Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1897, Page 11

THE EVENING ‘STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1897-24 PAGES. LANDOF YELLOWGOLD The Famous Yukon Region and the Way to Get There. DR. DAWSON'S EXHAUSTIVE REPORT Dangerous Rapidsand a Formidable Range of Coast Mountains. DATA FOR PROSPECTORS One of the most interesting reports of the Yukon region, and of the ways in which to reach it, is that of Dr. George M. Dawson, who was sent out there by the Canadian government to make an investigation. The report is contained in the geological and natural history survey of Canada. The ex- pedition under Dr. Dawson covered fully every detail which would be of interest to the person intending to visit that country. Particular attention is paid to the passage over the coast range of mountains from Taiya Inlet. There are three of these, the Chilkoot. the Chilkat and the White Pass. All of these were gone over and every de- tail reported. The report also embraced much valvable information regarding the chain of lakes which form the head waters of the Lewes river, one of the branches of the Yukon. An excellent description was given the terrible White Horse rapids. An ‘act from the report in regard to is as follows: White Horse rapids and Miles canon form together the most formidable obstacle to the uxe of the Lewes as the route into the interior, constituting an interraption to navigation of two and three-quarter miles in total length. White Horse rapid is thre ighths of a mile in length. The worst rapids are at the lower end of the White Ho where the river scarcely cx- c is lo feet in width, with low, basaltic banks, and the force of the water is very great. Pr-earious and Diffi “In the upper part of the White Horse the water flows between basaltic cliffs, sear exceding twenty feet in height, but sufficient to render tracking precarious and difficult, while the occurrence of numerous rocks im midchannel makes the rapids rous to run. The portage is on the and it is usual to carry both r it. ite Horse and the foot of the canon the river is very swift, and at a mile above the former and three-quarters of a mile below the latter, the si of th stream is so strong round a point as to render it advisable io an additional short portage of 150 This portage is on the east bank, and nd a very steep ascent has overcome. He a sort of ex- orized windlass has been rigged up by the miners for the purpose of hauling up their b is. “The canen is cut through a honzontal nearly horizontal flow of basalt, and 1s more than about a hundred feet in Rwith vertical cliffs averaging about 50 and never exceeding one hundred feet the es. It opens out into a species of basia in the ddle, but the river is els where ple from the banks. Ter- hilly rise above the basalt walls on ide of the valley, but are particu- rupt on the west bank. The river threugh the cancn with great ve- ; tut is unimpeded in its course, anit feet. at the lower first to be tT+fcre, not very risky to run with ood boat. a The White Horse rapid is, ver, much more dangerous, and though some of the miners have run through it—generally accidentally—it should not be attempted. A Wide Depre: great structural valley which is occupied by Lake Labargo and by the river above it, up to this point. runs on above the canon as a wide, important depression, tearing rearly due south, and appears to be uninterrupted till it jos the lower end of Bennett lake. thirty-two miles distant. The course of the river, however, diverges in which direction also a runs.an in twenty-three miles, ie lower end of Lake s valley though, ex- > between its limiting slopes, is not jarly bounded by parallel ranges, like 1 ‘The current of "r to within five or six miles of the lake te, not exceeding three miles an and the immediate river trough is ~ rather closely bordered by Im feet or more in height. . int, to the lake, the current » slack: the terraces gradually re- toward the bases of the hills, and swampy flats eccu water al the canon is quite clear Mue, showing that its turbidity fur- r down is entirely due to the washing ay and falling in of the high banks of The turbidity of the Tahk-heena is » due to the same cause. Lake Marsh, so named by Schwatka, is known to the miners as Mud lake. It is twenty miles in length, with an average width of about two miles, pretty uniformly maintained. “The upper end of Lake Marsh is con- nected with Tagish lake by a wide, tra: quill reach of river five miles in length. The ne is here very slack, and the depth eet. scription just given it will be en that the navigation by steamers from 1e heal of the canon through Lake Marsh and Tagish lake will offer no difficulties, while the tranquil character ef the con ween the two lakes is such ractically render Lake Marsh the ortion of an extensive system of includes not but also Lake Nares, t and possibly other connect- and which will-prove of the Hity at no distant date in facilt- opening up and development of 1 resources of the country in Strete ‘The through end of Lake Honnett, of Seventy Miles. distarce from the lower Marsh to the head of Lake measured along the central lire of the various lakes and connecting waters, is about seventy miles, as follows: Marsh I “ miles: river, 5 miles; Tagish lake, S; Lake Nares, 2.7 miles; Bennett S miles. still water navigation, however, in- > the ‘West arm’ of Bennett lak=, ‘Windy arm’ of Tagish take, ‘Tako arm’ of the same » miles; making a total of tain that the greater part of the tituting the Lewes river enter > arm. Lake Lindeman occu- ontinuation of the same vailey in ke Bennett lies. but is separated rom that lake by a small rapid stream of «mile in leugth. This stream falls abou: twenty feet between the two lakes, and is ugh and rocky.” ft must be remembered that the expedi- »n Was moving toward the Chilkoot pass rom t Yukon river, so that the lakes suld just be reversed in their position to traveler who had gone from Taiya inlet. ach information of an especially interest- tug nature in regard to Lewes river is given in the report, as follows: al length of the route by the lewes river from the landing on Lake Lin- man to the site of Fort Selkirk is 357 les. From the outlet of Lake Labarge is stance 200 miles, in which the total » feet. and Closing of Rivers. “Information obtained respecting the dates of opening and closing of rivers in spring and autumn is very fragmentary. It would appear, however, that the rivers tLroughout the region open early in May, while they may be expected to freeze in slack water any time after October 15, when hard frost occurs for several days consecutively. Loose ice began to form in rivers as early as September 20, but this generally precedes actual closing of rivers by two weeks. In some sections the rivers do not freeze over well until November. In 1887 geome of the lakes were not open for navigation until June 10, but that season was a very late one. ‘Miners entering the Yukon district by the Chilkoot pass and es river fre- quently leave the head of the Lynn canal in April, and after crossing the pass, for which fine weather is essential, continue on down the lake on the ice, and then, if it is necessary to wait at some convenient point for openirg of ravigation the? do so and build their boats. In ascending the river much depends on the build of the boat empl yed ard skill of the men in poling, as well as on the eecurrence of head winds or otherwise on the take. The whote distance from Forty Mile creek to Lake Lindeman has been made once or twice in so short a time as thirty days, and £ believe even this record has been sur- passed by a couple of days on one occur- rence, but under very exceptional circum- stances, 3 The Time Occupied. “Our actual traveling time from the mouth of the Lewes to the lower end of Lake La- barge, deducting all stoppages, was twelve hours, fifteen minutes. From the head of Lake Labarge to the lower erd of Lake Marsh, the time, deducting stoppages as before, and not including the time occu- Pied on the portages at Miles canon and White Horse rapids, was twenty-five hours, fifty-five minutes.. Much, however, de- pends on the stage of water in the river, as when it ts unusually high the current is not only stronger, but many of the bars and beaches are covered and the poling and traveling is much worse. The time occupied in traversing the lakes is not in- cluded in the above statement. “Timber suitable for building boats can searcely be found in the vicinity of Lake Lindeman, but no difficulty is met in ob- taining trees of fair size on Bennett and ‘Tagish lakes. Below these lakes the coun- try is generally wooded. There ts an abundance of spruce of fair quality, grow- ing tall and straight in several localities. but seldom reaching the diameter of two ‘The Chilksot Pass. Considerable space is given to the Chii- koot pass and the White pass. The re- port states that the length of the moun- tain portage from Lake Lindeman to Taiya inlet is twenty-three miles and a half, the summit of the Chilkoot pass being at a distance of 812 miles from Lake Lindeman, with an elevation of 3,502 feet. The de- scription is as follows: “The valley on the north or inland side of the summit contains several little lakes. ‘The trail is rodgh and crooked, without improvement of any kind. It follows the stream in one place about a mile through a narrow rocky defile, which has evidently been cut through. From seven or eight miles of the highest part of the pass may be said to be fairly destitute of timber. the actual summit the trail leads through a narrow, rocky gap, and the whole scene is one of most complete deso- lation, the naked granite rocks rising steeply to partly snow-clad mountains on either side. The ‘stone house’ and ‘sheep camp’ are points noted in this part of the pass. The first is used as a shelter by the Indians at right, and has been formed by rocks rolling down. The second point is where arboreal vegetation of fair growth first begins. Valicy of the Nourse. “At six miles from the head of the inlet the stream followed down from the sum- mit is joined by another called Nourse river. The valley of this stream and that from the path are narrow and V shaped, but from point of junction a wide valley runs soutn between high mountain walls. The little river formed by the confluence may be ascended by canoes with difficulty for some miles when the water is low. It i sy, however, to walk along the gravel . although it is necessary to wade in . ice-cold water. “Another pass from Taiya inlet to the lakes on the headwaters of the Lewes is called the White pass. It leaves the coast at the mouth of the Shkagway river, five miles south of Taiya inlet, and runs parallel with Chilkoot pass at no great disianee from it. Thovgh the land carriage is somewhat longer by this, it appears to present less difficulty for the construction of a practical trail or road. The distance from the coast to the summit is seventeen miles. Five miles of this is level bottom land thickly timbered. The next nine miles is in a canon-like valley, where heavy work would be encountered in constructing a trail. The remaining distance of three miles to the sum mit is comparatively easy. ‘The summit has an altitude of 2,600 feet. Beyond the summit a wide valley is en- tered, and its descent to the first lake is not more than a hundred feet. The mountains rapidly decrease in height and abruptness after the summit is passed, and the valley divides, one branch leading to the head of Windy arm of Tagish lake, the other, down which the water drains, going to Tako arm of the same lake.” Chilkoot pass is at the head of Lynn canal. It leaves the Nourse river or west branch of the Taiya and runs west of the Chilkoot to the head of Lake Lindeman. > . Ald to Dentistry. Electricity » From the Chautanquan. In dentistry, cataphoresis is supplanting many of the primitive methods, from the reproach of which even that progressi profession has for many years past vainly endeavored to escape, and has made act- ually painless operations at last possible. but to the hard substance of the tooth. The teeth, although coated by a superficial skin—the enamel—internally are composed of a tubulous structure called dentine, quite capable of conveying current, since within the little tubules is inclosed a gela- tinous filament rich in salts and finid, which makes it a good conductor of elec- tricity. If a cavity in the tooth—whieh is consti- tuted a cavity for the reason that the en- #mel has been destroyed and a portion of the dentine has been encroached upon—is filled with a pledget of cotton saturated with a solution of cocaine, and to this pledget is applied a piece of platinum wire connected to the positive pole of the ordirary galvanie battery, and a very small current is allowed to flow, in a period varying from six to thirty minutes, accord- ing to the ability and knowledge of the operator—the shortest peripd recorded is a minute and a half—the cocaine will be con- veyed by the electric current down the tubules to the nerve itself, and the dentist can proceed with the dreaded preparation of the tooth without pain to the patient. The tooth can be excavated, filled or even «©xtracted without the infliction of the ightest suffering. If one takes into account the steady and accumulated agony of dental operations throughout the world, and considers the wear and tear of protracted pain which they entail, he may easily comprehend what an enormous boon to suffering hu- manity such a precess as this will be when generally applied in dentistry. -o- = Cost of Trolley Power. s From the Street Raflway Journal. A table taken frem the annual reports of the railroad commissioners of New York and Massachusetts for nearly all of the street railway properties shows the cost of the electric power required to run a car one mile under average conditions of load, ete. The table gives the number of cers owned, the car mileage per year and the cost of the electric power per mile and per passenger. Of the nineteen companies cperating less than 250,000 car miles four are obtaining power at a cost of less than 2 cents per car, six between 2 and 3 cents, five between 3 and 4 cents, one between 4 end 5 cents, and three at raore than 5 nts; of the five companies operating over 0,000 car miles per year one obtains the power for less than 1 cent per car mile, three between 2 and 1 cents, end one between 2 and 3 cents; other similar figures are also given between these limits. The Brooklyn Heizhts Company has the creapest power, 0.8% per car mile, followed by the Binghamton with 9,94; the cost of pewer for Massachusetts roads includes re- Pairs and depreciation of the station plant, which is net the case of the New York roads. +20 —___ ‘Twe Wire Freaks. From. the Boston Herald. Wire Commissioner Flood had on -exhi- Lition a section of a limb of a red oak tree, eight inches in diameter, which was burned through, making charcoal of the wood, last week, at Jamaica Plain, by a cable of the Suburban electric railway lune resting upon it. It was done during one of the heavy rain storms. The cable had its origina? in- sulated covering, but the covering becom- ing soaked with water ceased to be a pro- Cates against the electric current in the cable. See Another curiosity, showing the danger from electricity, is a heavy wire guy rope of a derrick that was burned off, hai fallen on 4 Sealine wire of the See Company, on Center street, near Heai street, Roxbury, a few days ago. Baie re Meer Picts sw anything, try an ad. in has what you wish, will get an answer. th If you want ‘The » if you | controversy BESET BY. INDIANS How Eleazar Wheelock Wanted to Re- locate Dartmouth Colleges. FEARED THE PRESENCE OF SAVAGES The Mohawk Valley Seemed to Him a Haven of Safety. ANCIENT AND INTERESTING eee To all sons of old Dartmouth and to all who make a study of the history of higher education in this country, there is spe- cial interest in the following letter found recently by chance in a mass of papers that came Into the possession.of Dr. Thom- as Featherstonhaugh of this city. The let- ter 1s now for the first time published. Eleazar Wheelock graduated at Yale in 1733, then studied divinity and afterward settled Im Lebanon, Conn. To eke out his small salary as preacher, he began to take Private pupils into his house. Samson Oc- com, who afterward became the well- known preacher and hymnologist, was among the first of the Indian converts and pupils. Occom and others went to England in 1776 and succeeded in raising £10,000 for educational work among the Indians. This money was placed in the hands of trus- tees, of whom Lord Dartmouth was one. A charter for the college was obtained from George III. In this charter, Wheelock was named as founder and president. The college was named for Lord Dartmouth. In 1770 Wheelock removed to Hanover, N. H., which was then a wilderness, and with the help of his sons and Indian pu- pils, began clearing the ground. The hard- ships were great, the whole perty dwelling in booths cf hemlock boughs. In 1771 the first class of four graduated. In 1777, as wil! be seen from the letter, the tribula- tions ef President Wheelock were very great. This letter was found among the papers of Gen. James Duane, a member of the Continental Congress and first mayor of New York city, and is addressed to Gen. Philip Schuyler, who prcbably forwarded it-to his friend, Gen. Duane, for his con- sideration. Gen. Duane was an ancestor of Dr. Featherstonhaugh. The capitaliza- tion, spelling and punctuation are followed literally. DARTMO’ COLLEGE 18th Feb. 1777 Much Respected Sir, I shall not think strange, if at first you wonder that after ‘such signal smiles and favors of Heaven? upon this college ans School from its in- fancy, and especially since its settlement in this Country I should now so soon and at such a time of my life think of remov- ing it into yeur vicinity, and give you such real evidence of my real intention so to do Gf God should smile upon the undertaking) as to be at the trouble and expense of sending the bearers on purpose to com- municate the design to yourself and other Gentlemen .of Character and influence in your State for advice, and 1f you approve thereof for your direction and encourage- ment therein. But when you shall fully be availed of the many weighty considerations which have given such a turn to my thoughts, I am persuaded you will think the matter worthy your serious attention. I have indeed seen much of the good- ness of God in making every step I have taken in the affair hitherto to prosper since I came to this wholly uncultivated wilderness where my number of Indian Children at School has generally been from fourteen to twenty-one and of all on char- ity about thirty. My whole number of de- pendent and independent Students in Col- lege and School has generally been for several years about an hundred and their behavior has been from the first to my geod satisfaction with very few excep- tions. The generous and catholic Charter by which the royal Favor so liberally en- dowed it, my son can shew you on your desire. The School is posses'd of about 40,000 acres of land, the most of it good. I have built four good Mills beside a num- ber of houses, barns &c to accomodate the school. I reapt 114 acres of English grain last season, and cut 100 tons of good hay and might with ease have cut as ™much more had not the resources for the expense thereof been cut off by our public national controversy. The School owns about thirty cows and eight oxen, and horses sufficient for the family, and has 4 or 500 acres of land well seeded with grass and could have fatted an hundred oxen last year if I had been able to pur- chase them. And I think there is a fair prospect of a fund here as permanent as the soil for the support of scores of In- dian Children and others on Charity to the end of time. “ I have now two Indian youth in College one in his last the other in his second year and eight more (five of which are Canadi- ans) fitting for College and all promising. ‘Their being here together with that friend- ship which has been cultivated by the mis- sionaries I have from time to time sent to visit them, I have esteemed the surest bulwark and so sure a one against any invasion from the wilderness to lay us waste, that I have never yet been disquieted at all with any apprehensions of danger from that Quarter. But ever since the first blockading of Boston all succours from beyond the seas have been suspended, where was about 3000 Ster. collected for my use. and I have been left to scrabble along hitherto with all the weight of near 30 on charity, and considerably in debt for labor and necessary stores for the sup- port of thos? with myself and private fam- ily, four Tutors and a Schoolmaster, beside the great occasionable expense which my situation and public Character necessarily exposes me to, aid thus I havs proceeded till my debt was near 1000 Ster. mostly on interest. And in such a state of an- archy here, in addition to the general pov- erty of new setlers that I have been in no capacity to collect what is due to me or the School, and could see no present pros- pect of paying the School's debts any other way than by the sale of the small private Interest which I left in Connecticut, and accordingly, have sent a man for that pur- pose, which reey relieve me as to the debts which crowded upon me, but will do but little towards clothing my naked boys and necessitous Family which cannot be any other way done than by money, as we are yet in no capacity to manufacture cloathing among ourselves, nor will the produce of these lands help in that matter as they have not yet more than payed the labor laid out in fencing and perfecting the cul- tivation of them. Under and since the beginning of these tryalls I have received several charitable assistances, particularly several hundred vounds from Col John Phillips Esq. of Kx- eter and 500 dollars two years ago from the Hon'ble Continental Congress to assist me im supporting missions to Canada. And 1 may take this opportunity to express my gratitude to your Honor for an additional expression of your friendship recom- mending my necessity to the charitable consideration of said Congress through the influence of which they kindly sent me 500 dollars, which assistances are the chief I have had by charities from abroad, and though I have often been urged to dis- burden myself by sending the boys home &c. and turn my attention wholly to my own private interest till our public Trou- bles which croud so distinguishingly hard upon me shall erd, yet apprehending the contir.uance of these boys here to be of such consequence to the public, I cannot yet be persuaded to that step for relief. But though 1 thought proper to let your honor know my present state and some of the necessities of it (a more full and par- ticular account you may have from the bearer), yet none of these things discour- ages me. I hope ta that same fountain of goodness which has supported this institu- tion hitherto that it will yet live and pros- per through all storms and against all the devices of enemies to overthrew it But the consideration which have prevailed uron_me to seck a new settlement for it and ff it may be at mount Johnson which was Sir William Johnson's seat and I un- derstand originally granted to ‘im by the Crown and accomodate will likely be judged by your state to have so done (if God shall determine the present in favor of the united Colo- nies) by joining with the ministerial party and drawing their own and country &c. If your state shall vorable of this proposal, the will be still Kept in view of the grand ad and his instro- ments against the jeenjer and his cause and people in the land 4s. will inspire some- thing agreeable to Inds of good men nd occasion the thi vings to God of many to the latest ferity. And I flatter that besides alt the great religious mr In the case your State may see suc! itical reasons as may abundantly jus 2 Very generous ‘Brant of that in to,.introduce and in- courage a seminary amply and owed by the Royal Favor (as you may. see by a copy of the Charter) and which has already ob- tained such respect th sides the wa- ter, as will naturally and justly raise the esteem and value of, all. your possessions and interests, especially in that quarter of your State and may be egteemed by all the United States as a proper expedient not only to christianize..the. savages but at- tach and concillate, th friendship and prevent trouble and lef from them in future times. ‘ The present situation of this Seminary has been,judged to be good by its Patrons in England and a school or academy may be continued here equal to the fund which has been or may be provided for its. sup- port without any disadvantage to the first object on account of such a removal of the College, and@ another school may be collected for the same purpose where the college shall be fixt, and I apprehend from all accounts there is no part of our coun- try more inviting, which consideration was first and principal in engaging my atten- tion since I heard of the forfeiture made of it and I apprehend it may likely be much more agreeable to the Indians to have their children in the place and among the people of their acquaintance than at a greater distance and among strangers. Ard here we shall always be so far from any sea-port as will render the expense of transporting necessary stores nearly equal to the cost of them at the sea-shore—and you know so much of mankind that you would not think it strange in’ a Govern- ment so new as New Hampshire has al- ways been that there is not such a general esteem for learning or dispesition to en- courage it as may be expected in the State of New York, but to particularise cn this head I must refer you to the Bearer. I suppose the same incorporation may be continued by an act of your general as- sembly or at least of the Continental Con- gress authenticating the same with an- other set of Trustees in your State. The expense of removing must be con- siderable, in which I must have your as- sistance or it cannot be done which I sup- pose may be easily effected if the proposal shall be agreeable to your State, and would not the Continental Congress should they be well informed in the matter, upon po- litical as well as religious reasons cheer- fully recommend the raising a perpetual fund for support of the President ard all necessary Professors and officers in the College and School and also erecting any such buildings as shall be necessary for the same. My Honored and dear Sir I repose entire confidence in your friendship, ability, honor and prudence and give you full power to make just such use and improvement of what I have wrote as you shall think fit. I imagine that neither you nor other Gentlemen will think it prudent to come to any such conclusion and determination in a matter of such ee and importance as may be expedient pf¥®paratory to a practice thereon, till we shall see the end of our 1a- tional dispute, yet I hope that happy Event may be near and in favor of the United States, I thought it might be prudent to communicate the same to your assembly and if you should think fit to the continen- tal Congress and know their minds and disposition towards it that I might know, at least in some respects, how to dispose of such affairs as may be influenced only by probability—I doubt not but you will af- ford the Gentlemen I have sent any as- sistance they shall ‘desire within your power, and who knows bit the design may happily be effected before another winter. Iam, much Honored and respected str Your Honor’s, most obedient most humble Servant ELEAZAR WHEELOCK. The Honorable General Schuyler. DON’'P WEAR TI = They Are Conducive to Lockjnw, Ac- cording to a St. ‘Louis Physician. From the St. Louls Repuffie, ” Tight shoes caused,'thg, death of Philip Schreiber at the city; hospital yesterday. The same fatal disease that resulted from tight shoes in Schrefber’s case, according to Superintendent Oito, Sptter of the city hospital, threatens every man and woman whose vanity is strenger than their desire for comfort. It is also a pcssible result from the wearing of corsets too tightly as HT SHOES. The disease was lockjaw. It overtook Schreiber in its most horrible form. His death was agonizing. As to whether it will serve as a horrible warning, Dr. Sutter does not care to venture an opinion. Schreiber’s death was not the result of vanity. He was a molder, in poor circum- stances. Recently he purchased a new pair of shoes, which seemed to fit when he bought them. but proved too small whth he had walked in them awhile. They caused him considerable pain, but he could rot discard them and buy another pair, because he had not the money. In this he differed frem fashicn’s followers, who have the money, but retain their tight shoes from preference, regardless of the fact that death lurks within the calfskin. Besides being tight across the foot, the part that laced across the instep bound Schreiber’s feet securely, and by Tuesday 2 sore hegan to form on the instep of his right foot. It gradually developed into an ess and Thursday Schreiber decided he needed medical attention. The abscess seemed to affect his entire system. He applied at the city hospital for treat- ment, but it was too late. Shortly after his admission lockjaw developed. His jaws be- came fixed, his muscles rigid and he was seized at intervals with convulsions, He died in horribie agony. That such a fate awaits the greater por- tion of the feminine population of St. Louis and a large number of the male persuasion seems improbable, but Dr. Sutter declares it to be a fact. “Tight shoes are more apt than not to Produce sores upon the feet,” said the hos- pital superintendent, “and lockjaw is more likely to result from such a sore thart from one on any other part of the body. The reascn is that a short walk suffices to fill the shoes with dirt and dust, particles of which are apt to-remain in the sore and cause lockjaw to develop. Even with the advantage of antitoxine in the treatment of the diseage it is still dangerous and must be taken in time to prevent death, even with the anti-toxine. “Another possible source of danger Is the wearing of corsets. Women addicted to tight lacing are in considerable danger, aside from that arising from the compres- sion of the vital organs. An exposed corset rib (they are usually of metal) may chafe the skin until an abscess forms, and, while the danger of lockjaw would be slight as compared with that in the case of a sore cn the foot, it would be likely to result seriously.” A Cure for Flies. From the Morning Oregonian. Nowadays people in civilized regions en- Geavor to keep flies ogt 6? their houses by having screens placed! oyer the doors and windows. This keeps out the greater num- ber of the little pestaj: but a few always menage to find an entratice t! h some crevice or cranny, atid'*half a dozen of those enterprising inséctd'can cause about as much annoyance t6‘a bald-headed man during his after-dinnér .p as the whole brood of them could ‘Go ff turned loose in the room. In order té’ri@‘the house of the few files who straggfé fast the screens, flytraps cf various sorts #re frequently re- sorted to; but it is ntfw found that these are hot necessary. Whishsecret, which is bound to be a boon ta;suffering humanity, has been divulged by a dealer in fiytraps. who, when a customet.calied a day or two since, was out of trapé' Thm this emergency he imparted to his wouldsbe customer the pews Tecipe for kepping a house clear of les: Near the tops of tiie bcreen doors and window scree ‘several holes from the inside with some instrument about the size-of a lead pencil, thus leaving slightly funnel-shaped apertures, having a rough, jagged edge on the outside. This renders it impossible for the flies to enter through these holes, while the flies which have strayed into the house the first time they eae ger cr gel eg upper part, and. seeing these holes, tm- agine there is some plece where they are not wanted on the o! It is proposed to calla telephone “telepheme.” ONLY SKILL COUNTS The Danger Makes Little Difference in the Matter of Pay. SOME VERY HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS Always Plenty of Men Who Are Willing to Risk Their Lives. IN AIR AND UNDER WATER Written for The Evening Star. Workers in extra hazardous employ- ments, as a rule, do not receive pay ade- quate to the apparent risks they run. If the work, aside from the danger, is of high grade, the men are. paid little more than is called fur by the same work under ordi- nary conditions. There always are plenty of men who will take big risks for the sake of getting money, but they are not so many men skilled enough in their line to do satisfactorily the work for which the danger is braved. An enterprise just started in New York harbor illustrates this. The first caisson for the New York side of the new East River bridge is ready for the men to work. under compressed air in the underwater chambers. These men will receive from $1.75 to $2.75 a day, the working hours be- ing from eight at the start to six when a depth of over fifty-five feet is reached. ‘The caissons are to be sunk sixty feet on the New York side. At seventy-five feet the air pressure ‘s considered high. The Brooklyn caissons must go down aineiy or 100 feet. When these men once get into the com- Pressed aid chambers their labor consists merely in shoveling mud, and, iater, the concrete. In addition to the qualifications of a dirt digger, says the contractor, all that is re- quired is a cool head, good judgment, care and a sound physique. The contractor even hedges on the last essential. Men with not the best of lungs have been great- ly benefited, he says, by working in cais- sons. Caisson Improvements. It is hoped, indced it is expected, that no lives will be lost in sinking the East River bridge caissons. More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Brooklyn bridge caissons were sunk, involving the death of several workmen. Since chen the advance in this department of bridge build- ing has been marked. Electric lights take the place of oil lamps in illuminating ihe working chamber, and the elimination of the sooty smoke is a great advantage to the workmen's heaith. Telephonic com:nu- nication can be had with the chambers, improved methods of ventilating have been devised, and the result should be the safe- guarding of human life. ‘The diver is inclined to regard the caisson worker much as a machinist would look at a sewer digger. Divers’ pay vari-s, ac- cording to depths and the intricacy of the job. From $% to $25 a day is a wide range, but the average wage probably is $3. A diver must be a skilled mechanic. He is not called upon to shovel. But, besides being brave and cool enough to go down in his armor, he must have the machinist’s skill to take apart and save such of the ship's fittings as are wanted. Still more is his mechanical knowledge called into use if the sunken vessel is to be raised. A Diver's Solitary Hours. The depth to which a diver can go is about twenty fathoms, or 120 fect. At that level the pressure is tremendous. ‘The av- erage depth in and about New York har- bor is sixty feet, though occasionally 100 foot jobs in Hell Gate are offered. Yet the diver’s danger is no greater than the cais- son laborer’s, and the working day of the former, at a given depth, is shorter by one-half than that of the man in the cais- son. The caisson worker has the companion- ship of his fellows. The diver is alone. Strange fish poke their noses around him, anl the dead men who sunk with the ship peer at him with glassy eyes. For fear of entanglement of the air and signal lines, the divers go down one at a time. The diver's life is not necessarily short. Of the 100 divers in New York, there are not a few who have been in the business for twenty-five years. Not a diver's life has been lost in the vicinity of New York har- bor for ten or twelve years. A Sailor's Risk. From the depths to the heights of extra hazardous employment is a matter only of emerging from the water and climbing a steeple. Sailors do not consider steepie climbing any great feat. Most of the men who earn $25 for a few hours’ work in this way are ship riggers, familiar with rope and tackle and high stations. The rocking of the ship makes the sailor's task of reeving the signal halyards in the main truck far more diffi- cult than climbing a steeple, except that in the latter case the tackle must be riggel. But the landlubber will often stare all day at the man who is repairing a steeple-top, and think it pretty risky work. Ship riggers often are called upon to climb flag poles to paint them, and in this case stirrups are worn to aid in climbing. Frequently, too, ship riggers get calls from country towns to put the top touches on a church steeple. Repairs to chimney tops also are often made by riggers. ‘This kind of work ig not constant, and the pay, though adequate for experienced men, 1s not enough to tempt outsiders to learn the business. Iron workers on the steel skeletons of sky-scrapers need steady nerves. There is not the scaffolding on the twenty-fourth stery for the man who bolts the beams and girders that the painter and the :aason finds when he ascends. Yet the iron work- er’s pay is the same when laboring on the twenty-fourth story as when he is on the first floor. Three dollars a day is consid- ered fair wages for him. If he isn’t satis- fied, there are no end of men willing to take the same risk that they may earn a living. —__. Cripple Creek Gambling. From the Nebraska State Journal. Out in Cripple Creek the gambling houses are running in every saloon. They are huge gilded affairs where the hard-working miners, after coming from taeir eight-h ur shifts, go to while away their time and money instead of thinking of home and mother and filling their socks with money to pay off the mortgages on the farms back Lome. The men stand five and six deep be- hind the wheels watching the players as they risk their money, the less adventurous hardly having the courage to make the play till, havirg seen some man quit a winner, they, too, step up and bet on the black or the red. On the tables are stacked piles of silver coin and gold eagles, and the operators of the machines every little while take occasion to show that the game is backed by much more than the thous- and or so that is in sight by displaying a stack of bills in a receptacle behind the table where the notes are thrown when paid in, with a kind of reckless abandon that is quite taking. At other tables a policy wheel wilt be running with so many drawings a day. In another corner of the room a crowd of men will be shoot'ng craps, a large and intensely absorbed crowd witnessing tbe play at each ce. Off at one side a stud poker game bed cunning a9 bn a vas to favor game pai larly and eir grizzied features show the intensity of their interest as the chips come and go. 027 ° Net What It Used te Be. would be always something new to see in this great city, with its teeming millions! Matter-of-fact —"¥ c First Annual Saimmer Clearance. Clearance An Sale Nearing End. Don’t hesitate to ask us to do so. Maybe this sale includes some article that you would like, but do not need now! We'll hold it for you, free of charge, on payment of a small deposit. Everything in Furniture, Ice Boxes and Refrigerators is going at cost. 9 Here's a specimen bargain. On Monday we offer this Handsome Oak Table at 2gc. ‘Come early on Monday. ae a ase es st 919-921 = Jackson Bros. ANOTHER BED BARGAIN White solid brass trim- $2.98 The price is a record-breaking 2.98. Handsome Enamel Beds—with mings. We have enough of them to fill all orders. one—$. We'll store your purchase until fall. 9 Great Cash Furniture Houses, Seventh. A RACE HORSE. . How It Should Be Done. From the New York World. Riding a race horse is an art, and I feel that I learn more about it every time I have a mount. Ever since my maiden race I have studied the horse, and how to man- age him, and I believe that 1 understand him pretty well. Of course, every jockey bas his own particular way of riding, and I certainly have mine. No man has ev>r shown me how to do anything in the sad- dle. I was my own teacher, and if I am wrong no one else is to blame. To begin with, a horse is more intelligent and observant than most people give him credit for being, and remembers kindness or abuse longer than a good many men. It is on his feelings that I play, and I find that it wins. He realizes what is expected of him as soon as he passes the crowded grand stand or sees the starter on the block, and if he is of any account is as willing to race as the jockey is to ride him. I never use spurs, because I believe they inflict a punishment instead of acting as persuaders. A horse flinches under them and will not go kindly for me at least. I always sit straight in the saddle at the start, keep my arms close to my body and don’t pull on the reins any more than pos- sible. Some starts are difficult, and the delay at the post is trying on both horse ard rider. In cases of this kind your rrount will become restless and want to turn around, or make some other move- ment. If he wants to turn in one dire; tion I never try to make him go in the op- pesite. Instead of attempting to rule nim I try to act with him, and he generally ap- preciates the consideration shown him. I RIDING Tod Sloan Te! found early in my career that fighting a | horse is an uphill game. When the word is given I bend forward over the horse's withers and take a short hold on the reins, having them run through my half-closed hands, which are | together and resting on the horse's. neck. Unless the distance is short and my mount is a weak-hearted sort of brute, I never Ko out in the lead. I let some other horse set the pace and incidentally break the wind for me. I find, like the cyclists, that this regders the greatest assistance. No mat- ter in what direction the wind is blowiag, there is always some resistance, because the horse goes much faster than it docs, and, therefore, I make myself as harmless as possible and the other starters in the race as useful as possible. Even if the leader drops back a length or so, I still al- low him to stay in front until the finish is close at hand. The closer you can be be- hind a horse, or several horses, in a long- distance race, the better it is for you. I generally pull out at the right time and very few pockets are worked on me. When the home-stretch is reached, I get further up my horse's neck than ever, if possible, and use all my persuasive powers, riding for all there is in me. But I seldom draw my whip. I always carry one, but use it sparingly. It is another Instrument that punishes a little more than it per- suades. If need be, I tap a horse a few times in the last 100 yards, but never did a horse swerve under me. As a rule, riding at the finish looks hard- er than it really is. If the horse has had enough, you find out long before the crowd sees it, and whip-lashing and arm-workii are absolutely useless. If he is game a: has been properly ridden, he will keep try- ing, and spectacular work is again un- necessary. I believe that he appreciates victory and deplores defeat.” Sees Our Whent Crop, From the Review of Reviews, Precise agricultural statistics may be pos- sible in the next century, but they have not been obtained hitherto. The United States government's estimate of this year’s American wheat crop is 450,000,000 bushels. But some private expert estimates go al- most as high as 600,000,000. Bradstreet’s considers 550,000,000 a reasonable forecast. Full allowance having been made for the home demand, it is estimated that we shall have about 160,000,000 bushels available for export. For the year ending June 30 we exported 140,000,000 bushels. The shortage in the European crop is estimated by such continental authorities as Beerbohm to be more than 100,000,000 bushels, as compared with last year. The demand for the Ameri- can surplus, therefore, is certain to be very firm, with the result of better prices than farmers have been accustomed to obtain for a number of years. An interesting de- velopment of our wheat trade is the rapidly increasing demand that comes from China and Japan, this being fostered in part by the changing customs of the orient and the gradual improvement in standards of liv- ing, and in great measure also by the marked progress of steamship navigation across which has reduced freight eharges and has made wheat an available return cargo for the great steam- ships that bring oriental wares to Puget Sound, Portland and San Francisco. When once we actually secure a waterway across Nicaragua or the isthmus there will be a large outflow of breadstuffs from the Mississippi valley to the orient by way of Galveston and New Orleans. —_-_~ee—— Saved. by am Explosion. From the Spokane Spokesman-Review. James Horan, a rancher living on the Cceur d'Alene reservation in Idaho, met with a little accident recently which nearly resulted in the loss of his life. The story is told by Mr. Horan, whose veracity - not be questioned,.as follows: “My house is a small building, 10 by B and 9 feet high, with a wing kitchen -om- ing down to 7 feet at the eaves. I had just started a fire to get my dinner, and hud gone fer a bucket of water, some 300 yards from the when, upon my re- turn, I saw the of the kitchen en- veloped in a sheet of fame. I attempted to : stepped by ‘the to my armpits, or down, with me. In “fixed” me had ignited and putt bed I had —- of the building to the HORSES Dogs Take The! and Are More Vai From Forest and Stream, Dogs have suddenly become more val) ble than horses in this section of northwest. This state of affairs results from the great and growing demand for dogs to be used in hauling sledges in t Yukon country, Alaska. While thousands of horses for which their owners cannot ge* |S a head are roaming over the plains of eastern Washington and Oregon, go sized dogs are bringing from $15 to $30 each in the local market. At Juneau their value is double what it is here, and on the Yukon river a good dog brings from #100 to $150. To the Yukon miner the has become what the reindeer is to Laplander and the pony e cowboys of Texas and Mexico—a of servic and a most valuable one. Every steamer sailing for three months past has borne several dozen dogs destined for ser front of heavily laden taken by boat to Dyea, at t ; Water navigation, and’ the ness to assist in hauling outfits plies over the Chilkoot pass the farther slope to the ser water lakes forming the head | the Yukon’s tributaries. Alaska for northward in and of Up to May, when the ice breaks up, dox teams slide over the smooth surfi prising rapidity, considering the } haul. There are portages to around dangerous rapids, and here their services are invaluable. Arriving | at the central posts, such as Forty Mile or Circle City, both men and dogs take a rst. In most cases the dogs are put into | harness again for the trip to the dig- gin The sledge dogs are too valuable not to be | Well taken care of where that is possible. | Their owners’ first thought in this respe« in plenty of food for them. Their food consists princ: ly of fish, usually j salmon, caugitt in the Yukon river by the natives. An ordinary dog will eat daily two pounds of dried salmon, which equals sevea pounds of fresh fish. At Fi Mi last winter dried salmon sold at from 20 to 0 cents a pound, and bacon that was © of the lakes with sur- fit only for dogs to cat sold for cents a | Pound. In some of the larger camps on the Yukon dog boarding houses have been established, where the animals prop- erly cared for at from $6 to $15 a month, according : 2 price — Sieg to the season and the price of seo May Be a Sort of Double X-Ray. From the Albany Argus. A remarkable discovery has just been made by Frank L. Woodward of this city, in the finding of a new ray of light, closely resembling the Roentgen in its propertic but produced under entirely different co: ditions. The says are obtained directly from decomposed light, and Mr. Woodward has named ther spectropic X rays. They have great penetrative power, and with them radiographs of the hand ar other non-transparent bodies ave been ob- tained. Like the Roentgen ray, the spectropic X- ray eludes the spectroscope, and is believed r short vibrative period, The discovery of the Woodward rays will throw important light upon the nature of Roentgen rays, and prove beyond doubt that the Roentgen rays are waves of very short vibrative period. The details of the method of producti: of the Woodward rays have not yet b made public. Mr. Woodward is a mem of the American Institute of Electrical En- gineers of New York city ———-—-cee_—__-____ “How does Johnson stand on the Cuban questicr ?” “I'll never tell you. AN I know about it am is that he uses Havana cigars mad Connecticut and Castile soap made in G many.”—Cincinnati Enquirer. to Alaska