The Plattsmouth daily herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1883-19??, May 01, 1888, Image 3

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    THJf DAILY HERALD, PLATTBMOUTII, NEBRASKA, TUESDAY, MAY 1, Hit.
NAVAJO TRADITION.
HOW ALL ANIMAL LIFE WAS CON
FINED IN A CAVERN.
Freedom Firat Foaott by Locust -The
Ba4cr Follow Frlaoaere Free at Lett.
IHapato Concerning the Cse of Night
ma A limy.
The Navajo Indians of Arizona have a
tradition to the effect that while the earth
was young and destitute of animal life
the Great Spirit created twelve people
six men and Mix women together with
many species of animals, and confined
them In a cavern of the San Francisco
mountain, where they lived as a great,
happy family for many years. But in
course of time a reHtlcssuess possessed
the prisoners. Though they had known
nothing of freedom, all felt the oppres
sion of their narrow limits, and vaguely
yearned for a greater fulfillment of the
dream or reality of living. But what
could they do? All speculated on the
situation to no purpose. Daily they jos
tled each other, little and big, clumsy and
nimble, biped and quadrupeds, feathered
nud furred, winded and wingless, timid
.nd bold. Every successive period of
time wus but a repetition of the past.
OPESIKO THE WAT OUT.
None of the many puzzled brains conld
offer means of breaking the monotony,
till a happy thought struck one of the
most insignificant of the living mass.
For want of other occupation a locust
bored a hole in the wall and thereby
opened the way for the enthusiasm and
progress of the host of its comrades
throughout the length and breadth of
their underground world. The Great
Spirit had so decreed it. They were there
only for a time of Incubation. At the
destined hour, as the eaglet bursts the
shell that Imprisons it, so the locust's tiny
burrow should lead to the escape of all
Into the open world, where each could fol
low his inclinations unhampered.
The laboring locust had but a solitary
wit ness. A badger watched with growing
amusement the diminutive tunnel making.
Ills ejea sparkled with Interest as the
locust labored energetically. He lay rest
lug with his head between his fore paws
In a most lazy attitude, but his face ex
pressed animation and eagerness not much
longer to be retained. As the tail of the lo
cust disappeared the time for exertion had
come. To follow the locust's movements
further necessitated like energy. The
locust's hole was too small for the
badger's access, so he started a tunnel
making of his own. By the time he
reached the locust he was in no mood to
give up the chase, so he passed on,
scratching his way through the solid
earth until he broke through the outer
crust of the mountain, and in the joy and
excitement of the moment he sprang into
the ample space before him. The moun
tain side was steep, and he "landed " in
the shallow edge of the lake in Monte
suma valley. As he fell his fore feet
struck deep into the mire, and his progeny
even unto today have inherited black fore
paws because of this incident of the
world's first peopling.
The Navajoes within the cavern, noting
the departure of the badger, began a
prospect. Finding the hole large enough
for exit, they crept out, one after the
other, aud a train of all sizes and species
of animals followed in their wake, as from
Noah's ark.
FRIGIITENTJD TIIEM AW AT.
As soon a all the prisoners were free,
Ore and smoke began to issue from the
hole that had delivered them. This
frightened them far away Into the valley,
and there they prepared to make them
selves comfortable aud live as their new
advantages permitted. Food was plentiful
In vegetable forms, but some varieties
needed heat to make them good. At
least the Navajoes thought so, but they
had no means of kindling a fire. This
difficulty was soon overcome by sending a
bat, a wolf and a squirrel after the
needed element, fire. Going to a hole in
the mountain, the wolf tied some pitchy
splinters to his tail, then turned aud held
It over the little volcano till it began to
smoke and ignite. The bat then fanned
It into flames with its wings and ths
tiuirrel carrinl it away to the Navajoes.
The people were delighted at getting the
one missing essential to a happy life in
the oieii world, and when, long after, a
time came when the world's plenty had
pampered their wills and fostered their
greed and selfishness to the point of
preying upon their fellow creatures for
food, they still had the honor to vow
never to eat wolf or squirrel flesh.
Neither would they move camp without
a live coal among their possessions. And
even today the Navajoes' gratitude to the
trio is observed as the promise made to
the fire getters of the tradition.
Between the Navajoes and different ani
mals there sprang up a dispute over the
Great Spirit's intended use for night and
day. All agreed that one should be spent
in sleep and one in action, but which
should serve the one and which the other?
It was settled at List. Those that wished
to roam at night should do so and sleep by
day, and vice versa. The heroic badger
was among those who chose the mysteries
of the darkness or the immediate dawn
and dusk for thought and action and the
bright and sunny hours as fit to be Blept
away in his cool underground neet. As
the sun sank in the west upon their busi
ness meeting, the owl, bat, moth, and
many other animals scattered out into the
alley borders on their foraging exploits,
while many kinds of birds flew to roost in
the trees. Other animals lay down to
sleep In sheltered parts of the forest, and
the Navajoes spread their waterproof
blankets, the trophies of the women's in
dustry, and enjoyed their couches under
the starry sky in peaceful dreams. Over
land Monthly.
The Great Actor' Methods.
Clara Morris, in speaking of actors and
meting recently, said: "The really great
actor must be capable of doing something
more than to merely touch the biggest
fool of the audience. He must make his
audience absolutely forgetful of Itself and
be himself the direct and not the indirect
cause of the emotional state into which it
is thrown. To do this the actor must be
himself a person of intense feeling and
must for the time at least experience the
emotion he is seeking to portray, lleally
great acting is a matter of feeling rather
than of reasoning intelb'gence, and I
doubt whether an actor who studies and
puzzles over the subtleties of ths author's
meaning is not in danger of checking the
manifestations of his own histrionic sense.
No amount of art can make up the want
of one real touch of nature." New York
Herald.
Gaming Introduced.
According to Camden, gamins was
Introduced into England by the Saxons,
and the loser was often made a slave tc
the winner, aud old in UafSc, like othei
merchandise.
STEWART AND VANDERBILT.
Two A need o tee Showing the KeevemleeJ
Tare of the Mated Millionaire.
Many persons who marvel at the wonder
ful accumulation of money possessed by some
of their fellow citisens do not reflect upon
the fact that these accumulations are often
due to close economy in expenditure. A re
porter lately came across two extraordinary
instances of economy on the part of two
millionaire, the late Alexander T. Stewart
and the late William H. VanderbUt
"I shaved Mr. Stewart," said a Fifth ave
nue hotel barber, "for fifteen years steadily,
when lie was a atron of the Metropolitan
hotel barbershop. In all that time be never
once thought of presenting a gratuity. He
paid the same price that any other man would
for a shave or a hair cut, and that was the end
of it. It was even more the custom then
than now for regular patrons to tip their
mgular larbers once in a while, and particu
larly on Christmas or New Year's. There
fore, Mr. Btewart 'a omission was all the more
singular.
"One afternoon, some years vt, Mr. Stew
art dropped into tbo hotel barber shop and
while he was in the chair a severe snow
Blonn came up. I advised him, as he had
been quite ill for some time, it would be ad
visable for him to take a coupe home. I
went out to the bar and asked a cabman
what was the lowest price for taking
Mr. Stewart home. They all knew that there
was no uso otking a fancy price from him,
and to I was told that I could get a coupe
for him for 1 1.25. I went back and reported.
Too much too much' he said sharply. 'I
can't afford any such price. I will ride home
in a stage first, and that will only be ten
cents,' and so he did."
This anecdote about Mr. Vandcrbilt's care
of money came from a porter of the Manhat
tan Beach hotel : "The summer before last,"
he said, "I was called to the office one after
noon, and told by the clerk that Mr. William
II. Vanderbilt was in the house, and that he
had mislaid his traveling bag. I was told to
find it, if possible. I started out full of
dreams of sudden wealth. I went by rail to
Bay Ridge, paying my own fare, and found
that the bag was not there. Then I paid an
other fare to New York, and searched all
over the landing at the Battery. The bag was
not to be found.
Then I paid another fare and went down to
the island, and went over into the Oriental
hotel, and there I found the bag. It bad been
taken to that hotel by mistake. I brushed my
self up, dusted off the bag and carried it to Mr.
Vandcrbilt's room, knocked gently and was
told to come in, and I presented the bag with
a great flourish, and eipected, of course, that
I should at least get a $10 bill, as I was out
from $1.35 to $1.50 and several hours of
searching. He said quickly: 'Thanks, por
ter; I am glad I got it,' and, opening the bag
to see if the contents were all right, revealed
the fact that there was only a single shirt in
it. Then he snapped the bag shut, dived into
his trousers pocket and fished out a quarter,
by all that is holy. I left that room in a
hurry, and you could have knocked me down
with a feather when I got out into the hall."
New York Sun.
Mobilisation of the German Army.
It is in the arrangements for mobilization
that the German army is wonderfully per
fect. The modus operandi is as follows:
The active army is divided into eighteen
army corps, each occupying a particular dis
trict and consisting of about 28,000 men.
The general commanding the corps is re
sponsible for its mobilization, and has in the
stores, the clothing, arms and equipment of
the reservists and landwehr men. The de
tails, however, are in the hands of the rail
road authorities and the police bureaus.
Each soldier on quitting the active army re
ports himself to the bureau of police in hi
district, where his name, age, regiment and
destination on mobilization are inscribed.
From this data the police bureau furnishes
the local railroad authorities with the nuni'
ber of trains required and their direction.
Suppose, now, the telegram for mobiliza
tion should be received. Each man there'
upon presents himself at once at the police
bureau and receives his pass for the journey,
goes -to the railroad station and is sent oil
immediately to the headquarters of his regit
monk Arrivod there, arms and clothing are
served out, tho officers appear, take com
mand of their companios and regiments and
in twenty-four hours an army of 500,000 men
is raised to 1,500,000, and in three days can bo
placed ou the frontier with all its ports com
plete save, of course, the mounted arms,
which require- three more days to be made
ready on account of the necessity of requisi
tioning the horses. Gordon Smith in Phila
delphia Times.
The KaUer's Mysterious milter.
There is current among the peasants of
Bavaria a legend that the long life of Kaiser
Wilhelm was due to a mysterious philter of
which his imperial majesty alone possessed
tho secret. How the emperor obtained the
magic beverage is not known. It was said
to be a kind of spirit; which, if it did. not give
him immortality, would enable him to ' live
many years more, and supply him with
suScient bodily and mental power to retain
the government of bis vast empire in bis
own hands.
The legend furthermore states that the
German sovereign condescended to make a
present of a few drops of the charmed liquid
to Marshal Moltke and Prince Bismarck,
hence also thsU respectable age; but strange
to say, he declined to give any of it to the
crown prince, because he feared his heir
would make use of his health, restored by
the philter, to force him to abdicate. Several
crowned heads have, It appears, applied to
the emperor for his wonderful secret, but
in vain. The czar, in particular, prayed for
some of the spirit, and it was the refusal of
the kaiser to oblige him which was the real
cause of tho present conflict between Russia
and Germany. New York Tribune.
Great liOM of Force,
In a paper recently read before one of the
English associations of engineers, the writer
asserted that, according to present methods
of dealing with the motive power of the
steam engine, only some 20 per cent, was
made available, 80 per cent, of the energy
developed in the furnace being thrown away,
and it is quite common to realize no greater
efficiency than about 4 per cent, on the gross
or potential energy of the fuel. In large fac
tories, that amit of the power being concen
trated in one or two great machines, conden
sation can be taken advantage of, and, with
water beaters, and other appliances, double
the above figures realizedbut in the very
best engines, with all the latest improve
ments and elaborations, not more than
per cent, has ever been realized, nor is it pos
sible to realize more, and even this 12) per
cent, can only be obtained by the finest of
wire drawing and the best of coaL New
York Sun. -
The Herolo Method.
Soldiers in the Russian army are said to be
cured of intemperance by a curious and
heroic method. The inebriate is locked up,
and given only food boiled in his favorite
wretched spirit and water. He soon becomes
horribly sick, but is kept on this diet until
the very 6ight or scent of spirit creates in
him an inextinguishable loathing for it.
Axkansaw Traveler.
A DIYER'S DESCRIPTION
OF THE COSTUME WORN WHILE
UNDER THE WATER.
Going Down to the Bottom of tfco Soa
The Diving Urea Invented by m Native
or Switserland Signaling- While Under
Water.
"I first began diving in 18G3," said Capt.
Anthony Williams, the famous English diver.
"I was a wrecker then, and was raising a
sunken ship off the coaat of Cornwall. I bad
worleing for me a diver who seemed a very
lazy, careless sort of a fellow. I was paying
him by the day, and once, atur being under
water for a long time, he came up and re
ported very little progress in his work. I was
angry and expressed myself strongly. He
retorted with: "Try it yourself if you can
do any better.'
" 'All right,' said I, 'let me Itave your div
ing dress and I will try it myself.' He
thought I was only joking, but I wasn't. He
doffed the dress, I put it on and down I went.
I discharged him when I came up and have
been doing my own diving ever since.
"Did you ever see a diving dress? No?
Then I will put mine on and give you an idta
of one," and the captain retired to his state
room, whence he presently emerged in full
diving costume, except the heavy cast iron
helmet, which several of the company raised
from the deck and placed upon him, thus
making his outfit complete. The dress is
really two dresses, one within the other, each
of India rubber. The stockings, pants and
shirt are all made togethor as one garment,
which the diver enters at the nock, feet first.
The hands are left bare, the wristbands of
the rubber shirt sleeves tightly compressing
the wrists. There is a copper breast plate,
Wearing upon its outer convex surface small
screws, which are adjusted through holes in
the nock of the shirt, which by means of
nuts fastened upon the screws, is held so
firmly in place as to render the entire dress,
from the neck downward, Absolutely air and
water tight. Fitting with equal closeness
to this breast plate is the helmet mentioned
above. It completely encloses the head, and
is supplied with three glasses one in front
and one at each side to enable the diver to
look in any direction. A pair of very thick
leather shoes, made to lace up the front, and
supplied with heavy leaden soles, completes
the outfit.
"You see," said the captain, when his
helmet had been removed, after everybody
had had ample time to criticise bis appear
ance in It, "it takes about fifteen minutes to
put these togs on, and when the diver is
rigged in them all but the helmet there are
placed across his shoulders ropes sustaining
two leaden weights, one hanging at his back,
the other at his breast. He then goes down a
ladder into the water up to his armpits, and
then the helmet is placed on him, the glass in
front is screwed in place, and when every
thing is made ready he is made aware of the
fact by a blow on the top of the helmet. He
then goes down by means of a rope previously
lowered, hand under hand, to the bottom of
the sea. Sometimes, in very strong currents,
it is necessary to make the weights extraor
dinarily heavy in order to held the diver
down, notwithstanding the fact that the
dress alone weighs nearly 200 pounds, and
yet I do not feel the weight of it down
among the fishes any more than I do that of
an ordinary suit of clothes out of the water.
It was invented in Switserland by a native
of that country named Bauer, who spent a
small competency in having it patented and
in trying to bring it into use, but he died a
disappointed, heart broken pauper, leaving
others to reap tho benefit of his invention."
"Can you breathe as freely in your divhig
dress as you can out of itf
'Yes, indeed. When ten or twelve fath
oms under water my breathing is as wholly
devoid of effort as it is when I am walking
about on dry land. You know that by
means of an air pump, worked by two men,
the diver is supplied with air. Through a
hose this air passes into the back of his hel
met, and near its place of entrance is a
6pring valve for its escape. This valve can
be controlled by the diver, but he usually
set3 t before going into the water, and sel
dom disturbs it afterward. The pressure of
the air being greater than that of the water,
a surplus of the former readily escapes.
When this valve is not sufficient, the diver
can open in his breastplate a similar spring
valve, intended only for such an emergency.
He can also regulate the amount of air
pumped to him by signals upon the air hose
to the men engaged in pumping. One pull
upon the hose means more air; two pulls,
less air, and two pulls and a shake, "I want
to come up." These signals on the air hose
are generally used by all divers, but each
one of us has bis own private code of signals
on the life line, which is always fastened to
the diver's waist, and by means of which he,
is drawn up out of water, These signals
pach diver writes down very carefully "and
gives to the man in charge of the life line.
By means of these we can send up for tools,
materia, etc When a lengthy communioa
(ion is to be made we send up for a slate and
write all we want to say. It is just as easy
to read and write under water as out of it.
One can see very plainly,- all objects be
ing greatly magnified." Geoffrey Williston
Christine in Chicago Journal.
A Tries: of Counterfeiter,
A gentleman now In one of the city banks,
but formerly of the secret service depart
ment, said the other day that the publio
should be very careful in judging counterfeit
money by one distinct feature in the bill.
"I'll give you an idea of how these fellows
work," he said. "They generally make two
or three plates from which different bills are
struck off. One of the plates is likely to be
a trifle short or long. The puhho becomes.
Aware pf this, and; bases judgment of its
genuineness by measuring a suspicious bill
with one known to be good. Well, these
fellows will then spring a bill on. the town
exactly right in length, and everything goes
on serenely. They are a cute lot, I tell yon,
and have many schemes to get rid of their
stuff. The fellow who does the shoving never
carries more than one bill with him at a
time. As soon as he gets rid of it be hands
the change he receives to a confederate en
the outside and receives another bill. When
a party is suspected of trying to shove coun
terfeit money be should never be are ted on
the spot, but should be watched until he
meets his confederate on the outside; then
youll get the best man of the two, and most
likely the principal. Women are used some
times to shove the stuff, but they are not
reliable, and most counterfeiters steer clear
of them in their work." Chicago News.
The Lady Boarder.
"Not another morsel," exclaimed the new
lady boarder, after eating enough for six able
bodied coal heavers. "Not another morseL
Really, I dont know what will become of me;
no appetite at all, you know. As my last
landlady said, I dont eat enough to keep a
bird alive." :
The boarders said nothing, but they all be
gan wondering whether the bird she referred
to was an ostrich or Sinbads roc Boston
Traveler. '
PARAGRAPHS OF INTEREST.
Forty-three of Iowa's many school
houses are built of logs.
The dervishes of Tafllet, Morocco, have
declared a holy war against the sultan.
On Feb. 8, a meeting was held in Tofcio
to ceh'brate the translation of tho Hihto
into Japanese. It was begun in 1372.
A company has been formed in Berlin
to manufacture electrical watches. Two
; small cells and a small electric motor
take the place of the ordinary move
j ment.
A steam logger, or snow locomotive,
: lately constructed, is in use in the loggti:; j
camps of northern Michigan, when? it I
; draws with ease sleds holding 30,000 feut j
J of logs over snow a foot deep.
mere is stui in torce in Kiioao isUanU a
law forbidding the smoking of a cigar on
the main street of any city in the state,
and in Vermont the smoking of a oignr
on tho street on Sunday is made a mis
demeanor. A seed company in Atlanta has just
sold to the czar of Russia, through the
technological agent of tlie Russian gov
ernment at Washington, 200 bi sheLa of
cotton seed, the first shipment from this
country.
A Chinaman named Confucius has
reached England on a visit from his
native land. lie claims to be a direct
descendant in the seventy-second genera
tion of the famous Confucius who gave
China a religion.
A novel way to move a Loiuo was
adopted at the railroad depot at Orlando,
Fla., the other day. The house was
slipped upon the railroad tract, an engine
was backed up and hitched on, and the
house pulled along, sliding on the tracks.
A Swedish farmer has hit upon the
idea of lighting his farm by electrio
lights, and has purchased a dynamo and
connected it with a waterfall close by.
The man intends also to employ it for
working threshing machines and for
similar work.
There are 14,000 acres of vineyards
along the Hudson River valley and tho
average yield is four tons to the acre. At
three cents per pound this means $240
per acre to the grower. Some grow
larger crops than this average and realize
$800 per acre in sales.
The pope's income from Peter's pence,
which since 1870 has been the only
source of revenue left to the papacy,
amounts to 6,000,000 francs a year. On
tho occasion of his recent jubilee the
Peter's pence presented to Pope Leo ag
gregated 85,000,000 francs.
Macy "Warner, who was hanged at
Jefferson, Ind., for murder, made the
following gallows speech: 'If any of you
ever take a glass of whisky, before you
put it to your lips think of Macy Warner,
and look into the bottom of your glass
and see if you cant see a rope there."
Barn urn's latest big scheme was the
writing of his autograph on the fly l-af
of 2,500 copies of his autobiography. He
liked tho fun so much that he refused to
have the name lithographed, but insisted
on writing his name in each copy. The
books are for presentation to editors, gov
ernors, the president and other groat
Americans.
In the investigation as to f raudsfin food
and other articles now making by the
committee on agriculture of the house of
representatives some disgusting exposures
have been made. One witness testilied
that diseased swine are bought and turntl
into lard and their fat sold for household
use. In one case 2,200 smothered
were thus used up. au4. anjrualo suffering
from hog cholera are put into the tanks
and turned into lard for family use con
stantly. Industrial School for Negroes.
An interesting problem is being solved
by Professor B. T. Washington, of Tus
kegee, Ala. Professor Waslungton is a
graduate of the Hampton (Va.) Normal
and Agricultural institute, which has
done so much for the industrial training
of young colored men and women. Some
seven years ago he started the Tuskegee
normal school, with twenty pupils. To
day he has 405 bright young men and
women from all parts of the south re
ceiving training in the school.
The school pays, especial attention to
increasing the industrial capacity of tho
negro in connection with his mental and
moral training. At present there are
twelve industries taught in the school.
All materials used in building are manu
factured on the place by the students.
The course of study extends over a pe
riod of four years, during which time
the students may learn, in addition to
a regular school education, carpentering,
blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, paint
ing, brickmaking, masonry, farming,
Erinttugi cpokingi laundry work and all
ousehold arts. New York Sun.
An Amerlean Sculptor's TV or It.
Jarirn G. Mead, the American sculp
tor, who has so long resided in Florence,
is engaged upon the most ambitious work
of bis life. It is a gigantic figM, a rive?
god, which represents the Mississippi
river The figure is in an easy, half re
oumbent position. Around its flowing
locks is twined a wreath of tobacco ana
cotton leaves. He holds in his right
hand an ear of corn with trailing husks,
half stripped from the gleaming kernels.
The vegetation of the Mississippi valley
Is represented in the drapery and the
features mentioned. An alligator bur
rows its way through the shelving sand
under the lower part of the figure. Tho
left foot is partially buried in the sand,
indicating the shelving, yielding boQ of
the valley. Mr. Head expects to finish
the work this year. Chieago Times.
Mr. Martin's Big; Farm.
The Scotch estate of Mr. Bradley Mar
tin covers 65,000 acres of land, and is
about fifteen miles from Inverness. It
has a water front on Loch Ness of nine
teen miles. The deer forest includes 23,
000 acres, and by the terms of his lease
Mr. Martin Is allowed to kill seventy-five
stags a season. They are killed by stalk
ing, not driving, as the former is re
garded as the more skillful way. The
big house on the estate will held fifty
guests, and the list for the season is al
ready made out. Mr. Martin has loaned
a small house, near his own, to Lady
Alfred Paget, who will fill it with guests,
hugely recruited from America. The
Argonaut.
The Plattsmouth
Js on joying . Boom in "botlo, its
DAILY AND "WmiKLT
EDITIONS.
Th Year 1888
Will be one during which the subjects of
national interest and importance will ba
strongly agitated and the election f a
President will take place. Hie people of
Cass County who would like to learn of
Political, Commercial
and Social Transactions
of this year and would keep ptt with
the times should
-TOR
uany or weeKiy neram
Now while we have the subject before the
people we will venture to tpeak of our
3 m
W 13 1 Si El El Si M trl
Which is first-class in all respects and
from which our job printers are turning
out much satisfactory work.
PLATTSMOUTH,
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