' EUSH TO GILT LANDS.
1LOV/ER BRULE RESERVATION
THROWN OPEN.
Sam Gives Avray .inOOO Farm *
in South IJaUota Five Slillicm
JV ren Slore Await nomeseelcers In
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* I ml ian Reservations.
"Uncle Sajn is planning to distribute
during the coming year ncnrly n,000COO
acres of land among about 35.000 home-
seekers. This will bo the biggest dis-
tributioii made by the United States
coveramcnt since Oklahoma "rcas opened -
ed for settlement The land is situated
on oi it different Indian reservations
in four States. Nearly all of it is re
garded as first-class for fanning pur
poses.
It h-s : been decided to open all of the
-tracts by the lottery system. The reservation
vation- with their acreage , follow :
Ixnvor ISrule , South Dakota , S3. i.COO
acres ; FUifccad. Montana , 1,000.000
acres ; Ittaekfoet , Montana , 500,000
acres ; f'oeur d'Alcne , Idaho , 310,000
acres ; Hemhi. Idaho , 04,000 acres ; Ya-
klma , Washington , 3,1 .1,000 acres ; Col-
'villp. Washington , 1,000,000 acres.
Divided into tracts of ICO acres the
total would provide 30.091 homesteads.
But the homesteads in some of the
reservations will be limited to forty
acres each , so this will bring the total
number of farms close to 35,000. The
forty-acre homesteads will be iu recla
mation districts , and will be under
government irrigation.
The first reservation opened was the
Lower lirule. and hundreds of home-
seekers filed applications for lottery
tickets in the big drawing , whieli took
place at Pierre , S. D. The land has
been appraised at from $1.25 to $4 an
acre , to be paid in annual installments.
A feature of the Brule lleservation
Is that it already is surrounded by
cities and farms of modern civilization ,
being within ten miles of Pierre , capi
tal of the State. The Missouri River
runs through the center of the district ,
with Skmx City and Omaha 150 miles
to the south and Minneapolis and St.
Pavjl a short distance to the northeast.
"To the west are Ueadwood and Lead ,
the great mining cities of the Black
er difficulties and dangers in ee-
? Uscle Sam's lands have fecoa
eliminated and it is now rather a
pleasant experience to take a change
on a quarter section farm.
The method of registration and allot
ment by drawing instead of tbe old
fx-H-rneH "rush" gives everybody a
-show. Undar tbis deaf an uuuccom-
. .paniedroman may register without
embarrassment and , lias Ibe same
chance as a man in securing the best
prizes In the reservation. In some of
tbe recent openings women have drawn
splendid lands near the sites of towns
which made them quarter sections
worth small fortunes.
The Brule is a member ol the great
Sioux tribe , the most . 'numerous and
powerful of tiie Western nations.
While the Sioux may not have been as
fierce individually as the Apache or
TJte , he was collectively stronger and
was the last-to be subdued. Iu spits
of t&is condition tbe Sioux1 has in re
cent years shown probably more of a
disposition to make his "living oiifc of
the land given him than many of the
other tribtiS.
The Brule reservation contains 50-
5CO acres. School facilities are - provided
vided ki withholding certain * sections
by the government. With its opening
-another Sw : i song was sung by the
original American. Thin marks an ad
ditional set in tbe process of elimina
tion of the Indian and is one of the
last of his plors of land to be giTijn
sSTor to civilization.
Government surveyors arc BOW busy
In other reservations , but rt will re-
scare time to complete the
I > al > or T-aiv in Effect.
The neir eight-hour child labor law ,
which went into effect in Now York State
"Oct. 1 , will have an important bearing
on the children of the State , as it is es
timated that it will protect 700.000 chil-
-dr < m in Now York City alone. This statute
prohibits the employment of persons under -
-der 10 yenrs of age in. the factories be
fore S o'clock in the morning and after
.5 o'clock m the afternoon , o * for more
-than eight hours in any one day. It is
expected that this will materially affect
-attendance at the public schools.
Christian ScicntlHin Coiivl rtcci.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin M. Watson , Chris
tian Scientists of Mount Holly , N. J. ,
were convicted of manslaughter , in having
neglected to call a physician for the
treatment of their 3-ycar-uld POOwho
died of meningitis.
John Mitchell to Quit.
John Mitchell , whose term as president
of the United Mine Workers will expire
April 1 , 1908 , announces ia the Dn.ted
iliac Workers' Journal that he will not
bo a candidate for re-election tile reason
. { jiven being ill health.
GENERAL BOOTH RET1WE8.
Founder of Salvation Army
Announce * that He Will Quit.
Realizing his age General William
Booth , octogenarian founder and lead
er of rhe Salvation Army , has an
nounced his retirement. His successor
has been selected , but the announce
ment not yet made public. It is prob
able his eldest son , Dramwell Booth , of
London , will be chosen.
The general , on his American fare
well visit , while in Chicago , expounded
some of the virtues of the army. "It
GEXEE.VL WI7.UAM BOOTH.
is not with the aristocracy but wltli
the common people that I live and
breathe and have my being , " he said.
"I associate with the upper classes foi
their own benefit. The army is not a
passing breeze of excitement and emo
tion , but a permanent and mighty in
fluence of good. Religion is not merely
a possibility , a desirability , a privilege.
It is a necessity. I would rather be
noticed with a brickbat than irot be
noticed at all. Go after the individual
ualis the practical way iie sums up
the problem of reclamation. "Appeal
to the heart and the conscience of the
man and the woman. What the vrorld
needs is more consecrated .men and
women to grapple with these problems.
The Salvationist despises the idea that
a man need not try to save a soul if he
is not paid to do it. . "
East River Tunnel
For the first time passengers were car
ried through the New York and Long
I
LOCATION OF LANDS WHICH WILL BE OPENED TO SETTLEMENT.
Island City tube under the Hast river ,
vrbaa Aujrust Belmont , who financed the
undertaking , acted as conductor of the
car containing the officials connected witli
the work and members of the public ser-
vieo commission. Superintendent'of Mo
tive Power Banghard was the inotorrnan.
The car went from Third avenue and For
ty-second street , Manhattan , -Jackson
avenue and Fourth street , Queens , in four
minutes. This is a reduction of at least
thirty minutes in the tune between these
two points under the old conditions of
transir.
Iu general appearance the tube is sim
ilar to an ordinary city subway , being
perfectly dry , well lighted and equipped
with heavy rails and a modern signal sys
tem. The cars are of the regulation type ,
operated by trolley poles. The atmos
phere is from 10 to 15 degrees cooler
than on the surface of the street. As
the car nearly fills the tube , it acts as
a piston , pushing the air out in front
and drawing a fresh supply after it.
Not a War Fund.
American Industries , the organ of the.
National Association of Manufacturers ,
replies to an attack made in the Federa-
tiouist by Sampel Gompers , president of
the American Federation of Labor , wherein - j
in he referred to the 500,000 a year j
which the manufacturers are to raise as a j
"war fund to crush the unions. " The
reply in question ridicules the idea that
a' war of extermination is to be waged
upon organized labor , and quotes from its
resolutions adopted in 100. } as follows :
"The National Association of Manufac
turers is not opposed to organizations of
labor as such , but is unalterably opposed
to boycotts , blacklists and other illegal
acts of interference witli the personal lib
erty of employer and employe. No per
son should be refused employment or in
any way discriminated against on account
of membership or non-membership ist any
laJ > or organization , and there should be
no discrimination against or interference
with any employe not a member of a la
bor organization by a member of such or-
IIcavicHt Failures in Decade.
According to the reports of the commer
cial agencies , the year 11)07 thus far has
shown the heaviest commercial failures
of any like period in the last ten years ,
the month of September being particularly
notable , as its failures in point of liabili
ties have surpassed those of any month
since December , 1003.
3IolTctt'.s Charges
The examination of President .Tamos A.
Moflctt of the Standard Oil Company of ,
Indiana by the Federal grand jury at Chicago
cage resulted in a complete failure to
show any shipper who received rebates
from the Alton Railway similar to those
granted to the Standard Oil Company.
Coke Field l.i Strnclc.
A lGO,000-acre extension f the now
failing Connellsville coking eoal region
has just been discovered , the Oonnelte-
villo Coke 'Company having tapped a 9-
foot vein at Tower Httl , Pa. I
Bu Pont Powder Mills Near Fen =
tanet , Ind. , Are Wrecked
TOWN'IS WIPED OUT.
More than Six Hundred Hurt and
Scores of Others May Die.
DESTRUCTION IS WIDESPREAD.
My'sterioxis Blasts Buin Village and
Spread Death and Injury.
Forty or more persons dead , almost
as many fatally burned or hurt , GOO
others injured more or less seriously ,
and a prosperous town leveled to the
earth such was the harvest of a
series of terrifying explosions at the
Du Pont blasting powder mills near
Fontancr. Ind. , Tuesday morning.
After the explosions , which followed
one another with frightful effect , came
fire , and what the one horror left un
done the other completed. Thus , many
people who might have been dragged
from the ruins and revived were ihe
< %
victims of the flames. IIo\v many
bodies have born in : inerated is ; i mat-
Then the idea struck the United States.
The eastern cities took it up. Xow it
has spread to almost every village.
Some idea of the extent of the business
may be gained when it is stated that a
man who lias a booth at a seaside resort
uear New York sells S-15 worth of postal
cards a day. It is estimated that as much
as $200,000 a day is spent for picture
postal cards in the United States.
So large is the number of picture postal
cards passing through the mails every day
that special regulations have boon adopted
for them. It was only recently that per
mission wns given to write a message on
the address side. It is interesting to add
in this connection that the ollicial csti-
U.AT IEMAlM-i : > OF THE I ) . iMN . ' J'J > \ . i i.l . < iiU.A l1 ! UN iA.KiIND. . . AFTER THE EXPLOSION.
fer of guesswork , but twelve hours
after the catastrophe the fatalities
were believed to be below fifty. The
worst explosion came when 40,000 kegs
of powder blew up.
Governor Ilanly and a detachment
of the Indiana National Guard at once
took control of the death tamp. Sol
diers paced up and down the wreck-
crammed streets. In and about the j
smoking ruins of the great powder
plant privates in the ranks in detach
ments endeavored to discover the re
mains of unknown victims. Scores of
riato of the ? number of souvenir po > tal
cards passing through the British post-
offices last year was 500,000,000. The
value placed on these cards was estimated
at 5,000,000. The revenue to the various
governments from postage on souvenir
cards approximates millions.
Penver I yVii
A young scientist of Lyoas. France ,
asserts that he has discovered a means
of transmitting electricnl energy without
wires and experiments along that line are
now proceeding with a miniature car run
ning on rails , which is said to have been
propelled a distance o 200 yards by
HOMELESS FONTANET PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THEIR RUINED HOMES.
wo-nen and children whose husbands
and fathers were missing were in the
background , anxiously awaiting word
from the relief corps.
ToTrn IN Ilopclcnn Ruin.
Tuesday morning Fontanet wns a
prosperous , cozy little town of 1,000
persomj. That night it was a hopeless
Every building , including homes ,
stores , offices and factories , was shaken
into pieces. A hand of infinite power
sweeping all before it with demoniac
wrath could not have worked greater
havoc.
The dead and more seriously hurt
have been removed to other points
most of them to Tere Haute , eighteen
miles distant. At least 500 inhabitants
of Fontanet remain , however. Nearly
all of them bear bloody traces of the
visitation. They are camping out in
tents hurried there by the Governor ,
and must be fed and cared for during
many months to come. The town is
devastated. Yet its people , so far as
possible , seem determined to remain
and make the best of their misfortune.
Tbe explosions at the powder mills
came without warning. What caused
the first one is a mystery and may
never be explained.
Once the combustion had started
there was no stopping it and one by
one seven mills were shot into the air
in spjinters. Two hundred men were
employed at the works , but luckily only
seventy-five were at their labors when
the first explosion took place.
' Bis Mill I Shattered.
The big press mill was destroyed
first. This was at 9:15 : o'clock. Tbe
shock and detonation were indescriba
ble. The ground shook for miles 'around
it is reported that the effect was felt
at a distance of 200 miles buildings
rocked as if riding a seismic swell.
And then within two minutes the
glazing mill was ruined. The building
burst outward and upward , shooting
timber , metal and glass in all directions
and killing many.
Xext. the two coining mills and final
ly , as an unspeakable climax , the mag
azine and cap mill were torn to bits.
The magazine was situated about 300
yards from the main buildings of tbe
plant and did not ignite for over an
hour. Then tbe llanies which wore
licking up the debris bad so heated the
Atmosphere that the magazine respond
ed.
There were 40,000 kegs of blasting
powder stored in the magazine and
every one blew up seemingly at tbe
same moment. It was tbis detonation
that shook to pieces the homes and
stores and factories in Fontanet and
which brought death or injury to scores
miles distant.
Shoclc Ts Felt Fnr Off.
Throughout the surrounding country ,
in farmhouses and country schools ,
where women and children sat , build
ings crashed to the ground. Persons
out in the open , walking in the road
far from the powder plant , were hurled
off their feet and injured. A passenger
train on the Big Four Railroad , nearly
five miles from the magazine , was all
but blown off the rails. Every window
in each coach was broken and a number
of passengers were cut by flying glass.
THE POSTAL CARD CRAZE.
. /
What Was Originally n Fad Has Be
come a Great BtiHlucs.f.
Three years ago souvenir or picture
postal cards were on sale in about 100
stores or shops in the United Stales.
To-day they may be had in 80,000 differ
ent places. What was originally a fad
fcas become a great business.
The picture portal card flourished for
years on the continent. Every small
town or inn had a pretty souvenir of this
kind , while , in tlie big cities , every place
of interest was reproduced on a postal.
means of power from an electric trans
mitter. Details of the process are with
held for the present. Patents were taken
out in August and a syndicate of bankers
has been formed to develop the invention.
Football claimed two more victims in
the deaths of Thomas Bertram , 20 years
old , at Altoona , Pa. , and Eugene M.
Bourne , 13 nrs 6T3 , at Salt Lake City.
HAS BURNED FORTY-FIVE YEARS
A Coal Mia" Fire to Which a lle-
ntajiee Attaches.
On Paint creek , about iwcnty miles
above Charleston. W. Va. , a coal mine
fire is racing. At ni ht the mountain
side is ablaze with a weird play of Hphtr
by day a column of sinoko Ascends lib *
a monument. In truth , the mountain is
afire , an unquenchable fire , as those wuo
have already lost $20,000 in a vain at
tempt to smother it will testify.
In the late "O's of th last century
rlie Kanawha Coal and Oil Company was
DAMAGKD HOUSE , TWO MILES HlliM TIIK FOXTAXET EXPLOSION
organized for the purpose of producing
oil from cannpl coal found in the moun
tains divided by Paint creek. The vein
located was a comparatively thin one ,
lying in the hnrt of a thick scam of tJio
bituminous coal. The company was busy
with its operations when the Civil War
broke out , but continued at work for
some time thereafter. The superintend
ent was a blunt old Englishman named
Gordon , who had a handsome daughter ,
Roweha , who w-as the dell'sht of her fath
er's heart and the despair of the young
men of the neighborhood. There was tha
usual courting and flirting , with tha
usual final selection of one man and tha
inevitable prepaialiens for the
The lucky man w : s one Adkins , a native
of the mountain , a srapping : young fel
low. who had won the lather's favor as a
workmen even before lie won the daugh
ter's esteem as a lover Thus the coursa
of true love seemed to run smooth.
Cue the war caaer and the Paint creeS
section was as badly torn by opposing
factions as any other small part of tha
rntire country. The natives were of tha
South , while most ot those who had comate
to work in the mines were Union men.
Of the latter -was old maa Gordon , white
Ailkins was a regular fire-eating son of
Dixie.
Adkins was forbidden to enter tha
Gordon home , and Itowcna was ordered
not to see him. lie enlisted in the Con
federate army and mart-lied out with
Wise on his famous retreat up the val
ley. This was in the spring of 1SGL In
the autumn he returned home on a fur
lough and sought to renew amicable re
lations witli tbe Gordons , but was repals-
ed by both father and daughter. It ia
said that in a spirit of revenge he set
fire to the drumhouse of the mouth o
the mine. The fire was communicated to
the rich vein of canncl coal inside , and ,
obtaining a good hold , has been burning
ever since.
Adkins returned to iiis regiment and
was killed in battle. The Gordons left
the country teen after , and their subse
quent history is not known.
In the late ' 80s a company was form
ed by Charleston men. to extinguish the
fire and reopen the mine , but. after spend
ing $20.000 in a vain attempt , the enter
prise was abandoned. It is probable that
the fire will be allowed to burn until tha
entire vein of coal is consumed. Of late
it has been burning visibly at night , tha
extent being perhaps 100 yards along
the face of the mountain.
The Helena , Mont. . Record publishes
a story to the effect that numerous Moa-
tana and Washington investors have been ;
mulcted to the extent of more than a third
of a million dollars through the discovery
that certain placer mines near Lander ,
Wyo. , had been salted and that the prop *
erties are worthless.
The union labor city anil county con
vention of San Francisco nominated a
ticket headed by P. n. McCarthy , presi *
dent of the Building Trades' Council , fol
Mayor. The other candidates named art
the present officers. The program of ex
Mayor Scmnitz was carried out to thf
letter.
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