Newspaper Page Text
6
our IK THE WOODS.
lot in tho wood* wh»r» th^^naples grow
Ib«v» * mumcal drip that tho children
know, '
A spink. Kpank. spinfc,
A Mlvwy tink
As the water* down from the great trees
flow.
Sweet are tbs water* that trickle down
Through the greet trees, afar from the
town,
With their spink, spank, spink,
i ill tlw trough looks pink
• t peer* through the sap from its coating
^ rown
A rotigh-bewn trough is the trough for m :
And its home made “spile” in the maple
tree,
For the spink, *pank, spink,
Is a silvery tink
That dwells like a song in the memory.
I’be dead leaves rustling beneath the feet
Once gathered from *un and from lain the
sweet,
And the spink, spank, spink,
Of the famous drink
Is the song when the spring and the winter
meet.
Out In tha w_,oj*i where the map’e* grow
There's a muxtral drip that the children
"know, *
And the spink, spank, spink,
I* a silvery tink
That will summon the violets from below.
—Columbus Dispatch.
\ A Hero
of New Mexico.
IJV CHARLES T. LUMMIS.
When I look back over the strange
i areer of iny brave old Spanish friend,
Colonel Mauuel Chaves, whose weary
remnant of a body was laid to icst two
years ago under the shadow of the noblest
mountain in Western New Mexico, the
exploits of many heroes, who were
handler to the frame-maker, seem a trifle
tame. IV'. , . , rn't! . . ^ -V* , .
name seldom re- 4 !7 i °i ‘ 0 ^ reat out' s,, ie
world of new* , rS U 1 ! US ° r ! an8 :uK
fo-dav hp fills tbe ’
V - - ° f an R r no8t un
‘
reeordfd her Ye ffr U . ‘ ere WilS
“ r nJnioRf h p .i'J'a " a ° ?• oon-stantly For OV r
werrinv ^
Navajo. *, life hU
relatives tvere killed by Indian, He
came,I z:rJr?'z ra m te_ r nearly tin, \ m every one ,,m o i
them. " ’ Mlr 1 j 1 ue work of
l -
£1 “ll t l b‘ K 1rCClj COU '' 1
'
p , ’ u 'r« , , he , e wH"
Old too, I i„,
' - audered untold agonies
?n, ,'eil, III. , ......It f ,,,o ? ' “ T W “ T mis r' b, : t ,M '
met t Ihi, this more n, merciless foe as calmly , ns
he had met the . .
realtor. There WW c no rail™,I. then to
make travel easy for ceen the timid .ml
weak ; nor mail. bring 8 far u
,,,,,,, i*,T .. , V . u l \/ , vumuu .
hone ffL» Tin 1,. ; y N 7 ? ICX \T S £, SU rI Ut
’
’ a( j . U1 ’ * ,I108t ™ ,1C u
’
j,’ hast , I l»y a vast and fearful wi , derness ”
m>M ^ert in.ernnnri surrounded i by . savage nature aud
mai ^
*DH » u «rc savage man. It was one of the
bitterest lands on the earth a land of
vast distances aud scant product, of in¬
finite thirst, and little wherewith
•tuencli ,lr it, a ltuul o( hariUhm eternal 1 anti
, 1 . 11 , .t.. mrtfbli- 0 g CT Where bovs i were were sol- sol
rlii-rs Hiiri tdmoa'! ilk 8 v ^herVbad
babes. It was «
Isr "whatever 1 b Wfi8 f^" ( d onsuracd * W r!" was 1
made at homo ’ - ‘ . l)uni uo ot lcr m;u
‘
i t - r , * . "Z T \u firearms for
W even
1 , a r-" . nSi u ‘ »c entices savages,
' 7 1 the durasy old
(flint ? Ck i r S CtS)
-AH enrou cely hotter weapons than the bows >
7 i N ? ,°7’ Sei M anu< he f Ua$ lerSle . 111 arRd 1118
’ '
.j, *’ 1 ( n< er u . y expert aicher. anti
won ' ,? P° n f blankets fr om
}h tnr , Indians s themselves in contests during . .
the short intervals ol peace. Lator he
t'ecamc the best rifle shot New Mevieo
has ever produced.
‘
- 1-1 . . ,, ,
h’Aoyhofd" .
Mauuel ,tasted ,/ ™’nevmS' ®
peare m the first a . half , century . of its cx
istencc 7,‘‘ s 011 ,lnc ^' nc f rom the
U . and She
an _ ' s 1 St emeu o, in
wH?» v -v h 1 art f? th ® Nava -'° ® ountr -V; and n
j f <aru su trir ,lt le Rinds ol tae
, -
* It was from Cebolleta that young Man
uel started, when he was eighteen years
old, on his first expedition—though he
had air iadv see-i enough of war at home,
aud was accounted among the bravest of
the brave. With his eldest brother.
, ost am t r out . teen other ,
• , young men,
n ur et o, t tc Canyon de Cuusco, 150
miles to the westward, in the stronghold
of the Indians, on a trailing expedition.
M fiat a commentary on the times in which
tl.tj li\t.;! this -coking amarket anion j
U '"^ nm murderous assaults
1 l7], 'T ' U . y° ’ n constant P erd
eveJ
• / '- ™] u '; Hn V; n n *’y were ll 7 attacked C ^ '*
kill °’ UU a
■ anue who Mas ^ C ‘ c
f i - i ImliaV^am.Ta’lte’
aud hk
toot they started T°r on that fearful S'™ journey
homeward. Pahc died of his wounds in
two davs. and Manuel dragged himself
from the n^vI.t- ' h Cra ",'r ". lln ’ Cn ”- v da y
r w his'hl , j , „np Ir‘ t '°” ° ''f l ^ at ne Vt r
left S t K -11 j‘T UrCl1 7 tU th,rit .
anil pain, with , no n food save the Jrvumt cactus
fruit, until at last a faithful
found him fainting on the last ridge of
San Mateo and carried him home u P on
bis back.
Wheu he recovered from these wounds
be was engaged as a guide to a party of
traders from Mexico to New Orleans, anrl
thence went to St. Louis with a young
Cuban, who finally robbed him of all he
had in the world.
Then be returned to ,V«w Meaieo and
1" S« nta 7 e ' b ’7 ‘ D i ad ? °
t*. O l .ah on account of f political com
pucations
J uc following year ne was recauei
nnd put m command of an expedition
*S a! ° st thl 1 tts ’ whom be thrasht J
tound.y.
The itvasiou of Ne-.v Mexico by the
America - toice> m tlu lexicon war
not oppose I and the Territory became
part of the l nited Mato- without blood
-lied. Very soon thereafter came the
••Taos rebellion, a small but fierce up
iring of Apaches and Pueblos in the
most northern of the I ueblo towns, and
Manuel played an lmportaat fearful hand-to-hand part in sup
pressing it. In a
struggle, too, he saved the life of his
commander—Captain Zerau St. Yrain,
afterward owner of the 4,000,0^-acre
St, Yrain grant iu Colorado. A gigan-
THE MONROE ADVERTISER. FORSYTH, GA., TUESDAY. MAY 5, 1891 .-EIGHT PAGES.
tic Apache hAd hi* knife nt the heart of
the prostrate St. Vraio, when Don Man
J I him, Url i shooting wheeled a and foe crushed who was the almost skull upon of
} Si. Vrain*s assailant with the liarrei of
, his ponderous rifle.
In 1855 be led a regiment of volunteers
! on a six months’ campaign against the
I Utcs, making a brilliant record therein.
i In 1857 he accompanied General Lor
' ! iug’s command in the war against Cuchil
lo Negro (Black Knife), the most re-
1 doubtable of all Apache warrior?. lit
. captured the savage chief with his own
hand in a desperate night attack in a
: gloomy canyon where bis scouts had
found the cam]) of the hostiles. General
Coring was greatly elated by this cap
! ture, but the prisoner was murd&red by
the officer left to guard him—a turbu¬
lent man who afterward met a violent
i death.
j In 1860, when a large band of Navajo9
- made one of their characteristic raids on
the Itio Grande settlements and drove off
5000 sheep, Colonel Chaves pursued
them with fourteen men. He overtook
the hostiles at nightfall at Ojo de la
Monica aud routed them; but in the
morning found his camp surrounded by
several hundred Navajos. From dawn
till dark of that desperate day the fifteen
heroes withstood the wild charges of the
swarming savages, each fighting from
behind his tree. On§ by one the brave
New Mexicans sank back on the red
soaked earth, bristling with arrows; and
at nightfall only two ol them were left—
Colonel Chaves and Roman Sanches—
both fearfully wounded. A company of
soldiers from Fort Craig arrived just in
time to save them. In that ghastly
struggle Colonel Chaves had fired'his
clumsy muzzle-loader eighty times, and
for every shot an Indian or a horse had
fallen. He had two bullets left when
the arrival of the troops ended the fight.
That was the kind of war they had on
the early frontier.
In a dozen other Indian outbreaks,
before and after those to which I have
gQ ^ r i e fly alluded, Colonel Chaves dis
tinguished himself by the same cool
bravery, the same dauntless will and the
same matchless skill as a marksman.
When the Civil War broke out Colonel
Shaves took command of the Second
f* w Mcxic ° “<*
<i,<1 b " lh,mt S ™ f * h,s »ut-of-the
,
«. hi,
lonc|y {bat. homc „ t (>juelo5 it was oul , t0
g n( j t i 1( , Indians had despoiled hint
of everything—his horses atai cattle, hit
H0 000 sheep, crops and all-and left
» blow from which he
f u l]y .allied ilis afTairs, wilt. thougi, lit,
industry neve, left him in
After New Meatco's share in the war
was over, there was still more than two
“ ra l> lh< = halada was “jumped” b ,■ .
"S". (or '! e «' ratd ng. Apach«. The
ft " sb " ph ' r1 ? 5 °° b *< ) »nghtened
, to r fight much, and all would have been
killed but for the coolness of Don Mau
uel. Posting each man behind a tree,
with a promise that ho himself would
shoot , . the first - . who , dared , , run—and , they
J
dreaded , , , , his . matchless . 1.1 aim • even more
than they did the Indians—ho took his
ten-year-old boy by the hand aud ran up
the hill a few rods as a feint, The In
!«“»». ■««»« Amp •>*». w.thout Mgbt. them <to»to>a accustomed straight
p re ] immary manoeuvres to see of what
‘heir enemies might be made. A.
Nav^btanket from'beside™* r «re te
f e ii spraw ii n g with e- ounce bullet
through biauket his brain. Another snatched
the and Colonel Chaves called to
Q ne of his companions "to shoot, But
whcn he saw the poor 1 fellow’s hand
trembling so that he could scarce hold
his gun the Colonel shouted, “Wait!
Don’t shoot!” He hurriedly rammed
another charge into his old muzzle
loader, and although by that time the
Indian had got so far that he felt him
sct f e tbe uacrnn* u bullet ,, . cat,gh ,, , htm .
“ h e !°” h “, ne ? nea J ly
. By that time the shepherds . had .
recovered their senses and gave the In
?**“ ter soon such withdrew-, .f a ' 1 “" t rcsist carrving ““ cc ,h aw-ay »‘ «>« some lat '
valu:ible horses , bit no scafps.
^h, -what a rifle-shot the withered,
w ] r y Q ] d maa was, even when I knew
him, in his old age! New Mexico has
nC ver had another such marksman as he
was in his prune; and his six-foot muz¬
zle-loading rifle of enormous calibre was
uever excelled by the finest modern arms
that tried conclusion with it. In all his
long life—in nearly fifty years of which
uot six months at a time were ever with
out warfare—he never was known to
rniss blit ones shot. And never did he
bave t 0 sbo ot twice at bear or deer, and
seldom more than once at human foes. I
shall never forget my mingled amuse
meut and awe at an iuciaent which oc
eurred when he was seventy-tw-o years
old and suffering fearfully from a cata
ract in his eye. We were out with his
o T ands 0 n, Rotlolfo Otero—a gallant lad
and flue rifle-shot. Rodolfo had a floe
Winchester with which he did some ex
tremcly clever shooting. “Try it, grand
bo ^ HeTd
never trusted our modern magazine guns,
but at last yielded to Rodolfo’s entreat¬
ies.
*»Go, put-me a mark on yon cedar,”
sa i d , pointing to a gnarled tree a full
lOOvards awav. Rodolfo raa over, and
-coosiderate’of his grandfather’s age *
^ i condltlOQ - - f - ** teDed . j to . thy tree 3
ann back.
' RofloUo'Z'so.
Mv eves are none the
fully at- the fluttering paper, threw^the
nfi c to his shoulder and fired—all in th«
tin , e in which one might count five.
“Fues!’’be said, better,””nd as the smoke £e cleared fiSo
.* DOW it itself
asaiDj with ^ he aame rapiditv. Afic
when he walked to the mark the bullet
wa s in tha spot Rodolfo had marked, and
j (he second beside it so close that thf
flattened bits of lead touched!
Li ttle wonc Jer that such a marksman,
^ eoo ] iu morta ] danger as in sport, s
bom commander and a noble man. was
tbe terror of the savages, and was loved
' aud ismourned by those he heiped to de
{ en d.~St. Lvuis Republic.
| Australia -— is the ■■■ only
country in the
world to which ruminating animals are
no t indigenous, and yet cattle amazingly'. and sheen
0 f various breeds thrive there
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
-
Ing to Do With the Case—
The Shame of It—
Etc., Etc.
; They had a quarrel and she sent
His letters hack next day,
His ring and all his presents went
To him without dMay.
“Pray He send my kisses back to me,”
wrote, “Could speedily you forget them?”
Ohe answered that he
Must come himself and get them.
— Outing.
NOT UNNATURAL.
‘Oh, for the wings of a dove!” sang
Ethel.
“I prefer the second joint,” said
Chollie, absently .—New York Htrald .
-
THE SHAME OF IT.
Customer—“Why did you take your
boy away from school?”
Grocer—“They are ruining him.
Why, they were trying to teach him that
sixteen ounces make a pound!”
at 11:30 p. m.
“Do you believe that I am but a dream
in your’mind, as some people say, Miss
Harris?”
“No; not at all. Dreams go by con
traries, while you don’t go at all .”—New
York Herald.
PROVING AN ALIBI.
Court—“Is there anything charged
against this man?”
Prisoner—“There can’t be, Judge. I
haven’t been able to get anything
charged to me for fifteen years.”—
Somerville Journal.
ALMOST A HINT.
Mr. Goldbug—“What a beautiful
little hand you have, Miss Gitthar.”
Miss Gitthar—“Yes; raa often says
that my engagement ring will hardly
cost anything at all.”
Impressive silence for several minutes.
— Texas Siftings.
NOTHING TO DO WITH THB CASE.
Maud—“Jack tells me that he has
never loved any one before.”
Ethel—“Well, excuse me for telling
you, hut he aud I vrere once engaged.”
Maud—'Oh, I dida't ask him about
engagements. I only asked him about
tow.”-*«»»’. Weekl,,.
-
ONE MAN PLEASED.
“Who was he?”
“Barrows.”
“Oh, yes. He was my architect.”—
New York Sun.
HE KNEW WHICH WAV THEY RAN.
Pat—“Yez may say wot yez plaze,
gintlemen; it’s not onywfiere ye’ll be
foindin’ braver men nor th’ Irish!”
Banter_“Come that°I off ’nude’ Pat- it was ot* on!
j the other night 0 five them
run »
p at —itloug * catchin' jc, they
J
_
„ ADVEKTISED method op sotc.DE.
methods ^“mso-'Ht of suicide. seem, queer to advertise
Mrs. Cumso “What m the world do
! J ou mean -
Cumso “Here < advertisement _
1 s an
1 ’^ich says: ‘Try a pair of our shoes and
S wear another 8h °e-’ ”
j Barper s Bazar.
1
-TIMMY FOLLOWED SUIT.
Teacher—“Where do we obtain coal,
Freddy?”
Freddy — “From the coal beds,
ma’am.”
Teacher—“Right! Now, Jimmy, where
do we obtain feathers?”
Jimmy—“From the feather beds,
ma’am.”— Wasp.
INHERITED JUSTICE.
Miss Mild maid—“Do you know, Miss
Haughty, that I think your neighbor,
the debutante at last evening’s reception,
is destined to shine in society’s circles?”
Miss Haughty—“She ought to. Her
father was a bootblack long enough to
.insure her inheriting remarkable shining
qualities. — Mercury.
AN UNAVOIDABLE DELAY.
Bingo—“I went into the antique fur
niture dealer’s to-day to get that seven¬
teenth century chair you admired so
much, but he had just sold it.”
Mrs. Bingo—“How unfortunate!”
Bingo—“Ye3. He said it would be
at least a week before he could turn out
another like it.”— Munsey's Weekly.
KATHER DIFFICULT.
Miss D.—“Angelina, why doa’t you
marry Lieut. X-?”
Miss A.—“First, because he has no
brains—and he can’t ride, dance or play
tennis. What could we do with him?”
Miss D.—“But he swims beautifully.”
Miss A.—“Oh yes—but one can’t
keep one’s husband in an aquarium
you know.”— Li/e.
HAVING REVENGE.
1 - G ° f
i t
™ the tdet.
The following letter shows how a
t young gentleman made money by pub
iishing a book of poems. The publisher
wrote immediatelv after the book was
*
j published
1 “Dear Sir—Your whole edition has
?<>ne off, leaving a balance of $100 ia
: four favor. Check inclosed. P.
There was a fire in the warehouse and
‘he contents were insured.”— London
Tit-Bits.
I -
a dilemma.
The Captain—“Colonel Waxem will
be banqueted after his weddim* to-nizht
and I am to respond to the toaft. ‘None
bu ^ the brave deserve tbe fair ’ Whnt
tbe deuce shall I say?”
| TheMajor_“Ihardly know how toad
vise vou. After vouv'e seen the bride
' you’ll have to
turn your speech into an
Argument to prove either that Waxetn
isn’t brave or that he isn’t petting hi*
deserts .”—Kate Fields Washington.
HK WASN’T.
11T “Isnppose, „ said .. she, . glancing , at the ,
'
“No," he, «ndidi r , ^ to
get out of fights as quickly aa possible.”
•‘Well, now, she observed, with an
other glance at the clock, “I should
thmk ycu would have been a stayer.”
" * '" rasn t-’
And to show that he wasn ^ t a stayer
he took bis hat and went. Cape Cod
Item.
-
A FCTrRE DIPLOMAT.
Smart Youngun—“Mother,.can I dig
up the garden for you to plant your flow
ers *
Mother—“What a thoughtful hoy!
Aes, dear, and here s ten cents; 1 m sure
no other woman in this neighborhood has
such a kind, thoughtful mother's boy as
m i Qe -
And then that kind, thoughtful
mother’s boy goes triumphantly forward
and says aloud, so that all may hear who
listen :
“Bully! I didn’t see at first how I
was to get them worms without her find¬
ing out that I was goin’ fishin’. You bet
J’ma dandy!”— Drake's Magazine.
couldn’t astonish them.
“I once shtit a man,” began the vic¬
tim of nerve food, as the train sped on¬
ward. Nobody started up suddenly
No one said “What’s that?” in a shocked
tone of voice.
He began again in a louder tone: “1
once shot a man—” Still the same op¬
pressive lack of interest.
Then he got desperate. He shouted!
“I once killed ten men.” No one even
looked round. That wilted him.
“Conductor,” he said, hoarsely, as he
fled into the chair car, “who in heaven’s
name We those fiends in the smoker?”
“Those,” said the official, “are chiefly
cowboys from the Texan border.”— St.
Joseph News.
IN ITS CONCENTRATED FORM.
“Doctor,” said the tired looking
caller, “I believe a trial of Dr. Koch’s
lymph wold do me good.”
“Your lungs, sir,” replied the physi¬
cian, “are perfectly sound. You need no
consumption cure.”
“But I have a tired feeling all the
time.”
“A kind of indisposition to take any
active exercise?”
“Yes:”
“Or any other kind of exercise?”
“Yes.”
4 Or to do anything like work?”
“Urn—yes.”
4 ‘What you need, sir, is the lymph of
industry.”
“I believe you are right, doctor,” said
the caller, rising languidly. “I’ll live
on honey for the next thirty days and see
how it goes .”—Chicago Tribune.
EXPLAINING A PARLOR RACKET.
Singers who murder music are usually
considered more guilty than the music is.
T? 6 P ro ™ ked Cincinnati Judge was not
blaming the music, however, when he
“>™?d Ht. daughter the metaphor aad the other geutleman day.
. youug
caller frequently indulge in tuneful
j ™ cal P r “ ct ice ‘ he t; aa0 ’ a nd wh ,? n
Jud^eta . if .
: as'remote a' putZt thf
house as possible in order to avoid what
terms the uproar. One evening last
week they had been even more devoted
than usual to their music, and on the
following morning the Judge inquired of
his daughter:
“What on earth was all that racket
you and your caller were making in the
parlor last evening?”
“Why, papa, Sam and I were trying
a new duet.”
I “Trying a new duet, were you? TV^H,
from what 1 heard I should judge that
; you found it guilty and inflicted the
j heaviest penalty against it .”—Cleveland
j Plain Dealer.
TURNING IT ON HER.
He had finished his introductory re
marks, and was about to propose, when
ho discovered that his proposal would be
treated with contempt,
“Go on, Mr. Sprigger,” she said, im
patiently tapping her foot on the carpet
: as he paused in his remarks.
| “I was about to say, Miss Hilder,” he
(continued, “that I am aware that the
| delicate human heart, thing, especially and I a woman's, to-night is to a
| come
correct a wrong impression which you
have been under for some time, I think.
i To be wish plain, Miss Hilder, because I do
not to cause you future suffering,
let me state that I have never cared
enough for you to ask you to link your
lot with mine, therefore do not think
that I can return the love you bear for
me. My attentions to vou have been
prompted purely by a friendly feeling,
nothing more. But I trust this will not
mar our friendly relations,” he said, tak
ing his hat to go, “for remember, you
will ever have in me a true friend. Be
assured I will always be a nephew to
you.”
And she was so dumb with surprise
! aud anger that she didn’t say good-by to
Gambetta’s Glass Eye.
ter The accident really happened in the
foIloTvina- L manner Leon always spent
hig bo ; id s at home at Cahore. Next
door to hU SteWish^bimSf fathpr'c -hon * cutler Jd named
G a lUe had
child was constantly in tae cutler's wo-k
sb P ' On<» dav ai a workman was bor
• b , : h dle o{ ^ knife ^
a steel * drill nut in motion bv means of a
f h^- ’ thp «r^l rod broke V and one
, 1 S . . . . hild j b r : ht
',-A Pn ^forth ' r^on Ga-nbetta was
h fln Wp a ii renem her hi®
i n'otuberant e*ve at colleze ’gavs covered with
a whitish nellicle 1 ^ which S him the
aDD-arance of a CvcIods His school
I coun^o^'t 5 it His^eve n him Ccc’es oa ac
' remained in this
wAv\ill I8fi7 whpn’nr Weeker took ou*
the diseased eve and ^.liistituted a ° cri a «
: one in its place'.— Picayune.
MEISSONIER.
METHODS AND FOIBI.ES OF A
GREAT FRENCH ARTIST.
_ j
«—*
-*
Meissonier, the great French artist
who died in Paris receutlv, spent money
with both hands. He built himself on i
the Males'nerbes place in Paris a house
that was a wonder of taste. He kept a
country seat in the grand style of the
millionaire aristocrat. He bought every
.
thing '
he wished right and left without
once stopping to calculate his immediate
i DCO me. His ability to be thus reckless
with impunity was 'due to his unparal
leled success in making his high art
a financial success. Few if any other
modern painters have persistently de
manded and received such great material
jecognition of their work. The prices
paid repeatedly fabulous!*? far his tiny canvases have
been high. A Frenchman has
calculated since his death that none of
his well known works is to be had for
much less than $300 a square inch.
At the Secretan sale seven Itttle genre
pictures by Meissonier went for $101,000"
“Le Vir. du Cure,” on wood, four and
one-one half inches high i?ro,,g« by six inches
wide. do DC to 1860, *16,000;
‘Le Pemtre et 1 Amateur.” on wood,
nine by four inches, 1859, $12,500;
“Joune Homme Ecrivant Une Lettre,”
J” $i3 ’ “T by SeTCC inchC8 ’ 1882 ’
000; “Joueurs de Boules aus Yer
sallies,” on wood, five and bne-half by
eight, 1^.47, $14,200; “Joueurs de
Boules a Antibes,” on wood, five by
6cven inches, 1S69, $12,000; “Liseur
cn Costume Rose,” on wood, eight by
six inches, 1854, $13,200; “Le Coup de
l’Etrior,”on wood, nine by five inches,
date unknown, $16,000.
Meissonier was never to be shaken in
his demands for enormous prices. Often,
after finishing a picture, he doubled the
estimate he had made of its value before
. beginning . . it. .. ^ Emperor. Napoleon , III. ,,,
originally appropriated $20,000 for the
picture “Napoleon III. at Solferi.no.”
After completing thc work on it Meis
Bonier gave him thc alternative between
paying $40,000 and letting his most
famous portrait fall into strange hands,
Richard Wallace agreed to give the
painter $30,000 for putting on canvas
“Napoleon in the Battle at Friedlaud.”
Meissonier did the picture, and refused
to let it go for less than $60,000. When
Wallace demurred, Meissonier coolly sold
the painting at his price to an American
who did not haggle.
Meissonier s masterpiece, “1814,” is
known as the most expensive painting in
the world. It is twenty inches high by
thirty inches wide, and was last sold for
$170,000. It represents Napoleon I.
and his great general staff riding back
from the scene of their defeat. It came
to be painted m this wise: In 1870 M.
Delhante, a rich busTness man with a
taste for art, found Meissonier at work
in his studio on one of his microscopic
ca 7wf
“What * does J it represent?” he asked. .
“A military subject, to which I will
give the title ‘1814.
“Tour subject is very great and your
canvas is very small, M. Meissonier,”
said Delhante. Why do you not paint a
larger picture? ’
“I have laid it in small for two
reasons—first, because that is my style of
painting; second, because, to speak
openly, I need money. I work slowly,
and am able to finish a little picture
much sooner than a large one.”
“So you need money. Well, paint
my portrait. What will it cost?”
“Five thousand dollars. ’
Delhante drew out his purse and laid
the money on the table. “Now, I wish
also for myself the picture ‘1814,’” he ’
continued, “but on the condition that
you do it on a larger canvas.”
Some time later, when the portrait
was completed, Meissonier showed his
patron the outlines of a new “1814,”
with the question: “Is that large enough
for you?”
“Just right.- What will it cost?”
“Fourteen thousand dollars.”
it* A1 it right; • Vk H. there is . half , the price. . „
The picture was painted, paid for, and
dehvered, and m 1864 was exhibited ,n
the Sdon An Enghshman offered $60 -
J ^ 0I 7mS bUt hantc held
Vanderbilt increased the offer to $80,
000 yet failed to secure the picture,
Finally M. Bague, a connoisseur, got it
for $100,000, and, after keeping it in
his possession for one day, made the
famous sale of it to M. G’hauchard for
$150,000. This was the first time a
great painter had seen with his own eyes
such a triumph of his art. Tnose who
-
have approached most closely his success
were Muukaczv, with his “Christ before
w hich sold for $100,000 ; Millet,
with bis “Angelus, for which $120, J00
S10 °’ P»«|. $130,000 and MuriUo, with his “Ascen
\ n the work behind his great artistic . .
and financial success Meissonier followed
closel y the suggestion of the German
proverb, “Kein Preis ohne Fleiss.” An
experience of MeDzel and Pietsch in his
studio in 1867 illustrates the infinite
painstaking with which all his great pic
ture s 'were painted. “1807,’ or the
“Cuirassiers of Friedland ’ was unfin
explained the nature of the work
he had done in order to be
ililii
peXt’be'ore ^'eT^I C afleldl^r
^
lst,c tf a I ra,n field in East Prussia on
June 14. the day cf the battle, I had a
troo P of infant ry, placed at mg disposal
the commander of a neighboring
prison, march over it diagonally. Aft«
the field h%d been thus piepared, I made
four large and minutely exact studies of
nature from it. These studies I utilized
in the picture before you. I also
use of a company of cuirassiers from the
Poissy post for the purpose of studying
the effects produced by their movement.
Day after cay they stormed by my house
in the wddest baste ’ swinging their
«words and shouting, ‘Vive TEmpereur.”’
Thus, without the aid of instantaneous
photography, now bo indispensable to
P a * nter sucb scenes, Meissonier
was ena blod to study and represent the
men and horses in the mad movements
; of the ful1 ckar ^ e -
Meisaonier, the Great, was of dwarfish
stature. He had a large, powerful, bonj
head, with a wide forehead and bushy \
eyebrows. Down over his breast flowed
long white beard, the pride of hit
heart. He imagined that it helped him
of martial figure, for, with all his phe- !
nomenal successes, Meissonier dreamed
half of his davs of the impossible ambi
tion to be big'. To make himself look
naore manly and robust he frequently en- i
cased his diminutive legs in huge cavalry !
boots. He prinked daily before tht
mirror, and was never weary of compar
ing himself with ether small men to show
that he was really not so very little. Tc j
the end he confided in his* friends the
pangs he ever suffered on account of hii
under size. Occasionally, but only oc
casionally, did Meiasomo'r find the do
sired consolation he sought from his ac
quaintances. One afternoon, as the
Sculptor Dubois entered his studio,
Meissonier exclaimed joyfully:
“What do you think 1 The corn doc
tor was just here, and what do you sup
pose he says? A six-foot grenadier can
not get any bigger corns than mine.”—
N T eu> York Sun.
■ -
Coral Animals Tamed.
uJd,‘jTl «iT know ££ that coral 2? ’ SSSnSS animals can ex he
perience with them,” said George * Ban
croft of Tallahassee has'spent
Mr. Bancroft several yean
of his m *moBg theroral reefs- off tht
coast 0 f Florida aad Key West, and hat
made a study of the work of the little
coral animal. The traveler has a fine
collection of coral with him, and about
each piece has something interesting tc
relate.
“I believe I am the first person, how¬
ever, who ever tamed the polyps,” con¬
tinued Mr. Bancroft, as ha took a fint
specimen from his pocket. “That plect
I found on a reef in Florida, and as ]
was anxious to notice how fast the coral
g row s I placed it in the water where ]
ccu ld visit it every week and note tht
change. I had no-idea the coral animal
wou ld become used to my coming but
one day after about the tcnth }
noticed the polyps darting into theii
ce ll 8 . After several more visits some ol
the littln fellows became so bold as to
remain on the outside, and finally thev
became so well acquainted with me thoy
i d rcmaia in sight> x '
wou have stood b
the side of that four-inch-square speci
raen f or hours examining the thousands
f imals it. *
0 an on
“Scientific men claim that the coral
grows slowly, not more than an inch in
100 years, but I have proved that the
scientific people don’t know what they
flre talking about, for the piece contain
i ng my coral pets in six months grew at
least an iuch . It ia rather hard to de .
scribe how the animal works. The little
feu ow is a mere sack containing a
stomach. It is a compound animal, and
increases by gemmation, young polyps
springing from the original polyp,
sometimes indifferently from any part ol
its surface. The upper surface is decked
, lt with tentacles and the body is
dparate 3 by a number of petitions that
extend from the stomach to the outer
skin . Between these walls of flesh the
carbonate of lime is deposited and in
t ba t way the coral grows.”
Bancroft has many specimens ol
coral with him. One kind he calls the
pep per coral. When touched with the
tongue it will cause tears to run from
the eyes of the owner of the tongue. It ie
worse than red pepper. The coral, the
traveler says, is not sought for as it was
years ago.
“Coral ornaments are not popular at
present,” said Mr. Bancroft,” and until
there is a craze for them the trade will
not be extensive .”—Chicago Tribune.
A Skeleton Held by a Cleft Tree.
Freeman P. Lane, who has just re¬
turned from Chaska, says that a farmei
living near that place, while traversing
a copse of heavy oak timber some fivr
milds from Chaska, discovered a human
skeleton securely pinioned to a huge
oak. The supposition, based upon the
surrounding conditions, is that the man
must have met with death before cold
weat her set in last fall. The skeleton
was in an u ri ht ^ iti and th<
entire right arm d 8houlder waf
wedged into a crack in the trunk of the
tree xhe tree is bad , shattered fr01B
t to bottom, and this theory it
evo ] Te( j
During a heavy thunder shower Iasi
faU the man sought shelter beneath the
wide spreading branches of the oak, and
a thunderbolt rent the tree from tip to
root, killing the man and opening 8
crev j ce j n the tree that immediately
c]eged? piu i 0 ning the man. It is nar
rated that a farm hand employed some
f° ur m ji e8 f r ° m t be death-trap has been j
m j 89 } n g since early in November or late
in October. It is surmised that he was
thc victim of nature’s unwonted freak.—
Minneapolis Tribune.
-
--
Forests and Kain *
Among who the forestry students there are J
some believe that forests tend tc
equalize the rainfall, making the down- S
fall regular through the whole year,
when the land is denuded of its forest
| rzre. .
! class who believe that rain falls at all
only because of forests, and when they
ggSI eSou* “ratofaU Jan
of 84.7 ia the o.
we read further and find that it only
took eleven days to pour down this flood,
and that for 354 days out of the 365 the
: sun shone steadily and brightly, it will
be difficult to decide which side of the
forestry argument has the best of it.—
New York Independent. \
~T^> - 7
To r Cot Glass wl4 ^ith . c ..cissors. |
One can cut gl ass with a scissors a*
easily as though it were an autumn leaf.
The entire secret consists in plunging
the pane of glass into a tub of water,
submergiag also the hands and the sc is
sors. The scissors will cut In straighl
lines without a flaw. This result ia
achieved in consequence of the absence
of vibration. If^he least portion of the
scissors is left out of the water, the ri
bratiou will prevent the glass cutting—,
Pott BispaUh. >
TIGER TAMING.
^ STURDY HEART, STRONG ARM
AN» STOUT CLUB NECEiSA UY.
The Ynmtteil Power of tb<* Human
Eye a Myth—How the Tiger’d
Claws Are Clipped —
Training Secrets.
A New "York Sun reporter , a
>
recent interview with Genigc t o i io,
Superintendent of Uarnmn s rtenagens.
We quote as follows:
Mr. Conklin and his visitor . approacae
a lotig cage standing inline with many
other cages in a long one-story biu.v
building, which bounded the eastern end
of the great enclosure which tae big
»bow occupies during the wiuter season,
The cage had five Bengal tigers m it.
Four of them were together. 1 ue ,1 “- !
was separated from the others by a tern
porary iron grating. 1 wo of the lotu
tigers which were in company had thick
leather collars round their necks and
stout chain* several feet long fastened .:
them. The tiger in solitary confinement
was similarly harnessed,
“Well,” said Mr. Conklin, “I’E tell
you one thing we do besides feeding
these tigers. Me train them. I lio^e
fellows in there who hart 1 chains or.
them, and are just umv spitting anu
growling u? * n sucn sava S'° st J^ e > arc
*L Thc l "“ ok * e ” "“M ° d l ? J '
,r ^ 0 ’
will . l let iftc go into . the cage and uot say
* ^ordto me. By the time we go on ,
road th * 7 wdl “ ll 1 V !UC into / “ '
£f« e ’, 1 T g,v e them a lf V' o:i ^ ' “ a ’
-
lis ‘, t 9 ou<? tUlu . . - we <l , ° durin ~ th ° WU1 '
tcr ,
’
“How do you tame them?” asked thc
visitor.
“It’s easily done,” said the trainer
carelessly. “Every day I have the men
catch the ends of the chains which hold
the new tigers, and fasten them to the
bars so they can only move a certain dis¬
tance. Then I arm myself with a raw
hide whip and a stout club and enter the
cage. I take a chair wtth mo and sit
down in the corner. The minute 1 get
in the untrained tigers spring at me. No
doubt they would chew me to shreds if
they got at me,but the chains hold them
amd they only tumble on thc floor. I hit
them smartly with the whip and they
crouch back and snarl. After a little I
shove my chair closer. Then they jump
at me again, but again they are thrown
down by their chains. 1 shove closer
snd repeat the programme, and finally I
^et so close that they can touch me with
their noses, but not bite me. Here I sit
for a long time, talkiug to them as long
as they remain quiet, and switching
them with all the lorce pos
Bible when they become fierce.
In the course of a few weeks they be¬
come used to my entrance, and only
cringe and snarl at me. Then I try them,
one by one, without a chain. I have
never so far used the club. Now I hold
it ready to deal a mighty blow if neces¬
sary, but it is seldom necessary. The
tiger is subdued and permits my entrance
whenever I choose. I have got these
tigers here nearly trained. They snarl
yet, you see, but next week I will tackle
them without chains. That fellow in the
other compartment is tractable enough,
but he persists in fighting with the big
Bengal, so we have to keep them sepa¬
rate. Do you see that long mark on his
belly! He and the big fellow had a
particularly hard fight the other day,
and that is one result. If we hadn’t had
the big fellow’s claws clipped before¬
hand, he’d have ripped open the new one
from end to end. So there’s anothei
delicate job for me. I’ve got to get those
tigers on good terms.”
“Is there any basis of truth in many
stories that are told of the power of the
human eye over wild beasts?”
“Not the slightest,” said Conklin dis¬
dainfully. “Of course it is true that a
man who aims to subdue wild beasts
must show a fearless front, and no doubt
the eye shares with the body generally
the task of impressing the beast. But the
real requisite is real fearlessness. If a
man’s heart is sturdy he need not care a
rap about his eyes. He can leave theta
to themselves just as he leaves the other
members of his body. The secret of
taming wild beasts is the realization that
ill wild beasts, however ferocious, are at
heart cowards—particularly if they be
long to the cat family, as lions, tigers,
leopards, and panthers do. That granted,
t stout heart, a stout arm, and a stout
whip or club is all that is necessary. J
acveT have known fear.”
“Do you always clip the claws of your
ferocious animals?”
H-awTL- 0 * tri 7 c ’ '' a J’% sai '|
iv.* ^ 1S qUlte a >°l' to ,°' nn<]
nutn u >er o , men. lou ve got
^ J°j Jr 7 m ° r 0, ind iu such a
7 7 n 7* -° t w . the ? n bar3 h,S an<1 8I(3c Sf' an,,
7- 7 i°7 U „ °rr£-^'
r „ .7 a ( h 1 his is
J® *‘“ a " • , “J . case of a ver y lar 8 e
187 stI ' u gg , 1 « violently,
Z * th l V he5 U less au(i ^ hl1 *
“ e operation r of clipping . is going on. I
killed a fine panther this winter clipping
hw claws, or rather he killed himself,
tIWr we fi afl h™ securely down so he
smdcl hardly move a muscle, he strained
50 ' n his efforts to free himself that he
broke a blood vessel aod died almost Ln
stantly.”
a
Something quite new in thc history of
secret societies has just been discovered
Sipi TaTe d"
They have Horn raas
Mr, own “war
had about sixteen members, with a reg
ularly constituted treasurer, and that
5orae of the goods had been sold,bartered
or consumed by several leading mem
bers. not excited The operations of the league had
suspicion, and might have
been continued indefinitely had the
treasurer s landUdy not become anxious
on account of the mysterious bag kept
by her lodger under lock and key, and
wi »cli had grown daily heavier; Rumor
hafl it that, this chest was only a branch
depository, and that another has yet to
be discovered Some of the boys have
been discharged irom their employment.
Others were young and had contributed
goods from their father’s premises. The
matter is being investigated by the po
lice, but it is understood that the em
ployers have unanimously refrained from
lodging a complaint.