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About The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1897)
If 1 V i - 3Gfi1 v mvt a THE MVbRlUINS3333 S5S5SSSS BANK MYSTERY d tMJglSi come judge to ask if youll let IVE tell you what no one on earth dont know but me bout that bank mystery Tes thank you I will sit down A fire feels good on a night like this Taint often such as I have a chance at this kind of comfort and luxury What do I know about the bank mys tery Land sakes judge time they opened the bank that day ten years ago and found the bank vault broke into and the safe blowed up and not a dol lar gone I could have told it all The people of Tiverton aint done talking and wondering bout it yet and there aint never been no one livin as could tell what it all meant but me I brought some papers here they are judge where its all written down and I can swear to it if you like I dont want them never used though unless I die and something comes up as would make it best for my family to know though theres this in it Id rath er die than have em know If its all the same to you judge Id like to tell it to you Seems like Id get rid of a load and would be happier and die easier f eelin Id spoken it all out to one livin human Youll be glad to listen Thats good of you I knowed you was a kind man and a just one thats why I come to you No thank you I dont smoke 1 put all that money away for my wife and children Do you hear that storm Outside seems like all the evil powers was let loose You cant judge bout it here It comes kind of muffled like through those thick curtains and it dont shake this great house like it does some Its this kind of night that makes men together tiGge aT1 plan how to get rich and have fine things such as the likes of you Ive been through it all I know Ive felt as if I had as good a right to em as anyone and I was bound to have em too I warnt brought up to no trade nor noth 1 in and fair means seeniin to fail I took to the other Yes judge I started out in life a thief and a robber I prospered fairly in a small way and no one didnt catch up with me for some time Then I joined a gang in for everything Lord but it was fascinating It was like drink I couldnt give it up and I couldnt get enough of it I was in prison and out then the old story till I married and begun to have little ones Then Lord knows what helped me something did and for the sake of my wife and children I broke loose from everything and came here where no one didnt know me to start over again I had some money and opened the res taurant just opposite the bank Long as I didnt read the papers I got on well but let me see them and Id hunt through em for the robberies and Id be crazy plumb crazy for a while aching to be in it all again See in bout my old pals gettin in trouble didnt make no difference Time come though when I begun to njoy life differently and to feel my self more respectable The love for the old life begun ter go till I could read about it without gettin all fired up I thought then I was all right Then they come here part of the gang Id belonged to First I knowed of it was seein em in the restaurant I spicloned they warnt here for no good and it most took my breath away They knowed me quick enough too and nothin wouldnt do but I must join em I was the very man they wanted I could help em and I was bound to em Twas the biggest thing theyd under taken yet the bank Theyd come on to examine the situation knowing that Mr Durkee the new mill owner would make a big payment soon and the money for it would be in the bank liere If there werent anything else that would be a big haul worth bavin and me bein here decided em I do think the devil brought all his friends and relations with him that night to tempt me I forgot how to sleep and just couldnt stay in bed I wonder I warnt in tatters by mornin -with the devil tuggin at me as he did and tryin to keep me out of the room where my sleepin children lay Lord it makes me creep and perspire all over now to think of it Yer see them bank people come over to my place for lunch best part of the time and they all knowed my little -people and the mill people knowed em too My oldest boy worked in the mill and theyd been as kind as could be when hes sick Christmas time theys good to him too and there warnt a bank officer but what had reiueinbored my little people even to the watchman Seemed like robbing my own people mmi mury yKfy somehow Is bound not to inform on the gang and theys bound ter rob ther bank but I cursed em in my heart for comin just when I was gettin rid of the old life for good and all Twas awful Well judge you know how them rooms over the bank was rented to start a new daily paper I made em swear solemn as my name warnt to appear nowhere Id plan it all out and give em points and be on hand at the last but I had to be cautious They found out when the money was to be paid and greed on the night be fore for the robbery I hadall mapped out for em where and how they were to loosen up the boards of the floor in their room above so we could break through and lower ourselves into the vault when the time came Then you see wed only have the safe to get into and the great iron door between us and the watchman Everything was ready and we was pretty sure the money was paid Do you hear that storm now judge Twas like that ten years ago to night dark as Egypt with the rain and wind a perfect hurricane a terrible night the kind of night for any sort of crime The men chuckled to themselves Twas a fortune sure this time and theyd all be on the way to comfort and safety be fore day I aint never seen em so ex cited Nothin hadnt gone wrong and nothin couldnt now We had sentinels stationed round to give the alarm but there wasnt much danger on a night like that We had planned so as to have the door of the safe ready to blow open when the watchman went down cellar to see to his fires 1 knowed time of night he did so seein him often from my house across the way through the window of the bank but to make sure we stationed a man where he could give the signal at the proper time With the watchman downstairs and we shut in that vault with solid masonry below us twarnt in the range of possibilities for no human to hear us Twas planned that when we broke through the ceiling me and one of the others was to go down first with the lanterns and tools and get the door ready for Jim Groogan the leader of the gang to come down and use the dynamite and be on hand to take out the money Lord but it was just the night for such a piece of work and after I had examined to see if all was safe know ing the dangers better than the others we broke through the floor and lowered the ladder and there we was right in the vault Twas well for me Id hit it right for my life warnt worth much if any o my plannin failed to work Tom Doolan in a hurry went down first and when I was half way down he started back saying in a hoarse kind of whisper Who called me No one you fool said Jim Then he said and he ran past me on the ledder someone is down there Twict I heard someone say Go back go back Well gag him said Jim and me and him went down tnd turned our lanterns round lookin everywhere but there warnt no one there Whats the matter with the fool growled Jim and went back and tried to send him down again but he just wouldnt go so Jim cursed him and come himself and he and me begun to get the safe door ready to blow up Thats a thing that takes time and care judge but we went at it with a will and never a word It was so still you could almost hear your heart beat when all of a sudden came a smothered cry loud and clear like a womans We stopped work and looked at each other Jims face white and scared Lord what was that he said I often hears em on the street like that I said That warnt on the street it sounded close by said Jim We couldnt hear nothin outside in this place Nonsense I said dont you make a fool of yourself too and spoil if and I went to work again I could see his hand trembled for a while and then got steady again That must have come through the room upstairs he said presently Queer though it sounded so close Then we worked on and there warnt nothing more to be heard Rest of the gang might all have been dead men for all the sound they made and we didnt say nothin and so the night rent on At last we had it all ready and were only waiting for the signal to blow k up a UTlfl lS95SIWR and then money enough to maKe us all rich Taint such as you can realize the excitement and the strain of such a moment To know its all there ready and then to have to wait Its easier walkin over red hot coals Its all right to go on and work lrit to stay still and only breathe and listen gives a man the shivers Presently Jim caught my arm Say I thought I heard voices did you he whispered The men upstairs I said Sounded down here Have your pistol ready I took my lantern and went round the vault again carefully and then held it up to examine the walls Then I shook my head There warnt no way we could hear no one Its the queerest place I ever was in said Jim and by Jove Ill be glad when we are out of it Why dont that signal come Suppose theres any hitch I swear I hear voices again Just then came the signal and Jim began to apply the dj namite but his hands trembled so and his eyes looked j so wild and excited his own wife wouldnt know him The money the money he whis pered we must have it now We got out of the way just in time and then out came the door The inside door quick said Jim but the explosion had made that fall inside and we just could lift it out Have the bag ready said Jim as he leaned forward to haul out the great piles of bank notes and silver we could see by the light of the lanterns Hands off or you are a dead man It was a voice that would most have waked the dead I dropped my bag and Jim drew back his hand and caught hold of me with a grip like iron and we began to go slowly back to the lad der The combination is all right we have them now they cant escape us We were half way up the ladder when we heard the click click of the lock and as we drew the ladder after us we could hear the rasping of the hinges of the iron door Fly fly for your lives we are dis covered said Jim as he went around to warn the men and in the darkness and the wind and the rain they went away and I aint never seen none of em j since I heard though as when they found there warnt no one there and the bank people didnt know nothin bout it till the next morning they just believed the bank was haunted sure Do I know what it was judge There aint no one else as does know thats sure Taint much after all Yer see playin round with my little ones I found as I could make em hear all kinds of noises anywhere I wanted and people cryin and laughin It was fun fur them and I often done it ven triloquizin I believe you call it but that nights thelast time Yer see none of the gang didnt know bout that and I dont keer ever to have em know it now It saved the bank without my in forming and thats all I care for Oh no judge the bank dont owe me nothin Youll take care of the pa pers Thank you Im obliged to you for listening too It kind of makes me feel easier No no thank you I wont stay and take no more of your time Dont get up I can find my way out Whats that you say judge You honor and respect me me And the bank land judge twarnt me twas my wife and children saved the bank and Im proud of em proud of em judge Good night Philadelphia Times Origin of Brother Jonathan When Washington after being ap pointed general commander of the army of the revolutionary war came to Massachusetts to organize it and make preparations for the defense of the country he found a great want of ammunition and other means necessary to meet the powerful foe he had to con tend with and great difficulty to ob tain them If attacked in such a condition the cause at once might be hopeless On this occasion at that anxious period a consultation of the officers and others was had when it seemed no way could be devised to make such preparations as were necessary Jonathan Trumbull was then Gov ernor of the State of Connecticut and the general who placed the greatest re liance on his judgment and aid remark ed We must consult brother Jonathan on the subject The general did so and the Governor was successful in supplying many of the wants of the army When difficulties afterwards arose and the army was spread over the coun try it became a by word We must consult Brother Jonathan The term Yankee is still applied to a portion but Brother Jonathan has now become a designation of the whole country as John Bull has for England How a Town Was Named Until a few years ago a little Wis consin hamlet was known simply as Hog Back from the peculiar shape of a hill near there said a Milwaukee drummer Finally the citizens held an indignation meeting to wipe out the plebeian name and choose a better one It was decided to honor the place by giving it the name of the oldest settler a man named King Somebody sug gested Kings Mills and another Kingsville and so on but the old man himself objected Then it was agreed to name the town for one of Mr Kings daughters But he had seven of them and jealousies promptly cropped out At last some genius noticed that all the girls were red headed and suggested Auburndale And Auburndale it is t this day Rain f alls in the Andes about once Mk seven years c r re 0sm aw tl Wr r Prairie Pimples Southwestern Louisiana is bordered along the coast with broad sandy and gravelly plains to which the name of pimpled prairies has been given This curious title comes from tlie circular mounds arranged in zones and along intersecting lines with which large areas of the plains are covered For merly these mounds which average fifty feet in diameter and attain occa sionally a height of ten feet were sup posed to have been made by ants with whose nests they abound But recent ly Professor Clendenin of the Louis iana State University has found rea son for thinking that the mounds were formed through the blowing up of mud bv cas escaping from vents in the ground The arrangement of the mounds in zones and lines is accounted for by supposing that the gas vents existed along the fractures radiating from an earthquake center Ancient Insects Recent discoveries in the coal mines of Central France have furnished by far the greatest advance that has over been made in our knowledge of the in sects which inhabited the world mill ions of years as geologists believe be fore the time when man made his ap pearance upon the earth In that won derful age when the carboniferous plants whose remains constitute the coal beds of to day were alive and flourishing the air and the soil were animated by the presence of flies grass hoppers cockroaches dragon flies spi ders locusts and scores of other spe cies which exist but slightly changed at the present day But the insects of those remote times attained a gigantic size some of the dragon flies measur ing more than two feet from tip to tip of their expanded wings The remains of these insects have been marvelously preserved in the strata of coal and rock A Kite a Mile High Since an account was given in this column of the high kite flying experi ments at the Blue Hill Observatory near Boston all previous records have been eclipsed there In 189 the great est elevation reached by a kite was 2 500 feet above sea level or 19G0 feet above the summit of the hill During the past summer half a dozen times a kite was sent up more than a mile above sea level and on ono occasion the height attained was 7333 feet above the sea being 1J90 feet more than a mile above the hilltop The experiments are made with the so called tailless or Eddy kites and the box or Hargrave kites The highest flight was made by an Eddy kite The purpose is scientific as the kites carry self recording instruments by means of which the temperature and h timidity of the air at great elevations can be measured Sometimes the kites pass through clouds the thickness of which is revealed by the record of the in struments The Wonderful Phagocytes When a drop of human blood is plac ed between two plates of glass ad ex amined with a microscope it is seen to contain beside the minute disks which give it its red color little whit ish grains called white corpuscles If the glass is warmed to a tempera ture equal to that of the human body these corpuscles or phagocytes as they are otherwise called will be seen to put out and retract minute processes which as if acting the part of feet enable the phagocytes to crawl over the surface of the glass The Russian naturalist Metchnikoff has discovered that the phagocytes in our blood feed upon the microbes of infectious dis eases when such microbes are intro duced Into the system Sir Joseph Lister president of the British Asso ciation for the Advancement of Science believes that this action of the pha gocytes which is scientifically named phagocytosis is the main defensive means possessed by the living body against its microscopic foes When ever a wound is made in any part of the body the phagocytes like well trained soldiers rush to the breach and make war upon the putrefactive mi crobes endeavoring to enter the system Iron Qnarries Very interesting facts not generally known about the iron mines of Spain were discussed at a recent meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain It is from Northern Spain in the neighborhood of Bilboa that the greater part of the iron ore imported for the use of British steel makers is obtained Steel is made by the basic process from iron ore containing phos phorus but for the best qualities of steel which is made by the open hearth process a purer ore must be used and it is that which England imports from Spain Nature says the English sci entific journal Nature seems to have designed the hills of Northern Spain especially for the use of the steelmak er Until recently practically no ef fort has been made to manufacture steel in Spain and most of the ore has been exported to England The iron mines of Northern Spain are described as being rather quarries than mines in the ordinary sense of the word The mountains themselves are just heaps of iron ore covered naturally with but a thin layer of earth This is removed and it only remains to break up the ore and load it into fitting receptacles when it is conveyed down to the waters edge by its own gravity The Great Gas Industry The artificial gas interest of this coun try is an exceedingly important and extensive one There are in the neigh borhood of 1200 cities and towns of the United States lighted in large part by manufactured gas In addition there are thousands of homes in which gas is being largely if not wholly employ ed for cooking and heating purposes About 600000000 is invested in gas works property in this country and the gas interest is perhaps second in im portance only to the investment in rail road properties The gas industries propose to hold au exposition at Madison Square Garden New York City opening on Jan 27 1S97 and holding for two weeks At this exposition will be shown every practical apparatus and appliance which enters into the manufacture or distribution of gas as an illuminating or heating agent One of the features of the exposition will be cooking demonstrations both afternoon and evening two competent demonstrators having been secured for this work A gas tower of large dimensions ha been arranged for and will be one of the great curiosities at the fair con sisting of an extremely ornamental and most brilliantly illuminated spectacu lar piece the dimensions of which will be twenty feet at the base and running to a height of fifty five feet on which will be artistically arranged about 2500 gas jets Evidently the gas people propose to demonstrate to the public that their product is capable of producing equal if not superior lighting effects to those claimed for the electric light Americans as Musicians Madame Emma Calve contributes - paper on the Conquering Race in Mu sic to the Ladies Home Journal in which she specially addresses students of vocal music She tells of the train ing required for the operatic and the concert stage the impersonation of character the value of suggestions etc and pays this trubute to Americans The Americans have it seems to me in the field of music and especially in the field of vocal music all the charac teristics of the conquering race They are possessed naturally of the most ex quisite voices which when properly cultivated and trained are almost un rivaled they have indomitable energy perseverance and pluck they stop at nothing are deterred by no trouble and prevented by no obstacle Poverty weariness exertion hard work none of these living spectres which affright and terrify the average art worker has terrors for them Their physique and their temperament seem made for toll and to surmount discouragement and the success which they are daily achiev ing in the field of both operatic and concert singing is testimony to their natural fitness for accomplishment and to their ability to excel They seem in fact to be most lavishly fitted by nature for the parts they are assuming To these gifts of voice energy pluck and perseverance they frequently add a beauty of face and grace of form and movement which the public recognizes as most Important factors in the suc cess of the singers career They have too the temperament which makes great artists and great actresses the artistic feeling which has for its stand ard perfection and which is satisfied with nothing less Quite Plain A coroner in Nevada recently rea soned out a verdict that was more sen sible than half the verdicts usually found A certain Irishman conceiving that a little powder thrown upon some wood would facilitate its burning directed a small stream from a keg upon the burning piece but not possessing a hand sufficiently quick to cut this off he was blown into a million pieces The fol lowing was the verdict delivered with great gravity by the official Cant be called suicide bekase he didnt mean to kill himself it wasnt visitation of God bekase he wasnt struck by lightning he didnt die for want of breath for he didnt have any thing whatsomever to breathe with its quite plain he didnt know what he was about and so I shall bring m died for want of common sense One Way to Break Glass It is scarcely credible but it is a fact that a glass can be broken by the voice If you strike a thin wine glass while you hold it by the stem it will emit a certain note In most cases a pretty deep one On approaching the glass rapidly to your mouth and shouting into it the same note as loudly as possi ble the vibrations of the glass being thereby extended it will be shivered into fragments This used to be a fav orite experiment of Lablache the re nowned singer who would thus break one after the other as many glasses as were handed to him Eyes Artificial eyes were first made in Egypt They were of gold and silver t and subsequently of copper and Ivory Hundreds of years later in the six teenth century when they were made in Europe porcelain was the substance used and the maker usually stamped his address on the white of the eye Our idea of something awful would be to become a great musician with long hair and then get bald When women oppose a candidate it is usually because of some grudge they feel against the women folks CnMiu inllnTrn 4 Viof Via 1airl Vaa powerQfYera cMld until it isbagtlzed 7jffiasEsss2SW3a8sw5g DEAD TO THE WORLD They Hooked kike Suicides but They Knew Their Business Suicides have oeen so numerous of late that a Star reporter was not very much surprised the other night when he almost stumbled over a man who lay on the flat of his back at full lemrth on the pavement at the corner of Massa chusetts Avenue and lGtli Street He lay in the shade of a tree but the moon light falling through the branches not only clearly defined the form but gave a weird and uncanny effect The Star man startled for a moment stopped to examine and when he saw1 five or more silent outstretched forms near the curbstone although they looked like so many ghosts and made the locality look like a miniature bat tlefield the whole thing was easy They were only sleeping and although their beds were hard some of them were lying on their coats and several lay in the gutter with the curbstone for a pillow Three or four of the familiar street sweeping carts stood like senti nels near by under the shadow of the trees and the horses in the sliaf ts were sleeping too Just then a street sweepei came along dragging his big broom and The Star man asked pointing to the silent forms What are they doing uncle Wy boss dey is jes sleepin Tired out No indeedy Its too early ter git tiahed But yo see no mount er day light sleepin is as good as er little night sleep an so wen de boys gits a chance tween sweeps dey jes draps right i down an take a nap Mebbe dis is de onliest one deyll git till tomorrer It happens dis yer way De machines has come down lGth and gone up one side er Massachusetts and jes now dey is up around Dupon Now we done sweep lGth and we has to wait till dey come back Den de sweepers will get in bne and de cyarts will foller along jes like er percession But these carts wont hold muc more One of them is full to overflow ing already said the Star man Dats all right boss dey all belongs to de gang and dey all sticks togedder kase dey all goes to de 19th street dump Now dat full cyaht belongs to de leader and de heaviest sweepins was on his side of lGth and he filled fust But dey all keeps togedder Heah comes de machines now he exclaimed and the familiar swish of the horse sweepers could bo heard com ing nearer They were preceded by the inspector in a light buggy His quick eye detected the sidewalk sleepers and his method of calling them to duty was to drive his horse on to the curbstone among them The men arose one after another and picked up their coats and brooms One called out familiarly Say fling us a half sos we kin git a pint After the horse sweepers had passed they fell into line in the gutter and be gan sweeping the dirt into little piles Then the carts came along and the nights work was continued As The Star reporter stood watching a driver stopped his horse at the first little pile of sweepings He bent down and picked VV 4n ud a niece of naner and carefully wined V off his big shovel which already shor like burnished steel in the moonlight Then with one swoop he shoveled the entire pile into his cart Do you ever find anything worth keeping asked The Star man Deed I aint nebber foun nothin on dis job Some of de gang does One of de boys picked up 85 one night What did he do with it Deed youh too hard fer me I doan know what he done wif it cepn ter keep it Glongi whoal After every whoa and before every glong came that metallic ring of the shovel as it came in contact with the as Dhalt These are the familiar sounds that strike the ear of the pedestrian y every night as he passes through the streets of the national capital and just such unique scenes as the one described are enacted nightly but they are pe culiar to Washington and cannot bo found in every large city Cured Her Carelessness The following story is told in the memoirs of Lord Blachford recently ptrbllehed In England Mrs s rela tions with her maids are rich She was describing one who was a breaker of china At last she broke three things in one day So I said to her You are 111 Jane you want some castor oiL The maid stared and was aston ished Your hand shakes you want some castor oil Jane The maid took it as a joke and grinned But when bed time came the upper maid was duly summoned Jane is ill and wants some castor oil come with me and I will get it out for her Mrs appeared at the bedside with a quite in flexible determination explained that Jane was ill and did want castor oil and must take it She did take it and no further breakage occurred An Underground City There is an underground city in Cen tral Asia supposed to have been built before the Christian era as effigies in scriptions and designs found amon the ruins date it back to two centuries before the birth of Christ The city is composed of long corridors streets and squares surrounded by houses and buildings some two or three stories in height and by the beautiful symmetry of the streets and squares and other indications it is evident that the inhab itants of this old world city had ed at a high degree of civilization North Carolina the Early BirO It is claimed that North Carotvha must henceforth hold the highest pace in the production of early fruits for the Northern markets A frog cannot breathe with lis mouth open Its breathing apparatus is so ranged that when its mouija is open its nostrils are closed 1 A