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j, LIFS.
& flower that blooms and wither* In a night?
A sealed book writ In an unknown lore?
A gem which broken nothing can restore?
V fevered dream? An atom of delight?
4 song that dies ere scarce ’tis given flight?
A lieaten wave that sobs along the shore,
And breaking on the rocks is heard no
more?
At best, a triumph hardly worth the fight?
l'heseare not life! Nay, what with life com
pare?
Or what may with its glory dare to shine?
Life is a gift ineffable, which bears
The Seal immortal from the Hand Divine;
The gift to serve and love through endless
years!
O life most beautiful, what joy is thine?
— Ltnma, C. Doted, in youth's Companion.
PANTHER JOE.
In 1863, shortly after the discovery of
gold at Antelope Peak and along the
Ilassayampa River, Hijinio Carabal, a
laqui Indian, arrived in that part of
Arizona and engaged in minjno-.
In general appearance the Yaqui did
not differ from others of his race, save
that the right ear was missing, aud on that
side of his neck was three scars, resem
bling such as might have been left from
k life wounds. Like all his people he
was passionately fond of intoxicating
liquor, but as he was harmless? and inof
fensive when under its influence, and im
posed upon his fellow-miners no greater
infliction than was to be created by the
weird music of his native tribe as pro
duced on an antiquated and discordant
harmonica or mouth-organ—which he al
ways carried with him—the Indian was
regarded as a compadre and permitted to
pursue his natural inclinations. He se
cured a good claim and took out a large
quantity of dust, nearly all of which was
spent over the bars, to his evident satis
faction and increase of popularity with
the miners.
Mexicans who came to the diggings
from Sonora subsequent to the arrival
of Hijinio told strange stories regarding
him. They asserted that he had formed
a close corporation with Satan, and was
in the habit of roaming over the mount
ains and through the forests with wild
and savage beasts, with which he was on
the most friendly terms, nis right ear,
they said, had been taken off by a stroke
from the paw of a huge jaguar, which
also left the sears on his neck. The
Yaqui w T as playing with the animal in
the timber when the accident occurred
and he afterward punished his rough play
mate for its disastrous carelessness.
This and similar stories produced no
further effect upon the American miners
than to cause them to applv, the cog
nomen of “Pauther Joe” to Hijinio Car
abal, the latter name beiug long and
somewhat difficult to pronouuce.
It was six months after his arrival that
the Yaqui earned bis title of “Panther
Joe,” and became a hero as well as a
mystery to every man in the “diggings.”
A family named Stapley came out from
California and established a station near
Antelope, but several miles from where
any people were mining or living.
One evening after sundown, and when
the men-folk were away, Mrs. Stapley
went to the corral for the purpose of
milking her cows, taking with her a
little daughter three years old and also a
rifle as protection against the constant
dangers of that country in that period.
The woman had proceeded with her
duties but a few minutes when she was
startled by a scream of terror from the
child, and upon turning in the direction
of the sound was horrified to see a large
panther jump over the fence with her
child in its mouth.
Picking up the rifle the thoroughly
frightened mother rushed to the gate in
an effort to rescue her offspring, but
wb ;n outside the inclosure a most unex
pected, unusual and startling situation
was met, and while hope was inspired
she was rendered powerless to act herself
and was compelled to suffer the most in
tense suspense. About forty yards from
her stood the panther, with both front
feet upon the child, which was on the
ground and crying lustily. The beast
was not looking at the child, but had its
head raised and eyes fastened upon an
other form which was slowly approach
ing it from a direction parallel to that
taken by Mrs. Staplcy in leaving the cor
ral.
The mother at once recognized the
persou nearing the brute as “Panther
Joe,” and with intent fascination, the
greatest dread, and fearful suspense did
she watch his every movement. He was
stooping over to about half hjs natural
bright and had his eyes, which in the
closing twilight were blazing like coals of
tire, riveted upon those of the beast.
With his left hand he held between his
lips the mouth organ on which he was
playing some low, strange, and weird
music, while in his right hand he held a
switch cut from a mesquite bush. He
placed his feet upon the earth with the
greatest care, making not the slightest
noise, and with each step he took he
crouched lower and the monotone notes
of the rude instrument grew more soft.
The panther lashed its tail gently and
its eyes never left those of the Yaqui
while he so slowly and silently ap
proached it, yet it kept its feet upon the
child all the while and did not show the
slightest inclination to abandon its prey.
As Joe drew nearer and nearer the sav
age animal became less at ease, but its
actions was more that of a dog punished
into submission by its master than of a
wild and ferocious beast seeking a meal
on human flesh. Its power to move
seemed Jost; it appeared to be under a
fascination as strong as that which ser
pent ever exercised over bird. When
within about six feet of the panther Joe
stopped playing on the mouth organ,
and while uttering some words in a low
tone slowly straightened to his natural
height.
At a single stride be was at the side
of the brute, and with an exclamation of
reproval he hit it a sharp blow over the
bead with the switli. The panther took
fl'St one paw and then th3 ; ether from
tb* body of the child and walked away
ioggeilr for & few yiijcc, wbec it
stopped, turned around and licked its
chops as though it was not yet disposed
to abandon its meal. However, a sharp
“Hi-yi!” from the Indian caused it to
take a trot aud quickly disappear over
the hills.
Picking up the child, Joe returned it
to the delighted mother, who hastened
to receive it, and without waiting for her
thanks he turned away and followed the
direction taken by the panther, vouch
safing the complimentary remark:
“Usted brave gooman; usted noshoote;
usted no holler.”
The miners all heard the remarkable
account next day when Stapley came up
to the diggings for the purpose cf thank
ing Joe. Butthe Yaqui was absent, and
it was two days before he again put in an
appearance. When he did so he showed
signs of dissipation, but, as it was known
that he wouid have been unable to reach
any place where whisky was to have
been obtained without the miners learn
ing of it, this condition was attributed to
his experience with the panther at the
time the child was rescued or after he
had followed it from Stapley’s place.
Nothing could induce Joe to converse on
the subject until some weeks afterward,
when one of the miners killed a panther,
over which fact the Yaqui grieved great
ly and stated that the animal was his
friend and the one from which he saved
the little child.
The next winter was a dry one and the
placers did not pan out well, so Ralph
Smith, who is yet a resident and a prom
inent citizen of Arizona, organized a
party of ten men, Panther Joe being of
the number, to prospect for gold in the
Mongolian Mountains/
One evening, a few days after reaching
the desired locality and making camp,
Smith and a companion named Phil Teal,
while returning to supper from a disap
pointing examination of a gulch which
from all appearances gave much promise
pf containing gold, had their attention
suddenly attracted to the bottom land of
a mountain stream by a humdrum, mo
notonous song, followed by a particularly
hearty laugh. Peeling the necessity of
ascertaining if Indians had a camp in that
vicinity, they cautiously penetrated a wil
low thicket in the direction of the sound.
When they reached the creek they
found themselves at the edge of a green
open space in the shape of an amphithea
tre—a bend in the stream aud high pre
cipitous walls of rock, vari-colored with
mosses and delicate mountain wild flow
ers, forming an almost perfect circle. In
its wild beauty and usual solitude the
scene would have been sufficiently strik
ing and romantic, but a central group
served to make the picture one of the
most peculiar that the eye of man ever
gazed upon.
The two prospectors were amazed, awe
stricken and spell-bound, for sitting on a
rock in the grassy glen was “Pauther
Joe,” holding a switch in his hand and
in a peculiar gibberish compelling a large,
full-grown female cougar—the dreaded
American lion—to circle around him in
the manner of a circus horse. With young
at her side there is not a more dangerous
or tierce animal to be found in the wilds
of the American continent than the
cougar, and this one not only had a whelp,
but, what was more marvelous, it was
riding on her back, where placed by the
Indian. The mother watched Joe’s face
as a bird-dog does that of its master, and
its submission was more through fear than
inclination. The reverse was true with
the v uuug one, which entered heartily
into the enjoyment of the romps and
would leap from its mother's back into
Joe’s lap, only to be returned again to its
perch and exercise of bareback riding.
Joe would laugh loudly at these play
ful antics, which afforded him the great
est amusement, and to all appearances
he was free from apprehensions of
danger, although he had a watchful eye
upon the mother, and kept up that con
stant, weird and peculiar chant which
first attracted the two mountaineers. To
them the scene was more wonderful than
any described in the “Arabian Nights,”
and, while at first, they were held spell
bound by a strange fascination, their
natural feelings soon asserted themselves.
To play with an animal which would
stealthily pursue a human being, pounce
upon him, feed on his flesh aud drink of
his blood was unnatural; it was disgust
ing and revolting sorcery, and the one
who possessed such powers and took such
enjoyment deserved to live no more than
did the brute itself.
The report of Teal’s rifle range
through the mountains and forests, was
echoed and re-echoed from a hundred
canyons, and the lioness lay dead at the
Yaqui’s feet. Quickly crossing the creek
Smith killed the young one with his pis
tol and then the two men most severely
rebuked and reprimanded Joe for his
conduct, telling him that in attracting
the stealthy and voracious animal to the
vicinity of the camp be was endangering
the lives of every member of the party,
as in yn unexpected moment any one was
likely to be attacked by it and killed.
The Yaqui was also terribly indignant;
his frame shook, his eyes flashed fire, like
the animals with which he had been asso
ciating, and he was scarcely able to artic
ulate. - Making a hasty and sorrowful
look at his two dead pgts he told the
prospectors, in a voice mixed with indig
nation and contempt, that a big cat was
no worse than a house cat, and if treated
the same would do no more injury, and
started off.
When Smith and Teal reached camp it
was to find that Joe had rolled up his
blankets and departed, whether no one
knew.
After the discovery of the Tombstone
mines “Panther Joe” again appeared in
the territory, and for several years was
employed by the large companies operat
ing there. When Cole’s circus was in
San Francisco in 1880 Joe contracted,
through a friend, for the delivery to them
of two panthers for the sum of S3OO. In
going East the circus company side
tracked a car, with cage, at Dragoon's
summit to receive the auimals, and the
man in charge was surprised to learn that
Joe had them a mile from that station,
simply held by chains attached to collars
he had placed around their necks, un
caged and untamed. Obeying the in
structions of the Yaqui, as conveyed
through a messenger, he left the cage
open the following night and kept all
persons away from it. The next morn
it contained a fine, specimen of an
American lion and a female jaguar—the
dreaded tiger of Mexico.
When the Mexican Government de
clared war against Cajeme, the Chief of
a few years ago, “Panther
Joe returned to Sonora and was one
among the first that fell in that unjust
and unequal warfare— Chicago Times.
The Ruler of Persia.
The Shah is not a young man, he is
some sixty years old; but he" has always
led a temperate and healthy life, delight
ing in outdoor exercise, a great huntei
and a good shot, and he consequently to
day enjoys excellent health, and is active
alike in mind and body. His humanity
has already been mentioned in connection
with the cessation of arbitrary executions,
and his natural kindness of heart is con
stantly manifested, and was notably so on
several occasions during his visit to Eng
land, and particularly in his expressions
of regret at the death of a poor woman
who was killed in the crush on his arrival
at Bradford, and in his anxiety to make
some suitable provision for her bereaved
family.
Notwithstanding a certain severity of
countenance and manner, the Shah is of
a very cheerful disposition, and is quick
to note any amusing incident and laughs
heartily thereat. He is very reserved and
distant in his intercourse with officials,
either his qwu or foreigners, but such in
cidents as his shaking hands indiscrimi
nately with the crowd who suddenly sur
rounded his carriage when his special
train unexpectedly stopped at Rugby
Station, sufficiently prove his bonhomme
and good nature. No doubt he is some
what suspicious, but he has seldom known
a disinterested friend, and he is a good
judge of character, a shrewd observer of
men and things. Ilis remarks and ques
tions during his inspection of our indus
trial establishments were thoroughly
practical, and showed a just appreciation
of -what were the important points for his
observation.
When, after some troublesome inter
preting, he was made to understand that
the operation about to be performed by a
highly scientific testing machine was the
breaking of a steel bolt, he turned on his
heel with the observation that it was un
necessary to break it; but in the same
establishment he was eager in his ques
tions as to the quantities of arms aud dif
ferent military appliances produced, what
were the prices, and to whom were the
manufactures delivered. These were
practical points, but the mathematical
testing of the breaking strain of a steel
bolt was purely technical, and of no prac
tical interest to a Persian monarch.—
Nineteenth Century.
“Just Like a Man.”
The St. Louis Republic's man-about
town has a young lady friend who is a
fan collector. She had rather have a
new fan than a block of gas steal stock.
As the man was passing a famous jewelry
house a few days before last Christmas
he spied a particularly lovely fan in the
window, and thinking to gladden the
heart of his friend he entered the place
and told the polite clerk to wrap up the
fan. Instantly the clerk was dissolved
in smiles and two ladies who stood near
looked approvingly at the man as if to
say: “What a nice young man! So
thoughtful of his friends, and so liberal!”
But a climax was rapidly approaching.
In his masculine ignorance of such mat
ters the man had thought the price of the
fan might possibly be slo—certainly it
would be no more. And so, as the
smiling clerk handed him the parcel, he
inserted his hand deep into his trousers
pocket and with all the assurance of
life said:
“How much?”
'v “Sixty dollars.”
“Er—l beg pardon,” gasped the man,
while the cold dew of horror came out on
his forehead.
“Sixty dollars?”
The man made a desperate grasp for
his presence of mind, and got it.
“Please put it right back, and do be
careful not to break it. Thank you.”
The two ladies looked indignant, and
as the man fled into the street he heard
one of them say to her companion:
“Just like a man.”
To Remove Tight Rings.
Very often a tight ring will stick so
fast to the finger that the wearer will
have to go to the jeweler to have it
taken off. All kinds of rings can be
easily removed with a piece of thread.
The best thing is a piece of silk thread,
but a good, strong piece of linen thread
will do. Pass the end between the fin
ger and ring, keeping the spool, or un
limited cord, at the side next the finger
tip. Wind the thread around the finger
toward the tip. Wind on about a quar
ter of an inch, and then unwind the end
under the ring, taking care to push the
ring forward over the wound part. As
one end is unwound wind on at the other
end, and gradually the riug will be
worked off to the tip of the finger. It is
a good idea to oil or soap the thread before
working it, as the ring will slip over it
much easier than over dry thread. This
method will remove any ring, no matter
how tight it is. —Mail and Ezyrtt*.
Tea Dost.
“Tea dust for sale” is the sign that at
tracts attention upon the door of a down
town wholesale house, and it causes cou
siderable comment when read by passers
by. The dust is what remains in the
boxes after tne tea has been sifted out to
purchasers in large quantities, and in the
average box the dust will weigh several
pounds. It is sold to storekeepers iu the
poorer districts at fifteen cents a pouud,
and likewise to the cheaper restaurants.
In the case of doctored tea, a great deal
of the doctoring material is settled in the
dust, and the dust is therefore pure
poison. Tea made from this dust is
about as palatable as dish water would he,
and one pities the poor who have to drink
the decoction, or do without the cup
that cheers, but doesn’t 'inebriate —Si
Li'ii s Star.-Sayinff). 1
FARMING IN EGYPT
ITS BACKWARD STATE IN THE
BAND OF THE PHAROAHS.
Primitive Farming Implements in
Use Two Kinds of Soil—
No Fences, Wagons, ®
Barns or Horses.
The farming implements used in Egypt,
says Frank G. Carpenter in the American
Agriculturist , are of the same pattern as
those used in the days of the Pharoahs.
1 went down into the tomb of Ti, under
the desert above Cairo, and near the site
of ancient Memphis. Ti was a great
nabob about four thousand years ago.
He built himself a number of subter
ranean chambers of granite, and adorned
their walls with paintings illustrative of
the customs of the age. Here I saw
pictures of the shadoof as used to-day,
and beside these are pictures of men
plowing, showing that the Egyptian
plow of 1890 is precisely the same as
it was when Moses was a baby. It con
sists of a pole or tongue about six feet
long fastened to a piece of wood bent in
ward and shod with a three-pronged piece
of iron. Affixed to the pole is the handle
which is held by the farmer. He holds
it with one hand, and he has a stick in
the other. The buffaloes or bullocks are
fastened to the plows by yokes, and I
saw no plowing in harness. These plows
merely scratch the ground. But they
seem to serve the purpose. The winter
crop of Egypt, which is sown immediately
after the inundation-, is spread over the
ground without plowing. The seed is
tramped into the moist earth by oxen,
or rolled into it by a wooden roller, and
it is wonderful how it grows.
Egypt has two kinds of lands. One is
made up of those soils which need noth
ing more than the yearly inundation to
make them fertile, and the other is com
posed of the lands which are artificially
irrigated, and are given water through
out the different seasons. The first are
called Rei lands, and these form as the
water subsides. The difference in the
climate in the various parts of Egypt
makes a great difference in the seed
time. In Upper Egypt, this begins in
October; in Central Egypt, and about
Cairo, it comes at the beginning of No
vember, and in the lower Delta the soil
is not ready before December. In about
four months, the crops are ready for
harvest, and the winter harvest is tho
chief one of the year. The winter crops
consist chiefly of wheat, barley, beans
and clover, and almost ns soon as these
are harvested, tho land is prepared for
the summer crop. This crop is raised
chiefly on the lauds artificially irrigated,
and it consists of tobacco, rice, vegeta
bles an :1 cotton from the pruned plants of
old stalks. The crop is usually har
vested in August, and after it comes the
autumn season, which, is the least im
portant of the Egyptian farming seasons,
and lasts only seventy days. Still, in
this season the greatest part of the In
dian corn of Egypt is raised, and maize
ranks next to wheat among the Egyptian
grain crops. At the beginning of Octo
ber the delta of Egypt looks like the
great cornfields of Kansas and Nebraska,
aud the whole country takes on anew
beauty.
I can hardly describe the beauty of an
Egyptian landscape. There are no
fences, and the farms aud fields are
separated only by the character of the
crops and the canals. There are no
barns nor houses in the fields, which are
so small aud so rich in their crops, that
they make the whole country look like
a vast garden. Everything grows like
the famous gourd of Jonah. The
patches of clover bend their heads over
with the weight of sweetness, the cotton
in the next patch bursts forth in its pods
of whiteness, and beds of heavy green
point out the rich coming harvests of
beans. There are few trees to bo seen,
only here and there a cluster of tall
palms marks the site of a mud farming
village, and a grove of date trees reminds
you that you are in the tropics.
The fields are free to all. You may
ride anywhere on your donkey, being
careful to go along the edges of the
crops, and you will find few wide roads,
and, away from the cities,no carriages or
wagons. I venture to say that there are
not one thousand wagons in the whole
land of Egypt. Camels aud donkeys are
the beasts of burden, aud bullocks aud
buffaloes arc the chief farm animals.
Even carts are a rarity. Camels carry
the heavy loads, and you sec everywhere
their great outlines in the blue sky,
against the background of the deseit.
They will carry as much as a horse can
haul, and when loaded with grass or hay,
the bundles are so great that only their
legs peep out below, and it looks as
though the burdens were walking off
bodily. It is the same with the little
donkeys, many of whom are not larger
than a good-sized Newfoundland dog.
They are loaded so that only
their legs show and are driven in single
tile across the country, carrying *he crops
to market. They have no harness, no
halters, or pack-saddles, and the farmers
who drive them are bare-footed men in a
single gown of blue cotton. An ordi
nary donkey can be bought for from ten
dollars upward. Camels are more ex
pensive, and range iu value from thirty
dollars up to oue hundred. The last,
however, is the price for a riding camel,
and it may be interesting to state that
camels have their gaits just as do horses,
and there is quite as great a difference in
their endurance uDd speed.
Most of the riding iu Egypt is done
upon donkeys. The Egyptian rides him
usually without a saddle, and guides him
with a stick, instead of a bridle. In the
cities the merchants, and iu the country
the rich farmers, have men or boys to
follow behind and whip up their donkeys,
and these, in order to lighten their la
bors not infrequently knock off a piece of
bare skin, the size of a silver dollar, and
use this as a spot into which to poke their
goads in order to make the donkey go.
There are no horses to speak of in Egypt,
but ths mules aud breeding asses, many
of which are from Arabia, are
very fine, some bringing prices as high
as five hundred dollars apiece.
The farming population of Egypt, not
withstanding they have the richest soil
on the face of the globe, are among thx
poorest of their class. Their holdings
are small, and they are taxed to death.
They are happy if they can get the bare
necessaries of living, and their homes in
ninety-mne cases out of a hundred are
huts, made of dried sun-baked bricks
and huddled together along the unpaved
streets of a village. These huts are
square or rectangular in shape. They are
seldom more than seven feet iu height,
and their roofs are flat. The live-stock
of the family often takes up a part of the
room, aud goats, and cows, and donkeys,
and men, and wciuen are crowded into
one little room. The wife of the farmer
works as well as her husband, and,
though she must wear a veil over her face
to keep other men from seeing her, she
carries all of the water for the family
from the Nile on her head, and provides
the fuel for the family. She cooks without
a stove,aud the people live on the cheapest
of food. They know nothing of the
beauties of Nature, and they have neither
gardens nor flowers. The houses are so
closely huddled together that you could
plant au Egyptian village of five thou
sand people on a twenty-five acre field.
You would hardly consider the houses of
the town tit places for your hogs, and
you certaiuly would not trust one of your
blooded horses or registered shorthorns
within them. Farm wages are scarcely
life supporting. Iu upper Egypt there
are thousands of men bending all day in
raising these Nilc-eaters, who receive
from five to seven cents for working from
sunrise to sunset, and about the great city
of Cairo I am told that the average of
farm labor is not more than twenty cents
a day. Such of the farmers as own their
land can do no better. Their farms are
not more than one or two acres in size on
the average, and six-sevenths of ail the
people of Egypt live by farming. Taxes
range from five dollars an acre Upward,
and there are import taxes, export taxes,
and taxes on all kinds of produce at the
city and village gates before they can be
brought into the market and sold.
Silk Hat Styles.
“Do you know what brings about tin
changes of styles in silk hats?” said a
Fifth street hat- maker.
“No, sir. How is it?”
“Well, the best hat manufacturers of
America are members of the American
Hat Manufacturers’ Association, which
has its headquarters in New York city.
The Broadway association meets in New
York city on the second Tuesday of Jan
uary and August, and adopts the spring
or fall style of silk hats.
“How’s it done?”
“Every silk hat maker present submits
a style or design, and when nil are sub
mitted the association votes for the dif
ferent designs, which are numbered. The
number receiving the highest number of
votes is declared the stylo. The spring
style has not been adopted yet. When
the designs arc adopted the block makers
prepare blocks of the styles adopted, and
on a certain day every maker who is a
member of the National Association is
shipped the blocks. Of course every
manufacturer can put out goods of his
own style if he chooses, but as they are
not in accordance with the fashion they
do not find ready sale.”
“What is a good silk hat worth?”
“From four to seven dollars.”
“Some are cheaper, aren’t they?"
“Yes, but whenever you buy a silk hat
for less than four dollars you take
chances.”
“Where does the material come from?”
“The cloth of which the body of the
hat is made is manufactured iu England.
It cannot be made here. The covering or
outside, which wc call ‘silk plush,’ is
from France, the only country that pro
duces it.”
“What is the output of silk hats in
America?”
“Oh, it runs into the millions.”—Cin
cinnati Times-Star.
Will-Making.
There are very few people who make
their wills while in the enjoyment of
good health. There seems to be a feel
ing that a will should not bo made until
death is very probable, or at least likely.
A man don’t like to sit down cold blood
edly and parcel out his household goods
and realty as if he were penning a
message from the grave. When a man
makes his will he has to have the old
scythe swinger rather too conspicuously
in his mind’s eye to draw the document
in any comfort. Besides there is always
the feeling that lots of things may happen
before death comes to change the dis
position of one’s goods, and the trouble
of writing new wills and codicils deters
people from drawing up their testa
ments. It is safe to say that not one
man in a thousand thinks of dying any
other way than in his bed after a sick
ness. He thinks of having time to pre
pare the will when its preparation is
necessary. This delay in the drawing
of these documents not only causes much
confusion through the unexpected com
ing of death to prevent making a will,
but it is the cause of many wills being
drawn hastily, incorrectly and inco
herently. Every mau should save the
people he leaves behind him all the
trouble possible, and he could do this by
having his will made while he is per
fectly cool and calm.— Star-Saying*.
A Performing Mouse.
There is a telegraph operator in one oi
our police courts who once tamed a
mouse so completely that it came out of
the hole behind his desk, where it lived,
every night about midnight and enter
tained him with a cunning acrobatic per
formance. It climbed up the rod of a bill
file that rested agaiust a wire stretched
across the desk, then walked the wire
until it reached a piece of cheese attached
to the farther end of it. Balancing it
self gracefully upon its hind legs, it re
moved the cheese with its front paws
and proceeded to nibble away at it until
it was all gone. And strange to say It
uver missed its footing or fell off the
m xe.~~ Yankee Blade.
ALASKA. (
QUEER SCENES IN THE FAR-OFF
TERRITORY.
ilea vers Chopping Tr-ees—A Hear Fish.
ing —A Trusting Drove of Relu
, ( , ,ecr- Strange Indi
“ an Customs.
“Alaska is a curious country, truly,"
said a former Government employe, who
was for several years in that far-away
Territory. “In one day, out there, I was
treated to three of the rarest sights any
traveler or sojourner in Alaska can ever
hope to see. One of these was the watch
ing from behind a rock of a family of
beavers at work felling timbers and build
ing dams. 1 say a family, but there must
have been 200 of them, and every one
working like mad. I had been making
a trip to see some of the country back
from the sea, and was surprised to see
how heavily wooded it was. I was guided
by a IConnitzo Indian, and long before we
reached the lake where I saw the beavers
I was puzzled at the crashing of timbers,
as if some great whirlwind wen; playing
havoc among the beavers. When we
came in sight of the water and the
hills about it I could no longer
doubt. Scores of the busy animals
were gnawing down the trees; others
were trimming the branches of! as
neatly as it could have beeu done with
an axe; others were chopping the tim
ber into proper lengths for use; others
rolled the pieces into thc % water and
floated them down stream on their way
to the points where their dams were to be
constructed. We watched the beavers
at work for a long time. Then my guide
said he would show me the strangest
thing of all. He roso suddenly from his
hiding place and jumped outiu full sight
of the beavers, shoutiug as he jumped.
In less than ten seconds there was not a
single heaver of that big army to be seen.
They glided away and slid beneath the
surface of the water so quickly that the
change in the the scene was startling.
That night I had beaver meat for supper,
went to bed on beaver fur and had beaver
Sur for my covering, and ate beaver meat
again for breakfast. It was good. That
lake, the guide told me, was one of a
chain of seven which had been made by
the beavers damming what had previ
ously been but a small stream. The chain
was a great Indian trapping ground.
The Indians trapped in one lake one year,
in another the next, and so on, thus giv
the beavers au opportunity to increase in
the waters which were not disturbed.
* “One of the other curious sights I saw
was u grizzly bear fishing for salmon.
That was a funny sight, aud no mistake.
They have the common brown bear aud
the grizzly in Alaska, and the grizzly is
just as big and tough as his brother of
the Rockies. Long before we came to
the spot where wc saw the grizzly fish
ing, we saw his tracks in the soft margin
of the river. The footprints wero six
teen inches long and about half as wide.
Suddenly my guide motioned to me, and
quickly and quietly dropped down flat
behind a rock. I did the same. Peer
ing around the rock, I saw the biggest
wild beast I had ever gazed upon outside
of a menagerie. The animal was not
more than three rods away, and I didn’t
need any one to tell me what it was. It
was a grizzly, and a monster. The great
brute was lying on the top of the bank,
which sloped at a sharp angle to the wa
ter, and was fifteen feet high at least.
In the face of the bank the grizzly had
scooped out a chute from the top to the
water. He lay at the upper end of the
chute,with the eyes intently fixed on the
water. He hnd not heard our approach.
Presently he shot down that chute with
astonishing velocity, and plunged head
first in the water, half buying himself, as
big as he was, in the stream. When he
backed out of the water he had m one of
his great paws a big salmon. He returned
to the top of the bank with the fish, and
proceeded to make a meal of it. He never
finished the meal, though, for my guide
and myseelf sent two rifle balls apiece
into his gigantic body. He rose to his
feet, snarling and snorting as only a
grizzly bear can, turned about two or
three times as if to sec whence the dead
ly assault had come, and then fell to the
ground dead. This fishing for salmon is
a common method with both the grizzly
and the brown bear for securing choice
morsels of food.
“The third strange sight I saw that
day was toward evening. It was sum
mer, and wc came to the mouth of a
mountain torrent, where my guide pre
pared for the night’s camp. As we
stepped on the shore a herd of reindeer,
twenty five in all, came out of the woods
to drink. They were not thirty feet from
us. They raised their great antlers and
stood looking at us with such apparent
confidence in our good intentions that I
would not permit the guide to abuse it,
although it was a bitter task for him to
keep his gun from his shoulder with such
game in sight. The deer, satisfied that
they were correct in their estimate of us,
finally stooped and drank, and then dis
appeared in the woods as quietly as they
had qome upon us.
“Dried salmon is the luxury of the
Alaskan Indians, and the children begin
to nibble it before they can walk. The
way they bring up children out there
would hardly suit in this region. The
mother carries her child about from the
time it is born until it is able to creep,
no matter where she goes or what she is
doing. She keeps it wrapped in a rude
fur garment that covers it from chin to
heels—a piece of fur that would tax a
good fat pocketbook to purchase here.
The moment a young one shows a dispo
sition to crawl, its mother yanks it out of
its fur enclosure, and then the construe- j
tion of the incipient barbarian's constitu
tion begins. This beginning is a souse
in the sea or river every morniug, and
Alaskan waters are not tepid, as every
body must know by this time. The
chorus of yells that greets the Indian
villages every morning during the en
forced plunge of the infantile jjopulation
in the icy bath is something terrific. The
cries of the young ones are piteous, and
for fear that theijf jtateraal breasts might
not be proof against these appeals for;
mercy, and thus induce them to fail in
their duty to their offspring, many mothers
<io not perform this bathing rite them
selves, but and Jegatc some brother or sis
ter, if they have any. to do the dousing.
I hese conscientious uncles and aunts fre
quently vary the pleasures of the bath
with the titillations of the switch, in at
tempts that are obviously vain, to make
the latter suppress the noisy results of the
former. If the tender hearted mother
hasn't any sister or brother, she will hand
her young one over to some other tender
hearted mother, and take charge of the
latter s infant, the two mothers compos
edly and unfalteringly doing the dousing
of each other's offspring.
“Some of the Indian tribes,notably the
ICenartze, traveling from place to place,
hunting or fishing, have the excellent
habit of leaving behind them when they
break camp a quantity of kindling mate
rial at each fireplace for the use of the
next travelers who come along and who
may possibly not be over-supplied with
that very necessary outfit. This kin
dling consists of pitch pine and dry moss
and sticks, wrapped up in a curl of birch
bark. The traveler who has this kin
dling and fails to leave some of it for the
possible use of some one else when he
leaves camp is sadly deficient in the
etiquette of Alaskan travel.”— New York
Sun. j
Remarkable Duels.
One afternoon last week there was a
large and interested crowd ox amusement
seekers in and in front of the large side
windows of Knox & Van Karen’s drug
store. The cause of the gathering was
one of a rather unusual nature. Several
days before two centipedes, one large
and the other small, wero brought into
the store, and also a tarantula. They
were left in separate receptacles and all
alive.
On this particular afternoon it was de
termined to sec how the animals would
act when placed together. A layer of
sand about an inch thick was spread
over the bottom of a glass globe, and
first the two centipedes were dropped in
and with them a horned toad. His
majesty with the horns took no part in
the trouble which disturbed the other
two. He seemed to be acting simply as
the referee of the fight. The two centi
pedes crawled over him and rolled over
him, but hardly awakened his sleepy
nature. The two centipedes circled two
or three times around the globe and
finally came in each other’s way. Each
desired to crawl over the other and the
battle began. It was short but it was
exciting. Their cat-like claws were re
peatedly imbedded in each other’s bodies,'
but the smaller one could not stand tho
strain, and when they came together for
the third time, about two minutes aftei
they were first put in, they clinched and
wound about each other, keeping theix
claws going in scissor fashion upon eacli
other's bodies uutil the smaller centipede
dropped out of the struggle, dead.
The body was taken out of the globe
and soon after the tarantula dropped in.
The centipede had not had time to re
cover any strength after his battle with
his fellow, and his sting had lost its
death-dealing qualities, so that this battle
was also short. The two animals closed
only twice, when the forceps of the tar
antula crushed through the head of tho
larger centipede and he died quickly.
The tarantula had apparently received no
injury, and looked mad enough to havo
fought a whole regimeut of centipedes
San Diego (Cal.) Union.
Edible Flowers.
The latest novelty in the vegetable lint
is the introduction of edible flowers. The
two which are said to be the most satis
factory belong—absit omen! —to the
thistle family, and rejoice in the names
calligonum polygonoides and bastia lati
folia. The popular favor of both Eng
lish and French seems to be somewhat
hard to conquer in the case of these new
dishes, but doubtless all will come in
time. It is related of a clever Boston
woman that once while she was living in
the country abroad, in a spot where the
markets were exremely unreliable, she was
one day surprised by the arrival of several
guests near the dinner hour. It chanced,
1 as it usually does chance in such cas's,
that on that especial day her larder was
more than commonly bare, and she had
little to set before her guests. Her wit
helped her out, however. The locusts
were in full bloom, and selecting a num
ber of the finest clusters she had them
dipped in batter and then fried m boil
ing oil.
The dish was not only au extremelo or
namental one, the shape of the clusters
being not unlike that of grapes, but it
proved very palatable as well, and if it
was not very substantial, it at least went
no inconsiderable way toward giving the
appearance of solidity to the somewhat
scanty dinner.— Boston Courier.
A Hollar Worth 8850.
A fact of greatest interest to numis
matists is the finding of the missing 1804
silver dollar. Only four silver disks ol
this date were ever put into circulation,
and for years the whereabouts of the
fourth has been eagerly sought for, the
owners of the other three being known.
Of course, the limited number gave the
silver quartet a fancy price in the eyes oi
coin collectors, and they have been held
at, relatively speaking, enormous figures.
Many people throughout the country have
religiously looked at the date of every
I dollar received in the hope of finding the
valuable dollar. A. few days ago Dr.
Edward Walther walked into the Com
mercial National Bank and produced the
sought-for piece. He had found it in
the southern part of the State, where it
had reposed, no ous knows how long
iu the stocking of a Norwegian. The
| doctor parted with §l5O in current bills
to obtain the treasure, but £*
! is listed bv coin dealers at §BSO, he will
hardlv be a loser by the operation. A
present he announces u determination to
keen it. but the temptations oi ardent
Sisitists may ciu.se him to clmng
his mind. Bank official state that there
£ question of its genuineness.--*■
Paul PiorMr yr&s-