1Ji 1
10 THE OINLAITA DAILY ETCs SUNDAY , 15 , Ji
We Furnish Your CARPET ipeeial Prices to Close Out
Our Entire Stock of
Home Complete SALE
Parlor Desks , Bookcases
Sec Our Line of Christmas $30,000 worth of Carpets at cost , to reduce stock
Presents Before Purchasing--- before taking inventory. and China Closets.
1.25 Moquettes , per yard 85c
6 * jTVft ] 13 A TC I adPlTSI e 'nv'tc ' ' ' * Yc know 4525-
yjt x TjL'Jlfita.Jt t y J 1 1 that we arc * , irivinc our $1.25' Body Brussels , 75c -
O O
customers not only bargains as to value , but art in household $1.00 Tapestry Carpet , 60c
furnishings. We have been in business in Omaha ( or ten years
Solid Solid
and our trade today is larger than it ever was , notwithstand 850 Ingrain Carpet , 58c
ing the hard times , Our terms are easy , and we always are 500 Ingrain Carpet , 25c Oak Oak
willing to adjust them so as to please all ,
*
Ladies Beveled
Special Terms- Desk , Mirror ,
POP til Is Sol Id Oak
.Sideboard , finely lln- Polish Polished
Ami inducements to Uheilsv rv lursj bov-
_ . olud t-il o mirror
ill - --L- " * - - ' *
! tf f >
Young folks going housekeeping. ' Finished Finished
'gams in
1000 pairs Nottingham Lace Curtains , 75c
100 pairs Fine Brussels Lace Curtains , $2,25
Sold nglHrl ixt 18 00.
200 pairs Irish Point Lace Curtains , regular price
$6.00 , now $1,98
700 pairs good quality CheniHe Curtains , full
size with heavy fringe , worth $9.00 , now
Tills litiiulsnmo
.Munfl Voiding licil $23. ° 00 worth of fine Lace Curtains and Drapery
finished very llnoly . . . . goods to select from , Tliis Boil Room Set in either sqimro or chovnl fjlu.ss ,
] | ti3 a buvolod edge mirror , very largo Ore bor aiul
We have in stock thousands well finished , fully worlh $20.00
of articles in parlor furni Mr. II , Guptill , the manager of
ture , odd divans , odd corner the Crockery dcpartnirnt , has re
turned from Chicago and New
chairs , odd rockers , that
We York , where he has bought an
have in would make suitable pres
elegant line of fancy goods suitable
stock
ents.
thousands . able for Christmas presents. He
For this elegant of Rockers Regular price Wo soil an olegimt Cook Stove ( T > I7 SlU'C aill ( SCO Ills lillC befoi'C jHll'-
in Drou Ilnc'k Couch , spring odzo Upholstered with n lui'jro oven anil RUtirunJ ) I
In u good quality pomul , nmkus an elegant $10,25 Vi'
toed bukn for
all folding cuucli , to
styles $475
and Bargains in Our irsual Easy Terms Will Prevail :
Upholstered in either coverings. Leather seat , high Our Crockery Department lO.OO tviirtli ? 1.OO ilinrii 9I.OO II wrclc. I.
back with solid ) ? i : ( > . ( III wiirlli t-.OO lo ii ! ? -K ) n MO < - ! % .
ther plush or silk See , arms , , . . . .
. .
.
100 Dinner Sots necorutcd In either blue or browt s.'tO.OOviili Sl.r.O ii week $7.OO n niiindi.
, solid polished id oak , carved and fully worm J12UO. our price $5O. ( ) < ) worth ! ? -.O ( u wiM'k 97.OO a iiiiuitli.
tapastry our ,
75 Toilet Sots il pieces . . . .
i'i-k
$1,50 $7 ( .OO north ijlU.riO n $ S. ( o a inontli.
ished oak frame. highly polished. All decoiuted < . . woiMi . .
line. 1 ; IOO.OO iiorth $ ; i.no a lO.Oi ) a inoiitli.
$1,35 # iOO.OO ivordi < I.OO u tvcrk . < 5ir > .OO a month.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE SUN
OLat with Secretary Imngley Concerning
His Wonderful Discoveries ,
NOT ALWAYS ON TIME FOR DINNER HOUR
Knur in mis lli'iit Rt'iieriiii'il Aecitrntolj
Mfiimircil SuisufNllniiM for Aiiply-
li\K It Jlcc'lmiilenlly Study of
( CopyrlBhlod. 1W , by Prank Q. Carpenter. )
WASHINGTON , I ) . C. , Oac. 14. For years
the Investigations of Mr. S. P. Langley , the
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution , have
been watched with absorbing Interest by the
scientists ol th ? world. What Edison , Telsa
and Hell nre to general Invention he Is to
scientific invention. He has created new
methods In the study of the heavenly bodies.
He has to tin largest extent measured the
heat ot the sun , Inventing for the purpose
the bolometer , by means of which the tem
perature of a funbeam can bo tested to the
millionth of a d'gree. He has given us our
best Idea of the- wonderful spots on the sun's
surface , and has best shown how this great
body may practically affect the earth and
eventually be better used to Its advantage.
It was Mr. Langley who originated th sys
tematic tlmo servlcfi by which the clocks
cf our cities are now regulated from the
observatories of the country and by which
the railroads htlll run their trains without
danger of accidents through varying time- .
It Is he who has made some of the- greatest
advances In the study of the problems of
the air , and of the physical principles upon
which aerial navigation , If It Is ever r/allzed ,
must rest.
The mobt of those experiments and observa
tions were made by Mr , Langley while lie was
the head of the observatory at Plttsburg ,
though lie was then constantly supplementing
them by others which ho carried on at high
altltud.B nil over the world. In the plains
nt Spain , on Iho edge of the crater of Mount
Aetna , In Sicily , upon Pike's Peak , In Colorado
rado , and on the snowy summits of the Sierra
Nevadas , In California , ho has been , not as
a tourist for an hour , but spending long days
and nights studying the hcaveni , catching the
changes on the niti'H surface , and trying to
learn their practical applications for the uses
of mankind. He Is In a minor degree car
rying on observation and experiment today ,
though his time and energies are necessarily
almost wholly devoted to the administration of
the great Institution of which ho U the
licad.
CHAT WITH SECRETARY LANOLRY.
ThlB man Is now 61 years young. His life
has been packed with the hardest of work ,
but his eye Is bright , his step Is firm , and he
has today as much vitality as any of the
jouncer ofllcers of the Institution , Ho Is , I
believe , the builcst man in Washington , for
bu carries on his scientific experiments only
lu the Intervals of his administrative work ,
and It required a special appointment made
sometime In sulvunre for me > to secure a
chat with him , I found him a dunning
talker , full of good nature and overflowing
with apt quotations and fun. There lu noth
ing pedantic about him. Ho dropped for the
tlmo all technical language , and In every
day words , nt my request , tried to convey to
me some Idea of his wonderful work , I
ftpketl him n number of question ! about hlm-
tclf. Ho did not llko to answer these. He
wanted to put himself In the background ,
hut I feel that the people will bo Interested
In hU perponallty , and jn the story of how
an ambitious boy "hitched his wagon to the
utars" and got there. Upon my risking him
when ho was first attracted to the study of
Hi ? litaveni , lie replied :
"I carlriot fcmember when I was not In
terested In astronomy , I remember reading
books upon the subject as arly as at 9 , and
when I was quite n , boy I learned how t- >
make llttlo telescopes , and studied the stars
through them , Later I made some larger
ones , and though they were , of course , noth
ing llko ( hose wo use here , I think myself
they were very good for a boy. Oao of the
most wonderful thing * to me- was th ? MID ,
anil as to lio\v It heated tli5earth. . I use <
to hold my hands up to It and wonder how
Iko layy made them warm , uiiil where am
how tlio Jieat came from. I asked many
questions , but I could get no satisfactory re
pllea , and someof these childish questions
liav ? occupied many years of my la'cr life It
the answering. I remember , for Instance , one
of the. wonders to me was' a common hot
bed. I could not bee how the glass kept I
warm while all around was cold , and when
ui'ked I was told that of course th ° glass kep
in the heat ; but though my elders saw no
dllllculty about It , I could not bee why , 1
the heat went In through the glass , it couli
not come out again. I now know that the
size of the rays changed after entering the
glass , and that they could no : come out be
cause they grew larger , being In much the
name condition as that of the lean mouse who
crept through a hole In a barrel of grain and
filled himself so full that he could not get out
again. Since then I have spent many years
In studying the way that that great hot
bed , the earth Itself on which we live , is , b >
a like principle , made warmer by the atmo -
plieio that covers It as the glats did the hot
bed. "
"Was your father an astronomer , Mr.
Langley. ' " I asked.
"No , " was the reply. "My father was a
merchant , and I have no records of as
tronomers In my family. My father was
not rich enough to give ma an income suf
ficient to support myself and my hobby.
Astronomy , you know , is not a very profit
able science , and as I had to make a living
for myself , I chose the profession of archi
tecture and civil engineering , but I never
heartily liked It. After some years I went
to Europe , and on my return from the trip ,
having n little money , I decided that I
would take up astronomy and devote my
life to It. I went to the Harvard university
at Cambridge and found u position for work
and study there. That 1 had been occupying
myself with astronomy pretty assiduously
already was , I think , shown by the fact that
although I lacked the. experience that only
observatory work could supply , J still knew
enough to command a salaried position from
the outset. I remained at Harvard for some
time , and then was called to the naval
academy at Annapolis to take charge of the
observatory there. My next position was as
the dliector of the Allegheny observatory
near I'lttsburg , where I bpent a great part of
my jirofobslonal life before I came to Wash
ington , "
"It was at I'ittsburg , then , that most of
your experiments were carried on , was It
not ? "
"Ves. " rjplled Mr. Langley. "There was
a qulto large telescope for those days nt
I'lttsburg. It had been bought by n club
of amateur astionomers , partially for cunli ,
but mostly for credit. After iho first en-
thimUism passed away the- debt remained
and the club became disorganized , so ( hut the
telescope was about to bo sold at auction ,
when the Western university teemed It ,
They Invited me to take chargeof the ob-
icrvntory , and I cams to I'ltsburg nml began
my work. The first work , however , was to
.irovlde . the Indispensable apparatus for the
observatoiy , which , except for thn single telescope -
scope , was one only In name , I found , however -
over , a total lick ( of money , "
HE ORGANIZES THE TIME SERVICE.
The i > ecretary continued : "My proposed In
vestigations could not be made without books
and Instruments , and thete could not bo iol ;
without [ limit1. 1 then began lo look around
Tor something which I could do which \\ould
be commercially profitable to the observatory ,
and the result was tin Inauguration of the
Imu service , which has clnce spread all over
.lie country , and by which the clocks of our
rallroaiU unJ our cities are now regulated
'rein ' an observatory at sonic central point. It
s familiar enough now , but I had the hud
woik of first Introducing It and persuading
icopU of Ha utility. I had to Interest the
city councils and the railroads In It , but I
Inally got an electric clock , established at
he observatory , and soon had Die time of
he c'ly ' regulated by It , Hefore- this ear-h
ewder had his own time , Each of the rail-
ondd ran byvdlfferent times , and th re was
19 cerlaluty as to the arrivals or departures
of trains. Soon after I started U It wag
exUmlul along the lines of Die railways until
\e were regulating clocks as far as Chicago
ami iMilhdelphla from I'ltteburg. To do this
ve had to hava the electric wires to our-
dvEs. and It was so arranged that we wcie
allowed to uSP them for five minutes at U
o'clock In the morning and at 4 In the aftcr-
loon uf every day. The cyttem teen spread
o other cities , and It U now In uip all am
hesorlJ. . 1 did all thU to me ungrateful
work In ord r to get means for my experi
ments ; and as I look back on It'I think
I may claim that I did tolerably well in n
business way , for a man chiefly versed In
scientific affairs , for first and last I thus got
for my little observatory over $00,000. This
I made out of nothing , as It were , and this
all went Into books and into tnc means foi
scientific research. "
SUN OFTEN BEHIND TIME.
"The obs'rvatory clock was regulated by
the sun , was It not ? "
"Yes , " replied Mr. LangUy. "IJy the sui
and the fixed stars. You cannot work by the
sun alone. It is by no means ii regulai
body , as many people suppose. Yon \\ouli
not give anything for a watch which should
bo as irregular as the sun. The sun Is soin-
tlmes fifteen minutes out of the way nt
noon , sometimes ahead and sometimes be
hind tlmo , and It is only by averaging Its
Inegularltles that we know where to find It. '
"Your studios have been largely devoted t <
the sun , Mr. Langley. What is the sun
anyhow ? "
"That question Is a good deal easier to
ask than to answer , " was the leply. "I
have sp&nt years In watching It and trying
to learn something about it. I have ( lib-
covered some things , but I should have to
know a great deal more before I could ade
quately answer that question , I spent three
years in the study of the spots on the sun
before I was ready to make any announce
ments concerning them , and during the
waking hours of those throe years the sun's
fuca was almost constantly before me. Have
you ever looked at H In a telescope ? Do
you appreciate what watching the sun Is ?
In the first place , the face of the sun In .1
telescope Is almost always quivering. Our
atmosphere makes It seem to move to anil
fro In waves , and looking at It is like looking
at a flickering candle , so thut If Its surface
wore ever so near It would be hard to make
out the details. Hut then It Is , of course ,
really an enormous way off , so that those
details are also lost from Its remoteness. "
"Can you give mo an Idea how far off II
Is ? "
"I have tried In one of my popular writ
ings to do that by a borrowed illustration , "
replied Mr. Langley. "For Ins'nnce , you
touch your finger to a candle , and In a frac
tion of a second your brain announce the
pain. The sensation has traveled along the
nerve to the brain almost Instantaneously , hut
the speed has been mfasured. Suppose you
had an arm which would reach from the earth
to the mm , and you could put the tips of your
finge-re on that glowing mass cf fire. It
would bo a little more * than one hundred
years ( If you could live so long ) bcfor ? you
could know that your fingers were being
burned. Well , the rays of the nun have to
came all that dls'ance before they reach you ,
and the last miles'of their Journey are through
waves of heated ulr , which makes the sun
Ecem to dicker so , while byond and behind
all this almobt all Its brightest surface Is
> n real actual motion , shifting litre and there
with a velocity many hundred limes that of
a cannsn ball , Theto real changes may last
tor a second or a minute , and special phe
nomena may occur In the twinkling of tin
eye , In my studleu of tha sun spots I had
0 have a paper and pencil before me us I
looked thiough tlif telescope to record th'eo
changes as they went on , In order to catch
their varying expressions on the sun's face.
"I cannot detcrlbto you the wonders
which are going on thre. I found , how
ever , that In order to do my work wll , I
must learn fjmethliig moie than Iho mechati-
cal drawing which was all I knew , and as
licio studies went on , I learned to draw and
wlnt iMlllclently well to make my ncords ,
Unco thMi I have drawn hundreds of sun
Epo'B , and th& works which I have pub-
lahcd liavo been Illustrated with my own
1 uwlnvs of them. "
LOGIC AT A SUN SPOT.
At this point In the conversation Secre-
ary Langley had one of these former draw ,
ngs cf a sun spot laid upon ths tabls. It
vas , In fict , a beautiful painting about 12x11
nches In size , of what seemed to be a snowy
urfac > , with a large black area In the mid.
die , croti'ed by strange lines of light , blend-
ng In fantastic outlines like the frost figures
n a | > ane of glass.
"That , " said he. "Is a spot which I saw In
ST3 , It remained about twenty minuted In
he field of the- telescope , and It looks Jii :
a I caw It. You nctlo all around It Ji white ,
'ho sun dees not look like a ball of lire when
on see It In the telescope. It appears more
rozen than hot. It looks much like the
loltfii white Iron In a great puddling fur-
act , You citnuot se IU beauty In the
drawing , nor can you appreciate Its size
That spot which I have there drawn wa
PO big that Hi * earth could have bsen droppe (
Into It without touching the sides. Each o
thobe bright gossamer-like threads is abou
C.OOO miles long , and that spot cov red mor
than 1.000,000,000 square miles of the sun'
face. It had an area flvo times that o
the whole burface of the earth. A little edge
of it broke up and dissolved while I looked a
it , which was bigger than th ° . whole Unltec
States , It wao all in motion , and Its srcth
Ing particles were flying about nt the rate
of fifty miles a second along the surface
under which I could see- probably some
thousands of miles Into the darkness below
up from which came volumes of intens ly
luated , whirling vapor. "
"How could you look at the sun so long
Mr. Langley , without hurting ycur eyes ? "
"I could not have done It , " was the reply
"had I lued nothing but my eyes. I had firs
to Invent an Instrument to take the place o
the Incomplete means used by Sir William
Herschel in order to see the sun by reflection
The rays come to the focus of the tclsscop ?
In blinding brightness , producing a heat suffi
cient to melt Iron , but these rays have sides
to them , and by mirrors placed at different
angles they can bo PO reflected that there is
no more heat and light than I choose to have.
[ have gazed at the sun for five hours at a
stretch with this Instrument , and have felt
no more fatigue than I would have felt from
reading a book. "
SUN'S ENORMOUS HEAT FORCE.
"How about the heat of the sun. Mr. Langley -
ley ? Can you give me- some Idea of It ? "
"Putting It briefly , It Is enormous beyond
conception , for there is enough to warm
2,000,000,000 worlds like ours , and every mln-
uto- there Is enough of the sun's heat falling
on the earth to talse to boiling 37,000,000,000
tons of water. Hut this heat which falls on
the e-mh Is not a thousandth part of 1 per cent
cf what the- sun ssnds elsewhere , and ull the
coal bds In Pennsylvania , for Instance , though
they can tmpply the country for hundreds of
years , would not keep up this heat during the
one-thousandth part of a second. Now , when
you-think that these enormous figures are not
exsggeiatlons , but within the truth , you have
to give up the- idea of grasping the amount
of the fim't' ' heat as Inconceivable. "
"Will we over bo able to use this heat
mechanically ? "
"That remains to he seen. The force IB
there. The method of preserving and ap
plying It economically has yet to be In
vented. My experiments on Mount Whitney ,
In the Sierra Nevadas , showed that If we
could save It all andtuse It for our steam
engines It would glvei about a horse power
for every square yard. > o ( ground. We hear
a great deal about tho-iImmense power from
the lecent utilization iol Niagara , but the
sun power which It , BO to speak , wasted
dally on this little District of Columbia Is
liundreds and hundreds of times as great.
The heat on the. surface of the Uland of
Manhattan or that occupied by London could
ut noontide dilvo all it&e steam engines of
the wotlil. Ho far there have been no prac
tical Inventions for utilization of this enor
mous power. At the Paris exposition of
1S78 there was a reflector which drove a
steam engine which worked a printing press ,
El lesson made a solare engine which It was
thought might be ufccd In the pumping up
of the waters on doiort lands. The proba-
jlllty Is that tl'e dayu will come when we
will use ull this force ; When It does the
deserts of the world , I with their enormoui
eun power , may become the great centers
of manufacture and ! nf civilization. "
AERIAL NAVIGATION.
I next aekid Mr. Lungiey some questions
at to aerial navigation , He WHO dletncllneJ
to talk about the subject , and he gave mete
to understand that th statements made by
ha pres-j concerning him In thU ccnmc-
Icn had Imsn made without hlu authority.
it Is well known , however , that In his pub-
Uhed scientific writings on asrodynamlca Mr.
Langley haa detcrlbtd hlu discovery of facts
whlc'a greatly alter our former supposed
< nowledge on thin subject , and that though he
ma not thera undertaksn to dewrlbe any
flying machine , as lieIs popularly supposed
ci have- done , he has madu experiments which
show that mechanical flight Is far from Im
possible , Thus , by a proper .application ami
direction of tlr force und the weed , It lu'
sustained tolld brass plites upon the air wl h
an IncreJIbly small dlipliy of energy. , IJe
lid this many years ngo , and at PltUfturg
le made thousands of exp' Iments which
show that there are c'rlaln shape ] In which
matter can bo dlspoted DJ ( bit the more
rapidly It moves through the air , In on
sens1-1 , the less power It takes to move I
and that solid models can be thus made t
skim , as it were , along the viewless air , a
a skater skims along the surface of thin Ic ?
the faster you go In either case the les
danger there being of falling down. As fa
as I could Judge from my talk with him hi
experiments show that the soaring birds hav
an Intuitive knowledge of certain propertle
of the air , which have been only recently de
veloped through these experiments , and tha
by these they navigate the air almost wlthou
ffort In a way which there is no reason t
think that It is impossible we can do. If no
by our unaided strength , nt any rate b
means of such engines as are recently belli
built. With regard to this he > spoke of th
fact that such birds ven about Washlngto
may bo seen rising and falling , soaring u
and sailing down , and moving In circles with
out any Happing of their wings.
Said he : "Did you ever think what a phys
leal miracle It Is for such a bird as one n
our common turkey buzzaids to fly In the
way It does ? You may see them any da ;
along the Potomac , floating In the air , will
hardly the movement of a feather ,
birds weigh from five to ten pounds ; thy
ars far heavier than the air which they dis
place ; they are absolutely heavier than i-o
many flatlrons. I suppose if men saw cannon
balls floating through the air nice soap bub
bles they would look on It as surprising , if
not as a miracle. The only reason that we-
are not surprised at the soaring bird la that
wo have sen It from our childhood. 1'eilmpB
If wo had seen cannon balls floating In the
air from our childhood wo should not stop
to Inquire how they did It any more than we
do how the buzzards do It. I am speaking
now , of course , not of birds which fly t.y
flapping their wings , but of those which My
without flapping their wings , or very rarely ,
and with almost 110 visible expondltur ? cf
force.
HE TELLS OF HIS DISCOVERIES.
"There Is a good deal of misapprehension
about my own Investigations 'n this te-
epect , " Secretary Langley wont on , "but
what I have at least demonstrated Is that
heavy machines , not balloons , can bo made
which will produce enough mechanical rijuor
to support themselves In the air , and to fly.
though this Is not saying that we have ycl
got the pklll to manage this power so as lo
rise , advancs and descend safely. Wlut Is
actually demonstrated rests on actual c.\pcrl-
mento , repeated hundreds of times In the
luboratoiy , but under conditions not an easily
repeated In the open air ,
"These experiments nre In the nature of an
engineer's measurements , giving things In
pounds , feet and horse power , and by them
I have shown that an expenditure of one homo
power ( if we can only regulate It so ab to
maho the flight horizontal ) will suppoit
about 200 pounds , and at the cam ? time carry
It at the rate of fifty miles an hour through
the air.
"Now , there have recently been built
btenm engines which , with fuel and water
for a short flight , will give a good deal more
than u horse power and weigh a good deal
less than twenty pounds , so that we have a
very large margin.
"What I am trying to do is to establish by
direct experiment the underlying principles *
of this future art or science , and , having
found the exact amount of force required , If
possible , to learn next how It is to bo ex
erted , directed and controlled.
"I know it ls dangerous for any one to
make any statement except In positive facia
and figures about such matters. The people
have , ever vlnce the days , of Darius Oreen
and his flying machine , until very lately ,
put such n on : down as a visionary , without
Imet'tlKitlon of what he has to offer. As
for me , 1 have never raid that man could
fly by hlu own ittrciigth , nor have i ever pub-
llnhed the detalla of any flying machine ,
Lut what I have not only dis
covered , but demonstrated by actual
Experiment , la that there Is no doubt that
machines can he made powerful enough to
suppoit bodlea In the air which are thous
ands of times heavier than the air Itself.
I'eople who ask , If this l 10 , why Mich ma-
chlueu arc not made at once to actually fly
with the human freight , sine ? we have
now got mechanical power , may be re
minded that though they themselves have
got plenty of strength to ilde a bicycle or
to skate , thli , thfiufch cstlhtlal , U not
enough till they have added the special
nklll and experience to use It , juit at every
man's legs are strong enough to ride a bi
cycle , while yet moat of us cannot do eo
without much painful experience In learn
ing how to u and manipulate our ttrengtb , i
as many nowadays find out. So It is wit
artificial flight. We have got the mochanl
cal power now , but we have still got to ac
quire the skill to use It in this new field. '
"llut will that day ever come , Mr. Mng
ley ? " I asked.
"As to that , " replied Secretary Langley
"I have so far spoken only of what I hav
ascertained to be fact , and I want to dis
tinguish between what Is fact and what i
only my opinion. Expressing only my per
Eonal opinion , then , I am willing to answe
that I believe It altogether probable tha
In the not very distant future , but how fa
distant I do not pretend to say , flying ma
chines , that Is , not balloons , but heavy con
structlons actuated by machinery , will b
propelled very rapidly through the air , prob
ably at first rarely and at great risk In fur
thcranco of the arts of war ; later In Intro
duclng a great change in all human affairs
In the arts of peace. "
MOUMO.VS jouitviir.
Thrlr Mi'ivll Ono of flip IIlNlorlcSpulM
Of ICtlllNIIN.
During the past two months hundreds of
Mormons reading near Independence , Mo. ,
Nauvoo , III. , and in Lee county , la. , have
been making their annual pilgrimage to the
old Mormon crossing of the Ulg Illue river
In Marshall county. Near this historic bpot
are the Alcove springs , where so- many ol
their people were massacred by the Indians
In 1840 as they were making their way
across the Great American desert to Salt
Lake , They have been visiting the. old
crossing In final ! numbers since the l t of
September , crossing the nig Dlue whcro
their forefathers did , and resting a few day
near the springs , where- religious services
were regularly held In commemoration of
the early pioneers who braved the dangers
and opened the way to the new Mormon
settlement at Great Salt Lake.
The old Mormon or "Independence"
crossing of the Dig lilue Is one of then most
ilEtcrlc spots In Kansas , says ( lie St. Louis
Republic. It has been visited by thousands
of Mormons hlnce the days of 184G , and the
icojilo who now live In the vicinity look
'orward to the pilgrimage of these people
every year as one of the Inoldents of spe
cial note In Marshall county. It Is the most
leant If ul and romantic spot In all Kansas ,
The Dig Dlue river Is a btream as clear as
cryftil , and the Alcove bprlngs are located
n a sequestered ncok , which sonls to have
icen madeby nature for such gatherings as
hebo ,
When the first Immigrant trains carrying
he Mormon people and their belonglngR to
ho Great Salt Lake crossed the Dig Dluo
at thin now historic ppot there was
scarcely n vest IRQ of civilization In that
eglon of country. For ages Its prairies
iad been covered with a waving sea of wild
Brasses ; vast herds of buffalo had for mini-
lerlcss years wandered almost unmolested
pcrojs them. Nothing disturbed Its tolltudo
ave an occasional band of nomadic Indians
n search of prey or plunder , and the hardy
rontlersman who Is always found fur In ad-
anco of civilization , As early as 1820
ifajor Stephen H. Long crossed that part of
{ aneas now known as Martlial ) county In
ommand of an expedition frcm Plttsburg
o the Rocky mountains. General Fremont
n his expedition to thu Rocky mountains In
S42-44 pasted through that pectlon of the
late and mention * In ) IH ! travels several Im-
nlgrant wagons cnrouto to Oregon.
It was In IS74 that John Smith , the Merion
ion apos'le ' , with his band of followers
rom Illinois , opened his way through this
cuntry , crossing the Dig Illu : river at the
Id-"Mormon , " "Independence , " or "Call-
urnla" cnn > ] ln . This was tlx miles below
: io present town of Marysvlllo , ths r unty
eat of Marshall county , For two years the
xiled Latter-Day Kulntn passed over the
rail that led to this crossing of the Dig Blue
Ivfr , At one tlmo a Mormon camping party
as surrounded by Indians at this famous
pot and all were killed. Among tha party
cro several elders of the Mormon faith
ho were gclng to the western home to look
tier the rplrltual welfare of the plom-crs
ho had gone before. Ever since th : Mor-
nonj of MUsonrl , Illinois and Iowa have
lade annual pilgrimages to Alcove
here < in > rcprlate service * are held.
SWKKT MVSTHItllSS.
C. T. Wilson In Xi-w Yoil : Sim.
Slowly the seeds In the KID den nre growing1.
Olnd homilies !
Tides , set In motion by winds briskly-
blowing1.
Pause ere they rise ;
The nestling shall rlsu nml npplio to >
heaven' ? Bnte ,
And the butterfly , though In u shroud lio-
must wait
In dim surmise :
For all things shall rise.
Gently kind spring has awakened tlm
Jloweis ,
Sweet rnyHtcileHl
Swiftly the grub on the wing , with new-
powers ,
To happiness flics ;
Ever with refluent wnvo nml strong motion.
Lamtwurd now march the forces of ocean ;
Clninil nugurlos !
For nil things do rise.
In the world visible lurks the Invlslb'e ,
Making men wise.
Telling of blessed trutliK plainly perceptible
To love-lit i-ycs.
Tolling of Heaven and happy Tomorrow ,
Telling of Joy with no vestlgiof borrow ,
And of bilKbt skies ,
Whqre love never dies.
.SHOUT STOKIUS.
Detroit Tribune : With a gesture the sav
age. monarch commanded slle-jice. "My people
ple , " he said , "I take great pleasure In.
Introducing this noted traveler. I am sure
I speak for all when I tell him wo shall bo
glad to have him In our mldbt. I take this ;
occasion to caution the children not to cat
too much , since he Is reputed to he very
rich. " Whereupon It plainly appeared that
hlB majesty was not only witty , but nohooled
In the flnor shades of meaning of the En
glish tongue.
Cincinnati Enquirer : "For the life of mft
colcnol , I don't see why you persist In main
taining that whleky Is of any valua In the
cur * of snake-bites. Why , all the modern
scientists " j
"Young man , " answered Colonel Dluegrass ;
turning purple , "It ptands to reason , sah ,
Hint good whisky , being beneficial in every ;
other complaint , must bo of benefit In snukJ
bites. When there Is a unlvufsal law lu
nature , salt , It does not vary for a mercj
snake , sah , "
Chicago Tribune ; "Shadbolt , If n man
should circulate a report that you wcro a
deadbeat and a man without a particle ot
honor , what would you do ? "
"I'd s > ie him for slander , Dlngues , I'd
glvo him n chance to provf It. "
"Then that's exactly what I'll do to Old
Wlpedunla' . I'M make him "
"O , has anybody been Baying these things
ibout you ? Don't do It , Dlnguss. That's
different. "
Detroit Free Press : "I don't mind oat
ng bUcult made with baking powder , " paid
the tramp , "but I draw tin line ut bread
ralwil with yeast. "
"I'd like to know why ? " said the woman
ot the hou ! * , an she drew back the lialf-Iodt
if white bread ,
"Tho yeast tliat made that bread worked , " * '
answered the tramp , "and I cannot consist
ently ainilato with It. "
Waihlngton Star : "Look hero , " said thft
editor , "you Included In this poem u. line
about the earth cycling around the sun. "
"Yes , " replied the post , confidently ; "ami
' 1 stand by It. That line , sir , U not oulyj
an example of polished 'expression , but It la
ii'tronomloally ' correct , "
"Mehbe so , but It won't go here , 'Cycling
around the sun , ' " he icpeated scornfully.
'Why don't you lake the earth and put
jlonmcrs on It , and be done with It ? "
Chicago Poet : "I don't believe you are &
voman , " said the detective , who was on th
rail of u forger. .
"Don't I look like one ? " asked the BUB
lect.
lect."Yes
"Yes , you look like on * , " returned th *
Irtecthe , ?
"And don't I act like one ? "
"Yet "
, but
"Well , what Is It that makci you doubt
no ? "
"When you a ked for a rcncil 1 gave you
no with the point broken off and you were
lle to sharpen U jourstlf. "
Thtm the ferger realized that he was dl *
overtd and coufeuul.
