IN A MIRAGE CITY.
THE WONDERFUL SIOHT WIT
NESSED IN ALASKA.
tlie Silent City In til* Clouds Slippeird
to lift** mn Original Home* here on
Till* Hplier* -Lately Hern l>y » SeetUe
Man.
□ NCK again "The
Silent City of Alas
ka" has been
brought before the
public with Ita
myaterlouH towers,
Its deserted streets,
Its quaint roof tops
and Its quaint
beauty. The man
who describes It
this lime Is C. W,
i uornton, i well known citizen of Se
attle and t member of the Young
Men’s Christian Association of tha*
'•Ity, He was one of the party that
made up the expedition of Prince Lui
gi of Savoy to the top of Ml. St. KIIhh.
Five other men were with Mr. Thorn
ion when the beautiful mirage was
seen The mirage city has formerly
been reported as having been seen
from the Muir glacier. Mr. Thornton
snd Ills companions saw It from the
MaUsplim glacier. They had left the
expedition to return to the coast for
provisions The mirage was noticed
at about 4 o’clock In the morning and
lasted for thirty-five minute*. Then It
vanished.
The Aral, that was over heard of a
mirage city in Alsskn was In IHHtt. In
• hat year fttchard (5. Willoughby, a
prospector of Juneau, Alaska, came
down from the Muir glacier with the
■issertlon that he had beheld a wonder
ful city Iri the clouds. It was standing
out In the sky. In full view. There
.wre masses of tall brick bouses Vvilli
sloping roofs, elm trees In the fore
ground and a river with shipping in
the distance. From the midst of the
buildings arose two great towers r.ur
rounded with scaffolding. Mr. Wil
loughby minutely described the mirage
and claimed'to have seen It several
ilmes. change* had taken place In
the towers as If progress hud been
made in the construction of the bond
ing. The people beard the miner’s
»iory with wonder, but as no one but
himself had seen It no great Import
ance was attached to lli<- tale, until In
• Itine of the year named be succeeded
In photographing the mirage and fix
ing the picture upon a plate. These
pictures had a large sale, and In lXNfl
several of them found their way to
Chicago. A citizen of this city who
saw a copy of the photograph declared
that. It was a view ot Bristol, Ktiglaml.
others who were familiar with Bristol
verified the identification and more
ately Prof. William II. Hudson of
Stanford University, California, ree
ognlzed the view of Bristol front the
noted Brandon hill.
In the June (1KW7) number of the
k Popular Science Monthly Professor Da
dd Starr Jordan.president of the Stag
ford University, published an article lu
which he charged that the Willoughby
photograph was a fraud, and said It
had been made from an old plate taken
twenty years ago. Professor Hudson
n membered that the famous cathedral
of Ike town was at that time undergo
•ig repairs. An Investigation Into the
methods of photography used by Mr.
Willoughby which was made by an
ithcer of the Albatross was not satls
'uotory. The old prospector Hatty re
fused to disclose what sort of chemicals
he had used or how he had developed
Ids plates. Professor Jordau took
, . high scientific ground lu Ills criticism
,r the photographs, and did not lied
• ats to say that so far as mirages lu
Masks were concerned, the Willough
by picture* were a rather poor ami an
ibatanUsI guide.
Professor Jordan * argument would
e strong or even coniluciug fioni the
.nndpolnt of circumstantial evidence
were It not counterbalanced by testl
iigninl cvtdeuce. the validity of which
hgre id a Ice no reasonable doubt Kv *n
i| Mr Willoughby's photograph* were
■tut gwaulue. the r bance* that be really
-aw a mirage city are very gtast A
man named lit me. well known la Alas
ka. lest lies that be saw the etty tv
v ♦ rtged by Mr Willoughby M II
yrygil also says be was fortunate
'AoUgh to aae It. There Is aw Indian
‘•gem! about His* ter Hat ta which the
.dry of th* phantom city la preserved
Htdvrrt Phrtaite and «!••*•• g«- t*niiet**a
•■I ItsitMi Hsy aver that they too
Mn «ms It, And now • ••*« Mr
i homiun a man «t paiius in gen*
Me. •» J •*# HVi|blf« hi 1 l.silgt I
t
i
party, who agree perfectly not only In
I their statement of having seen the city
but also In the detailed description of
It.
All who have seen or claim to have
seen the mirage agree In several Im
portant details of the appearance. The
streets In the mirage are always de
serted. The observers all Hay that the
architecture Is not at all like the ar
chitecture of an American town. The
houses are quaint, solid and old-fash
ioned. Then there seems to lie unan
imity In the presence of towers and a
dome, as If of some monster build
ing and of at least one thin
church spire In the distance.
The accompanying llluatratlon
tlon Is a copy of one of Mr. Willough
by'* photographs taken In 1888. In the
foreground are seen several houses, un
questionably of English architecture.
There are the elm trees with leafless
branches, The main feature of the
picture Is the lofty structure in the
middle, said to be the famous Episco
pal cathedral of Bristol as It appeared
twenty year* ago, when the building
was undergoing repairs. The shipping
and the river are not vlslblo. The
strongest points made by Professor
Jordan In his article are found In his
Indications of the nearness of the
bouse In the foreground and the leaf
less elm tree* tin midsummer). These
two things are certainly telling points
against the genuineness of the Wil
loughby photographs. Even tile small
tiles on the chimney pots are visible.
But judging by the tules told by Mr.
Thornton, apparent proximity and
clearness of detail In the foreground
are not Impossibilities in mirages.
Are there two silent cities In Hu
skies of Alaska? If the Willoughby
photographs are genuine there must be
for the description given by Mr. Thorn
ton of what he saw In July does not
coincide with the photographs taken
nine yeurs ago from the Muir glacier.
The vision, said Mr. Thornton, was ;<o
distinct as to require strong faith that
it was not a real city. The principal
feature of the mirage was what ap
peared to be two Chinese temples. In
th»- middle of the city whs a huge
building with great column* reaching
from the ground to the roof, Bur
mounting tills was a great dome. Near
this structure was a group of solid
buildings which Mr. Thornton de
scribed as "business blocks." Then
there was a church with a tall spire
and then "three buildings dial looked
like factories.” He added that these
three buildings were only partly visi
ble, but that the city seemed to ex
tend far away In that direction.
Three theories only are open to ac
count for all these stories. The al
leged observers are deluded and no one
ever saw a city, silent or otherwise. In
the Alaskan skies; all these stories are
pure fahrh-utions and the travelers are
attempting to deliberately deceive
their bearers; or silent elites are seen
In mirage from the Muir and the Ma
nfrn it ri i l. 11 ll l I M I., I III TI I 111, I, I’ltl HIT
I I a.spins glaciers in Alusku. It would
seem absurd to charge six men with
willful deception. Such a supposition
involves concerted action among them,
and six men of ordinarily good char
acter do not deliberately lie with no
especial purpose in view. Equally ab
surd Is it to suppose that these various
witnesses were the victims of illusion,
delusion or hallncination. whichever
I tile scientific man desires to call It.
Even scientific men have been doubted
when they have made assertions con*
| earning marvelous mutters unaiipport*
1 ed by more substantial evidence. The
i only absolute until of the proof of
these travelers' tulcs will lie, of course,
photographs taken under conditions
which will admit of no doubt of their
Kcnulneucsti t'ntll this Is done scien
tific men will ridicule (tie stories, and
; for that very reason, perhaps. It will
; not be a man of science who will lie the
first to obtain Indisputable evidence of
i the alleged phenomenon.
Alaska's mysterious city Ilf It lie u
mirage truly). Is of iha) clssa of mir
ages known as "Fill Morgana," so
I called tiers use of the Sicilian belief
I tuat the wonderful mirages ui the He a
of Meggto are raused by a fairy I fata)
w nose uatur U Mmgsns The pbenoiu
enon sreu In the fill alts of Messina Is
a most remarkable and beautiful effect
of mirage The airy images lake the
forma ui grand architectural strue
i tares magnificent lends, apes columns,
art bee lowers, castles, pel sees, see
lutes trees slid W coded pistils With
crowds of moving men and women and
animals the whols scene being full of
1 th* hignswi animation and changing
tapidly and sio«elooslv In rotor
the** liansfurmatiogs are caused by
1 ettraordtnsr» refierlloga III lbs slmus
pliers. The silent vtiy of the gimlets
in i mmM et*m toon place and orderly
mirage compared with the almost in
credible effects of refraction that are
seen in Calabria, and if Mr. Willoughby
had told of a mirage such at the Fata
Morgana is known to be he would
probably be given a severer scoring
than that which he has received at the
hands of Professor Jordan In the
Popular Science Monthly. But as Pro
fessor Jordan confidently predicted a
new boutreuk of the glacier city and
more newspaper stories concerning It
he will no doubt feel more than Justi
fied for the opinions he has expressed
concerning the unreliability of the
untrained observers of Olader Hay.
TOO ENOACINO YOUNG MAN.
Hrearh of I’remlsa Malt (‘ante* Him to
I 'hangs Hrliln rjnlrkly.
Freeport. III., correspondence of St.
f-otilM Globe-Democrat: George Spear
cn, superintendent of the water com
pany at Warren,and Miss Mary Sohroe
der, also of Warren, were married here
today under ralher unusual circum
stances. Spearen went to Warren about
u year ago from Batavia, 111., where
he had lived for some time, and whore
he had courted and became engaged
to a wealthy but not very attractive
young lady. Shortly after lie went to
Warren. Spearen tnet Mary Sehroeder,
who Is beautiful and hud Just been di
vorced in ihis city. The young en
gineer at once fell In love with her, and
was soon engaged to her, but he did
not break with his Batavia sweetheart,
and their wedding was to have oc
curred early In the summer, but the
ceremony wus postponed. A breach of
promise suit threatened bint whichever
one he married, and. after a month's
hesitation, he concluded to take the
wealthy girl, lie, therefore, left War
ren for Batavia, where he expected lo
marry her tonight. Miss Sehroeder
heard of Ills decision, and she came
here yesterday, secured a lawyer and
began a breach of promise suit. When
the young roan stepped from the War
ren train this morning he was tnei ny
the sheriff with a summons, and lie
accompanied the officer to Justice Mar
vln's office, where he met Miss flehroe
dcr. They made up their quarrel in a
short time, and were married, leaving
directly afterward for New London, On
tario, where the young man’s parents
live. They will probably slay there.
All preparations were made for the
Batavia wedding tonight, bill th<;
bridegroom failed to appear.
,\ Klouilyke Struck ( oniicl.
From the St. latuls Globe-Democral
J. It. Johnson, the desperate convict
who fired the prison anti led the re
volt In h:i. by which $300,000 worth of
property was destroyed, and who has
since made several murderous assaults
on officer*, Is suffering with a severe at
tack of Klondike gold fever. He has
written it letter to State Auditor Jas.
M Seibert, one of the prison Inspectors.
1
■mill umiillll L HIM! 1 llllIliiiiiitilll
■HUM
THE SILENT CITY OF ALASKA.
that he Ih very anxious to try IiIh luck
in Alaska, make a fortune, become a
good citizen and retrieve ilia good
name. He wants Auditor Seibert, to
Intercede for him with Gov. Stephen*
und secure him a pardon. He point*
out in forceful language that, if he Ih
kept In prison until the expiration of
his sentence, in 1912, the gold field will
lie overcrowded, und his chances of
Htrikiug a rich lead will lie greatly di
minished.
Taking Him ul HI* Word.
There Is a story of Utshop Hairing
' toll and 1‘hllpotts, afterward HUhop "!
Kxetei, who wu* at the time Harring
ton’* secretary. The.bishop said.
"1 wish you to select fot publication
twelve of my sermons that you tblttk
will do me least discredit."
Shortly after, when the sermous Usd
: Iteen chosen, the bishop asked "IHi you
j think that these will do me credit?'
“I prefer, nay lord,” answered j’htl
! polls, “to adhere to your lordship’s
; former •gfrngBlnn.'*
The setmuits were not published
Hsu Fratu taeo Argonsut.
! _— -
Ton Isis
Myrtle they say that you made a
. regular foul of Algy Plenum*. at the
islands. Issl we*»hMaud "No. they
are wrong I might have done It but
for one thin* ' Myrtle "What w«
, that?" Maud “Nomebody had Bn
Ished the Jno nature I got hold of him
Cleveland tarader
AmmlUm* 1 Imhb* p
The mat rwHsu thing the
; taeane rush to Alaaha la that the pro
l portion of fools In the real of tha
world doe* not **em to ha malar laity
! dae leaned New Vink Tr I boa*.
FIELD HAS A RECORD.
I'.ONCEST TERM ON THE SU
PREME BENCH.
\o sigma of WmkiK'tR In IIU Intel* i
IrcttiAl Strength nt the Age of Eighty
two Vrnra IIU Stormy E.irly ra
rer r.
N THIS year of
record breaking
reigns and diamond
Jubilees another
record was broken
on Monday last.
Justice Stephen J.
Kleld. of the United
States supreme
court, on that day
had served longer
on the bench of
the highest tribunal In the land than
any other man who had preceded him.
The record that Justice Kleld hail to
best to attain that distinction belonged
to Chief Justice Marshall, who went
to the bench Jan. 31. 1801, and served
until his desth. July H, 1835. Thirty
four years, live months and six days
wss the record of Chief Justice Mar
shall. Thirty-four years, five months
and thirteen days Is the record of Jus
tice Kleld to date,
Kor nearly a dozen years ambitious
lawyers who desired to get to the su
preme bench reminded Justice Kleld
tint he had reached the age alien he
could ask to be retired. "If Justice
Kleld should only resign." they said.
Hut Justice Kleld lias never thought of
resigning, and does not think of It now.
He Is In Ills eighty-second year, but he
Is still In the prime of Intellectual
strength. He sits on the bench, ex
amines Involved law points, and write,
able opinions just ns ho did thirty-four
>< ars ago. Ills beard Is the patriarch's
beard, but Ills figure Is us met us It
wss in the days of Ills "Argonuutu of
forty-nine,” Ills mind Is us clear und
vigorous as It was In the days when
In treated law und a constitution out
of ' linos 111 California nearly fifty yearn
ago. As a pastime he writes a book
of pi i honal memoirs, or masters Hi a
few evenings an Oriental language.
The lawyers who have been wanting
id' place on the bench will doubtless
huvi to possess their souls In patience
for years to cm Gladstone’s record
for activity has been equalled by Jus
tice Field. The friends of the Justice
predict lliut he will exe'ed If by a de
cide. ,
d' iitl. has a more remark
able history than JustiC'
Stephen J. Field, and It In
the purpose of this urtlcle to
detail some of the Interest
ing Incidents of his career.
He whh the son of David
Dudley Field, a Congrega
tional minister of New Eng
land. and Submit Dickinson
Field. His grandfather on
his father's sldo was Tim
othy Field, who was a cap
tain In the Revolution. His
grandfather on his mother's
side was Noah Dickinson,
who served In the French anil Indian
war under Israel Putnam, and also
through the Revolution. Ho It will be
seen thut Stephen j. Field came of
fighting stock. Among his brothers
were Cyrus W. Field, the father of the
submarine cable; David Dudley Field,
mi eminent lawyer; .Mathew W. Fluid,
a noted engineer; Henry Martyn Field,
a distinguished clergyman and author;
Jonathan Field, who was president of
the Massachusetts state senate, and
Timothy Field, a lieutenant In the
I'ntted Mates navy.
One of the sisters of Justice Field
married the Rev. Jonathan Itrewer, and
a New Knglulid missionary society that
was interested in edui allng young
Orieian girls, sent Mr. IJtewei and his
wife to Smyrna Oreece had ins;
[thrown off the Turkish yoke, and Hen
ry Clay's specN'IifM In behalf of Hist
•nfferlug country, the massaeie at Solo
and the bravery ot Menu ttosserle had
flret! (be American h-art With kits
•Unary Itrewer and hi* wife went
young Hteplien J. Field- They rentaiu*
ed abroad three years, tmrtng that
lime be Wsbl through the gholera epi
demic and also the plague During
these epidemics he helped his brother
in Is* nurse tbs etch. ‘Tens of thou
I sands of persons died from the two dts
eases, hut young Field and his tela
Dies escaped
gtepheb J. Field relumed lb 1*13
gad went to William* college, gtadu
suns in ml Then he entered tb*
(gw »Mr* of Dettd I loti* * Fie |.I In
this city, mid became a partner in
the law firm. Young Field decided to '
go tc California in 1849. The discovery ;
of gold there had given rise to a pop- I
ular excitement far greater than the |
Klondike sensation of to-day. His out- !
tit was bought for him by his brother j
Cyrus, who added $10 worth of cha- j
mois skins, whirh, he said, would be I
useful to make bugs for bolding gold
dust. He also bad sixty-four copies of
New York newspapers. He landed with ,
$1 in Ills pcc'.tet. He sold his chamois j
skins for $180 worth of gold dust, and
an acquaintance Bold his sixty-four
New York papers for $1 each, and gave
him half the prcceeds.
Mr. Field remained but a short time
in San Francisco, and then went fur
ther Inland, stopping at the "town" of
Yubavllle. Yubavllle was undergoing
a transformation. The land was In
control of two French capitalists, who
were pleased with young Field's ability
to speak French. Three days after
his arrival Yubavllle ceased to exist,
Marysville was organised, and he was
elected mayor. He was also made a
Justice of the peace, and the mainte
nance of law and order was In his
bauds.
Lynch law was unknown In Marys
ville so long as Mr. Field was mayor.
He dispensed Justice speedily and fear
lessly, and several times ordered of
fenders to he publicly flogged. He was
finally succeeded by an officer under
the state government, and by that time
had amassed a large sum of money, and
had made a number of enemies.
One of these enemies was W. R.
Turner, who had been appointed Judge
of the district. Judge Turner decided
to drive Mr. Field from the country.
He forbade him to practice In Ills
court, threatening to shoot him If he
entered the court room, and bud him
drugged from court by a sheriff and
posse. Thus prevented from practicing
law, Mr. Field embarked in legislation.
He was elected to tile legislature, anil
there drafted n plan of u new Judicial
system, which got rid of Judge Tur
ner, an<* sent him to the wilderness.
Things moved quickly In California
in those duys. Mr. Field arrived In
California In December, 1819. He was
elected to the legislature III IM&I. In
two years Mr. Field had been an un
known emigrant, mayor of a town, Jus
tice of the peace and member of the
legislature, in two years he had been
penniless, rich and penniless again.
Mr. Field returned to the practice of
law, urid In those days the law was
a hazardous calling. One day Judge
Field, wlio was defending a placer
Claim which ha<l been Jumped, u.srt't
ercd that itcps hud I men IuUcd to cur
ru|il the Jury. The section was law
less. unit itHiiully might was right. The j
trial waa held In a crowded aalnon*
and mom «»f the spectator* were hoattle
to Judge Field'd aide. Judge Field de
cided on the boldest course. He Knew
IiIh facts, unit he Imldly charged Jury
living.
"With upllfteii hands." he said, ad
dressing the Jury, "you have sworn tu
return a verdict according to law and
evidence. Will you perjure your souls?
I know ihut you ipotutluM to a jttrori
have been approached. Iild you spurn
the wretch or bold secret counsel with
him? I know that you tpotntlng to an
other jururt have tieeu uppioai■licit, be
cause I overheard the conversation. the
pi ionises and the pledge "
At this point there vti an ominous
movement tu the crowd, and "t'lteht
('tick! Click!" was heard V score of
pistols were etched.
"There is no terror In vonr pistols, j
gentlemen " thundered Mr Field j
"Y<m cannot win your case Hy shooting
me You • tu wot win It hy bribery or ,
threats You can onlv win It by show
Ing title tu the properly.**
The Jury, completely overawed,
found a verdict lor judge Field's !
•Ileal.
Imring linsstioa over a contested
sHetlon Judge thrhwt (turrvN with
Judge Field and tnvt'sd him i« hghi •
duet Judge Field gergpMNt ttn
L
.Judge Barbour insisted in having the
choice of weapons. Judge Field waived
this, and Barbour selected pistols and
howle knives In a room sixteen feet
duel. Judge Field accepted. Then
Judge Harbour objected —first to the
l>owie knives, and, second, to fighting
Iu n room. A meeting was arranged
In the woods, and Judge Barbour
hacked out. He was lampooned In the
newspapers, and one morning when
Judge Field was getting kindling wood
in front of his office Judge Harbour
ran up behind him, clapped a pistol
to Ills head and said:
"Draw and defend yourself!"
"You cowardly assassin!" exclaimed
the kneeling man. without moving.
"You do not dare to shoot. I defy
you."
Judge Harbour walked away, while
the crowd hooted.
Dozens of times Judge Field looked
down the muzzles of cocked revolvers.
He wus never known to flinch. A less
courageous man would have been kill
ed early In the game. He absolutely
did not know what fear was, and the
stories of his honesty and bravery that
spread over the state elected him
Judge of the supreme court. In IU57 by
twenty thouand majority.
Judge Field was a Democrat. When
the war broke out he, with others, de
cided to keep California In the Union.
The secessionists were sure of Cali
fornia. General Albert Sidney John
ston was In command of the United
States troops lu California, hikI his
disloyalty was suspected. The Union
ists felt that he was In collusion with
the secessionists, who would seize the
fortress of Alcatraz, which would place
San Franclrco ut their mercy. Sev
enty-five thousand muskets were stored
ut Benicia, nnd If these fell Into the
hands of the secessionists California
would he lost.
The Unionists organized u secret
Union league. Judge Fluid wus the
fifth member to be enrolled. Arms
were bought und companies were or
ganized. Meetings on behalf Of the
Union were held In the theaters, and J
the fires of patriotism burned brightly
at the Golden Gate. Couriers overland [
carried ih” news to Uresldent l.lncoln,
and lie wus finally advisod to super
sede General Johnston. This he did
by sending General Sumner secretly to
relieve him of the commund. General
Sumner look command. The arms at
Benicia were sufe, and California re
mained u loyal state.
For Judge Field’s service to the Un*
i Ion he was made a United Htutes an*
! preme court Justice by President Un
v
Kejidenct*
i«>
**"1 ** * ,rvtf or^•
- ~ •«
Sh ! coin in 186.!.
*«**! An attempt was made to
usHnssinatc Judge Field by
means of an infernal machine
in IjtlS. A torpedo was sent
yj j ini'ough the mail to him in a
!' miniature case. The Judge
' I partly opened It and then, hla
suspicious being aroused, he
i|, placed It in u pall of water
j.lj, and had it examined at the
Washington arsenal. It con
* tallied enough explosive to
kill a dozen men, and hud cv
|!L idently been seut to him by
™ certain squatters who had
been dispossessed in the Pu
i i ldo cases In which the judge
rendered the decision.
The last of many times this
remarkable,lion-hearted man
faced death without flinching
w,*s In 1889, when nu at
tempt was made on hts life
by Judge David 8. Terry and hts wire.
Judge Terry was counsel for 8arah
Althea Mill, who claimed to lie the
wife of Senator Sharon, aud sought
to establish a claim to hts mlllious
by means of u divorce. Field and Ter
ry had kuown each other In the Weal.
During the divorce proceed tugs the
Mill wuiuati hud married Judge Terry.
The caae was carried up. and dually
came before Justice Field, lie deliv
ered a decision adverse to Sira. Mill,
ami Judge Terry arose In eourt and de
nounced the Judge Me attempted to
assault him. as did also his Wife, hut
they were overpowered and disarmed,
the judge had a dirk and hts wife a
revolver. Me sentenced Terry lo throe
months In jail and Mr*. Mill to on«
month.
When h* cam* nut of jail Judge ter
r> again Ihrealsaed to tahe the life
of Justice Field When Justice Field
i tatted tall tor ala Iteputy Marshal Na
gle was ordered to travel with the
judge and protect Mm. At the watting
station at !<*throp Judge Terry so
•suited Jueilge Field, ssg Nagle shot
him dead Terry • wife the* rushed
In with a pistol and had tw he dta*
armed
Heave men ought not to he rwet down
hf aJv 0*111 Mtltua Italicwa
