Plattsmouth weekly herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1882-1892, August 06, 1891, Image 7

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FROM A CONVICT'S VIEW.
An
Ontrant Tell
to I. '! h
of Uiiatircesnfiil KfTorts
Honorable I.ifn.
Among a number of depraved looking
characters who were arraigned in the
Tombs iKilico court for sentence on vari
ous charges, from burglary to felonious
assault, 1 noticed particularly one refined
looking young fellow who, despite his
ragged attire, appeared to bo out of place
in the prisoners pen
His features were delicate and clearly
defined, with none of the sullen, servile
appearance that is usually one of the
chief characteristics of a criminal's coun
tenance. His eyes were large and clear,
his forehead high, while his chin and
mouth denoted high fipirit and an ab
normally Kenisitive disposition.
lit) occupied a sent as far distant from
his fellow unfortunates in crime as
the burly court oflicera would permit
His eyes were cast on the floor, and from
his dejected appearance it was obvious
that he felt keenly his position.
1 engaged him in conversation, and
years will not remove from memory the
tierce bitterness with which he reviewed
his unsuccessful attempts to secure hon
orable employment after tho first convic
tion for some triHing crime.
"My name," said he, in answer to my
question, "what do you want with it?
To publish it so that those who have
eent me here this time will know how
well their prejudice did its work?
"Well, Thomas will do Charles
Thomas. That is what I am called now.
It is not my real name. 1 have a few
relatives and 1 respect them. They have
moved from where they lived when
was nrst sent away gone to a new
home to escape my shame that is why
I'm Thomas.'
There is no criminal so hardened but
what ho will cherish somewhere behint
his rough exterior a tender thought of
past association a mend, perhaps, or
probably a sister. For that reason when
Thomas turned away his head 1 remain
ed silent. 1 thought I distinguished a
suspicious moisture in his eyes, but
may have been mistaken.
"It is very easy to start," he continued
"but once 6tarted you cannot stop. Peo
ple will not let you.
"With a crowd of companions one day
I drank more than 1 could stand. A
quarrel followed and 1 stabbed one fel
low with my penknife. I was arrested
tried and convicted and sentenced to
Sing Sing for three years.
"That was enough for me, and when
I came back I tried to start over again,
I secured employment as a driver,
I
had been a clerk in a building material
dealer's yard on West Thirtieth street
caa no trouDie, worKea nara ana was
complimented by my employer. Then
noticed that my associates began to
avoid me. Two or three would get to
gether, point at me and talk about me in
l.n undertone.
"Finally, one day the proprietor came
to me and said, 'Thomas, 1 have no
fault to find with you; you have worked
faithfully and hard, but the other men
eay you have been a convict and that
they will leave if you don't. I will have
to discharge you, although I am sorry
He gave me two weeks' wages and I had
to leave.
"I tried again with a like result. Then,
in desperation, I robbed a store and was
eent away again.
"You wanted to know, mister, how 1
got here; well, that's how.
Tm going to Sing Sing for burglary.
and when I get out I'll probably go back
for the same crime. Nobody cares, and
I don't.
"A man who has not been unfortunate
won't work with me. I could not get
married even if I tried to 6ettle down
and be respectable. No self respecting
woman would have me.
"Go where I'm not known? Yes, I
could do that, but a man can't succeed
when he is acting a lie. It would be
found out and I would have to go to an
other place where I'm not known,"
"Thomas 1" shouted a court officer.
"Here," replied the unfortunate.
"You are charged with burglary," said
the justice as he approached the bar.
"Guilty or not guilty?"
"Guilty."
"Remanded for sentence."
Thomas was led away to a cell in the
prison beneath the floor of the court.
New York Herald.
Doctors IMffer About Gray Hair.
Some authorities seem to regard the
graying of the hair as a mechanical and
incidental phenomena due to defective
functions, and others regard it as an or
ganic or chemical process. The location
and character of the coloring substance
in the hair is also a question about which
authorities differ greatly. Watts' "Dic
tionary of Chemistry," also Dr. Bichat
and Dr. Draper, have advanced the view
that the color is in the central portion of
the hair, while no less an authority
than Cuvier asserts quite the reverse,
that the peripheral portion contains the
cf.OT. Other authorities, as Drs. Car
penter, Todd and Bowman, state that the
pigmentary granules are sometimes in
one part and sometimes in another of
the hair shaft, while "Kolliker "supposes
that the dark pigment of the medulla
are nothing more than the globules of.
air in the air cells." Hyland C. Kirk in
New York Times.
A Girl Who Wouldn't Black Boots.
I have known a wedding appointed,
and the doors of the chapel open, and
every one waiting, but no one arrive,
and the parties remain unmarried. In
one case a foolish dispute occurred as
the young couple were walking across
the fields to the place of worship about
who ought to clean the husband's boots.
At first It was only a joke, but it was
taken in earnest, and the bride elect
seated herself on a 6tile to argue the mat
ter out. Neither would give in, the vil
lage clock struck twelve and they re
turned home unmarried. London Tit
Bits. Self Regulating-.
( He After we are married, darling, 1
trust your wealth won't incessantly be
thrown up to me.
Sop No, I rely upon you to keep it
down, deai. New York Epoch.
t
DIVING FOK LOST GOLD
SEA DIVERS RECOVER NEARLY HALF
A MILLION OF MONEY.
flow the TtfHHure of the Alphonso XII,
Slink OH tl t.'aiiary IhIuikJii. Wan Srcnrcd
by Captain Ktrvunn' Clever Work Nina
Months of Toll Itelow Water.
.ine time ago we gave an interesting
account of the diving exhibit at tho
naval exhibition, and referred briefly to
the recovery of a vast quantity of treas
ure from the Alphonso XII. Mr. A. D
Stevens, a sou of Captain Stevens, who
had charge of the expedition, now writes
as follows
In February. 1SS4, the Spanish mail
steamer Alphonso XII. belonging to the
Lopez line, bound from Cadiz to Havana,
sank off Point Gando. Grand Canary,
in twenty-five and a half fathoms of
water and about a mile from the shore.
She had ou board 100.000 worth of
Spanish dollars, these being the only
five dollar pieces bearing the year 1841.
which were specially coined for the trip
The insurance was effected on the specie
at Lloyds and was paid over to the in
surers after the vessel foundered.
More than a year had elapsed before
the underwriters organized a salvage ex
pedition, and in May. 1'5. Captain L
T. Stevens, a Lloyds surveyor of great
experience in salvage operations, was
intrusted with the expedition, taking
with him three well known diners
namely, Messrs. Lambert. Tester and
Davis. Special diving apparatus had to
be constructed for the work by Messrs
Siebe & Gorman, the submarine engi
neers, and in the above month Captain
Stevens and his men left Liverpool in
the steamship Niger for Las Palmas, and
arrived at
their destination on the 23 th
of May
LOCATING THE WRECK.
On the morning of the 20th Captiin
Stevens proceded in the steam launch
Alianza in search of the wreck, a strong
trade wind from the northeast, with a
choppy sea, blowing at the time. On
arriving at her supposed position he
steamed about, sounding at intervals, en
deavoring to strike the wreck, but failed
to do so. Captain Stevens then employed
a boat's crew of fishermen to assist him
in finding her, and after some little time
the fishermen gave a signa 1 , and on steam
ing up he found that they had swept the
foretopgallantmast, and on looking down
through the water he distinctly saw tho
shadow of the mast and the foretopgal
lantsail loose and flouting in the water
at a depth of six fathoms.
He then had the topgallantmast buoyed,
and as soon as the weather moderated he
intended laying down moorings, so as to
place the vessel in such a position that
the diving was to be done from directly
over the wreck.
The money was in the mail room, al
most at the bottom of the vessel, and to
obtain access to that part of the ship
it was found necessary to blow up the
decks. The dangers and difficulties whieh
were experienced in these operations were
of the most extraordinary nature. Not
only bravery, but great patience and per
severance, had to be exercised, as testi
fied by the fact that Captam Stevens and
his plucky divers were about nine months
on the island before they had completed
their task.
The wreck lay on a ridge of rocks, and
one of the fears entertained be fibre the ex
plosion was effected was that the force
might precipitate the vessel to almost
fathomless depths. But fortunately.
through Captain btevens great experi
snce in the use of explosives, the fear was
not realized.
ALL BDT $50,000 RECOVERED
When the explosion took place one of
the masts shot right out of the watr
and thousands of dead fish came to the
surface. Another difficulty, and proba
bly the greatest the divers had to en
sounter, was the extreme pressure of the
water at so great a depth, but the gal
lant reiiows were most enthusiastic in
their work, and, although Captain Ste
vens had been advised to abandon all
hope of recovery of the treasure, be was
sanguine of success directly fine weather
would set in. And his hopes were soon
realized, for on Nov. 17, after waiting
anxiously and patiently, he had the
pleasure of wiring to London as follows
Lambert has got both scuttles open,
and succeeded in sending np first box of
old." This was glorious news to all
concerned, and especially to Captain
Stevens, who had charge of such a tedi
ous undertaking.
The saving of the remaining boxes of
jold was now merely a question of op
portunity Dip after dip was made by
Messrs. Lambert and Tester with vari
ous success, and by Dec. 12 they had re
covered between them six boxes, the
lion's share being obtained by Mr. Lam
bert, thus leaving a balance of four boxes
to be raised. In a very short time, con
sidering the unfavorable weather, they
succeeded in sending up three more
boxes, making in all nine boxes, or 90.
300 out of 100,000.
Unfortunately, the last box could not
oe round, so Captain Stevens and his
plucky divers had to come away without
t. No praise is too great for the man
ner in which Messrs. Lambert and Tester
worked under such an able commander.
have noted these few facts dovra from
my dead father's log book. As the treas
ure chest and the gold dollars at the
nwal exhibition attract so much atten
tion I send you these additional facts.
all Mall Budget.
Impatient,
A doctor who was noted for his pre--
fences rather than for his cures was
called in to prescribe one day for a man
who was ill, and gave him some medi
cine, ihe next day out one ne called to
6ee the patient.
"How is he today? he asked a servant
at the door.
"He's dead, sir that's how he is,' said
the servant.
"He is, eh?' said the doctor indignant
ly. "Well, that's always the way. Peo
ple expect our medicine to work wonders,
and then they get in a hurry and don't
give it time to prove what it can da"
Exchange
Nat (4oIln'a Flrnt Stage Experience.
Before I ever went on the stage I used
to take part in amateur affairs in my
mother's parlors in Boston, and I both
ered Charlie Thorns to death to get me a
! place in some company
My friends aUo said they were con
I vinced I had talents. So finally Thome
secured me a position in a company then
' playing a piece called "A Bottle." Provi
j deuce was to be the place where I made
my debut, and the part assigned me was
the old time gentlemanly villain, who
j comes to the village and captures the
' heart of the rustic beauty,
i I hal rehearsed several times and was
enre I knew it all
The heroine was to rush on with a
I scream and I was to run after her; but
j she hadn't rehearsed the scream with
; me, so when she dashed on and gave an
j unearthly yell it nearly frightened me
I to death.
I I stubbed my toe, feel sprawling and
j lost one of my sidewhiskers. 1 could u't
j utter a word, and didn't do so during
the whole performance. They thought
1 would gain courage as the piece pro
gpesse'd, but during the third act the or
chestra came in with a few thrilling
bars of music and 1 completely lost my
head, and 1 dashed out of the theater to
find the depot and take the next train
for Boston.
As 1 entered the cars with makeup on.
a black streak on my cheek from a black
ened eyebrow and my wig at one side,
passengers thought I was staring mad.
On reaching home I rushed in to my
mother, who thought 1 was going to be
a second Booth, begging her not to send
me on the stage again, but to get me a
position in some store. Nat C. Good
win, Jr.. in New York World.
.TEsoulaplus and His Profession.
iEsculapius, whom Homer calls "the
blameless physician," was the famous
pupil of Chiron. The glory of iEscu
lapius' name is not dimmed as it hits
come down to U3 through the ages.
While his treatment of the sick wa3
heroic, as was natural in an heroic age,
he did not ignore the virtue of metaphys
ical treatment. To those who suffered
from violent passioils he recommended
the perusal of works of poetry, the study
of hymns and songs and an attendance
on light comedy.
It has often been said of physicians
that they have two kinds of medicine
one with which to cure the p.itient, the
other to be used when it i3 desirable that
the cure shall not be effected too quick
ly Esculapius had two kinds, which
he received from Pallas Athene, the
goddts of wisdom. Both were taken
from the veins of Medusa. That taken
from her left 6ide operated to the de
struction of men. That from the right
6ide brought them health and strength.
Esculapius' medicine even had the
power of bringing the dead to life a
fact which so incensed the gods that
yEsculapius was immediately put to
death by a thunderbolt. The sceptic
Montaigne, referring to this injustice,
sarcastically expresses his surprise that
the patron of the doctors should be sent
to Tartary for restoring men to life, when
so many of his disciples are pardoned for
performing the opposite feat. Chicago
Herald.
A '"Queer" Preacher.
Rev. Mr. Hagamore, to whose memory
a slab has been placed in the church at
Catshoge, Leicestershire, England, was
"a little queer. " It seems that the rev
erend gentleman died in January, 18S6,
leaving all of his property, valued at
3,500, to a railroad porter.
This queer old preacher kept one serv
ant of each 6ex, whom he locked up
every night. His last employment of an
evening was to go the rounds of his
premises, let loose the dogs and fire off
his gun. He lost his life in a curious
manner. Starting out to let out his
servants the dogs fawned upon him and
threw him into a pond of water. The
servants heard his cries, but,, being
locked up could not render assistance,
so the old man was drowned.
When the inventory of his property
was taken he was found to be the owner
of 80 gowns, 100 pairs of trousers, 100
pairs of boots, 400 pairs of shoes, 80
wigs (although he had plenty of natu
ral hair), 50 dogs, 96 wagons and carts,
30 wheelbarrows, 249 razors, 80 plows,
50 saddles and 222 pickaxes and shovels.
He surely was "a little queer." St.
Louis Republic
Treatment of Face Moles.
A hairy mole which is still growing
should be removed at once, even at the
risk of some injury to the skin. It is
now probably no more than a plexus of
capillary vessels, with only a small sup
ply of connftive tissue. There is also a
likelihood that it has not yet involved
the skin. If this be its condition, the
skin over the tumor may be reflected in
flaps, and the tumor itself strangulated
with ligature in one of the usual ways,
The flaps should then be replaced, and
the result will be a minimum of cicatrix
and deformity.
But if the nfflvus be allowed to grow,
it will become a large, highly vascular,
erectile tumor, probably invading and
involving the skin, liable to profuse
hemorrhage if injured; yet still quite
amenable to treatment, though of a less
simple kind. The modes of treating
naevi are numerous, and are continually
increasing. Herald of Health.
The Romans In-vented Horsepower.
The Romans, among whom agriculture
was a highly favored occupation, were
an inventive race, especially in the mat
ter of labor saving machines. Recog
nizing the drudgery of handmills, they
invented those whose motive power was
imparted by asses, mules and oxen, and
introduced them into all the countries
conquered by their victorious armies.
There is no positive record of the name
of the originator of this improvement in
muling. Detroit Free Press.
Both Out.
Depositor (breathlessly) Ls the cashier
in?
Bank Examiner No, he's out. Are
you a depositor?
"Yes."
"WelL you're out. too." New York
Weeklv.
Strange Spirit aianlfeittatlons.
' One of the best authenticat d in
f tances of ghostly viMtation is connected
with Dr. Kemer'ssocalled Seerssof I'r
vost. Dr Kerner for many years con
ducted an asylum for the ir ne at
Weinsliurg. in Southern Gemfiry
There came to him r'or treatment a .Mrs.
Ilauffe, a lady in delicate health, of
great nervous irritability, and with a
mind which was, to say the least, not too
well balanced. W.ierever this alllicted
woman went, and Dr Justinns Kerner
is authority, the was pursued by a
variety of strange noises. Chinaware
and glasswure. tables and chairs were
mysteriously moved in the presence of
witnesses. A medicine vial rose slowly
into the air and had to be brought back
by one of the bystanders.
On several occasions an easy chair w;s
lifted up to the ceihng by unseen power
and then returned slowly to the ll'.r
On one occasion tlu great akeptic. Dr
Strausz, was one cf her visitors, and
during his stay Mrs. ilauffe fell asleep
on her sofa when there immediately
arose long, fearful groanings close l,y
the doctor's side and in the vicinity of
his amiable but remarkable hostes?
The strange suffering woman was the
only one who knew the cause of
these phenomena. She ascribed th'-m
all to a dark spirit who appeared to i.. r
as a black column of smoke with a hide
ous head, whose unseen approach op
pressed even the bystanders.
Dr. Kerner relates countless mj-sten-ous
phenomena which occurred in this
patient's bedroom. He beheld Mr
Hanffe's shoes pulled off by invisible
hands while she was lying almost inaui
mate in a trance on her bed. She re
vealecl secrets which, upon writing to
utterl3' unknown iersous at a great dis
tance, Dr. Kerner proved to be correctly
stated. Philadelphia Press.
Helping the Maids.
During the War of the Revolution
wmie tne vmerican ana uritisu armies
were contending in Pennsylvania, Gen
eral Washington was in the neighbor
hood of Marietta, Lancaster county
General Lee, with two or three aides-
de-camp, rode in advance, and stopping
at a wayside inn, informed the landlord
that General Washington
and his .staff
officers would quarter at
liis house f r
the night.
This news, of course, caused great con
fusion among the inmates of the estab
lishment. They wanted to do honor to
the beloved commander, and bustled
about to have all things in readiness
upon his arrival.
"Here, you," said the genius who
presided in the kitchen to General Lee,
ignorant of his rank in the army, "just
go out to that woodpile and split h;i
armful for me. I must hurry up tins
fire, or I cannot get a good supper for
General Washington."
The officer, enjoying the joke, obedi
ently took up the ax, and soon the chips
were flying in all directions. He was
busily working away when Washington
and his staff rode up to the tavern.
"Why, General Lee," said the commander-in-chief,
"what in the world are
you doing?"
"Oh," replied Lee, lifting his head,
"1 am helping the maids in the kitchen.
General Washington and his officers are
coming here for supper to-night."
Both generals burst into a hearty
laugh, in which their companions joined;
and even the landlady, who had set the
general at work, enjoyed the joke after
6he had recovered somewhat from her
morti fica tion. You t h's Com panion.
The Bridegroom Had a IJoj; LIccdm.
People who have lived in cities where
marriage licenses are required often
have great difficulty in understanding
the system in vogue here. They cannot
realize that the services of a minister or
alderman are all that is necessary when
the parties have reached the proper age
A German whose knowledge of the Eng
lish language is limited wished to get
married not long ago, and being under
the impression that a license was neces
sary he started out to secure one. He
wandered around the postoffice and th
various municipal and county buildings
for an hour or two, unable to find the
place where licenses were to be had.
finally ne managed to explain to a
policeman that he wanted a license, al
though he was unable to make it clear
what kind of a one he was after. . Th
officer directed him to the place where
dog licenses are issued, and the happy
suitor paid his fee and received the
precious paper
That evening the German and his
blushing affianced went to the house ot
a minister to have the Gordian knot tied
When the bridegroom proudly handed
over his dog license the worthy pastoi
could hardly perform the ceremony foi
suppressed laughter. The couple, how
ever, were none the less firmly inarm.":
because the paper allowed the husband
to keep a dog instead of to wed a wife.
New York Tribune.
London as It Was.
Haydn's "Dictionary of Dates' makes
the statement that the old name of the
city of London was written Lynden oi
Llyndin, meaning "the city on the lake."
An old tradition gives us to understand
that London was founded by Brute, a
descendant of Eneas, and called New
Troy, or Troynovant, until the time o;
Lud, who surrounded the town with
walls and named it Caer-Lud, or Lud"s
town. This latter is probably the cor
rect version of the story, if for m
other reason because it is an easy mat
ter to detect a similarity between the ex
pression Lud's town and London. It ir
claimed by some writers that there wa.
a city on the same spot 1,107 years B. C
and it is known that the Romans found
ed a city there called Londinium A. D
61. St. Louis Republic.
A Comparison.
Jack 1 have come to believe that
there's a good deal of similarity between
a car porter and Cupid's arrows.
Nellie Graciousl How do you make
that out?
Jack Well, neither i3 effective unless
tipped with gold or silver. Pittsburg
Bulletin.
-v...J
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