Evening Star Newspaper, August 29, 1896, Page 12

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1896-TWENTY PAGES. === He told me to break off any nego- ———>+—__—_. Romantic Stories of Men in the Colo- rado Gold Mines. ——__+——_ MILLIONS ONCE WITHIN THEIR REACH Yet Today Former Owners of Pay- ing Properties Are Poor. Ces THE AND DOWNS — (Copyrighted. CRIPPLE CE 1896, by Frank G. Carpenter.» 1896. ARE 12,000 men in Cripple Creek, and fully 10,000 of them are mourning over the fortune they have lost. You meetevery day miners who will tell you how near they « to owning the ¥ » the Inde- r the Victor or other big mines which are now turn- ing out tens of thous- dollars a month. Some will whisper how they sold mines for a song which ere now worth . and others will curse th luck as they describe the fortunes Which have slipped through their fingers. Half a Million for Viet > sold be 4 man hauling logs at the town of near Cripple Creek, the other day ha liar mine to pay rocery Dill of $19. He was earning $a ud he was working fer the men who Housht his mine. His name is Jerry Win- ehell. Four y ‘o he owned a number ations im t he is not pple Creek worth a cent. te which went for grub is famous is awh a: he Last Doilar. Winchell tocated it Is, and not lor after that. when he humsett in d io the amount of $10 to HL. HL. Mills, a gro- ceryman, he gave b t re the iy S was not the settlement ted, buc Winchell nad no me ke t ey a had to take it. he sold mine 1 the Pree y for $75,000, and the pu nih or so after that to § ott and ochers for x0. Now it is producing quantities of and no one knows what it will bring in future. red $100, but Lost a Million. I sat at dinner in Brown's Hotel in Den- ver the other day beside a florid-face long-hearded man from Colorado S| n to talk of the mines of The subject of the Isabela came up, and I asked him if knew anything as to the Cripple Creck mines owned by it id be, “I should say [ do. Their su Know is the Buena Vista. st ail the profits of the Is y. lis vein has heen traced ft thousand feet it has already Proguced more thar 66) worth of gold. Ponad a cnan naif ot that mine for 31, and did Ke it. A man in employ teil a it. He was one of ows who are always hard up, and one day he came to me and told me th nis iamily were out of provisions, and that he must have mor He spoke of ¢ Buena Vista prospect and offered me a half interest in it for $1W. I toid pim that I would give him provisions, but I did not want the mi. i I did not believe there was any gold in the Cripple Creek region. The result was that he went away d sold the interest to other parti Within two weeks thosg parties sold thelr half inte st for $21 3 nd a month later my man got $# for his share. The Isabella mining s kK at its present selling Value is werth more than a miilion. paid $100.00 with! month in dividends, and T cou Ko oue-half of it for $100, Oh, Lord! it makes me sick when I think of it!” How Near Losing the Independence. ‘The Independence gold mine is sald to be the richest in the wor tis said, from five to seven n worth of gold in sight, ts owner, who was working at hi je as a carpenter five years ago, would not now seil i for $10,- 600,000 cash. And still the Independence has several times been offered for sate and | oer refused. This was in the first of its history. One of Dave Moffat's | rts told me the other night how near | he came to buying it. Said he: “It was veveral years ago, before the Cripple Creek region was much developed that I came here from Leadvillle to see what I could find for Moffat. Eben Smith Was with me, and we bought the Victor imine for $5,000, and have, as you know, nade abo ‘lion out of it. Weill, one day I was walking about Stratton's mine, when I saw a miner whom .! knew shovel- In a Gold Vine. ing out ore and rock. J asked him whether mine was worth hing. He said that he did not think that it was worth much, and that Stratton would never get anything out of it. I went into the building, however, and chipped off a t the ore and put it in a: That nt I had it assayed. It ran $200 to the ton. I sounded Stratton and found I could get the mine fer $10,000 cash at an option of $75,000. [ replied that I could not make an offer until I could go through the mine and make a number of assays, and that while the first ore might run good, that which I got later might not be worth mining. This was agreed to, and I was just about to wire Eben Smith that we had better buy the mine, when I got a letter from him, saying that the panic had struck Denver. He said that everything was flat, and that Moffat had written him to go slow, and not to buy anything for a It has | uatil the trouble blew over. I thought the matter would keep for a month, so I went fishing. Thirty days later I came back, only to find that Stratton had struck good ore, and that he would not sell at any price. e took out several thousand dollars that month, and now—well, now every one knows that the Independence mine is worth millions.” Stratton Woold Not Sell. Mr. Cclbrand, the manager of the Mid- land railroad, told me the other day how he tried to buy the Independence and fail- ed. I had asked him whether there was any danger of Stratton losing his property. He replied: ‘Not a bit of it. Stratton has had to fight hard to make a fortune, and he is not going to let it slip through his fingers. { know that he has refused some big of- fers for the Independence. I once tried to buy it myself and failed. The offer came to me from New York parties. Mr. Schley of the big banking firm of Moore & Schley wanted the mine, and Schley wrote me that he had parties who were willing to pay anything for it up to three million dollars. He wrote that if I could bring about a sale, no matter at what price or on what conditions, he would give me $50,000 for my t He knew that I was ac- quainted Stratton and thought that I could succeed.” i “I don’t wonder that you made the trial, said 1. of course not,” replied Mr. Col- “You can’t pick up $50,000 every day, even here in Colorado. I was very anxious to make the sale and I saw Mr. Stratton at once. The mine had already paid considerable. It had good prospects, though there was not anything like millioas of dollars yet in sight. I told Mr. Strat- ton that I had seme eastern parties who wanted to buy his ming, and that they would pay a big price. I did everything I could to induce him to sell. I said “Na . Stratton, here is a chance to make yourself independent from now on. You have been a poor man all your !'fe and you can new assure yourself of riches 1 the shadow of a doubt. Your mine, is true, promises well, but it may play . These men will give you the c You can put it in government bonds have more money than you can spend for the rest of your life. What could you have better than that? ““T think the mine is better than that,’ replied Mr. Stratton; ‘at least, t fe CAD- italists seem to think so. “ ‘Yes,’ said I, “but you have got to work it to get the money out. It ts not a sure thing, and if it were mining gold ts, know, full of annoyances. Now, dea’t’ you travel? You fl cut of this country. Why don’t you take a trip cround the world? You can go to Puris or London and live ike a lord on the interest of the money that this saie will bring you.’ “Ef don't know,’ replied Stratton, ‘I don't think I care much for travel. I like to stay at home.” ““But stop a moment, Mr. Stratto suid I, ‘and think what you could do with all that money. You could cultivate any hobby you pleased. There is a little islind for sale off the coast of California which is caid to he a second paradise. You could purchase this island and build a palace on it and live like a king. Your life has been one of hard work; why not take it easy money will make aimost any- t ble. n’t you some arm- bition that you want to gratify?” “To tell you the truth,’ replied Mr. Stratton, ‘I have only one ambition, and that is to own the richest mine in the world nd work it. T think T have It here. Your people cannot appreciate how [ feel about it. Even if I wished to sell the mine 1 hould ask at least $10,060,000 for it. I know It is worth that, but I also know that your people would laugh at the idea. I know, too, that if you made me an offer large as that I would not sell. I would quick ss with any af I have determined nce for any pric oncluded Mr. Colbrand, ‘ended ‘i and I failed to get my not to sell the $50,000." Men Who Missed Millions. And still, as I have said, Stratton offered to sell out a number of times during the earlier days of the Independence, but at this time there were none who had enough faith to buy. Now it is said that he Is making such improvements that he will in me be able to take a million dollars’ worth of gold out of the mine in a single day, and that one of his boasts is that he will soon ship a car load of ore which will be worth at least $100,000. He has already shipped $50.00) worth of ore in a day, and he is doing all he can to keep from allow- ing the mine to pay more than $120,000 a month. The Portland mine, of which I have already written, was once offered to New York parties for $200,000. But the ex- were sent here reported that only $37,000 worth of ore In sight, New Yorkers refused the offer. the Bob Womack and His Cabin, Poverty Galch, The next month the owners of the Port- land took out $40,000, and since then it has roduced more than $2,000,000, It now pays $4,000 a month in dividends, and I am told that it will, notwithstanding its enormous expenses, pay 36 per cent this year. The Victor mine, which was sold to French parties for more than a million dollars, bropgnt as I have told you, the original ‘finders only $50,000, and_was refused by Wall street brokers at $270,000. This mine pays 2 per cent a month dividends on a capitalization of a million. He Preferred to Peddle Pills. Similar stories might be told as to other mines, and all about me I see the funeral processions of those who are mourning the “gold they did not get.” During my ride to Cripple Creek I traveled with a very intel- ligent doctor named MeDenald, who ts get- ting fat off of the “one-lung” brigade who {are marching through different parts of Utah in search of health. He told me how he was offered only two years ago a one- elghth interest in the Anchoria Leland mine for $500, but had not the nerve to buy. This is the mine out of which Irving Howhbart and others have made @ fortune. Its stock is very vaiuable, and there is practically none of it on the market. It a little over a year ago to T. J. Maloney, but the lease has now expired. Maloney struck “pay dirt” as soon as he began working. He found one body of ore of 1.40 pounds which yielded him $36,000, and he taken out, Iam told, more than $00,000 worth of gold. Had Dr. MeDonald invested in the mine his $500 would have made him independent of drug stores and patients for the rest of his life. The Story of a Deer's Horn, Nearly every man who gets a mine at Cripple Creek has to fight for !t. Stratton has hud a number of lawsuits. The Port- land mine was for a long time in the courts, and nearly every good claim ts con- tested. One of the queerest stories I hear is that of the Deer Horn mine, which now belongs to Stratton and others. It was | located by an old carpenter named Sterritt. Sterritt had heard of Stratton’s success, and he knew that Stratton was a carpen- ter, so he thought if the luck was running with the carpenter trade he would drop his saw and plane and go to mining. He was about sixty years of age, and he knew nething about ore or prospecting. He simply wandered about the hills in an aim- less manner, breaking up a p.ece of stone here and chipping off a bit of rock there. At last one day on Globe Hill, back of Cripple Creek, he saw lying on the ground a deer’s horn. He was a rather superstitious fel- low, and he thought that this was an omen that he was to dig there for gold. He at once named his claim “The Deer Horn,” and set out the stakes which made it his own. He had no money, and he was com- pelled to do all the work himself. He dug @ ten-foot hole, and then making a rude ladder, he went down with a bucket and laboriously carried tie rock to the top. Af- ter a time he rigged up a windlass and thus hauled it out. After some weeks he sent some of the rock to Pueblo to be as- Sayed, a friend advancing him the cash to pay for the assay. The report was that the best ore contained 80 cents’ worth of gold to the ton. In reading it, however, old Sterritt mistook the figures for $8 Instead of 80 cents. “That isn't at all bad,” said he, and he went on mining. At last, how ever, he came to the end of his ‘ if he walked off to his home, thirty miles away, to work at his trade as carpenter for a week or so in order to save enough meney to go on with his mine. While he was away the owners of une of the stamp mills examined the mine, and when he came back they offered him a dollar a ton for all the rock on the surface of his claim for a distance of 100 tect in length, 25 feet in width and 6 feet in depth. This Sterritt accepted, and he was soon making from $19 to $15 a day. In the meantime a specu- later jumped his mine, and he had to fight for it in the courts. The other miners, however, saw the tn- Justice of the jumper’s claim and they burned him in effigy and scared him so that he did not dare to appear at the trial. While the suit was pending Sterritt ship- ped more than $12,000 worth of precious rock, and when he was offered $40,000 for his mine he took it and left for his old home in Indiana. During the same year that he sold it the Deer Horn. shipped $126,000 worth of ore. Within the past few months it has been resold and it is now to be operated in connection with the Sum- mit mine, which adjoins it on the north. Its new owners intend to put in the finest of machinery and they claim that the mine contains a fortune in its immense bodies of low grade ore. und Millions; Worth Nothing. it is sad to know that those who do the Most for the world often reap the least reward. Marshall, who discovered gold in California, died a pauper. The man who laid bare the riches of the oil fields of Pennsylvania was in his last days depend- ent on charity, and Bob Womack, the Prospector who first showed up the riches ot this Cripple Creek gold camp, 1s now living in a little log cabin in sight of mines worth millions and struggling hard to get more than a living. His story is that of many miners. For twenty years he has been prospecting. and now, at forty-three, having found millions, he is worth nothing. He came to this region ten years in ad- vance of any one else and siaked out a number of ciaims, among others what is now known as the El Paso mine, which Sald to be worth half a million. He ownec this prospect for some time, but could not get others to believe in ils rich He A Retort of Cripple Cre had no money to develop it and he finally sold it for $00. A few months after he made the sale, one-third of the El i was sold for $35,000, and it is now von ered a very valuable property. It was Wo- mack who first had faith in the Cripple Creek gold region. He held the El Paso for a long time before he sold it and he worked on the cattle farm of Bennett Meyers upon which have since been 1o- cated some of the best Cripple Creek mines, in order to get the money to continue prospecting. He dug holes all over this farm in his search for gold. The owners of the farm laughed at him and told him that he must cover up his holes, ag their uttle fell into them. He did this and went on. From time to time he took rock down to Denver to be assayed and he found that it ran as high as $500 per ton. After the miners began to come to Cripple Creek he gave away a number of claims which he had on Gold Hill, and some of these claims within a year afterward sold for $40,000, By the time the camp was In full blast he found himself worth nothing, and now he says of himself that his old friends r him by with a sneer and those who have the most of the wealth which he has discovered do not even say ‘Have a cigar, Bob! FRANK G. CARPENTER. a PITTSBURG'S PINGREE GARDENS. Over 100 Fam ex Living on the Lit- From the Pittsburg. The Pingree potato patch experiment has bren a success in Pittsburg. Over 100 families have earned good livings by till- ing the garden plots and some few of the industrious farmers have succeeded in making a little money. They had much to contend with, however, and the success made was only after great effort. The vegetables were planted out very late, the potatoes in some of the plots decayed be- cause of the wet weather, and the weeds grew luxuriantly. To add to this the gar- den committee of the Civic Club for a time Was distressed financially. Dr, Francis Le Moyne and Maj. Howard Morton have worked energetically, however, and they have made the plan successful. The first disappointment was in the fall- ure of the “model farm” on the Schenley estate on Sth avenue. The Civic Club thought this would be a splendid place to exhibit the operation of the plan. A large acreage was divided into lots and assigned to the applicants. The city farmers found that the soil was poor and that weeds thrived better than vegetables. The po- tatoes rotted In the ground, and the tiller who had hopes for good crops became dis- couraged. The garden committee had prepared for just such an emergency. Vacant lots that had been left over after the assignment to the poor were planted and tilled by labor hired by the Civic Club and those whose gardens failed to yield were each given one of the reserved lots. They thus lost no time or labor. Many who had also taken the gardens to temporarily tide them over a distressing period secured good positions and their lots were reassigned to their neighbors. These were worked on the shares, the club taking half of the yield. Through the energy of Superintendent A. C. Peterson the 100 gardeners worked faithfully, cleared their patches of weeds and each raised on an average forty bushels to his little plot. This is consid- ered an excellent showing for the first sea- son, after a late start. All the families have raised enough vegetables for their living, and many have sold half the yield. Turnips are now being planted in large quantities. These will be ready to harvest in_the late fall. The Civic Club had much trouble raising money and they have decided to adopt an idea advanced by S. S. Marvin. This is to calculate the cost of plowing and seeding the lots, and ask citizens to become re- sponsible for the payment of expenses for one lot or a dozen. It is estimated that each lot will cost $8, and In this way the plan will be successful. Secretary Morton said yesterday that much more land would be obtained for next year. It will be plowed this fall so that no delay will be experienced in starting ‘n the spring. Many people were being in- terested in the work and the success of the scheme for another year was bright. ++ A Remarkable Conscience. ‘rom the Cleveland Leader. “I'll tell you the queerest thing you ever heard,” said Chief Dickinson of the fire department the other day, “and it is a true story at that. In 1864, toward the end of the war, I was at Fort Lincoin, at Wash- ington, the leader of the band of the 150th Ohio Regiment. The war was hot, and, of course, we were all intensely interested in. the very latest we could gat about it. Newspapers were scarce, and when we managed to get hold of one we regarded it as a treasure. “One day I was fortunate enough to get hold cf a copy of the Philadelphia In- quirer, which contained a lot of war new: After I had read it I handed it around among the boys, and finally loaned it te a man named Breymeier. Yesterday who should walk into my office hut Breymeier, who returned the paper with thanks. He was iooking over his old papers to get in- formation to assist the widow of an cld comrade in getting a pension, and he ran across the Inquirer. What do you think of the conscience of a man who would return @ paper after all that time?” O'FLYNN ¢ WAS SAD | How an pueceasue Ball Was | Disoouraged. — Se A NEW THING IN UMPIRING Se eS Game Between Rolling Mill Pets and Foundry Favorites. a RINGING IN PROFESSIONAL —__+——_ HE ANNUAL GAM of base ball between the Rolling Mill Pets and the* Foundry Favorites is an event which never fails to excite the enthusiast- ig interest of Fly- town soctety. A great crowd had assembled to witness the occa- sion which was to decide the possession of this year’s laurels. The grand stand, im- provised from a cattle shed, was crowd- ed to a degree that caused the man- agement much embarrassment, owing to the frequency with which people who were shoved off the edges demanded their money back. Mr. Miles O'Flynn was the floor manager of every function of import- ance in that neighborhood, and he claimed particular prominence at this time, owing to the fact that his genius had originated the somewhat unusual system under which the game was played. “It's all wrong,” said he, “ty set a man up an’ say t'im, ‘Ye're th’ umpire an’ an- niet'ing you says goes.’ Dat don't do anni Ving but make a reg'lar kezar out’n ‘im, ezar” was Mr. O'Flynn’s phonetic hod of pronouncing “‘ezu en if de umpire don’t have it all ‘is he was wont to observe, T ee own way,” members of de orjince is likely ter git t mixin’ tings up ‘so lively d show up fur work de nex’ day, an’ all dem ings tends ter bring de game inter di repute. De only way ter mai is ter have all de umpires dat’s nee an’ let dem settle it without no outside interfer- ence. Give each side as many umpires dere is.players, an’ let de floor manager tend to de rest With t se remark Mr. O'Flynn jauntil, ed his mustache, but very carefully not to disturb the two black circles, one at each corner of his mouth, into which it had been With bell-crewned, white h hat and a flam- ing red necktie, he was as who a daughter in the high school, re- marked, “the sinecure of all eyes.” As he walked back and forth In front of the grand stand and the bleachers—the latter being improvised with the as of a neighboring lumber yard—he had the alr of a man whose authority is so uni versally recognized that he can afford to be gracious, The first Inning was not far under way when Mr. Snaggsy Rifles came to the bat on behalf of the Favorites. The pitcher gathered himself and twisted about after the z ner of his kind. “Leggo of ter ball, will ye?" shouted Mr. O'Flynn, “Wot yer t'ink ye’re doin’? Darcin’ The ball sped over the plate. “Strike!” yelled Mr. O'Flynn. {Strike nothin’! retorted Mr. Rifles. Course it was a strike,” put in’ the pitcher, “Leave It go," rejoined Mr. Rifles with a magnanimous wave of his hand, and in a moment the ball was speeding toward him on Mrs. Boggies, sistance together pproved man- shouted Mr O'Flynn. Wan of us {s cross-cyed or some- thin’.”” “I ain’t no eye doctor,” was the lofty response, ‘‘no more'n you're a ball player. What you ought ty de is ter*git er plece of rubber an’ tie one end of it to the bat. Then by .tyin’ the other end to the ball mebbe the two ‘ud get tygether oncet In nu while. Play ball!” “All réght,” said the batsman haughtily. “Leave it go agin.” Once more the pitcher delivered the ball safely into the catcher’s grasp. “Strike!” said Mr. O'Flynn in ley, pene- trating tones “I pertest!"” shouted Mr. Rifles. “Call up de umptres,” id Mr. O'Flynn. Two young men with skin. ight shirts, trousers that had been cut off at the knees and no stockings stepped to where a rope had been stretched to form a quadrangl, Flynn cleared his throat to make an announcement. “Ladies an’ gents: Ty first roun’ oO ty first decision 0° ty first innin’ll take pl: wit eight-ounce gloves an’ Markis’ oO Queensbury's rules. Mr. Mugesie Mc- Manus'll represent ty Pets an’ anud:r gent persinally unbeknownst ty me, but givin’ ty name o’ ‘Bantam Joe,” will hold up de discussion fur ty Favorights. I'll referee while dey gits better acquainted.” After the sixth round Mr. McManus failed to come up, and the Favorites got the decision. Such interpolations became more and more frequent. Whenever an alterca- tion arose Mr. O'Flynn called up the two op- posing umpires whose weights most nearly corresponded. Fortune seemed strangely on the side of the Favorites. In the eleven Protracted encounters that occurred up ¢ the middle of the fifth inning their s had been victorious. Shortly after fourth inning O'Flynn’s face began to w. @ very ominous expression, and now, whea the Favorites ought to require another test, he raised his hand to quell the mur- murs which arose from the Pets and their admirers. “Ladies an’ gents,” he said, “I have been ty floor manager fur about all ty social events Flytown has witnessed in ty las’ ten years. An’ dis is ty first time I ever hatter "pologize fur ty way tings was go- in’. But I feel it's me place ty offer some explanation about how it 1s dat las’ year ty Favorights got beat by a score of 7 ty 2, de players on bote sides bein’ ty same, while dis year at de middle of ty fift’ in- nin’ ty score stan's 21 ty 4 in favor of ty Favorights. Ty umpires dat ty Pets has brought wit’ ‘em is all knowed here, but every one er ty sluggers ty Favorights has brought along is a ranic outsider. One by one ty umpires fur ty Pets has been put ty sleep, an’ I got some information jist now which goes ty show dat de Favorights has been ringin’ in sure tings on us. “Two of deir nine umpires is de middle- weight champeens of Ilinois an’ Ioway, respectably, an’ t’'ree of ‘em {s heavy- weight champeens of different sections of de country. I s'pose ty rest is in de same class, an’ we're right up agin wot has been ty ruination of so much good sport— ty practice o’ workin’ in perfessionals in disguise ter do up gents dat goes inter ty biz for ty sport dat’s in it.” A wrathy murmur arose from the crowd. “Wot I perpose doin’.” he went on, “is ter call ty match off right here. Of course, ty Favorights’ll objeck, but if dey insists on playin’ it out er claimin’ ty victory, will ty gang stan’ by me?” The audience was divided in Its affilia- tions, but by getting each faction to stand up it was ascertained that the majority sympathized with O'Flynn’s proposition. Overawed by stress of numbers, the Fa- vorites yielded without a combat, and as the spectators filed away Mr. O'Flynn sad- ly mused: “Dat’s ty way ty ting always goes, socrer or later. Dere’s c’ruption in ty ballot box an’ c'ruption in hoxss racin’, an’ tyday has witnessed ty de't’blow of ‘wan o’ ty finest variations on ty noble game o° base ball dat ever was invented.” PHILANDER JOHNSON. eee CARS RUN BY NATURAL GAS. The Product Used for Fuel in the Power Houses in a California Town. rom the San Franclsco Chronicle. STOCKTON, August 14.—The question of power in Stockton was solved by the Stock- ton Gas and Electric Company today, and during the greater porticn of the day the entre system of electric cars on the five miles of street railway in Stockton was be- ing operated by electricity generated by an engine using natural gas. Stockton’s sup- ply of gas is large, and limitations of it have not been found yet. he gas company owns a daily output of about $00,000 feet, and as all of that is not taken by customers burning gas for light and fuel, fully half of the supply is turned urder the boilers at the electric works for the purpose of making steam. The amount of power so secured from the gas was not up to the expectations, or rather up to the desires of the company, for they did not know what they ought to expect, and for more than a month Manager Adams has been at work fitting up an engine to burn Ss and so convert it into power direct. he engine used is an Otto engine, made in the east, and is the largest one on the Pacific coast, and the cnly o:e that was ever used to run an electric power plant or tric lighting plant. The engine uses ut 2,00) feet of the natural gas an hour and develops its full horse power, though it was not compelicd to use it all yesterday, as the required power to run the entire sys- tem Is about 122 horse power. The engine was started at 2 o'clock this afternoon, and a few minutes thereafter the work of running the car lines was turn- ed on it, one circuit at a time, until the ergine was carrying the whole load, which she had taken up withcut a jar of hitch ‘cr several hours the cars were operated by tke electricity so generated, and the manaxer of the gas company received the congratulations of the large company, in- cluding the city councilmen and others who Watching the experiment. ith raany hundred thousand feet of the going to waste, for it cannot be figur more than one-fourth its value when turned under a boller to ma with so much power generated by small portion of the anount, the com figures that it can get power for pract ncthing. The great well of the company the corner of Hunter and North streets was finished today, and the boring outfit was moved to the corner of Anderson and Pil- grim streets, where the sinking of another well will be commenced at onc The flow of as found at the last well is not known, for on that proposition the managers of the company are silent, but it is reported to be equal to the flow from any of the other wells, and the fact that another well is to be sunk Immediately leads the people te guess that the strike was good. The en- gine will be u street car curr » steam, and only a ny nt and will then be put at work on one or more of the electric light circuits. + e+ He Earned His Money. From Tid-Bits. A German fn a western town got into trouble with a quarrelsome man who had been a terror to his neighborhood and left him dead. A young and Saexperienced law- yer undertook the defense of the German, and just before the case was to be tried he fcund, to his dismay, that the jury was composed of eleven combative-looking countrymen of the murdered man, the twelfth being a German. A “defense fun wes immediately raised, and the German ves approached with a promise that, if he managed to get the accused off with a simple verdict of manslaughter, it would be worth $1,000 to him. All he had to do was to stick to the one word “manslaugh- ter.” The verdict came in ‘‘manslaughter,” and the joyful lawyer for the defense could not get the $1,000 into the German's hand: too quickly. Shaking hands with him and transferring the money, he slapped him on the back and said You did nobly! You must have had a terrible time making those men agree to simple manslaughter.”” “Vell, should say so—dey vas all for acquittal!” ~ oe An Unfinished Portrait. Frcm the London Globe. The most important painting executed by Velasquez, the celebrated Spanish painter, toward the end of his career, and by some considered his masterpiece, was the large group at Madrid known as “The Maids of Honor.” Into this painting Vel- quez introduced a portrait of himself working at an easel. King Phillip was mightily interested tn the progress of this picture, and visited the painter daily during its production. At length in the course of one of these visits Velasquez laid down palette ond declared the painting fin: nd brushes ed. Not quite,” said the king. “One detail is lacking,” and taking up a brush he be- gan to work on the portrait of the painter. With a few touches he sketched on his breast the cross of the Order of Knight- hood of Santiago, one of the highest hon- ors it was in his power to bestow. ae Wandering from the subject.—Life. “WHERE AM I AT” An Expression Which Mr. Wa soa Claimed He Heard. AN EXCITING ESPISODE IN THE HOUSE Result of an Investigation Which Was at Once Held. TEA CUPS AND TEA It was on the 20th day of July, 1892, that Thomas E. Watson sprang to fame, or to noteriety, whichever you please. Congress was wrangling over the world’s fair appro- priaticn bill, and the country was endur- Ing the agony the best it could. There had been days and days ef wind and heat in the House, and the members were weary. So it happened that they listened with list- less interest to a long-drawn-out address from Representative Joe Wheeler of Ala- bama, until he aroused them to anger by reading the following extract from Mr. Watsen’s campuign book: “Drunken members have reeled about the aisles, a disgrace to the republic. Drunken speakers have debated grave issues, anc in the midst of maudlin rambling been heard to ask, ‘Mr. Speaker, w! Tat? Mr. Wheel-r, as stated, read this para. graph out of the people's party campaign book, fresh from the press, bound in a pa blue cover and embellished with a portrait of its author, Mr. Watson. Upon this ex- tract trom that remarkable literary pro- duction of the campaign of 1862 the aiten- ticn of the House was instantly fixed, th more so hecaw of he athing words with which Mr. Wheeler denounced it. Mr. Watson, who was just as pale ana thin and sallow then, as now, arose at once to his f flushed and trembling, not to deny the accusations contained in the para- graph, but to them. “1 dhe said, in his thin nasal voice, “to defend every ‘line in this book, and 4 will do it against all comers, whether trom the north or fron. the south.” He was intcrrupted by hisses, that did not m to anger, but merely to goad him “I say,” he almost shouted, “that eve word in the book is literaliy true, and all men who have been here and kept their eyes open will admit that the facts are fairly stated. The hisses prevailed. The Privilege of Geese. “Sockless” Jerry confrere’s rescue. addressing hi to the Hou to hiss. This only increased the anger of those who had resented the accusations in the paragraph, and al members were on the floor at the same time, demanding, In were renewed and confusion Simpson came to his “Let ‘em hiss,” he cried, ‘If more to Watson than it is the privilege of geese Thomas E. Waisot an imperative chorus, that Mr. Watson re- tract the charges. Representative Benton MeMillin of Tennessee was one of the most indicnant speakers. “Mr. Watson,” he said, “has made the gravest charges in the boldest way that I have ever heard made against the mem- bers of the House. It does not seem to re- fer to any member of any particular party, but to the whole House. If false, it in volves the gravest slanter a mst this body that could be made, and, if true, it is the greatest disgrace to Congress.” By this time the Georgia memixr wa: surrounded by not less than a dozen men, who insisted that he make either a retrac- m cr an explanation, and he arose to do subject for a moment to “There is pothing new in that It has been made before, and by no less a person than the Nestor of the House, Mr. Holman Because only ten Representatives of the people’s party have seats in this body the balance of the mem- bers of this House, irrespective of party, seem to wish to tyrannize over us, but I for one do not propose to permit— He was allowed to proceed no further along that line, but was stopped by the Speaker, upon the protest of several mem- bers, who reminded him that he had the privilege of the floor merely for the pur- ese of making an explanation and not fe the purpose of continuing the spirit of th paragraph in a speech, but as Mr. Watson seemed determined to continue, Mr. Boat- ner of Louisiana moved that the gentieman from Georgia be denied the privilege of the flcor. Before the Speaker of the House could even put the motion there was a storm of ayes in approval, In the midst of which Mr. Watson sat down and the Speak- er rapped for order. When restored, Mr. Watson arose to his feet again and an- nounced that he would simply read the en- tire paragraph referred to, and then the House could do with it as it pleased. He read it, as follows: The Exact Language. “This Congress now sitting is one illus- tration. Pledged to reform, they have not reformed. Pledged to legislate, they have not legislated. Extravagance is the order of the day. Absenteeism was never so pro- nounced. Lack of purpose was never so clear. Drunken members have reeled about the aisles, a disgrace to the republic. Drunken speakers have debated grave is- sues and, in the midst of maudlin ram- blings, have been heard to ask, ‘Mr. Spea er, where am I at? Useless employes crowd every corridor. Useless extrava- pervades every department.” ow,” said Mr. Watson, commenting up- on the paragraph, “the only crime charged in the passage I have that a member got drunk on the whisky which this Congress allows to be sold in the Lar room situated in the basement of this Vuilding. You have planted the tree; why should you wonder at its fruits? You ai- lew the contagion; why should you wonder at ics sickness? ? J stend upon the ¢ truth and defy proof to the contrary.” With this challenge Mr. Watson’ sat down. Nobody seemed to know just what to do, and the rezular business of the House was resumed. The matter was brought up later in the day, however, by motion from Representative Boatner t a@ committee be appoinied to inves’ the charges made by Mr. Watson. motion carried and the Speaker ap Me Boatner, Wolverton, Grant and Simpson en the comm called a meeting that night, but hour appointed Mr. Watson asked continuance until he could get his wi es together upon whom he relied to 1 him and his accusations. The Man With the Cup. The case was continued, therefore, until the next day, Saturday, July 30, when Mr. Watson took the stand and made a state- aid that the phrase “drunken speakers reeling about the House” refer- red only to one man whom he had beard making a speech and seen taking whisky during the speech. At any rate, he said, a cup and saucer sat before the speaker referred to, and that he (Watson) heard him say to a page, in the midst of his addr “Bring me some more of that whisky whereupon, Mr. Watson said, the pag went away and shortly returned with something in the cup, which the speaker drank. When pressed to tell the name of the gentleman mentioned Mr. Watson em- Phatically refused. Of course this centered the interest of everybody at the hearing, and especially act at ne for a ead is the charge | (Cat this out. It will not appear again.) $59.00 | GIVEN A In GOLD WA Y. incre times No proper nouns. No fo tionary that is standard of thy Set, tol, * wut. "The pul IAN'S Wi JENNESS: MIL NTMLY will pay $20.00 in 4 cid to the the Largest list da from ord TOILE! Y for the third; for the tive above rewards are gv n for the joa te our handsome ta twerty-four pages, ninoty-six fiuly Mustrated and ell original matter, short stories by the best authors; price, y for yon, to t + xtamps’ for te taal sutecription with your Hst of words. and every pemen sending the 24 cents and alist of fifteen words fe cuaranteed an extra p! ent by return mall ¢in addition to the mua a lai Bpaze book, “The Story of an African Farms by Kalpl. Tron remarkal locks of the ax+. Satisfaction guaranteed In every cose or Four money te Lists should be sent nd net Titer th piember 20, 80 th mtsits say’ te pouty Vished ta the poblication has : efer you to any Write n mereantile a ~ Acdress J. He PLUMMER, 205 ‘Temple Court building, Bo 221, New 1g the newspaper men, upon the identity of the man with the cup and saucer. It mained a mystery until Representatiy Oates of Alabama was put on the stand. In answer to questions, he said that be never in his life had se a member druvk on the floor of the House, He admiited, er, that he had seen several mem- ‘gentien ay tight,’ but thor t was big difference between b “gentlemanly tight” and “reeling dru When it came to the question as to whet er he had seen “drunken members debatl grave irsue Mr. Oates began to make a Statement. “I heard some talk.” he said, “about something of that kind. I do not hesitate to name the gentlen to whom it referred, because I have known him for many vears, and know him to be ber of church and above reproa refer to Judge Cobb of my state Judge Cobb's Stntement. The mention of Mr sensation, It reated y into ‘b's name a also threw every! great embarrassment.as Judge Cob himself was in the room, He ad 4 from a cor- ner where he had been sitting. a silent by interested listener, and stood before the members of ihe ommittee, who sat about a large oaker. trble. He looked like an in deicate health, and he was unusually pale. He trembled visibly 1 grasped the back of a chair for support. Neverthel jhe said, without a tremor of th e and without the flutter of an 2! m | pained to see that this investigation has taken the course it has, but perhaps it is host that it has done so in order that my me may be cleared of the shadow thrown upon it, and after what has i said, I now ask that a fui] and fair investigation be made. Mr. atson has thoughtle: implicated me without just cause. a nt the matter sifted to the bottom, ne Members of the committer said that they would not f nt consider the charge was ne that course, ny, first Cobb's characte his drunkenness, ated « tion of w curred, pe » and then conti the reiative the fol uing with of Degrces of Drunkennens. You ” tive Simpson have formed a definite opir to the relative j Ossrees of drunkenr From your ob- servatfon you seem to nat a man can take on a «reat de and yet maintam an 10 ty?” Mr. On h are rying capac m:n can Via xzreat d han others.” (Re- newed laug! Mr. Simpson—"I © Cobh x0 much that he did not know wha was doing?” Mr. Oates Jon’t think so. I saw not Ing out of the way. And, not being accus- tomed to liquor, a very would have affected him.” Simpson—“You believe a man is nk when he has got down to the last point?” Oa That is what I have heard arge is termed reeling you think that . OF any other member of the ever took on enough liquor to ap- pear on the floor * nd reeling Mr. Oates—"“No, s Mr. Simpson—“If you saw a man reeling, would you say he w unk? Mr. Oats—"Y; I should certainly think him drunk if he was reeling.” A Famous Expression. After Col. Oates had finished his testi- mony the case was continued until Tuesday of the following week, when, to make a long story short, upon the testimony of Representatives Smith of Arizona, Rayner jof Maryland, Breckinridge of Kentucky and Fellows of New York, all of whom were supposed to be experts in the dezrees of congressional inebriety, Judge Cobb was fully exenerated and cleared of the charge brought by Mr. Watson. t Judge Cobb scemed to take the charge that he had been guilty of the expression, “Mr. Speaker, where am 1 at?” as much to heart as the charge of intemperance. So he asked as a personal favor that the official report of the speech, in which he was alleged to have perpetrated that strik- ing query, be read. Acc gly the offi- cial stenozrapher was sent for, who read the passage referred to and gave Judge Cobb the credit of saying, in somewhat more grammatic but more expressive “Mr. Speaker, where am | in my All of which was ent ly j Proper, and, having settled the momentous questicn, the committee adjourned, leaving unrevealed to posterity the identity of the 1 and made famous by nueman who asked, individual design ir. Watsen as “Where am I at But Mr. Watson had in the through the medium of the press, been blewn to dizzy fame, where now he floats an airy, if not a windy, aspirant to vice presidential meantime, A Young, Law From the Milwaukee Sentinel. Two young Wisconsin Milwaukee a few days ago. brightest members of the Unive lawyers They were the met in sity Law School c of One has been dabbling in politics, been a delegate to a number of fs head and front of his party in the city in which he tives. The other has given his entire time to his pro- fersion and is laying by a good deal of me While the two were on the street talking politics, a friend of each came along and entered into the discussion. #1- | pally the friend said to the mor mahing mu see ‘BU is getting to the froi } the first thing you know he will be int lower how of Cong s. while you na plodding barrister!” “Yes, that's true,” replied Nathan, “ ‘Bill’ will KO to Wash n; be re-e or four times, laid asic Icoking for a practice ome money to pay his debts; while [, Will have made my little ‘piie,* muy—let me @ seat in t Unived States Senate!” Money in ‘thes. From the San F “What kind of fish do you find most re- munerative?” I asked the owner of a stall in the California market. “Him,” the reply, as he jerked hi thumb in the direction of a monster green turtle that lay on his back blinking at the ceiling. a “Do you sell many of them?” | “Never sold one of them yet.” “Then how do you make money out ef them?” “I rent him.” , “But he can't be used a dozen times like a ch fair oys * ex he can’ E fest rent heim €> the aurants when they have turtie soup en turtle son the bill of fare rest 3 him upside wit a sign artle soup today Then next day some other restaurant re h nd so on the week round. I get @ cents a day for him as a drawing card, That's $3.0 a week that I have made out of him regularly for eight months—say $120 in round figures. It doesn't cost an} thng to feed him, and I guess he will 1 longer than I will, I wish I had routes tor avout ten more turtles.”