Semi-weekly Express, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 24 September 1897 — Page 2

A GREAT ^FORTUNE.

BOW THE KBASTDS CORNING MILLIONS WERE SCATTERED ABOUT.

Inheritance of 812,000,000 Twenty-Five Years Aero Alt Gone—Krastus Proved .' to Be "A Prodigal Prince."

"New York, Sept. 23.—The World's special from Albany says: Before the municipal ooard of assessors, at city hall yesterday, appeared a man who with' difficulty concealed his agitation. He was Parker Corning, son of the late Erastus Corning, who was once king of the iron industry in northern New York. 'Parker Corning had come to adjust, in some way, a tax imposed by the board of J&l.OQO worth of Albany City National Bank stock which, it was supposed, he owned, free and unincumbered. "I am ready to make affidavit," said he, "that I do not possess holdings to that amount"—the assessors looked at him in speechless amazement—"it will be simply impossible for me to pay tax upon any such amount." •A blank on which to "swear off" the tax was handed to 'Mr. Corning. He filled it in he went away. His own handwriting, his own figures proved that instead of holding 964 shares of the stock of the bank of which his father was once president and the prop, the remnant of ffirastus Coming's estate owes $125,000 t» various creditors.

So in twenty-five years $12,000,000 has disappeared. From a pinnacle of wealth the Corning family has fallen to what they must consider poverty.

The old Erastus Corning, dying, left large holdings of bank stock in Albany and other towns and cities of the state, immense tracts of timber land, great lumber interests in Michigan, a line of steamboats, the largest plant for the manufacture of Iron east of the Susquehanna, and a big block of New York Central railway ^tock, that railway whose engines move like a continuous chain of buckets, carrying wealth to the Vanderbilts. Erastus Corning, the younger, dying, leaves an estate $125,000 in debt.

A PRODIG-AIL PRINCE.

It is extremely interesting to study the life of this younger Erastus Corning, lately dead. His friends called him a prince. He was a prodigal prince. He seemed, to have no idea of the value of money except that it was made to spend. That is the stranger because he was not of mushroom birth. He came of good, old revolutionary stock, and farther 'back, of Puritan stock. He traced his ancestry to Samuel, better known as "fflJnslgn" Corning, one of the first settlers in Massachusetts, whose name was enrolled on the records of Beverly, in the old Bay State, as early as 1641. His grandfather was Bliss Corning, a native of Preston, Conn.,.who served in the revolutionary war.

This prodigal Erastus Corning was well educated, too. He studied at College Hill, Poughkeepsie, and then at Union College, Schenectady. When he was 25 years old, that is in 1862, he was admitted to the firm of Oorning & Co., and also to the Albany iron works.

He was a good business man—but he did not attend to business. Instead of keeping together the Corning millions and adding to them he scattered them lavishly. At his father's death, early in the '70's, the entire estate and all the personal property passed into the hands of the young Erastus. Then it was that has friends began to call him a prince. His expenditures would have bankrupted a prince. Thousands were scattered right and left, sometimes in a niinute. Other thousands were lent and yet otiers given in charity.

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The iron works founded by his father had been consolidated into one great firm. Under the younger Erastus Corning the iron business seemed to be going on as usual, when one day the price of iron fell. Erastus Corning lost $3,000,000. Not one penny of this huge sum was ever recovered. (MIGHT H-AVE BEEN PRESIDENT.

Erastus Corning was an amateur in politics. Those who knew his secrets declared that, although he was an amateur, he might have been president of the United States. He was a Temocrat. He was only water commissioner and park commissioner of Albany, but in 1880 every Democrat in ..the state of New York knew or knew of ErastUs Corning. 'His purse was always at the service of his party. iNow those who declare that he might have been president of the United States base their assertion on the statement that at the convention of 1881, the convention that nominated Grover Cleveland for governor of New York, there were more delegates pledged to Erastus Coming than any coalition of other delegates could have overcome. Erastus Oosnlng, indeed, was slated for the nomination of governor. Up to the last moment his friends say he was determined to accept the nomination. He deciGed, at the last moment, not to take it.

Grover Cleveland was nominated there was a tidal wave that year. Cleveland was swept dnto the governor's chair, and •the force of his own political Impetus landed him afterward In the White House. It

Grover Cleveland, why not Erastus Corning? The men who tell these political secrets »ay, too, that Erastus Corning refused the* nomination for governor because he loved hte ease. Pontics cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, tout, like his other tnvesements, he bad no return for his money. Perhaps 'he did not wish it. To have gone practically into politics, to have been more a political fancier, might have interfered with Mr. Coming's other pleasures ind amusements. 'He delighted to entertain. His charming wife knows how to entertain. Their fine iouse in state street was the center of the »ptal's social gayety, and there were revived the highest pereonages of the country. He kept an army of servants. His equipages were splendid. He and his wife weCe is well .-known in New York society as at Ihelr home. (He belonged to the New York Slubs. !HOW THE MONEY WENT.

To his wife, whom he loved dearly, he made splendid presents. For example, for her he paid $6,500 for a few yards of lace that the Empress Eugenie once owned.

It is almost impossible to indicate the various streams that drained this ocean of $12,000,000. Erastus Corning would give a friend $50,000 to start a business, and if the business did not prosper, would give him $50,000 more to bolster it* Do not misunderstand. Lavish as he was, he was a good man. an honorable man and a religious man. Besides, he was immensely charitable. In more than one sense the right hand »f Erastus Corning did not know what his left hand was doing.

Suffering, want, misery, always appealed to him. and were always answered by him. He gave tens of thousands to people who needed, and who now bless his memory. He was a member of the All Saints Protestant Episcopal Cathedral, in AlbanjK and he saw that the church coffers never were empty. Bishop Doane could tell much of the suffering that Erastus Coming's generosfty relieved.

He loved thoroughbred horses and cattle. He owned a model farm at Kenwood, two Biles from here. His trotting horses were famous throughout the state, and at the »tate and county fairs he usually came off with the lion's share of blue ribbons, medals and premiums for his well bred Jersey cattic. But even from his farm he derived no Income. Dr. Webb sells his hackneys for­

mer Governor Morton sends to market the milk from Ills dairy farm and the eggs his fine poultry lay. Not a cent did Erastus Corning derive from his farm. Even the vegetables he raised coat him ten times more than If he had bought them in open market. There can be little doubt that $2,000,000 was expended on that farm, and what was produced there? That $2,000,000 fertilized Kenwood.

Erastus Coming loved dogs, too, and It says a great deal for him that dogs loved him. He imported immensely valuable dogs, paid fancy prices for them—and gave them away. (He loved flowers, too. That taste he Inherited from his father. His hot houses were filled with the daintiest and most beautiful, the rarest, the costliest orchids, gathered from all parts of the world.

It is reaHly a fact that his money went everywhere. Now he gave to the St. Agnes School, now to the Island Park Racing Association, now to a cathedral, the next moment to a beggar in rags. 'Erastus Coming died on August 29th last. Intestate. His son Parker was appointed administrator of his estate of an eiistate that did not exist Just before Mr. Coming's death bis splendid house in State street was sold to a hotel company for $60,000. When the payments were made Mr. Corning received $10,000 those who held mortgages on the house, $50,000. Directly the house was so0d he retired to his farm and there he remained in seclusion until death came to fcim.

Thus can $12,000,000 be easily spent in twenty-five years.

FOR A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.

Colored 'People Want a Day of Their Own in Which to Celebrate. The colored people of the city are already preparing for the next year's celebration of emancipation day. They have determined to make it a day xf recollection to the iiegroea of this section of Indiana, and the leaders are already planning for some special feature on the 22d of September. 1898.

The celebration Wednesday was quit© a disappointment to 'many, itic savei parade and some of the afernoon exercises being omitted. They have resolved not to allow a repetition of this another year.

A prominent colored citizen of Terre Haute said yesterday: "There is one thing the negro is going to have in the nera future. And that is a national holiday of his own. This holiday will .be on Emancipation Day, the anniversary of the day in which Old Abe wrote the words which set us free. No better day could be chosen, nor one more fitting oui filings of joy. We colored people can [participate, It is true, in the Fourth of July, and other national days of rejoicing, but the 22d of September is the date when wo can most fittingly rejoice as a people. We have already begun to work a little upon this theory, and you need not be surprised if the matter is taKen before the congress for action soon. If such a thing is decreed, the citizens of the Prairie City can pride themselves that the idea was conceived, the agitation begun right'here."

Will Not Attend Chicago Convention. iPitlsburg, Sept. 23.—*M. D. Ratchford, national president of the United Mine Workers, said tonight that the United Mine* Workers would not send a delegate to the convention in Chicago September 27th. The mine workers' organization belongs to the Federation of Labor, and a3 the executive officers of the federation had decided against) the Chicago convention the miners could not consistently send delegates. He said further that the Chicago convention was an outgrowth of the iSt. Louis convention, where the delegates had gone outside of their legitimate duty and passed resolutions not generally indorsed by labor unions, and he is inclined to believe the Chicago convention will follow the same lines.

Passing Conntertelt Money. Sergeant Wettch arrested Frank Kelly and Charles Melssel last night at Fourth and Main streets. The men are charged with passing counterfeit money. The two men were tipped off to the sergeant by the ever cautious hot tamala boys. T* two' sharks walked up to the refreshment venders and purchased some sandwiches. One of them laid down a silver dollar, at least that is what the boy supposed it was. He didnt have the change .and went to a neighboring store for it. The clerk in the store, told him it was counterfeit. The boy returned to Fourth and Main and as Sergeant Welch chanced to be passing the facts were reported to the officer) who arrestee? both Kelly and Meissel. ,r

Conferenoe AnaonifJDenaocratlo'teaders Chicago, Sept. 23.7-Chairman Jan^es K. Jones of the Democratic national- committee.' arrived from Washington today and immediately went Into conference with a number of Iowa Democratic leaders who had come here to meet' him. This conference was of short duration, and at its conclusion Senator Jines, in company with National Committeeman Gahan of Illinois, called on ex-Gover-nor John P. Altgeld. Both Senator Jones and Governor Altgeld declined to discuss the conference or say what the object of the national chairman's visit to Chicago was.

May Go to Istflanapolla.

Prof. P. J. Breinig, who has been offered the leadership of '.lie orchestra at the English opera house, Indianapolis., has net yet decided whether h* will accept the offer. The building will be open for the public again on the first of til's month, when the remodelinc? it has been given this summer will be comD.ete.1. and Prof. Brienig has until that ,t'me to make up his mind. The new English will brt one of the finest play houses of the West.

IN MEMORIAM.

The committee appointed to draft, resolutions of respect to the memory of our beloved sister, Mrs. Nancy A. feales, wife of Amos Bales of Fairbanks township, Sullivan county, Ind., who died Friday evening, September 10, 1897, aged 52 years and 1 month, has prepared the following:

Whereas, Death has again in one short week visited our corps and called home another sister, Mrs. Nancy A. Bales, who was a past junior vice president of J. J. Burge", W. R.C., No. 175. and had indeed been a very earnest worker during her membership of three years with us, therefore be it

Resolved, That in the death of Sister Bales so soon after the death of Sister Bowen we feel bereaved almost beyond expression, tout bow in submission and say, "Thy will be done," feeling that our loss is her gain that she has gone from labor to reward and we have hope of a future meeting beyond the tomb.

Resolved, That the sympathy of the W. R. C. is hereby extended to the bereaved husband and sorrowing son and daughters and aged mother and all relatives of Sister Bales in this sad" hour of affliction. iReeolved, That in token of respect we doubly drape our charter in mourning for a period of thirty days and also drape the dhalrs of, the departer sisters.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the bereaved family and also be made a part of our records, and that a copy be sent to the Terre Haute Gazette and Terre Haute Express and the Sullivan Democrat for publication. 'Mrs. Amanda E. Hunt,

Mrs. (Maggie Trueblood, Mrs. Jennie Watson, Committer.

Middletown, Ind., Sept. 20th.

A Household Nerewitr.

Cascarets Candy Cathartic, the most wonderful medical discovery of the age, pleasant and refreshing to the taste, act gently, and positively on kidneys, liver and bowels, cleansing the entire system, dispel colds, cure headache, fever, habitual constipation and biliousness. Please buy and try a box of C. C. C. today: 15, 26, 50 cents. Sold and guaranteed by all druggists.

THE MONON MILEAGE

BOOK fflU BE AOCBPTKD OYER A PART OF THE UNt

C. A S. K. to Ba a Strong Bidder For Coal Shipments Oat of Brartl—Hall-

ro»a NotM-

If there is any one road more than another the traveling men ol Terre Haute are'keeping their eye that road la the Monop. There is a, warm, Bpot In the heart of every traveling man in Indiana for the Mondb, because it refused to be a. party to the new interchangeable mileage agreement. The traveling public generally, will read with a great deal of satisfaction tho following circular issued toy Frank J. Reed, general passenger agent of the Monon. It Is a circular to agents and conductors relative to the mileage book.

The circular says that the Monon will not sell the $30 book, but it will be accepted on Monon trains between Indianapolis and Chicago, either by the direct route, or by the Roachdale line. It will not be received for points on the Louisville line south of Roachdale. The book will also be accepted for poins on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton south of Indianapolis. This circular is in accordance with the action of the Central Passenger 'Association. This action was taken, it is claimed, because the refusal of the iMonon to handle the book would cut into the earnings of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton. ,,,

The C. A 8. E. Coal Prospects. A special dispatch from Brazil says: Dr. Moore, the general superintendent of the C. & S. E. (the old Midland) railway, was in the city yesterday. Ho reports the outlook for his road as remarkably promising. Preparations are being made to handle cool shipped out of this district to Chicago. The road penetrates some excellent coal lands. The road expects to supply as many empty coal cars as there will be a demand for. A competing line to the C. & E. I. for Chicago has been a boon desired by the block coal fields for many years. It is known that the Midland turns its coal business over) to the Monon at Ladoga, and the latter line takes it into the Chicago market. If the iMonon is really behind the Midland for the handling of coal traffic out of this city, it will find much support among the operators here, who do not feel kindly toward the C. & E. I.

The Twpnty-Four Hour System. !A local railroad man calls attention to the fact that if the twenty-four-hour system had been In effect on the Denver & Rio Grande, the awful accident would not have happened at New Castle, Colo., a few days ago. In that accident seventeen persans were killed and thirty-five badly injured.. The conductor of one of the trains,' in looking at the time card, read the wrong, row of figures, and a fast freight and a, passenger train met. head ,end. This railroad man called attention to a fact that not one railroad man in fifty Is aware of— that the Canadian Pacific uses this sysitem of time. Its time card shows,that train No. 1 leaves White River at forty minutes past 12 o'clock noon, and leaves Dexter at thirty minutes past 24 o'clock. It arrives at Dexter at twenty-eight minutes past 22 o'clock, and at White iRiver at fifteen minutes past 13 o'clock. The railroad man says that head end collisions are unknown on the Canadian Pacific, and that it is the only railroad in America that runs Its trains by the twenty-four syetem. ..

Railroad Noteg-

Thef' "stockholders of the Big FoUr' will hold their annual meetlhg in Cincinnati October 71 h. '"V

A day telegraph office has been established by the Yandalia at Nevms, on the Peoria division.

W. G. Rottman, timekeeper at the Vamdalia shops, has returned from a chicken hunt in Illinois. iH. 1. Miller, superintendent of the Yandalia main line, went out on an inspection trip of the west end yesterday.

The Vandal ia railroad has secured the contract for^shipplng the glucose from Peoria. Fifty or sixty cars a day are handled] by the Vandalia.

The building.of the great interlocking, plant at Lafayette has been delayed byvfch£i 'Monon. That road is Arranging to change! its tracks in that city. .*.

The reorganization committee of the^^fe^ orla, Decatur •& Evansville railway nounces that the limit fixed for receiving* deposits of bonds and subscriptions will ter^ mlnate with October 1st.

Chicago Record: The directors of the Rock Island yesterday declared a 1 per cent quarterly dividend, against 1% per cent at the last quarter. Second Vice President W. T. Purday was elected first vice president, to succeed the late Mr. Brewster, and Third Vice (President W. H. Tru^sdale was elected second vice president. The third vice presidency will not be filled. [Mr. Truesdale is to be classed among the considerable number1 of Terre 'Haute men who have climbed upward in the railway service.]

MRS. RITTENHOUSE DISCHARGED.

No Evidence, to Convict Her of Receiving Stolen Goods. Osgood, Ind., Sept. 23.—The trial of Mrs. Missouri Rittenhouse for having stolen goods in her possession took place at Versailles yesterday. Several hundred dollars* worth of goods were in court, whjcS recalls a famous robbery years agt?. ,a^Irs, N. J. Dearmond of Danville, Ind., dwas called here by the sheriff to see if any of the goods in court were here. She. said that seventeen years ago her husb&nd'a store at Westport, Ind., was robbed of l2,7Q0 worth of goods. A new stock of $lj9M bad just been bought ,jn Cincinnati, an| the *next day after the goods were opened the store was looted.

A man had be^n boarding with Jearmond, and was in the store every Jay lor two months. After the robbery he disappeared. and was afterward found to be Lyle Levi, the man lynched last Tuesday. Two men, named CharittS Sumpter and George Chlldere of Westport were arrested for the robbery and sent to prison for two years. They said they had help, but fcaid they would be killed If they told anything.

TERRE HAUTE EXPRESS,FRIDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 24.1897.

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The -good* were hauled away in & sled and wagon, and one of the horses had a crooked foot which turned in a peculiar I manner in walking. There was snow on the ground, and the trail led straight from the sfcdra tit Westport to sear Osgood,where it was lost. Among the articles of new* goods which were opened 3jy Dearmond was a piece of black silk that had cost him $96. (When the officers searched the house of Mrs. ftittenhouse a large quantity of goods were found in an upstairs wardrobe. Among the articles shown in court yesterday was a roll of over twenty yards of very rich, heavy silk, twenty yards of Henrietta cloth, la large lot of silk plush, a roll of red, satin, linen, table linen and other things. Thpfomaa.whose store was robbed was in co\jrt^ut aa all the tags, cost marks, tfckete^e^c., had been removed, she.could not swear, they were the goods taken from her husband's store.

Mra. Rittenhouse was not allowed to go on the ctand, and as no case was found against her, she and her chattels returned home. Her son was also discharged.

Charles Sumpter, who gave Lyle Levi away, eays it was the intention after robbing the store to burn the building, and thu9 hide the crime, but they were frightened away before doing so. A lady's black sack was found under the tree where the men were hanged. It was displayed In court, and is awaiting an owner.

h.' toat Chord."

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Thomas A. Lawes, superintendent 0f^gi0r}( tive power of the C. & E. I., was ia-nthS city yesterday. W. F. Bruner, assistant general passenger agent of the Vandaliay was also a visitor to this "city. I 1 'An old boiler weighing 22,000 poundsf'was yesterday sold by the Vandalia railroad to a coal mining company at Staunton.

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boiler has been in tise at the andalia shops for several years. It required fourteen horses to haul the boiler out of the city.

Quite a change has been made in the ticket office of the Vandalia at the Union Station. The large glasses have been taken out and wood pannels substituted. This makes the office more private, and at the same time shuts off a goodly portion of Scott Bell's wealth of smile.

The railroads are coming to the front with rates to the races. On Star Pointer day the Big Four will run a $1 excursion from Mattoon. There will be a reduction from this fare for intermediate points. The C. & E. 1. will bring a $1 excursion in from Goodland, Newton county, on that day.

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Perhaps the most successful song of modern times is "She Lost Chord, "whose Bale in Great Britain has exceeded 250,000 coplae. The story of its composition, as told by Mr. Wiliaby in his "Masters of English Mnaic," IHaatrates that in art, as in stateunaneMp, success came to those 3 Who k&orw tflrseasoss, when to take

Occasioto by tBe hand. For nearly three weeks Arthur Seymor Sullivan had watched by the bedside of a dying braQeai tfhe'night, when the end was not fifr off and his brother was sleeping, he chanocd to oome across some verse of AtfalaWte Pwrter's which five years before he had,tried in vain to set to mnsia

In the sllSSac* of that night watch be read them over again, and almost instantly their musical expression was conceived. A stray sheet of musio paper was at hand, and he began to write. The rouslo grew, and he worked on, delighted to be helped whiile away the hours of watching. Ashe progressed he felt sore the musio was what he had sought for and failed to find on the occasion of his first attempt to 6et the words. In a short time it was complete pnd not long after in the publisher's hands.

I Formula For Kerosene Emulsion. .This formula for a kerosene emulsion was given by a professor in one of our agricultural colleges soma years ago, and I was requested t©'experiment with it on greenhouse plants. I did so, with highly satisfactory resnllai, writes £ben.E. Rexford in The Ladies' Home Journal. It is made as follpws:-Two parts kerosene, one pjirt slightly sour milk. Churn together iibtll a union of milk and oil results. When they unite, a white jellylike substance will be seemed, which will mix readily with water. Dilute this jelly with 18 or 20 times its quantity of water and shower your plants thoroughly. Soft leaved plants, like begonias, primroses and gloxinias,, are frequently injured by it, if applied in the strength advised above. Therefore it is well to dilute the application by using at least 80 parts of water to one cf the jeily.

I,ove of Work.

The love of work, wbioh was one of the characteristics of th» liistorian Froude, is well illustrated in a story told of his last illnes3. The cancerous affection of which he after died was 6lowly destroying his healthy and vigorous frame. At one time he seemed to be much better, and when the physician came to see him he noted th'e improvement and" bld his patient of it. Froudo asked wliether it was likely that he would be able to go back to his work again. On healing that this was impossible ho said, "If that is the case, I do not wish to live."

A Queer Branch.

Uncle George—How do you like arithmetic? Little Dick—Pretty,well so far, but the teacher says that next week we are to begin learning bow to extract roots. Guess he must think ^e're all going to be dentists.—Good News.

i-,:'- The Fork Fad. Marker—The spread of the opium habit is soniefehing terrible. I am told that women Of the highest class have been seen going intd opium-joints.

Parkfir—Oh, that's all nonsense. Ladies of fashion go t« such places to watch the Chinamen use ohopstioks. They want to learn how to eat soup with a fork.—New York Weekly.

Wear your learning like your watoh, in a private pocket, and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show that you have one. If you are asked what o'clock it is, tell it, but do not proclaim it hourly and unasked like the watchman.

Scores of amulets, evidently worn to keep off evil spirits, have been found in the ruins of Nineveh.

Some'valuable use has been found for every part of the maize plant.

ABOUT PEOPLE.

A Dunkirk (N. Y.) woman, whose .testimony is unimpeachable, has recently returned from a visit to Athens, Crawford county, Pa., and reports havJng seen a Mr. Scott, who, at the age of 89 years, is outting a new set of leeth. He already has nine beautif 1 new teeth, and three more are nearly in sight. He reads his newspapers without glasses, having also gained his second sight.

"A handsome German Baron with 6,000 pounds and an' irreproachable reputation wishes to marry a very corpulent lady of fortune 'between 28 and 40. Beauty no object, but he prefers that she shall be of the Christian faith. A meeting desired In Switzerland or at some bathing resort." This curious! personal advertisement appears in a Switzerland paper, which also giives circulation to the announcement that "it is desired to place an an irt a Christian family."

•Mrs. Louisa Williams, or San Landre, Cal., waiks for a uarter of a .mile oveT a stony road on her bare knees once a year to keep a vow. Two weeks ago she accomplished the feat for the seventeenth time. Seventeen yeara ago she prayd that Ihr husband's sight might ibe restored. She vowed that it her prayer was answered she would walk on her bare knees from Jier ho se to the church once a year. Her Ji us band regained his sight, and -the woman has kapt her vow.

•More than 5,000 copies of Captain Mahan's "Life of Nelson" have already been sold in England.

The Duke of Westminster has more children than any other member of the British peerage. He has been twice married.

The late Mrs. OHphant was Informed 14 months before her death that she was suffering from a fatal malady, yet she wrote steadily on almost to the last day of her. 3ife. Stephen Girard once remarked: "If! 1 knew that I should die tomorrow I would nevertheless plant a tree today."

A vouth visited an undertaker's estab-! lishnient in Brookln a few days ago and ordered a 00 .burial casket for his mother, receiving $60 cash commission from the undertaker, who was content at the pros,pect of getting his pay after the funeral, Xow the undertaker finds out that the young man's mother still lives.

A young doctor, M. Robert Wartz, pro-, feasor at tfw Paris school of medicine, has been chosen as one of the leading French •bacteriologists for A mission in Abyssinia. *He is to start for Jlbut'l and go on direct to Adis Adeba. where, after *naving organlzed a department of vaccination, he will study the rinderpestand simitar Infpc'lo maladies.

THEIK FEARFUL RIDE

FOUR MEN DRAGGED BY THIRTY-TWO RUNAWAY HORSES.

A Thrilling Kxpcrlenes TtuU Hu No Parallel In the Annals of Aocldent—Monster Team Stampedes With a Hage Harvester—Bllraetiloiu EmyMfrom Death.

The sight of a monster combined hay* tester such as la nsed in the great grainfields of the Pacifio slope being ran away with by 33 horses and mules was witnessed by residents of the vloinity of VIsalia, CaL, a few days ago. .jlfc was in many ways one of the most terrifying spectacles oonceivable. The excited animals dragged the lumbering machine for nearly a mile, while the four operators clung to their posts or jumped to save their lives. Tremendous olouds of dust enveloped the runaway when once it was started, adding an nnnsnal weirdsess to the scene and amplifying the anxiety of every beholder.

A runaway of suoh a character is not enticing to the life saver and catastrophe averter, and this one was allowed to have its full course until it was stopped by the 82 mules and horses piling in a heap at the end of the field.

The monster harvester was making one of its regular trips up afield In the Paokwood distriot, southwest of Visalia, when a piece of wood from one of the numerous oak trees in the vicinity got caught in the revolving machinery. A grinding and crashing sound ensued anft frightened the horses.' Mr. Will Fulgham was driving. Before he could get the huge machine stopped the horses and mules had become unmanageable. The two leaders commenced to dash about in their harness, and each succeeding team caught the excitement.

Despite Mr. Fulgham's most vigorous efforts, the 32 animals started on a run. When they were once on the go, ho was powerless to check them. Such long teams of harvester horses ape handled only by a oheokrein attached to ihe bridles of the leaders, tbe other animals being expected to take their key of conduct from the animals in front. With Mr. Fulgham's 88 animals the leaders were 54 feet away from the driver's seat. This left the other 80 animals with no restraint or curb save their traoes and other harness. When frightened and not held by the bit, therefore, they were like a pack of wild stags on a chase. Nothing but exhaustion or accident would be likely to bring them to a halt.

Tbe noise 0/ the harvester increased as the horses aooelerated their speed, the fans of the reaper thrashed the dust lavishly, the low bed and wheels of the thrasher itself spread the dust in great olouds, creating still further terror among the animals and blinding the men, who still stuck to their posts. Here and there were hollows in the field, and the bumping as the harvester passed over these was almost as bad as the rolling of a railroad (Jar when it Jumps the track. The harvester rooked and oraoked, and the reaper seemed more than once about to separate itself from the balanoe of the machine.

Suoh was the position of the operators that tbey could not more safely risk jumping than staying at their posts. One man is seated on a sort of projecting ladder whioh reaohes far out over the wheel horses. Another stands in the oenter of the thrasher. Still another watohes the saoking at the delivery mouth, while a fourth oversees the reaper. Were the man in the driver's seat to jump he would land directly in tho path of the low wagon bed and be crushed to death. Were the saoking man to jump he might meet the same fate or be struck by the tail cart wbioh is drawn for catching the straw. Were the reaper attendant to jump he would be in danger of being oaught by tbe teeth of the soytlie or of being struck by the swinging wings of tbe reaper itself.

Nevertheless it was no easy task to cling to the machine. Mr. Fulgham, the driver, swayed and rocked in his precarious outpost, trying the while most desperately to cling to his seat and at the same time to hold tbe two reins connecting with the plunging leaders. At length tbe jolting proved too much for him, and he fell backward down the ladderlike projection. Through the thick dust his fellow operators oould just see his form as it dropped toward the ground. They watched with a shudder, expecting to see the man ground to pulp under the great machine.

Startled and appalled by this accident the man on the thrasher resolved to venture a jump. At best he oould do no worse than Mr. Fulgham. Summoning all his strength he leaped from the machine. It was a long jump, and only a powerful effort oould have sufficed to make it successfully. Besides, the lmpenetrableness of the dust multiplied the risk.

What fate this jumper encountered was not known until tbe runaway was finally stopped.

The two other operators could not see either where to jump or that their second companion had disappeared. Thsy merely held on like bulldogs to the sides of the harvester. Three times one of them almost lost his grip.

The leaders who had started the runaway found themselves tripped at almost every bound. Tbe seoond six crowded upon them, and in turn the second six were orowded by the six behind them. As this situation was communicated down tbe line, tbe animals were compelled to slacken their speed, while the big harvester had only begun to acquire momentum.

Another 60 yards was covered in this way, the long fence of the property was being approached rapidly, when one of the leaders stumbled and went down. More quickly than can be told the other animals were in a heap upon the leaders.

The neighbors who bad been drawn to witness the aooident hastened to tbe melee to disoover who, if any, had been hui't. Fulgham, the driver, bad disappeared and Hughes, the feeder. The other two men had got free of the machine as soon as it bad come to a stop and had rushed forward to assist in the liberating of the mules and horses.

By some miracle which Fulgham himself can hardly elucidate he had rolled away from the maohine when he fell from the sent nnd had escaped with no severer punishment than a rattling shake up and soare.

Hughes had jumped dear of the machine and had lauded ^unhurt.—'San Francisco Examiner.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

Stair He Appeared on the Eve of Sailing For Samoa. Sir. Stevenson, when I first saw him in his room in tbe Oooidental hotel In San Francisco, was sitting up in bed, not rightly able to speak for the cold that oppressed him, haggard from the illness that was sapping him, thin, pale and wan. The first sight was something more than a man wit-h" the blankets and counterpanes hunched up about him. It was an Impression of flowing black hair, keen eyes and a wonderful interlacing of taper fingers. At this time he was so hoarse that his voice had none of the charm which was really one of the most marked attributes of the man.

More pleaaant days and strength growing in tbe nervous.hope that tbe South sea might indeed yield him what was nowhere else for him on earth gave ohances to hear that voice as it really was—gentle, deep, smypathetio. But those fingers—long, sinewy, sinuous, never resting, but rubbing each tbe other as if there were a mania of tbe nerves In their tips! Those who have never seen Stevenson's hand may form some idea of the fingers from frhe eo called "watermelon soqd"

picture.

In which one of tb« forefingers,'rertind against the face, seems to r»ach up inti the hair

At this first meeting he seemed eng for all that might b« of tbe mysterle of the South Be ssfeod about th voyages of tits old voyagers, he sought know what were tho tenders of today, an this in one breath. Again, be caught a the name of "Bally" Haywt, the last pirat4 of the Paclho, and lumped with him th{ mystery of "LaPerouse." Navies of is« lands and of groups were, of course, atf new to him, and he asked again andagal* whore they lay and how they were pro* nouneed. But In everything hq was, morf than anythi slsa, wistful to heap of th( unmixed islanders—what was tbefc lift, and what sort of people might be.

3

At odd times Mrs. Stevenson wpnll come in and caution him cot to.use hii voioo so much. Then he would settle him self back upon tbe pillows and say, "Te^ me something that t*kes a long time totl ing." It took time, this first, tolling 01 tho South sea, for whioh he was ever/ moment more strongly making up hitf mind—the session was no short one. Ana this first was foHowed by others, in which he showed the same zest to learn every fact attainable concerning tho island realm that lay in the great ocean on who»« verge he was.—William Churchill In Modon's.

TEN YEARS OF REBUFF.

Anthony Hope'* Bitter Experience Befor Success Crttne. Anthony Hope wrote for ten long dis« couraging years before tbe slightest rocog nition of his work came to cheer him. H( worked with passionate enthusiasm all tbe week and, as a great lark, Sunday afternoon had tea with bis quiet English sisters, consuming toasted muffins and tht mildest type of rectory gossip. Thus lived ond toiled, and not until '"The Prls* oner of Zenda" made Its .author did he ever attend the most Innocuous form of literary gatherings.

When the "Dolly Dialogues" had gon« into many editions \.nd was the talk of the town, an admirer, acquainted with Mr. Hope's .anomalous inexperience, arranged that he should meet a very vivacious elegante, as nearly like Lady Dolly as London society could afford. It was very funny to see the diffident Mr. Slope, his faoe wreathed in bashful smiles, drinking in the lady's gay chatter and evidently in an ecstasy of pleasure. It was having his characters vivified with life before his eyes.

The novelist is a tall, slender man, •whose shoulders are slightly stooped, Jala head decidedly bold and manners reserved^ yet delightful, by reason of the profound deferonce he pays to the opinions and remarks of other people.—Boston Traveller.

John tTames Xngalls.

When John James Ingalls was in th9 senate, he was as exclusive as Cockling. After he became vice presidont pro tempore he was dignity and equity incarnate in the chair, but proud as Lucifer and willing to associate with nobody but himself. His dignity was always marred, however, at lunchtime. With demeaned of kaiser or emperor he descended the marble staircase, entered the restaurant, turned to the right and stood like a soldiez at "attention" before the oyster counter.

The stalwart negro sbuckor would immediately set aside all other orders and proceed to shuck tbe biggest of the big select oysters, and Ingalls would bow politely as though saluting the waiter as ha inclined forward to take each oyster from the fork, and then, with a movemenl quick as it was ungainly, he would throw back his head and gulp the bivalvo, on each occasion making a swishing sound like the drawing of a hoof from the mud. At such times Mr. Ingalls was neither eloquent nor elegant. Many a timo halt a dozen strangers, recognizing the brilliant political iconoclast, would stop and stare at him as he went through the motions described before the oyster counter. —New York Advertiser.

Behind the Times.

To understai^d the action of the polio* authorities of the ancient city ef Crucow, in Austrian Poland, in stipulating, when granting a license to a theatrical company, that none of tbe aotors should appear in the uniform of the Imperial aruay when performing Shakespeare's plays, it must be remembered that as recently as 190 years ago Julius Cssar used to be represented on the English stage garbed in the uniform of an eighteenth century general and with a full bottomed wig, while Cleopatra appeared with the patches, crinoline and towering powdered ooiffure affected by our great-grandmothers In their youth. Cracow is merely a little behind the times,, that's all.—New York Tribune.

A Dog's Bed.

We have seen a little dachshund which would not go to her basket until the hlanket bad been held to tbe hall stove. This she required to be done In summer as well as winter, though tho etove was not lighted. A spaniel kept in a stable used always to leave its kennel to sleep with the horse. Hounds make a joint bed on the bench after along run, lying back to baok, and so supporting one another. But sporting dogs should have proper beds, made like shallow boxes, with sloping sides. They are far more rested in the morning than If simply left to lie on straw. This was noted by a clever old Devonshire clergyman, a great sportsman, who observed that his best retrieving spaniel used always to get into an empty wheelbarrow to sleep when tired. The dog's bed sboilld bo a rough reproduction of the barrow without the wheel.—Spectator.

Letters aud Language.

Nothing better illustrates tho ratio in whioh the different letters are used in our language than a set of figures on the proportionate number of types that are to bo found In the printer's case, which are usually as followv 2, and 6, 0, 8, 15, band 20, 24, and 25, and 80, 0 40, 45, jnd 1 50, 30, 70, n, ands 80, a and 1 30, 100 and 140.—St. Louis Republic.

A Brilliant Idea.

Clerk—Mr. Muldoon, we have an order for hard wood kindlings, but tbe hard wood is all gone.

Mr. Muldoon (dealer)—»Sind cm sal# Wood. "They will notice the difference, Localise soft wood burns too fast." "Be jabera, thot's so. Wet It."—New York Weekly.

Which?

"What are you driving at?" they asked in wild astonishment. She disdained to reply. "What are you driving atf"

Still she disdained, with the same ola fashion. We have to leave it to tho gentle reader whether ehe was handling a call or horse.—Cincinnati Enquirer. 1

Charlemagne could hold his tongue u. eight different languages. He made a specialty of studying avtry language spoken In his empire.

Rocking cradles for babies were used h?. the Egyptians many centuries befuio Christ. Ameig the nlctihrea copied Belzonl Is one of an Egyptian mother work with her tbot on the cradle.

The re towers ef the Eoglish church i:t 1549 struck eat nearly a hundred holidays, leaving only Mich as In theirr time were dear to the popular heart.

A sweat cloth, used by aniiect wrestfrr. and other athlete* to wipe off the pisraplranon, cost 1 cent.