The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, May 07, 1896, Image 6
i I- I I VA W i i ffi m i t t v i V I U f I Hi ft I it i i t it I I I s jmmssscamstsm OOOCtoOOOOOCXXWOOOOCXWOOOOOQ CALLING THE CAMELS HOME OOOOOOOOOOOO0OOOOOOOOCXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOG It was a very dark night when llabd bullah arrived with his nine camels at the lonely Zhob Levy post on the road to Dera Ismail Khan Though a na tive of the regions round about he with true Mohammedan recklessness turned to sleep leaving his beasts unsaddled to forage during the rest of the night Small wonder tihat at dawn the loss of the whole nine was reported at the nearest post The loss was promptly attributed to cattle lifters as a band ot Waziris had been rumored to have come from the Mahsud tribe during the last few days Saddle and ride was the order of the day Bakshan Khan slipped his medicine phial into his pock et Wazir Khan put a chlllum and some tobacco into his holster instead of his ration pocket Gurdit Sinh put a twist ed cloth containing opium into his tur ban The English officer crammed half a dozen chupatties and a flask of whis ky into his pockets In twenty minutes fifteen armed men were galloping to the place whence the animals had been lifted Bakshan Khans trackers had been before them and had run the trail across the river and into the hills on the other side Every indication was that the party had gone off toward Wano in a bee line across the hills and -with probably ten hours start In that awful country and with the slow and malignant camel peculiar to those parts they -were probably a dozen miles ahead To follow that trail among that mass of torrents all twisting like wounded snakes and in as many direc tions as imagination could devise seem ed at first an absolutely impossible task But to the men following it every nullah was as well known as London streets to a cockney Not for nothing had they hunted the wild goat and sheep and chikor day after day in those fastnesses Only two routes were pos sible One was an easy one with sandy going up a nullah and then across a shallow neck through a kind of down country with rocks for grass into an other nullah and so down among an interminable wash of ravines to the Gumal and Waziristan The other was a stiff but not steep climb by the way of the lowest hills into t wide plain crossed by ravines and then by an intricate system of nullahs to the con- fluenee of the Toi and Gumal and so to Wano Ait the end of tiwo hours ride up the latter route chosen because it was the shortest in distance a sure indication was found Turning a tall ragged knee of precip itous rock a man was seen making off up the mountain side He bore a hand some jezail across his shoulders and was dressed as if on a journey far from home At the shouts of the party he turned and unslung his jezail but a shot fired bj a sowar induced him to ground arms and then at a second hail from Wazir Khan he came down to the party He was instantly seized and disarmed On inquiry he was found to beayoung Mahsud who gave the name of Mazduri till nn application of stir rup leather to his legs revealed an alias of Bakhtawar This being accepted as probable he was further questioned His replies were evasive to say the least During the conversation four or five sowars had gone ahead and found on the soft wet side of a trickle of waiter a plain mark of a camels foot This damned the prisoner He was decorated as to his neck -with a collar of tough picketing rope theslackend was made fast to a sowars saddle and he was bidden run or hang A sword point at his back ended all his hesitation He ran and nimbly too while the pursuers followed at a brisk trot winding up the sandy bell of the nullah A collection of camels dung hastily thrown into a small cran ny in the rocks close to the site of a sheepfold removed all doubts The prisoner ran on for nearly a mile more before he -tripped and fell cutting his left knee and arm badly As he did so a shot fired from a rock on the moun tain side about 400 yards ahead scat tered sand and flint among the horses legs It -was now quite certain that the rear guard of the camel lifters had been caught and a hard gallop to head off the firere resulted in his capture within half an hour He was not wounded but very tired A rapid council of war was held while the horses drank at the water and cropped a Httle of the sour -herbage at Its edge When all are of much the -same mind there is little need of words nd so in half an hours time the pur suers now ten in number saddled and mounted and were off at a canter While crossing the rough and stony downjlike country a horse fell and -was badly hurt This necessitated the sending back of the injured horse and three other sowars whose horses unlikely to last out the stern chase -which as all knew was bound to be a long one This delay of ten minutes was not such a great loss after all For bardly had the pursuers started again than the keen eyes of Bakshan Khan saw a camel standing against the sky line on tSie top of a mountain about a mile ahead as the crow flies As he jcalled attention to4t another camel ap jpeared and then a man Against the rclear sky they looked gigantic The camels semed the most weird and dia bolical creatures seen out of a dream -while the man appeared at least ten feet high and of gigantic dimensions A -truly uncanny sight In a moment more XUCJ MVijyClA W t - WV mugvi jj - wewg8BESG538iaaiRSgy w sfgtggarjBsg s ausrawtrw The point at which they appeared showed that -they had changed their route a little and that by a daring dash across a difficult and little used sheep track the pursuers could drop into the plain of the ravines before or at the same time as the Waziris The ques tion was whether the horses could sur vive that awful scramble and gallop afterward But blood was up and without d word they all tried for it To get up to the top of the neck was not very difficult but the descent Pacilis descendus Averni Bu t this was far otherwise A yawning precipice of about 200 feet deep on the bridle hand and a path consisting entirely of bowl ders which goats might jump or a man scramble over on the very brink was almost too much for the horses These gallant creatures had far weaker nerves than their riders and though each man dismounted and led his liorse walking in front with the bridle reins behind his back the agony of fear made them sweat as the galloping had yet failed to do It was painful to see the fear distended nostrils the glaring eyes and the tremble of every muscle in their hard knit frames The clash of the hoofs and the omin ous slide as -the hard iron hilt the unre lenting bowlder made both man and horse thrill with absolute terror It was simply awful Nothing but the lust of blood when man hunts man the greatest and most exciting hunt of all could have steeled the hearts of the pursuers Nothing but the blind trust in company which drives the war horse into the deadly charge the hideous companionship of perfect fear could have enabled the horses to suc ceed in this awful enterprise Their groans sent a cold shudder down the spines of the men Tears started to Bakshan Khans eyes at the agony of his beloved mare He vented his feel ings in curses and so did his white brother The passage did not last twenty minutes It might have been twenty hours All reached the plain in safety But the horses were spent with terror The camels were seen not -half a mile head making for the la vines as fast as blows could urge them The Englishman pull ed out his flask and pouring a few drops on his handkerchief wiped the horses nostrils Then he mounted Bakshan Khan breathed into his mares nostrils and Gurdit Singh mounted and spurred Wazir Khan calling aloud on Allan mounted too At first a trot feeble and uncertain then as they felt good firm ground a gallop The -horses regained courage with pace The camels neared the ravines as the pursuers raced hard for them In that supreme moment there was nobbing known of race or creed or color The Biluch Sikh Pathan and Englishman each swearing indiscriminately at each other raced for blood Another 300 yards A camels lead ing rope breaks and the jaded brute stands still A yell of joy from the pur suers A couple of shots from the Waziris Bakshan Kthan pulls up and is off his mare like a streak of light ning A shot from his rifle hits the man who is striving to drive the camel on The rest sweep on with a yell Another 200 yards to cross They have them No They reach the brink of the first ravine to find nothing In a way in conceivable except to an actual be holder there remains only a solitary camel and a dying man bleeding from a bullet wound in the back of the neck The rest are as clean gone as if the earth had swallowed them up It is hopeless to search those endless ravines The horses were quite done up Eight hours hard going across that dreadful country at an average of five miles an hour make it far more desirable to make for home as quickly as possible So they loaded the dead Mashud on the camel and after rest ing a couple of hours began to wend their weary way home by the easiest ways known The horses found water and grass about nightfall and the sev en weary and hungry men forgot all differences of race and religion in con sidering their safety and relief in that dangerous desert Each man put his provisions out on a flat rock and then under cover of the dark each went alone and took his share The Mussul man drank from the English flask the Sikh ate the Mussulmans chupatties the Englishman took and smoked a pill of the blessed opium Surely God sent that drug for mans solace in Ms hour of utmost need It was nearly noon next day when the pursuers returned to the post After taking six hours dead sleep it was time to attend to business Habibullah had recognized his camel and also the dead man as a man he had met on the road near Mir All Khel who had said he was a coolie on the road The great question now was how to get the re maining eight camels back At the instigation of Bakshan Khan the fol lowing device was adopted A rope was hung from one of the -bag beams supporting the roof of the gate and Bakhtawar mounted on a ghi box was placed with the noose around his neck In this position be was told before his fellow prisoner that unless the camels return safe and sound before the third sun his corpse would be burned on the dunghills below the post The other youth was then stripped to a garment doing duty for a shirt soundly flogged and then hunted out of the post de- yj jrtSTr - y fenseless It had previously been as cenfcained that the two were cousins and that Bakhtawar was the son of a man having some influence The dead mans corpse was not to be burned un less the camels failed to return He was also an influential person or had been All that now remained was to wait and trust that the camels would be re stored It was a game of -grab The young Mahsud bore himself -with a calm indifference to bis fate He even pretended that he was a Ghazi and as such could not -burn One could not but admire his courage None the less was he carefully guarded under a Sikh guard no Mussulman being allow ed to approach him for the faith oi Islam is as the faith of Freemasons and the oath of the Sikh is as strong as the sword that baptizes him On the afternoon of the day that was to end Bakhtawars life an old man came into the post He was Bakhta wars father Gray broken toothed scars on his face and arms from count less fights he looked like a grim old boar To morrow at sundown said he you shall see eight camels come in If not hang and burn me with my only son After this he said no word Respite was perforce granted and the English officer went to bed wondering how he was to get out of the scrape If the game of brag failed whaft was he to do An hour before dawn the hand of the Afridi jemadar was laid on his face and the voice said Let go the wild goats for I go out hunting and will not return till I bring the horns I am not afraid was the reply grj not till the second darwn and the jemadar retired as softly as he came It was late afternoon and the sun all but touched the western mountain crest when they took the old man and bis son put nooses on their necks and their feet on the boxes with a horse harness ed to each rope Lower and lowei sank the sun Half the disc had gone when a camel turned the corner of the rocky road below the post Just as the sun set eight camels stoood inside the posit with two stout grinning Mah suds in charge The men so suddenly released from death evinced no feelings of any sort The only sign of relief they gave was a ready acquiescence in the confiscation of their arms and the handcuffing of all four Mahsuds till next day when they were escorted across the river and set free In the evening the jemadar returned from shooting He said I shot two wild goats but they were without horns and Sahib wants horns What can I show And he laughed a satanic laugh So did Bakshan Khan Pall Mall Gazette SHE STAMPED HIS OFFER An English Breach ofPromise Case Hangs Upon a Postage Stanip Miss Jane Ashton of Hollingwood near Manchester -has discovered an entirely novel use for penny postage stamps Courted by Mr Samuel Scholes a farmer of that part and growing wear ied of -her lovers proscrastinaiting hab its Miss Ashton determined at last to bring matters to an issue She was moved thereto by more than one con sideration It was not merely the farmers persistent neglect to name the wedding day pleading the cotton Strike agricultural depression and other in sufficient excuses it was the fact that after ten years of this sort of shilly shallying Mr Scholes had begun to pay marked attention to another lady Moreover Miss Ashtons dilatory suitor had attained -to the age of 60 and Miss Ashton was herself getting on that way So Miss Ashton informed him in de cided terms that he must make up his mind I will do anything in reason said the farmer Then let us have it in writing said the lady Thereupon Miss Ashton wrote on a sheet of paper Will you marry me if I keep company with you and the farmer being thus cornered ap pended the words I will but added the insidious proviso I will df I ever marry Naturally Miss Ashton saw -in this act need for extra caution She knew her man and therefore pulled out a penny postage stamp stuck it firmly on the document wrote across it tlhe date and put it in her pocket Then it was that Mr Scholes impressed by this legal formality begged piteously to have the fatal paper stamp and ail handed over for him He -would give a sovereign for it he staid and when the lady asked him Are you going to get married or are you net he wild ly gasped out the words Whether or not I want tihee to set me free The closing scene of the little drama was enacted at the Manchester assizes where Miss Ashton appeared as plain tiff in a breach of promise action The postage stamp may have lacked the sovereign virtues that Miss Ashton had attributed to it this little object which had caused Mr Scholes teeth to dhattei with fear may have been a mere bug bear but the jury looked to the facts ol the case and gave the lady a verdict though with what seems to be the rath er paltry sum of 75 damages London News -Her Brag the Biggest Dr M W Stryker President of Ham ilton College told this story the other day in an address before the New York Hardware Club The braggart spirit anywhere is absurd Some little school girls it is chronicled of Chicago were discussing their clothes Ive got a lovely new dress said one and 1 am going to wear it to church next Sun day Tooh said another Ive a new1 hat and Im going to wear it every day Well said a third Ive got heart disease anyway In forming a bad habit remember that it will be very hard to quit TOPICS FOE FARKEES A DEPARTMENT PREPARED FOR OUR RURAL FRIENDS flow to Care for Timothy Hay Pro longing the Fruit Season by Cold Storage Hardiness of Winter Wheat Nests for Setting Hens Timothy Hay I prefer a cut in the afternoon when it is free from all external moisture turn it just before noon the next day and at 1 oclock turn a second time and in half an hour start the teams to taking it in I learned by a losing ex perience that it is necessary to have ventilation under the door of a hay bay I built a hay barn five or six years ago and laid a floor on mud sills only a few inches above the ground and found nearly a ton of musty hay in the bottom of a bay 24x14 in size I then raised my mud sills and placed them on stones so as to allow a space of a foot under them and my hay has kept well ever since I do not use sills at all In a hay barn but stand the posts on the foundation and spike a 2x8 joist to them to hold them in place and then place timbers on stone to support the floor joists so that the weight of the ray rests on the ground and not on the frame of the barn For our own use we prefer mixed hay clover and timothy and the mammoth clover is best as it ripens with the timothy but not over two pounds of seed to the acre should be sown or the timothy is likely to- be smothered out entirely the next season Another advantage of this thin seeding is that the timothy keeps the clover from falling down and helps it to cure better I have never found mammoth clover satisfactory for hay when sown by itself but with timothy it largely increases the yield of hay and cures out so as to be eaten by all stock as well as the medium clover W F Brown in Ohio Farmer Cold Storage for Apples Anent the recent progress in the mat ter qf prolonging the season of fruits by means of cold storage Prof Craig of the experiment farm at Ottawa Can ada thinks that the time may soon come when winter apples may not be a necessity as fall apples can be kept in perfect condition until the next sum mer This is entirely practicable but as winter apples are quite as easily grown as summer or autumn apples there seems no need of dispensing with either At the Columbian exposi tion in the New YorK fruit exhibit there were shown at the opening of the exhibition and for some weeks after perfect specimens of the sweet bough sour bough fallpippin pound sweet and others and they would have kept in the summer or fall without having been thus stored In other words contrary to the generally accepted idea the cold storage in no way impaired their keep ing qualities It would certainly be very pleasant to be able to have a sup ply of primate Chenango strawberry Gravenstein and fall pippin through the winter The problem to solve is to make central cold storage plants in fruit growing neighborhoods where business enough can be secured to make them profitable operated by the ammonia process Ice methods will not answer To fill the modern demand they must be able to freeze fresh meats fish and poultry in one room while keeping fruit at 30 degrees Fahrenheit in another Orange Judd Farmer Hardiness of Winter Wheat Winter wheat is a much hardier grain than is commonly supposed If it were not it could not endure the changes which in our climate ordinary winter weather always involves With regard to flooding we found many years ago that Avheat can be entirely covered by water for a day or two In spring with out injury provided the water was run ning and there was an outlet below for it to escape through An oat or barley crop in similar circumstances is much Avorse injured than is wheat often turning yellow and sometimes entirely rotting down while the wheat plant went through the ordeal uninjur ed It is possible that the tenderness of the spring grain is due to its sudden and rapid growth while the wheat leaves have been inured to hardiness by exposure to cold weather all the winter But however hardy wheat may be against injury from a running stream or where an underdrain be neath will carry off the water neither it nor any other can long live where its roots are surrounded by stag nant water Nests for Sitting Hens The nest for a hen that is to sit and hatch a brood of chicks should be on the ground wherever that is possible With a little management on the part of the poulterer this cau usually be ac complished The advantages of the nest on the ground are that the mois ture arising from the soil prevents the eggs from drying up and destroying the gerin of the young chick by exclud ing air The egg shell is porous but if there is no moisture the warmth from the hen hardens the membrane inside before the chick is able to break through it In such case the chick dies and the egg is addled Every farmer has noticed that hens which steal their nests in summer usually come off with full broods The only dis advantage of nests on the ground for setting hens is that they may be dis turbed by rats skunks or other vermin But if such vermin abound it is quite likely that they will take more or less of the chicks and it is better to have the nest rifled when it contains only eggs than to lose all after the chicks have hatched Treatment for Hojr Cholera There are a great many so called rem edies for the so called hog cholera and I havo tried many of them with vary- Ing results The one that has proved the most successful with me and under my observation is this First separate the well from the sick ones removing the well ones and put ting them in other pens or fields as far removed as practical from the diseased ones Disinfect the old and new quar ters with a strong solution of carbolic acid and at the same time sprinkle around the feeding places and pens slaked lime Whitewash the pens and fences with ordinary whitewash in which put crude carbolic acid in the proportion of a pint of the crude to an ordinary bucketful of the wash Be fore removing the well animals sprin kle them with a solution of crude car bolic acid and water in the proportion of a Dint of the acid to a irallon of water Give internally especially during the period of fever tincture of aconite ten to twenty drops in milk according to the size of the animal and the violence of the disease Keep the sick in dry and comfortable quarters and if an animal seems stupid or its bowels are not working right fifteen to twen ty drops of turpentine in castor oil twice a day until the conditions change Give no solid food to uny of the affect ed milk is best but if not at hand or in sufficient quantities make a warm gruel of cornmeal ana allow the sick to drink of it in small quantities and often Put hyposulphate of soda in all water used by the animals for drinking in the proportion of an ounce to a gal lon of water Care to prevent changes of condition and preventing the ani mals from taking cold is one of the im portant things Sick animals should not be exposed to storms or sudden changes of the weather Disinfect ev ery day as above indicated If instruc tions are followed strictly SO per cent of the afflicted can be saved Shen in Breeders Gazette Old Apple Trees in Maine Some of the old apple trees that se cured hard tough barks before the borer became numerous are still living and productive So long as new or chards are put out the borer attacks the young trees and leaves them alone The secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture mentions an apple tree in York Me which was brought over from England in a tub and planted more than 200 years ago It was still bearing in 1S70 Another apple tree near Wiscasset bay was an old tree in 1S05 and it continues to bear fruit un til now Farm Notes Early potatoes for family use can be started in hotbeds and then set out in the open ground It enables them to gain two or three weeks growth It is claimed that the wild goose plum in order to bear fruit must have the aid of pollen from some source oth er than its own as it is incaoable of fertilizing its pistil It is claimed that there is less wheat in the world than is required for con sumption even with prices much below those obtained a decade past Wheat however can be produced for much less in cost owing to improved machin ery and implements Wide tires on wagons not only lessen the draft on the horses but prevent cutting up of the roads to a certain ex tent They also assist in hardening and packing the roads after the frost is gone and can be used on land where narrow tires are impracticable For the potato beetles it is not neces sary to use Paris green very liberally as the smallest quantity taken by tlie beetle is fatal A mixture of one pound of Paris green with one hundred pounds of land plaster is an excellent application but the two substances must be intimately mixed Now that the frost is making the roads soft the farmers will find it prof itable to compare the amount of taxes paid with the loss of time on the roads With mud up to the hubs of the wheels to say nothing of the cleaning of vehi cles good roads should find advocates on every farm without regard to their cost By crossing we often procure large well developed chickens which often surpass in size and development either of their pure bred parents Of course for breeding purposes these chickens are worthless but they were not bred for that end they develop meat and eggs and if they do this work they an swer the ends of their being It very rarely pays to buy different kinds of chemicals to mix together- un less it can be done on a large scale A little makes more bother than the profit will be from using the fertilizers I ius mixed But as stable manure is often deficient in mineral plant food it will pay to buy phosphate and potash to mix with it The mineral fertilizer thus used is much more effective than if applied alone Canned apples sell rapidly and every year the demand increases so much as to somewhat lessen the demand for evaporated apples The wastes from the evaporators are said to be used lor making cheap jellies In England tur nips are used as the base of such jel lies and flavored with strawberry raspberry etc The canned apples are largely being used instead permitting of the utilization of early summer and fall apples that cannot be kept over winter as well as placing on the mar ket a wholesome article of diet Every farmer should economize but it is not economical to omit that which is necessary to the production of large crops It may compel a large outlay to procure fertilizers for special crops b t it will not be economical to endeav or to succeed without them If the land will not yield largely without their aid they must be procured or the farm will be operated at a loss It may be a misfortune for a farmer to be com pelled tomakethe expenditure but low prices and competition must be met by compelling the soil to do its best in pro duction - -as WmsB Care of Floors and Furniture Miss Parloa emphasizes the need of method and thoroughness even in so 3imple a thing as sweeping a room All ornaments and furniture should be re moved or carefully covered and even the pictures should be protected Open the windows wide sweep the carpet with a soft light broom always with the nap Bran or bits of dampened paper are better to gather the dust than tea leaves or salt either of which is apt to make discolorations The walls should be brushed with downward strokes the broom being covered with soft flannel Rugs should be beaten face down with a rattan and not shak en Brush the carpet lightly a second time and then go over it with a flannel cloth wrung out in tepid water to which a little household ammonia has been added Water should not be used on a pol ished floor except to dampen a cloth the least bit while soap said the lec turer need not be taken out of the kitchen One pound of wax and a pint of turpentine make an excellent polish for furniture For pianos or such highly-polished surfaces use rotten stone and parafline oil but powdered pumice stone and water will answer for other furniture unless there should be deep scratches when Avater must not be put near it A piece of felt is generally msed for this but old haircloth is even better Oxalic acid will remove dark spots The natural colors may be brought back where the wood is chipped by a careful use of burnt sien na burnt umber Bismarck brown yel low ochre or whatever shade is re quired Take a piece of cheese cloth rolled into a hard ball wet it in thin shellac and dust with the color desired Rub lightly until the surface takes on its natural gloss If a stickiness re mains rub on a little alcohol Coffee Charlotte For coffee charlotte make a quarter of a cup of strong coffee by using two heaping tablespoonfuls of ground cof fee to half a cup of boiling water Soak half a package of gelatine in half a cup of cold water two hours Tut half a cup of milk over the fire in a double boiler with the quarter of a cup of cof fee to heat Beat light the yolks of four eggs and add to them one cup of sugar stir until very light and when the milk is at boiling point draw the dish to one side of the range and grad ually stir in the egg mixture Cook until it just begins to thicken stirring all the while quickly add the soaked gelatine and take from the fire imme diately Stand the dish containing the mixture in a pan of ice water and beat until it begins to set then stir in lightly three quarts of whipped cream and stir from the bottom of the dish until it will just pour Turn the mixture into the prepared mold Potatoes Souffle Wash and bake three large potatoes Cut in halves lengthwise and without breaking the skin scoop out the pota toes into a hot bowl Mash and add one even tablespoonful of butter one of hot milk and salt and pepper to taste Beat the whites of two eggs stiff and mix with the potato Fill the skins with the mixture heaping it light ly on the top Brown slightly in tha oven and serve To Renovate Old Lace To renovate old black lace dissolve one teaspoonf ul of borax in half acup of rain water and add one tablespoon ful of spirits of wine Soak the lace in this pressing it several times and rinse in a cup of hot water in which a black kid glove has been boiled Pull out the edge of the lace until it is almost dry and lay it between newspapers put a weight on it and let it remain two days Bengral Omelet- Six eggs one tablespoonful of Span ish onion chopped fine one tablespoon ful of chopped parsley Beat the eggs until thoroughly mixed add the onion and parsley and make the same as plain omelet dust with salt and pepper then serve Hints Scrape kettles with a shell Steam an old fowl before roasting it To freshen salt fish soak them in sour milk Dont use your carpet broom for any other purpose Fight sewer gas with chloride of lime of copperas Remember that sulphur dissolves in dia rubber A pinch of soda on a hot stove drives away disagreeable odors Hot water and hay is the right mix ture for sweetening iron and wooden ware Steel knives wont rust if you dip them in strong soda water the wipo them dry and roll in flannel Two teaspoonfuls of salt in half a pint of tepid water is an emetic always on hand and is an antidote for poison ing from nitrate of silver To remove pitch and tar stains rub lard on the stain and let it stand for a few hours Sponge with spirits of tur pentine until the stain is removed If the color of the fabric be changed sponge it with chloroform and the color will be restored To sleep in a poorly ventilated room is to invite headache and depression Warmth during sleep should be ob tained from blankets not from closed windows The window should be open about three inches at the top and an inch or two at the bottom - H -A y u 9