ls raging among stock. A few days ago a farmer noticed that several of h s cows refused to eat or drink, and that they were in a bad condition generally. Upon I ; investigation he found their mouths were raw, very sore and inflamed, the | symptoms resembling a fatal mouth disease. Government officials at (hieago swooped down on the Elder Publishing Company and arrested the President, Abram P. T. Elder, and Vice Iresident and Secretary. H. L. Barber, on the charge of using the mails f r fraudulent purposes. Their victims number th u- I sands. Poth men are in jail in default ! of jail. On the fair-grounds at C yde, Ohio, while endeavoring to cross the track during a trotting race, Miss Florian ! Roger was instantly killed by being struck by a sulky, the shaft of which passed entirely through her head at the , temple. This has been the banner year for cattle and sheep raising in Montana. Secretary Prewitt, of the Board of Live Stock Commissioners, estimates that up to this time 80,000 head of cattle have been shipped from Montana to markets in the East. The average net । rice was 840 per head. Up to the same time last year shi; ments were only 24,000 head and the ne. price only S3O. This gives Montana so far this year $3,500,000 from catte. The shipping season has only fairly begun Cattlemen never had such a year as th sin Montana. Best condi- | tions prevaile d all over the State. Kaneh--1 men have been enabled to cut an abundance of hay to store away. It has been • a prosperous year for sheep a so. Losses i from natural causes among bands have । been at a minimum, and the increase has been enormous. ! Howling and screaming, with blood streaming from pistol-shot wounds inflicted by himself, Louis Bulling, the I ; wife murderer, was hanged at Savan- I : nah, Mo. By pleading w.th the Sheri IT : he gained a respite, of nine hours and passed the time in an agony of fright. His spiritual adviser. Re., Mr. I.avakc, : was in his company, and is under arrest j for furnishing Bulling the revolver with , which to commit suicide. I At Topeka, Kan , attorneys for B. A. 1 Burr, receiver in the Honeywell case, ' filed a petition in the Supreme Court ■ asking for a writ of mandamus compelj ling Judge McKay to sign papers taking , another case in which Burr is interested ।to the Supreme Court. Judge McKay refuses- to s'gn the application on the ' ground that the application should be ( for a new trial, and until that is clone the Supreme Court should not interfere News comes from San Diogo of the terrible death, by thirst on San Felipe I Desert, in Lower California, of a young j Mexican named Benito Cesena and the

-j- u narrow escape of a Chinaman from # same fate. They became separaw o s from a prospecting party and wi I f dered off on the desert. I At Omaha, tho National Associate f of Stationary Engineers elected the ■ 1 3 lowing officers: William Powell, E* 3 Cleveland, Ohio, I’resident; Thoma J's । Holmes, of Chicago, Vice Preside#. William H. Crowley, of Jersey City, B*t; rotary; and R. J. Smith, of San Fran#co, Treasurer. W. K. Ragburn, of Eldorado, Kj has sued tho Chicago & Alton for $ 000 damages for injuries sustained wl p" traveling over that road. he Two companies of cavalry are nov tho strip and two in tho Sac and ] reservations, ejecting all “boomers, -SOUTHERN INCIDENTS. William Allen, alias Henry Joi ! the negro who shot and fatally wouff & E. J. Meyers, Marshal of Guyton, ( has expiated his crime. He was ta a -- from the custody of the officers in ‘<sn waiting room at the Central Depotfeo Guyton at 10 o’clock at night by abi&t seventy-tivo men armed with rifles, carried to a point in the woods aboujnd mile and a half from Guyton, wherur a was tied to a tree and shot to death^- 10 Dr. W. S. Turnbuli, Farmer ningham and two sons were kided^#a stroke of lightning near Magnolia, A tree near by was torn up by its r4>ts and the cotton pen was shattered to pieces. Cunninghim and his two sons wi re killed instantly and Dr. Turnbhll lived only a short while. The cotton crop prospects for Shelby, Sabine, and San Augustine Countes, Tex., are fully 25 per cent, lower than two weeks ago. At Augusta, Ga., Frank Danforth, the negro wife murderer, was hanged. His neck was broken. Last Juno a cyclone near Mount Herman, Ky., blew down the barn of Sam McPherson. The other day some laborers found a hen that had been penned in by tho falling timbers When the timbers were removed she jumped out and po meed upon the first thing edib’.e that camo in sight. She had been confined in Iv r narrow prison for ji st seventy days. During this time she had laid an egg and hatched a chicken which had died. At Chattanooga, Tenn., a damage suit was brought in the < ircutt Court for 820'000. Justice Dobbs was defending his daughter from the assaults of her husband, Bi d Gasset The old man fired a double-barreled shotgun at Gasset. putting oi.t both eyes, which ho now values at SIO,OOO each. THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. Tin: Department of Stat ' has heard from Minister Egan. '1 he delay in receiving his report has been solved by infom&tion that the t(■ levrapii ;c COUBU* nieation between Santiago and Val--1 araiso had been cut, and tl^t the line eastward from Santiago to Buenos Ayres j has been interrupted by heavy snows : in tho Andos Mountains. Although : Minister Evan’s cablegram official y ' Indicates the su cess of what ho ! descril cs as the revolution, he has not ye» r'ued the Department of Suite ! that a Government ha- h,.,. may be reconuiMd e- , v 1U Accordingly the d^^rrtment will prora- | biy await furtlvr detailed information I from tho Minister before a 1 cording formal recognition to th 1 new government. POLITICAL PORRIDGE. At Hastings. Neb. the Independent' State Convention computed its labors by placing in nomination J W Edgerton. of South (Imahn, for Associate Judge of tho Supreme Court, and Professor D’Alemand, es Eurnbs County, and E A Had'ey, of Stromsburg, as regents of the State University. Tin: Prohibitionists of New York have i se’ccted their State ticket as follows: lor Governor. J. W. Bruce, a retired I farmer of Canastota, Madison Couatv: I for Lieutenant Governor, George W. ' Halleck, a prosperous farmer of Suffolk County: for Secretary of State, William E. Booth, of Livingston County; ' for state Treasurer, Erancis E. Crawford, if Westchester County; for Comptroller. M illiam W. Smith, of Uoughk epsio; for State Engineer and Surveyor, H. P. Fori es, j rqfessor of the I University of Canton. St Lawrence I County; for Attorney General, S. E. Grosser, of Bufiala Gen. Black, ex-Commissioner of Pensions, has dec'ared his preference for Cleve'and in 1892. John S. Durham was appointed Minister Resident and Consul General at Hayti. Mr. Durham has been consul at St Domingo. II ■ i- a colored man of education and capa ity. * INDUSTRIAL NOTES. The American Ax and Tool Company, composed of nine factores, controls about half the production of axes. The employes of five factories went out cn a strike caused by the efforts of the am pany to discourage tho growth of *hu labor unions. The Federation of La^Qr has agreed to pay ea h married man> en gagod in the strike B<> j or week and unmarried man 53 per week while the light lasts. Fieteen hundred Chicago cabinetmakers struck for an eight-hour working day, a minimum scale of wages, and the abolition of piece work. The strikers stale that th 'y had sent circulars with their demands to forty-two firms; that fourteen of these firms had granted the demands, as well as five firms to which no circulars La l been sent: that j these nineteen firms emp oyed 300 men. FOREIGN GOSSIP. The minister of the Japanese imperial household announces that a princess has been born to the Emperor. There is a strong possibility that the British Government will be called upon to make good the damage done to a portion of the valuable cargo of the steamship Eldorado of the Morgan Line wh’eh met with disaster recently hl the Bahamas, by the wreckers of the 1 ahama Islands. These wreck- , ers, who are but little better than , pirates, swarmed over the Eldorado -is she'ay Im pless on one oi' the Bahama shoals, tried to haul clown the American flag which floated at her masthead and > were with difficulty restrained from tak- : ing forcible possession of her The . only means of saving the ship and cargo

1 [™”r?aTo^^ permission -x 1 a portion of tho car^o ■ and load it on their schooners. S , rA “ TV of Russian officials sent to kill animals Infected with disease, in or ei o prevent the disease from spreadAhaL?? a 4 Cked A at ? U ^ by a crowd b ants ' Attachment of Coswa roc d t 0 QUell tbo disturbance. The Cn c °. d "? th a shower ^ones: ,t? <S thcn fircd a volk *y, killing othere pcrsons and wounding many Russian villages near tho Russo-Aus-u ian frontier are thronged with soldiers. 1110 frontier guards, who used to bo merely gendarmes to prevent smuggling nave given place to whole regiments per,nanontly quartern 1 at every available point and ready to act as a strong adyai.ee guard in pouring into the Austrian empire in the event of war. GENERAL NOTES. The American Cranberr'- Growers’ Association has received returns from all the cranberry growing regions of the country. According to them the present crop will be 20 percent, smaller than that of last year. This is attributed to the heavy fronts last May both East and M est. International Bridge, Ont .ViPd woAFn^ across the river in North Buffalo have been going to and returning from work without interruption for some time, but the United States Marshal has marcl ed them back to the international boundary iina The Marshal says they must take out nited States citizens’ papers if they wish to earn a living in the United States. A bulletin from the Census Bureau shows that there are 45,233 per ons con fined in Unepenitentiariesof this country. Mrs. Susan G ale Cook, who has been acting as Secretary of the Lady Managers of the World s Eair since the removal of MissCouzins, has been formally j elected to fill that position. An official order of the English Board of Agriculture has been issued relating to tho Atlantic Cattle trade, to go into i operation next January. The purpose of the order is to secure the delivery of healthy cattle, and to that end such pre- I cautions must be taken to secure the comfort of the animals on their trip, that the trade will be re ieved of all of its inhuman features. An astounding revelation oi cruelty at St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary, Montreal, came to light when a discharged convict limped into a hotel there and taking off his dusty >hoe took fri m it a letter from camus Perry, now serving a seven-year sentence in that institution. Cut of the four years he has served this wretched convi t has spent, he declares, no less than twentyfour months in the black hole. This punishment cell is a portion of the cellar of the penitentiary, and is so closely shut with iron doors that daylight never reaches the cei s in it as long as the convicts are there The unfortunate prisoner put there is kept on bread and water. Iwiing given one regular prison meal every day. Ib sle qs on straw, and tho guard who furnishes him with his scm ty food s prohibited from speaking to him It is jerpetua! night ami unending silence for him. It is the hardest punishment that can I e inflicted, ! atm-*—. mar* ha—two etioh- year* Hl ..o'-®WlW^LesuleS ,a being horribly I eaten and kicked. As.xnitago dispatch says: The provisional Government of the republic of Chili has been formally recognized by the Government o' th I n ted State-. Min -ter Euan receivel a cable dispatch from the Stat" Department at Washington instructing him to trea* the junt; de gobierno as the government de fa. to of the country Infor.i iiUo ito this etT ct was conveyed to s- nor Jorg >L ntt, president of the junta, and occasioned gteat r oicing It has Just trauspir d that the German Government gave Pal mace la notice Pur weeks ago that it w c.id r>- ognize the belligerents. R. ।; 1>; x a ( ■>.eekly re^iew of trade -ays: Business improves in all sections; at , the South, b-cause of Injury to the cot- ' ton crop, and the consequent advance In | | the price. Ihe wheaf crop is out of dun- | ger and is enormous, undoubtedly the ! largest ever grown, and moving with I unusual rapidity. Tho corn crop has ; ' been saved, and is very largo in | : most of tho surplus-producing States, t The monetary situatii n ; s also decidedly । clearer and more favorable. The removal ! of the German p~ohibition of American j pork imports promises a largely increased j demand for important products. The business failures throughout the country during the last seven days nui ib t 217. as compared with a total of »2m last week. : For the corresponding we »k V»-t year the figures were SOX MARKET REPORTS. CHICAGO. Cattle—Common to Prime 83.50 & 6.50 Hogs—Shipping Grades 4,00 @ 5.75 Sheet* —Pair to Choice 3.01 O' 5.50 Wheat—No 2 Red 97 .98 Cohn—No. 2 67X@ .68 Oats—No. 2 23 <s> .33 Rte—No. 2 90 <sk 9’2 Butteb—Choice Creamery 21 gJ .23 Cheese—Full Cream, Cats 08',. <s J9'._ Egos—Fresh 16 .L s Potatoes New, ver bu 30 .3" INDIANAPOLIS. CATTLE—shipping 350 @ 5.75 Hogs—Choice Light 3.50 5.5) Sheep—Common to Primo 3.5) y? 4.53 Wheat —No. 2 Bed 95 .95^ Corn —No. 1 White 64 ia» ,6o Oats—No. 2 Whiter 33 .33ja ST. LOUIS. Cattle 3.50 (ft 6,30 Hoos 4-50 @ 5.» Wheat—No. 2 Red 97 if? .98 Corn—No. 2 «0 & .63 Oai-s—No. 2 23 & .3) Rte—No. 2 t 5 & CINCINNATI. Cattle 3.50 @ 5.50 Hogs 4.00 & 5 5'3 SHEEP 3.00 & 5.00 Wheat—No. 2 Red 97^@ .98^ Cons—No. 2 66 Vi .68 Oats —No. 2 Mixed 82 & .33 DETROIT. Cattle 3.00 5.25 Hogs 3.00 64 525 Suei p 3.00 @ 4.50 Wheat—No. 2 Red 93 if? .98'4 CORN—No. 2 Yellow 69 .tG 1 ^ Oats—No. 2 White. 33 & .34 TOLE O. Wheat—New 90 @ 1.00 Coen—Cash 65 l-a .67 Oats—No. 2 White 30 & .32 Rye 89 & .91 BUFFALO. Beef Cattle 5.C0 @ TOO Live Hogs 4.25 & 6.00 Wheat—No. 1 Northern 1.11 gl 1.13 Corn—No. 2 70 c? .71 MILWAUKEE. Wheat—No. 2 Spring 95 @ .97 Corn—No. 3 64 m .65 Oats—No. 2 White 32?^@ .33*6 Rye—No. 1 68 @ .89 Barley—No. 2 64 @ .64*2 Pork—Mess 13.25 @13.50 * NEW YORK. Cattle 3.50 @ 6.00 Hogs 4.00 ® 6.25 Sheep 4.25 @ 5.25 Wheat—No. 2 Red 1.06 (a 1.08 Corn—No. 2 75 <<t .76 Oats —Mixed Western 34 & .33 Butter—Creamery 15 @ .24 Pork—New Mees 11.50 @ 12-00

IIOW THEY MAKE RAIX. I consisting of exp’osive balloons of 10, 12, * * and 20 foot diameter charged with oxhydrogen gas, which is one of the most RECENT EXPERIMENTS WERE violent explosives known to science SUCCESSFUL. Ten to twenty of these balloons are in the air at once, ea h containing from The Practicability of the Theory Said to CUb ' C fCGt °/ th ° ex P losiv ® Have Renn * i neory said to gases. The concussions from the exploly Keiftcd Scientific r sion of one of these balloons is so great operatives and surrounding objects. Produced by Man. <l ; he ex pl l ision is produced by means of Scientists, farmers, and ranchmen o; " time fuse and in fact the entire reading public’ wh^n ?h« y h n ^P l ™ lO3l pH take place have recently had their attention cen- the kroner aft’^de wh ^ tO r ° aC ? tered on Texas and tho successful on-r- i™ d ’ * h ' ch vanes aecordations of the Government rainmakers, ^et COndltiOU3 ’ from to 7,000 The cowboys of the “Staked Plains” of t n cha^ino- the 1 u that State have been treated to a free gases thTen nlv I ^^ exhibition of fireworks such as has sei- on the gro^d and fi dom if ever been equaled in the Lone Star w“th oxv?en Th ,V k , f . uil State. The coyotes and antelopes have tTe bal oon bv a ho o n been scattered in terror by this terrific with chlorate If potassium and man^ cannonading of the experimenters, and nese Tho retort a ,.„ *i „ > I to the joy of the ranchman copious rains ^B6 hea??n oxvXn fnr»±« d tO ipvc fa l !c „ o„ th. parchea prairie, o( “X, “ E the Llano L.tae.do, breaking a drought sas ls generated Ind palJ, through » ■ ' lime-water wash into the balloon. When the balloon is one-third full it is —TdTJ detached from the oxygen apparatus and connected by a pipe with one of the large hydrogen generators, which conipletes the inflation. The hydrogen gen* erator consists of a large tank half-full a x w ater and iron borings turned from ’^^7* 1 projectiles in the navy yard at Wn vZj Or Vitrlo1 ’ d ^anUd? h ’¥Ki^^ separates the water into its gases, hyV'QU- drogen and oxygen, and the iron takes \ U P the oxygen, allowing tho free hydroI escape through a pipe and washM / barrel into the ba loon, which is held / captive by a netting attached to sand *■ \ V bags, u The observation ascents are made in GEN. dvrenforth. balloons of twenty feet diameter. The ~ — balloon is held captive at a height of of long duration and averting the dis- 1,600 feet by a strong cable while ths lowvM a rkw moV\ g Wh L >h 77 ldhaV °) f ^ “eteoroloffist >n the basket communii BtotS Cat, ‘ S the readin " s ofhis instrument 1 fore the close of the late war, it bo- through a telephone to these on the camo so conspicuous a fact that heavy ground below. The cable is then let go • ram would almost inevitably follow a and the balloon rises to the height of fill vSnM 11 ! 1 th ^ th ° St ° r "? WaS ° Ver two miles ’ and then descending oneof he Met?; *i nd th Wa9 reR + arded as lan ds the occupant at a distance of sevSidorml n)t > n h > e cas f to be con ’ eral miles from the starting point A si I red m/ a leader when forming his carriage has already started from the f^ u P , ’ nlli:,, ; veo i^’e- Inmost headquarters, however, and the'aeroh A 1 ’® S . 7 nS bcgan about nautical observer is seen ridin- Qffiet'y twohe hours after the heavy firing, gen- back on terra firma. with his billo n bittie nT f i D i tln h ° nl ^ htfO b? OWi ? g the foldin S basket, aud instruments safe’y battle, and in cases of continual dght- packed away. y

I Mb FILLING THE BALOONS.

Ing for several days, as in the batt’es of ti e Wilderness, they occurred nightly during the continuance of the engagements. History a’si shows that during the Me lean war many battles on the arid plains of Mexico were followed by copic ss rainfalls, a condition previously almost unknown in some of those local!- . ties. Gen. Daniel Ruggles, pf Fredericks- , burg. Va., was among the number of | those who observed the regularity of j this phenomenon cr rainfall after battles, and soon after the close of the war he applied for a patent on the idea of “p:oducing rainfall artificia ly by means of explosions in the upper air. ” Gen. i Ruggles' ideas were crude, but he ob- j tained his patent and thereby thoexelu- • sive richt to the wholesale and retail trade in the artifi ial rain-storms in this ' country. However, when Congress took up the matter and began to talk of investigating the subject Gen- Ruggles

freely surrendered ail his rights in favor I of the government After Gen. Ruggles had taken out his papers the subje t of artificial rainfal! received little attention for twenty years : or moie, but as the grain and cattle interests extended into the semi arid regions of the West a d Southwest, the poss bilities of the subject began to be discussed, and many of the prominent farm and ranch owners of the West were soon convinced that the scheme was well worth a trial G B. Farwell and Nelson Morris, of Chicago, both of whom are largely interested in stock lands, took the matter before Congress and by dint of earnest agitation obtained last year an appropriation of $2,000 for use by the Department iof Agriculture in prosecuting investigations in this line, and the last । Congress added $7,009 to this sum for a i series of practical experiments. At the i urgent request of the friends of the j scheme Gen. Robert G. Dyenforth con- । sented to superintend the investigations and experiments. A series of tentative experiments were first prosecuted near Washington at i which a number of prominent officials ! and scientists were present. At the time of the operations in the District of Columbia the explosions produced great ; alarm throughout the suburbs, and a petition was immediately presented to I Uncle Jerry Rusk praying that he remove “his dyn uniters” to a r gion more remote and secluded, and an arid spot in Texas was selected. The mode of operation which General Byren r orth adopts is to form a “line of battle” covering a position about three ' miles long and two deep. Along the 1 front of the line giant powder is tired | from mortars, and bombs of “rackaroek” . mixture are exploded. Behind this a second line is formed, consisting of fifty J cloth kites held by electric wire and bearing loads of dynamite The dyna- ! mite is exploded when the Kites are high ' in the air by means of a cap and an I electric current which is passed through the wires The dynamite is suspended 1 from the kites by wires of a length . ! stiGicient to prevent the kites from be- i . ing injured by the explosions. A third line is formed behind the kites I

Three closely related principles of theories are recognized and acted upon by General Dyrenforth and his party in their experiments, which, stated nefly and bereft of technical .erms, are as follows: First, most rainstorms have their origin in tho minglihg of different currents of tho • upper air strata, sor.e of which are warm and moisture laden (in any localii ty) while others are much cooler. As • soon as these currents begin to mingle, the warm, moist current is cooled and its moisture is thus squeezed out of it as from a sponge. This moisture first be- ' comes visible as vapor or “cloud,” andI finally condenses into rain. Jhe process ,is a progressive one and will generally 'mu tiply upon itself from a very small ’ beginning. The immense air waves ’ produced by the explosion of the balloons at high a tit ides start this mingling of currents which, progressing by

J ML MORTAR FOR FIRING FOWLER. the force of the latent heat released in the condensation of moisture, grows into a storm center. The second theory is that a continuous series of explosions . ars together or agglomerates the particles of moisture in the air into rain drops, which are precipitat d to the ground The effect is ' evident after a heavy clap of thunder and has been repeatedly proc *ced by , General Dycnforth's party, hea .y showers having been shaken from light clouds ; from which no ra n had been falling. To produce this effect the kites are used with dynamite cartridges attached. Gen. Ihrenforth docs not claim that lie has fully d monstrated the practicability of prodm ing rainfall artificially at all times and tinder a l conditions, but lit seems tertain. from observations I made, that his operations have exc ed marked iniluen e upon the condition of the weath r and produced definite practical resu ts in th i midst of the arid j “Staked Plains” of Texas. , In the third place it is lelicycd that the frictional electricity which is goner- : ated in the jarring of the earth and air at the point of the operations and so I creates a magnetic field int > which tn© particles of moisture arc drawn and gathered. The explosions on and near the ground are especially calculated to secure this result. “I think I mistook my calling, ” s a ; d the voung man, when h.s opponent laid, down four aces. —'3 ushiitgtvii