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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1905)
o Up cmm cmm <apt FlMHnnM® PMULUdDN By CHARLES MORRIS BUTLER. Sftr&ar of ~7&r /?emnfr af /ferr/jy JSncmen/ Za# VSfe Copyright, 1905, by Charles Morris Butler. CHAPTER XXIX. Lang’s Last Desperate Scheme. Jim Denver’6 body was left swaying at the end of a rope but for an instant. When the convicts drew away from the hanging in order to chase the treasure party, Louis Lang, mounted on a horse he had managed to capture from an overzealous spectator, ran un der the limb of the tree supporting his friend and cut the body down before Denver breathed his last. Phillip Farnham and Ben Bottom had raised the cry of “Gold!" and started the convicts off, and now complete dark ness hid the retreat of these four last survivors of the coach party. Knowing in advance the destination of the regulators, the four conspira tors managed to catch up with the party, and eluding the convicts, before the first large town was reached the next morning. There was great re joicing in the Hanchett party upon the arrival of Denver and Lang, because of the addition to the ranks of fighting men. This city was found to be al most an outlaw town. No bank there could be considered strong enough to hold the amount of treasure in the hands of Denver and Lang, and though they put up at the only hotel in the place, placing pickets around for safe ty, it soon became apparent that the pursuing convicts would get the best of the party unless aid could be in some way obtained, because neither food nor fresh stock could be furnished them. The millions in possession of Denver could not force the villagers to furnish anything whatever. Under the circumstances it was voted by the party to push on, and as the people would not sell stock or food, necessity knowing no law, the regulators boldly helped themselves to all the available fresh stock and edibles that they could lay hands on. To be sure, they left money and horses in their place, but the populace would not acknowl edge that they were getting pay. Be fore the regulators got away there was a combined “bluff” made by the towns people, helped cut by the advance guard of Paradisans to restrain the party from leaving town, and a fight r take their Bhare of the spoils and cut out for themselves. According to agreement, the next morning, the regulators split up into five parties. A confab among the de fectives present resulted in at least one capable, trustworthy man being placed in charge of each division, and unknown to the deserters, each of the leaders left his share (or a goodly share) of his spoils with Lang to guard, so that they would be free to fight without being compelled to risk the loss of treasure. Black Jack Nesestoris took charge of one gang and made Stone City their destination, arriving there safely and banking their money. The four men had been followed by ten convicts; during the night following the regu lators made a detour, and while the outlaws were quietly sleeping in camp managed to stampede their horses, and thus made it impossible for the convictB to follow them. George Wilson commanded squad No. 2, and with three others made Amber City their destination. In the scuffle and race following, two of the four regulators were killed and Wil son himself severely wounded; but he got to his destination all right and to Chicago in time. Jim Denver started out at the head of a third squad, with the deliberate intention of calling attention to him self. Having no money of any great amount upon his person, and actuated by the desire to draw away from Lang as many fighting men as possible, he proceeded very slowly, drawing after him at least fifty men. He was for tunate enough to escape and reached the overland mail route unmolested, where he took passage going north. Having escaped a great danger he found his friends and fell, however, easy prey to a common “hold up,” and while resisting was shot down and left for dead. When the stage resumed Denver was carried as far as Scrog gin’s Corners, and there left in the care of a physician, who in time cured the wound received. But the inaction of Denver, of course, made it hard for Lang, for it was the intention of Den ver to hire a company of rangers to Saw a familiar face—that of Bill Hawks, the convict. resulted in the regulators leaving two dead bodies behind them; but at last the city was left behind. The regulators were but few now. Out of the ten ringleaders only five survived. Out of seventy-five men only forty had escaped alive. Though the fortune was a large one, there was not a man among the regulator crowd but what would have willingly given up his share to feel that his life would be safe. With Jim Denver it was some what different. He had been saved from almost certain death at a very opportune time, and the real object of his journey—the destruction of the convict city and robbery of the vaults —had been accomplished. The treas ure—his share and Lang’s—would amount to a million at least, counting in the plate, jewels and the bonuses offered by the government for the kill ing of those persons who had “prices set upon their heads.” Lang’s share would be greater than Denver's for, sharing alike in jewels and gold, he had now for his bride the Pearl of Paradise, and her father was heir to an English estate of great value. But to resume the thread of descrip tion. The night wore away. When dawn broke the regulators had camped upon the banks of a river. During the night another brave man had fallen by the bullet of an unseen foe. Some of the men were discour aged, and others mutinous. At a con venient ford at that place a temporary bulwark of logs and earth were thrown up and preparations made for resist ance here, while resting the tired horses and men. A council of the ringleaders was called to devise some desperate means of saving the treasure and protecting the men. But no unanimous agree ment could be reached. Several of the mutinous regulators made the de mand that Lang and Hanchett divide up the spoils and let each man care for his own share. Lang explained that for the party to separate would only be to meet complete annihila tion. But the men were determined not to tarry longer. The blinded fools imagined that four or five could bet ter escape the convicts than the larger party. 'What each man hoped was that he at least would escape, little caring for the other fellow. Lang himself saw a point to be gained in sending out three or four parties, provided a sufficient body of men would remain to protect the main treasure. No equal body of convicts would dare to tackle an equal number of regulators, hence the convicts would also be divided up, so part of the treasure at least would be saved And perhaps the convicts would be so «sut up that a sally made by the regu %tors at a proper time might over •jower the convicts themselves. Ac cordingly an agreement was made .with the men, that at some convenient .place those desiring to do so conld return and assist him. Lang’s party was the largest and best equipped. Hanchett and ten men managed to guard the ford for several hours, while Lang proceeded on his way in company with about tet more—and Mrs. Lang. The party reached the farmhouse before night and was enabled to buy a prairie schooner and an extra span of mules by paying almost a fabulous amount for them. He learned here the near est town, and by good fortune got into the town before the convicts arrived. Here Lang s first real hard luck over took him. He was abandoned by the whole company of regulators, who banked their money with the only bank in town and proceeded to make themselves free and easy. Rockford was sufficiently large, they thought, and civilized enough to afford them half protection, and they did not choose to continue with Lang when nothing was to be gained by it. They little thought that Lang had charge of the bulk of all of the money and that none but themselves had drawn out their shares. And of course, bad as he needed help, Lang did not dare to take even his own men into his confidence. He was left alone to fight his battle, to save his treasure and to protect his wife. Still Lang did not despair. He was coming now within the reach of civ ilization. He felt that one more< day would place him where the convicts would at least be forced to move secretly—and when it came to strate gy, Lang felt that he could outwit his foes. While Lang was meditating upon his hard luck and trying to fig ure out some way of escape, he saw before him in the town yard a gaudily painted wagon belonging to a show man and his wife, who were touring the territory with a Punch and Judy show. A brilliant idea entered Lang's head, resulting in his purchasing the outfit. The showman was only too glad to sell at Louis’ figures, as the show had not done a paying business. Lang made a bargain on the sly with the showman, in which it was agreed that the showman would ex change outfits with Lang—the prairie schooner for the Judy wagon—with the further agreement that Lang give him $500 if the showman would drive out of town with the schooner at twelve o'clock at night. All the jewels, plates and money belonging to Lang were quietly trans ferred to the Judy wagon, and at twelve o’clock at night, Lang, dressed as the showman, and Pearl dressed in gaudy show clothes, mounted the seat of the wagon drawn by two fresh and blooded horses unknown to everybody but the Judy man and his wife, drove out of the town, and the show people, true to their agreement, set out for a journey in the prairie schooner. Lang’s leaving was made very op portunely. Not manv minutes after leaving the hotel Hanchett and the remnant of hin troope arrived in town, closely followed by the convicts. At about tjvo o’clock the convicts, hav ing traced Lang to the hotel, had set fire to the hostelry, intending to smoke Lang out; but he was far away before the ruse was discovered. After a journey of about ten hours Lang arrived in Plainville, where he was told he would be enabled to buy a extra span of horses by attending the fair, which was being held in the enclosed racing grounds on the out skirts of the town. Having struck town during fair time, it became necessary for Lang to give an exhibition of his Punch and Judy characters, in order to avoid calling attention to himself and not give the country people a chance to learn of the treasure he carried in his wagon. Preceded and followed by a gaping crowd of boys and men, Lang entered the grounds. As a fair and racetrack, no doubt, is a familiar scene to many of my readers, I will not digress to describe this one. Suf fice to say Lang gave his exhibition and then leaving Pearl in charge of the Judy wagon, purchased his team of fresh horses, which were soon after ward hitched to the wagon. Not wish ing to appear in a hurry, so as to in vite criticism as to why he (a poor showman) could best afford to buy fresh, rather than rest his tired horses, Lang, mounted on an extra fresh horse, stood watching the start ing of one of the races which was about to begin. The farmer of whom Louis had just purchased his team, was standing by the horse's flank, when Louis looked over the crowd of faces and saw a familiar face—that of Bill Hawks, the convict. (To be continued.) ACT SURELY WAS PARDONABLE. One Conspiracy That Might Be Look* ed Upon Leniently. A. J. Drexel was asked in Philadel phia if he proposed, like William Wal dorf Astor, to become a citizen of Great Britain. Mr. Drexel smiled. He wore beau tiful, tight-fitting English clothes, shoes with pale-colored tops, a tiny, upturned mustache. “I refuse to answer that question.” he said. “I detect in it evidence of a conspiracy—a conspiracy to make me unpopular.” He drew forth a handkerchief of soft purple silk. “And I detest conspiracies,” he said, “even when the conspirators are so oppressed and put-upon as was a cer tain young friend of mine. “My friend, with wild eyes and dis ordered hair, rushed from his house cne night with a box of expensive Havana cigars in his and. “‘O’Toole! O’Toole!’ he called soft ly to the policeman on the beat. “O'Toole turned curiously. My friend pointed to the lighted window of the house next door. “ ‘O’Toole,’ he said, ‘do you hear that young woman singing there?' “ ‘I certainly do, sir,’ Officer O'Toole replied. “ ‘She lives next door to me, you know,’ said my friend. “ ‘Yes. sir. Certainly, sir,’ agreed the policeman. “Then my friend thrust into the officer’s hand the box of cigars. “ ‘The best Havanas. O'Toole.’ he said. ‘The very best Havana perfect os. I’ll give them to you if you'll rush into that house and ask who is being murdered.’ ” Weakened Col. Bryan’s Argument. A party of men, among whom was Col. William Jennings Bryan, were one night waiting for a train in a depot hotel in a small Missouri town. The landlady was the only woman present. The talk turning upon the alleged inability of women to see the point of a joke as readily as do the men, Mr. Eryan took the ground that a sense of humor was as much a part of the feminine make-up as it was that ot man, but that it merely lacked oppor tunity for development. “To illustrate.” said he, “take the story of a party of excursionists in the Agean sea. When approaching the Grecian coast the party assem bled about the rails to enjoy the beau tiful scenery. One lady turned in quiringly to a gentleman at her right and said: “What is that white off there on the horizon?” “ ‘That is the snow on the moun tains,’ replied the gentleman ad dressed. " ‘Well, that’s funny,’ she replied. ‘Mv husband said it was grease.’" (Greece.) All of the men in the group laughed noisily at Mr. Bryan’s story, but the landlady looked puzzled. Finally she said: “But, Mr. Bryan, how did the grease get on the tnountain?” Mr. Bryan at once dropped the de fense of women as born humorists.— Lippincott’s Magazine. Plowing Salt. One of the sights of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, developed by the prog ress of scientific industry, is the sys tem of immense salt-making ponds on the shore of the lalft. At Saltair the lake water is pumped into a great set tling basin, where the impurities fall to the bottom, and. containing much iron, form a reddish deposit. From this basin the water is drawn off into harvesting ponds, averaging 90,000 square yards in area, and six inches in depth. The ponds are kept supplied with water, as the evaporation goes on from May to September, when the salt harvest begins. The water hav ing disappeared, a dazzling layer of salt, two or three inches thick, is found covering the bottom of the ponds, which is broken up with plows before being conveyed to the mills, where the -final cushing and winnow ing are done.—Youth’s Companion. Broad Hint. "Mamma,” said a 6-year-old West port girl, entering the sitting room one morning recently, “don’t you want some candy?” The mother was writing a letter. “Why, yes, dear,” she replied. “Give me a piece.” “I ain’t dot any,” came from the child, “an’ I ain’t dot any nickel to dit none.’ She got the nickel.—Kansas City Time*. Immortality. I that had life ere I was born Into this world of dark and light. Waking as one who wakes at mom From dreams of night. I am as old as heaven and earth: But sleep is death without decay. And since each morn renews my birth I am no older than the day. Old though my outward form appears, Though It at last outworn shall lie. This that Is servile to the years. This is not L X, who outwear the form I take. When I put off this garb of flesh. Still in immortal youth shall wake And somewhere clothe my life afresh. —A. St. John Adcock, in the Monthly Re view. One Stripling’s Bravery. John Puryear of Richmond, one of Mosby’s stripling riders, fought like a demon, says a veteran. John W. Munson, one of the historians of Mos by’s rangers, says of him: "Puryear had no admiration for cautious people, no sense of fear, and not the slightest judgment. All that he knew about war was what he gath ered in each mad rush through the ranks of the enemy, with his long black hair flying in the wind and his revolver hot with action. He rode his horse like a centaur, and no ene my ever existed that he would not engage, hand to hand, hip and thigh. "After one of his most daring rushes Mosby said to him: “ ‘Puryear, 1 am going to make you a lieutenant for gallantry.’ “Puryear swept his plumed hat in a bow that was royal in its grace. “ ’But,’ continued the colonel, 'I don’t want you ever to command any of my men.’ “Puryear repeated his courtly salu attion as if the leadership of Mosby’s command was being conferred upon him.” This same Puryear was once cap tured by Union cavalry, commanded by Capt. Richard Blazer, who had been sent out “to clean out Mosby’s gang." Lieut. Cole attempted to ob tain some information from him, and after failing had him strung up to a tree limb and half hanged. He was drawn into the air three times, but was stoical throughout the torture. Not long after Mosby attacked Blazer, and in the melee Puryear escaped and joined his own command. When Blazer’s forces were routed Puryear rode after Lieut. Cole. He chased him around an old blacksmith shop, overtaking him just as he was surrendering to “Johnny” Alexander. Puryear shouted that the man had or dered him to be hanged, when Alexan der claimed him as a prisoner. Then, mad with passion, he shot him through the chest and stood back to contemplate his work. Cole fell limp ly against Alexander's horse and sank gradually to the ground. He was dead in less than a minute. Then Alexan der took out the dead man's pistols and showed them to Puryear; they were empty. Puryear began to sob like a child and collapsed. His rash act was a weight on his conscience ever afterward. Old Comrades Revisited. Comrade William A. Mackenzie of Mackenzie Post No. 399, which post was named for his brother, who was killed June 11, 1861, soon after the civil war began, has been passing his 1 vacation among his old comrades in the West. He served in Company B, Seventy-eighth regiment, Illinois Vol unteer infantry, and was in Gen. Sher man’s army. Comrade Mackenzie was accompanied by his wife. They visited Comrade T. L. Frazier of Can ton, 111.; Comrade John C. Frank of Fountain Green, 111.; Comrade Charles I* Wilson of Macomb, 111.; Comrade H. E. Selby of Golden, 111., all of whom attended the reunion of the Seventy eighth regiment, and seventy-two com rades signed a petition to buy a book containing the history of the regiment The regiment was in the battles of Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Buz zard’s Roost, Resaca, Rome, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, all in Georgia. The Atlanta campaign was 110 days long, during all of which time the regiment was under fire and on the march to the sea. The regi ment participated in the battles of Averysboro, N. C., and opened the battle of Bentonvllle, N. C. On Sept I, 1862, 1,002 men were mustered in; 400 men were killed and wounded out of this number; twenty-four died in rebel prisons, seventy-seven in hos pitals and from wounds and disease. Comrade Mackenzie never had to go to a hospital, never had a furlough to go home and never left his company during the three years. The regiment was mustered out at Washington, D. C., June 7, 1865, with 393 men.—Brook lyn Eagle. His Friends the Enemy. "I know something of that night before the battle of Chickamauga,” said the High Private. “The night was cold and the morning of the 19th of September foggy. Some of the boys of the Fifty-second Ohio were astir as early as 3 o’clock on the morning of the 19th, hunting for wa ter. They found it at Jay’s sawmill and the rebs found the same spring about the same time. "Corporal McCue of Company G mingled with some of the rebs, as in the darkness and fog it was almost impossible to distinguish friend from enemy. McCue, as he filed his can teen, said sociably to the man who was filling his canteen on his right that things looked squally in front, or that they would look squally as soon as day broke. The canteen filler on McCue’s right agreed, but said, com fortingly, ’We all left General Lee to help you all, and I reckon we all know how, because we had some powerful squalls with the Tanks up in Virginia this summer.’ “In answer to what corps he be longed to the reb replied, ’Long street’s. Thereupon the corporal closed up like a clam and hiked back to his company. He told the story to his captain, who sent him to Major J. T. Holmes to report. Holmes sent McCue to Colonel Can McCook, com manding the brigade, and McCook sent Capt Swift of his stafT to with draw the pickets under Fahnestock. The pickets, being hotly engaged at the time, the order was not delivered, and Fahnestock extricated his men from a perilous position.”—Chicago Inter Ocean. Gen. Butler’s Kind Act. Gen. Green B. Raum, who is trying to give encouragement to men over forty years of age—that class that Dr. Osier says would serve their country best by turning up their toes to the daisies—is still an active, hale and hearty man, though much older than the allotted three score years and ten. He served conspicuously in the war between the states. He torn a story the other day of the humane feeling of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, says a writer in the Chicago American. When at New Orleans he executed the first and last man to be put to death for traitorism during the conflict. It ;s a curious part of his tory which involves the fidelity of one man only, during that awful in ternecine strife, lasting nearly five years and embracing on the two sides more than 45,000,000 persons. Yet there were developed no traitors to either “cause”—except the one, a man by the name of Mumford, who betray ed federal secrets at New Orleans. He was promptly tried and shot. Soon after the surrender Gen. But ler was in Washington. Gen. Raum then was commissioner of internal revenue. It was about the time that the employment of women in the de partments was becoming popular. “Gen. Butler said to me,” relates Gen. Raum: " ‘General, there is a woman here, homeless, in poverty, in distress. I have a letter from her sent to me at Boston, asking me to intercede in her behalf for a position in one of the bureaus. Her name is Mrs. Mumford, and she is the widow of the only man shot for disloyalty during the recent war. I do not think this nation wishes to visit the sins of husbands upon either widows or children. I therefore ask you to appoint Mrs. Mumford to some place that will afford a living.’ “And I made room for her,” said Gen. Raum. “I gave her a position at $900 a year, and, for all I know, she is still on the pay roll of the govern ment.” John C. Linehan's Death Regretted. The recent death of Past Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief John C. LJnehan makes another gap in the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, and adds one more to the large list of well known and much-loved comrades whc have left us during the past year. Comrade Linehan suddenly devel oped Bright’s disease, was prostrated at the time of Commander-in-Chief Blackmar's funeral and had to be sent home. The disease developed rapidly, and those who attended the dational encampment at Denver, who sorely missed him, received the sorrowful information that he would never be able to attend another encampment. Comrade Linehan was born in Ire land, but came to this country when a child. He served in the Third New Hampshire regiment, and was a life long resident of that state, where he was held in great esteem. He was one of the wheel horses of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was won derfully effective in whatever he set out to do. He was Commander of the Department of New Hampshire in 1883-4, was for many years a member of the G. A. R. National Pension Com mittee, and was a member at the time that the act of June 27, 1890, was passed. He was Junior Vice Com mander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Reriublic in 1887. A Much-Needed Condition. As the lamented Gen. Harry Heth of the late confederacy was passing through the country after his advance scouts he came up with a couple of them feasting on green persimmons up in a persimmon tree. The fruit had just begun to blush from the sun and to show the fullness of being almost ready for the finishing touches of the ill st frost. Gen. Heth was one of Virginia's old school gentlemen, and never forgot the courteous training he had re ceived, even when among the soldiers, who, though only privates, were yet, many of them, of as good families as was the general himself. Seeing his men feasting on the green persim mons, the general thought of the con dition their stomachs would be left in, Bnd called: “Boys, what are you doing np there?” "Eating persimmons, general,” came back the answer. “They will draw your stomachs all up. boys,” returned the general. “That's just what we want, general, “something to draw us up to suit the rations we receive,” came back the ready answer.—Atlanta Constitution. New Executive Committee. The executive committee of the na tional council of administration of the Grand Army of the Republic for the present term will consist of the com mander-in-chief, the adjutant general, the quartermaster general and the fol lowing members of the national coun cil of administration: Thomas W. Scott, Springfield, 111.; Thomas C Sample, Allegheny, Pa.; John W. Her sey, Springfield, Mass.; Phil Creek, Baraboo, Wis.; Charles E. Foote, Kala mazoo, Mich.; L. M. Collins, Minne apolis, Minn., and Clayland Tilden Jersey City, N. J. Caught a Cannon Ball. The veterans, smoking comfortably, sat around the log fire in the armory. “The strangest sight I ever saw,” one said, “was the blocking of a can non ball. It was at Chickamauga. A spent ball came skating through the Bir, like a baseball thrown pretty swift, and a brave Irish sapper next to me said: ‘Watch me block this.’ He held his spade straight, like a cricket bat, and received the ball full and true. Its course wasn’t deflected. It climbed straight up the spade and took off the young soldier’s head.’’ DUE AM OF VANISHED DOyHOOD mere's a scene I rememDer, an oit cnos en byway. Where the grass In midsummer was wavy and long, And where, in its joy. was a bright little river That rippled and babbled and murmur ed Its song. A clear little, bright little mite of a river That sparkled and chattered and mur mured along. And there on the high grassy bank was the beech wood. The far-reaching elm cast its shadow around; Twas there too the silver leaved maple was growing. And the bright fiery tassels of sumach _____ were found— While on through the patches of shade and of sunshine. In ripple and eddy still dancing away, That dear little, clear little mite of a river Kept murm'ring and singing the whole summer day. And there, too, the red-breasted robin was singing. The bluebird once swayed in the branches on high As if undecided which charms to be seek ing— The green of the earth or the blue of the sky. While still from the depth of the shadiest places. With ripple and song, never ceasing to run. That dear little, bright little mite of a river Whirled merrily into the light of the sun. And there leaped the trout through the rapids and shallows. Miastrera neath the dead whitened bough of the tree. Where oft In his glory the bold feathered fisher Swooped down on his prise, ’ rwas In tended for me, While I. youthful angler, expectantly waited The impulse conveyed by the twinge of the line That hung in that clear little mite of a river. Whose bright, finny treasure no more may be mine. E'en now the gay butterfly flits o’er the water. The wild bee returns to the sweet scented flowers. The summer born locust flings out of the treetops His shrill whistled praise of the bright, sunny hours; Even now I imagine the maple invites me To come back and lounge In the depth of the glen. That the dear little, clear Uttle mite otf a river Is calling me back to the meadow again. No more by the bend, where the water is deepest. I pile the few garments a boy needs must wear. No more may I plunge in the pure gurg ling water To sport with its ripples, their cool ness to share. For I'm far. far away from that green grassy meadow. While time into years passes slowly along. But still In the distance that mite of S river Is calling me back with the voice of its song. •Floyd D. Raze in Chicago Inter Ocean. WEALTH WE TO LAJLIJ^ESS With the opening up of the section of the Province of Ontario in the neighborhood of North Bay, a couple of hundred miles directly north of the city of Toronto, all sorts of tales have drifted down out of that country about the mineral wealth it contains and the lucky “strikes” that have been made by prospectors. One of the most romantic of these, and one that has the merit of having real wealth to show for it, concerns W. G. Trethe way, now a resident of Toronto, who is the possessor of a mine that has already paid him a small fortune, which he found simply owing to his lazy habits. At the time he made his “strike” Tretheway was a traveling salescaan for a wholesale shoe house and was possessed of a certain amount of knowledge of chemicals and ores of various kinds. Two years ago his business route carried him to one of the new settlements on the Grand Trunk railway, in the North Bay dis trict, called Cobalt, from the deposits of that mineral that had been found in the neighborhood. Tretheway, who was always keeping an eye out for something in the way of a “strike" for himself, took a walk out in the forest around the place, and strolled along a beaten path because it made the easiest walking. He came to a place where a big tree had fallen across the trail, but instead of walk ing around the tree, as every one else had been in the habit of doing, he ducked under it to save himself that much distance. As he bent his head to pass ne neath the prostrate trunk his eye caught something that had been root ed up by the fall of the tree, and he dropped down on the ground. He gathered up some of the earth, put it in his pocket and returned to the station. At the earliest opportunity he went through the necessary for malities to get possession of the land, and with the little money he possessed he began to work the claim, which was a cobalt mine. In less than two years he has cleared nearly $200,00C from the mine and has reduced the price of cobalt about 40 per cent. Ana all because he was too lazy to walk around a fallen tree. JfEW COVE FO‘R HELIOGRAPH Lord Harris tells an interesting story of how Col. Frank Rhodes out witted the Boers. It concerns the relief of Mafeking. As Col. Mahon approached Mafe king from the south, Col. (now Ma jor-General) Plumer was approaching it from the north, and Col. Mahon re ceived the following questions from Col. Plumer by heliograph: 1. What is your strength? 2. How many guns have you? 3. How are you off for stores and provisions? Col. Mahon would not allow any answer to be sent, for fear of the Boers trapping it on the way, until Col. Rhodes suggested the following replies, which were approved. I at tach the key in brackets: 1. Q. What is vour strength? A. Naval and Military multipled by ten. [The number of the Naval and Mili tary club in Piccadilly is 94, and mul tiplieil by ten approximated their strength of 1,000.] 2. Q. How many guns have you? A. As many as there are boys in the Ward family. [Lord Dudley and his brothers.] Col. Mahon protested, as regards this, that there would be no one whc would know, but Col. Rhodes assured him that Col. Watson Jarvis, who was with Col. Plumer, would be sure to. 3. How are you off for stores and provision ? A. Officer commanding Ninth Laa cers. [Col, Little, known as “Small” Lib tie.] The answers were received and correctly decoded. Lord Harris also mentioned that Col. Rhodes contributed largely out of his own pocket to the outfit of the Mafeking relief column, and that in his day he was one of the best bats men in the British army.—New York Times. FAMOVS VOfly EJTT'RESS 'RIVE'RS The world’s record for organized and "schedule” riding v.as made by the Pony express, says C. F. Lummis in McClure’s Magazine. Never before nor since has mail been carried so fast, so far and so long merely by horse power, and if I am not in error, never elsewhere have horses been so steadfastly spurred In any regular service. The Pony express carried mail between the east and California (at $5 per half ounce) for about two years. It ran from Independence to San Francisco, 1.950 miles. Its time was ten days and it never needed eleven. It employed 500 of the fast est horses that could be found, of couse, all western horses, 200 station keepers and 80 riders. It had 190 sta tions—crowded down the throat of the wilderness, 65 to 100 miles (or even more) apart, according as water chanced. The rider was allowed two minutes to change horses and mails at a station. William F. Cody, “Buffalo Bill,” was the most famous of the Pony express riders—and as a 14-year-old "kid" goi his first “job” from the man who in vented the Pony express. Cody made the record here—a round trip ride (ne cessitated by the killing of his relief) of 384 miles without stops, except tc change horses and to swallow one hasty meal. Another of the Pony express riders Jack Keetley, made a run of 340 miles in thirty-one hours; and another, Jim Moore, rode 280 miles in fourteen hours and forty-six minutes. Such men got $100 to $125 per month and “found.” Their mail was limited to fifteen pounds. Postage was $5 pei half ounce for some time; then the government ordered it cut down to $1 per half ounce, at which figure it staid till the completion of the overland tel egraph to San Francisco (Oct. 22, 1861), ended the life of this gallant enterprise. vueamistg ajvv waking foums Harvey, who discovered the circula tion of the blood, is said to have re corded a dream in which a bumblebee stung him in his left thigh, on a place where a couple of days later appeared an ugly ulcer. Malesherbe, the re nowned French ahthor, found himself in a dream attacked by a rowdy who stabbed him in his left breast with a dagger in an area where the following evening he felt the first attack of severe pneumonia. “The archives of medical reports,” says Dr. Axel Emi! Gibson, “are heavy with cases of a similar character, which have either received no explanation at all or else , have been explained away entirely.” j Dr. Gibson calls attention to the fact that dreams depend on some other media than those known as the five senses. A conclusive evidence in favor of* this view is found in the circuit* stances that even the blind are able to see in dreams—as witness ex periences recorded by Helen Keller “Blind Tom," the poet Milton, and others. Hence the conclusion seems to be unavoidable that it is only as far as physical vision is concerned that the optic nerve guides and limits the field of vision. Thi3 same author arrives at the de duction that dreaming and waking differ in degree and form of manifes tation only, not in principle and es sence. “I.ike waking consciousness,* he avers, “the dream reveals, but does not create. The same world that sur rounds the waking individual sur rounds the dreaming, only the view points ird media of observation are changed.” :BOOKS FOR THE CONVALESCENT For reading during convalescence the British Medical Journal prescribes literature that cheers but does not inebriate, and warns persons recover ing from illness against writers “whose style, like that of George Mere dith, puts a constant strain on the understanding of the reader, or like that of Maurice Hewlett, irritates by its artificial glitter, or like that of Marie Corelli, annoys by its frothy impertinence." Dickens should go well during convalescence—except "Pick wick,” at least in surgical cases, be cause of the many side-splitting epi sodes which would play havoc with the union of parts. For the same rea son, in order that healing granula ticfns may not be interfered with, Mark Twain’s works are absolutely in terdicted. “Smiles’ ‘Self Help’ is quite innocu ous,” says the learned journal, “but we should be cautious in recommend ing it, in order that the patient may not thereby be led to meditate over a misspent career, and to have suggest ed to him all the opportunities in life he might have grasped but did not. A despondency might thus be induced which would delay a restoration to health, and which might even prove fatal. Thackeray (except “Vanity Fair,” which is a pessimistic book) should go very well; ‘Pendennis’ and ‘Barry Lyndon’ will certainly enter tain. “Magazines of the day are r’ and cheering enough; and iT one will seldom come upc sufficiently original or vjr "He anybody*