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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1887)
1 10 THE OMAHA DAILY BEE : SUNDAY , AUGUST 28. 1887.-TWELVE PACIFIC COAST FORTUNES. Kmtnenia Wealth Acquired in a Very Few Tears , .MONEY "MAKING ROMANCES. Railway Klnga-IIow the "lilg Four" Worked the Railroad Field for All There Was In It. George IT. Fitch in the Cosmopolitan. Urtlzac , with his royal imagination , borer conceived anything more dra matic , moro picturesque , or more essen tially unreal than the rise to fortune of the score of men who may bo classed among the great millionaires of the Pacific coast , the enormously rich mon who will "cut up" to use an expressive phrase , for moro than twenty millions. Valziic reveled in millions as a miser gloats over his golden hoard , and ho endowed dewed many of his characters with the generous hand of the novelist ; but ho dealt in franc , not dollars , and the bourse speculators and the great finan cial schemes that ho loved to describe pale into insignificance before the for tunes and business operations of the half dozen men of the Pacific coast , who , In mining and railroads , have made for tunes that would have been called royal oven in the days of Caesar and Imperial Home. Nowhere in this country , outside of the oil regions of Pennsylvania , have vast fortunes bcon gained in so short a time as in California tind Nevada. The wealth of Girard , Stewart , Astor , Vanderbilt , was laboriously and slowly gathered , when compared with the sudden leap to fortune of the railroad and bonanza kings of California. In its rapid dovcU opruont , its enormous profits , and its crushing monopoly , the Southern Pacific company is only to bo compared to the Standard Oil company. Both have been built up by men with a genius for mau- Bging vast enterprises , but the leaders in botlihavc moro bowels for small com petitors than the ghost of old Marly that ecrougo saw on that famous Christmas Kvc. There is no standard of compari son for the bonanza mines of the Corn- Block lode that within five years lifted four men above the twenty million limit and added four hundred millions to the world's wealth. The Pacific coast millionaires may bo arranged like the geologic formations of the earth , in throe ages. The primary period embraces the famous men who made the Golden State known round the world. They were the pioneers , the Argonauts , the adventurers who built a great state in the far west and trans formed in a single decade the wretched , Spanish-American cattle raislngtcrrltory Into one of the richest stales in the Union , with resources as varied as its climate and with all the appliances of au older civilization grafted on the vigorous lifo of the frontier. The most promi nent of these pioneers were Harry Mciga , who sailed out of the golden gate ono night with all his belongings , leaving be hind an army of deluded creditors , and who amassed an enormous fortune as a railroad builder in Peru ; Sam. Brannan , who founded his wealth on Mormon tithe money , was the foremost citizen of San Francisco in its stormy youth , and then suddenly dropped out of sight to vcgo- tate in Sonora and dream of another great fortune to bo made out of the leagues of land granted him by the Mexi can government , but now in possession of the fierce Yaqui Indians ; William (5. Kalston , the Napoleon of the far west , who did moro to develop California than any score of his associates , aud who died by his own hand when ruin stared him in the face ; and William T. Coleman , the leader of the old vigilance committee that saved San Francisco from the rule of gamblers and thiovcs and made hon est government possible. The limits of this article forbid moro than this allusion to the men of this period. " The secondary periods is the era of the railway kings , which saw the conquest of the snow crowned Sierra Nevada and of the alkali dcsort that stretches away eastward from the base of the mountains to the prairies of Wyoming. It includes Leland Stanford , Mark Hopkins , Col Us 1' . Huntington , aud Charles Crocker , known in negro minstrel parlance as "Tho Big Four , " whose combined wealth is estimated at ono hundred and eighty million dollars. The tertiary period is the ago of the bonanza kings , whlcli saw the develop ment of the Comstock lode in Nevada , the richest silver mines in history , the addition of over four hundred million Collars to the world's supply of the precious metals in ten years. It includes the names ot Flood , O'Brien , Fair , Mac- Jtay , Sharon , and Jones. Another and later era must embrace the land aud speculative millionaires like Saggin , Tovis , Miller , Lux , Mills , curst , Bal.lwin , Liming , and others , Who , are above the ten minion level. Thn tiggregato wealth of all these Paci fic coast millionaires would make cheap and poor the riches of Monte Cristo or the treasures of "King Solomon's Minos. " Even if it could bo stated in exact figures , the average reader would have as poor a conception of it as he has of the weight or bulk of fifty thousand dollars in gold. What will bo attempted in this article is to give pen pictures of the moro promin ent of the Pacific coast millionaires , with brief sketches of the way they made their fortunes. It may bo added that all wore poor men thirty years ago , ami that all would furnish good examples to add to Bmlles' collection in "Self Help. " For tune first came to thorn because they Worn shrewd , energetic , far-sighted , economical , abitemlous. Their histories all show crushing losses and disappoint ments .it the outset of their careers , but Iheso disasters servo only to bring out Iho mottle of which they are mado. and to stump them as types ot the American , the best roprosoututUo to-day of the Hurling qualities of the Anglo-Saxon , the world conqueror. THE KAII.WAY KINGS. The story of ono of the four founders and builders of Iho Central Pacific rail road is the story of all. Of radically un like character , they have still worked to- rothcr so closely that their fortunes have peon identical : but to two of the four be long the credit nf leadership. Of these two Lcland Stanford and Collls P. liuutington Stanford Is the broader- iBindod and moro liberal man , llmmng- ton the moro subtle , far-seeing , and diplomatic. Hence , in furthering the great railroad enterprise that has made them among the wealthiest men in the country , Stanford was given the practi cal management of the building and operation of the road on the Paoilio coast , while Huntington controlled the equally difficult and important department of securing government aid nt Washington ml the negotiation of the company's bonds hero and abroad. Of the other two partners , Mark Hopkins was a skill ful bookkeeper and financier , while Charles Crocker had strong executive capacity aud was useful to Stanford in the management of the details of railroad building. The first place in my sketch of the building of the Central Pacitio railroad belongs to Leland Stanford , who by char acter , wealth , and position was the loader in the enterprise. Ho came of excellent English stock , his father beingS farmer near Albany. N. Y. Young S tanford , after- the study of thn law , wen ) to Wisconsin , but there ho suffered tbo toss of his law library by fire. Ho came aouie uadlsmayed , and wbilo casting about for a new location , in 1853 , ho c.iught the California gold fever. Ho engaged in the general merchandise business , and ten years saw him the pos sessor of perhaps $100,000. In 1801 he was elected governor of California by the republicans , and It was in this same year that the project of spanning the contin ent with a railroad was discussed and that the California legislature granted a charter to n company of which Stanford was president and Huntington was vlco president. Never was a great work begun under moro untoward conditions. The road had to bo built to Ogden in Utah , a dis tance of 878 miles. The rugged foot hills , the almost inaccessible hoighU of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada , the des- olnto alkali plains of Novuda , the terror of the overland wagon trains , Ihe canons of Utah all these had to bo overcome. By making use of natural passes over the mountains the engineers finally de cided that the road was feasible. Then Stanford sot lo work to try to gain help. The position was this : Ho had as as sociates Huntington , who was a dealer in hardware nt .Sacramento , the capital city , and Mark Hopkins. Huntlngton's partner. Their combined capital would not have made over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Many of the Cal- iforn'ians had crossed the plains and climbed the Sierra In the overland emi grant trains. These pioneers scouted the idea of building a railroad , and their opinion had great weight with others. The result was that the projectors could get very little at the outset In their own state. From the general government they secured the uoblo land grant that wa3 worth many millions ; but before they could use this land grant on the government bond of thirty-live thous and dollars per mile , they were required to construct the lirst fifty miles of road. It was in overcoming this difficulty. In inspiring the confidence of capitalists , that the gunius of Stanford was shown. Even when government aid came it was badly handicapped , for the bonds wcro worth only about one-third of their face value. All through the dark days of the war the company wont phickily on with their work. Any ono who lived in Cali fornia at that time can recall how the bonds and stock of the struggling cor poration wcro hawked about without finding purchasers. They wore like the bonds of the government. Few men in California were willing to buy the seven per cont.s , as the workers declared that they would bo repudiated like the old Continental bonds. It was the common opinion , both in Sacramento and San Francisco , that Stanford , Huntington , and Hopkins had sunk all their own for tunes in the railroad , and that failure would DO sure to overtake them when they tried to cross the Sierra. It took Iho courage of great connec tions to overcome tins public sentiment ; but Stanford in California and Huntington - ton at Washington and New York ac complished it. Early in 1607 the tunnel under thn summit of the Sierra Nevada was finished , and on May 20 , 18G9 , the last spike was driven that joined the east and west. It is interesting now to road the bril liant loiters of A. D. Richardson to the Now YorkTribuno , in which ho described the scones of this ride across the contin ent , now grown almost as familiar to the thousands of tourists as the trip across Now York state or the tour of the great lakes and the St. Liwrenco. The journey from sea to sea , which then con ? simcd twelve days , has been cut down to six. while the hardships of the old time railroad travel has been so eliminated that a Sybarite might now enjoy the jour ney. The completion of the railroad wit nessed tbo sudden advance of all its pro jectors to great wealth. Immigrants Mowed into the state by thousands ; the company's lands became valuable ; the facilities of the road for transporting freight and passengers wore taxed to the utmost ; new territories wcro opened and clamored for railroad connection , so that little more than ten years after the building ot the original road saw the building of a new line through Arizona and New Mexico. The rapidity with which the Southern Pacific road was con structed is ono of the marvels of Ameri can railroad building. Slnco then no less than three other transcontinental lines of railroad have been built , others are still in process of construction , while the development of the Pacific coast as well as of the vast interior territory , which the old school geographies used to call the "Great American Desert , " has outstripped the dreams of the most sanguine western speculator. These years have naturally witnessed great changes in the fortunes of the men that built the first Pacific railroad. All except Hopkins are still alive , and all bid fair to enjoy many more years of life. Stanford's health is broken , as much by the loss of his only non as by the weight of years and heavy earns , Personally , Stanfotd impresses ) one as the most sin cere of Iho three mon. Ho has a face wnich once seen is not soon forgotten. It is a massive face with overhanging eye trows and great ox eyes , still keen when lie looks up to note the effect of what ho says. Ho talks with extreme deliberation , selecting his words and ap parently weighing ovor.y statement. His legal training , his long familiarity with great enterprises as well as his associa tion with prominent mon at homo and abroad have given him n breadth of mind in which his Californlan associates are lacking. Stanford's only passion is for fine horses and this taste ho has gratified on his estate at Palo Alto in the heart of the Santa Clara valley. There ho has a largo number of line thoroughbred horses , and when ho goes down to his country homo it is his pleasure to sit in a largo chair in the center of a ring and see his favorKo young llyors brought out for trial. It was while watching ono of these fast trotters an animal which had the enor mous stride of twenty-thrco feet that the millionaire conceived the Idea that in some part of his course the horse must entirely clear the ground and have all four feel In the air. So ho decided to have his horses photographed while in motion. Ho secured the service * of a skillful photographer named Muybridge , and he arranged nn ingenious system of cameras worked by electricity by which an instantantancous view ot the animal was given as he passed the homo lino. About forty thousand dollars were spent on these experiments ; but they overthrow all previous notions on the subject , and the work which Stanford had written and published , entitled "The horse in motion , " is n valuable contribut'.on to science. Senator Stanford has also done moro than anyone else to improve the breed of horses in California , and to demonstrate that the climate of that state is superior to Kentucky for the breeding of swift trotting and running stock. It was the hope of Senator Stanford to perpetuate his narao and to hand down his wealth to hid only son. Leland Stan ford , jr. , a lad who showed marked abil ity in mechanics. But the boy had a weak physique , and three years ago , while in Florence , ho contracted the Roman fever and died suddenly. His death aged the father moro than twenty years of work and responsibility had dono. It led him to devise means for leaving a memorial to his dear son in the form of a great industrial univer sity to be established on his estate at Palo Alto. Ho sought distraction from grief in outlining the plans of an Institution more generous in scope and endowment than any in thi.i country. Ho called to his aid the best educators , and with char acteristic energy ho completed last year the plans for the "Leland Stanford , Jr. , University , " wiih an endowment of moro than twenty millions , in lamls and other propertywnioh is sure to increase greatly in value in the next decade. The endow ment includes the Vina ranch of fifty-life thousand acres in Tehatna county , on which is the largest vineyard In the world ; the Girdly wheat ranch in Butte county , comprising twenty-one thousand ncrcs ; and the Palo Alto ranch and stock farm of seven thousand two hundred ncrcs. The total value of these three ranches is five million thrco hundred thousand dollars. When in California the senator spends nearly all his leisure at his country estate. Ills town house.on the crown of what has boon irreverently dubbed Neb Hill , cost , with Its furnishings , not loss than $1,000- 000. It is occupied perhaps two mouths in the year by the owner. It is rich in wood-carving and frescoes , snd the art gallery contains the largest collection of old masters outside of a public gallery in this country. Mr. Stanford was elected United States senator from California two years ago by a largo voto. Ho mot practically no opposition in his own party , for even his enemies recognized his honesty and his fitness for the position. When ho announced himself as a candi date the contest was settled. The senator divides his time between Wash ington , New York , and San Francisco , in all of whichplaces he has houses. Ho is generally accompanied by his wife , who was Miss Lathrop , of an old and and well-known Albany family. She is known for her many charities , the kin dergarten schools of San Francisco being specially indebted to her bounty. She has probably a larger and finer collection of diamonds than any ono in this coun try , but she seldom wears them. The fortune of Stanford ii estimated at fifty million dollars. Adjoining the Stanford mansion in San Francisco is the striking Norman castle of Mrs. Mark Hopkins. Her husband was thn financier of the railroad company , but he wore himself out by constant application , and for several months before his death ho had forgotten his own identity. Just be fore this loss of his memory , ho had begun the construction o ! this superb residence. Ono day his medical attend ant took him to the top of the lull , where ho saw the work of building going on , when the millionaire turned to him and in a querulous tone asked : "What infer nal fool is wastinp money on such a house as that ? " Ho died soon after , ills widow , who. was a poor Now England girl when Mr. Hopkins married her , In herited all his wealth. She still retains her shares in the road , and her adopted son is ono of the rising young mon in the railroad olllco. Her country homo Is at Great Harrington , Mass. , where she has built a costly summer residence. She is regarded as the richest woman in Ameri ca , as she has a fortune of nt least forty million dollars , of which she doce not spend one-half the income. In the next block above the Stanford and Hopkins palaces is the large and pre tentious residence of Charles Crocker. There is no architecture about it , but it is finely furnished , and has a largo art gal lery. Crocker was taken into the rail road company in 1882 , with his brother , and his executive abilities were of great help in the buiUlint : of the railroad. Ho also had charge of the building of the Southern Pacific road. In mental ability and in education , however , ho is fur in ferior to his associates. He has a heavy , palid face , with no signs of mental vigor or alertness in it. Ho is credited with great shewdness in business- affairs , and ! intimate knowledge of all thn details ofl practical railroad work. He recently purchased a costly house in Now York , which ho will make a bridal gift to his only daughter on her approaching mar riage , while ho is now building a fine house on ono corner of his own lot in San Franoisco for a son who was lately married. It is Mr. Crocker's custom to ride homo from the railroad ollices in San Francisco in the democratic street oar. Any ono who sees him leaning his weary face on his largo gold-headed cane would take him for a deacon or a philanthropist , so benevolent is his expression and so iiu- maculate his clerical looking necK tie ; but the observer would bo greatly mis taken. Crocker has the reputation of being the most merciless of all the mil lionaires. Some idea of his character may bo gained from this incident. When he bought the block on which his present residence is built , the owner of ono lot , a stubborn Gorman , at first refused to sell. When his avarice became excited by the millionaire's intent eagerness to buy , ho gradually increased his price af ter each successive offer. Finally Crqckor became enraged and swore a mighty -oath that never while he lived would ho buy that property. So ho built u huge fence , twenty-fivo feet high , around tbo house of the Gorman. The latter soon had to remove his house , and the fence , somewhat reduced in height , still remains to mark the millionaire's wrath , althousrh the German has been in his grave for several years. Crocker is regarded as worth thirty millions , of which much is real estate. Of the railroad millionaires C. P. Hun tington is least known in California. For moro than twenty years ho has made his homo In Now York and Washington. In keenness of intellect and knowledge ! of men ho ranks above Stanford. Ho is a great organizer , an accomplished diplo mat , a manipulator of railroad shares and of railroad legislation , second only to Jay Gould. It shows the rare combin ation of diverse talent among the found ers of the Central Pacific railroad that one of those four mon should have pos sessed in supreme degree a faculty that was probably the salvation of the whole enterprise in its darkest days. Huntington was a natural trader. The stories of his early shrewdness when he did business in Otsogo county , N. Y. , re semble the similar tales of Gould's pre cocious ability for overreaching his neighbors. Ho wont to California in 813 , and his increase in wealth was only the result of the application of extreme shrewdness and economy. In partner ship with Mark Hopkins ho built UP the greatest hardware business in the state , and for years the firm do ilt largely in minors' supplies. When the railroad building besran , they supplied much of the material for the roads , and this , with his interest in the railroad , mrtdo liuutington ono of the great millionaires of this country. His fortune is estimated nt forty millions ; but is probably beyond this , since ho has spent very little on outward ' ward display. His only ox'uonslvo taste is for pictures. Ho lives simply and quietly in Now York , but like Jay Gould his hand is felt over a wide extent of ter ritory. As an organizer hois probably the equal of Gould. His latest exploit the opening up of the long line of rail road which ends at Newport News and the establisomont at that port of a great wheat-shipping depot-has occupied him for the last ton years and , if successful , will add materially jo his vast fortune. A Word ro Girls and Isoya. Shamokin Times : Girls and boys , I want to say to you that there is nothing so valuable as character ; nothing more essential to your happiness und success in after lifo than reputation. An indis creet act in your early years may , aurt probably , will follow you through all your lifo and often crimson your cheeks with shame. This Is particularly so with girls. There are always those with evil tonguos.who will bo ready to recall your discredit , any evil reports that may have stained your fair name. Be on your guard then , to give no foundation for the talk of the slanderer. You may , in pure thoughtlessness , do things which an in terpretation of may bo disastrous to you. Bo careful , then , of your conduct so this ovll may not fall upon yout DR. J. H. MOLEAN'S 'Strengthening Cordial and Biped Purifier , by its vitalizing - izing propertlos.will brighten pale cheeks , and transform hnggared , .dispirited woman into one of sparkllpi heaUh and beauty. RESULTS OF ELECTRICITY , Achievements of the Powerful and My te- tiona Fluid. THE TELEGRAPH IN ENGLAND. Electricity in the Nayy Lightning Photograph * Mine's Lighted by Electricity Alarm Bells Elec tric Hallway * Freaks. The Telegraph In England. The London Times thus summarizes some of the statement : ) made by Mr. Kaikos , the postmaster general , in his speech delivered at the telegraph jubilee recently : At first a machine required five wires before it could dispatch n mes sage. Now on ono single wire seven or eight messages can bo sent simultane ously. At first the rate of sending did not amount ( o more than four or five words a minute. Now on tha latest machine no less than 403 words a minute can bo dispatched. The number of mes sages has increased by steady stops until now , under the new tariff and with the facilities that have been BO widely ex- tcndud slnco the telegraphs came into the hands of the government the number is truly portentous. Those sent during the past year amounted to close upon a million a week 51,000,000 , in all. lo put the matter concisely the relative proportion between letters and telegrams have altered in the most astonishing way during tlio past thirty years , lu 1885 , when the public had become well used to the telegraph and when every railroad line was provided with telegraph com munication , for every telegram scut there were 439 letters. In ten years Iho proportion had risen to ono telegram for every 151 letters. In 1875 , the telegraphs having meanwhile been purchased bv the government , the proportion had nseu again it stood at one telegram for every fifty-six letters , and in 1880 it stood at onn telegram for every forty letters. Of course , too , this increase has been moro than a merely proportional increase. Letters have grown from 80,000,000 in the year of the queen's accession to more than 1,400,000.000 , and the absolute increase in the number of telegrams can bo judged by that single fact. Moreover , if this is the testimony that can bo brought to show the popular success of the telegraphs , more strikine still is the story of inven tions , energy , disappointment , and final triumph , which is presented by the sub marine cables. From the time when Mr. Crampton , in 1851 , first overcame the dif ficulties of this branch of the work.down to the present time" , when , according to Mr. Pendor , there aru some 110,000 miles of cables lying at the bottom of the sea , the progress in this ; department has been constant. As the romantic history of the first and second ! Atlantic cables showed , immcnsediffityihios ; hart to bo encountered and .grijivous disappoint ments to bo expected ; but now , so great is the improvement in the method of making the cables.tho.chunco of success is very large. The latest scheme , as the now Colonial bluq books show , is for lay ing a cable under jtho Pacific ocean , from Vancouver to Now Zealand. Surely there is no task from which modern sci ence will recoil. ; t n Electric Apparatus In the rVavy. Lieutenant J. B. Murdook of the United States navy ; toad , a pauer enti tled the "Electric. Light Outlit on the New Crmsors , " at the convention of the National Llcctrio Light association re cently. He said in part : Our conditions , so far as the dynamo is concerned , may bo summarized by wish ing the great electrical output for a given weight and bulk , and although at tirst this may scorn to bo essentially the same thing as elllcioncv of conversion , it is widely different. The next consid eration is that of the connection of the dynamo to its engine. A starting point is afforded in thn rule that bolting should never bo uso'i on a sea-going vessel. Nothing so radically violates our condi tion of economy of space as the use of belting. The adoption of fixture gearing between engine and dynamo has been suggested and is probably practicable , l > ut its durability on ship board when the motion of the vessel inu.-it cause working of the two shafts may not be groat. In the navies of Europe the practice of direct connection is universal , the dynamo shaft being coupled to that of the engine. This culls , of course , for either a great reduction of the spcod of the dynamo or a corresponding increase of that of the engine , it is probable that many line now vessels will require elec tric motors. Gun carriages may bo worked in this way on account of the ad vantages that an electric motor oilers in Email weight and bulk and in the im portant fact that it is so much easier to splice a broken main than to patch a leaky uipo when steMii or compressed air is used for power. Electric motors will be useful for shell hoists and ammuni tion whips , reducing the number of men employed for those purposes. Hero , also , light weight and compactness are absoluteiy essential , and nino-tcnths of the motors in commercial use would bo barred out as too heavy. A tor-horse power motor , the largest we would probably use , should not weigh over 500 pouuas. " Photographs of Lightning Wanted. Electrical Review : The Royal Mutcorogical society is desirous of ob taining photographs of flashes of light ning , as it is believed that a great deal of research on this subject can only bo pursued by means of the camera. The council of the society intimate that they would esteem it a great favor if assist ance were afforded in this matter , cither by sending copies of any photographs by lightning that may already have bcon taken , or by endeavoring to procure them , or to Interestothers ! in the work. It may , perhaps , bo well to mention that the photography of lightning docs not present any particular'dllllciilties. If a rapid dry plato and an ordinary rapid doublet with full aperatnrobo left uncov ered at night during a thunder storm for a short tiroo flashes of h'ghtning willafter development , be found in some cases to have impressed themselves upon the plato. The only difficulty is the uncer tainty whether any. particular flash will happen to have been in the field of view. Mines Lighted t > r El ectrloitjr. Mr.Sottlo.tho patented of the water cart ridge , by moans of which dynamite is ex ploded Harmlessly In' ' fiery gas or in the heart of a barrel of gunpowder , is manag ing director of the Madeloy Canal and Iron company in Stafford. His inventive skill has boon applied successfully to the illu mination by olectricty of the mines un der his control , so that the miners do not eren require hand lamps in their opera tions. One of the seams of coal , three feet in thickness , is worked at a depth of 400 yards from the surface , and the wires are supplied with a current from an upper level 825 yards deep. Permanent lamps of sixteen candle power are fixed throughout the workings and sixty feet distant apart. The small globe of glass which incloses the incandescent film is surrounded by a larger globe filled with water. The illuminant glass floats in this , and it is only when the globe la full of water , that contact is established and light produced. As a matter , of courao , when the glass is broken contact ceases , and' the water preveu.te any possibility of an explosion , complete extinction bolng instantaneous. Those lamps are not af fected by air currents. Electric Lighting of Berlin Theater * . Electrical Review : The ooera of Her- lln is just closed , and the necessary works hfivo been begun for extending electric lighting. The performers' boxes and the concert hall are already lighted elec trically , and now the installation is to bo cxtedned to the stnire , the auditor ium and the corridors , The Edison coin- panv has undertaken the complete sup pression of gas in the establishment. The proprietors of the "Rosidenz Theater , " nt licrlin , aru in treaty with the same company for the installation of the elec tric light in the entire theater before the commencement of the next season. New Automatic Alarm Bell. Boston Advertiser : Wh'ilo American electricians are almost hourly enlarging the scope of their inventions , the entre preneurs of other countries have not been kilo. A couple of Germans lay claim to n complicated arrangement which is in tended to roduoo danger in railway travel to a minimum. The device is an automatic alarm boll , whose ringing will prevent collisions botwccn trains on the same track. The invention includes something of the Phelps-Edison device , by enabling a train in motion to remain in telegraphic communication with the station at the other end. This of course provides an additional safeguard by in creasing the facilities of the division su perintendent for watching oror his net work of tracks. An Electric Doorplatc. Chicago News : During the thunder storm on Tuesday evening nn iron plato forming the threshold of Truax'a confec tionery store nt WaukcshaVis. . , became so charged with electricity that u dog bounded from it with n torrilio howl , while sparks scintillated from every hair of his skin. Then a young man essaying to enter with damp boot soles was im pelled to jump into the air by the thrill ing of every nerve of his body with electric exhilaration. Lio4 Angeles Eloctrln Hallway. San Francisco Call : The electric rail- wny now running at hos Angolcs is pro nounced a great success. They claim it can bo built for one-third of the oost of a cable roud , and bo run at much greater speed and at loss expense. They have run as high as twenty miles per hour , but the usual speed is from ten to twelve. The field where electricity is being employed is evidently enlarging daily , and its possibilities are something mar velous. Man and Here Killed by Lightning. Denver Republican : The accident oc curred on the prairie during a storm about ! ! o'clock in the morning. The de ceased having tied his horse to the horn of his saddle with : i lariat , and during the rain placed his blankets under the saddle for protection , and with them his 43-Colt's revolver and bolt , both full of cartridges , and was undoubtedly sitting sideways on the saddle with a thin rubber slicker about htm. The stroke killed both man and horse , broke the iron horn of the saddle , ex ploded all the cartridges and set lire to leather of the tmddlo , picket rope , blank ets , tearing his hat boots and shirt to pieces , while the fire consumed the ilesh of the log from the knco to the ankle. Ho was in a crumped , contorted position , as though fallen backwards from a sitting position. The unfortunate man never knew what killed him. N t vr Eleotrlo'Storage Battery. The first public test and exhibition of the Woodward electrical storage battery was made in Detroit , Mich. , last week and proved to be a complete success. A number of Detroit capitalists are inter ested and immediate stops will be taken for tha manufacture of the now batteries. Kreaki. Lightning not only burned the house of Joseph Wiloox , of Lake Clear , Fla. , but struck his barn and killed all his stock. John Lamport and his dog were killed by lightning while tending sheep on the ranch of Dr. Welch , at Greoley , Col. Lightning struck the powder mill at Stroator , 111. , and It blew up promptly , smashing things for halt a mile around. A pitchfork carried over the shoulder of William Casselman at Glover.-ivillo. N. Y. , during a thunder storm , drew the lightning and cost him his life. William Howen and his sister-in-law , Miss I1 tini co McKcnzic , were instantly killed by lightning lit Palestine , Tox. , while taking refuge under a largo pine tree. tree.Heavy Heavy rain put out the lire caused by lightning that struck Thomas Powell's barn at llockv Mount. N. C. , but the lightning had already killed two horses and an ox. The entire family of Meredith Monsoll of Pickens county , S. C. , was killed by lightning while dining. Tha family con sisted of Mr. Meusoll , his wife and four children. Lightning stunned the stallion Rod Jacket , belonging to James Price of Farmington , Ga. , and he has been as donilo as a lamb over since. No one was known to tide him before. Lightning tore out the casing and blinds of sv window of a house in Little Rock , Ark , , and throw two bird cages upon the floor , but neither of the birds in the cages was injured. An oak standing in a cemetery at Mount Pleasant , Tonn. , afforded shelter in a storm to nine negroes who had just buried n friend. Lightning struck the trco and killed them all. While Charley Spencer of Milwaukee was fishing lightning struck him , and tore thn clothes completely from ono side of his body , cutting them us neatly in two as it the job had been done with a knife. Lightning tore out the whole side of the Widow Jones' house at South Solon , ( ) . , and revealed the widow and her three children huddled together In theme mo t abject terror. None of thorn was injured , however. When lightning struck the New Eng land House at Now Millford it passed completely around the collar of H. O. Warner , who was seated on the piazza , giving him for a time a handsome neck lace of blue flame. When lightning struck the barn of James Smith of Marion , Itid. , hu was standing between his two horses with three pigs nosing around their feet. At the flash all the animals dropped dead , while Smith was entirely unharmed. Lightning tore a largo oak tree on the premises of John Mathis , at Cutbbert , Ga. , into kindling wood , and sent a mule tied to it on to its knees , but the r.mlo soon recovered , kicked a wagon into bits , and was otherwise very lively. Home Blade Mummlcn. There were recently lying In San Fran cisco , awaiting shipment to Europe , the remains of four Arizona Indians , which are , perhaps , the most perfect specimens of the natural embalming process of a dry climate ever found in this country. Those remains are simply dried up by the action of an atmosphere in which there is no humidity. Even the viscera , which all embalmers in Egypt found it necessary to remove in order to guard against decomposition , have been desic cated like the other parts of the body , so that ono has hero the practical result of the embalrncr's art with not a single or gan of the Dody removed. The discovery was made by a party of American prospectors in the Sierro Madre mountains of Arizona , not far from the border line .of Mexico , says Harper's Weekly. . Thoao- miners ware searching for ' 'Indication * of gold , and also , for a cave in : whlcn It was 'repor ted' a- large amount of ' . .treasure' and1 ? previous stones had baoii burled. Theywero following an Indian trail along the steep banks of the Glla rlrcr. when ono nf the number noticed peculiar formation in the hillside which seemed artificial. He stuck his pick into it and fetched away a bit of very hard cement. The curiosity of the party was nt once excited , and full of the IIOPO that they had at last discovered the treasure cave , they quickly removed the couiont , only to llnu it covered with a wall of solid masonry , evidently the opening into some chamber in the ollfl. The stones wcro laid without mortar , and several of the largest being re moved an entrance was afforded into a rude ctxvo , perhaps twenty-fivo by fifteen foot. By the dim light they saw at ono end the skeleton of a human being propped up in a sitting posture. It flashed across their minds at once that they were In n burial-chamber of some of the prehistoric dwellers of the country , and that the mythical , treasure was still as great a myth as over. An examination of the figure showed that it was that of an unusually powerful man of medium height. JNoar by wore three heaps of stones , which the minors quickly cleared away , exposing to view the remains of four other human beings a man , n young woman , and a mother and her child. All wcro in perfect pres ervation , the features being clearly rec ognizable. They wcro all covered with coarse-woven cloth , which fell to pieces when touched , and all wcro crowded into positions with the knees reaching nearly to the chin. The bodies were extremely light , all weighing together only a few pounds. The prospectors determined to remove them to the nearest station , so they were packed in a sack and thrown over the back of a burro. After much trouble with some Indians of the neigh borhood , who resented this desecration of the grates of their ancestors , the party reached the railroad and the bodies were shipped to San Francisco. The Sea of Galllleo. Correspondence Cleveland Lsader : The lake is about twice as long as broad. It is not for n moment to bo compared to Como or Lucerne , neither has it the beauty of Katrine or Killnrney , or our own exquisite Lake George. If ono must compare it to something , the lower part of Windermcro might do. Over on the other shore , near Gcrasa and Gamala , are some steep slopes , quito suitable for any swine to run very quickly and surely down into the sea. There is n strange absence of boats ; somi'or.o says there are but three on the whole lake , but this must bo a mistake. Still the fishing is largely done from the shoro. Wo had some of it , and some successful duck shooting. This morning ono of the boats was captured , and looking out equally for towns and duck , we spread sail for up the lake. First of the towns comes Magdalti , from the name of ono of its sinning denizens known the world over. Wo pass Dalmanutha , and now approach a bank rosy with wild olcaders in blos som , some of the trees standing quite out from the shore in the water. Our craft runs up into the midst of this grove of color and scent , and disembarking , wo walk tor some distance through n field , suddenly finding ourselves stumb ling , not onlv through the brambles , but over the fragments of Corinthian capitals and columns. All about are ruined blocks and bases of basalt , indi cating volcanic formation , but in the middle of all the basaltic remains are those of this building , built of beautiful blush marblo. Wo are at Toll Hum , which has by far the greater evidence in its favor as against Khan Minyeh , of be ing the ancient Kcfrnahuin or Caper naum , the home of Christ , where , pro tected by Rome , ho could dwell in safety amongst the Syrsans. and Greeks , and Jews after the Nazarenes had thrust him forth. These white fragments amidst all the black very probably belong to the synagogue which the Roman centurion was good and great enough to erect for the Jews. We don't find many Christian rulers erecting Jewish synagogues , now adays , and wo are glau that it was that same centurion whom our Lord admired and whoso servant is healed. If this bo tiuly the synagogue what stories could those stones toll of the discourses which Ono preached in their hearing , of the glance from that ono which may have fallen upon their pagan beautv , and yet as wo turn to leave there greets us the view of the lake and its distant shores which cannot have greatly changed , that view from those sands at our feet , where the divine bard of Patmoi was wont , as a little boy , to haul in his fathom < net. Now we see Chorazin and now Both- saida Julias , , standing partly in Naph- thai ! and partly in Manasseh. the country east of the Upper Jorday. Not to be out done by Herod's honoring Augustus at Samaria , or by Antipas naming'his now and pot city Tibonas , Philip added the name of Ciusar's daughter to this Bothsaida. All the lake scenery is full of the words and deeds of that lifo about which history itself turns. A storm coming up in the south peaks of of the walking on the sou ; the men fish- injr , the parable of the not , the ruined synagogue , of the healing of the demon iac. Was it not on and'about this lake that the multitudes were fed , the dn- seascd made whole , the dead made alive ? Was it not hero that the aptest illustra tions of the sewer , the tares , the tribute money , the treasure , above all , the sermon - mon on the Mount , wore voiced by lips which spake as never man spake. Thn Style lu Visiting Cnriln. Now York Mail and Express : "Fashions change as much in visiting cards asm dress"said the salesman in charge of the stationery department of an up town establishment. "Tlio style of cards for mon is very small , two sizoa being used , according to the length of the name ; the smaller of the two being JH inches lonir by 1J wide. The next smaller size is used for single ladies , and is 3 } inches long by 2 wide. Then comes the size for married women's cards. Those are consistent with matronly dig nity. They measure 4 inches by 2 } . There is still a larger size on which are engraved - graved the names of both the head of the Iiouso and his wife. Those are the stand ard sizes , and any variation from them must bo made to order. The style of engraving used is now mtioh plainer than formerly , when the old English , Roman and block letters wore In voguo. The prevailing form is plain script. With men the Mr. is invariably used and the first name given in full. The middle nanio is often given , also. "This rule applies equally to young women's cards. Honorary titles for mon are always given , and for women's cards the address should not bo omitted. The address should always bo placed in the lower right-hand corner , and during the season tno reception day is cnjjravoil in the lower left-hand corner. The mother's and daughters' names arc sometimes placed on the same card , the young women merely appearing us "Tho Misses"with the family name appended. Crests are only used on the cards of foreigners. Americans have not yet reached that stage of meaningless fool ishness. There is u style of card which is nearly square , but which from its awkward .shape is rarely used. Black- edged cards are still fashionable for ladles In mourning , There is no partic ular style for business cards , except the rule is observed of making them its plain as possible. The mini of a diplomat of the first class boars the full title of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten tiary of the United States. CFAULTS of digestion cause disorders of the liver..and the whole system becomes deranged. Dr. J. H. McLean's Strength- , enlng Cordial and Blood Purifier perfects the process of digistlpn and lusini ' and thus makes pure blood1'- ; " ' . . ' . . . ' . " > \ ' COOK'S OLD Reliable ! 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