i
THE FALLS CLTk' TRIBUNE , FRIDAY , DECEMBER 12 , 1906. 1
DOWN ON THE RIO GRANDE
Contractor Tells of nn Exciting Ex
perience In Crossing Stream
In the , West.
"To give you uii idea of what
sort of a river the Hio Grande is
I'll ( oil .von an experience that 1
had in got ting across it with a
derrKk , " said Raymond McDou
gall , a mining man from Now Mexico
ice , to a Milwaukee Free Press
man. " 1 was a contractor in rock
\\oil , in tloHda.vs . and was tak
ing n > . \ di'.rick from the cast side
if tin- river to the MngdalemiH.
Tin derrick was on four \\ajion
wheels and four mnles were ha tiling -
ing it. 1 had mfohc ! | e.-uslnn. '
nml one of them dro\e Hie mail s.
Ih was an old timer , which w , ;
lucky , and if 1 had trusted to m.\
1 might have mini'
mistake that would have cos.
me my mules and derrick , if mil
m.life. . .
" \\'e reached the Kio ( Irande ai
hour before sundown and I saw
a wide river lied , lint no water
only dry sand from one lunik to
the other. It was a new kind ol
river to me , lint my driver said
that it was all right that it was.i
way the Hio ( li'ande ' had. Tin-
water was there , only it was flow
ing through the sands under the
channel instead of in it. I he-
ing a tenderfoot was for camping
on the nearer bank \\here the
grass was good , but McCartney ,
the driver , said that would never
do unless 1 was willing to take my
chances of staying there a week or
, two ; that water sometimes oanie
down the channel , a good deal of
it , and that it would he well to get
across while we were sure tha *
we could.
"We were starting across over
the dry sands and 1 was thinking
what an easy way.it was of ford
ing a river when of a sudden the
two lead mules were floundering
in a quicksand and the whole out
lit came near being drawn in. We
got the two leaders clear of the
harness and the other two mules
drew them out , one at a time. Wo
hitched them up again and by mak
ing a long circuit got past the
quicksand and to the other bank.
"By that time it was ten o'clock
and the moon had risen. The
mules had just begun to climb the
bank when we heard a roaring
noise up the channel. It came
from a wall of water that
stretched from bank to bank and
was traveling toward us fast. It
looked in the moonlight to be four
feet high , and there was high wa
tcr behind it sending it on. We
didn't need to holler to the mules.
They heard what was coming and
clawed up the bank like cats.
"We got out all right , derrick
and all and there were not three
minutes to spare. Before we had
finished our supper the river bed
was full bank high , with a torrent
that eddied and roared as it
rushed past our camping place as
if it had been sor.r.y'to miss us and
would like to get up where we
were. There was not a cloud in
the sky or a sign of rain anywhere
and the flood may'have come from
a cloudburst in Colorado 200 miles
away lint it came near get
ting us.
"I had learned one lesson , and
that was in traveling by wagon
always camp on the farther side
of the stream. And I had learned
to put no trust in theRio Grande. "
Sixty-Toil Steel Rope.
The biggest rope ever used for
haulage purposes has just been
made for a district subway in
'
Glasgow. It is seven ,
4jj inches in circumference , and
weighs nearly (50 ( tons. It has been
made in one unjointed and nn-
spliced length of patent crucible
steel. "When in place it will form
a complete circle around Glasgow ,
crossing the Clyde in its course ,
and will run at a speed of 15 miles
an hour.
Size of Circus Rings.
Circus rings are always uniform
iusizeas circus horses are trained
to perform in a standard ring -12
feet in diameter. In a larger or a
smaller ring their pace becomes
uneven , irregular and unreliable ,
and the riders
in turning somer
saults are liable to miscalculate
the curve and miss their footing.
Argentina's New Industry.
During the last two years about
5,000,000 mulberry trees have
been planted in Argentina , which
has now about 10,000,000 of sucl.
trees. The production of raw sill-
will eventually become an impoi
tnnt product of that countrjr.
BISON FIERCEST OF CATTLE
All of a Hunter's Skill ami Ncrvo IB
Needed When Tackling Such
Big Game.
Called bison ( incorrectly ) in In
dia , seladang in Malaya , slang in
Utirnin , and gnudang in Shun , the
gaur ( Hos gauriiH ) is the largest
and fiercest of all wild cattle , with
hoofs small in proportion to its
height , and of deerlike , rather
than oxlike , character , says Out
ing. Its sense of smell is as acute
as that of the elephant and its
\ision much keener. When you
seek one of these cattle you need
nil your hunter's skill and your
nerve , for. next to the elephant
, ind bracketed with the d'apebuf
falo of Africa , I believe its natural
temperament and the character of
the1 country in which it is found
make the seladang in the Malay
peninsula the most formidable
quarry on earth. In India , where
( lie range of the gaur ! ; > the hill ; * ,
wooded districts , they are more
apt to be found in herds of some
six.e , and , because of the more dan
gerous sections , Icssdiflicult of : i {
preach , iiiid less dung'TOiis to tin *
hunter tlinii in the .M.ih-\ jicnin
siila , where the jungle is the
densest that grows , and almost
invariably the quarry has the man
at a disadvantage. In Malay it is
snap shooting , where the game , on
being wounded , turns hunterand ,
concealed , awaits the sportsman ,
who mils ) approach with infinite
' tuition , with senses always alert
and hand ever joady if he would
stop or turn s.side the vicious
charge. You may never in thib
jungle survey the Held of opera
tions from some vantage point :
but in the close growing angle of
vines , and canes , and thorn bush
cs , and heavy coarse weed of
grass-like mass through which
you can never get even dim sight
for over 20 yards and most of the
time can scarcely see that man.\
feet ahead you must follow the
tracks of the .seladang you have
wounded , never knowing at what
instant the maddened beast may
burst from the jungle practically
right on I op of you. One seladang
I was fortunate enough to finally
get was only just at the other side
of a bamboo clump wheu he start
ed his charge full at me. This is
the dangerous and the unavoid
able feature of hunting the benst
in Malay. Luckily for the hunter ,
the soladang , if unsuccessful in its
charge , passes on to await him at
another point. Never have I heard
of one turning instantly to a second
end charge after missing tin ?
hunter on the first rush. But , on
the other hand , if the seladang
charges home it remains to gorge
its victim.
POTALA : A SACRED PALACE
Edifice of High Priest Photographed
for the First Time Re
cently.
L'otala , or the sacred place of
the dalai lama , the high priest of
the Thibetans , was photographed
for the lirst time when the mem
bers of the British Thibetan expe
dition reached Lhasa , the sacred
forbidden city in the center of
Thibet , says the Metropolitan
Magazine. Col. Younghusband ,
who was in charge of the expedi
tion , would permit no attempt by
the correspondents to violate the
sanctity o'f the various sacred
buildings , but splendid views of
the exterior were obtained , and
the world is richer by authentic
descriptions of this wonderful pal
ace , which is described in the dis
patch of the
London Times corre
spondent. Over a city set as a
jewel , amid green gardens ,
through which crystal streams
flowed , towered the giant I'otala ,
rising almost from the ground in
gigantic stretches of white ma
sonry , pierced with intermingable
rows of windows , and scaled by
great , rededged.ig x.ag stair
ways , 20 feet wide. Above these
a white mass ascended at either
end in the shape of a hen\ih ter
raced palace , inclosing a maroon
mass , the main building. Above
this again were golden roofs of a
Chinese pattern , the whole struc
ture , -130 feet high and between
SOO and 900 feet long , completely
dominating the city of Lhasa ,
which was separated from th j
palace by wide stretches of turf
and a beautiful plantation full of
forest trees.
If You Don't Dig.
No one knows what a day will
bring forth , but it is generally a
pretty safe guess that it willbe
nothing. Puck.
WILL POWER AN ESSENTIAL
The Man Who Believes and Has Con
fidence In Himself Is Ho Who
Succeeds.
What would you think of a
young man , ambitious to become
a lawyer , who should surround
himself with a medical utnios
phere and spend his time rcadinj ,
medical books ? asks Orison Swett
Marden , in Success. Do you thini ,
he would ever become a great
lawyer by following such a course ?
No , he must put himself into a law
atmosphere , where he can absorb
it and be steeped in it until he is
attuned to the legal note. lie
must be grafted into the legal
tree so that he can feel its sap cir
culating through him.
How long would it take a young
man to become successful who
puts himself into an atmosphere
of failure and remains injt until
he is soaked to saturation with
the idea ? llow long would it take
a man who depreciates himpelf ,
talks of failure , walks like a fail
ure , and dresses like a failure
who is always complaining of the
insurmountable difficulties in his
way , and whose every step is on
the road to failure how long
would it take him to arrive at the
success goal ? Would anyone be
lieve in him or expect him to win ?
The majority of failures began
to deteriorate by doubting or de
preciating themselves , or by los
ing confidence in their own ability.
The moment you harbor doubt
and begin to lose faith in yourself ,
you capitulate to the enemy.
Every time you acknowledge
weakness , inefficiency , or lack of
ability , you weaken your self-con
fidcnce , and that is to undermine
the very foundation of all achieve
ment.
So long as you carry around a
failure atmosphere , and radiate
doubt and discouragement , you
will be a failure. Turn about face ,
eut off all currents of fail
ure thoughts , of discouraged
thoughts. Boldly face your goal
> vith a stout heart and a deter
mined endeavor , and you will find
that things will change for you ;
but you must see a new world be
fore you can live in it. It is to
what you see , to what you believe ,
to what you struggle incessantly
to attain , that you will approxi
mate.
FIND TREASURE OF A KING
Hoard of Gold , Ivory and Precious
Stones Lies Hidden in
African Soil.
Treasure hunting continues to
occupy the attention of many people
ple in various parts of the world.
A hoard of buried wealth not as
well known as certain others is
that supposed to have been se
creted by Lobengula , king of the
Matabele in South Africa , before
he met his death at the hands of
the British. This treasure is said
to consist of gold , ivory and pre
cious stones. It was brought into
the limelight of public notice not
long ago by the arrest of a Dutch
man named John Jacobs. He ar
rived at Bulawayo , told some
thing of his plans , was put into
what they call the "goal" and has
since been deported.
Lobengula succeeded his father
as king of the Matabcle in 1S70
and boldly opposed European civ
ilization. lie made Bulawayo his
capital. After the discovery of
gold in his territory in 1872 , Portugal
tugal , the Transvaal and Great
Britain strove to win the supreme
control over Lobengula's king
dom. In 1SSS he signed a treaty
with Great Britain , admitting her
suzerainty. In 1SIW , provoked by
the insolence of the British South
Africa company , he attacked the
English , lle'was terribly beaten.
LI is capital was taken and in his
tlight he himself was killed.
John Jacobs , the treasure seek
er , was a school-teacher. Ik'
claims to have been private secre
tary to King Lobengula and that
in this way he learned where the
treasure was hid. The Bulawayc
authorities , however , discovered
that he had a bad record. Henci
his deportation. Jacobs is an el
derly man , bearing evidence of
long exposure to wind and
weather. The treasure is still to
be found.
Old Age and Late Hours.
A 'statistician affirms that the
majority of people who attain old
age have kept late hours. Eiglr
out of ten who reach the age of 8" "
have never gone to bed till nfe-
12 at night.
BLOCKING OF PORT ARTHUR
' Writer In Vigorous Description Tells
of Perils of Japanese Before
Doomed City.
i This vigorous description is
from "The Yellow War , " by " 0. "
The scene is the blocking of Port
Arthur harbor by the Japanese
vessels. "The otlicer in com
mand of the doomed ship stood in
front of the wheel with his eyes
glued upon the deepening base of
the black darkness in front of him.
The increasing shadow betokened
( he land he was trying to make.
The only light was the binnacle.
The slow grind of the half-speed
engines and the swirl of the dis
placed water was in itself sound
enough to render almost unlc ; .
able the overpowei ing feelin ; . < >
. 'lcnce. Suddenly a { real luu' !
of light cleft ( he darkness ahead
It was so white and ck-a- that t'
" ccs o ! the three int'ii on ; I
. . . iilge looked pale and i'r .t'.ii'.v
The man at the wheel wiwed wi .
tie si Kike it Wi.s literally .
i.oke of light I.n ( I' i < .
- l\ i Hived his hand. Ti.t .
ad defeated lheir own end" tin
. ad shown him the passage half
p ' ! ( to starbo'ird and the jioir *
was true.
"All was dark anddreadfu1
again , but only for a second. . ' .
long meteorlike rocket shot up
from the center of the ovorpowci
ing mass ahead. Its sinuous
course closed in a mass of sparks'
The great beam of the ( iolden h'll
searchlight leaped into life. 15 ; : <
there were other lights- light
ning flashes from the breast of
the mountain , flashes which
seared the gloom and vanished.
The forts of Port Arthur were
firing the guns which tit night iii <
always trained upon the harbor
approaches. The tumult way
deafening. The great bare flanks
of the mountains behind cauglii
up the deadly roll of discharging
quick firers and flung ( lie sound
back in mocking revcrbcrut'on. '
But that was not the worst sound.
The hissing rush of projectiles ,
the ear-splitting swish as they
struck the wafer and exploded , or
shrieked in ricochet overhead--
the tension bred of apprehensive
darkness had changed to an in
furno of modern war.
"At last the Japanese officer
gave evidence of sensibility to the
hades which surrounded him. He
had brought his ship far enough
into the passage. He blew the
whistle , which his teeth had bit
ten almost flat : 'Tort , had a
port ! ' As her head came round a
heavy shell hit her forward. Then
another shock. It was as if an
earthquake had struck her.
Instantaneously the engines
stopped. They were twisted out
of all semblance to symmetry.
A torpedo had struck her amid
ships. Again the whistle sound
ed. It was the order to take to the
boat. . . . The ship was listing
heavily. The officer shouted to his
men in the boat. Ilis foot was on
the rail when the destroyer opened
with its quick firer. A shell took
him in the neck and shoulder and
bursting on impact carried the
brave man's head and brain away
with it. Ills mutilated trunk fell
forward among his anxious men.
"Be was aboard. They pushed
off and as they handled'the oars
they gave a cheer. Then they dis
covered that it was the warm ,
thick lifeblood of their chief and
not the spume of the sea which
had made them wet in the dark
ness. "
Poor Johnnie.
Mose Chigley , a friend of the
Sentinel living in Davis , and cer
tainly a representative Indian of
his tribe , a man always ready to
appreciate the situation , was
blessed a few months since with
a male heir. The little fellow ,
however , did not arrive in time to
get on the approved government
rolls. This grieved the fond fa
ther not a little ; in fact , he took
it so to heart that he was deter
mined in some way to commem
orate lastingly the matter. He
accordingly christened the per
tionless heir Johnnie No Land
Chigley. " Paul's Valley (0. ( T. )
Sentinel.
Smallest Installation.
What is said to be the smallest
electric light installation in the
world is to be found in the village
of Bremen , near Dormbach , Thur-
ingia. It comprises a single arc
lamp installed in a church , the
lamp being operated by a small
dynamo driven by the wheels of
the villatre mill.
LONG-WINDED ORATORS.
So a Texas Legislator Brought &n
Alarm Clock Into the HOUBO
Which Is a Success.
The unusual sight of a mature
and sedate member of the legisla
ture standing on the floor of the
house in the midst of its proceed
ings holding aloft a 15-cent alarm
clock , decorated with blue ribbons
bens , while the alarming depart
ment of the machinery was in : i
state of eruption , was witnessed
the other afternoon , and the sight
precipitated convulsions and con
fusion onu the part of the member
ship , while the pages shrieked
wildly and turned somersaults in
the aisles. J. J. Blount , of Ander
son county , was the owner and op
erator of the clock and the origina
tor of the idea that timepieces
should be put to that use. lie was
deadly in earnest too , says the
Dallas News.
Mr. Blount had on several occa
sions complained of the "wind-
jamming " in the house and spcef-
lie-ally of the fact that speeches of
ten minutes extended beyond that
time limit. This afternoon he
showed up in the house with a
brand-new clock , lie informed
those who questioned him about it
that he intended to set the clock
us each member rose to speak so
that it would call time on him
when the limit under the rules had
been reached.
There were several speeches
during the lirst hour and a half
of the session , but it chanced that
CurtisUancockof Dallas , was the
victim of Mr. Blouut's system.
The Blnnton pure food bill was un
der discussion. Mr. Hancock had
offered an amendment to protect
the retail grocers and was speak
ing to it. He was frequently in
terrupted with questions and
there was frightful disorder , so
much that the speaker ( Mr. Huds-
peth in the chair ) ordered the ser-
gcant-at-arms to clear the lobby.
Just at this juncture and as Mr.
Hancock was reaching the quit
ting point a strong "tiug-a-Iing"
rang out above the din. Mr.
Blount arose and held the time
keeper aloft in full view of the
howling assemblage.
' 'Steamboats have schedules , so
railroads have time cards , and the
Twenty-ninth house of represen
tatives must follow its rules , " he
declared. Mr. Hancock seemingly
believed that he had been special
ly selected as the voctim of a prac
tical joke , asserted with emphasis
his right to be heard in the inter
est of the people whom he repre
sented , and he scathingly de
nouncedthe spirit which it seemed
prompted some members to per
petrate such pranks. His indigna
tion and earnestness were such
that the remainder of his speech
was received in respectful silence.
The lobby was not cleared.
AMERICAN OSTRICHES MANY
Four Farms in United States and In
dustry Is Reported Thriving
Year by Year.
There are four ostrich farms in
the United States and the two
most important are situated in
the Salt River valley , Arizona.
The industry is carried on success
fully in the Arizona climate and
the birds seem to thrive quite as
well as in their foreign habitat.
Mr. Joseph Harbert , of Phoenix ,
imported li ( birds from South Af
rica in 1893 and
, placed them on
his farm in the Salt River valley ,
a few miles from the city of Phoe
nix. A number of the birds died
from the effects of the journey and
the change of food and climate ,
and during the first years little
progress was made. Their eggs
were hatched in large incubators ,
and when the business of caring
for them was learned it was found
that the Salt River valley birds
grew up to be several inches taller
than the imported birds and the
feathers are said to be of better
quality. Gov. Alexander O.Brodie ,
of Arizona , takes great pride in
the ostrich farming of his terri
tory , and he has devoted consid
erable space to it in his last nn-
iiial report , showing that he
oelieves it will become in time one
of the leading industries of that
region. One bird will yield a
pound of feathers at one clipping ,
and they are clipped every eight
months. Some of the feathers are
sold as high as $25 a pound in east
ern markets , so it can be readily
seen that it is an industry worth
while. The ostrich population of
the two farms near Phoenix is
about 1,000.
MUSSELS FIND MANY USES.
Some Facts About a Familiar Shell
fish At Its Best in the Spring
How to Cook Them.
Mussels are at their best in the
spring. Mussels thrive in bays
and inlets , on sandy bottoms , to
which , and to one another , they
attach by their byssus threads ,
these being slender filaments issu
ing from between the shells , says
a New York writer. They are
sometimes in great beds extend
ing over a hundred acres , thou
sands of bushels of mussels being
obtained in a single bed.
Fishermen go for mussels as
soon as the ice is out of the bays
in the spring , and sometimes
when wind and weather are pro
pitious they sandwich in a trip for
mussels between the end of one
fishing trip and the beginning of
another. There are plenty of mus
sel beds within easy reaching dis
tance of New York , and once on a
mussel bed a load for a ten-ton -4
sloor might be dredged up in a
single tide.
So with good luck a fisherman
could go to a mussel bed 20 , 30 or
40 miles distant , and get a load of
mussels , and be back in New York
ready to ' ell them , all within two
days. '
The profit on the trip depends on
what he gets for his catch. If
there should be many boatload ! ;
of mussels in the market at the
same time he would get less for
them ; but if he sh'ould happen to
come in when mussels were scarce
he would get more. If he got , say ,
§ 1.25 a barrel , about an average
price , and he had from 50 to 75
barrels in his sloop and he had
made a quick trip and disposed of
his catch quickly there would bo
fair money in it.
But the fisherman takes chances
in mussel fishing , just as he does
in every other sort of fishing. <
Fishermen sometimes eat mus
sels fried , but the great bulk of
mussels consumed are pickled.
The mussels are first boiled , and
then picked out of their shells , and
then what is called the beard ,
which consists of the inward ends
of the byssus threads , is removed ,
and with it a little sac into which
the mussel is likely to have
drawn more or less sand. Then
the mussels are put up in jars in
pii-kle. with a few spices added.
Pickled mussels have long been a
familiar item of free lunch , and
people buy them as well to carry
home.
The mussel is u much cheaper - \
shellfish than the oyster or the
clam , but still it is not eaten to
the same extent. There are people
ple with whom the mussel docs
not agree , because of its rich
flavor. But there are epicures
who are fond of them , and who
like to eat them occasionally , and-
BO mussels may be found on the
bills of fare of the finest restaur
ants.
Junkmen who go info the coun
try buying junk sometimes take
down their jangling bells and
stow them away somewhere in the
wagon and take into the country ,
a wagonloud of mussels , which
they dispose of to farmers , trad
ing the mussels , maybe , for junk.
Pickled mussels have been
shipped from New York at least
as far away as Chicago ; so that ,
altogether the quantity of mus
sels disposed" of in the Gotham
market is considerable.
Novel Way to Kill Sharks.
The engineers in the British
navy have a very effective way of
killing sharks. They seal up .1
dynamite eartiidge in an empt.v
can , and put the can inside a large
piece of pork. The pork is thrown
overboard on a wire which has
been connected with an electric
battery. When the shark takes
the bait the engineer presses .1
button , which explodes the car
fridge and kills the fish.
A Beginner.
He The airships do not seem
to be perfected yet. The great
problem is how can a man be kept
up in the air ?
She Well , I saw you out horse
back riding the other day , and it
looked very much as if you were in
the air most of the time ! Yon
kers Statesman.
His First Attack.
She ( toying with the ring ) And
am I the first woman you ever
loved ?
He No , indeed. At the early
age of seven I thought seriously
of eloping with my teacher. Chicago
cage Daily News.