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Th|E MOUNTAIN FEUDS OF EASTERN KENTUCKY. Causes of the Ennnity Between the Baker and Howard Fanqilies. M inchkster, Ky. (Special).—The Condition of things in Clay County, where the Bakers have sworn to anni hilate the whole Howard and White families, bears such a close re semblance to anarchy that the best citizens have asked Governor Bradley to put the county under martial law ami suppress the bloody feud at the point of the bayonet. The feeling in Kentucky is that the fair name of the State is blackened by the spectacle of three of her large families going into the assassination business on a wholesale scale. The Baker-Howard feud, while one of the youngest in Eastern Kentucky, is one of the most bitter ever waged It was all about a S4O spring wagon that had not been paid for that the feud started. “Tom” Baker had gone into partnership with Israel and Carter Howard to raft logs on shares. Beeso Murray held a judg ment for the spring wagon against James B. and “Bal” Howard. Murray offered the judgment at a low price to Baker, and Baker bought it. This euraged the Howards, and quarrels followed when Baker tried to collect the money. Israel Howard and “Tom” Baker met one day at a log pit. Hot words followed and Baker drew a revolver t and jumped behind afeucepost. How ard drew his revolver and took thej other side of the post. They fired around the post at each other until their pistols were empty. Israel’s fifth shot was fired over the top of the post and the bullet hit Baker in the back of the neck, producing a flosh wound. Baker fell on the op posite side of the fence and Israel fired his last shot at him through the fence, producing a slight flesh wound in the abdomen. Borne time ufter from an ambush m jt * it MRS. TOM BAKER. (fills Is training her sons to avenge their father's mftrdor.) “Bui” Howard, who was riding a spirited young stallion and carrying a Winchester, was struck in the back at the first fire, but managed to hold on to his fleeing horse. The next volley struck Burch Store and knocked him off his horse. The bullet broke bis neck and he was dead when be touched the ground. Wilson Howard fell off his horse, shot, through the hips. “Bal” Howard escaped to Wilson Howard’s bouse. Two of the attacking party then went back to whore the men lay on the road, aud shot them both with explosive bullets, which tore their bodies to pieces. Wilson Howard lived long enough to tell that it was “Tom” Baker and Charles Wootou who tired the explo sive bullets. When James B. Howard heard that bis brother was killed and flint, his father was shot badly, he armed hiui solf aud rode at a gallop to the scene. At tho store of A. L. Howard he A. B. HOWARD, LEADER OF THE HOWARD FACTION, AND HIS WOMEN FOLKS. found a crowd, some of whom had come after the grave clothes of Wilson Howard and Burch Store. James as sisted in selecting them, and was on the point of leaving when George W. Baker rode up. Without stopping to consider that County Howard leveled his weapon and fired a bullet into the old man’s abdomen, producing almost instant death. Re alizing that it would now be war to the knife, James mounted his horse and rode away to the home of relatives in Harlan County. There was a re ward of $250 offered for Howard’s ar rest, and he surrendered to a kinsman so that the man might get the reward, and came with him to Manchester, where he was turned over to the proper officers. He was released on hail. Sheriff B. P. White, Jr., summoned one hundred deputies to arrest the ,p ' \ M*~. r THE RENDEZVOUS OF THE RAKERS IN THE KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS. Bakers, and they were brought in for examining trials before County Judge J. W. Wright. The trials lasted three days. The Howards swore to seeing the Bakers do the shooting, but tbe Bakers proved by their witnesses that they were five miles away at the time of the shooting, and Judge Wright dismissed the Bakers from custody. On the day after the trial, “Sid” Baker, a son-in-law of “Bal” Howard, but no kin to George Baker’s sons, overtook Charlos Wooion, who was said to have shot Buroh Store.' ft They rode side by side for a quarter of a mile, trying to get the “drop” on each other. Finally they both drew their revolvers almost at the same time. “Sid” shot from behind his back as he .drew the weapon from the scabbard. Both men rolled oft' their horses, aud as they lay in the road emptied their pistols at each other. “Sid” Baker rode off unhurt, while Wooton, wounded in the back dragged himself into the brush, where he was found by one of the Bakers aud taken home, where he died. William L. White, a brother to tho former Sheriff, was soon afterward met by “Tom” Baker, who shot him in the abdomen aud killed him. For this murder, and on tbe charge of killing Wilson Howard and Burch Store, “Tom” Baker was arrested, an indictment, which included several of his brothers, having been found. Upon motion the trials were transferred to tbe Knox County Court at Barbours ville. The town of Manchester, the headquarters of the feud, was in a con dition of such lawlessness that tho Gov ernor sent several companies of State militia from Lexiugton to the scene. I They were charged with the duty of taking the Baker prisoners to the Court House at Barboursville, aud also of protecting them from the murderous ! niteutious of the Howards, amt the Whites. They garrisoned the Baker house. Ou all sides lurked Howards aud Whites, many of them dead shots, waitiug for a chance to “plug” a Baker or two. Sheriff White sent his family away and filled his house with his friends. The house looked upon the guard tent where “Tom” Baker was a prisoner. On June 10, while the feeling was at its height and preparations were on the way for the march to Barhoursville, “Ton/’ Baker came out of his prison tcntytnd began talkiitf to his son, Jim, giving him instructions on how to run the farm while he was in jail. Mrs. “Tom” Baker ran up to advise • *— TWO OF THE BAKERS, YOUNG, BUT DEAD SHOTS. (These are sons of “Tom” Raker, who was shot ami killed from Sheriff White’s house while he was under arrest by the troops, charged with two murders. Their mother has dedicated them to the life work of wiping out the Howards.) her husband not to allow himself to be a target for the Howards. While she was talking to him a shot rang out from the White residence, and Tom Baker dropped dead before his wife’s eyes. The woman hysterically called upon Colonel Williams, who was_ in charge of the troops, to turn his Gat- ling gun on the White house and de stroy it. The assembly was sounded and tbe troops surrounded the White resi dence. They moved upon it with fixed bayonets, going at double quick, aud climbing over the yard fence. Sheriff White came out with thirty armed men to dispute the right of way. Williams gave the order to charge upon the house, and the Howards and Whites fled inside, loudly announcing that they would kill the first man who crossed the threshold. The Gatling gun was then brought up and trained SHERIFF “BEN” P. WHITE. (He Is the leader now of the Howard-White forces. It was from his house that “Torn” Raker was killed, and he was suspected of the murder.) on the residence, and all those inside surrendered. Sheriff White was ar rested for resisting the guards. The Howard-White faction then tried to mobilize at tbe house of Daugh AVhite, the circuit clerk, but Colonel Williams occupied it to prevent their using it as acitadel. Meauwhiie mem bers of the Baker clan were assem bling from all sides aud swearing ven geance. The dead man’s sons swore that they wonld kill Sheriff White, who they believed had slain their father. Who really fired the shot that killed “Tom” Baker no one knows. The Whites were very angry at Cos onel Williams and the troops. They sent out aud brought in numbers of their sharpshooter friends. They anuouuced that they would wipe out the soldiers and slaughter the Bakers. But the troops marched to Barboursville with their four prisoners—Wiley, Al, Dee and Jim Baker. Strangely Curtl of Stuttering:. The curious freaks the Mauser bul let has performed in its coursings through the systems of fighting Amer icans in tbe late wars Lave resulted in some queer tales. The latest is the experience of Private H. E. Redmond, Company C, First Colorado Volunteer Infautry, who, when he enlisted, stuttered so badly that the recruiting officer came near leaving him oft’ the rolls. Private Redmond was wounded in the battle of Mariquina,in the Phil ippines, on March 31. Now his wound is healed and he stutters no more. A Mauser bullet struck him in the face, passed diagonally downward through his mouth and made its exit near the back of the neck. It was considered a frightful wound by the surgeons, but Redmond proceeded to recover even faster than patients with less painful injuries. Now all that can be seen of the wound is a small, livid spot to tbe left of the nose and. above the upper lip. Redmond chews hard tack with the greatest zest and tells stories he has not been able to finish in years on account of his baiting speech. He insists that Mauser bullet carried away bis vocal impedi ment. A NEWSPAPER’S PALACE,' VISIT TO THE MOST LUXURIOUS PRINTING OFFICE IN THE WORLD. JLocated in Buenos Ayres, Argentina, and i is the Home of La Prensa (The Preds)- Hobby of the Proprietor—Barroom in , tiie City E<litor'B Department. There are many surprising things in j Buenos Ayres, Argentina, for it con tinually strikes one as (a better class j European city transported by magic j to South America, writes “B. L.” from | that city to the Chicago Times-Herald. I Out of a population of 750,000 at least | 350,000 are Europeans. The two things that most surprised and pleased me were the Jockey Club and a news paper building. The former is more luxurious and artistic in its appoint ments than any other club in the world that I have seen—and I have seen most of the noted ones. It very pos sibly did not cost quite so much as the Metropolitan or Manhattan Club in New York, but a mint of money has been spent on it, and so judiciously that in the matter of decoration and ar rangements for the comfort of the members the Jockey Club of Buenos Ayres far surpasses either of the clubs mentioned. The inner stairway, with its wonderful exhibit of native stones and its charming statue of Diana, is an unsurpassed bit interior architec ture. The fencing-room in this club is a model of its class and has for its chief rnaitre d’armes Piri, one of the first fencers of the world. ** * * I couldn’t resist mention of this ex traordinary club building, but that structure is not the theme of this let ter. I am told that La Preusa (the Press) is the leading Argentine newspaper. The building in which that journal is printed is by far the most remarkable structure of its kind in the world. It is the hobby of Mr. Paz, the proprie tor of La Prensa, and was first oc cupied last December. It is still in complete in some of its details of in terior construction. Mr. Paz, a man of good family, ow ing to certain misfortunes started in life a penniless newspaper reporter. Now, at the age of fifty-six, he is said to be a very weilthy man. I can’t attempt a full description of La Prenza Building, but will touch upon a few things that particularly struck me. In’ the first place, all the material was grown or dug out and fashioned in Argentina. The exterior is dignified, but is no handsomer than that of many another building. I didn’t get the figures of wfdth or length, but it covers more ground than the Times-Herald- Buildiug, and every inch of its six stories is devoted to the uses of the paper and its pet objects. To begin with, there is no cramped space anywhere. For example, each of the numerous editors has a special room, not less than twenty feet square, with a taste and a luxury of furniture hitherto unknown to the newspaper world. Each of these rooms is fitted with long-distance telephone and pneumatic and speaking tubes to the different parts of the building, so that the editors can keep in immediate communication with their own and the outer world. ***** The composing room, on the top floor, with all its kindred rooms for making up the paper, is perfectly lighted day and night. The type cases and everything else on that floor are the latest development of modern invention, and every possible care has been taken for the comfort and health of the men. For instance, a door opens from the composing room into a huge bathi’oom, Dutch tiled, and with a dozen or so shower baths. On that floor, and only for the men on that floor, are a kitchen and a large eating room, both excel lently appointed for men of that class. Neat china, glass and tableware, with rather coarse but spotlessly clean table cloths and napkins. Every work ingman up there is given generous, wholesome meals, with a pint of light native wine, free of cost. The city department on the floor below is absolutely unique—charm ingly furnished, where every man has his widely separated green-clothed table and special green-shaded elec tric lamp. A large room adjoining this is the reporters’ restaurant, with tables as daintily decked as any hotel table in j Chicago. There is a special kitchen also for this restaurant, and here again | meals of a superior quality are served free of cost. ** * * The oddest features of the city de partment are the barroom and billiard table—both free. In response to my exclamation of astonishment, the ed itor, who was acting as guide, said: “There are three explanations of this barroom. In the first place we Argen tinas are not given to drink. In the second place the traditions and gen eral tone of the establishment forbid that any man of education should make a beast of himself here, and in the third place Mr. Paz wants to keep the young men in his employ out of temptation by making for them here a home, from which they will not be tempted by the lesser attractions of a drinking saloon.” For the reporters there is an elab | orately equipped bathroom, with a lot of tubs, shower and needle baths. There are numerous neatly furn ished smallish rooms in one part of the building for the homeless pen sioned servants of the paper, who have their special dining and bath rooms. ***** There art* two stunningly furnished apartments in the building, of several rooms each. One, occasionally occu pied by Mr. Paz—the other for the use of distinguished guests who are non-residents of Buenos Ayres. Each of these apartments has its own din ng-room. There is a special dining room for the editors, aud one, beauti fully furnished, for small banquets. There is a library with walls of greeu silk tapestry, but not yet furnished’ The books I did not see, as they were housed somewhere waiting for their shelves. That room will be in order within a month. At the back of the building is a large and very fine ballroom and theatre combined, with reception and banqueting rooms. This is lent for charity afi’airs, or to friends of the paper who wish to give a private en tertainment. On one floor there is a perfectly ap pointed fencing-room, large enough for three pairs of fencers at a time, and a well-known teacher gives free lessons to the upper class of employes. The pressroom is just as complete as every other department, with the latest Hoe presses, and turns out the edition of 70,000 in an hour, as the paper has to go to press at 5 a. m. to escape the robbery of its telegraphic news. There are a kitchen and free restaur ant for the pressmen, also. I could go on for pages describing the other parts of the building; the business department, the arrangements for newsboys, etc., but my hand is tired, and you already have a good general idea of this unique building. Two departments must be men tioned, however. In one, a perfectly arranged surgery, where four noted medical and surgical specialists alter nately treat, free of cost, not only employes and members of their fami lies, but many outside patients also. In another equally handsome apartment sits for many hours a day every week a man who is prominent among the lawyers of Buenos Ayres, and gives free advice on legal ques tions. ***** My guide quaintly remarked: “This lawyer is an ho.norable gentle man, and besides that, he is paid by Mr. Paz and receives nothing from his clients. He has no inducement to foster unnecessary litigation, and it was from a desire to prevent such waste of a poor man’s money that Mr. Paz got the idea of creating his free legal department.” I never enjoyed two hours of sight seeing more than those passed in La Prensa Building, whose proprietor seems to have omitted no means for the betterment of his employes. CURIOUS FACTS. A polite Chinaman considers it a breach of etiquette to wear spectacles in company. The first American volunteer fire company was organized in Philadel phia in 1736. The oldest family in the British Isles is that of Mar, in Scotland, which dates from 1093. The first medical school in the United States was inaugurated in Philadelphia in 1751. T he flesh of alligators tastes very similar to veal, and is regarded as a delicacy by many people in India. Frost has a variety of effects upon different products. Under the same influence eggs will burst, apples con tract and potatoes turn black. The most curious paper weight in the world is said to belong to the Prince of Wales. It is the mummied baud of one of the daughters of Pharaoh. Tha Siamese believe that it requires seven days for the human soul to jour ey between earth and heaven, and therefore pray unceasingly for seven days after the death of a friend or relative. A turnip seed increases its own w eight fifteen times in a minute. On peat ground turnips have been found to increase by growth sixteen thou sand times the weight of their seed each day. Asia Minor wa3 the chief opium market until the twelfth century, and from then on it was gradually dis tributed all over tbe globe. The Chinese obtained the drug in the thirteenth century. Milan has a curiosity in a clod which is made entirely of bread. Tb< maker is a native of India, and be has devoted three years of his time to the construction of this curiosity. The clock is of respectable size, and goes well. Night-blindness is a curious affec tion of the eye in which the patienl sees very well during the day, bui becomes blind as night approaches. It is mostly met with in warm climates, and usually gives way to mild treat ment. A Waterville (Me.) citizen has in his possession a complete record of the dates of the opening and closing of Kennebec River, from 1785 to the present time. In all these years the river has opened thirty-two times in March and seventy-seven times in April. A Fifty-Year-Old Shell Explodes. Troubles with Russia seem to last much longer than others. The other day an old British shell, ineffectively fired at Sebastopol, nearly fifty years ago, found a billet at last. Some work men dredged it up from the bottom of | the bay and it exploded, killing one ! man and wounding the rest. But Rus : sia had her revenge. Three hundred I thousand head of Russian poultry, which had come out of Russian shells —once —arrived in London. They had been delayed several months on the voyage for various reasons, and when they arrived !—London Globe. A Hard One. A literary society at Florence is dis cussing the important and pertinent question: “Resolved, m -okss m< re ■ ' , —Kau sa *L .: v GOOD ROADS NOTES. Road Improvement. The bert way to improve and secure our ordinary country roads for com fort and convenience is the important question for the farmer to consider, writes Samuel Sinuett, in Farm,Field and Fireside. One of the first im portant steps is to keep the bed of tbe road dry. This can be best secured by the action of the common road grader or leveler being used as soon as the surface is dry enough to crumble. The passage of the grader fills up all the ruts aud depressions in the road and leaves the centre well rounded up and thus enables it to shed tbe water. The road must be kept clear of water, hence the grader must be used after a rain when the clay will crumble. Now most of the road districts are supplied with these graders and the necessary machinery to make aud keep the road in good re pair, but too often tbe road master lets tbe grader lie idle in some outlot or fence corner till be has an idle time to use it. The great question arises, how can we retain good roads after they are graded? Here is where the question of permanent roads come in. In the early history of our Republic tbe National Government built aud took charge of tbe leading roads of tbe nation. The most prominent of them was the Great National road connect ing St. Louis with Washington. This is an improvement that any country might well be proud of. All the bridges, culverts, etc., were of solid masonry, and the road of good width and covered with broken stone. It was one of the primary causes for tbe settlement of the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. One of the best arguments in favor of good roads is it enhances the value of the territory they pass through. In the State of Missouri the coun ties are waking up to the necessity of improving the ordinary highways, aud the State is helping them to improve their roads. Many wish to have the farmers shoulder the burden of im proving the roads, but this is by no means just, and when macadam or gravel is used to make the bed of the road solid it would be too heavy a tax on the farmers. About Roads. The bad condition of tbe roads be gan to attract widespread attention something over ten years ago. Cer tain elementary principles were evi dent at a glance, to wit: the price of farm products is fixed at the great cities or centres of consumption and distribution, and is wholly beyond the farmers’ control, and the cost of trans portation is a principal factor in de termining his profit, or the possibility of any profit. On the railroads this has been -re duced until it varies, according to bulk, from one cent to four mills per ton per mile. But the average roads are so bad that a two-horse team and wagon, the value of which is $3 per flay, cannot haul a ton of produce more thau ten miles and return in a day. The cost of road transportation is therefore thirty cents per ton per mile, or about forty times as great as the rate on tbe railroad. The average distance from the farm to the nearest railway station is at least ten miles, so that it costs as much to get the goods to or from the railroad station as to carry them 400 miles on the cars. It only needs to state these elementary facts to show what an enormous drain bad roads make on our resources. It is evident that an improvement in the conditions is imperative, and the remedy is equally evident, for it has been proved not only by mechanical experiment but by actual test that the same force which draws one ton on a muddy earth road will draw four tons on a hard macadam road.—From “Success, and How to Attain It,” by Colonel F. V. Greene. Work of tlie Automobile. The automobile promises to accom plish more in the direction of better city streets and country roads than has been accomplished by years of agitation and legislation. As the con venience and economy of mechanical vehicles becomes better understood, use of them is certain to become gen eral. Farmers will use them as well as truckmen, aud they will be em ployed as stages, as well as for pleas ure driving. This will cause demand for bard, smooth pavements and high ways, which are essential to tbe most effective use of such vehicles. Good roads will become an absolute neces sity to farmers, and asphalted streets to business men in tbe city. This is one secret of the fine streets found in Paris and the fine to be found in France. General use of the automobile has mrde dispensable. It will be the The bicycle lias ac’omplisheßfca££S! deal in this direction. truck, auto wagon an ire destined to acco|HHHHH| !y - 't ill A j| X c" : -■ J- I“-V:.V V --"s ■ H o ..... • H i- of; (jjyf ('jA (■ M