&mz& . 46-
8 Conservative *
his spear , which stuck in the ground
and broke in his hand. Colter in
stantly snatched up the pointed
part , with which ho pinned him to
the earth , and then continued his
flight. The foremost of the Indians ,
on arriving at the place , stopped till
others came up to join them , when
they set up a hideous yell. Every
moment of this time was improved by
Colter , who , although fainting and
exhausted , succeeded in gaining the
skirting of the cottonwood trees on
the borders of the fork , through
which ho ran and plunged into the
river. Fortunately for him , a little
below this place there was an island ,
against the upper point of which a
raft of drift timber'had lodged. He
dived under the raft , and after sev
eral efforts , got his head above water
amongst the trunks of trees , covered
over with smaller wood to the depth
of several feet. Scarcely had ho secured -
cured himself when the Indians ar
rived on the river , screeching and
yelling , as Colter expressed it , 'like
so many devils. ' They were fre
quently on the raft during the day ,
and were seen through the chinks by
Colter , who was congratulating himself -
self on his escape , until the idea
arose that they might set the raft on
fire.
fire."In
"In horrible suspense he remained
until night , when hearing no more of
the Indians , ho dived from under the
raft , and swam silently down the
river to a considerable distance ,
when ho lauded and traveled all
night. Although happy in having
escaped from the Indians , his situa
tion was still dreadful ; he was com
pletely naked , under a burning sun ;
the soles of his feet were entirely
filled with the thorns of the prickly
pear ; ho was hungry , and had no
means of killing game , although lie
saw abundance around Him , and was
at least seven days' journey from
Lisa's fort , ou the Bighorn branch of
the Roche Jaune River. These were
circumstances under which almost
any man but an American hunter
would have despaired , Ho arrived
at the fort in seven days , having
subsisted on a root much esteemed
by the Indians of the Missouri , now
known by naturalists as psoralea
osouleuta. ' '
Ho had a narrow escape from yet
another return to the wilderness ; for
on his. way down he met Wilson
Price Hunt , starting for Astoria , who
desired his services as much as Lisa
had done. The circumstances of
this temptation are thus related by
Irving :
"Such is a sample of the rugged
oxperiouce which Colter had to re
late of savage life ; yet , with all
these perils and terrors fresh in his
recollection , ho could not see the
present baud on their way to those
regions of danger and adventure ,
without fooling a vehement impulse
to join thorn. A western trapper is
like a sailor ; past hazards only
stimulate him to further risks. The
vast prairie is to the one what the
ocean is to the other , a boundless
field of enterprise and exploit. How
ever he may have suffered in his last
cruise , he is always ready to join anew
now expedition and the more adven
turous its nature , the more attractive
is it to his vagrant spirit.
"Nothing seems to have kept
Colter from continuing with the
party to the shores of the Pacific but
the circumstance of his having
recently married. All the morning
ho kept with them , balancing in his
mind the charms of his bride against
those of the Rocky Mountains ; the
former , however , prevailed , and after
a march of several miles , he took a
reluctant leave of the travelers , and
turned his face homeward. ' '
Colter , after all his wanderings ,
thus reached civilization safe at last ;
and it seems likely that he died in
1813 in St. Louis. A. T. R.
SOME INTERESTING STATISTICS.
Considerable interest is felt as to
the effect which the removal of the
tea import duties will have upon
the consumption of that article in the
United States. The import figures
covering the period since the imposi
tion of an import duty upon tea
( Juno 18 , 1898) ) do not justify the
assertion frequently made some years
since that a small tax would increase
the consumption of tea by insuring
bettor qualities. The average annual
importation of tea since the enact
ment of the law which placed a duty
upon tea has been but about 83 mil
lion pounds , while the average dur
ing the preceding three years was
about 98 million pounds per annum.
The total importation of tea in the
three fiscal years following June 30 ,
1898 , was 248,741,459 pounds ; and in
the three fiscal years immediately
preceding that date was 278,803,262
pounds. Deducting the amount re-
exported , the net imports stand : for
the three years following June 80 ,
1898 , 244,640,547 pounds ; for the three
years immediately preceding June
30 , 1898 , 278,945,091 pounds. This
gives an average importation for con
sumption during those two periods
of every pounds per capita per an
num in the three-year period prior to
Juno 80 , 1898 , and but a little over
1 pound per capita per annum in the
threo-yoar period following that
date.
This reduction in the importation
of tea since the imposition of the
customs duty upon that article has
been accompanied by a corresponding
increase' rjn [ the importation of
coffee. In the three years following
Juno 80 , 1898 , the total importation
of coffee was 2,474,690,284 pounds ,
against 2,188,758,040 pounds in the
throe years immediately preceding
that date ; and the per capita imports
for consumption for the latter three
years averaged 10.4 pounds per an
num , compared with 9.9 pounds for
the three years prior to Juno 80 , 1898.
It is proper to add , however , that
during [ the three years since 1898
prices of coffee have been much
lower than those of the immediately
preceding period , the average import
price per pound , as shown by the
figures of the Treasury Bureau of
statistics since the fiscal year 1898
having averaged 6.7 cents per pound ,
against an average of 11 cents for
the three years immediately preced
ing 1898 ; while in the case of tea the
import price per pound , exclusive of
course of duties , shows but slight
fluctuations.
The following table shows the total
importation of tea and coffee in each
fiscal year from 1890 to 1901 , and for
the eight mouths ending with Febru
ary 1902 :
Fiscal Tea Imports Coffee Imn'ts
Year Pounds
1890 88,886,829
1891 88,453,889
1892 90,079,039
1898 89Q61,287
1894 93,518,717
1895 97,258,458
1896 98,998,372
1897 118,847,175
1898 70,957,715
1899 74,089.899
1900 84,845,107
1901 89,806,453
1902(8 ( mos)64,116,811 )
Pounds
499,159,120
519,528,482
640,210,788
568,469,068
550,934,887
652,208,975
680,597,915
787,645,670
870,514,455
881,827,068
787,991,911
854,871,810
768,550,026
A CRUEL GIVE-AWAY.
A Berlin newspaper declares that
the Chicago people wore paste jewels
on the occasion of Prince Henry's
visit to that city. Germany appears
to have it in for Chicago ou account
of the meat question. Washington
Post. |
A CURE FOR THE TOBACCO HABIT.
Mrs. M. Hall , 8194 Eleventh street ,
DCS Moines , la. . , has discovered a
harmless remedy for the Tobacco
Habit. Her husband was cured in
ten days after using tobacco for over
thirty years. All desire for its use
gone. Can bo filled by any druggist.
Mrs. Hall will gladly send pre
scription free to anyone enclosing a
stamped envelope.
This signature is on every box of the genuine
Laxative Brome = Quinine Tablets
tbt remedy that cures a cold in one day
