Newspaper Page Text
10
AJOURNEYOX THE FLOOD
DS OKI MM'S STORY OF A BIDE ON
THE SWOLLEN MISSISSIPPL
From Memphis to New Orleans the
Biver a Vast and Almost Unbroken
Soa—Levees, Land-nga and Even
Towns Submerged— lnspectors Who
Knew the Biver’s Bottom, But Not
Its Surface— An Aquatic Population
Come in Skifts for Whisky—Poor
Negroes in the Low Grounds—Noah’s
Ark Encountered Off Vicksburg—
How Biver Repairers Work-People
Who Profit by the Flood Some
Timely Suggestions.
(Copyright.)
Memphis, May 3.— One morning lately,
at a time when the great flood in the Mis
sissippi was supposed to have reached its
highest point, I went from Memphis to
New Orleans on a voyage of investigation.
The Valley Line raliroad does not run near
enough to the river to afford a good view,
and besides, I wished to take a trip leis
urely, so I went by the Anchor Line
steamer City of Monroe, taking passage
at Memphis, where I was introduced to the
captain. Since the war these boats have
not been a medium of transportation for
travelers, and their ample decks and state
rooms, where people were wont formerly to
take rest and enjoy themselves en route, are
row turned into ireight depots; therefore
the beats have to stop at every small land
ing. Still they are elegantly and some
•vea magnificently fitted up.
Besides myself there were only two or
three passengers, and perhaps five persons
in all sat down to dinner. The first day we
hart a United States commissioner on board.
Capt. Young, inspector of the Mississippi
river breakwater and crevasses. This is a
commission whose members seem to have a
sinecure, except whoa there is a flood oa
the river or something wrong with the
crevasses. In the absence of floods time
must bang heavily on their hands. This
particular commissioner was a very intelli
gent gentleman and was soon at home on the
Monroe. Ho went up to the pilot house and
hardly moved from there during tho entire
trip—or rather on that part of it on which
he accompanied us. A number of times I
went up the e and found him chatting
pleasantly with tho captain and pilot. When
we stopped at a point that didn’t happen to
be entirely submerged, he lookod out of the
window of the pilot house and officially
surveyed the river. He had to stop at
every’ so-calle 1 lauding, but as it was im
possible to land goods at these points, the
majority of them being submerged and
only trees or housetops visible, we did not
try to aproach. In most cases the water
had encroached fully bait a mile on the
shore.
I v j
SURVEYING THE RIVER BOTTOM. '
But even the placid resident of the Missis
sippi Valley, accustomed as he is to floods,
has enterprise at times when there is a
worthy ob ject in view. At many of these
overflowed landings, I was surprised to see
people coming to meet us in boats a. and small
skiffs, mere cockle shells they looked to be
on the great sheet of water. They wanted
to get the goods that had been consigned to
them. It occurred to me that they must bo
suffering and were after the barrels of flour
we had on board the Monroe, or, perhaps,
it was the bales of hay they wanted
to feed their cattle. But I
soon discovered that it was neither of these
very nece-sary commodities which this
aquatic population had ventured out for.
NY hat they wanted was whisky. In almost
every instance the bold boatsman rowed
off with a liquid consignment in a barrel
and likewise a happy smile. The Missis-'
sippi might rise or fall, and the signal office
might go on predicting floods as big as that
which floated old Ncah, it was a matter of
indifference since they had got their
whisky.
At the time of which I write the flood was
already two weeks old. Looking out on tho
river, my first impression was that the over
flow was so vast that it was impossible to
form any idea of the damage sustained.
When everything is under water it is mere
guess work to say what has happened un
derneath. Most of tho houses along the
route had already disappeared and for long
distances even tho shore was invisible.
“Here,” said the captain of tho Mon
roe, pointing down at the broad, uu
brokeu body of water, like an inland
sea. “is one of the broken crevasses.”
He was not jesting. YY’e could have
Bailed over the tops of them without going
aground. I had to take the information on
faith alone.
“There, over yonder, is a levee,” he con
tinued, pointing out on tho l iver.
Btill nothing in sight, save the glassy
surface of the Mississippi. One sheet of
water, submerging everything, was all that
I saw.
NOAH’S ARK.
Sometimes we passed a group of men,
standing apparently iu the middle of the
river and piling up sand sacks. Approach
ing, we could see something of the levee.
It had given way, and they were raising it
with the sacks. I had the impression that
as soon as they ceased work it would be
again swept away.
Lower down, between Baton Rouge and
New Orleans, we came to some levees that
had not given way. These unbroken levees
were far more instructive than the broken
ones, as they showed the danger that hung
over the dwellers on tbe low grounds on
either side of the embankments. It occurred
to me that if I happened to live on these low
grounds, I would be justified in making my
wifi every day in tbe year. Only the poorest
class of people—those who have littlo or
nothing to lose—live there, and about all
they can do is to raise a little hay. Any
crop would grow ou that rich soil- but if
they tried anything else, it might be de-
Btrojeu in a wet*k or a month, so I suppose
they conclude that it isn’t worth the effort.
See the steep bank down on t’other side
ol the levee,” said one of my fellow passen
ger. 4 That * the river’s signatur’.”
ear ll * 1 interrogatod, doubting my
“It’s signatur'-the letter M, you know.
* h°ilow in the middle is the channel aud
the shoulders on each side are the banks
When you can’t read old Mississippi’s kand-
j write, then look out sharp for trouble.
I There’s goin’ to be floods then, sure."
The whole Mississippi Valley, with the
; exception of a few localities, is inhabited
j by ihe p.-orest sort of negroes and a few
| whites, who have nothing of value to lose.
I They live in bkek huts, the interiors of
, which run no risk of Le:hg damaged by
j water. Tney are constantly on the lookout
for the arrival of strainers, wheh thev can
get a few hours’ work. Apart from these
occasional jobs, it is not apparent that '.hey
have any employment.
The manner of repairing the Mississippi
reminds me strongly of the fable of the
Danaides, who were condemned to draw
water m sieves from a deep well. It is re
paired one day, aid tho next the work of
the previous day is swept away. Instead of
raising tho levee te moms tit is in danger,
they wait until it is hr. ken. Then a few
white men on horseback, ar.d whip in band,
followed by from twenty to fittv negroes,
come along. They have a number of
skiffs or and on them they
bring those heavy sand-sacks to
fill in the broken places in tho levees. A
man must bo strong to move these sacks,
when they are filled with sand, earth or
dirt. The sacks are furnished by contractors
who are doubtless glad to b* rid of their
worn-out articles at a round price. They
are of the sort that are used for transport
ing bay, flour or cotton, and are usually
old and damaged before they are put to
service on the levees. One above another,
they are piled up in the gaps until the
broken levees are filled or the sacks have
given out.
THE GREAT RALEIGH BREAKWATER.
A great deal of concontiaod wisdom ap
pears in the newspapers from time to time
about these floods in the shape of inter
views with engineers and experts at a dis
tance; but however much satisfaction these
may afford to northern readers, they are of
little service to tho section most interested.
Even special commissioners seem to accom
plish but little. Three times during my
trip we had special commissioners on
hoard the Monroe—Gen. Ferguson, Maj.
Hyde, and others whose names I now
forget. They came aboard from one of
the points at which we touched one day,
and for six or seven hours discussed the sit
uation with Capt. Young, the breakwater
and crevasse man. They went off at the
next landing. While on board they smoked
together, took u drink or two, had dinner
and a good time, and talked like encyclo
paedias. I gathered from tho conversation
that they knew all about the river bottom;
what they did not know and did net seem
to trouble themselves about was its surface!
A few miles above Vicksburg, we stopped
at. a queer-looking craft. My first impres
sion was that the scene of the original flood
must have boen somewhere thereabout and
that the ark had been saved to posterity
after all—although the outside world was
still painfully ignorant of the fact. Float
ing along iu tho stately style of a palatial
canal boat, towed by a government steamer,
was a peak-roofed house, with a prow at
either end and lots of windows—just as the
inspired artists of our callow years pictured
the ancient Noacbic arrangement, a cross
between the old training ship in the Brook
lyn navy yard uud W T iliiatn Black’s house
boat, on which the hero made love and ihe
heroine flirted during the summer tour by
mute power.
“What in heaven's name is it?” I asked of
the captain of the Monroe, aghast.
“Why.” said he, in the most matter-of
fact way imaginable, “it’s a United States
quarter boat, and that’s a government
steamer towin’ it. They carry governmo.it
workmen to repair the crevasses. There
are two or three of these boats oa the river
every time it floods and the levees go
down.”
I felt relieved. So weird a scena on the
great waste of waters would make an
imaginative man conjure up visions of
phantom vessels.
“The boat stops whenever there is work
to be done," said a passenger, who was an
old Mississippi traveler, and could locate
the submerged levees with an infallible ex
actness that made even the old captain
jealous. “When she stops the men sleep
here. ”
“What! Don’t they work?” I asked.
“Why, certainly; but they need to sleep,
you know,” ho answered with a grin. “The
steamer tows them around to the crevasses.
There’s about two hundred of ’em on that
one, I reckon.”
FU.I.ING UP WITH SAND SACKS.
My curiosity was excited. ’Till now I
had seen absolutely no sign of any attempt
to help matters; but now, here was activity.
These two hundred men in the anti-deiuvian
work-boat represented the power and
influence of the United States government
and its determination to dam tho Mississippi
as far as possible and save t-he low lands
from being perpetually under water.
I went on board the ark. It was floating
along with scarcely a ripple iu its wake.
Yes, there must have been a couple of hun
dred men aboard, for they were sitting
around in groups, some haif asleep, others
surveying the bottom of the river in a
dreamy w ay. Printed regulations informed
me that there must be no smoking or drink
ing on the ark. i looked, expecting to find
still another card stating that no v.-ork was
allowed. Two or three men were appa
rently officers, but none were in uniform.
All were cf the laboring class, probably
pretty much like tho sort wo have iu some
cities on the public works, who enjoy petty
sinecures.
For a few minutes I stood with them
looking at the river, it is very restful to
keep looking at the Mississippi, and, lest
I should fall asleep, I returned to the
Monroe.
Vicksburg was next. The town is situ
ated on a high hill, and is safe; but the ap
proaches were all under water. Where,
before, were land and trees only tho tops of
the trees were now visible. At Vicksburg
they told me a surprising thing.
“This is a far more serious ii od than last
year,” said the citizens, “but not so serious
by a good deal ns six years ago. That was
a famous flood!”
Floods on ti e Mississippi are merely com
parative. Being regular, the people there
are accustomed to them. A floodless year
would excite wonder.
Above Arkansas City is the great Raleigh
crevasse, which, from a break of 1,40 J feet
wide, has reached 4,000 feet. Hundred of
laborers were busy piling up sacks in the
middle of the river, as 1 imagined. They
made no more impression on the crevasse
than a pebble dropped in Lake Michigan.
At Arkansas City I saw nothing but
wooden block houses- It was more like an
Indian camp than a white man’s city, and
the buildings were rather on the model of
cowboy huts than dwellings for civiitzed
men and women.
“Its useless to build expensive houses
here,” said one o: the residents by way of
explanation, “because they might be swept
away in a few months’ time.”
Hearing this, I could not wonder at the
carelessness regarding the levees.
At Baton Rouge the nearest part of th e
shore was flooded. The location was higher,
JIIE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY, MAY 4, 1890-TWELVE PAGES.
: and therefore not so dangerous as that of
! Arkansas City and some other points we
i passed. On reaching Xew Orleans wo
j found the water very high. O.i the eastern
| side of the city there is nothing but woolen
i houses, like those I feud at West Memphis,
which were entirely under water, the roofs
alone being v-s.ble. But West Memphis is
a “flood town,” and prepares for the annual
deluge. New Orleans, for a large and really
fine city, is comparatively defenseless. ’J he
floods unsettle business every year anil a
phenomenal rise in the river breeds a semi
panic.
It would lie idle to pretend to give as the
result of persona! observation on such a
trip any estimate of the damage inflicted by
these floods. It is beyo id calculation.
Nothing that Ic in write can convey an
ad-quate picture of the extent of that vast
inland sea foimed by tbe river when it
overleaps its bounds, and, filling up the
valleys, hides levees, towns and villages in a
common inundation. Yet one thing is
painfully apparent. These floods are a ben
efit to tho contractors and to a
certain clas3 of people who don’t
live there and have no prop
erty at stake, but who make money by
them. Tney accept the annual overflow as
a regular source of revenue, just as the
new spa per sof the south watch for it as a
piece of news that any bo depended upon,
sooner or later in the season. And this
raises tne inquiry why these annual del
uges should not lie turned from being a
cu eof misery, devastation and suffering,
in o a moans < f enriching and blessing the
great section of nearly 10,000 square miles,
which is more or less injuriously affected
by them.
The Mississippi is not tbe only big river
in the world. There are the Nile, which is
doing every year just w bat tho Mississippi
does; the Danube, the Rhine and the E.be,
The Rhine, from Cologne to Rotterdam, is
in overflow annually at certain seasons, but
its waters spread to bless and not to destroy
the country. Instead of giving escape to
the water, as they do with the Rhine,
the south closes up the Missis
sippi by means of levees, and gives
it no room to extend. A big river like the
Mississippi, growing by rains aud for other
reasons, inevitably becomes so strong at
times that no system of levees can confine
it. On the Rhine there is along each side a
system of cauals and locks for relieving the
channel of the superfluous water. These
are used to irrigate the surrounding coun
try, and the more the Rhino grows the
greater is the fertility and prosperity of
the country.
Reservoirs should be constructed along
the Mississippi. Iron and stone levees
should be built at tbe dangerous points
where the present levees are annually
threatens 1 and where the water rises higher
than the ground. Sacks of earth and sand
are merely makeshifts that are useless to
withstand a current such as that which
sweeps through the lower valley every
season.
With tho Rhone tho situation is similar to
that along the Rhine. Indeed, all the large
rivers, when they begin to swell, are turned
into a moons of prosperity instead of being
a source of danger and disaster to the coun
tries through which they flow.
ISSISSIPPI.
To many people the cost of stone levees
would seem an insuperable objection. Con
gressmen and the constituences they repre
sent might possibly shudder at the expense.
But they should remember that it would be
an expenditure that would not have to be
annually repeated, as is now the case with
appropriations for the Mississippi. The
country might go on for the next fifty
years, as it is now doing, spending money
in a futile effort to check this
great river aud keep it within bounds, aud
millions will have been thrown away;
whereas an expenditure for substantial
work such as I have suggested would not
have to be repeated perhaps in a century.
In half that time, under the present system,
twice the amount would be spent that is
needed to make the country that is now
periodically devastated, a safe and prosper
ous part of tho union.
It might help matters if congress, in dis
cussiug this subject, were to give preference 1
to tbe opinions of those who nad no particu
lar interest in the retention of the present
system and to invite the co-operation of
famous engineers who have had experience
with similar problems in other parts of the
world, in order that opinions might bo
compared and an intelligent conclusion
reached. There is an enormous tract of
land contiguous to the Mississippi that needs
irrigation. The adoption of "a system of
canals and reservoirs, with locks similar to
those in uso abroad, would enrich this terri
tory and make it one ot the fi test sections
of tho union. C. De Grimm.
FREAK MARRIAGE FAILS.
Unhappiness Follows a County Fair
Wedding of Strangers.
From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Moberly, Mo., April 4. —Lawrence
Murry,* a coal minor of Randolph county,
and Hattie Clark, a school teacher of
Hutchinson, Kan., who were married at
the county fair in this city last August be
fore 6,000 people, the attraction being ot
such a nature that it drew the largest crowd
ever assembled on any one day at. the Ran
dolph county fair, aie about to be legally
separated.
Just one week from the time they were
married Hattie Murry left on very urgent
business for Hutchinson, where she said she
had an estate, which would be settled imme
diately after her return there. She prom
ised to return with money enough to set
them up in business, the fair ass ciation
and several business men of the city having
already presented the newly wedded couple
with a complete set of furniture and
considerable provisions to start them
ou the way of married felicity
in a most substantial manner. Two
weeks had elapsed when Law rence received
a lengthy letter from Hattie, stating that
she had arrived, and expressing a fond de
sire to return ass on as matters there
could lie righted. Sue cautio ied him not
to mention the wedding in his letters to her,
and above all things to address all com
munications to Miss Hattie Clark, for if her
guardian found out that she had changed
her name the money she was to get t: om
tho estate would pe kept from her, aud the
object of her errand there would be of no
avail.
Time passed on, and no more word came
from tho dashing young school teacher from
Kansas until a fo w days ago, and that came
in response to a message of inquiry written
by the husband to prominent parties in
Hutchinson, asking them of her where
abouts, aud if she was held there by her
friends. The reply came to Lawrence that
his wife had denied all knowledge of the
wedding, and that shortly after her arrival
in Hutchinsou from Moberly she began to
spend her money lavishly on herself, pur
chasing silks and satins, and becoming ona
of the most fashionable young school teach
ers in that whole country. When her
money ran out the left Hutchinson and
went to Rice county, Kansas, and obtained
a position in a country school as teacher.
She 1-fft there very unceremoniously and
went back to Hutchinson, and soon left
Kansas for pastures now.
Murry will ask for a divorce at once.
Murry and Miss Clark were married by
Judge G. 11. Burkhart of this judicial dis
trict and prominent citizens of Moberly
and Omaha, Neb., escorted them to the
grand stand, while Martin Golden’s silver
cornet band played a wedding march.
They had never seen each other until the
afiernoon they were married, tbe bride
elect arriving on the Wabash at 2:45 p. in.,
the groom meeting tier at the tram. They
got each other’s address through a Chicago
paper and for uearly a year kept up a cor
respondence and finally exchanged their
pictures.
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SENDING CUBAN MURDERERS TO
THE OTHER WORLD.
Tbe Garrota at Havana and the
Bwarthy Giant Who Manipulates It.
Capital Punishment in the Ever Faith
ful Isle.
(Copyright.)
New York, May 3.—An African her
cules with a spreading nose and faultlessly
white teeth, is among the convicts in the
prison of Havana. He is not as black as
the traditional ace of spades, but a cup of
the darkest coffee would need the addition
of not more than a teaspoonful of milk to
closely resemble iiim in complexion. lie is
not by any means an ill-favored specimen of
his race. Most people would be apt to look
at him twice under any circumstances; in
his present environments they would be
more than likely to honor him with unusual
attention. There is a certain barbaric
grace about him which is as free from
assumption as the leisurely movements of a
panther not engaged in the occupation of
hunting down its prey or in any’other of
tbe more serious affairs of animal life.
Hercules owes his less of liberty to the fact
that he was injudicious enough to antici
pate nature—iu other words, he is a mur
derer. His cell is on the ground floor in
one of the corners of the prison, which
is built übout a courtyard, forming a
square and monopolizing an entir e block.
Tbe cells face on the interior of the square,
and very much of the courty rd is at
the disposal of tho convicts. One of the
results is that they have a comparatively
unrestrained time of it. No pent-up Utica
of an eight-by-four apartment contracts
their powers of locomotion during the day.
They are privileged to lounge about iu tho
sunshine within a railed enclosure whentKe
sunshine is not too fierce, and to take refuge
in the shadows when it is. If they are in
funds they smoko cigarettes, and the man
who is too poor to buy cigarettes ia Havana
must, even for a convict, be impoverished
indeed. The railed enclosure within
which Hercules can take all the
exercise he needs is almost large enough t J
give a regiment room to drill in. Wheu
anything unusual is in progress the inhab-,
ituuts of one wing of the jail cau hasten to
the center cf attraction in the other and
gratify their curicsitv as to tho cause of the
commotion. Those accommodating condi
tions, which would be regarded as revo
lutionary in an American prison, do not
seem to be attended with serious con
sequences. It would ba diflisult for
the Cuban convict to generate steam enough
to do anything alarming. If jn durance
vile he can have a mission in life he has it.
Tbe ambition of his day bogins and ends
with the consumption of cigarettes. Of
course, no affliction could assume a more
intolerable shape than the tie essity for
personal exerti >n, but to be deprived of ciga
rettes would be even worse, and is in all
probability the only earthly affliction which
would result in a revolt. Hercules is,
in more than an ordinary sense of tho word,
an object of interest to his fellow prisoners
and to visitors. The former regard him
with peculiar emotions, if they have any
emotions, not becauso tbe whites of his eyes
are singularly white or even because he is
a specimen of muscular magnificence. As
already intimated, there is blood on bis
hands, but a few drops of human blood,
shed in murder, do not explain tho concern
with which he is contemplated. Asa
matter of fact for tho eminence he en
joys Hercules is indebted to the circum
stance that be has dislocated the necks of
half a dozen people. About tiie time that
he fell into the clutches of Cuban law the
oifico of public executioner bee tine vacant.
Hercules was a lus'y, likely-looking fellow
and he had already shown that a little
thing like taking human life would not
bother him iu the least. Ha w-.s offered the
distinction and accepted it. He did not co
quette with the proposition when it was
mado and takes proper pride in the per
lormance of his functions. It is, therefore,
ns the iiutocrat of tho Garrota that he
stauds head and s’n uldets, as it were, above
any other in nate of t;ie jaii at Havana.
I was conceded tho honor of an interview
with him not very long ago. It was not
necessary to explain the object of my visit.
“I suppose you want to see it,” he asked.
“If it is rot too much trouble,” I replied.
“Not at ail, sir,” was the rejoinder.
I lost sight of Hercules for a few mo
ments. Thirty or forty of tho convicts
languidly lounged to tho spot, so that they
might become spectators of the exhibition,
with which many of them were probably
already familiar. There is evidently a grim
fascination for them in the display of
which duplication does not seem to have
worn off the odgo. When Hercules reappeared
he uas dragging from his cell a box about
five feet in length. It was heavy enough to
test his strength, and the suberb physical
development of the swarthy g.ant was nil
that made him equal to the task. There was
something of the devil in the wicked gleam
of his eves as he straightened himself up
when relieved from the strain, and yet a
gentler voice never spoke in soft, caressing
tones.
“It’S heavy,” I remarked.
“O, not very,” he answered.
If the box had actually been a coffin in
stead of remotely resembling one, it could
scarcely have been more suggestive of
death. Too Hasps which secured it were
soon relieved of the padlock, and in a few
seconds the fid was thrown back. It took
Hercules about seven minutes to get the
machine in working order. None
of the different parts of the ghastly
contrivance were connected as they
lay in the l ox. The base of the
garrote is exceedingly heavy. lato this is
fitted the upright, against which, and with
his back to it, the condemned man sits on
what would lie as much like a cobbler’s
stool as a cobbler’s stool itself, had it three
legs instead of four. The front legs are fur
nisued with straps by which the feet of the
man to he executed are secured.
“Can I offer you a seat, sir?” asked Her
cules, politely.
“Well, the back is scarcely comfortable
enough,” I answered.
“Oh, sit down, and let him operate on
you,” remarked the friend who had accom
panied me.
“Thank you, I will imagine the sensatiOD,
if it’s all the same to you,” I replied.
“I think I could make a neat job of it,
sir,” suggested the accommodating Her
cules, wbose eyes were still illuminated by
an ugly glitter.
The topic was not agreeable, so I changed
the drift of conversation.
“How many necks have you broken?” 1
asked.
“Six or seven,” said Hercules.
While this conversation was in p-ogre'B
the various part3 of the machine were being
rapidly adjusted. The upright is pierced
by two holes high enough to be just above
tbe shoulders of the individual w ho is to go
to the other world, and far enough apart to
permit the insertion of steel bars, one on
each side of the subject’s neck. These, with
the addition of a cross-piece, form what is
called the “collar.” The crcss-piece
dangles from the end of one of the
bars until the ill-fated neck is
in position, when it is fastened to
tbe end of the other bar, directly across tbe
throat. If the cross-piece is not in actual
contact with the flesh the whole collar is
drawn back from behind, not, of ccurse.
far enough to cause the doomed man im
mediate discomfort, but sufficient, as it
were, to make a neat fit. The snugger the
fit the more expeditions the work which
follows the blood-curdliug preliminaries.
The collar, being thus drawn back, is ren
dered immovable by appliances behind, and
everything is in readiness for the finishing
touch. Back of the neck, and waiting, so
to speak, to administer the fatal thrust, is
the pointed bar with which the African has
so ofteu vindicated the Cuban capital code.
Id is set in motion by powerful screws,
which are in turn operated by a lever.
One turn of the lever results in many
turns of the screws, and tunny turns of
the screws send the bar of iron upon its
mission of destruction. It is easy to im
agine that tho nervous fibers and ganglions
which the spinal cord includes at tho point
of entry, are in a highly disorganized condi
tion when that bar has done its work. The
stroke for which Astur was indebted to
Horatius is ono of the most famous in all
history. It is recorded of tho hero of the
Tiber that—
Through teeth, through skull, through helmet
So fierce a thrust he sped,
His good sword stood a uaud breadth out
Behind the Tuscan’s head.
Not a whit less effective than tho trusty
Roman blade is the weapon of which Her
cules is the master. He grasps the lever
very much as the helmsman grasps the
spokes of the wheel. The movement is cir
cular and just about one-fourth of a revolu
tion accomplishes its purpose. It is so
powerful a lever that the exercise of muscu
lar exertion called for is not really great
enough to test the strength of Hercules.
There is not a single feature about the whole
grizzly performance that has about it the
flavor of experiment or doubt. .For the
vetebrse the.e is no possibility of escape.
“Do you see the idea?” asked Hercules.
“Quite plainly.”
“Let me show you what it does,” he con
tinued.
In a moment his brawny hands had forced
into the cellar the twig end of a broom. It
filled the place just about as a human neck
might have done. In another moment by
a mighty turn of the lever the broom had
been garrote i. Electricity might have done
tbe work perhaps the fraction of a second
quicker,and there would tiave been a c mspic
uous absence of the disagreeable crunching
sound by which the operation was accom
panied, but a million volts, alternating or
continuous, could not have left a deader
man behind if Hercules had been perform
ing on a genuine subject. As the twigs
yielded to the remorseless boit you could
actually feel the bones and tissues giving
away.
“Quick work, isn’t it?” asked my friend.
“Quick and sure.”
“Yes, there’s no bungling about it.”
“A sort of ’all orders executed with
neatness and dispatch’ machine,” I sug
gested.
I bad looked full into tho face of the Af
rican as he turned the lever. His share in
tho display was as realistic as that of the
neck-bearing conti ivanee itself. He took a
long breath, expanding to the full his mas
sive chest, set his teeth hard, and choked
the broom with as much energy a, he ever
displayed in public.
“You bit toe mark every time,” I said, as
I pud him for his trouble.
“I haven’t missed it yet.”
An American hangman would spurn an
offer of the sum for which Hercules winds
up the mortal miseries of Cuban murderers.
l have a somewhat vivid imagination. To
all intent and purpo.es I had s.-oa a man
garroted. David Wechsler.
Choosing a Sweetheart.
Chooso your sweetheart earefuliy, wisely
and tende lv, my dear girls, saw a writer
in the Ladies' Home Remember
he is to be more than even this to you some
day—he is to be your bust and, for surely
you are not ore of the girls who have a
sweetheart here, and one there, ar.d gives a
little love to this one and a little to that one,
until when the real one appears the perfect
bloom is gone from the peach and sh’e can
not give him what he offers her. You girls
know very quickly when a man means
more than ordinary f; lenishui for you.
You have an instinct that tells you this
big, gocd-lookidg fellow bas come sweet
neartmg, and that is the time for you to
study him a little bit. Think out if his
temper and yours are certain to agree
well together; think out if his tastes and
yours are alike, or if they can grow to l e so,
for you know, little women, if you want to
be happy in your married life, you must
learn ttio great and wonderful" virtue of
adaptability. You must choose your sweet
heart as you do anew gown, so that he
will wear well; but you want him for
longer than a winter; he must last through
the long summer days aud through the
winter ones, and beforo you put your hand
in his and toll b in that you are willing to
fight out tho battle of life together, think it
ail over well, and remember that you are
choosing your sweetheart not for a day or
a year, but for all through life an i, please
God. if you love each other enough, for
after death.
The prize of 40.C00 francs offered by the
French Academy for somecertain test of death,
looking to the prevention of being buried alive,
was given to a physician who announces that on
holding the hand of the suppo-e l dead person
to a strong light, if living a scarlet tinge is seen
where the fingers touch, showing that the blood
continues to circulate, there being no scarlet
when the subject is really dead.
P. P. P.
r>-<r?tnaa.>7n"grai<c-^
Prickly Ash, Poke Root
and. Potassium.
lakes
Marvelous Cures
nTO.r.ramwinawß bti^ibmtm^i 4
in Blood Poison
Rheumatism
and Scrofula
P. P. P. purifies the blood, builds up the
weak and debilitated, gives strength to weak
ened nerves, expels diseases, gives the patient
health and happiness where sickness, gloomy
feelings and lassitude first prevailed.
In blood poison, mercurial poison, malaria,
dyspepsia and in all blood and skin diseases
like blotches, pimples, old chronic ulcers,
tetter, scaldhead, we sav without fear of con
tradiction that P. P. P. is the best biood purifier
in the world.
Ladies whose systems are poisoned and whose
blood is in an impure condition, due to men
strual irregularities, are peculiarly benefited by
the wonderful tonic aud blood cleansing proper
ties of P. P. P., Prickly Ash, Poke Root and Po
tasium.
For sale by all druggists.
LIPPMAN BROS., Proprietors,
Lippnmn's Block, Savannah. Ga.
MEDICAL.
■■■■
DOES CURE
Er> its First Stages.
He sure you get the genuine*
PETERMAN’S ROACH FOOD.
"Vyffe' Pb,£i;.kt" WjA.£ttSfc-SiB I
THE reopla who hare used PETERMaN’3
ROACH FOOD highly recommend it ta
their friends end n-ishbors. It has no equai in
the world, as it attracts tin Roaches and Water
Bogs as a food which they like better than any
thing else. They all eat it any die. Put up in
25c.. 50c. and 75c. mailable cans. Sold by all
the principal druggists in the United States.
WM. PETERMAN, M’F'G CHEMIST,
Office, No. 6 East 14tli street. New York.
LIPPMAN BROS., Agents. Savannah.
I m^eS|;
C Q * Ih.g.c
.'Srusssw'. eh tqa - ny p! rH£M iOAL
iStJ 1 ' INK pIKNaWNH?"*] P.'s uH- cO .
'• | to3 ■■■-•; Mf(cMEor/a U| JACKSmynu
At Wholesale'by LIPPMAN BROS., Savan
nah, Ga.
g% rm CENTS will ray jor THE DAILY
8 pa MORNING NEWS one week, delivered
g jto any part of the city. Semi your a<l
" -J dress with 25 cents to the Business
Office aud have the paper delivered regularly.
MEDICAL.
Pimples
Blotches
wiaunTOnwiiinii ii
and
Old Sores
Are Entirely Removed by P. P. P.,
Prickly Ash, Poke Root and Potassium, th*
greatest blood purifier on earth.
Boils, erysipelas, syphilis, rheumatism, scrof
ula, blood poison, mercurial poison, and at
other impurities of the blood are cured by P
P. P.
Randall Pope, the retired druggist, of Mali
sen. Fla., 6ays P. P. P. is tho best alterative
and blood medicine on the market. He bring f
druggist and having sold all kinds of mcdicim
his unsolicited testimonial is of groat import
ance to the sick and suffering.
Capt. J. D. Johnston.
To all whom it may concern: —l take grea’
pleasure in testifying to the efficient qualities o
the popular remedy for eruptions of the skii
known as P. P. p. iPrickly Ash, Poke Root anc
Potassium.) I suffered for several years witt
an unsightly and disagreeable eruption on mj
face, and tried various remedies to remove it
none of which accomplished the object, until
this valuable preparation was resorted to. Aftei
taking three bottles, in accordance with dlreo
tions, X am now entirely cured.
J. D. JOHNSTON,
Of the firm of Johnston & Douglas.
Savannah, Ga.
Henry Winter, superintendent of the Savait
nab Brewery, says he has had rheumatism o:
the heart for several years, often unable t<
walk, his pain was so intense, he had professor)
in Philadelphia, but received no relief until hi
came to Savannah and tried P. P. P. Twi
bottles made him a well man and he renden
thanks to P. P. P. For sale by all druggists.
LIPPMAN BROS., Proprietors,
Lippman’s Block, Savannah. Ga
LOTTERY.
LOTT E S5, V
OF THE PUBLIC CHARITY.
ESTABLISHED IN 1877. BY TH*
MEXICAN
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.
Oporoted Under a Twenty Years’ Contrad
by the Mexican International im
provement Company.
Grand Monthly Drawings held in the Moreeqoi
Pavilion in tbo Alameda Park, City of Mexioo
and publicly conducted by Government Offi
cials appointed for the purpose by the Seen*
tary of the Interior and the Treasury.
Grand Scmi-Annnal Drawing Juno 5, IS9O
CAPITAL PRIZE,
'#60,000.
80.000 Tickets at ffj, 8320,0D0.
Wholes, 84; Halves, @2; Quarters, 81.
Club Kates: w orca of Tickets for
SSO IT. S. Currency.
LIST OF PRIZES.
1 CAPITAL PRIZE OK glDO,ooois $ o.o*
1 CAPITAL PRIZE OF 20.000 is 20,001
1 CAPITAL PRIZE OF 10,000 is lO.OiK
1 GRAND PRIZE OF.. 2,000 is 2.001
3 PRIZES OF ... j 000 are 3,001
6 PRIZES OF 600 are.... 3.0. K
20 PRIZES OF 200 are 4,00<
300 PRIZES OF 100 are.... 10,00(
340 PRIZES OF 50are.... 17>X
55 PRIZES OF SOare.... ll.ftSi
APPROXIMATION PRIZES.
! 0 Prizes of So, aop. to JSO.noo Prize... $ 9,00<
150 Prizes of SSO, app. to 20,000 Prizi.... 7.50 C
15 i Prizes of $lO, app. to 10,000 Prize ... 6,O0(
789 T rminals of S2O.
decided by $50,000 Prizs. . 15,9*
2276 Prizes Amounting to $178,5K
All Prizes sold in the United States full paid
In U. S. Currency.
SPECIAL FEATURES
By terms of contract the Company must de
posit the sum of all prizes included in th*
scheme before selling a single ticket, and re
eelve the following official permit:
CERTIFICATE.—I hereby certify that ths
Bank of London and Mexico has on specim
depots the necessary /and* to guarantee the
payment of all prizes drawn by the Loterie
de la Beneficencia Publica.
A. CASTILLO. Interventor.
Further, the Company i required to (li-3trib
ute 56 per cent, of the value of all the tickets U
pnzes—a larger proportion than w given by aaj
other Lottery.
Finally, the number of tickets is limited to
80,010—St,000 less than are sold by other lot
teries using the same scheme.
For full particulars address V. Bins Id,
Apnrtado 730. City of Mexico, Mexioo.
SHIPPING.
Savannah, Beaufort aud Way Landing
THE STEAMER
“ BELLEVUE,”
Capt. T. E. BALDWIN,
WILL LEAVE steamer Katie’s wharf every
WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY at 10:30 a. m.,
landing at Bluflton on the Wednesday trip.
Returning, leave Beaufort every MONDAY ami
THURSDAY at 8 a. m., landing at Bluflton on
the Monday trip.
FARE $1 90 | ROUND TRIF.. $175
For further information apply to J. G. MEG
LOCK, Agent.
tpO COUNTY OFFICERS—Books and Blank*
X required by county officers for the use of
the courts, or for office use. supplied to order by
the MORNING NEWS PRINTING HOUSE,!
Whitaker street. Savannah.
