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About North Georgia times. (Spring Place, Ga.) 1879-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1891)
NORTH GEORGIA ■* C. V. KIVU, i proprietor M. is. CARTER, t “BLIND KNOWLEDGE.” The Remarkable Powers of Four Sightless People. They Tell Color by Touch and Easily Describe Stmgers. A remarkable story of “blind knowledge” was told to a Pittsburg correspondent of the New York Sun by an oil man who is operating in the AVest Virginia petroleum fields. “Between Pone Town and Statler’s Bun Postoffice, in Alonongalia county, live four blind persons—George, Ma linda, Elizabeth and Beulah Tennant— who can do somo of the most Wonder¬ ful things I ever heard of. George can tell the color and breed of a horse or cow by feeling its hair; can tell the size aud complexion of a man after lie has talked to him a few min¬ utes, describe his features quito accu¬ rately and tell his age. This man was born blind, but he works on his farm much tho same as if lie could see, and even drives to mill with his grain, a distance of about a mile. “Tne gms are no less remarkable. They are ■known, either personally or by reputation, to everybody in Monon¬ galia and Marion counties as ‘the blind girls.’ They live in a modest two-story brick farm housiyt where their parents lived before them. They go about their household duties much as other women do, sewing, cooking, washing dishes, spinning—for the old fashioned wheel has not yet altogether disappeared from West Virginia—and baking. In fact, they do everything necessary for their own comfort, aud help sonic in the hilly fields of the homestead farm which was willed to them by- their father. “George is married and lives with his wifo and three bright-eyed chil¬ dren, who can see as well as you can, on one end of the farm. One sister, who is piH J»liHd r .sbwa#.-m#st-of the time with t he th ree blind girls, Their father was a Well-to-do farmer and stock drover, considered wealthy by his simple neighbors, and ho sent these blind children away to school. They can and do read and write quite readi¬ ly, which is more than many of their neighbors with good eyes enn do. Al¬ together Noah Tennant and his wife had ten children, half of whom were born blind. George was the first. The next one could see. Aluliuda, the old¬ est of the blind girls, was born next, and the next was a boy with good eyes, and so on—every other clrld was born blind. One blind boy, Edward, died when he was a young man. “Naturally I was very skeptical about the stories I heard of ‘the blind girls’ and their brother George, and so were my fellow oil men. However, they wore vouched for by the most responsible people at Alaunington and Fail-view, and one day five of us rode out onto Jake's Bun to see them our¬ selves. AVe knew they had already leased t heir lands to Charley Ford, and the leases were held by the South Penn Oil Company, but we thought an effort to buy their royalty would he excuse enough to introduce us, and possibly we might get the royalty, too, which by recent developments about Fair view, looks valuable. 1 was riding a fine Kentucky saddle horse, sorrel, which, though a tine saddler, was a ‘kicker’ in harness. One of my com panions bestrode a bay Hambletoniun. The others were riding livery horses of mongrel breed, one a gray, one chestnut brown, aud one a sorrel. AVe stopped first at George’s house, aud he came out to the road to talk to us. AVe talked business for some time, and then approached the subject of his blindness. He didn't consider it a very great misfortune, as he was still able to work and enjoy life. “Some one suggested he could not have the pleasure of knowing how things looked, but he said he had a mental vision and could tell colors by touch. He first passed his hand over the flank of my horse and a little way down his leg, then went to his head and rubbed his nose. ‘This horse,’ said he, ‘is a Kentucky sorrel, and is a little vicious. He kicks sometimes.’ We were stupefied. lie happened next to get hold of tho other sorrel, and at •nee toid its color, but said it was no particular breed. AVe all felt the two animals as he did, and could all detect a difference in the breed, but none of us could detect any similarity to indi- SPRING PLACE. GA.. THURSDAY. JANUARY 29, 1891. cate the color. Ho pronounced cot» rcctly on all of our horses, and then turned his attention to ourselves, telfc ng ns how we looked. He was sO accurate that we looked all around for a confederate, but there was none. Ho explained that his parents hal de¬ scribed people to him and his blind sisters aud they came to detect differ¬ ences in tone, and breathing, aud so on. “AVe then went to the brick house, where tho three blind women lived, and, as it wa3 near dinner time, we begged to stay for dinner. I tell you it was astonishing to see those blind women getting dinner, setting tlie table, and all that. They were a lit¬ tle slow in their movements, and had a kind of gliding motion, keeping their feet close to the floor and evidently on the lookout for chance obstructions. They got us a very good dinner, and we were greatly edified and enter¬ tained while disposing of it. They said they could easily recognize ac¬ quaintances by the sound of their voices, even though they had not met for several years at a time, and could recognize their intimates by touch. It is the most remarkable family I ever heard of. I have heard of the acute¬ ness of the senses of touch, hearing, aiid smell of blind persons before, but 1 never would have believed they could tell tho color of an animal if I hadn’t seen it done. “We heard many othei remarkable things about George Tennant’s powers. He could tell if liis wifo was even slightly ill by her breathing, though she thought s®- little of it herself to make no complaint. He could also de¬ tect any slight- illness of his sisters o» friends tho safne way. lie could tell one of his children from the others by merely touching a finger to tho rosy cheek. You can verify these state¬ ments by reference to any resident o i any place in that section.” Culling,a Bottle in Tno with Twine. The other night, whilo sitting with some friends in the clubhouse, I no¬ ticed a young man at a table near us, apparently tired of waiting for the waiter, strike the neck of the wine bottle a sharp, quick stroke with his knife in such a manner that the bottle was broken squarely off just below the cork as neatly and cleanly as if it had been cut off with a diamond. “That was very welt done,’’remark¬ ed one of my friends, “but did you ever see a method some sailors have for opening a bottle of wine? Several years ago, when the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia was here, in com¬ mand of a small fleet, I was invited over to visit the flagship—the Svet¬ lana—by one of the officers with whom I had become acquainted. AVhile we were on the ship our host sent for some wine, and, learning that we never had witnessed the sailor’s method of opening it, he called three lusty fellows into the cabin to perforin tho operation. “One man held the ends of *ihe bot¬ tle in his hands, whilo tho second wound a piece of stout twine around it and pulled the ends violently and swiftly backward and forward, thus heating the glass by the friction. The third man then dashed some cold water upon the bottle, and the glass cracked with a snap. The man who held the two ends lifted them upright so quickly aud dexterously that scarce¬ ly a drop was spilled. The bottle was converted, practically, into two glasses —one not unlike an ordinary tumbler and the other having the cork in the bottom of it.”—[New York StaF. A AVenderful Mine. Tho Alount Morgan gold mine, near Rockhampton, Queensland, New South AVales, continues to be the wonder of the world. It is believed to be paying larger profits than any other investment in the range of com¬ merce. During the past year divi¬ dends to the amount of $5,353,000 have been paid and the entire property is now valued at the enormous sum of $72,997,000. Yet thi| little hill was bought a few years ago for $3115, and the original owner, who held the property without dreaming it was of any value, is now a very poor man. From the base to the summit this so called mountain is only about 700 feet high. The ore is of remarkably high grade, and there seems no prospect that it will be exhausted for many years. — [Ti mes-Demoerat. HUNTING BUFFALO. Adventures of an Expedition on an American Desert Two Small Herds of Buffalo Sighted In Wyoming. Two miserable months on a dreary segment of Sahara, two buffalo hides, two heads with the short horns of the wild cow of the prairies. This in brief is the history of the exploits ijAf an expedition of groat hopes orgm Jzcd at Lamarie, Wyoming, last Au¬ gust, and in the field from early in September to November. The party included J. C. Bobbin=, Jack Hill, Frank Kollev, Willis Woodruff and William Hopkins, all brave boys, who havo ridden the range for ycars.oTheir project was to capture the band of buffalo running on Bed desert, 120 miles north of the Union Pacific in tlm center of the State. They proposed establishing on the Laramie plains a buffalo ranch similar to the preserve of C. J. Jones near Garden City, Kas. The project has been abandoned after a trip full of incident. of made . A couple light storms trav¬ el difficult, and they were two weeks from this place before the desert was reached. They skirted the northern edge of the waste by way of rcconnoi tering, then plunged into the expanse of alkali, greasewood and water holes. There first adventure was the meeting of ten lodges of Arapahoe Indians, who had come out into fho desert to hold some sort of a powwow. The reds were friendly and told the hunt¬ ers of a lake where they could camp and be reasonably certain of sighting the buffalo they sought. The hunters traveled as directed and reached the murky shoot in two days. In the for¬ ty-eight hours they crossed seventy miles of veritable bad land—a broken oountry without ve getation and with, scarcely any waten'. • ‘Tl.ly remained hero eight days, hunting all the time. During breakfast the first morning Hill sighted a herd of buffalo with his field glasses. The buru4 numbered fifteen and they were grazing quietly. Before the hunters could get into action the game had disappeared and was not found again. A few days later they came upon a magnificent bull, four fine cpws and a yearling. The bull charged them. They shot to frighten him off, and were altogether too suc¬ cessful in tins direction. Hill roped one of the cows. The animal worried herself so that she died after being “hog tied.” A buffalo will struggle till completely exhausted and rarely recovers. The only other capture was that of another cow, which soon suc¬ cumbed to the necessitated choking. Bobbins satisfied himself that this herd was not from the National Park, as has been so often reported of late. The Indians told him that in 1884 the herd numbered 300. Three years later it contained but 100 and, is now not over 20. The reds killed many and the remainder died during the severe winter of 1889-90. During their desert travels the hun¬ ters encountered several herds of wild horses. They were the regular mustangs,small and spirited and look¬ ing unkempt in their winter coats. Bobbins, manager of the expedition, says he has had enough buffalo hunt¬ ing to satisfy him tho rest of his life. —[Sau Francisco Chronicle. A Cure for Felons. An “iron” man tells the Scientific American how to cure felons. lie writes: “I was engaged in marking iron with white lead and turpentine, and having a felon coming on my finger, dipped it frequently into the mixture. As the iron was quite warm which I was marking at the time, I found the next morning that there was a small yellow spot where I felt the felon. I opened this, and had no more trouble from it. The next time I felt one coming I procured some tur¬ pentine and bathed the part affected frequently, and held it near a warm surface to dry, willi the same result. Since then I have used it several times, always with the same result. I also have had others try it, among them some of our men who work in the rolling-mill, whose hands are covered with a very hard skin, and every one of them who tried it met with the same results, saving them a great deal of time, money and pain. An Amazon River Phenomenon. Shortly after the tida had stopped running’ out, they saw something com¬ ing toward them from the ocean in a long white line, which grew bigger and whiter as it approached. Then there was a sound like the rumbling of distant thunder, which grow louder and louder as the white lino came nearer, until it seemed as if the whole ocean had risen up aud was coming, charging and thundering down upon them, boiling over the edge of this pile of water like an endless cataract, from four to seven metres high, that spread out across the whole eastern horizon. This was the pororoca! When they saw it coming, the crow became utterly demoralized, and fell to weeping and praying, in the bottom of the boat, expecting that it would certainly bo dashed to pieces, and they themselves drowned. The pilot, however, had the presence of mind to heave anchor before the wall of wa¬ ters struck them; and, when it did strike, they were first pitched violent* ly forward, and then lifted, and left rolling and tossing like a cork on the foaming sea it left behind, the boat nearly filled with water. .• But their trouble was not ended; for, before they had emptied the boat, two other such seas came down on them at short intervals, tossing thorn in the same manner, and finally leav¬ ing them within a stone’s-throw of the river-bank, where another such wave would have dashed them upon the shore. They had been anchored,- be¬ fore the waves struck them, near tire middle of the stream, which at this place isf several miles wide. The First Descent In a Diving Suit. Tiiis first plunge leaves no agreeable memories. They dress you as if you had to, endure the cold of Siberia, a precaution which I have found useless in tho Mediterranean. With knit woolen hose, 4) and shirt, I have cap nev^JMj^lt-tber cold. Then cornea the "ample coat, which we get into through the neck-hole, and the casque, which resounds as if one Had his head in a kettle. Then they put on you a bolt with a dagger, shoes with loaded soles and lead at your breast and back. Now you are so loaded tiiat you could hardly stand straight if the boat should tip— then you go down into the water where all the weight is no longer felt. Now a different feeling begins. At tho command, “Pump!” some ono rapidly screws down the glass in front of your casque, and you hear » noise to which you have to accustom your¬ self—pah! pah I pah!—accompanied by a hissing of the air. Little whiffs of air come to you, scented with ma¬ chine oil and caoutchouc. The begin¬ ner fails to manage tho escape, and his coat and sleeves become inflated, so that, when he wants to go down, he floats like those frogs wo used to blow up when wo wero boys, and then throw upon the water to amuse our¬ selves with their vain struggles to get under it.—[Popular Science Alonthly. A Poisonous Liquid. The New York Telegram says: “Professor Brown-Sequard, whose elixir of life caused so short-lived a sensation, is reported to havo lately nformod the French Academy of Sci¬ ence that by condensing the watery vapor coming from the human lungs he obtained a poisonous liquid capable of producing almost immediate death. ‘The poison is an alkaloid (organic), and not a microbe or series of mi¬ crobes. He injected this liquid under tho skin of a rabbit, and the effect was speedily mortal without convulsions. If this alarming discovery does not discourage the practice of kissing, it ought at least to emphasize the neces¬ sity for ventilating the apartments in which folks live and sleep, as well as the public halls, theatres and churches they frequent. Last Century’s Jack the Ripper, It is a strange coincidence that ex¬ actly 100 years ago young girls in London were in constant terror of meeting the “Jack the Ripper” of that day. lie attacked and wounded sev¬ eral ladies in different parts of the town, cutting their garments and gash¬ ing them in the body with a sharp pointed instrument, although ho never went so far as murder. In April, 1790, a large reward was offered for the apprehension of “The AIonster,’> as he was popularly called.— [Chicago Herald. Vol. X. New Series. NO. 52 JAY GOULD. Some Facts of Interest About the Njted Financier. »v His Methods of Operating in Wall Street. Jay Gould has no end of securities upon which ho can borrow millions upon millions. There is no doubt, if it wore necessary for tho success of his operations, that ho could get to¬ gether by the use of his credit $75,. 000,000 in cash. He is rated as worth a round 8100,000,01)0. It has long been said to be the am¬ bition ot Mr. Gould’s life to be the richest individual m the world. The distinction now rests between William Waldorf Astor, New York’s real estate monarch, and John I). Bockefeller, tho Standard Oil magnate. Mr. Rockefeller has made money so fast within the past few years that it is probable he is the richer of the two. The latest estimate of his fortune is $125,000,000. Mr. Astor’s wealth is little under that figure. The belief by many Wall street men is that Air. Gould sees, or thinks ho sees, in the present speculative situa¬ tion an opportunity to increase his fortune beyond the limits of either that of Astor or Bockefeller. If Mr. Gould's preconceived con¬ clusions as to results prove correct he will make enormous profits on his stock investments. It is not far out of tho way to say that ho now holds 1,000,000 shares of stock altogether. He believes that in time there will be au advance of from 25 to 50 per cent, in their market value. If he increases his holdings to 2,000,000 shares, as he is quile likely to do, an advance of 10 per cent, in their value would increase his wealth by $20,000,000, and an ad¬ vance of 25 per cent, would increase it by .$50,000,000. \ A cool Hoad is requ street. The coolest head there is Jay ■ Gould’s. Under all circumstances ho is the same unperturbed, self-possessed, calculating man. He is both a strate¬ gist and a diplomatist. In days past as many as 200 brokers were execut¬ ing Air. Gould’s orders at one time. It should not bo understood that Air. Gould employed all these brokers him¬ self. They would have overwhelmed his office for instructions and have upset his calculations altogether. He gave his orders to a number of broker¬ age houses, and they distributed them among brokers. There were twenty five telegraph instruments in his office, connected with as many different brokerage concerns. Between tho hours of 10 in the '.norning and 3 in the afternoon, during which time tho Stock Exchange is open, these instruments kept up a noisy clatter. Orders were going and reports were coming through them in¬ cessantly. There were many days in which Air. Gould traded in as high as 250,000 shares of stock, and at par value these would be worth $25,000, 000. There were times also when Mr. Gould’s speculative interest in the market wholly independent of his in¬ vestment interest reached 500,000 shaves of stock, equivalent, at par value, to $50,000,000. Air. Gould kept his plan of opera¬ tions wholly to himself. One broker¬ age concern was never allowed to know what another was doing for him. Ail he asked was that Ills in¬ structions should be followed. He might order one house to buy a stock and at the same time order another house to sell the same stock. Such a transaction is known as “washing.” The purpose of it is to give an appear¬ ance of activity in the stock. There are houses.in tire street which are rec¬ ognized as acting for bull operators and others for bear operators. If Mr. Gould desired to bull a stock, or in other words to advance its price, ho would give large purchasing orders to a house which was well known to be acting for a prominent bear. The be¬ lief would thus be excited that this particular bear was covering his shorts in the stock. When trading Mr. Gould watches the tape almost incessantly. He can pick out from tho transactions the stocks bought or sold for him as easily as if ho were on the floor of the Stock Exchange, of which, singularly enough, he is not a member, although his eldest sons, George J. aud Edwin, are. The market “went against” Mr. Gould on more than one occasion, but he forced it to go his way on so many more occasions that whenever he struck a balance the showing was a heavy one on his side. Many combi¬ nations were made up against him, but they were rarely successful, be¬ cause he was able to make up stronger ones to fight them.—[NewYork World furious Hens’ Nests. That the hen has a taste for th« unique in nest hunting is evidenced by the many curious places she finds in which to deposit eggs. Certain hens of ours would always come into the house to lay, as if they feared they could find protection nowhere else so well. There is often wisdom in the choice, or why docs the hen go to the ash-heap in the corner of an out-kitch¬ en, aud after scratching herself a nitre Utile hollow, leave her eggs there for the same reason that, troubled with vermin, she destroys the parasites by wallowing in ashes. How wise, then, to hatch her little ones, sweet and clean, and free from such added cares! Chickens much petted love the house, and take advantage of every open door. Once a large, long-legged rooster brought a timid pullet to tho house to lay her first egg. He coaxod her into the kitchen, step by step, jumped into tho woodbox, with beak and claws made a cosey nest among a pile of shavings, then, jumping out, “clut, clut, clutted,” as if ho was urg¬ ing her to test the softness of the nest, and then, while she was trying it, he stood by her to the end, and was a* proud as she was over the now-laid egg Generally, however, the hen seeks her own nost without 1ielp from her liege lord, and he seems content to let her have her own way; set it is reason¬ able to suppose that our aforesaid timid pullet has expressed her fears to the teeter, aud. that Wa had that laid in thfpNSS' 'STan old tin plate stove, arif she sought warmtl} for tho biMics to comer * V ■ Another nested in a cfel-ofl cbjyrier pot; another in baby’a craii|et another in the folds of a manV^ht; and, most comical of all was the "hen who used to go each day into a bedroom and leave an egg on tho soft, plump, newly made bed. When she got ready to sit her mistress made her a nice straw nost in a box under the bed, and every egg hatched, as if in reward for tho kindness. Frequently among the humble people out lowly friends are made almost companions of; and they love back, and thrive according¬ ly. It always pays to treat with kind¬ ness the dependent creatures around us.—[New York Tribune. Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Beds. By actual survey there are in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania 472 square miles of coal. The amount of coal mined to the aero is about 60,000 tons, but the wastage is so great that well-informed owners and scientific miners assert that with careful meth¬ ods of mining, the product to the acre could be increased one-half—that is to 90,000 toiiB. On the basis of 75, 000 tons to the acre, an easy calcula¬ tion will show that an annual average of 34,000,0.00 tons, about tho amount mined in 1885, and making allowance for what lias already been taken out is the past fifty years, tho coal of this anthracite region will last 616 years— [Commercial Advertiser. Beneath Rim. Cleverton (who knows that Dash array has been trying vainly for years to know the Yon Blumers)—I didn’t see you at the Von Blumers’ ball last night. Dashaway (carelessly)—No. I pre¬ sume you know that Von Blumer’a grandfather was an undertaker? Cleverton (pursuing tho subject)— But did you receive an invitation? Dashaway—Aly dear boy, do you suppose that 1 would allow myself to remember whether I had received an invitation from the grandson of an undertaker?—[New York .Sun. Making Sure of It. He—Y”ou remember you said last night that you would be a sister to me all my life? She—Yes, I did. He—Well, I proposed to your sister Kate this afternoon, and, judging by what she said, 1 rather think you wiU>
