The Dade County weekly times. (Trenton, Ga.) 1889-1889, June 29, 1889, Image 2

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Bails icily Timas. ‘ TRENTON, GEORGIA. An International Congress of Geogra phers is to be held in Paris during the summer. __ The Louisville Courier-Journal calls for a free delivery mail system for the farm ing communities. About fifteen companies are reported to have been organized during the past few weeks to build cotton mills in the South. The New York Telegram estimates that there has been in three years a twenty five per cent, decrease in prison inmates in prohibition lowa. One may stand on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, they say, and be entirely out of a heavy storm that rages at a lower level. The structure is 984 feet high. The statement is made, says the At lanta Constitution , that not more than five eminent scientists in the United States re ject the Darwinian theory of evolution. Our country is not altogether defence less on land. The Centennial demon strated that 70,000 militiamen can be as sembled in New York within fifteen hours. The Chicago Journal thinks that the coming census may show a decrease in the population of some of the States. It pre dicts a falling off in some of the New England States and in the two Carolinas. Both France and England have decided that the female sex has not the necessary intelligence to make proper use of the ballot. And still American girls run af ter those fellows 1 indignantly exclaims the Detroit Free Press. At a recent banquet in New York Gov ernor Buckner, of Kentucky, said that after the surrender at Appomattox General Grant followed him into the woods, and offered him the use of all his funds and food for the comfort of himself and his men. Cincinnati firemen gave a ball the othei evening and an alarm left the maids and matrons without partners while the tire- Ultu fof bbt Ul’S wlxlir and “swallow tail” coats in the line of duty. Both the ladies and the fire were put out. The revival of the spelling bee promises, thinks the Atlanta Constitution , no end of innocent and hearty amusement. There is more genuine enjoyment in one of these contests than there is in a hundred walking matches or other tests of physical strength. The wives of the foreign ministers at Peking, China, must have been highly flattered to receive portions of the State dinner at their homes. This was the nearest approach to recognition that they have any hope of in a country where the woman is never deemed worthy to appeal in public. It is of some interest to recall the fact that Ramsey says in his “Life of Wash ington” that Washington’s mother “was from the influence of long established habits so far from being partial to the American revolution that she often re gretted the side her son had taken in the controversy between her King and hex country.” A railway company in Texas, which has 7,000,000 acres of good land to sell on easy terms, has agents drumming among the disappointed boomers. As all Oklahoma contains less than 1 900,000 acres, there should be no trouble, remarks the Detroit Free Press, in accommodating the overflow. “There is a little food foi thought, too,” it adds, “in the possession of so much land by a railway corpora tion.” The Cherokee outlet is the next sectior of the boomer's promised land. His ad vance guard is already there, announces the Washington Star, dodging the United States army, fighting over worthless claims, and, as in Oklahoma, swallowing great quantities of alkali dust in the water and air. Alkali water in the Oklahoma cities is now very expensive, and, after drinking, the imbiber heartily wishes that he hadn't. The ancient Japanese custom of Hari Kari, or Happy Despatch, has received s set-back. For centuries it has been the custom for officials of high rank who may have offended their sovereign to disem bowel therrfselves upon intimation from the Mikado. Not long ago an old and trusted official wounded the feelings of the monarch and the next day an ofiicei brought him the fatal sword, a mag nificent weapon incrusted with rare jew. els. The culprit received the sword, packed his valuables and took the steamer for Hs-vo en route to Paris, where he Anld the sword of honor far $30,000. LOOK SEAWARD, SENTINEL! Look seaward. Sentinel, and tell the land What you behold SENTINEL. I see the deep-plowed furrows of the main Bristling with harvest; funnel, and keel, and shroud, Heaving and hurrying hither through gale and cloud, Winged by their burdens; argosies of grain, Flocks of strange breed and herds of south ern strain, Fantastic stuffs and fruits of tropic bloom, Antarctic fleece and equatorial spice, Cargoes of cotton, and flax, and silk, and rice. Food for the hearth and staples for the loom; Huge vats of sugar, casks of wine and oil, Summoned from every sea to one sole shore By Empire’s sceptre; the converging store Of Trade’s pacific universal spoil. And heaving and hurrying hitherward to bring Tribute from every zone, they lift their voices, And as a strong man revels and rejoices, Thoy loudly and lustily chant, and this the song they sing: CHORUS OF HOME-COMING SHIPS. From the uttermost bound Of the wind and the foam From creek and from sound, . We are hastening home. We are laden with treasure From ransacked seas, To charm your leisure, To grace your ease. We have trodden the billowsj And tracked the ford, To soften your pillows, To heap your board. The hills have beeu shattered,' The forests scattered, Our white sails tattered, To swell your hoard, Is it blossom, or fruit, or Seed, you crave? The land is your suitor, • The sea your slave. We have raced with the swallows, And threaded the floes Where the walrus wallows ’Mid melting snows; Sought regions torrid And realms of sleet, To gem your forehead, To swathe your feet. And behold, now we tender, With pennons unfurled, For your comfort and splendor, The wealth of the world. —Alfred Austin, in National Review. BLACK CLOUD'S SON. A GOVERNMENT RIDER’S STORY. There will never be another Indian out break serious enough to call for the ac tion of a full regiment of soldiers in sup pressing it. The extermination of the buffalo was the death-blow to the hostile Indian. Added to that, the building of the railroad lines flooded the West with emigrants, miners, hunters and tourists, md the Indian found himself hedged in by circumstances. The red man is no longer a warrior. He is down, and down pretty low, and it is the beginning of the end. He is doomed to follow the buffalo, ind his total extinction will be regretted only by the few philanthropists who argued for him as a theory, and never came in physical contact. No human being ever came nearer being a fiend than an Apache Indian. The Pawnees, Blackfeet and Cheyennes were wicked enough, but the Apache had traits of his own—a fiendishness w r hich other tribes might imitate but could not equal. He was born crafty and cruel. He never had the slightest feeling of mercy or pity from the cradle to the grave. He was never so much amused as when assist ing to torture some living thing. He was never so satisfied as when planning to take life. A year previous to the time General Custer was ordered West to begin a vigor ous campaign against the Indians, the Apaches were in their glory, and they boasted that they could defeat any force of soldiers sent against them. I was scouting and mail-carrying in Texas for the Government, and after many close shaves was finally captured by the red imps. It is of that incident I am going to write. A month before my capture I was out on a scout on the Rio Pecos River, our party numbering eighteen men. We were well mounted and moving quickly from point toCpoint. One day at noon we went into cam]) in a grove of cotton woods, and before I had unsaddled the Lieutenant in command informed me that he had lost his revolver from its holster during the last mile of our ride, and asked me to ride back in search. In stead of riding I returned on foot, and had the luck to find the weapon only about a quarter of a mile away. I then cut across an elbow to reach the grove, and when within stone’s throw came sud denly upon an Indian pony in a dry gulch, and at the same instant discovered his owner crouched behind a boulder with his back to me and his face to the grove. I had him under my rifle before he could turn his head. Indeed, my finger was on the trigger when I saw that he was a boy. lie had a rifle in his hands, but I called out to him to lay it down or I would tire, and after a moment's hesitation he obeyed. Then, as I kept him covered at a distance of only seven or eight feet, I called to the men in the grove, and several of them came hurrying down in response. I had captured a son of Black Cloud, Chief of one of the Apache bands, and the boy was named after his father. He was only fourteen years old, and his presence there exemplified the ruling traits of Apache character. Three hours before he had discovered our party while out hunting with a party of his own. They dared not make an open attack, but the young Chief had sent his people away and then cut across the country to the grove, planning that we would halt there. Single-handed and alone he was going to pick off the Lieutenant, and then make his escape to boast of it. We had splendid horses and were all old campaigners, and the boy would not have had one chance in ten to get away. He must have realized it, and yet he was willing to run the risks. He was greatly chagrined and cast down by his capture. We had finished our scout aud were on our way back to Fort McKavett, and we determined to carry him in prisoner. When he was informed of this he earnestly begged me to kill him, saying that he could never hold up his head among his people again. Had he been wounded and rendered helpless it would not have been so bad; but to be taken as he was would forever disgrace him. We bound him fast to his pony, secured the animal against a break for liberty, and set out for the fort. The boy was sullen and defiant for a time, refusing to answer any questions, but after a while, when I had told him that he would not be harmed, and that his capture under the circumstances re dounded to his credit, he thawed out a little. Three hours after his capture we got sight of a single Indian a mile away to our right on a knoll, and as we halted young Black Cloud informed me that it was one of his tribe, who wanted to have a talk with us. Signals were exchanged between the two, and the stranger soon came galloping in. He was one of the hunting party, and had been dodging us for twenty miles to find out if the boy had been captured. He was a fine look ing fellow, and as he halted in our midst, ii'J saw the ignoble situation of the boy thought was to fight for him.. I called his attention to the fact that any move of his would result in the death of them both, and then explained how the youth was captured. Knowing the con ceit of the tribe I spread it on very thick, alleging that it required our whole force to make the capture, and it was not ac complished then without a hard fight. This falsehood made the boy my friend for life, while it put the other in better humor. I stated that young Black Cloud Avould be taken to the fort and held prisoner until exchanged for some white captive, and gave ray word that he would be well treated meanwhile. He sent a message to his father to the effect that he was not afraid, and hoped to be at lib erty in a few days, and two hours later we had him safely lodged in the guard house at the fort. His capture was looked upon as a good thing, for we knew that his tribe would gladly exchange two or three white prisoners for him. Two weeks after the capture of yofing Black Cloud I was called into the Colonel’s office one evening, and asked if I thought it possible to get through to Fort Concho with despatches. The country was then in the possession of the liostiles. The Pecos warriors had come down out of New Mexico to make com mon cause against the whites, and the Kioways, Cheyennes, Chickasaws, Semi noles, and Sliawnees were all out in the country to the north and east. The Apaches had us almost in a state of siege, being seen every day within five miles of the post, and the chances of making a sixty-mile ride across the plains lying be tween the two forts without running against a party ot hostiles was not one in fifty. At times a Govern ment rider commanded to go. He is asked certain questions, however, in a manner which decides him to make the attempt. I left the post at 9 o’clock at night of an Aujmst evening perfectly satis fied that I sli#Jl be dead or a prisoner bffm'c midnight. 1 had a bronco of tire l<w*%ait, a rifle and revolver, and I car ried only five or six pounds extru weight. Bofore setting out I went in to see young Black Cloud aud say good-by. I had spent much of my time in his company, and we had become pretty good friends. When I told him of my journey he took from his neck .a buckskin string, to which was attached the tooth of a grizzly bear, and handed it to me with the remark: “You cannot get through. You will be captured or killed. If not shot down, show this to my people. They will know who it belongs to. They may trade you for me, and I shall thus get back to my tribe.” A thunder storm was coming up as I took my departure. Instead of holding due north, on the direct route, I rode to the east for five miles and then held away for Concho direct. The storm now broke, and for a full hour I rode ahead at a steady gallop, one moment in dark ness so black that I could not see the cars of my horse, and the next in a blaze of light so brilliant that it blinded me. By the time the storm had passed I was a good fifteen miles from the fort, and as I had seen nothing to alarm me I be gan to hope that I would get through all right. It was between 10 and 11 o’clock, and I had pulled my broncho down to a walk for the first time, when he suddenly uttered a snort of alarm and started off with wild jumps. Three or four rifles cracked, and as the reports reached me the horse fell in a heap and flung me far over his head. I was momentarily stunned by the fall, and before I had made a move to get up I was seized by at least three Indians, who were not a minute in bind ing my hands and feet. When I got a clear head once more it was to realize that the Apaches had me a secure prisoner, aud that, there were six or seven warriors about me. The moon came up in a clear sky a little latter, aud then I made out that I had run directly into a temporary camp. The shots fired after me had brought down my horse, and he lay groan ing and floundering a few yards away. The Indians knew that I was a white man, but they didn’t know who they had got hold of until morning came. During the interval I lay on the wet ground guarded by two of the warriors, and al most immediately after my capture two men were sent off in different directions with news of it. A party of twelve Apaches arrived just before daylight and ten more at sunrise, and among the latter I recognized Black Cloud, father of the boy. One of the men had recognized me as “The-white-man-who-hurries,” as the Government riders were called, and as being in the party who captured the Chief’s son. No one ever saw such a mad lot of redskins before or since. They wanted to torture me, and yet they realized that through me the boy could obtain his liberty. The Chief at first declared that he had disowned his son, and that he might rot in confinement be fore he would exchange a white prisoner for him. When I called his attention to the charm young Black Cloud had given me the old man pretended to believe that it was a sign the boy was dead, and he ordered my immediate torture. 1 was jerked to a sitting position, my boots cut off, and the devils were about to use their knives on my feet when the old man changed his mind aud restrained them. The sight of me before them was the same as a pail of fresh blood placed before ravenous wolves, and I expected to be knifed or tomahawked every moment foi the first half hour. When they had cooled down a little Black Cloud de manded the particulars of his boy’s cap ture. I saw that he felt degraded over the event, and was ready to disown the youth, aud I made out a strong defence for the little chap to save ray own scalp. It was finally decided to spare my life for a few days, and I was conducted to a camp in the foot-hills between the two forts. Here a council was held, and I had a close shave of it. While Black Cloud wanted his son back, some of his advisers contended that he should wait until se curing some cheaper prisoner. They in sisted on making me out a very import ant personage, and it was well known that I had killed or wounded several of the tribe in different scrimmages. An other thing that bothered them was how to make the exchange and not get beaten. Treacherous and deceitful to the last degree themselves,they would not credit the whites with having any honor. It was argued, too, that the commander of the fort would exchange the boy for a private soldier or any sort of prisoner, and that I had done them too much dam age to be set at liberty. There were three days in which my fate was unde cided, and during the last day a stake was driven and fagots collected for a fire to torture me. I had no voice in the council, being bound and under guard, but it was at length decided to make the exchange. So cau tious and fearful were the Indians that it took, a week to effect what might have been done in a day. I wrote a note to the commandant explaining the situation. This was carried in by a squaw, who was permitted to see and converse with young Black Cloud. He replied that he would exchange. The Apaches then wanted the boy turned loose before they released me, but this I would not hear to, know ing they would murder me. It was finally arranged that he was to be escorted a mile outside the fort and turned loose on his horse. I was to be taken to within a mile of the fort, and turned loose on foot. The parties were to occupy eminences half a mile apart, and the hour was to be 9 o’clock in the morning. This plan was carried out. Twenty soldiers came out with the boy; and about the same num ber of Apaches escorted me. The treach ery of the copper-faced fiends was soon exemplified. They had posted five war riors in a dry run to shoot me down as I made for the fort. The boy doubtless suspected some such move, for as soon as released he came galloping straight for me, and after a ‘ -how how” and a hand shake he insisted that I walk beside his pony until we reached the gate of the fort. When I was safe he waved his hand and rode away to be received with yells and cheers, and it was then we saw the treacherous rascals creeping out ol the cover where they had been stationed. A year later, after a fight in which ovei forty of the bravest Apache warriors had gone to earth, I found young Black Cloud among the dead, having been hit foui times. He had a Winchester and a re volver from which every cartridge had been fired. New York Run. Destruction of the Birds. There is a subject to which I would call attention, says a correspondent oi the New York Times, namely, the mania for making collections of birds’ eggs. II has become a great evil in this gectioc and unless checked soon will, I think, prove worse than the English sparrows oi anything else. Different writers have en couraged children to make collections of eggs and have dwelt on their beauty, and the result is that swarms of boys are scouring all the country in the vicinity of towns for eggs, Every egg is taken and hardly a nest escapes destruction. A yeai ago I determined to put a stop to it if possible. I found that the law forbids the robbing of all nests other than those of crows, blackbirds, hawks, and owls, making it a misdemeanor and also provid ing a penalty of $5 for each offense. This, added to the fine of imprisonment oi both for the misdemeanor, makes rathei serious business of egg collecting. And I found several persons who agreed tc help me, had the law published in th« local papers and also read in Sundaj school, along with a warning that all found guilty would be punished. II worked well. Only a few were found tc continue collecting, and a second personal notice to them was all that was necessary. A Buffalo Census. A report is being prepared for the Smithsonian Institution, by Professor W. T. Hornaday, which will show the habits of the Amerioan bison and its graduallj decreasing range, and give interesting details concerning the reduction of its numbers from countless thousands a quar ter of a century ago—the slaughter of 1868 to 1872 taking off three and a half millions—to less than 750 at the present time. The buffalo now left include 243 head in a domesticated state, viz.: 140 head belonging to C. J. Jones, of Garden City, Kan.; 35 head owned by C. Allard, on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana; 18 head with Buffalo Bill’c Wild West Show; 13 head on Charles Goodnight’s ranch near Clarendon, Texas, and several small herds of two to five head. The wild herds, so far as known, are as follows: Near Peace River, Can ada, probably 200 head, though consid erably more according to some estimates; in Yellowstone National Park, as counted no longer ago than February 12th, 200 head; in the Pan Handle of Texas, 30 head; on the Red Desert, Southern Wyoming, 20 head; in the Mussel Shell country, Montana, 10 head; in South western Dakota, 5 head.— Trenton {N. J.) American. ~~ "* ~~ THE KEi> MAN’S HOME LIFE. SOMETHING ABOUT THE INDIAN OF THE PRESENT DAY. The Tepee, Cooking, Treatment’ of Children, Ways of Courting, Ideas of Sickness aud Religious Beliefs. A Montana correspondent of the Cin cinnati Enquirer says that a description of the home life of the Indian of the present day will give the reader the fairest oppor tunity to form correct conclusions. The tepee or lodge is constructed of from fourteen to twenty-six poles, the tops of which tied together and the butt ends resting on the ground,inclosing a circular area, the diameter of which ranges from sixteen to thirty feet. The structure is covered with one continuous piece of buf falo skins, nicely fitted together and so thinly dressed that sufficient light is trans mitted into the interior, even when the lodge is tightly closed. Several families usually live in one of these lodges. Though each family has its particular part of the dwelling and the furniture of each is kept separate, anything like privacy in conver sation or life is impossible. They sleep in open compartments witli feet toward the center, where a perpetual fire is kept going for cooking purposes. The cooking is now done in large iron kettles, issued by the agents or sold by the traders, and nearly every article of food is prepared by boiling. Meat Is sel dom fried. It is generally roasted, when not eaten raw, by hanging on a stick near the fire. Bread is cooked by frying in grease. As Indians can get along very well on meat dried in the sun and such berries and roots as they can find, it is easy to comprehend how the Plains In dians can subsist comfortably upon the treeless prairies. Prior to coming in con tact with the whites most of the Indians used pottery of their own manufacture. They disdain the use of plates, knives and forks. In disposing of liquid food they form with extended thumb and bent forefinger a spoon, which answers all pur poses. In eating meat they usually take a piece into the left hand and. conveying it to the mouth and grasping an end with the teeth, with a dexterity almost alarm ing, sever the bit to be masticated from the chunk by means of a butcher-knife. Cleanliness is at a discount, though fortunately most Indies are very fond of swimming, and will for hours remain in the water when near a river. The Sioux,Chey ennes and a few other tribes use porcu pine tails for combs. The Crows dis pense with combs altogether, and it is on this account that they are even more filthy than other Indians. Home government lies entirely in the hands of the head of the family, who is a more pronounced autocrat than the Czar of Russia. The children are little looked after and become independent when emerging from babyhood, but he who denies the Indian’s love and affection for his off spring is very much in error. The babies do not cry as much as the white babies; as a rule they are healthier. The Indian cradle when tied up, is a little coffin shaped sack with a hood-like projection about the head. It is made of cloth or skins of several thicknesses, always two at the back, and to this a board or a stiff piece of rawhide is securely fastened to keep the child’s back “as straight as an arrow.” After being carefully and firmly tied in the little cradle, the child, as a rule, is only being taken out to be cleaned in the morning, and again in the evening just before the inmates of the lodge go to sleep. I have seen a baby not two days old snugly tied up in one of those little sacks, .the latter being suspended from the pummel of the saddle. Hanging alongside of the pony, and mother and child comfortably jogging along, making a good day’s march in bitter cold winter, easily -keeping up with a company of cav alry, whom she was guiding after hostile Indians. The little toddler soon learns to ride and shoot, to steal and to lie; the boys begin smoking when about years old. Later on comes self-mutilation and torture to graduate into manhood, when he is named from something that has happened during his life, from some accident, some animal killed, or some bird that helped him to success. Girl babies usually receive their names soon after birth. The Indian in his normal frame of mind is a happy and contented being; he is fond of singing, dancing, smoking and gossiping. There is hardly an hour, day or night, when in a well-regulated camp the sound of the monotonous tum-tum to the step of the light fantastic is not heard accompanied by the hoarse and shrill voices of males and females in song. There are few people on the globe who smoke as much as the Indians, and cer tainly few who give to it, in so great a measure a religious character, making it a social pleasure and prizing it highly and secretly as a mark of friendship. All Indians, on the slightest provocation, seem to crystalize into a circular group, seated on the ground for the purpose of “hitting the pipe.” The nightly pow wow of the warriors, for the purpose of discussing the affairs of state is one of life’s sweetest necessities. Some tribes have regular si ory-tellers— men i4'o have devoted a great deai of time to learning the myths and stories of their people, and who possess, in addition to a good memory, a vivid imagination. Often a mother sends for one of these, and, having prepared a feast for him, she and her little “brood,” who are curled up near her, await the fairy stories of the dreamer, who, after his feast and a smoke, frequently entertains them for hours. Gambling is the great passion of the Indian, and he will, without ap parent regret, lose upon the turn of a card all liis earthly possessions, includ ing, in a few instances, his favorite squaw. Some of the Arizona tribes of Apaches indulge in mimic and tableau plays. The young men of the Indians do most of their courting in a standing position. An Indian lover will stand and wait near the lodge where abides the object of his admiration until she appears, when he walks up alongside of her and throws his blanket round her. If she reciprocates the louder sentiment they will thus stand for horns, his blanket covering both thes>, heads and closely wrapped around both their bodies. I have seen as many as haji a dozen young men waiting by the path, which led doVn to the water near the camp, and one after another throw his blanket around a girl as she was going to fill her vessel. If the girl likes to be held, she makes some reply to the first greeting; if she expressed dislike to his advances,, the man, by the law of courtship, must at once desist. The embrace under the blanket excites no comment or annoy ance from mischievous boys or garrulous o.d men and the lover can hug the object of his affection to his heart’s content un molested. I have never seen one Indian kiss another, even among lovers or be tween mother and child, but hugging is most energetically practiced. There are, of course, many other sly ways of court ing. The marriage soon follows as a matter of trade between the respective parents. Though in Indian marriages the affair savors strongly of a commercial transaction, and the wife is usually spoken of as being secured through pur chase or theft, still, as a rule, there is quite an expenditure of sentiment and affection prior to the business part of it. Marriages between blood relations is for bidden among them. The general idea of sickness among the Indians seems to be that an evil spirit has entered the person, and that when it is exercised all will be well. The efforts of the doctor or “medicine man” are prin cipally directed toward casting out this malign and mysterious presence through chanting, dancing and other hocuspocus. Very little medicine in roots and herbs is taken internally, and surgery is little known among them. Faith in a happy hereafter for all is universal, and in con sequence Indians are not agonized with fear and doubt at the approach of death. Nature has given them, in common with all other animals an innate desire for life, and this in connection with their social laws, which forbid self-destruction, keeps them from committing suicide, so that this crime is rare among them. There are some wonderfully pretty beliefs among the Indians treating of the Great Spirit and the great beyond. The Indians are essentially a religious people, or more correctly, a superstitious people, and, as bats thrive best in dark ness, so do superstitions in barbarism. WISE WORDS. Assumed virtue is false dignity. Self admiration is lonesome exercise. A trained man will never go straight. Wise men always have to be told how wise they are. Queer things are not so queer after they become utilized. Appearances are not always the evi dence of happiness. Ignorance is more respectable than the abuse of knowledge. A tailor-made man should never be considered responsible. Common sense demands a government that will govern impartially. There is no greater success in life than to always have an object in view. No man can exert greater influence than by exhibiting his own self-respect. A reformer to be successful must al ways be prepared to take his own drugs. The man who depends upon himself, knows how to do right without being told. Persons imitate each other because they are not on good terms with them selves. The burden of disappointment is the necessary preparation before success cau be borne. No man will ever receive any knowl edge more convincing than the fact that he is bom. The successful man is always the best informed in regard to the means by which he succeeded. The act from a sense of duty will pro duce greater happiness than to yield to the promptings of desire. One Cause of Baldness. One great cause of baldness, in the opinion of a Western knight of the razor, is the habit many people have of changing the style of hair cutting two or three times a year, or nearly as often. He says: “They insist on a ‘short Pompadour’ in the hottest months, a less pronounced crop in the -fall, and then wear their hair longer as the weather gets colder, gradu ally approaching a shave again by the time the thermometer gets up in the nine ties. Now all this may be very comforta ble, but it is very bad for the hair and scalp. It is best to wear the hair short all the year round, brush it freely and .rust to nature for the only really effec tive substitute for pomade.” Electric Watches to Run a Year. Inventor Nic. Hussey of Menlo Park, N. J., who has procured a patent for a watch to run by electricity, has almost' completed the formation of a company to manufacture his electric clocks and watches. Mr. Hussey has been working eleven years on his four inventions, which include a marine clock. The peculiarity about them is the g avity movement, which, aided by a small electric current, moves the pendulums of the clocks and the large balance wheel of the watches. The battery is inclosed in the watch-caso, and with it the time-piece will run for a whole year without any attention.—* Chicago Times. The Texas Steer as a Nurse. A Texas steer lifted a carriage and baby off a street and over a high fence in Denver, Col., without the least dam age to either the infant or the carriage, and the little one seemed delighted with the performance. It is not likely, how ever, that this incident will make the Texas steer popular as a child’s nurse. To be sure, the steer wouldn’t desert the baby in a public park and let the hot sun shine in its face half an hour, while he— or it—flirted with a policeman, but there are weighty reasons why the animal will not be employed in that capacity.— Norristown Herald. .