Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 14, 1895, Page 11

PUSHING FOR THE SOUTH POL. Exploring o Desert Waste of Boundless Rocks and oo, DR, COOK'S PLANS AND PROSPECTS Former Bxpeditions to the Antareiie “irele Narren of Resnlts=I'rogress Darred by Blenk Mountaing of Ice and Suow. WInless present plans miscarry an expadi- ®on in commaud of Dr. Frederick Cook will start from New York the latter part of this month bound for the uaknown reglon of the Antaretie efrcle. Dr. Cook will make his effort with two sailing vessels, and those neither the largest nor best. Oue will hardly expect hin to sail farther or search deeper to the south than his predecessors In An- wa; as dauntless a brood as ever gave orders through a speaking trumpet. But it is fair and worth one’s while, says a writer in the Globe-Democrat, to leave Dr. Cook to his cruise and rescrve comment, whether of criticism or praise, until he re turns, By what he threatens and intends in h line of scuthern exploration he has excited questions of Antar, sort; and one may well devole an hour to a rough round-up of what has been done In the empires of south- ern fce. While it has always been general the that the regions about the north pole we the tossing waters of the ocean, with land, the opposite idea prevails as to the south pole and fts surroundings. That suls len sea wanderer, Magcllan, declared that a great continent surrounded the south pole and filled the Antarctic circle. This was in 1520, But Magellan never saw this conti- nont; never, indeed, sought for it; and based his elaim of wide lands to the south of everything and everybody on an argument. Nobody at first paid much heed to the Magel- lan theory. A dozen expeditions in three and a half centuries since his moody day have been launched and sailed to prove jt. Here is what 18 now known—and guessed—of the region of Antarctica. It is a story made up, each furnishing his share, by Cook (the fa- mous _captain), Palmer, Bellinghousen, Wed- dell, Balleny, D'Urvelle and the Norweigian Larsen, which last adventurer brings one down 9 1593-94. January is the Antarctie July and midwinter at the north pole means mid- summer at the south pole, Its neighbor over the way. It comes, therefore, that explorers pushing south, just as Dr. Cook proposes. began their operations ln October, or what is the southern spring. Even then they found their season all too short o learn overmuch. As a result of all this prying southward 1t is known that a continent exists, whe 14 —whatever iis interlor might proye to be its shore line, while Irregular and ragged, very nearly matches in its general trend the Antaretic circle. In smuch of it, however, the circle lies inland and the assumption is that this continent, by a.line drawn in a fashion of Antarctic crosslots, 18 from 1,200 to 1,600 miles wide, or say rather in diame- ter. It io a volcano Teglon, very busy spout- ing smoke and flame. Volcanoes were found squarely south of Cape Horn, and others equally violent were discovered on the oppo- ito side of this Antarctic continent south from Tasmania. The assumption is that vol- eanoes dot the whole continent like ul Those three points of known and familiar land which touch nearest to this ice conti- nent are Cape Horn, distant from its shores some 600 miles; Cape of Good Hope, distant about 1,800 miles, and Tasmania, the south- ernmost reach of Australia, distant about 1,200 miles. South America, with its finger- like Cape Horu, will thus be seen to have the advantage—if such it be—of being the nearest nelghbor to this mysterious conti- mnent of the utter south. A REGION OF GLACIERS. When one says the continent of Antarctica seems voleanic in all Its regions one has said the last possible warm thing about it. Man has never set foot upon it. But hawk-eyed satlors have overlooked it in portions from thelr mastheads, and report no vegetation of any kind; not even lichens. It would seam, too, that whilo incidentally much visited by whales, seals and petrels In its shore line, and while much affected as a summer residenc> by that fipper-winged composite, half fowl, halt fish, the penguin, the main industry of the continent is glaciers. It Is the scene of constant storms and gusts and snow squalls. It is a region of snow wreaths and mists. As an outcome the entire continent would ap- pear to be covered with a giant cap of ica. This fce cap is constantly built upon and added to by the snow storms and the vapors. And it maintains a pauseless journey into the ocean to the north on every hand of the south pole, Make the entire circuit of the continet—a yoyage, were one to make it, of full 5,000 miles—and at every point this great glacier would be discovered sliding into the ocean much like a blanket off a bed. As it ventures into the sea it breaks off into tre mendous icebergs. This occurs the moment the glacier reaches water deep enough to float it, say 1,200 to 2,000 fect deep. The moment the glacier’s feet, as it were, leave the ocean’s boltom and it begins to swim, a portion of it breaks free from the parent glacier and floats ont to fea in huge bergs, somotimes three or four miles in length ani riding above the water full 200 feet. These bergs have been found by explorers acting as a fashion of blockading fleet guarding the whole parent coast. They surround it like a chain of ice pickets, threatening to grind and sink all who attempt to run their guard. Tt 1s noteworthy, too, that once within this girdle of leebergs fairly open water is found until one i3 squarely met by the perpendicu'ar front of the general glacier, which, rising a shecr 200 feet of ica as plumb as a wall of masonry, makes for all practical purposes the shore line of the continent. However, as the water Is not less than 1,200 feet deep at the lowest point against this ice wall, ono is at liberty to infer that with a gradual shoal real lagd is still many miles away. In the eruptivé. fnstances of the volcanoes referrel “to they had, however, come down to within a few thiles of the lce front. CAPTAIN COOK'S MISTAKE. Magellan, as stated above, had an antarctic theory which constructed a continent cover- ing the entire antarctic expanse. It was Captain Cook In the latter half of the last century who wiped out the Magellanic con- tinent and convinced geographers that it did not exist. This was the same Cook, by the way, who it Is supposed became subsequently “lone pig” at a cannibal feast, and found a multiplicity of sepulcaer in the remorseless stomachs of the Sandwich Islanders. It was in 1773, after Magellan's continent had been belleved in for 253 years, that Captain Cook ran the iceberg blockade, taking every crunching risk, and in Janvary, 1774, reached latitude 77 degrees 10 minutes. This was at a point southwest of Patagonla. Yet Cook never saw this antarctic continent; never be- leved in It. 'On this voyage he went 600 miles further south than any mariner had ever been, and salled completely around the continent in question, circumnavigating the globe at ono of its small ends. Cook, on this voyage, penetrated the antarctic circle at four different points, and never once beheld the mighty, unbroken ice barrier which makes the shores of this cheerless world. This would smack of bad luck on the part of the adventurous Cook, or else faulty reckon- ing, for the continent has since been shown to overlap the antarctic cirele in much of its extent. But Cook never found it and emerged finally from out the fegbergs with the remark: “This st least puts an end to the fallacy of Magellan touching the exist- ence of an antarctic continent.” Captain Cook was wrong, however, and old Magella Teasoning was stronger than his research. But still Cork settled it for nearly half a century. It was an American whaler who fi covered land fuside the antarctic circle. His name was Palmer, and he wasn't looking for continents, but for’ oll. It often happens thus. Commerce explores, trafic finds now peoples, and wae bills of exchange bear back the wiilorness. That part of the great con- tineat of the antarctic sighted by the Yankee captaln while chasing his natural prey, the whales, was named after bim—Palmer Land —Dby the Russian Captain Belliaghausen, who met Palmer at the Shetlands and was on his way thither when he salled the Ameriean whaler. Soon after Palmer, an Bnglish whaler, Captain Weddell, ran’ the iceberg blockade He found the waters beyand open and free of the floating ice. - Still one would “uagine there was enough of it, as he re- no dis- ports sixty-six bergs iIn apy one of them as big os an isient tenthis of thefr bulk and more was { water, they were fully as dangerous to strike e Weddell was & seaman and a n of nerve, for he pushed boldly in among these chilly lee glant held the south unt!l brought up by the to front of leo which makes tho antaretic shore line. On February 20, during tha antarctic tumn, Weddeil had reached 17 de utes south latitude, or a point over 214 further south than Captain Cook, whomn the cannibals ate. Weddell reports that he found the waters close fn by the ice barrier alnost freo of borgs, and speaks of sighting many whales ‘and seals, and that he found pen- guing and ocean fowl in great numbers After Weddell two more British whalers pushed southward in spite of the iee. Th wers Biscoe and Bellany. In 1831, B ug every risk, skirted the mysterious south pole continent for full one-third of its where the unbroken wall of 1o 200 feet high, sheerly perpendicular, dofied him to Jand. Bellany did get ashore at a group of litile islands lying off the mainland many lcagues. The beach of rock was about a yard wide, th rest was glacter. A voleano was smoking on one ‘of these Islands and Bellany was much edified as the first oxplorer to find a volcano on its busy day within the antarctic region. LATER EXPEDITIONS. In the latter half of the 30's, three expe- ditions _safled a niarine scout into the antarctia The Frenth® started d'Urville in 1820, the Americans WilkdWin 1835, and the Engifsh Ross, in 1835, Wikes of tho th id the most and was awarded the founde medal by the Royal Geographical socie While every one of the three intrepid spirits skirted the ice cliffs of the antarctic shores for miles, everywhere they were baffled. Not one of them could land. “One might as well attempt to land on the roof of a block of buildix Nowhere could they scale or oven atlempt to scale the sheer cliff of blue ico presented by the antarctic glacier. The Englishman Ross kept up an inces- sant ransack of these fce coasts at points nearest New Zealand, and in 1841 reports “a bold mountainous region.” This was in 78 degrees latitude. Ross said the shore “was covered with an unbroken and descend- ing fce barrier, which, with no indentations or harbors, extended miles Into the sea, and so rendered land inaccessible” Ross de- scribed the ico barrier as “a perpendicular cliff of ice, between 140 and 200 feet above the level of the sea, perfectly flat and level at the top and without fissures or promontories on its seaward face.” Ross sighted two volcanoes rising wart-like in the interior. Their cones were 10,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea. He named them after his two boat,s, the Erebus and the Terrof, after which he sat down and logged the following: “Mount Erebus emitted smoke and flame in unusual quantities, producing a most grand spectacle. Dense smoke was projected at each successive jet with great force in a vertical column to the height of between 1,500 and 2,000 fect above the mouth of the crater. The dlameter of the smoke column was between 200 and 300 feet. Whenever the smoke cleared away the bright red flame that filled the mouth of the crator was clearly perceptible and some of the offi lieved they could see streams of lava down the sides until lost in the snow Ross skirted the fce barrier for hundreds of miles, and found it never off its icy guard for a moment. 1t was impregnable; nowhere could he land. He cruised sixty-three days within the antarctic circle, but the beginning of the antarctic winter turned his indefatiga- ble bows homeward bound. For almost half a century after Ross, ant- arctie explorers rested from their labors Then came the Challenger expedition in 1872-4. The Challenger was a_steam vessel, and carried the map makers, Thompson and Murray. The last important infoad of the Antartic was a trifle over a year ago, when the Norwegian steam whaler Janson, com- manded by Larsen, crowded through the cor- don of Icebergs to see what waters or what country lay beyond. Larsen, like the others, found the fce barrier impossible of defeat. He could make no landing. He steamed in close and skirted it for miles, looking for what might be made a path by which to scale its fcy steeps. He had no success. From the masts of the Janson he could over- look the ice barrier and note the barren, desolate mountains rising amid sheets of ice beyond. But there was no detecting the seam where the glaclal fce barrier ended to inland, and the rock and granite began. The surface sloped upward as the eye traveled in- land, but all was comparatively unbroken. Nothing but the unbridled bleakness and end- less ice and snow. No plant life, no animal life; nothing save a frozen desert waste of soundless rocks*and fe CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK. Young Jewsse James Sought a Job [ Governor Crittenden. “There is a curlous little page in the his- tory of Jesse James, or rather that of his family,” sald Representative Hall of Mis- souri to a Chicago Times-Herald reporter, “‘which was never written. Governor Critten- den, now consul general to Mexico, was chief executive of Missourl at the time the re- doubtable Jesse James was killed. Bob Ford, who shot Jesse and afterward pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to be hanged by the St. Joe court, was immediately pardoned by Gov- ernor Crittenden. This, of course, was by agreement made long before to cover just such a contingency and excited neither sur- prise nor comment at the time. Why did Ford plead guilty? Because he wanted a record of once in jeopardy as a bar to any future indictments which might have been preferred after Crittendea had ceased to be governor, and when a chief executive might not have been so prompt with his pardon. “But about the curious page if the James history to which I referred: Josse James had a son about 13 years old. After Critten- den had ceased to be governor he opened law offices in Kansas City. Aftor organizing for business he needed an office boy and put an advertisement in one of the local papers, In response, a well dressed, handsome, in- telligent boy put in an appearsnce. There had been a score of responses, but Governor Crittenden was much attracted to this. par- ticular boy. He seemed so quick and bright and frapk. After talking with him a bit Governor Crittenden decided tw employ_ him. The boy said he lived on Seventeerth street in Kansas City, with his mother, who was a widow. “‘What is your name? Crittenden. “‘James,' replied the boy, “At that point somebody came in to distract Crittenden’s attention, and he simply adopted the boy into his business without further in- quiry. The boy turned out to be a very en- ergetic and valuable youth, and the governor as delighted with his choice. He supposed 1 the time that the name ‘James” given him by the boy was his first name. At the end of a week Governor Crittenden had gcea- sion to draw a check for his office boy's sai:ry, “* ‘What did you say your last name was?' asked Governor Crittenden, as he dipped his pen in the ink bottle. * James,' replied the bo “‘Is that your last name tenden. “Yes! ‘Well, what is your first mame, then?' asked (he executive, somewhat surprised. *‘Jesse,’ answered the boy. ‘My name is Jessa James “To say that Crittendon was astonished would be a mild way to tell it. He began an inguiry into the boy's antecedents, which de- veloped the fact that he was the oldest son of the dead gutlaw and bore his’ father's name. No, tiiere was no plot in it. The whole thing was one of those accidents which now and then astonish men, It did seem strange that the office boy whom Crittenden selected, as it were, in the dark, should be the son of that celebrated robber whose bloody taking off ‘the energy of Crittenden had brought about. No, Crittenden did not keep the boy, but he did what was better still. He hunied him up a situation where he got .a better chance to expand and twice as much salary.” ——— Bucklen's Arnien Salve. The best ealve o the world for cuts, bruises, sores, ulcers, salt rheum, fever sores, tetter, chapp:d hands, chilblains, corns, and all skin eruptions, and positively eures piles, or no pay required. It is guaranteed to give perfect saticfaction or money refunded. Price 25 certs per box. For sale by Kuhn & Co. —— Dr. Marion A. Cheek, who has just died in Slam, was one of the best beloved mission- aries who ever went to that country. He was a flue physician and was known as the “White Magician,” on account of his medical skill. He was the medical attendant of the royal family, and was offered several high officlal positions, which he uniformly declined. asked Governor inquired Crit- THE OMAIA DAILY BEE: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 1895 LONELY RELICS OF BOOMS Descrted Mining Towns that Dot the Mountains of Colorado, IRWIN'S BUSTLING DAYS AND ITS MAYOR Though Dead, Hisx Prayer Beenme a Campaign Document—Gothie Dillerton and Other Ruins ~Millions Wasted. “Scenery is about all alike in Colorado,” said an old time prospector to a representa- tive of the New York Sun. ‘“Rocks and water and clouds and trées tossed into fan- tastic shapes and grand proportions soon tire one, It takes the presence of man to make the sights of a country interesting. When I was a boy in sehool 1 remember that I used to read a line set as copy for writing like this: “The proper study of mankind fs man.’ That sentiment is true, too, and it was man who made the most interesting sights of Colorado. Did you ever hear of the mayor of Irwin? No? That's what I thought., You don’t remember the prayer of the mayor of Irwin to Grover Cleyeland, which went the rounds of the newspapers last year, wherein the mayor besought the president to save the nation by restoring silver as a coin metal, The pops used It as a npaign document. Well, the mayor of Irwin was dead long be- fore that prayer was invanted by a Gunnison county editor. The prayer was character- istic of the Colarado silverite, who has about as much use for Cleveland as the devil has for holy water. It was only a happy inspira- tion of the country editor, who, after devel- oping the idea, hunted around for somebody to father the prayer. The mayor of Irwin being dead, and the town along with him, the editor found in the circumstances his oppor- tunity. “Irwin, along with a dozen other towns I might name, is an abandoned town. If one could only dig up all tbe history connected with the life of the camps when they were centers of bustle and activity some mighty interesting storles could be found. I fancy that one old New Yorker would swear long and earnestly it one were to suggest to him to relate his experiences in the town of Irwin. He lost about $250,000 in that camp, besides the money a scapegrace of a son made away with while living there. It was early in the spring of 1879 that the Gunnison excitement waged at its worst. Thousands of men climbed over the snowy summits and broke trails through the passes to get into the Gun- nison cduntry, and money was ready for in- vestment In almost any scheme. High up in Isolated districts prospectors discovered silver and gold leads, and with every discovery a town was formed. If a camp was 5o fortunate as to make two discoverles of pay dirt it blos- somed forthwith into a city of some preten- sions. Such a town was Irwin, which at one time boasted of 3,000 residents, besides a trib- utary population scattered all over the moun- tains prospecting for wealth in the rocks, “Today there are four families left in the place, and but one mine is producing ore. Down below the town about a half mile are the ruins of a great mill. Great excavations were made in the mountain side, stone was quarried, shaped, and hauled to the spot, and foundations that might last for ages were laid for the superstructure of a great ore re- duction plant. Expensive machinery was drawn from Salida over Marshall Pass and up the steep trails by teams, and after it was all set up ready for work it was discovered that the mill could make flour as success- fully as it could extract the sllver from the ores of that camp. The son of the man who furnished the money had been sent out to superintend the work, and he spent the old man’s cash with a lavish hand. He went a fast pace, for Irwin was a fast city In those days. Other parties bought the mill for a song, took what machinery was available and carted off to other camps, leaving the re- mainder to rust away in the midst of the ruins. “The mill was located near the town of Ruby, which later succumbed before the more rapid growth of Irwin, higher up in the gulch. Town lots in Irwin sold as high as $3,000; a dozen hotels were erected, a bank was es- tablished, business houses of considerable pre- tensions were put up, and many neatly con- structed frame cottages ornamented the resi- dence district. A church with a tall steeple was placed upon an eminence back of the main business street, and a school house was set up across the wide gulch opposite the church. An enterprising citizen appeared be- fore the town council in those bustling days and secured a franchise to place in the city a system of water works. He secured a con- tract to furnish the town with water for fire protection at $150 a month and laid mains and set fire hydrants at every corner. The fire department of Irwin became noted for its prowess and at several annual tourna- ments captured valuable prizes. “‘Stages and freighters' trains conveyed the passengers from Salida, the terminus of the Deaver & Rio Grande road, across the pass and up the trails to Irwin, and all the com- forts of civilized living were to be had in the town. But the camp lasted only a few years. Several mines, it is true, wera developed and considerable ore was produced, but the pros- pectors at last deserted the district for more seductive flelds, and the oity of Irwin grad- ually ceased to officially exis The mayor of Irwin was about the last to go. When every saloon, variety theater and business house had disappeared; when the postmaster had died and the government had discon- tinued the office; after the mines had closed down and the shaft houses had begun to show signs of decay, the mayor one evening re- turned to his bachelor quarters over the only remaining hotel ofice—which really was no more than a boarding house for the few miners who worked in the Mountain Gem mine—<and in the morning he was found dead in his bed. “It is an odd sight to walk along the streets of Irwln over well preserved plank sidewalks and observe the signs of a once prosperous community. A sign, ‘Bank of Irwin,' still creaks in the winds; other s'gne indicate that about every line of trade was once represented; still others show that the town was decined worthy of attention by ad- vertisers of patent nostrum: The water still flows through the mains and fire hy- drants, frea to all comers. All supplies for the families now residing there are brought from Crested Butte, which has since the foundation of Irwin become a lively coal min- ing camp, furnishing anthracite coal and coke, besides soft coal. “Then there is the town of Gothic, over the mountains from Irwin, which was ones a center for prospectors about Gothic moun- tain, I beliove that only one family now resides within its corporate limits. Occasion- ally In summer a prospector or miner goes up the old trail to the camp to do a little assessment work or look after a patented claim which the owner hopes some day may becoms valuable, but it will be many a year before the town of Gothic again gels a postofiice or shows any sypmtoms of life. I presume In the two towns I have mentioned over $3,000,000 changed hands during the few years of excitement. ‘Billerton, over toward the Continental ai- vide, near where the South Park crosses through Alpine Pass, was another great c ter in those d ‘We used to hear of mur- ders there nearly every week. It was a stage station first for the rushing crowds who were racing inte the Gunnison country, and after- ward a shipping point for mines up in the Tin Cup district. Billerton had & newspaper, two smelters, variety theaters, and busingss houses for outfitting prospectors and tourists, The Tin Cup district was so named because of the rumor that a miner had washed out $100 in gold with a tin drinking cup. Follow- ing that idea the mines were named Gold Cup, Silver Cup, Copper Cup, Little Gold Cup, Iren Cup, Stirrup Cup, and every other kind of cup. Billerton had once a great Fourth of July celebration with fireworks shipped from Chicago. Teday you would have hard work finding even the remains of the town. “Once the Mary Murphy mine, near Hor- tense, on the eastern side of the pass, w. famous all over the state for its ruch output. Pat Murphy of St. Louls was owner, and for several years he was a gre gun in that part of the country. He shipped his ore to the east, and was said to have obtained fab- ulous returns. Some hot springs were discov- ered near Hortense which were belleved to be of great medicinal value. An eaterprising Yankee bullt near the springs a magnificent hotol, supplied with all the modern improve- ments and capable of accommodating 100 guests. He thought that as a summer resort and sanitarium that place would eclipse all others. 1 guess the bears and wildcats are the only living creatures that ever see the hotel now. I don’t Belleve a human being has et eyes on it for ye — WOODPECKERS' TONGUES, ¥l of Joy and Light for Farmers from National Sources. From not the least prolific compartment of the Department of Agricultare, the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, comes new food for farmers, exclaims the jubilant New York Sun. A flush of joy rises to the sun- browned cheek of agriculture whenever the government printing ofice sends forth a new bulletin of the ornithologists and mammalo- glsts, Farmers ory for these bulletins, knowing them to be full of indispensable in- formation. The latest bulletin throws light upon two subjects which are at this moment eagerly discussed in every farm house. This bulletin contains a “Preliminary Report on the Food of Woodpeckors,” by Mr. F. E. L. Beal, assistant ornithologist, and a too brief, but most Instructive paper upon *‘The Tongues of Woodpeckers,” by Mr. F. A Lucas, curator of the Department of Com- parative Anatomy In the National museum Anybody who has ever been to a farmers’ meeting or even to a cattle show must have noticed the great interest of the farmers in the stomachs and tongues of woodpeckers What does the woodpecker eat and what is the relation between what he ecats and the shape of his tongue. Obviously these are questions of fmmense importance to agri- culture. Perhaps if the ornithologists and mammalogists had considered them earlier the Farmers alllance and the peoples party might not have sprung up. Late as it comes, however, any contribution to the study of the stomachic and lingual peculiarities of wood- peckers is sure of a massive welcome. A careful study of Mr. Beal's report must convince any fair-minded person that the woodpecker eats too much, Take the Downy Woodpecker (dryobates pubescens). He is a little bit of a chap, but he has a bill of fare which would do credit to the most elaborate vegetarian restaurant: Grain: Indeterminable. Fruf Dogwood berries (cornus florida), (C. alt- ernifolia), and (C. asperifolin). Virginia creeper berries (parthenocissus quinquefolia). June or service berries (amelanchier gana- densis). Strawberries (fragaria). Pokeberries (phytolacca decandra), Apples: Unidentified. Miscellaneous: Poison ivy seeds (rhus radicans). Polson sumac seeds (rhus vernix). Harmless sumac seeds (rhus sp.?). Mullein seeds (verbascum thapsus), Hornbeam seeds (ostrya virginana) Nut, unidentified Flower petals and buds, Galls, Cambium, Seeds, unidentified. Rubbish. Certainly a very eclectic vegetarian. But the Flicker (Colaptes auratus) can eat more than the Downy. The Red-Bellied Wood- pecker (Melanerpes Carolinus), otherwise known as the Orange Sapsucker, is very fond of sweet oranges. The gizzard of a great Pileated Woodpecker, shot by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, contained hundreds of large ants, a fact which seems to show that the Great Pileated Woodpecker is, like Hon. J. Sterling Morton, averse to the protection of industry, We pick out these as specimen facts of great concern to farmers. We could wish, however, for more details of the food of that very interesting bird, the Arctic Three-Toed Woodpecker ~(Picoides Articus). He appears to be a flesh eater and not a vegetarian. His animal food consists of 63 per cent of wood-boring Coleopterous larvae, 11 per cent of Lepidopterous larvae, and 9 per cent of Hymenopterous insects. We hope to hear more about him in the future. ‘This fascinating paper upon “The Tongues of Woodpeckers” considers the “Relation of the Form of ‘he Tongue to the Character of the Food.” Thousands of farmers have taken their hands from the plow and thought long upon the question thus lucidly stated by Mr. Lucas: Whether the tongues of birds are of value In classification, or whether the modi- fications of the tongue, at least the ex- ternal modifications, are due to adaptation to the character of the food or the manner in which food is manipulated? Indeed, the question must have aroused the curiosity of everybody who has seen a woodpecker peck. Mr. Lucas treats the sub- ject in clear and popular language, free from any touch of sclentific pedantry. Since the appearance of Dr. C. Hart Merriam’s noble monograph on Pocket Gophers we have In few publications of the Department of Agri- culture a more masterly plece of popular science than Mr. Lucas's description of the hyoid bone, “‘the framework on which the woodpecker's tongue is bullt’: The hyoid is so constructed as to combine the two characters of length and strength that are needed for extensile purposes. The front of the hyold is formed by the short, fused cerato-hyals, although a groove, or in some cases a perforation, indlcates’ the double origin of this bone. 'The basi-hyal is usually very long and very slender, and the cerato-branchials abut upon its posterior end, the basi-branchial belng absent, nor have any indications of this bone been found even In very young specimens. The cerato- branchials and epi-branchials are varlable, especially the latter. which, as In the sap- sucker (Sphyraplcus), may be no longer than in many passeres, or, as in the flickers (Colaptes), reach the maximum length among birds. The epi-branchials curve up over the back of the skull, meet on its sum- mit, and continue on toward the forehead In other long-tongued birds, as in the hum- mingbird (Trochilus), for example, the ap- posed bones- reach to the base of the bill, but in the longest-tongued woodpeckers they turn to the right, pass through the right narial opening, dipping under the nostril, and thence continue quite to the tip of the bill, 50 that in these species the extreme possible length of tongue is reached unless some other device is resorted to. The cerato-branchials lie side by side when the tongue s protruded, and éven when It is withdrawn they are posteriorly but little separated. The general character of the hyoid is constant in all svecies examined, but, as just stated, the proportions of its component parts vary, the extremes being represented by the sapsucker (Sphyrapicus) and the flicker (Colaptes). This work, which ought to be In the hands of every wocdpecker farmer, Is embellished with spirited portraits of well known wood- peckers and views of thelr tongues and the tips of their tongues. We doubt if the D partment of Agriculture has ever performed a more useful service than in favoring farmers with these views. Nobody can gaze upon the counterfeit presentment of the tongue of the soddenback woodpecker or of the tip cf the tongue of the red-nap:d sapsucker without feeling a new veneration for the labors of the department, and more especlally for those of its ornithologists and mammalogists. WHISKERS MET A PORCUPINE. Was Pained and Humilinted When He Founa His Lips Full of Quills, Some folks do not belleve that the porcu- pine can leave his quills in an enemy's flesh, but Whiskers knows better. Whiskers s the most human of dogs, says the New York Sun, and is beloved by a large family of suburbans and all their friends. He is the enemy of all cats save those atfached to the household of which he is a part, and on the rare occasions when he comes to New York, like Benvenuto Cellini, he turns the corner wide in the hope of spying his feline encmlies before they spy him. Whiskers always hopes to find a cat round the corner, because he encountered one the first time he turned a corner in New York, ‘Whiskers, to the grief of a large circle of triends at home, is summering in the Adiron- dacks, and that is where he made the ac- quaintance of the porcupine. He was out in a boat one night when a noise ashore led his master to suspect the presence of a decr. So Whiskers was hastily and silently put ashore, He at once disappeared in the woods, and two minutes later he made loud signals of distress, The master, believing that Whiskers, who welghs but a dozen pounds, had possibly tackled & bear, hastened with his gun in the direction of the cries, and found Whiskers in of great distress, but no enzmy visib'e. The dog, whining with pain, was carried to the boat and thence to the camp hard by, where his lips were found to be literally studded with porcupine .quills. The larger quills were drawn by hand and the smaller with a pair of tweezers. The operation oe- cupied noarly two hours and left Whiskers a very sick dog. It is the belief of Whiskers' friends that hé suffers as much from humilia. tion as from physical pain, as it fs supposed that he still believes the porcupine to have been some new and dreadful sort of cat, and never beforo was he vanquished by ose of his hereditary enewmles. T Remember a pint of Cook’s Extra Dry Im- perial Champagne “after a night of it makes the new duy brighh WAR TIMES ON THE RANGE Tales of the Troubles with Cattle Rustler® in the West, THE NERVE OF A FRENCH MARQUIS Coolly Walks Through n Gang Walte ing to Hang Him—Collapse and Recovery of an Englishman— Where Shots Counted, Some old plainsmen were smoking compartment of Northern Pacific when, it came iw sight of the dark red house, trimmed with black, with its broad plazza overlooking a tiny stream, which the Marquis de Mores built on his headquarters ranch at Medora. The view of that house, says the New York Sun, started some of the old plainsmen- to telling stories of the range “I was on a traln coming out here one day,” sald one, “when the marquis had his private car hitched to the end of the train. It was at just about the height of the trouble he had with the rustlers, and if I hadn’t known about it before I would have learned the fact sure that trip. I had met the marquis as a cattleman, and so when he happened through the train and saw me he invited me to have a cigar with him in his car. It was a good cigar, too. “Well, we sat there talking until we were about fifty or sixty miles from Medora, when the conductor came in with a telegram that said 300 men, all armed, had gathered at Medora to glve the marquis a reception that would end in killing him. The conductor wanted to know what he should do with the car of the marquis. “‘Oh,’ said the marquis, ‘I wouldn't bother about that now. Walt till we get there and I'll tell you what to do." ““So the conductor went out feeling about as nervous as he had ever felt in his life, as he said afterward, for he knew some of the gang to be very much in earnest in their determi- nation to kill the Frenchman. But the mar- quis was not disturbed a little bit. He didn’t even mention the subject after the con- ductor went out. After a couple of hours or 80 the conductor came into the car a “ ‘Here's your station,’ he said, ‘and are all waiting for you.' “ “That's all right,’ said the marquis, ‘just set my car on the siding opposite the plat- form." “We pulled up to the platform, and it was well covered with men, avery one of whom would have been glad to see the marquls strung up to a telegraph pole, but that Frenchman, as smiling and chipper as ever he was in a ball room, stepped oft the car nodded to the men here and there whom he knew by sight, and walking right through the gang went up to his house on the hill there. It was his nerve that saved him. They were just tough enough to like it.”” “You remember when they had the rustler war in Wyoming?” said another. “I was down in Cheyenne at the time the outfit left. A little Englishman had come to town the day before with letters of Introduction, and he was simply wild with delight when he found he could go along and see the rustlers done for. But when, as you remember, the rustlers got the best of it and cooped up the whole outfit, the Englishman’s nerve oozed away until he hadn't a single strand of it left. He was simply limp with fear. Then came the rescue from the fear of as- sassination, but with it the certainty of long imprisonment. Weeks and even months passed with the poor devil lying on his cot and counting flies to pass the time. At last, after about thres months of utter weariness, he got out on bail. Haggard and unshaved and covered with dirt, he left the court house, and hastening to the telegraph of- fice he wrote a message to friends in England. It contained just one word: “* ‘Free." “Then he disappeared for three hours, when back he came to the telegraph office with new trousers rolled up at the bottom, a new white shirt open at the throat, and a new silk hat on the northeast corner of his head. There was a roll in his gait, a radiant smile on his mouth, and an unsteady look in his eyes, but taking a pen in his hand he braced himself and wrote another mes- sage as brief and to the polnt as the former one, It said: ‘Drunk.’ " “That rustler war was the worst man- aged affair of the kind ever known to the west,” began another plainsman. “Why, every move made was advertised in the papers in advance. When we determined to get rid of the rustlers In Montana we gave the matter into the hands of a man who could be trusted, and he went from ranch to ranch and selected his men. It was ‘Tom, get three saddle horses and come along with me,' and Tom went. There were no ques- tions asked and no tales told. Tom's pay went on just the same and he got $120 a month from the association besides. Tom was gone several months in all, but when he came back there were no more rustlers. Tom had done for all of them.” ‘“‘How many were ‘all of them? tenderfoot. “I don’t know; not less than eighty, any- way. But what I was golng to tell you was what a close call 1 got from one of my own men. T was riding alone down near the bad lands when I struck a trail that I thought might be a party of my own men. As they were going my way I took into the trail and followed it until it ran along under a pretty tall bluff; then I heard a noise off over my shoulder and turned my head to see what it was. What do you think? There was Tom, my own man, with a béad on me and pulling the trigger at that. Couldn't stop even when he recognized my face, but another man did manage to hit up the rifle and the bullet went into the bank, passing about an inch over my head. The trail I was on was that of some rustlers my men were after and I was thought to be one of the gang.” ““‘We had some lively times in those days,” said another. “I remember being on the train about here one night. It was the eastbound train, anyway, and about as dark as it is now, or a little later, perhaps. We'd stopped at a water tank and I was smoking here just as we are now, when one of my men came into the car. It was a hundred miles from the ranch, and I was mightily surprised, for he was badly winded and could Just talk in a whisper. “ ‘Quick!” he sald. ‘Hide me somewhere, There's six of 'em after me." “‘Get into the berth over mine,’ said I, telliag him my number. ““It won't do. They'll be in here and search every berth,’ he replied, and so I just put him In my own berth and got in in front of him. T hadn’t got my head on the pillow when they came; and they looked into every berth, too, but when they saw me they didn't recognize me, and that is all th: ved both of ‘When 1 hear such stories as that,” said the tenderfoot, “I think I was born twenty years too late.” ““You mean you'd like to have seen some of that sort of life, eh?” asked the cattleman. “Yes.” The cattleman laughed. “You make me think of an Englishman I knew, only you're luckier,” he said. *“‘He came here to see the life, and died forty years too soon."” sitting in the a car on the just after sunset, asked a —— ROBBERY AS A PROFESSION, Kentueky Reminiscences of the Cn- reer of the James Brothers. “Where I live In southern tucky,” said the doctor to the Courler-Journal, “the uncle of the famous outlaws, Frank and Jesse James, lives also on a big farm, and here, when pursuit of them became too flerce, these ban- dits used to come, while detectives scoured the country and state officers dreamed of the price set on their heads. “Of course, we more than guessed who the gentlemanly looking strangers were who ap- peared every now and then, and after—acel- dents—had happened to some amateur de- tectives who tried to arrest them we let them come and go undisturbed. “On one of these visity Jesse James, tired of a Ife that had lost its charms, wornout with belug hunted from place to place like & badgered animal, yperhaps remorseful for his many crimes, tried to commit suicide by taking an tmmense dose of morphine. “1 was sent for and held a prisoner in (he house for three days. When I arrived he Ken- | That ules. 1t the price (o0 pans Chemical Company, unlcaded them, buckled the belt around the collapsed form and, rushing in the room, cried: ‘Jesse, we are surroundea; caught like rats in a trap; fight for your life. In an instant the outlaw sprang to his feet, his eyes flashed and he stood with a pistol cocked in each hand. After a while he collapsed again, but time after time, when he was practically dead, we called him back to life was almost dead. I trisd every antidete for worphiue poisoning, but without success, and I finally sald o his brother: ‘Is there wo way fo frighten him? Rouse him any way you can.’ Frank took Jesse's plstols, h that ery: ‘You are caught.' Think what a fear such as that must be like. The horror of it was 8o great that he recponded to it when dead to every other sensation in this world. Can you imagine what it must be to have that torturing r of something dogging your footsteps, walk- ing in your shadow, haunting your dreams, and waking you up in the dead hours of the night h a cold sweat on your forehesad. ‘You are caught! Fight for a life red with crime and black with the shadow of the gal- lows!" What wonder such a fear went be- yond life into death itself. And that,” said the doctor, “‘Is one of the romantic and de- lightful experiences of the gay life of the highwayman." —_——— HIS APPEARAN WAS DECEPTIVE, The Men Who Took Him fy ling Were “Appearances are deceptive,” sald the club man to a Washingon Star reporter. “I remember, several years ago, 1 was a PASSenger on an avenue car one evening. A gentleman, accompanied by two stylishly dressed young ladles, got aboard. He didn’t look much for size, but he was got up regardless, His™inen 'was the whitest, his collar the highest, his clothes fitted him to perfection, his tall hat was the shini- est, and his trousers couldn’t have been creased more. He looked like a typical dude —nothing to him but clothes. The car was not crowded, but fairly well filled. On the rear platform were a couple of toughs who had evidently been drinking, for one of them leered at the young ladies as they passed and made an fnsulting remark. The young man passed into the car apparently without noticing the insult. When the ladies were seated he politely lifted his hat and asked to be excused a moment. Upon reaching the platform he quietly said: ‘You made a remark as those ladies passed.’ Well, what the — is that to you? “Bim! 'I never saw such a quick blow. The fellow flew off the platform as if he had been shot out of a gun. Of course, his companfon jumped to his "assistance, but he had scarcely moved before he was met with_one straight from the shoulder. He, too, landed on the asphalt. But the young man was not satisfied. He jumped off, and as one of his victims attempted to gct up gave him a settler, and there they boll lay completely knocked out. Of course the con- ductor had stopped the , but it was hardly necessary, for it was the quickest fight "to a finish' I ever saw or heard of. When the supposed dude rejoined the ladies his immaculate attire was not a bit rum- pled; he wasn't even preathing hard. You could have thought he had simply gone out to speak to some one. He apologized for having left them, and I don't believe they had any idea what he had done, The next day I saw the young man on the street and sald to a friend, ‘Do you know who_that 1s? “Why, yes. Don't you? I thought all the boys knew him. He's the champlon all-round athlete of one of the biz Phila- delphia_clubs, and has more medals erd prizes for running, jumping, rowing, and sparring than any man in Philadelphia.’ “So 1 say appearances are mighty decep- tive, and I'm not picking quarrils with well dressed strangers.” _— WHERE PEOPLE NEVER DIE. When Near Their End They Are Dis- patched with o Club, In Ching-che-Li, one of the most northern districts of Thibet, a burfal custom exists which a writer on such subjects says is the most repulsive manner of disposing of the dead that is known to be practiced by any civilized or savage tribe in existence. The dying person is never permitted v pass away naturally, but is diepatched with a ‘“sacred” club kept for that purpose as soon as he or she is announced as belng be- yond all hopes of recovery. The corpse Is immediately stripped and painted (red in the case of males, yellow if a female), and the head drawn down between the knees and firmly bound in that position. Next the corpse is carried to a corner of the room, where it is allowed to remain until the first night of the new moon, no odds If that date should be a full four weeks from the day of death. As soon as the new moon is seen in the west the corpse is removed from the corner with much ceremony and suspended in a rawhide bag from one of the rafters, or from a “corpse hook"” in the ceiling. After hanging thus suspended for seven days and nights the remains are taken down and sent to the ‘“‘corpse cutter,” a sort of govern- mental “undertaker.” ' This important indi- vidual ties the body to a post and removes the decaying flesh, which is fed to the count- less swarms of wolves and wild dogs which infest that portion of the Orient After the fiesh has been carefully removad the bones are macerated in lime water and then pounded into & jelly in & mortar spe- clally kept for that purpose. This horrid mass is then mixed with bits of refuse meat, grain, flour, vegetables and fed to the dogs, hogs and vultures. la case the subject has lived past a certain Mmit (this standard varies among different tribes), the skull is not cen- signed to the bone mortar, but s carefully dried and worked up ioto sacred buttons and “charm disks” for rosaries. Finger and wrist bones, a3 well as teeth and nails, may also be reserved in special cases, in which ovent they are invariably made into neck- laces, armlets and anklets and wors by sor- rowing friends or relatives, a Weak- C No. 10 § Omaha, m 6:10pm. Leaves It Is Merely Good Health. beautitul health, preserved by Ripans Tab- omplexion is Ripans Tabules purify the blood clear the skin of blemishes and make life more worth living, Ripans Tabules. Sold by drugglets, or by mafl ents 4 box) ts sent to The Ri pruce at., N. Y. denver Express. . 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Depot, 10th & Masc Louls Cannon Ball S G O W 0 8 | | —~—— 4 =T 2 o 8 R e e ) iy 8 s G g | m 0opt * 4:0ipm L Tiim < 11iZam [Arrives |_Omana 0 4:00pm TATTives | Omaha £:15pm B3am L Unlon Depot, 10th & Mason Sts,| Omaha pm Omaha “ipm SOHEDULE VOI‘ STATE FAIR TRAINS Via Unlon Pacific, Effective Friday, Sept. 13, Saturday, Sept. 14 and Sunday, Sept. 15, 139, GOl Gonmer Ground P.M 3:00 7:00 9:00 PN 50486 7:45 9:45 Effective Monday, Sept 20, inclusive. 20, to Friday, South 2 MEESEER wemame-ETEEena® S SEEEEZ = & 55555555 88858 Omaha | ! Ground AM 7:50 8:50 9:60 10:50 11:60 P M, 12:50 1:50 2:60 3:50 4:50 560 6:60 7:60 850 il Bl e prevey 2EER Sex> Sass 34 L [ Bdway