a
WAS A BEAVE WOMAN
TAKES HER DEAD HUSBANDS
PLACE AT THE GUN
When He Wan Shot ilarsarct Corbin
Faced the Foe While Scores of Men
Hastened to Get Away Ranks with
Vthe Maid of Sarajjossa
As a Cannoneer in a Battle
Margaret Corbin a New York woman
whose bravery ranks her with Byrons
iamous heroine the maid of Saragossa
and also with the maid of Domremy is
comparatively unknown to the world
Historians overlooked one of the grand
est women that ever trod the earth when
they failed to tell of the deed of heroism
done by Margaret Corbin during the bat
tle of Fort Washington A few lines in
an encyclopedia tell something of her
but no place else is there a word about
her
It was in the defense of New York city
that Margaret Corbin showed herself as a
courageous and brave woman In the
battle of -Harlem plains first and last of
importance to be fought on the Island of
Manhattan hers was the only deed of
shining valor that gave the surrender of
Fort Washington the glory of victorious
resistance There wert incompetence
lack of arms pusilanimity indeed it was
there at Fort Washington that treachery
like Arnolds only more successful was
practiced Some men died bravely One
of them Margaret Corbius husband
He was serving a cannon against the
Hessians in one of the redoubts -which
stayed the advance of the enemy on the
fort Baron Kuyphausen was directing
3iis well disciplined troops according to
thex information taken through the lines
3y the traitor Off to the southeast Lord
Percy was pressing with superior confi
dence and numbers upon the earthworks
defended by Col Cadwalader of Philadel
phia Just as hope was departing and
the Americans were falling back here
and there one gunner was rendered con
spicuous by stnnding his ground It was
Corbin a Pennsylvania man arid by his
aide his tidy little wife cheeks flaming
with exertion and excitement labored to
8peed his loading and firing
Suddenly Gorbiu dropped and rolled to
his wifes feet dead The fragile woman
stepped to the gun swabbed it rammed
home the shot and touched off the charges
valiantly determined not to yield what
her husband died to retain There was
only hostile faces around and she was
alone and isolated Presently wounded
by three grapsshot she fell She hadnt
saved the oriflame like Jeanne dArc but
she had shown again that there is one
thing that woman can do as well as the
best of men they can die grandly
It was due rather to a stanch constitu
tion than to tender nursing that Margaret
Corbin did not come to her death by those
linked balls Three years later in 1779
the council of Pennsylvania appealed on
her behalf to the board of war and in
consequence she received from Congress
a pension of one half the monthly pay
of a soldier in service Learning in the
year following that her injuries deprived
her of the use of one arm the Govem
jnent allowed her one complete suit of
clothes our- or enVbllc stores or the
value thereof in money in addition to the
provision previously made That and
the title of patriot in the records which
is a fine title to hold and deserve is all
the recognition which her service ever got
It was thirty three years afterward that
the rmaid of Saragossa imitated Margaret
Corbins bravery and received the renown
that should have been bestowed upon the
heroine of the battle at Fort Washington
FIREWORKS AMERICAN MADE
Btatcn Island Is Knocking Out China
Better than Japan Did
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the little town of
Graniteville on Sta
t e n Island more
than 300 persons
mostly farmers
d a u g h t e rs work
from one year to the
next making color
ed fires and rockets
and roman candles
gand those mysterious
tumgs tnown as set
pieces which go off
3t is true according to program but which
-need a guide and a spokesman most times
to tell what they are all about And
talk about Chinese labor Well these
energetic Americans work so systemat
ically for 357 days of the year barring
Sundays that their employers are- able
to sell nearly 20000 gross of fireworks
at less than one half a cent each and
PU
TACKIXG FIREWORKS FOR MARKET
are still able to make a profit of 25 per
cent on their output
In this Graniteville bound in with a
ience over which even a baseball crank
cannot hope to look is a succession of
frame buildings before each of which
stands a bucket filled with water The
buildings are separated so that if the
contents of one of them go up to join the
elements of air and fire the water may
be there to help out the insurance com
janies
As yet the factory does not attempt to
make the small Chinese crackers There
is not enough profit in them But every
thing from them up to the eight ounce
cracker that goes off like a G inch gun are
turned out The pasteboard is made into
3ittle cylinders and these are then taken
to one of the little houses where boys
x the American fuses which give lots
of warning before they ignite the cracker
so that fingers may remain intact These
lads plug up one end with bits of clay and
then pour in the explosive and then they
are ready for packing These firecrackers
have Chinese characters on them
3ut on each in plain New York dialect
is a warning how to hold them and when
to let go You do anything else at your
own risk
The roman candles are made the same
way save that much more care is taken
-with them They are packed with
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draulic presses and the globes of various
ly colored fire which are sent over your
lawn or into your neighbors window are
little cones that resemble yellow and blue
clay yet which are so sensitive to heat
that the mere placing of them in the
pasteboard cylinder sometimes fires them
prematurely by friction Most of the
set pieces and the rockets are loaded at
the outset as the roman candles are the
system being practically the same
One of the most interesting divisions of
the work of preparing for the eagle3
screech is the torpedo factory The giant
torpedoes are made by hand for they are
very sensitive and they require quite a
lot of fulminate of silver which must be
treated with extreme courtesy Boys cut
the pieces of tissue paper the exact square
by machine and then force the center of
each square through the holes of a brass
rack Then a lad drops some of the ful
minate in the bottom of the little bag
there formed and another boy fills the
little paper up with gravel Then the
racks are handed o girlsrwho brush paste
over the tops of the papers and twist
them tight into little points so that the
gravel cannot fall out This done they
are packed in sawdust ten in a box and
are ready for you to awake your neigh
bors
Little Tee Whews Fourth
How many fingers has my boy
Asked his mother of Little Tee Whew
Eight she cried as he spread them wide
Of thumbs dear me you have only two
Do be careful of them to day
As Tom ran off to himself he said
What notions mamma gets into her head
The day began the Fourth you know
Bells to ring and whistles to blow
Tom with Billy and Sam Carew
Showed why they called him Little Tee
Whew
In the very thick of the fizz and noise
Tom was the busiest one of the boys
But now and then in the bang and smoke
Hed think of the words his mother spoke
Then hed gravely count his finger tips
To make quite sure there were eight not six
When ones so busy said Little Tee Whew
It is almost more than a boy can do
To count eight fingers and thumbs one
two
The toy pistol banged with a flash and
sneeze
Just one nice little finger please
No said Tom mamma did say
Dontbreak nor burn nor blow one away
Down fell a match and set on fire
Toms torpedoes with hot desire
For one fat thumb but Tom was stout
In saying No you must go without
At last when the rockets blazed at night
He fell -from the wall and half in fright
He counted over his precious store
Of fingers eight and thumbs once more
When he crept to bed in his nightgown small
And turned his face to the nursery wall
He sleepily murmured It seems to me
Boys dont need more than two or three
Dear dear And he fell asleep with the sigh
Im not going to count next Fourth o July
But his mother said as she smoothed his
hair
Im glad my Little Tee Whews all there
The Nursery
On Condition
Money lender to lieutenant All
right I will prolong your bill but only
on one condition viz that during the
next paper chase you scatter broadcast
these little cards with the words Mon
ey advanced on easy terms by N N
Freisiunige Zeitung
5S
TAKES HER DEAD HUSBANDS PLACE IN THE FIGHT
BELLS OF LIBERTY
Aye let the glad bells
ring to day
Oer all this sun
kissd clime
Ring loud and clear
and far away
For this is Free
doms time
And let them tell the
talc anew
By river lake and
rill
How long ago our grandsires true
Stood fast at Bunker Hill
Ring out with joy O tuneful bell
From surging sea to sea
Lot every stroke melodious swell
The paean of liberty
Ring out where the pine trees crest
Majestic seeks the sky
To where the waters of the West
In golden glory lie
Above Atlantics snowy foam
Take up the cherished strain
And in their fair palmettos home
Join in the glad refrain
No North no South no Bast no West
For love hath stopped the fray
Ring out O bells by heaven blest
Beneath our flag to day
Proclaim our grandeur to the world
In chorus reaching far
Tell how all flags but one are furld
Beneath the Union star
How in the burst of Freedoms sun
Beside the Western sea
We are the land of Washington
Where every soul is free
O bells your tongues with pride endow
And let the nations know
That while our swords are plowshares now
We fear no foreign foe
Join with the bell whose thrilling sound
Amid tho strife forlorn
Proclaimed to patriots gathered round
That Liberty was born
Ring proudly bells beneath the sky
The anthems of the free
In valley low on mountain high
Ring out for Liberty
Let not a bell in silence rest
That hangs twixt wave and wave
Recrown the land we love the best
Land of the fair and brave
WHAT THE DAY MEANS
The Fourth of July la the Greatest
National Holiday in the World
HE greatest nation
al holiday in the
world is that on
which is celebrated
the birthday of the
United States Oth
er nations have their
days of jubilee when
some leading event
in their history is
commemorated France celebrates the
destruction of the Bastile Germany the
triumph of Sedan Italy the entry of the
Italian troops into Rome The Hebrews
to this day commemorate in joy and feast
ing the deliverance of their race from the
bondage of Egypt but not one of these
celebrations can compare in world wide
significance with the Fourth of July The
Bastile was a monument of ancient des
potism the overthrow of which signified
that the people had cast off the chains of
their tyrants Sedan was a great military
victory but it was a victory of conquest
and the day which marks the union of the
Italian peninsula witnessed not so much
the birth of a new nation as the resurrec
tion of a race How much more mem
orable than all these is that great day
when the delegates of Great Britains
American colonies assembled in Philadel
phia proclaimed that a new nation had
been founded in the New World having
for its basis the inalienable right of man
kind to life liberty and the pursuit of
happiness and in the name of a few weak
communities fringing the Atlantic shore
of the Western continent threw down a
challenge of defiance to one of the most
powerful empires of the earth
The Declaration of Independence was
not the assertion of freedom by a nation
of slaves Americans were always free
The Pilgrims who landed on the bleak
New England shore were freemen bound
it is true to British allegiance but ex
ercising from the first the rights of self
government The American colonies nev
er lost the freedom which the Fathers
established and the brief tyranny of An
dros only scathed without destroying
the heritage of liberty handed down by
the founders to their sons The Declara
tion of Independence was as much an as
sertion of rights which had long been en
joyed and a protest against tyrannical
attempts to encroach upon those rights
as it was a proclamation of that indepen
dence which Americans deemed to be
necessary for the protection of their free
dom
Recollections of July 4 1776
r
A Fourth of July Ode
The Glorious Fourth has come
Beat the loud resounding drum pound th
tom tom sound the hewgag blow the
horn and
Let her come
Shoot the cracker Are the pistol punch the
eagle make him scream
Day
Loudly scream
of powder and torpedoes lemonade
that knows no lemon ginger pop de
void of ginger ice cream
Innocent of cream
The Glorious Fourth has come
Beat and pound and whack the drum plunk
the banjo shoot the rocket fire the
cracker
Let her come
Scorch your whiskers shoot your arm off
blow a large hole through your head
Swelling head
Fire the cannon crash your ribs in break
your leg and save your country
Then be carried off to bed
Antics of a Hayseed
First moth May I inquire why you
are laughing so heartily
Second moth Oh nothing much only
the antics of that green moth from the
country are so amusing He has been
trying for the last two hours to scorch
himself to death with an incandescent
light Cincinnati Enquirer
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FATEI0TS EEJ0ICE
GLORIOUS INDEPENDENCE DAY
IS AT HAND
The Small Boy Makes It a Happy
Occasion His Noise Is Music and His
Joy Contagions Something About
the Anniversary and Its History
Let the Eagle Scream
F no other method were
adopted to keep Inde
pendence Day and its an
tecedents fresh in the
minds of the people the
small boy would achieve
that result by the noise
he makes in doing it hon
or It recalls a historic
incident of Gov John
Hancock president of
that Congress which on
the first ever memorable
Fourth of July adopted the Declaration of
Independence Gov Hancock was enter
taining a large company when a servant
let fall a cut glass epergne dashing it into
a dozen pieces and making a terrific
crash There was a moment of embar
rassed silence then the host relieved the
company by remarking cheerfully
James break as much as you please
but dont make such a confounded noise
about it
The noise of the small boy on the Fourth
confounds the most patriotic soul but on
that one day he is given the freedom of
the city or he takes it and his elders re
tire to a safe distance from his ear-splitting
patriotism
It is only 120 years since the Fourth
was established and the most wonderful
era in the history of the world dawned in
America when the old Liberty bell rung
out the glad tidings to the people of a dis
enthralled land and the declaration was
made which spake to the world of pos
terity in thunder tones
We hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created free and
equal that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain inalienable rights
among which are life liberty and the pur
suit of happiness
The new Liberty bell is essentially an
American product but the old bell was
cast in London and the order for it was
sent a year before it was received in this
country At last it came in 1702 and be
fore it was landed from the ship that
brought it hundreds of people went to in
spect it and rejoice in its coming It
was all that had been expected but an
accident ruined its clear tone and mutilat
ed it so badly that it had to be recast
Isaac Norris Esq speaker of the colo
nial assembly was given the superin
tendence of the task and to him is as
cribed the honor of having originally sug
gested the motto Proclaim liberty
throughout the land and to all the inhab
itants thereof The reason of the break
ing of the first bell was that it was too
brittle and its tone was too high and
shrill But the new bell was considered
perfect and mounted on its pedestal in
the old state house at Philadelphia it
rung in the birth of freedom on July 4
177G and its reverberation still echoes in
the hearts of Americans everywhere
The old State house bell time hallowed bell
Thy magic tones were first to tell
In thunder peals a nation free
For fifty years the bell of freedom kept
the national jubilee Then it cracked
and became silent During the Worlds
I Fair it was conveyed a mute object of
patriotic adoration from Philadelphia to
Chicago and there exhibited No dis
tinguished traveler was ever escorted
with more care and watchfulness or re
ceived more homage from the patriotic
people who everywhere greeted its com
ing
In the New England States the Fourth
of July is celebrated with greatest ardor
Cannon are fired at sunrise and the ring
ing of bells the snapping and cracking of
firecrackers and the shouts of the juve
niles make a noise that is deafening but
welcome Later in the day there is a
meeting of the military and the bearing of
flags and beating of drums add to the
glory of the spectacle Picnics are at
tended at rural groves orations are
made by speakers selected for the occa
sion and the nations birthday is cele
brated by a fitting demonstration of en
thusiasm sky rockets and illumination
ending the sport
Cheer your best the day is glorious
Days that make the right victorious
Run the colors mast head higi
Neath the glowing summer sky
Proudly wear it boy and man
Name of names American
Lovo the mighty land that bore you
Love the flag thats floating oer you
And in brave old fashioned way
Greet our Independence Day
The earlier celebrations were marked by
less noise than distinguishes them now
People went great distances to hear
speeches by the orators of the time and
a banquet was often prepared out of
doors or in the town hall and the Dec
laration of Independence was read There
rffrr
HISTOKIC RELICS
Table upon which Declaration of Independ
nce was signed and chair of the President
of the Congress Now in Independence Hall
Philadelphia
were militia parades and field marshals
resplendent in gay uniforms dashed reck
lessly about the streets The bird of
freedom shrieked and the flag with its
thirteen stars took an important part in
the procession
A Womans Question
Mr Gummey reading from the morn
ing paper Several hundred pounds of
nitro glycerine went off in the oil
regions last night
Mrs Gummey When do they expect
t back New York World
Too Careful
Is Jackson Parke a careful man
Is he Well I should say so Co
you know he wont carry home a sau
sage from the butcher shop without
first getting it tagged Buffalo Times
-A
AagjC I II HI
DISCIPLINE ON A MAN-OF-WAR
No Appeal from the Orders of tho
Autocratic Commanding Officer
As an illustration of the strictness or
the discipline on board an American
man-of-war which makes the com
manding officer an absolute autocrat
from whose authority there is no ap
peal the following story is told
Aboard one of the vessels lying in
Hampton roads it will be unfair to
name which one is a cadet who come
of a very distinguished family He
has but recently graduated from tho
Annapolis Academy There was a charm
ing society woman staying at Old
Point Comfort who was well acquaint
ed with the young fellows mother and
desired to send him a message Meet
ing the captain of the boat in the cor
ridor of Chainberllns Hotel she said
Oh captain I am so glad to see you
I wish to send a message to young
Blank who is aboard your vessel and
I would be so much obliged if you
would convey it to him Said the
captain gravely with a slight inclina
tion of his body and with just a tinge
of hauteur Madam I will see that
he gets it There was that in his man
ner which at once left the impression
that an impropriety had been commit
ted and the lady was almost tearful in
her beseechment that she should be
told what wrong she had done Un
der pressure the gallant mariner finally
said Madam if I came to your house i
and having rung the bell should-
summon your husband to the doorstep
and then should ask him to take fronl
me a message to your cook I would
be guilty of exactly what you have
done in the ethics of the navy Nat
urally there was a profuse apologj but
the gentleman in the son of Neptune
3howed itself when he said with a
polite bow Madame where no of
fense is intended none can be com
mitted Let me have your note and T
will see that it is delivered It was
subsequently handed to the coxswain
of the captains launch and through
that humble mediumship committed to
the young cadet To some people that
may sound like unnecessary strict
regimen but it is to the observance of
such small things that is due the mar
velous discipline which is discovered
on the vessels which fly the flag of the
American navy Three clieers for the
red white and blue Philadelphia
Times
Where Camphor Comes From
The camphor laurel from which the
greater part of the camphor of com
merce is produced is a native of China
Japan Formosa and Cochin China It
is a hardy long lived tree and some
times grows to a great size It has
evergreen leaves yellowish white flow
ers in panicles and is a very orna
mental tree the trunk running up to a
height of twenty or thirty feet before
branching The fruit is very much like
a black currant
In the extraction of camphor tho
wood is first cut into small chips ant
the chip are put into water In a still
and steamed The head of the still is
filled with straw and as the steam car
ries off the camphor in vapor it is de
posited in little grains around the
straw
jChe crude camphor is then heated in
a vessel from which the steam is al
lowed to escape through a small aper
ture The camphor sublimes in a semi
transparent cake In the manufacture
of camphor the tree is necessarily de
stroyed but by a rigid law of the lands
in which me tree grows another is
planted in the place of everyone that is
cut down The wood is highly valued
for carpenters work
Camphor was unknown to the Greeks
and Romans and was first brought to
Europe by the Arabs
A Birds Bill Locked
A man found a yellowhammer dead
In his yard at the foot of a wall The
bird had flown against it with such
force as to be stunned Not only that
but the upper mandible had been bent
back and in the straightening out the
sharp point was driven down through V
the lower bill and was locked thua
dooming the bird to starvation A
good many similar accidents have been
recorded but it was always a heavier
bird whose weight made the springing
of the bill easier A good many of the
birds were found in a starving condi
tion showing that they died lingering
deaths from want of food Birds that
fly against lighthouses have the skull
bones crushed and die instantly bus
V
others are stunned only
Drunkenness and Suicide
Dr Prinzing of Ulm Germany has
now come forward with a remarkable
showing of the evils which intemper
ance is working in the kaisers realm
He has shown that more than 30 per
cent of all suicides committed by men
in the prime of life are due to drunken
ness This is startling news from a
nation so calm and self contained and
so little inclined to nervous excite
ment as the Germans
To Read Old Coins
To read an inscription on a silver
coin which by much wear has be
come wholly obliterated put the poker
in the fire when red hot place the
coin under it and the inscription will
plainly appear of a greenish hue but
will disappear as the coin cools This
method was formerly practiced at the
mint to discover the genuine coin whe
silver was called in
Dot in the Hotel Busines
Admiral Dot the well known dwarf
who has exhibited himself all over the
world now runs a hotel at White
Plains Major Atom also in the same
category is the Admirals night clerk
They are the smallest bonifaces in the
country but they do a big business for
all that
Among the many good qualities to
jecommend a woman clerk is this sh
doesnt whistle at her work yX
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