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€Ije Cnuufm^ Cmuiti) 3
VOL. I.
Don’t Blame tlie World.
Don’t blame the world because the thorns
„ are found among the roses;
The day that breaks in storm may be all
sunshine when it closes,
We cannot hope to always meet with fort¬
une’s fond caressing;
And that which seems most hard to bear
may bring with it a blessing.
The buried seed must rot in earth ere it pro¬
duce the flower,
And the weak plant to fructify must have
both sun and shower.
So man, to gain development, must struggle
with life’s crosses,
And view with calm philosophy his trials
and his losses.
A deadly pois’nous weed may yield a salve
of surest healing,
The sweetest bloom may pois’nous be al¬
though its bane concealing;
Things are not always what they seem, but
still ’twas heaven designed them,
And we should class them all as good, and
take them as we find them.
tattle we know' of this brief life and nothing
of its sequel,
Then let us take in humble trust all that may
seem unequal.
Cod’s ways are not our ways and He should
certainly be trusted;
All that is wrong in his good time will sure-
be adjusted.
THE OVERLAND TRAIN.
It lias been proved beyond the shad-
ow of a doubt that after the Mormons
located at Salt Lake they bent all their
energies to two things—making friends
with the Indians and seeking to pre¬
vent white people not of their own
faith fr< m penetrating into that coun¬
try. They did gain the good will of
the several tribes of Indians with whom
they came in contact to s :ch a degree
as made it safe for a Mormon to go
any where. Once in awhile one was
killed before he could identify himself,
but the man who proved himself
Mormon need have no fear of the sav¬
ages, who had been trained from in¬
fancy to bate a white man and take
his scalp whenever opportunity of¬
fered. This desideratum was accom-
plislicd in various ways. They
I made common cause with the
redskin against the remainder
of the white race, promising
him all the scalps and plunder. They
made him presents, caused him to be-
lieve that they w ? ere persecuted because
they espoused his cause, and in other
ways got such a firm hold on his affec¬
tions that he became the most powerful
ally they could have selected. They
made him arrow heads and lance heads,
they provided him with his first firearms
and best tomahawks, they fed him
when he was hungry, and helped to
outfit him when he went to war.
When the California gold fever be¬
gan to push long wagon trains across
the country the Mormons saw what the
result would be unless they could stop
I the rush. Left to themselves the sava-
£ cs wou ^ no doubt have attacked in
ev ery case where they was hope of suc-
cess, but not one person would have
been killed where ten actually yielded
up their lives but for the assistance of
the accursed D-initc 1 These were the
.
“good men and true” of the Mormon
Church—the enthusiasts and fanatics
who could be depended upon to carry
0ut an y or dcr and preserve the secrets
the Church with their last breath.
They knew the country, the trails, the
streams and ravines and valleys from
Council Bluffs or St. Joseph to their
guides—were They acted as
elected as captains of
I trains—sought every position which
I would enable them to play into the
I hands of their allies and work the
I destruction of trains. This was not
|hvl jtven worked suspected, however, until they
I fearful slaughter among
the gold seekers. No living will
man
| Itrain rver people be able to give figures on the
|in murdered during the years
which the overland trail was in daily
Ml
The first train I went out with con-
KNOXVILLE, CRAWFORD CO., GA„ THURSDAY. MAY 22, 1890.
rons and 50 men, women
and children, Of these 22 were full-
grown men and well armed, and each
one fully realized the perils which be¬
set the route. It would seem the
height of folly for a husband to invest
his all in a span of horses and wagon
and set out for California with a sickiy
wife and three or four children, but
plenty of them did so. Indeed, there
was no train without its women and
children, and their presence always in¬
creased the dangers. Previous to leav¬
ing St. Joe we had to elect a captain
of the train, a “boss,” whose word
snould be law until we reached the end
of our journey. This position naturally
fell to some veteran—some hunter,
scout or Indian fighter, who w*as posted
as to the route and the ways of the In¬
dians. Some such man was always go¬
ing out with a train. In our
case the choice lay be¬
tween two—one an old trapper of
many years’ experience, who looked
honest and seem id to have had plenty
of experience, and a man who was a
stranger to all, but who was loud in his
boasts of how many Indians ^he had
killed and what a brave, careful man he
was. Idislikei him at first sight, as I
he did me, but though I did all I
could to defeat him, he was elected to
the position of Captain. He was a fel¬
low with an ugly, sulky look to his face;
eyes which were constantly roving about
and could never look you square in the
face, and in my heart I believed he
meant us ill. I found one or tw*o others
who entirely agreed with me, but the
majority were perfectly satisfied that he
was all right, and it would not be pru¬
dent for us to say anything until we
had a better foundation than mere
suspicion. It would have been rebel¬
lion to speak against him or refuse to
obey his orders, and he had the power
to disarm us and put us under guard.
At that date the train which pro¬
gressed one hundred miles into Kansas
was sure to find the advance guard of
the Indians. On the fourth day out we
sighted some at a distance, and I nar¬
rowly watched our captain. He closed
the train up in good order, stationed
the defenders where they could do tho
most good, and exhibited such nerve
and caution that I began to feel
ashamed of myself for having suspected
his loyalty. But for one circumstance
I should have banished all susp cion.
We saw the first Indians about two
hours before sundown. None of them
came nearer than half a mile, seeming
to be content with an inspection of our
strength. An hour later, and when
within two miles of the spot where we
proposed to camp, the captain, whose
name I have neglected to state was Baker,
run up a green flag on one of the wagons.
This flag, as we afterward concluded,
he must have had secreted about his
person. He explained that if we run
up a flag the Indians would conclude
that thero were soldiers with the train
and haul off, and no one—no one but
me—questionad the truth or policy of
the proceeding. It struck me that he
raised the flag for a signal, and when
I stated my suspicions to two others of
the band they agreed with me that he
could have no other object. From that
time we watched his every movement
with the eyes of a fox, but he made no
further sign for many hours, When we
went into camp he took al! the precau¬
tions the most timid could suggest, and
I do not believe he slept two hours be¬
tween dark and dawn.
The night passed without an alarm,
and it was after noon next day before
we saw Indians again. We had been
travelling for an hour after the noon
halt when we came to a singular bit of
ground. It was a ridge about fifty
feet wide, with heavy washouts or dry
ravines on each side of it. This place
could be avoided by turning to either
the right or the left, but Baker, who
was mounted, as most of the rest of us
were, led the way right along this
ridge. I was watching him, and I saw
that he was further ahead than usual.
I alse saw him make • cuious sign.
He raised his right arm on a line with
his ear, bent the forearm across
his head and held it thus for a few sec¬
onds with the palm opened and tow¬
ards his horse’s head, Looking ahead
and to the left I thought I caught a
brief glimpse of a dark object—some¬
thing like a black head peering above
the bank of the ravine. I was close to
the head wagon, and ked the man
to halt, and in twenty words made him
understand that I firmly believed the
Indians had prepared an ambuscade for
us. I had made him understand this
when Baker halted and turned to us
with the query:
1 ‘What’s the matter now?”
“The route looks dangerous,” 1 an¬
swered.”
“The route is all right, bring your
wagons.”
« 4 Why can’t we go to the left or
right?” I asked.
‘ Look here,” he began, as he rode
back, “is this train under my orders or
yours?”
“Yours, sir.”
“Then you be careful, if you at-
tempt to interfere with me I’ll order
you under arrest. Come on with the
wagons. ”
He turned and galloped forward.
As he did so I rode to tho right and a
companion to the left to reach a point
where we cou Id see into tho ravines.
We both saw the same sight—tho dry
ditch crowded with redskins, and wo
both cried out togethei:
“Shoot the villain! He has led us
into an ambuscade!”
I don’t know who killed him. Five
or six of us fired together just as he
had put his hor3c on a gallop, and he
toppled from his saddle and fell to tho
earth. The Indians, seeing that they
were discovered, sprang up and made a
dash at us ou foot. Although without
a leader, we did just the right thing.
Every man ruslied to the front, leaving
the rear of the train to take care of it¬
self, and we gave the savages a volley
which broke them up and left nine of
their number dead on the ridge. The
living sought cover, ran down tho
ditches behind a rise where their
ponies were concealed, and made off
without firing another shot, although
there wore eighty-four of them in the
band. Had w*e got the train strung
out on that ridge every soul in the train
would have been murdered within ten
minutes. Baker was, as I found out
several years later, an active Danite,
and had led more than one hundred
emigrants to slaughter.— New Yor i
Sun.
Leprosy in Civilized Lands.
According to Dr. Morell Slackenzie,
leprosy, the scourge of the Middle
Ages, has not become practically ex¬
tinct among Europeans, but is really
spreading. It has between 1000 and
1200 victims in Norway, is found also
in Portugal, Greece and Italy, and is
rapidly spreading in Sicily, in the
Baltic provinces of Russia and m France,
while the British Islands are not ex-
empt from it. In the United States,
cases have been found in California, in
some of the states of the Northwest; in
Utah and in Louisiana. Many cases
exist in New Brunswick. In the Sand¬
wich Islands the disease first broke out
in 1853, and there are now 1100 lepers
in the Molokai settlement alone. The
disease is extending in the West Indies.
In Trinidad there were three cases in
1805, 860 in 1878 and probably more
than 1000 now. Leprosy ex sts in
Australia and New Zealand, and is
estimated to have more than a quarter
of a million victims in India. It may
be added that recent investigations
seem to remove all doubts that leprosy
is contagious. The cause has teen
found by Hansen in a bacillus resembl¬
ing the germ of consumption, and Dr.
Arning of Hamburg has produced
leprosy in a condemned criminal by in¬
oculation.
How African's Hunt the Elephant
The Iiuki is a fine, deep stream with
a strong current; its water being of a
dark hue, the contrast in color between
it and the Congo is very discernible at
its mouth.
Large herds of elephants and buf¬
faloes abound along both sides of the
river, which are hunted by the more in¬
land tribes, and the ivory sold to the
dwellers upon the banks of the river.
These hunters build platforms up in the
trees, out of reach of an elephant’s
trunk.
Hundreds of such platforms are matte
all over the woods, the places being, of
course, selected where herds of cle-
phaats are known to pass to their feed-
ing-grounds, or attracted by a plentiful
supply of water in the neighborhood.
When news iS brought in that there are
elephants in a wood wnich has been so
prepared, the natives hasten to get into
positions on these jdatforms, armed
with their deadly spears. They gener¬
ally try to drive their spears between
the shoulderi of the brute, and, as a
rule, they manage to pick out two or
three amongst a herd which pass near
enough to the platforms to come within
effective range of their weapons.
Sometimes they will attack an ele-
phant on foot. This is indeed a very
plucky proceeding. They stealthily
crawl up alongside an elephant, armed
only with a spear which has a broal,
sharp blade and a long, thick handle.
Upon getting near enough to their
ponderous game, they either spear him
in the groin or hamstring him. Hold-
with both hands the haft of the spear,
they thrust it in with all their might t
and, as a rule, they manage to bring aa
elephant down on tho spot, or to wound
him so severely that they are able to
track him to his re treat, where they
finish him off. Of course, as soon as
they Lave delivcied their blow they
make off, to escape the fury of the
wounded animal, and the nature of
the ground, covered as it i3 with large,
thick-trunked trees, enables them to
dodge his mosements or take to the
belter of the branches. The Ledger.
Quick-witted Birds.
1 Some birds are gifted with a senso of
observation approaching* to something
very like reasoning faculties, as the fol¬
lowing anecdote proves: At a gentle¬
man’s house in Straffordshire, England,
the pheasants are fed out of one of
those boxes, the lid of which rises with
the pressure of the pheasant standing
on the rail in front of the box. A water
hen, observing this, went and stood
upon the rail as soon as the pheasant
had quitted it; but the weight of the
bird being insufficient to raise the lid
of the box so as to enable it to get at
the corn, the water hen kept jumping
on the rail to give additional impetus
to its weight. This partially succeed¬
ed, but not to the satisfaction of the
sagacious bird, which, therefore, went
off; and, soon returning with a bird of
its own species, the united weight of
the two had the desired effect and the
successful pair enjoyed the benefit of
their ingenuity.
A Compromise.
In crossing Union square the othei
day a lady dropped her handkerchief,
and a gamin of 10, who noticed the
fact, ran after her and restored it.
“Thanks, child, thanks!” she re¬
plied, as she received the dainty fabric
from his grimy hand, “Now, then,
what can I do for you?”
“Nuthink,” he replied.
“Oh, but I must reward your action
In some way. How shall I do it?”
“Well, mum, if you are bound to do
it please give me a hundred dollars in-
3 tcad of presenting me with a mansion
on Fifth avenue. Taxes is high, and
dad is out of work, and we don’t want
ao dead horse to carry these hard
times.”
She made it 10 cents and another
vote of thanks, and he seemed perfect¬
ly satisfied.— N. Y. Sun,
NO. 14.
f SAULS OF THOUGHT
Clemency for those we know is rarci
than pity for those wo know not.
Virtue does not dwell upon tho tip
of the tongue, but in the temple of tli
purified heart.
We often console ourselves for being
unhappy by a certain plca^ue that we
find in appearing so.
We swallow at one mouthful the He
that flatters, and drink drop by drop
the drop that is bitter.
Though you may have known clever
men who were indolent, you never
knew a great man who was so.
Opinions alter, manners change,
creeds rise and fall; but the moral law
is written on tablets of eternity.
Lot us help the fallen still, though
they never pay us; and let us lend with¬
out exacting the usury of gratitude.
The one who will be found in trial
capable of great acts of love is ever the
one who is always doing considerate
small ones.
Men often go up to tempta’ion, from
which they should fly, in a self-confi¬
dent way; and they often fly when they
should stand and fight.
Analyzed a Man.
Dr. Lancaster, a London physician,
and surgeon, recently analyzed a man
and gave the results to his class in
chemistry. The body operated upon
weighed 154.4 pounds, Tho lecturer
exhibited upon the platform 23.1
pounds of carbon, 2. 2 pounds of lime,
22.3 ounces of phosphorus and about
one ounce each of sodium, iron, potas¬
sium, magnesium and silicon. Besides
this solid residue, Dr. Lancaster esti¬
mated that there were 3.595 cubic feet
of oxygen, weighing 121 pounds; 105,-
900 cubic feet of hydrogen, weighing
15.4 pounds, and 52 cubic feet of ni¬
trogen in the man’s body. All of these
elements combined in tho following:
One hundred and twenty-one pounds of
water, 18.5 pounds gelatine, 1.32
pounds fat, 8. 8 pounds fibrin and al¬
bumen and 7- 7 pounds of phosphate of
lime and other minerals.
A Bare Bird.
3Iuch attention has been drawn to
the Great Auk in recent years by the
astonishing prices paid by collectors for
its skins and egg3, while Pallar’s Cor¬
morant, the extinction of which in the
North Pacific corresponds to that of the
Great Auk in the North Atlantic, has
been scarcely heard of at all. Yet
Leonhard Stejnegcr of tho Smithsonian
Institution, states that this bird was
the largest and handsomest of its tribe.
Ouly four specimens are known to exist
in museums, no one possesses its eggs,
and the first bones found and preserved
were obtained by Mr. Stejnegerin 1882,
near the northwestern extremity of
Behring island.
A Prince’s Floral Present.
A letter signed Albert El ward
Guelph was received by a New York
florist recently. It cams through
Drexel, Morgan & Co., and it con¬
tained a check for $100 and an order
from the Prince of Wales directing him
to send two baskets of flowers, to the
va’ub of $50 each, to two ladies whom
he had met abroad, and who are now
living on Fifth Avenue, near Central
Park. The flowers were duly de¬
livered. One basket was filled with
lilies of the valley and maiden-hair
fern, the other with pharleyensis ferns
and American beauty roses.
A Watch for the Blind.
The Swiss watchmakers have invented
a watch for the blind. A small peg is
set in the middle of each figure. When
the hour hand is moving towards a
given hour the peg for that hour drops.
The owner, when he wants to know
the time, finds which peg is down and
then counts back to twelve.— St. Louti
Jtepvb’ie