Newspaper Page Text
MARCH 22, 1902
THE SUNNY SOUTH
THIRD TAGL
Prosperity in Porto Rico Increases by
Leaps and Bounds
The Story of Splendid Opportunities for American Activity
View of wholesale district in San “Juan
y Fred J Ha skin >
Written for Sunny South
ORTO RICO is on tho boom. !
Although free trade with i
the United States has boon |
in efft* t only seven ]
months, the leaven of !
prosperity is at work, and j
the improved conditions
are apparent on every
hand. There is not a va
cant house in San Juan and
all rents have about
doubled. Wages for com
mon labor are twice what
they were formerly and
men are needed everywhere. The gov
ernor has on his desk many applications
for various kinds of franchises—capital is
now eager for access to the little island
since it has been taken under Uncle
Sam's wing. All vessels plying in this
trade are being taxed to their full carry
ing capacity and a new line of steamers
to the United States has just been put
on. Trade is very brisk with the local
merchants. The first Saturday night
after my arrival here 1 made the round
of the retail district and found the shops
crowded with customers. They were
packed before the show cases two or
three rows deep, and in many instances
the clerks were standing on the counters
in order to see and make themselves
heard. T came here from Cuba and the
retail district of Havana, as compared to
that of San Juan, is as quiet as a grave
yard.
Before free trade was established be
tween Porto Rico and the United States
the legislative assembly of the island.was
required to put into effect a system of
taxation that would supply sufficient rev
enue to defray the expenses of the gov
ernment. The law calculated to meet
this requirement has been in effect a
little over a year and the result can
now he discussed. Tn the matter of ex-
i ise taxes the reports show that $25,000
was collected during tho first month and
a substantial increase derived for each
succeeding period of thirty days until
the stim for the last one ran up to $92,147 -
the total for the year being $750,417.(15.
The splendid outcome of this experiment
is particularly gratifying for the reason
that prior to its inauguration the people
were oppressed with a system of tax -
tion which, while working a direct hard
ship to the masses, was at tile same time
inadequate to the necessities of the gov
ernment. The unfairness and ineffective
ness of the old system may be better
comprehended when it is stated that a
non-resident could own any amount of
property without paying taxes; that the
property owner was held exempt from
taxation and double assessment levied
against the renter; that luxuries were
on the free list, while food stuffs and
all necessaries were overtaxed. The
whole system was arranged purposely
to shield the rich and throw the burden
upon the shoulders of the poor.
The present system is working so
smoothly and satisfactory that its ac
ceptance without complaint has been gen
eral. In addition to the
Taxing sum returned from excise
System duties a similar total has
Rapidly been derived front the
Adjusting custom house. The bal-
Itself ance necessary to meet
the cost of operating the
government has been obtained from t
direct property tax—a maximum of 1 per
cent for insular and municipal purposes,
based upon an assessment varying from
one-half to two-thirds of full values. To
illustrate how unanimous the acceptance
of the new order of things has been, it
is shown that although $100,000,000 worth
of property was levied upon, and 05.000
schedules returned, the board of equaliza
tion had only 250 applications for read
justment. of assessments. The burden of
taxation has been so generally distrib
uted that its weight has not been felt
by any particular class or industry. It is
claimed by some authorities that there is
not another civilized country in tho world
as fairly, lightly, and adequately taxed i
as Porto Rico at the present time.
The improved condition of the country I
is shown by the increase in the number j
of its industries, in one year the mun- I
her of dealers in articles subject to ex- j
oise taxes increased from 6.000 to 9.500; !
the number of tobacco manufacturers i
from 170 to 604. During the same period
the amount of taxes paid on manuTac-
ereased during that time from $13,961 to j
$25,203, and the tax on rum from $9,952 to i
$42,112. A comparative statement of the I
exports of oranges and straw ltats to I
the United States during the first six j
months of free trade and the correspond- j
ing period of the preceding year discloses
some increases that are worth noting.
Before free trade the value of straw
hats exported during six months was
$.3,677. and for the first half year after- !
wards $80,106. The sale of oranges in- i
creased during that time from $13,061 to j
$.31,209.
Of course the largest sums were in- l
volved in the items of sugar and tobacco. I
Before free trade the amount of sugar I
sold to the United States in six months
was $651,316, and for a corresponding pe
riod afterwards $1,449,669. During the
same time tobacco jumped from $176,731
to $515,056. Nearly all of the tobacco sold
was in the form of cigars and cigarettes,
and on account of this product going to
the market in a manufactured form tho
labor of the island reaped an added bene
fit from the wages paid for its prepara
tion. While the United States bought
till of the island’s sugar—we took all but
$100 worth, a merchant in Spain plac d
an order amounting to $54. and a dealer
in the British West Indies another for
$46—and the greater portion of its to
bacco, the coffee crop was forced to seek
another market. The people of the Unit
ed States have not been educated to the
taste of the Porto Rican product, al
though it is of a very fine quality. The
statistics show wo increased our pur-
i chases from $847 to $4,918. yet $1,458,856
• went to other countries—principally to
| France.
I The dominant issue with the American
| business man is the sale of goods to the
i people of our new possessions. The
! amount of their purchases is an item
j of great importance to every one. The
j statistics of Porto Rico, as furnished
| me by the custom house officials of San
! Juan, are as follows: During the last year
j of Spanish rule the people of the island
! bought front the United States supplies
j to the amount of $2,254,989; during the
| first year of American occupation. $3,398.-
] 916; during the second year of American
control, $6,483,613, and* the third year $9,-
367.557. The total amounts purchased from
all other countries during the same pe
riod were as follows: Dust year of Span
ish rule, $10,714,837; first year of American
Europeans
Still Look
to Island
for a
Market
occupation. $8,856,362; second year,
225,406; and third year. $2,071,931.
These figures look right from an Amer
ican standpoint and the indications for
the current year warrant the expectation
i f record breaking totals. For example,
take the custom house receipts for Feb
ruary compared to the same month last
year. A year ago the total duties paid
by al! countries were $62,784. At that time
a 15 per cent duty was imposed upon al!
goods from the Fnited States, and that
country paid $20,600 of the whole, leaving
only $42,184 for all other countries com
bined. During February of this year,
with goods coming in free from the
Fnited States—-and an enormous amount
of them—the total of duties of all other
countries ran up to $71,076—nearly SVo.Ono
mare, than a year ago including the largo
amount paid by the American concerns.
This shows conclusively that Porto Rico
is becoming prosperous; that she is spend
ing her money, and the important point
for the consideration of
the American business
man is that the island is
stiil considered a market,
by the European con
cerns. They have not
abandoned it by any
means. T asked for a detailed statement
of the kind of goods brought in during
February and where they were from.
Spain imported the largest amount, hav
ing $71,527 to her credit. This consisted
of soap, rice, butter, fans, cotton stock
ings, shoes, olives, buttons, wine, tinware
and provisions. The things which came
in the greatest quantities were rice, shoes,
sonj) and wine. Novia Scotia was sec
ond in point of value with $35,690 worth
of codfish, potatoes and lumber. I was
told that this was about the monthly av
erage on these staples for this country.
Germany was third with large quantities
of china ware, cheese, beer, crackers
thread, cutlery, toys, cement, twine and
ironware. Whenever I look for figures
1 always find Germany near the top. Her
salesmen are on every steamer and in
every port The Germans are out look
ing for business and they are getting it.
England, France and Scotland came next
with the minor countries trailing along
for smaller amounts. The most of the
above should have been bought from the
United States, and it would have if the
American merchants had made an effort
to prevent the orders from going abroad,
it seems strange that foreign rice should
come in here in such large quantities and
stand a duty of 2 cents per pound, when
the product of the American rice fields
I comes in free. There was one lot of shoe3
valued at $6,000, and a shipment of soap
wortli $5.000—what's the matter with
yankee soap? Another big item was
$5,000 worth of dried peas. I am fold
the American hardware drummer will find
orders waiting for him here.
I called upon J. R. Latimer, one of the
prominent business men of the island,
who was a member of the Porto Rican
commission to the United States, and
j requested his view of the business pros
pect. He said: "Many of the American
business men are becoming more atten
tive to the requirements of the trade
here, and all those who are making an
effort to meet the conditions are getting
substantial resuits in the form of in
creased sales. Several shoe firms are
now making a class of stuff especially de
signed for tropical needs and the effect
is very satisfactory. The dry goods men
have made some concessions to the de
mands of rur merchants, but rot enough.
I think, to make American goods as popu
lar with the people as European textures.
American food stuffs have long had the
lead in this market, and will doubtless
continue to increase in popularity. There
is a tendency on the part of some Ameri
can manufacturers to make this a dump
ing ground for odds and ends that cannot
be duplicated. This, on the face of it.
is an extremely bad policy, as a demand
for any line cannot be created in this
manner. The European dealers, from
whom we have bought our goods in the
past, were always very considerate of us.
They studied our trade very carefully
and conformed to it in every way possi
ble. We find the Americans are inclined
to he more independent than we would
like to have them. I hope this will change
for the better as we become, more ac
quainted.’’
The statements of Mr. Latimer have
been repeated to me again and again
from the governor down to the smallest
merchant. The requirements of the trade
here must !*e looked after and conformed
to by the American concerns. The game
Is well worth the candle. Europe is an
old hand at the business of selling abroad
and she considers this field worthy of her
close attention, even now that a heavy
duty is put against her. Why should
the American business men ignore the
situation? These people are making
money now, and they are going to be
still more prosperous next year. When
they have money they spend it freely.
The yankee drummer had better pack his
grip and come this way.
Dancing Expresses Every Phase of Indian Life
Description of the LUeird Dances of the IQiotvas and Comanches
By Florence B Crofford
Written for JTAe Sunny South
ANFIXG is the inevitable ac
companiment to every im
portant event in the red
man's existence. It is the
natural outlet for his un
curbed emotion's and his
manner of expressing ad
herence to the religious
rites, superstitious ceremo
nies and social "Functions
(with a capital) of his tribe,
if one is sick unto death
the all-powerful "medicine
men" l>ea.t the "tom-tom
over his head, dance around him a la the
whirling dervishes and make hideous
noises which are supposed to frighten aw.ty
the evil spirits of disease an" death, un-
iil the tortured patient either recovers or
dies—usually he dies:, and when they
"make medicin "* they dance ar uind the
steaming caldron of herbs, charms, and
whatnot, chanting weird incantations the
while, presumably a relic of Macbeth s
witches.
Foremost among ;he time-honored
dances of these tribes is the war dance,
which will in a few years be banished to
the limbo of barbarisms by energetic t n-
ele Sam. who has just issued a decree
forbidding the performance of this bio d-
inciting ceremony. In the days of the
wild Indian's supremacy when a maraud
ing expedition was contemplated, the
braves of the tribe would go on thu war
path, after eating the unwash d entrals
and drinking \ g blood of a freshly-slain
buffalo. The entire tribe would dance
and caper and howl around the nailing
"t un-:oni," beaten by the medicine men,
to which was i.dded the shaking of me
fantastic ''rattle gourds” and the discord
ant chanting of "hi-hi-ya, hi-ya." croon
ed in a monotonous miiio'r key; these
‘hideous orgies continued day and night
until 'the braves were wrought up to a
mad frenzy, and, their fierce warrior
blood at boiling point, they rushed forth
to slash and scalp.
More peaceable is the "busk." or green
corn dance. This occurs when the corn
fields are converted into seas of undulat-
,ng green by the festive
prairie breeze and iB-:
t o.t:hsome “roasting ear”
fia,unts its silken tassels
temptingly. This dance is
a sort of cleansing cere
mony—a "purging with
hyssop.” as it were. The medicine man
of the village swings his pat of herbs and
roots over a roaring fire out on the open
prairie; around it are gathc-red bu » -,
squaws and papooses, and when he gives
the signal by scattering the burning
fajgots under the balling pot and sitting
the mess aside to cool, they begin the
ceremonious dance to the Great Spirit
who sends the rains to hasten the growth
of the Tender maize. It Is deemed a
sacrilege to partake of the green corn
without first undergoing this cleansing
ceremony.
They begin the dance by joining hands
and forming an inner and outer circle;
keep time to thy deliberate lw?ats of the
tom-tom with an indescribable lup, they
sway their bodies to and fro as they cir
cle about the potential pot. Both men
and women are nude save a very brief
covering around tirdr middle—the “busk,”
he hair of the bucks, ha rigs in two long
braids, wrapped with tails of mink, hea
ver or wild cat, and the face of both
bucks and squaws is defaned by a vivid
streak of red and yellow paint, while the
entire bodies of the men are painted in
startling de-igns. The bodies of the irji
significant squaws are bare of paint, how
ever, and their hair is cropped close about
their ears.
As the dine progresses the leader
known as the "hand chief." forms them
into line and marches them solemnly
around the village to the rhythmic bents
of the drum and the clattering rattle gourd
The
More
Peaceable
Corn
Dance
'Medicine Men” dancinc
chorus. Three times they parade around
the village, then halt before the august
medicine man. who, spoon in hand, stands
over the mystic caldron. As each Indian
lihs joist he is compelled to swallow the
contents of the spoon extended menacing
ly toward him, and all. save the scorn
ful braves, make wry faces they try
courageously to swa l >w the bitter, dirty
liquid. The dosing ended, a r e -\% is again
formed and the dancing resumed with
violent contortions of the body and hide
ous grimaces of h daubed faces, while
the tom-tom continues to wail and the
rattling of the gourds waxes fast and fu
rious. When thi“ nauseous drug begins to
take efftet many drop out overcome by
sickness, a few are trampled upon and the
scene becomes revolting beyond descrip
tion. As many as three thousand often
participate in the green corn dance, the
weird ceremonies, led by the medicine
men, being kept up day and night.
The Kiowa Indians are sun worshippers;
they adore the sun—the most glorious ob-
jr t in nature, because from its heat and
•light comes life and growth in the vege
table world. They always pitch their te
pees with th opening toward the rising
sun. The principal religious ceremony
is the celebrated "sun dance.”
In spite ofthe strenuous efforts of the
government to abolish it. thi- heathenish
sun dano » is s imetimes indulged in by the
Kiowas. The whole tribe repair to a se
cluded spot where fresh water is obtain
able, and, after m uch ceremony, settles
down in a great circle about a lodge erect
ed, under the direction of the medicine
men. over a sacred wooden image which
is only i xposed to view on the great oc
casion of the -11n dance. They will brook
no interference while in this state, for the
mystic circle must remain unbroken until
that very important lndividivil, the "buf
falo man," who has been sent to a buffalo
raneti in the Texas pan-handle, returns
with the head and skin of a buffalo, which
is placed on a pole in the center of the
.mat circle of silent worshippers, and
with the wooden image becomes an ob
ject of deep veneration to them. They
gravely contemplate these sacred objects,
fall down and pray to them: then dance
around them slowly, mystically, still
crooning that mine cadence of h!-ya,
hi-ya" for ten days or more, the meaning
of it all being kept a profound secret from
prying “pale faces.”
The "eagle dance" of the Comanches is
a cerem ay of thanksgiving to the Great
Spirit for special favors granted them in
dividually. The singers
The F,ap;le squat in a semi-circle
Dunce Is a around a great tire, the
Special leader o! tne -o-called
ThanKs- mu- c taking the most
P'ivirofi prominent position with
the inevitable “tom-tom"
in hand; the dancers, in t’he same squat
ting posture, form an inner semi-circle
facing the man with the tom-tom. holding
in one hand an Indian rattle-gourd dress
ed off with feathers and paint and beads,
in (he other a wand fashioned from an
eagle’s wing. AM are naked save the
“g" string” nr breeehclout of red flannel.
The leader opens the ball by beating soft
ly upon his tom-tom, the singers join in
with their “hi-ya, hi-ya." and the dancers
rise up and da-nce around the fire—a part
going to the right and part to the left,
to meet on the opposite side of the fire,
where a halt is called; they exchange
greetings and dance back to their places,
the music (?) ceases and one of the men
steps forward and makes a speech in
which he relates some darir/, exploit
that the Great Spirit has favored with
success. Then the music and dancing is
resumed with vigor followed by another
speech. This programme is repeated un
til each one lias rendered up his thanks
to the Great Spirit for his manifestations
of goodness toward him.
The ‘'ghost dance” which is prevalent
to an alarming extent on the Kiowa and
Comanche reservation today, is a veri
table conspiracy of darkness hatched in
the devil's own workshop and smacks of
Satanic revelry to a startling degree. It
is a species of hypnotism—‘the medicine
men casting a mesmeric sfrell over the
dancers wh;n they have reached the
proper state of exaltation—under the in
fluence of which they profess to call up
the spirits of their departed friends and
receive revelations from tTi-m. As many
as two thousand dance at once, always
in the magical circle with the accompany
ing tom-tom, rattle guards and uncanny
chant of “hi-ya, hi-ya.” The ghost dance
is a vicious, depraving orgy, as immoral
a-s it is brutal, and the sooner it is effec
tually stopped the surer will be "poor
Lo's” chances for a higher civilization.
The most sacrilegious -of these mystic
dances of the Kiowas and Comanches is
the "Messiah dance," which has perturb
ed the red man no little. ,r The "messiah”
is a Cheyenne Indian from the northwest
tribes, who under a frenzied hallucination,
believes himself to be the white man’s
Jesus. The credulous red men expect him
to destroy the pale face intruders who
have gobbled up their lands and restore
to them their host Eden of happy hunting
grounds filled with buffalo, eTk. antelope
and deer galore.
This would-be savior of the vanishing
red skins possesses a smattering of infor
mation and a vast store of cunning with
which—aided by the sacred superstitions
and folklore of the Indians—he plays upon
the easily inflamed passions and preju
dices of the untutored savages. There are
some intelligent whites who actually be
lieve that this "messiah" is aided and in
spired by the devil himself in this unholy
business, one of them being at the head of
a large mission.
The Kiowa and Comanche Indians hold
exciting "medicine dances," lasting many
weeks, led in the dance and the artful
enchantments by those emissaries of Sa
tan, the “medicine men," in the expec
tation of the early appearafice of this red-
skinned messiah from the northwest.
Now that this reservation has been
thrown open to homesteaders it is more
than probable that, these heathenish rites
and ceremonies will pass away with the
blanket and breechciout, the paint and
feathers of the wild tribes.
DOCTORS ENDORSE
SWAMP-ROOT
To Prove what Swamp-Root, the Great Kidney, Liver
or Bladder Remedy, will do for YOU, Every Reader
of “Sunny South” May Have a Sample Bottle Sent
Free by Mail.
A. J. TTaite, M. 1).
and
East Atlanta, Gn, March 1st, 19°1.
DR. KILMER & CO., Binghamton, N. Y.
Gentlemen—While it has never been my habit or inclination to recommend
remedies the ingredients of which are not all known to me, it seems as if T shou, 1
make an exception in the case of Dr. Kilmer's Swamp-Root. My experience.
as I have tested it in my practice, forces me to the conclusion That it. is a r--med
dle greatest value in all kidney, liver, bladder and other inflammatory condition-
thp genito-urinarv tract. I now take pleasure in prescribing Swamp-Root in i -
cases with a feeling of assurance that, my patients will derive great, benefit from j
use. I shall continue to prescribe it in other cases in my pract’ce with the exp' •
tion of good results. Very truly yours,
Gentlemen—I have prescribed that wonderful remedy for kidney comply-,'
Kilmer’s Swamp-Root, with most beneficial effect and know of many cur
use. These patients had kidney trouble, as diagnosed by other physici
treated without benefit. Dr. Kilmer's Swamp-Root effected a cure. im
man and accept a specific wherever I find It. in an accepted school or out
desperate cases of kidney complaint under treatment with unsatisfa u cy
turn to Dr. Kilmer’- Swamp-Root with most flattering results, i shall c>
prescribe it and from personal observation state that Swamp-R ot has
rative properties. Truly yours,
( I.. Ilnr-tow Trislf. M. r>
276 9th St., Borough o
Brooklyn, X. X.
Sept. 24,15101
Swamp-Root is pleasant to take and is used in the leading hospitals. : -com
mended by physicians in their private practice, and is taken h; doctors themselves
who have kidney ailments, because they recognize in it the gr itest and most suc
cessful remedy for kidney, liver and bladder troubles.
EDITORIAL NOTE if you have the slightest symptoms of kium or • 1,1 r
trouble, or if there is a trace of if. in your family history, st-nd at once to Dr. Kil
mer & Co., Binghamton. N. Y.. who will gladly send you by mail, mmedtutel;-
without cost to you, a sample bottle of Swamp-Root and a book telling all vbotr.
Swamp-Root and containing many of the thousands upon thousands of te a imonial
letters received from men and women cured. Tn writing to Dr. Kilmer & C .. Bing
hamton. be sure to say that you read thi s generous off r in The Atlanta Sunny
South.
If you are already convinced that Swa mp-Root is what you need, you can pur
chase the regular fifty-cent and one-dolla r size l», riles at the drug stores evtry-
where. Don't make any mistake, but rent ember the name, Swamp-Root. Dr. K.-
mer's Swamp-Root, and the address, Binghamton, N. V.. on every bottle.
Darker Features of the Texas and Califor
nia Oil Bonanzas
By James Hall
Hauling cAtnerican goods to the interior of Porto Rico
Written for tofye Sunny South
EOPLE who dream of oil
wells as fountains of
wealth—wealth which costs
next to nothing and flows
on wheth *r you work or
go fishing, should visit the
oil fields of Beaumont,
Bakersfield and Los An
gel*:. But little time
would he required for them
to find that the oil well
Tn reality is not the “pure
.velvet" of the oil well of
dreamland. There is an
idea abroad that if one only owns an oil
w< ! 1 one is wealthy for life in spite of
everything. The cold and cheerless truth
is that there are many people who own
oil wells and who jn- not wealthy and
never will lie.
Let ns take the man who goes to any
of tho oil fields mention *d and expends
from S15.OO0 to $20,000 in sinking a well.
He secures a nice flow of oil and feels
rich for a few days. The oil is there ail
right, but lie dots not realize any cash.
II looks about tor a market. Prospec
tive buyers ask i/ lie can deliver his oil
to them. He has no tank cars or pipe
lines anti he informs the would-be buyers
that he cannot deliver it. Very well,
there are big corporations with vast sys
tems of tank cars, who can deliver any
quantity of oil anywhere on short notice.
They get th- business for the simple rea
son that they are prepared to promptly
deliver the goods.
I lie owner of the single gusher cannot
buy or build his own system of tank
cars. That in itself requires the outlay
of a fortune. .What can he do? Tha
only course left open to him is to go to
the big concerns which are provided with
shipping facilities and sell his oil to
tTTrm They have many wells of their
own and are getting all th • crude oil
they need.
The individual owner is brought to the
realization that the market for his oil is
beyond his reach. He has his well closed
and waits. He grows weary and offers to
sef! his well to the big concern. If it is
a good well they make him such an offer
as they set fit. It may be loss than
what the well cost him, but ho final#,
accepts it. for there is nothing else left
for him to do.
By this process the small owners are
weeded out and organizations of mor- or
less sTrength formed. These organiza
tions are in turn squeezed out by larger
and stronger corporations. This process
of swallowing up goes on until the entir-
oil interest of a given locality passes
under the control of one or two big con
cerns.
They tell some interesting stories out
her* on the Pacific slope of how great
railway systems and grasping oil corpo
rations have combined
How Rival and wrecked rival con-
Oil Cor- cerns which had attained
c -rns are vast wealth. High freight
H opelessly rates, inadequate sliip-
VrecHcd ping facilities, and stud
ied delays in transmis
sion are said to have broken the back of
concerns which felt themselves amply
aide to weather any storm.
Many wells have recently been closed
at Bakersfldd because, it is said, the
freight charge of 79 cents a barrel leaves
a margin of only 15 cents as the gross
price of a barrel of crude oil. Out of
this 15 cents must be taken the cost of
keeping up th* pumping machinery and
storage tanks and such other expenses
as taxes, offices and other things so that
almost nothing remains as profit.
The process of absorption is not so far
advanced at Beaumont, but it is coming
surely and swiftly. Those who wer.* for- :
tunate enough to get control of the first
I wells, and sold out when the excitement |
was high, made big money, hut for every I
man who made a larg* amount at Beau- I
mont there are scores who lost all the I
way from a few hundred to many thou- I
sands of dollars.
The discovery of rich mines and oil j
fields is not always the most fortunate 1
thing for a community. People every- j
wh?re wish that such discoveries could ;
be made near their places of residence, j
and the wonderful change such an event '
would bring about in the home town !
is one of the most alluring pictures of i
ur-amland, But viewed in the light of
facts, the development of mines and oil
fields, in many instances, can only he
regarded as misfortune to the sections in
which they are located.
The city of Los Angel’s has found to
its sorrow that an oil'field in its choicest
residence section is not an unmixed bless
ing. Not many cities are able to strike
oil inside their corporate limits, and if
they all kn w what Los Angeles knows
they would not want to strike any.
just out of the business section of
Eos Angeles rises a high picturesque
ridge. Before the oil strike this ridge
was covered with green and luxuriant
shrubbery and dotted with many stately
A Cure for the Tobacco Habit.
Mrs. j. Kay. M. S.. High street. Dos
Moines, la., has discovered a harmless
and inexpensive remedy for the tobacco
habit, which lias cured her husband and
hundreds of others. Any druggist can
put it up. The prescription and direc
tions sent free for a stamp to pay post-
aml Inviting homes. It was the ideal
residence section of the rapidly growing
city. Oil was found on this ridge, and
immediately wells went down in front
yards and back yards, and on vacant lots.
The shad? trees were cut and slashed
to make room for derricks. Pumps were
set running night and day to bring the oil
to the surface and soon this beautiful
and attractive section of the city was
converted into a forest of derricks and
foul smelling oil pools.
Tt is an impressive picture the Los
Angeles oil field presents today. Black
and greasy derricks standing in front
yards of elegant homes;
neat and inviting cot
tages smeared and spot
ted with oil; pools of
odorous liquid standing in
vacant lots or flowing
darkly along the gut-
air is loaded with vile
everything looks greasy
and repulsive. But the
are going, and the big red
tanks are being filled, and a few
are making money out of Los
Angeles oil.
But to the general public the oil field
is very much of a nuisancr*. and there
is in the newspapers and out of them a
constant clamor against its vile odors, its
waste str*nms of oil. which flow into the
streets and onto other people's property,
and its unsightly old derricks, which
are sometimes left to rot down after be
ing abandoned. The falling timbers from
thes* decaying derricks endanger life and
property, the "oil fords” in the streets
are a woe to pedestrians, and the un
pleasant odors make life a burden to all
whom they reach. About a year ago Los
Angeles had a popular uprising against
these objectionable features of the oil
field, and the newspapers assert that an
other such revolt is materializing now.
Throughout southern California for
tunes are constantly b*ing expended in
fruitless efforts to strike oil. Wells are
thick throughout this section which have
swallowed up money by wholesale and
Los An -
geles Beau
ty Marred
By Oil
Wells
ters. The
smells and
and dirty
pumps arc
storaj
peopl
gave notiiing in return, but_still the m,
search goes on. No matt-r how mn:
are bankrupted in the vain quest, the
are always others witli means who a
willing to take up the uncertain task.
This search for oil. like that for silv
and gold and all nth r treasures hidrii
in the earth, exercises a fascination ov
the human mind which can rarely
shaken off. The prospector who h.
grown gray in 'the profitless hunt am
the greatest of hardships and prlvatioi
is stiii as hopeful and nthusiastie as 1
was at the beginning. He seems to a
ways feci that the rich lead is just ahe:
or that the next stroke of the pick w
uncover the fortune h ■ has searched fi
so long.
it is said that those who once hecon
thoroughly imbued with the mining spi:
can never follow any other calling. T!
will-o'-the-wisp lures them forever n:
ward. Th? dream which pictures hea]
"f gold hidden beneath a stone canm
be cast off, and the search goes on uni
brought to an end by death, often in ti
mountain wilds or on the burning fieser
or in the comfortless homes of tin* mini
cam]).
JPP
‘The Deep Sea
I'he jubilee of the submarine c ibh r
calls a little story of Lord Kelvin, who
inventions, the mirror galvanontt ; r
siphon recorder, made ‘‘submarine teles
raflhy” commercially practicable.
At the time Professor Thompson, as J
was then, was engaged o:i his deep
sounding work, he was one lay d s n e
ed by a visitor experimenting with a Dr
coil of wire.
"What is that for?” inquir* d th v s
tor. pointing to the wire.
Making sounds,” repli td th
sor.
“Ah,” said the guest, j > ilarlj “wha
kind of notes does it give?*'
“The deep of course.” came the ai
swer like a shot, accompanied by the wel
known twinkle of the professor's ey
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SISTER read my free offer
Wise Words to Sufferers
From a Woman cf Noire Dame, inti.
I will mail. Free of any charge, this Home Treat
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You can cure yourself at home without the aid of
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