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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 1907)
BOB HAMPTON °f PLACER; By RANMU PARRISH AUTHOR Of £ ’mumussMX’ 'HriHmmBm mm/umsm. CCPHQ&rr /MSBrAGjKCLUBO fCO. CHAPTER I. | Hampton, of Placer. It wu6 not an uncommon tragedy of ihe west. If slightest chronicle of it survive, it must be discovered among tin* musty and nearly forgotten rec ords of the Eighteenth regiment of in fantry. i Tet the tale is worth telling now, j when such days are past and gone, i There were 16 of them when, like so many hunted rabbits, they were first securely trapped among the frowning rocks, and forced relentlessly back ward from oT the narrow trail until the precipitous canyon walls finally halted their disorganized flight, and from sheer necessity compelled a rally in hopeless battle. Sixteen,—ten in fantrymen from old ?ort Bethune, un der command of Syd. Wyman, a gray headed sergeant of 30 years’ continu ous service in the regulars, two cow punchers from the "XL” ranch, a stranger who had joined them unin vited at the ford over the Bear Water, together with old Gillis, the post trader, and his silent chit of a girl. Sixteen—but that was three days be fore, and in the meanwhile not a few of those speeding Sioux bullets had found softer billet than the limestone rooks. Six of the soldiers, four al ready dead, two dying, lay out stretched in ghastly silence where they fell. men tne taciturn trims gave sud den utterance to a sobbing cry, and a burst of red spurted across his white beard as he reeled backward, knock ing the girl prostrate when he fell. Kight remained, one helpless, one a mere lass of 15. It was the morning of the third day. • The beginning of the affair had burst upon them so suddenly that no two in that stricken company would have told the same tale. None among them had anticipated trouble. In all the fancied security of un questioned peace these chance trav elers had slowly toiled along the steep trail leading toward the foothills. Glllis and the girl, as well as the two oattleherders, were on horseback; the remainder soberly trudged forward on foot, with guns slung to their shoul ders. Wyman was somewhat in ad vance, walking beside the stranger, The latter a man of uncertain age, smoothly shaven, quietly dressed in garments bespeaking an eastern tailor, a bit grizzled of hair along the tem ples, and possessing a pair of cool, gray eyes. He had introduced himself by the name of Hampton, but had vol unteered no further information, nor was it customary in that country to question impertinently. Hampton, through the medium of easy conversation, early discovered in the sergeant an intelligent mind, pos sessing some knowledge of literature. They -had been discussing books with rare enthusiasm, and the former had drawn from ’the concealment of an inner pocket a diminutive copy of “The Merchant of Venice,” from which he was reading aloud a disputed passage, when the faint trail they followed sud denly dipped into the yawning mouth of a black canyon. It was a narrow, gloomy, contracted gorge, a mere gash between those towering hills shadow ing its depths on either hand. A swift mountain stream, noisy and' clear as crystal, dashed from rock to rock close beside the more northern wall, while* the ill-defined pathway, strewn with bowlders and guarded by underbrush, clung to the opposite side, where low scrub trees partially obscured the view. All was silent as death when they entered, yet they had barely advanced a short hundred paces when those ap parently bare rocks in front flamed red, the narrow defile echoed to wild screeches and became instantly crowd ed with weird, leaping figures. It was like a plunge from heaven into hell. Blaine and Endicott sadft at the first fire, while Wyman’s stricken arm dripped blood. Indeed, under that sudden shock, he fell, and was barely rescued by the prompt action of the man beside him. Dropping the opened book, and firing madly to left and right with a revolver which appeared to spring into his hand as by magic, the latter coolly dragged the fainting soldier across tne more exposed space, umil the two found partial security among a mass of loosened rocks litter ing the base of the precipice. The others who survived that first scorch ing discharge also raced toward this same shelter, impelled thereto by the unerring instinct of border fighting, and flinging themselves flat behind protecting bowlders, began responding to the hot fire rained upon them. Scattered and hurried as these first volleys were, they proved sufficient to check the howling demens in the open. It has never been Indian nature to face unprotected the aim of the white men, and those dark figures, which only a moment before, thronged the narrow gorge, leaping crazily In the riot of apparent victory, suddenly melted from sight, slinking down into leafy coverts beside the stream or into holes' among the rocks, like so many vanishing prairie dogs. Now and then a sinewy brown arm might incautious ly profact across tne gleaming surface of a rock, or a mop of coarse, black hair appear above the edge of a gully, either incident resulting in a quick interchange of fire. That was all; yet the experienced frontiersmen knew that eyes as keen as those of any wild animal of the jungle were watching murderously their slightest movement. Wyman, now reclining in agony 1 against the base of the overhanging cliff, directed the movements of his litfie command calmly and with sober military judgment Little by little, un der protection of the rifles of the three civilians, .the uninjured infantrymen crept cautiously about, rolling loosened bowlders forward into position, until they finally succeeded In thus erecting a rude barricade between them and the enemy. The wounded who could .be reached were laboriously drawn back within this improvised shelter, and when the black shadows of the night finally shut down, all remaining alive were once more clustered together, the injured lying moaning and ghastly beneath the overhanging shelf of rock, and the girl, who possessed all the pa tient stoicism of frontier training, rest ing in silence, her widely opened eyes on those far-of? stars peeping above the brink of the chasm,'her head pil lowed pn old Gillls’ knee. , . Twice during the long night volun teers sought vainly to pierce those lines or savage watchers. A' long, wailing cry of agony from out the thick darkness told the fate of their first messenger, while Casey, of the “XL,” crept slowly, painfully back, with an Indian bullet embedded deep in his shoulder. Just before the com ing of dawn, Hampton, without utter ing a word, calmly turned up the collar of his tightly buttoned coat, so as better to conceal the white collar he wore, gripped his revolver between his teeth, and crept like some wriggling snake among the black rocks and through the dense underbrush in I x Hampton Fired Madly Right and Left. search after water. By some miracle of divine mercy he was permitted to pass unscathed, and came crawling back, sl dozen hastily filled canteens dangling across his shoulders. It was like nectar to those parched, feverish throats; but of food barely a mouth ful a piece remained in the haver sacks. The second day dragged onward, its hours bringing no change for the bet ter, no relief, no slightest ray of hope. The hot sun scorched them pitilessly, and two of the wounded died delirious. From dawn to dark there came no slackening of the savage watchfulness which held the survivors helpless be hind their coverts. The merest up lifting of a head, the slightest move ment of a hand, was sufficient to dem onstrate how sharp were those savage eyes! Another long, black night followed, during which, for an hour or so In turn, the weary defenders slept, toss ing uneasily, and disturbed by fearful dreams. Then gray and solemn, amid the lingering shadows of darkness, dawned the third dread day of un equal conflict. All understood that it was destined to be their last on this earth unless help came. For two days Wyman bad scarcely stirred from where he lay bolstered against the rock. Sometimes lie be came delirious from fever, uttering In coherent phrases, or swearing in piti ful weakness. Again he would par tially arouse to his old sense of sol dierly duty, and assume -Intelligent command. Now he twisted painfully about upon his side, and, with clouded eyes, sought to discern wnat man was lying next him. The face was hidden so that.all he could clearly distinguish was the fact that this man was not clothed as a soldier. “Is that you, Hampton?” he ques tioned, his voice barely audible. The person thus addressed, who was lying flat upon his back, gazing si lently upward at the rocky front of the cliff, turned cautiously over upon his elbow before venturing reply. , “Yes; what is it, qergeant? It looks to be a beauty c>f a morning way up yonder.” There was a hearty. Cheery ring to his clear voice which left the pain racked old soldier envious. - “My Go#!” hiB growled, savagely. “ Tin likely to be tne last any of us wfn ever see. Wasn’t it you I heard a doubt. The old soldier, accustomed to every form of border eccentricity, gazed at him with disapproval. “Either you’re the coolest devil I’ve met during 30 years of soldiering,” he commented, doubtfully, “or else the craziest. Who are you, anyhow? I half believe you might be Bob Hamp ton, of Placer.”’ The other smiled grimly. “You have the name tolerably correct, old fellow; likewise that delightful spot so lately honored by my residence. In brief, you have succeeded in calling the turn perfectly, so far as your limited information extends. In strict confi dence I propose now to impart to you 'what has hitherto remained a pro found secret. Upon special request of a number of influential citizens of Placer, including the city marshal and other officials, expressed in mass meeting, I have decided upon desert ing that sagebrush metropolis to its just fate, and plan to add the influ Strange Law About Spooks. m Illegal to Shoot Them in England Other Court Rulings. « De currently alleged and reputed to be haunted. But, on the other hand, damages have been recovered against a land lord who let a notoriously spook-in fested dwelling to a tenant without 1 first informing him of its evil reputa ] Uon. ' A father has, too, obtained a verdict against a schoolmaster whose school i was haunted by a ghost which fright ened his boy into fits, and it has been held to be Illegal to shut up a prisoner in a reputedly haunted jail. Once a woman sought a judicial sep aration from her spouse on the ground that he was in league with a familiar spirit, which haunted fcis bedroom by night aud his study by day. | But her pedtion was refused, the judge remarking jjiat she had taken | her husband for worse as well as for f better, and that ahe might aa well ask I to be relieved of him because he had developed a wart on his nose as a ' sprite at Ms elbow. — Pearson’s Weekly. A long courtship is sometimes fol lowed by a short seaso^ of matrimony. V » Lawsuits about alleged ghosts, of a j .nature similar to the one which was ! threshed out the other day before j Mr. Justice Grantham, are far from uncommon. Indeed, there is quite a little library of books relating to the subject,'all of them full of musty, fusty precedents, and each and every one of them bound in that peculiar, underdone pie-crust colored material known to booksellers as law calf. From these books one may learn many things about ghosts, and the proper way to treat them. It is, for instance, illegal to belabor a “ghost” after it has cried out that it J is not a ghost; while a man who goes gun-hunting after an alleged ghost, and shoots and kills a human being who is masquerading fa spook attire, is guilty of murder. You may not summarily give up possession of a house of which you are tenant, simply because you be .Here it to be haunted, nor yet even if whistling just now? . One might im agine this was to be a wedding, rather than a funeral.” “And why not, Wyman? Didn’t you know they employed mnsic at both functions nowadays? Besides, it is not every man who is permitted to assist at his own obsequies—the very unique ness of such a situation rather appeals to my sense of humor.” The Bergeant, his teeth clinched tightly to repress the pain tacking him, stifled his resentment with an evident effort. “You may be less light-hearted when you learn that the last of our ammunition is already in the guns,” he remarked, stiffly. “I suspected as much.” And the speaker lifted himself on one elbow to peer down the line of recumbent fig ures. “To be perfectly frank with you, sergeant, the stuff has held out considerably longer than I believed it would, judging from the way those ‘dough boys' of yours kept popping at every shadow in front of them. It’s a marvel to me, the mutton-heads they take into the army. Oh, now, you needn’t scowl at me like that, Wy man; I’ve worn the blue, and seen some service where a fellow needed to be a man to sport the uniform. Be sides, I'm not indifferent, old chap. and just so long as there remained any work worth attending to in this skirmishing affair, I did it* didn’t I? But I tell you, man there is mighty lit tle good trying to buck against Fate, and when Luck once finally lets go of a victim, he’s bound to drop straight to the bottom before he stops. That’s the sum and substance of all s my philosophy, old fellow, consequently I never kick simply because things hap | pen to go wrong. What’s the use? They’ll go wrong just the same. Con sequently, upheld by my acquired philosophy, I’m merely holding back I one shot for myself, as a sort of grand finale to this fandango, and another for that little girl out yonder.’’ These words were uttered slowly, the least touch of a lazy drawl appar ent in the low voice, yet there was an earnest simplicity pervading the j speech which somehow gave it im j pressiveness. The man meant exactly ! what he said, beyond the possibility of ence of my presence to the future de velopment of Gleneald. I learn that the climate there is more salubrious, more conducive to'long living, the citi zens of Placer being j>eculiarly excit able and careless with their fire arms." The sergeant had been listening with open mouth, “yhe hell you say!” he finally ejaculated. “The undefiled truth, every word of it No wonder you are shocked. A fine state of affairs, isn’t it, when a plain-spoken, pleasant-mannered gen tleman, such as I surely am,—a uni versity graduate, by all the gods, the nephew of a United States senator, and acknowledged to be the greatest exponent of scientific poker In this ter ritory,—should be obliged to hastily change his chosen place, of abode be cause of the threat of an ignorant and depraved mob. Ever have a rope dan gled in front of your eyes, sergeant, and a gun-barrel biting into your cheek at the same time? Accept my word for it, the experience is trying on the nerves. Ran a perfectly square game, too, and those ducks knew it; but there’s no true sporting spirit left in this territory any more. However, spilled milk is never worth sobbing over, and Fate always contrives to play the final hand in any game, and stocks the cards to win." “A breath of good, honest prayer would serve better than anything else," groaned the sergeant, soberly. The gray eyes resting thoughtfully on the old soldier’s haggard face be came instantly grave and earnest. "Sincerely I wish I might aid you with one,” the man admitted, "but I fear, old fellow, any prayer coming from my lips would never ascend very far. However, I might try the com fort. of a hymn, and you will remember this one, which, no doubt, you have helped to sing back in God’s country.” There was a moment’s hushed pause, during which a rifle cracked sharply out in the ravine; then the reckless fellow, his head partially sup ported against the protecting bowlder, lifted up a full, rich barytone in rendi tion of that hymn of Christian faith— “Nearer, my God, to Thee! Nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me. Still all my song shall be. Nearer, my God, to Thee! Nearer to Thee.” Glazed and wearied eyes glanced cautiously toward ti»° singer around the edges of protecting rocks; fingers loosened their grasp upon the rifle bar rels; smoke-begrimed cheeks became moist; while lips, a moment before profaned by paths, grew silent and trembling. Out in front a revengeful brave sent his bullet swirling just above the singer’s head, the sharp fragments of rock dislodged falling In a shower upon his upturned face; but the fearless rascal sang serenely on to the end, without a quaver. “Mistake it for a death scng likely,” he remarked dryly, while the last clear, lingering note, reechoed by the cliff, died reluctantly away in softened cadence. “Beautiful old song, ser geant, and I trust hearing it again has done you good. Sang it once in a church way back in New England. But what is the trouble? Did you call me for some special reason?” •”Yes,” came the almost gruff re sponse; for Wyman, the fever steal ing back upon him, felt half ashamed of his unshed tears. "That is, pro vided you retain sufficient sense to listen. Old Gillis was shot over an hour ago, yonder behind that big bowlder, and his girl sits there still holding his head in her lap. She'll get hit also unless somebody pulls her out of there, and she’s doing no good to Gillis—he s dead.” Hampton’s clear-cut, expressive face became graver, all trace of reckless ness gone from it. He lifted his head cautiously, peering over his rock cover toward where he remembered earlier in the fight Gillis had sought refuge. (TO BE CONTINUED.) A Sure Cure. F. Marion Crawford, at a dinner in New York, attacked spiritualism. ‘!In •principle it may be true," Mr. Craw ford said, “but spiritualism as it is practiced to-day is a thing to beware of. I know a man whose wife sudden ly developed a great interest in spir itualism. She attended, seance after seance at the house of a handsome medium with dark, thick hair and smoldering eyes. ' "Her husband cured her, though. He took to accompanying her to the me dium’s, and at every seance he got the most passionate and tender messages from his first wife." Concrete Lighthouse. By the use of concrete a tall light house wras constructed in a short pe riod of time at the Point de la Coubre, at the mouth of the Gironde river, in France. The building is 225 feet high and about 35 feet in diameter at the base. It was finished in nine months after the beginning of the work, and cost $50,000. The haste was due to the fact that the sea threatened to wash away the old structure. U. S. ARMY WAR COLLEGE AT WASHINGTON .. —--—- i It is here that the officers of the ai problems of all kinds. It is practicall officer following his military training i ELEPHANTS TO RESCUE SAVE ENGINEER FROM WRECK AND QUENCH FIRE. Huge Pachyderms Handle Tons of De bris as Though But Toothpicks and Have Track Cleared in Short Order. Morgantown. W. Va.—A freight train on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad was derailed at Corbin and the engine and 16 cars were dashed to pieces. A broken rail was the cause. The en gineman escaped death by jumping. The engineer, James Malcolm, of this city, was caught when he leaped from the cab and imprisoned in the wreckage. Not a cut, bruise or scratch did he receive, and where he was penned in looked as if it had been built for his ‘protection. So tightly were timbers wedged ! about Malcolm that human hands I could not budge them and he was itj danger of being burned alive, for the | wreck had taken fire and was spread ing. His cries for help were heart rending. Fortunately, two sections of the John Robinson circus were closely fol lowing and these were Sagged. The keen thoughtfulness of Gov. John F. Robinson displayed itself and the ele phants, eight of them, were quickly unloaded and taken to the scene of the wreck, which was right in the : center o£ the -town. FOOD FOR LONG TRIP NAVY DEPARTMENT PREPARING . FOR VOYAGE TO PACIFIC. Bids for Supplies for from 12,000 to 15,C00 Men Asked for—6,000,000 Pounds of Provisions Required to Feed Sailors. New York.—Five million pounds of provisions will be required to feed the enlisted men of the Atlantic fleet on the voyage to San Francisco, which is to commence about three months hence. Bids for this amount have been asked for, all of the supplies to be delivered at the New York navy yard, the deliveries to begin Novem ber 1. It is announced that each of the ships, including those in the torpedo beat flotilla and the colliers and sup ply ships when they leave for the Pa cific will have on board all of the provisions necessary for the entire voyage. But the officers have not been taken into consideration in these figures. They will have to make their own arrangements for board be fore they sail. Nearly everything that a person can think of to eat or drink, except intox icants, is included in the lists of sup plies. In making out*the lists tho navy department officials took into consideration the facts that the ships will be at sea on Thanksgiving. Christmas, New Year’s and Washing ton's Birthday, and special dinners for those occasions have already been arranged, as is shown by the large number of turkeys, plum puddings, pumpkin pies, nuts, dried fruits and other delicacies that are named in the lists of foods required. There will be between 12,000 and 15,000 enlisted men on the battle ships. torpedo boats and auxiliary ves sels, that are going to the Pacific, and the job of figuring oat bow much food and of what kind, was needed for them, was one Of the toughest math ematical problems ever turned over ■my attend school for the study of war y a post-graduate course for the army it West Point. Old “Bacil,” 200 years old, mother of “Jumbo,” rescued the imprisoned engineer. She wound her trunk around the debris and heavy timbers and rods of iron, and pulled them from about the engineer as though they were only toothpicks. Then she proudly took Malcolm in her trunk and carried him to a place of safety. He fell in a faint and was resuscitated with difficulty. The other elephants were taken to a stream near and commanded to fill their 'trunks with water. They got a big supply and going back to the wreck threw water on the flames. After three trips they had the fire out. Trains, passenger and freight, were blocked; traffic was entirely suspend ed. All mail trains were held up. The wreck train was sent for, but the elephants did their work for them be fore they arrived. In less than two hours they had the track cleared. It was a sight to see them pull the lo comotive apart and throw the big wheels and stack and boiler over to one side.' The elephants are lajge ones, each weighing about six tons, which gives an idea of the power—greater than several wreck trains. Baltimore & Ohio officials, it is said, remarked that elephants wouldn’t be bad for use in removing heavy wreckage. The Bal timore & Ohio may so equip them selves. to the bureau of supplies and accounts to solve. The navy department realizes how long and at times how monoton ous the voyage is going to be, and it was determined that so far as the food was concerned the men would not have any excuse to grumble. Some of the items In the lists sent out to the bidders, besides'those men tioned, are 1,000,000 pounds of fresh beef, 1,000,000 pounds of vegetables, to include turnips, cabbage, carrots, onions, asparagus, tomatoes and other vegetables; 1,000,000 pounds of flour, 500.000 pounds of canned and other fruits, including apples, peaches, pears and other fruits; 400,000 pounds of peas, 200,000 pounds of ham, 100. 000 pounds of condensed milk, 100.000 pounds of coffee, 15,000 pounds of tea, 40.000 dozen fresh eggs, 5,000 pounds of mustard, 5,000 pounds of pepper and 5,000 pounds of salt. The handling of the provisions at the navy -yard here will probably ne cessitate the employment of a large number of extra laborers during the two weeks in which the contractors will be allowed to make their deliver ies. - Bid*' will be asked for a great quan tity of smoking and chewing tobacco before the fleet starts on its long voy age. Snail Is Nsw Yellow Peril. Pittsburg, Pa.—The Thirteenth ward of this city is overrun at the present time with snails, four inches long, which have become such an an noyance that the residents have ap pealed to Dr. J. F. Edwards, superin tendent of the bureau of health. Dr. Edwards is trying to figure out how to get rid of them. The snails a.e known as the hog faced variety and are natives of China. How they got to Pittsburg in such large numbers is too much for Dr. Edwards. The snails make their appearance at night by the hundreds, and people are awakened by the creatures crawl ing over them in bed. Several men who have indulged too freely In liquor have been thrown into convul sions on account of them. * SEEKS FOR HONEST MAN. H« Find* Mrs. O’Bryan’s Lost $1,000 Package and Mails It. New York.—M.s. Edward O'Bryan of Mount Prospect avenue. Newark, is looking for tire e.-smi w :o found her package containing sH5 and several valuable treasure-- which she had lost, and which were mailed tu the person that the owner Intended them to be sent to, in order that she might re ward him for hi - honesty. She ac cordingly inserted an advertisement in a Newark Sunday paper, which reads: “Will the honest gentleman who has mailed my lost registered letter in front of the Newark city hall on Wednesday evening, which contained 6 four diamond rings, five $20 bills, two $20 gold pieces, cne $5 gold piece, and a picture of my deceased mother, to Mr. C. O’Bryan, Scranton, Pa., send his name and address to Mrs. E. R.?” Mrs. O'Bryan had prepared and ad dressed the package to be sent to her brother in Scranton last Wednesday, and while en route to the Newark post office she dropped it near the new city hall at Broad and Green streets. The loss of the money and jewelry caused her considerable worry, but she was surprised late Saturday afternoon when she received a letter from her brother stating that he had received the package safely. The en velope containing the valuables bore the name and address of the brother and the finder, seeing the address, re mailed it and registered it at his own expenses. Mrs. O’Bryan values the contents of the package at about $1,000, and is determined to locate the person who was honest enough to send it on to its destination. She hopes to eventual ly learn the name of the sender through her brother, who may have It on the return card of the registered package. THREE GEESE ON A SPREE. Ate’Some of Beck’s Cider Pulp and Were Soon Dead to the World. York. Pa.—Martin Beck, a farmer of the Conwego hills, came tq town with a tale about some geese owned by a neighbor named Beck. On Beck’s farm is a cider press, and it is the custom to throw the pulp into a heap near by. The farmer’s geese, discovering the pile, ate the pulp with relish. Soon the geese swayed from side to side and cackled hoarsely, and Beck and his wife agreed that they were sick. Finally one by one they fell, limp and apparently dead. Grieving over the loss of three plump geese, yet remembering that feathers were worth something. Mrs. Beck carried them into the house and began to pluck the feathers. She had about half finished with the first when * she detected a quiver in the body and dropped the goose in astonishment. The movements continued and pres ently the half naked fowl opened its eyes, staggered to its feet and started out through the doorway. The other two soon afterward also revived. It. was not until later, when a pair of ducks were similarly affected, that the farmer realized what was the mat ter. The pulp, lying in the sun, had fermented and his poultry had been indulging in sprees upon a very fair substitute for applejack. WILL HAVE THEATERS ON SEA. Frohman Arranges for Regular Per formances on Cunard Liners. New York.—Hereafter those who go down to the sea in ships with the In tent of crossing the At'antic will not be forced to forego the Wednesday matinee, the vaudeville performance or the concert. The Cunard Steam ship company has arranged with Charles Prohman to give theatrical performances on its big liners by play ers who may be making the voyage, and if these prove a success regular companies will be put on the ships. Alf Hayman, manager for Mr. Froh* man in this city, said: “Mr. Froh man is at present in London cooperat inng with the Cunard company. The scheme will probably be tried first Ci the Lusitania. Light comedy will be given, and if successful other branches of theatricals will be put on the steamship boards. The chief difficulty with the players would prob ably arise from sea-sickness, but I suppose others would go on and fill the gaps. I cannot tell when the thea ter on the high seas will be put into operation, for some of the details are not definitely settled.” All Forbidden to Treat Him. Danville, Pa.—“Judge, I want you to make an order that no man shall be permitted to sell or give liquor to me,” said young Walter Rupp, just sentenced here to 60 days in jail for assaulting an officer. “That is what ruined me, and I want to start life anew without the ruin,” concluded the prisoner. “The clerk of the court will enter an order to that effect,” said the judge,” and I commend the defendant for his determination to reform.” A Log to a Car. Portland, Ore.—Four flr logs, all cut from the same tree and contain ing more than 42,000 feet, were ship ped to this place the first of the week from near Raymond. Each log occu pied a car. The larger log was 101 inches in diameter at its small end and was 36 feet in length, containing 17,000 feet. The stump from which the tree was cut measured ten feet eight inches in diameter. At $10.50 per thousand, which is the price paid on this harbor for high grade flr, the four logs would bring more than $423. Must Pay for a Corpse. Fort Worth, Tex.—Another kink has been found in the anti-pass legisla tion. With death a man ceases to be a railroad employe, and fare must be paid for the transportation of his body. * Aplication was made to the Trinity & Brazos Valley line for transporta tion for the body of a former employe of the Cotton EelL Investigation shows that under the Interstate act the pass privilege la limited strictly to employes. •y» . :*t - A Cow Swallows Dynamite. Notice Put at Head of Body Warns Against Jarring. Lewisboro, Conn.—All that is mor tal of a cow lies in a swamp just out side town. At the cow’s head is a board with the inscription: "Do not jar this cow or it will explode.” Albert Scofield bad been blasting rocks and stumps t on bis Lewisboro farm. He reached the field the other day in time to see one of his cows swallow two sticks of dynamite. Scarcely bad sbe taken the morsel into her midst than acute indigestion attacked her, and jumping the fence she ran through the village bellowing | with pain. I Scofield followed her at a distance. "Don’t stop her,” be yelled, ’.‘she’s full l of dynamite.” A council of war was held. John Simpson, the town’s best shot, loaded his trusty carbine, took a position 200 yards from the cow and fired. The I cow fell dead. Tbedfevery slowly her' ' W body was dragged to a remote spot in the swamp. Legless Man a Prize Dancer. Bayonne. N. J.—A buck and wing dancing contest for tbe local cham pionship and ,920 in gold was the feature of the ball of the Fourth Ward club here. The contest Vas won by Henry Blaire, a Iegles3 painter, who carves his own legs and wears shoes He introduced steps his competitors never had seen. Potatoes Made New by Dope. Columbus. O.—The “rejuvenated po tato” is the latest form of adulter ated food to which State Food Com missioner R. W. Dunlap's attention has been called. Local dealers are treating potatoes of the crop of 1906 with some liquid that peels off the skin after the manner of the "new po tatoes." A man In Chicago has unearthed a ■ piece of prehistoric leather. Doubtless a boarding bouse steak. I
