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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1900)
THE ISLAND OF ST. HELENA. HE FOUND HIS GIRL AT LAST. ROMANCE OF OLD VIRGINIA. General Cronje and 1,500 other Boer prisoners who sailed from Simon Bay at Capetown for St. Helena recently should have arrived there Monday a week ago. The Island Is 1,100 milea from Capetown. General Cronje, because of his mili tary reputation, and his heroic defense of his position at Paardeberg. against a force that outnumbered him ten to sne, Is the most Illustrious of the many exiles now suffering- the displeas ure of Great Britain. The policy of non-exchange of pris oners adopted by England In this war bears hard upon the captives of both sides. The Boer prisoners at Capetown are dying at an alarming rate. St. Helena, will now more than ever be thought of as the rock on which warriors may militate even If they find no rest. It Is a veritable prison. A man could walk all around It In a day. Us greatest length is only ten and a quarter miles and its breadth eight and a quarter. Its area would form a square which would barely contain central London and would leave all the suburbs hanging over the sides. The Island was once a volcano, and the great, col dold crater still forms the backbone of the rock. 1 There are sev eral mountains of good height, cut with extraordinarily deep and wide water or lava gorges and marked with masses af basaltic rock. The most quaint of these great pinnacles have been called the -Ass' Ears. Near by Is another, christened Lot's Wife. A third Is known as the Chimney. The shape of them has suggested their titles. For about a mile and a half In from the coast the Island is as bare as a rock. Lichens are there In plenty, but not an ounce of soil. Then for about another three-quarters of a mile In PATIENTS WHO ARE STINGY. Probably few patients have carried parsimony to the height pursued by a certain baronet, Sim William Smyth, who, although Immensely rich, was nev er happier than when trying to evade doctors' bills. For Instance, he once r.iade a bargain with a great oculist to couch both his eyes, agreeing1 to pay 60 guineas If his sight was at all re stored to him. The operation was made and proved so successful that he was enabled to read without glasses, j No sooner, however, was this state fit affairs reached, than the miserly baronet began to grieve at the thought 'of paying the promised fee, and he therefore pretended that he had only the faintest glimmering of light, with he result that the badgered physician compromised the business by accepting 20 guineas Instead of 60. j Cases of this kind are by no means rare In the experience of medical prac titioners. A doctor attended a patient for lnfluenzt of a rather bad tyfre, and when the cure was completed sent In )ils bill at the ordinary rales. It was, however, returned to him with a note from his late patient hinting that, as the Influenza was at the time In the nature of an epidemic, and the doctor had doubtless reaped considerable ben efit from It, he ought to make a con siderable reduction In his bill In view thereof. However, the physician did not fall In with this eccentric and tlngy proposition, and eventually the bill was paid as It stood, though not without many more protests from the payer. Another patient, who prided himself on his medical knowledge, was In the habit of making suggestions to the doc. tor who attended him during Illness, which suggestions the doctor would sometimes good naturedly adopt, more for the sake of gratifying the patient, STEEL ROADS It Is only recently through the efforts of the good roads agitation and the work of several experiment stations rd the office of public roa4 Inquiries thai, any marked, Improvement has been mads- In road building In this country. The telford and macadam roads are now familiar to all, and the tcel roads that were first suggested in 1894 appear to be attracting greater and greater attention. Short sections of steel roads have been laid at Omaha, Neb., during the Trans-Mississippi ex position and recently at Ames, la., and Bt. Anthony Park, Minn. These experi mental sections clearly demonstrated their usefulness for western and other level state sparingly supplied with s-ood stone or gravel, although as sub stitutes for the Istter they are Incom parably superior. Dirt and stone roads for an object lesson were built In varl 3U sections of the country last year jnder the supervision of government oad experts. A great awakening has 'ollowed the building of these roads In Maryland, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin, and )undrds of local organisations for the (iprovements of roads hove sprung up. Two powerful new factors In the problem, as the bicycle can be consider ?1 nn old one, are the growing use of tutomobllea and the extension of ruial nail deliveries which are dependent on rood roads. We are now pausing thro' ;hn stone age on road building, accord tig to Martin Dodge, the projector of iteel wagon roods. The latest Idea In iiseb road is to support steel rails wards the Island resembles some of the wilder and more barren parts of Scot land. Pines, brambles, gorse and rocks, with here and there a grassy slope, as the chief products. Then comes an almost sudden change as if from earth to heaven. The center of the island Is a marvelous haven for the most wonderful and beautiful flora, many of which are indigenous. The entire center Is like a huge botanic gar den. The only animals on St. Helena, ex cept domestic ones, are rabbits, rats and mice. Even the rats found the island too small or too hard for all the comforts they looked for, so they left off boring Into the ground and hare taken to making their nests in high trees. The population numbers about 5,000 and the potato forms the staple pro duct, as many as three crops a year be ing raised. The first known Inhabitant of St. Helena was a prisoner, but a voluntary one. This was Fernandez Lopez, a Por tuguese nobleman, who In 1513, twelve years after the discovery of the Island, chose to go there rather than remain In Europe after some barbarous mutila tion to which he had been subjected for a misdemeanor. The Dutch possessed the Island till 1651. In 1673 the English East India company obtained hold of It. It was not until 1834 that St. Helena was at tached to the British crown. St. Helena prospered till the opening of the Suez canal. But what made its name famous was its selection to be the prison of Napoleon. The great French man lived there from October, 1815, till May, 1821, whillng away his time and killing the monotony of It by quarrel ing with the governor. than for any other reason. Judge ol the medico's astonishment, however, when the amateur Hippocrates actually refused to pay more than half the bill on the grounds that at least "50 per cent of the cure had been due to his unaided suggestions In the treatment." Audacity and penurlousness could hardly have gone further than this, and under the circumstances It is not sur prising that the physician not only In sisted on full payment, but refused to attend the gentleman further. Specialists can tell many tales of parsimony In the people who consult them. An eminent lung physician once received a visit fiom a Sussex farmer, whose trouble proved to be merely Im aginary, nnd whose mind was soon set at rest. On his departure he offered the specialist five shillings, and on the latter pointing out that his foe was two guineas, the worthy agriculturist scratched his head and said that he considered such a sum far too much for "telling a man he had nothing tha matter with him." Another gentleman of similar tenden cies, who consulted an ear specialist, was thunder stricken when he asked for a fee of one guinea, as he averred that scarcely three minutes had been consumed In the consultation. The doctor pointed out that it had taken him over thirty years to obtain the ex perience which condensed a consulta tion Into three minutes, but the obsti nate consultant refused to take this view, and eventually prevailed upon the physician to accept half the sum nam ed. It may be added that this parsi monious person was In receipt of an Income that ran Into many thousands per annum. When a man doubles his fists he nat urally becomes four-handed. FOR TRAVEL. eight or ten Inches wide on a continu ous concrete foundation, and not' on ties, as heretofore. The plates are riv eted to steel flanges, which are embed ded In the concrete of the road bed so as to form a substantial part of It. It Is asserted that steel track wagon roads, which will doubtless receive a great Impetus with the building of a national highway, can be built for about the usual cost of ordinary stone roads; that they last mony times as long as any other known material for road purposes, and with very small re pairs; that the power to move a vehi cle over such roads Is but a fraction of that required on usual roads, and that they greatly Increase possible speed. The Importance of the last claim can hardly be overestimated. Its realiza tion would result In either Increasing the possible load or in diminishing the mechanical power of automobiles or of horse power. For Instance, It has been shown that a load of eleven tons requires about twenty horses to move It on a common road, while the same load on steel wagon tracks can be mov ed by a single horres. This Ih twenty two times the weight of the anlmnl, and that load could even be Increased up to fifty times Its weight and still be started and moved wlth'out diffi culty. ' I, Kva Mother, Tlllle gets a dime every time she takes cod liver oil. Mother Arid what does she do with the money? Kva Well, she puts It In a box until she gets iu cents, then her mother buys more cod liver olL In a little school In a suburb of Ham burg, Germany, sat three children a maid and two lads. One of the latter was the son of the merchant prince it the town, the other's father was a wagonmaker. One as a student, the Jther a rover. Wealth beckoned one the sea called the other. Only when little Nannie Hasselbrinck smile did Frederick Kruse and George A. Grambo learn that love was a lev eler of rank and social barriers. They became rivals for her affections. As Nannie approached womanhood she grew winsome. Her smiles, her good nature, her merry laughter, won scores of friends. Kruse and Grambo were still her sweethearts. Kruse dreamed of riches In America. Grambo talked of deeds of daring on the sea. On the threshold of manhood the mother country called for their ser vices in her army and navy. Kruse led to America. John Hasselbrlnck, N'annle's brother, was already in this jountry. Grambo answered the call and entered the nautical school. On the night before he Joined his ihlp he walked with Nannie and then their trot hwas plighted. Each prom ised to remain true to the other. When 3eorge's enlistment expired they would marry. Giambo Joined the Adler and sailed to the China station In 1883, far from postofflces and out of touch with his friends. A year passed. Kruno's letters told of his successes In America as a glass manufacturer. John Hasselbrlnch wrote for his sister to come to New York and forget Hamburg and the sailor boy. One morning all Germany was star tled by the news of the loss of the Adler on the China coast. She had struck a reef In a storm and of her brave crew of 500 men and boys only 75 were saved. In the list of the dead Nannie read the name of her errant sailor sweetheart. Day after day she waited for better news. Survivors of the wreck returned to Hamburg, but all told the same story of the loss of Grambo In the surf by the overturning of a boat. Nannie gave up her swetheart as lost and In 1884 Joined her brother In Amer ica, and here Kruse wooed and won her. They were married In 1886, and for years lived at 766 Hart street, Brooklyn. Kruse made a small fortune and when he died last October he left, his widow In comfortable circum stances. In the years of her wifehood Crambo's wooing was a pleasant mem- ry to which she never referred, but ever cherished. When the boat In which Grambo started ashore was upset he was tossed 'nto the surf and the waves washed ilm aay from his companions, but he as an expert swimmer. After a hard PRISONERS HELD BY ENGLAND. The tranFportatlon to St. Helena of General Cronje and the captured Boer prisoners, selves as an Interesting In dication of what England will do with the other Transvaal leaders hi case .hey are captured alive. Whether Kt. Helena may be the ul .Imate destination of these stalwart varrlors or not, some Insight may be sained as to the treatment In store Tor those who may suffer defeat and (all to escape Into either German or ?ortuguese territory, by a comparison vlth that of princes and kings hereto- bre held captive by the British govern ment. A number of instances of the ilnd have occurred during the past lalf century. In 1849 when the state of Maharajah Shuleep Singh was finally annexed to he Indian empire, that potentate was 'requested" to take up his residence n England the Inducement of a ready :omp!iance being aided by the promise f a yearly income of $240,000, with lothtng at all as an alternative. Dhu eep Singh wisely acquiesced, purchased .he Ane estate of Brandon, In Norfolk, ipon which he resided for many years is a wealthy country gentleman. Though during this period the Maha--ajah frequently expressed the desire ;o revisit his native country, profes Hng the utmost loyalty to the empress )ueen, yet he was never permitted to travel east of the Isthmus of Sues. In this case the bond seems to have de fended upon the heads of his chll- iren, for while his sons have entered the British army, and one of them, Prince Victor, recently married the daughter of the Earl of Coventry, yet they have never been allowed to set yes on the land over which their an- estors ruled. Approaching Calcutta on the left bank of the 1 1 u J 1 1 river at Garden Deach, the visitor will have pointed out the fine palace of the late Majld All, king of Ouc'h. There, from 1S36 until 1 recent date, this prince was hold In eml-captlvlty upon an annual allow nice of $000,000, the only proviso as tn his freedom of action being that he should not leave the vicinity of Calcut ta. The king of Oudh, true to those prodigal hereditary Instincts which brought about his downfall, not only munnged to expend thin large sum, but In the keeping of snake mounds, men ageries, and other costly forms of amusement dear to the Oriental mind, was obliged to dtaw frequently upon the Imperial treasury for further sums. The generosity and leniency with which he was thus treated was probably due to the fact that be offered no armed re battle he reached the beach, only to fall unconscious. Hours afterward he was found by his fellow survivors. His rescue was reported officially, but the news did not reach Hamburg until af ter his sweetheart had sailed for Amer ica. When he returned to Hamburg he sought In vain for news of the woman he loved. Impatiently he waited for his discharge. In 1887, the day his time expired, he sailed for America. In New York he could not find Nannie. Disappointed, he enlisted in the American navy and was asMgned to the Trenton. Once more he sailed for the far east. When, In 1889, the Trenton went ashore In the harbor of Apia, in the Samoan Islands, with her flags flying and the band playing "The Star Span gled Banner," Grambo was one of her crew; and again he was rescued from deadly peril. Grambo served on one ship and an other. But never In all of his wan derings could he find a girl to tike the place of his sweetheart, Nannie. Re-enlistment followed re-enlistment, He rose through the grades of petty officers to that of chief quartermaster. In the Spanish-American war he served on the Indiana and helped Smash Cer vera's fleet at Santiago. Two months ago his time expired The Indiana was In the Brooklyn navy yard, and Grambo decided to spend a few weeks ashore before he re-enlisted and so he visited old friends from Ham burg. From them he heard of Kruse. his schoolboy rival. Less than a month ago Grambo call ed at 1189 Grene avenue, Brooklyn, where Hasselbrlnch lives. Nannie herself opened the door. Be fore him stood the woman who had kissed him goodbye nineteen years be fore in Hamburg. Grambo recognized her In spite of her widow's weeds and shouted her name In Joy. She did not know him at first. She had left him a stripling, clad in the uniform of a German sailor. He re appeared a man of 40, dressed in the conventional garments of the day. When Grambo revealed his Identity Mrs. Kruse promptly and properly fainted, and was caught as promptly and properly In the arms of her old sweetheart. That evening- was spent in explanations and recollections. Grambo was Just as ardent a wooer a ever. Although Kruse had died only in October, Grambo Insisted on an Im mediate marriage. His Impulsiveness won the widow, and they were mar ried. Today they are living at No. 202 Harman street, Brooklyn. Grambo has decided to give up the sea and spend the rest of his days ashore, where he can make up for the loss of nineteen years of companionship with his sweet heart and wife. sistance to his own disposition. Blaz ing with Jewels and seated in a smar equipage with servants In royal liver les, the king of Oudh was often a con splcuous figure on the Calcutta maidan tne famous park where the society of the Indian capital takes an outing after the heat of the day has passed. .Fa rdifferent was the fate of the poor old Bahadur Shah, last of the great Mokhuls. After the fall of Delhi, in 1851, he was tried for high treason, and sent as a state prisoner to Rangoon. I here, In a small hut, the only lineal descendant of Shah Jehan and Aurang- zeb paesed the remainder of his days unnoticed, and upon a more pittance. ab, nowever, Dotn nis sons were slaughtered and a less culpable rebel leader, Tantla Topi, was executed, he may have thought himself fortunate to escape with his life. Near Colombo In Ceylon, England still holds In light durance Arab! Pasha and his colleagues of the Egyptian re bellion of 18S2. While Arabl has not ceased to bemoan his fate and useless ly petition the British government for permission to return to Egypt, yet, considering the nature of his offense, and that he was sentenced to death, his lot can not be considered burden some.. Provided with an Income suffl clent for his wants, a pleasant res I dence, permission accorded him to re ceive visitors and a considerable meas. ure of freedom within the district, he would undoubtedly have been worse off had his successful enemies been of his own race and religion. Of minor potentates, England has at present one African, being confined to the limits of that Island In the South Atlantic made famous as the prison of the great Napoleon; and another even the far less desirable residence of Cape Coast Castle. For several years Cete wayo, king of the Zulus, was held an unreslgned prisoner at Ohowe, near the scene of the present military operations In Natal, where he died before the promise of restoration to his throne wag carried Into effect. A teacher of music In one cf the pub lic schools of the south desired to Im press the pupils with the meaning of the signs "f" and "ft" n a song they were uhnut to-mtng. After explaining that "f" meant forte, he sold: "Now, children, If T mean forte, what does 'ft' menn?" Hllence for a moment, and then he was astonished to hoar a bright little fellow shout: "Eighty!" A fearless man Is the greatest of feminine attractions. There is a White House in Virginia, not many miles from Washington, ac cording to a Virginia department clerk at the national capital. There is noth ing In its exterior to warrant the name, he says. It does not, in fact, get its name from Its appearance. "It never was white," continues the Virginian, "within my recollection, and I have known it for thirty-five years. I reckon the people who live in It never thought to ask why it is called the White House. They are not people who would look up the reason. This is the story, and I know it is true, but if It ever was printed I never heard of It: "The house became the property of a young woman after the' death of her people. Her lover and affianced hus band was a student at the University of Virginia. It was his ambition to be president, and as she believed he was deserving of the honor, and because she had high social aspirations, she en couraged him in his aspiration. They had some sort of vague Idea that If they were sincere in their wishes and woul pray for the honor they would ' succeed. They did not understand pol itics as we do. They used to come over to Washington and wander about the presidential mansion and the grounds, and g oup to the capltol and sit in the galleries and occasionally attend the public receptions. I have been told that the young woman confided her Becret to President Johnson, and that, doubtless to please her fancy, he told her that her young- man had presidential chances. It was quite natural, too, that Mr. Johnson should have believed this. "When she returned to her home In Virginia she entertained after the man ner of the president at his public re ceptions. Her young man, of course, had the post of honor. I do not know whether the people who attended the receptions understood that this young man and woman were rehearsing for White House receptions or not, but the RICH MEN GROW MUSHROONS. It Is not every one who can afford to have their own mushroom gardens and give away $20 or $30 worth of the deli cacies every day. Of the three of four gentlemen In this country who have such a garden Is Henry Clay Frick, the Pittsburg Iron magnate. Mushrooms are exceedingly difficult to grow successfully, but Mr. Ftick's gardener and horticulturist, David Fra- ser, does It. He was the pioneer in mushroom culture in Pittsburg. After his great Buccess there other gardeners tried to take up the business, but with Indifferent success. ' Fraser Is an ex pert at the peculiar business. He says that during his eighteen years of mushroom gardening he has never had a failure In a plant. Sometimes fifteen or twenty pounds of mushrooms are picked In a day. As they are worth about $1.50 a pound, something like $30 a day is represented In this product. Of course, Mr. Frick or his family does not eat all these. He eats some nearly every meal, as he Is particularly fond of them. The rest he gives to his friends and others, for the steel and coke magnate is noted for his liberality In this respect. In an underground corridor in the conserva tory, back of the Frick residence, at Homewood, the toothsome delicacies are grown. Under the big shelves that are filled with plants and flowers of all kinds extend long boxes filled with fertilizer and top soli. Over all Is a glass roof, for this Is really a wing of the conservatory, with the roof on a level with the ground. In these boxes the mushrooms are grown. Every one Is familiar with the ax FIGHT WITH A The story of a fight with an ostrich, which would prove an interesting chap ter In one of Captain Mayne Reld's books of adventure, Is told by an offi cial of the Soldiers' Christian associa tion In South Africa. He says in his letter: 'It was an enormous bird, and was In a rage. It stopped some dozen paces from us and whirled around, flapping its wings and looking truly awful. I gave Crewdsofi my pocketknlfe the only weapon we had and as the wretched thing went circling round us, getting nearer and nearer, I sug gested to Crewdson that If we came to close quarters Its neck would be our only chance (Its body was higher than my head) ... It came on me like a whirlwind. ... I did not wait for it to reach me In which case It would have picked out my eyes and struck me with Its claws, probably tearing my chest open, but sprang to meet It. Death seemed absolutely certain, and though my nerves were set, and as It were I mentally gave up my life, I met the bird with a thud. With both hands I caught Its neck before It could lift a foot to strike. We both rnllod over, and with a strength givs'n me at thr moment I clung to its neck until 7 came up 'top dog.' Hut then, with full fury, It begnn to kick, and had I re ceived a full blow I Humid probably have died; but T hugged too closely to It, and then wriggled onto its buck, so that it kicked Into the air away from me' and I only got a 'snnrtnrm' blow and received bruises Instead of wound?1. "Crewdson did not know whether 1 young pair had that In mind, "fhej prayed for a realization of their dream as earnestly, from all I have heard, ma old Stonewall Jackson prayed for strength to whip the Yankees. Tbere was an old black servant In the family who preached salvation to the darkle on Sunday and stripped tobacco duriar the week. His young 'missus' bad great faith In Ephraim's influence with the Almighty, and she used to call htm in to exhort in behalf of her lover's ambition. Ephraim became so imbued with the idea that his supplication would win that he grot to calling- the young man 'Mr. President' wbea he visited the plantation. "I reckon you have heard of the tournaments they used to have in the suth? This young- presidential aspi rant was a fearless and graceful horse man. jJe rode at a tourney one day for the last time. He was confident he would take the necessary number of rings to entitle him to choose and crown the queen, and of course there was only one woman in the world upon whom he would bestow the honor. Sfcs saw him, in Tils saddle, lance couehant, start for the wire. Before he reaebed it his horse stumbled. There was the us ual shout of horror. The Knight of the White House, for that was his title in the tourney, was carried from the course dead. In the fall he had broken his neck. "The moment the young woman real ized what had occurred her reason fled, nor did It ever return, in spite of skilled care. Her hair whitened, but her , face remained young, so I am told. Her derangement never took on a vio lent form. Instead she became the mistress of the White House. She held, levees and receptions and gave elabor ate dinners. Her servants were her guests. A chair was reserved for the president who never came. In this hallucination she died. That is why the place was known as the White House. "New York Sun. iom, "grow mushrooms in a night" Cultivated mushrooms, however, do not grow this way. Gardener Fraser say it takes about six or seven week tqt bring them from the spawn to maturity fit to serve on the table. They will grow more quickly unless kept back. Thousands of mushrooms spring; from, a single spawn. This latter looks Mae white silk thread. When put in the ground this runs in every direction, and from all quarters the little white eat ables spring up. Mr. Fraser is an au thority on mushroom culture, and is so recognized all over the United States. He wrote a treatise recently on the sub ject, which was widely read. Mushrooms can be grown in an out building, under the benches of a cool greenhouse, or In a cellar, provided the temperature can be kept at from. 40 t ' rn A. ,v . . '. i, i , - ,?V uv aim me piuce ury. it is necessary to keep out the frost or the mushrooms will spoil. It is highly Im portant that the fertilizer and soil be kept moist. The raising of the growths in greenhouses is beyond the reach of all but wealthy people. The best results.. are attained, however. In this manner, though mushrooms can be raised la, the cellar of an ordinary residence. Ia such a case the yield is not as great or the time of bearing as long as where every detail Is expressly and especially provided for; still enough mushrooms can be raised to supply the larder of any ordinary family. A former OWo girl has Just been, awarded a verJtct for $50,000 against a rich mine owns in Colorado for breach, of promise to marry. BIG OSTRICH. was alive or dead at first, but at my shouts brought my knife, and while I was gripping Its throat with both hands so that it could not breathe, and rolling about to avoid kicks, Crewdson. tried to cut Its gullet. This he could not do at first, so I took the knife with, my left hand, holding the neck wttbj my right, and dug the blade under the uplifted wing. It took effect, and, the wing seemed to lose force, but the? blade of my knife was broken, leaving half in the bird. "I threw Crewdson the knife, and he opened another blade and managed to cut the gullet. The thing was nearly stifled, and, feeling the knife. It gave a last and awful struggle, and I realty feared I should be beaten. However. I also put forth a last effort, and gradually the kicks and the struggles subsided. I loosened my grip and let the blood flow, and when I thought It was pretty far gone I Jumped un and Joined Crewdson. "Even then It made a wild attempt to rise, but could not. Covered wl'h dirt and blood, we plucked a few feath ers, thanked the Lord for life and trnrnped to Arundel, and arrived truly tired out. . , . 'The nation master told us that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the ostrich would have killed me. He says there Is not a man In thn pnnntn would attempt to do what I dld." New York Journal. When a woman resorts to art for a youthful complexion she Is only trying to make up for luit time.