The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 9, 1896, Page 21

Transvaal Witches The Weird Feats| of Divination in Africa One Kaffir Magi Who! Saw Mar\g Miles and Read the Future A Calcutta correspondent sends the fol- lowing interesting narrative illustrating the clairvoyance of South African ‘‘witch doctors,” the circumstances having oc- curred in the Transvaal: Myself and friend were out on a hunt- | ing and prospecting trip with a Boer, and were traveling with a wagon and oxen, with, of course, our saddle horses for Jong- distance work. We had ‘“‘paddea .the hoof” for a long distance this particular day, and about2 | o'clock we had outspanned some little | distance from a *‘sprint,’”’ or small stream. The boys had gone to the water with the oxen, the game stew was in the three- legeed iron pot over the fire and we had thrown ourselves down under the wagon to get a smoke and rest in the shade. Nearly on the point of aozing off to sleep, I heard something moving in the | grass, and not knowing what it might be, as we were far enough from civilization | for it to be almost anything, I quietly got upon my knee to look over the grass, at the same time grasping my rifle ready for any emergency. But there was no neces- sity for that, as it was a Kaffir coming to the wagon, and from his peculiar style of dress I knew him to be a *‘witch doctor.” 1 had often seen these fellows, and bad heard a great deal about what they could do in the way of telling past, present and future events, but, although the Boers employ and believe in them, I must | say that up to this time I certainly had no faith in their powers, but I was fated to | hear something this day which was more than passing strange, and has made me many -times ask myself the question, “What is it?’ The doctor had a belt of skins around his loins, a skin cap upon his head, with two or three long feathers stuck in it, and attached to his loiabelt were two or three small bags made from kid or lamb’s skin. Upon coming up to the wagon, he saluted in Kaffir style and squatted upon his heels | without further addressing us. After a while my friend asked: “Shall we get | him to throw his *dol ossen? ”—meaning | for him to throw out of one of the bags the different articles iv contained on to the! ground, and according as they laid. to read things from them. These articles con- | sisted of pieces of glass, crockery, bone, iron, stone, ete.; in fact, an utterly worth- | less medley, but from which they profess to | THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 1896. COLORED DRESS G00DS! At 15 Cents. 49 pieces 39-INCH ENGLISH MOHAIRS, in figured and striped effects, former pri%e 50c, will be closed out at 15¢ a yard. . At 20 Cents. ieces 39-INCH FANCY STRIPED RESS GOODS, in grays and tans, former price 60c, wiil be closed out at 20c a yard. At 25 Cents. 96 pieces 36-INCH FINE ALL-WOOL IM- PORTED DRESS GOODS, in mixed, mottled. figured and hairline_stripes, former price 65¢c, will be closed out at 25¢ a yard. At 50 Cents. 42 pieces 44 INCH ALL-WOOL FANCY MIXED DRESS GOODS, former price 75¢ and $1, will be closed out at 50c a yard. 52 At 50 Cents. 37 pieces 44-INCH ALL-WOOL ENGLISH DIAGONAL STORM SERGE, former pncc:di'Sc, will be closed out at 50c a a yard. BLACK DRESS G00IS! At 50 Cents. 25 pieces 42-INCH HEAVY BLACK ENGLISH STORM SERGE, reduced from 75¢ to 50c a yard. At 75 Cents. | 20 pieces 54-INCH CHEVIOT SERGE, re- duced from §1 to 75¢c a yard. At 75 Cents. ! 25 pieces 54-INCH FRENCH ALL-WOOL BOUCLE, reduced from $1 50 to 75¢ a yard. At $1.00. 75 pieces PRIESTLEY’S NOVELTIES, in a variety of new designs, good value at *é 50, will be placed on sale at $1 a yard. FEATHER COLLARS! JUST RECEIVED—A full line of Feather Collars, extra values, prices ranging from $2up to $550. HANDR ERCHTEFS! At 10 Cents Each. LADIES' WHITE SCALLOPED EM- dozen, will be closed out at 10c each. BROIDERED SHEER LAWN HAND- | FANCY RIBBONS, in shaded effects, all KERCHIEFS, regular price $2 40 ver | | SILES! SILES! At 50 Cents a Yard. 50 pieces FANCY FIGURED SILK, for- mer price 85¢, will be closed out at 50c a yard. At 60 Cents a Yard. 30 pieces BLACK TAFFETA SILK, with fancy colored stripes, former price $1, will be closed out at 60c a yard. At 65 Cents a Yard. 20 pieces FANCY PLAID TAFFETA SILK, former price $1, will be closed out at 65c a yard. At 75 Cents a Yard. 50 pieces FANCY FIGURED AND STRIPED TAFFETA SILK, extra quality, former price $1 and $1 25, will be closed out at 75¢ a yard. At $1.00 a Yard. 40 pieces BLACK BROCADED AND FIG- URED SATIN AND GROS-GRAIN SILK, smali, medium and large de- signs, former price $1 35, will be closed out at $1 a yard. i LADIES' KID GLOVES! At 50 Cents. LADIES’ 5-BUTTON KID GLOVES, in dark and medium tan shades, also biack, regular value $1, wili be closed out at 50c a pair. At 75 Cents. . LADIES' 4-BUTTON ENGLISH WALK- ING KID GLOVES, embroidered backs, colors navy, tan, brown and red, also black, regular value $1 25, will be closed out at 75¢ a pair. At $1.00. LADIES’ 4.BUTTON DERBY KID GLOVES (large buttons to match gloves), colors red, tan and brown, reg- ular value $150, will be closed out at $1 a pair. RIBBONS ! RIBBONS ! At 5 Cents. FANCY RIBBONS, in assorted coloss, “h:ie 15¢, will be closed outatjca yard. At 13 Cents. silk, value 25¢, will be closed out st 15¢ a yard. NEW TO-DAY. e A A A A A A A A A A A A e A A i A WEEK OF EXTRAORDINARY PRICES MADE THIS WEEK in _ Ladies who attended our wonderful Bargain Sale last week will welcome the announcement of the STILL DEEPER CUTS IN pursuance of our determination TO GET RID OF ALL SURPLUS STOCK AND BROKEN LINES prior to the opening of immense Fall importations now in transit. In presenting a few examples of these cuts we would espe=- cially recommend our country customers to order as promptly as possible and thus avoeid disappointment, as the lines are SURE OF |A SPEEDY SALE and when once sold cannot be duplicated at the GREATLY UNDER VALUE PRICES QUOTED! At 25 Cents. 200 dozen LADIES' SHIRT WAISTS, laundered collar and cuffs, in fancy checks and stripes, worth 75¢, will be closed out at 25¢ each, At 50 Cents. 150 dozen LADIES' PERCALE SHIRT WAISTS, fancy stripes, full sleeves, laundered collar and cuffs, regular price $1, will be offered at 50c each. At 60 Cents. dozen LADIES’ LAUNDERED SHIRT WAISTS, in black and white, navy and red stripes, regular price $1, will be closed out at 60c each. 120 At 75 Cents. 75 dozen LADIES’ LAUNDERED SHIRT WAISTS, in fancy tan and black stripes, yoke corded with black, regular price $150, will be closed out at 75¢ each. LADIES’ NUSLIN ONDERWEAR! At 75 Cents. LADIES" MUSLIN GOWNS, made of heavy muslin, sailor collar, Jarge sleeves, regular price §1, will be closed out at 75¢ each. At $1.00. LADIES’ GOWNS, made of Wamsutta muslin, plaited back, voke and collar trimmed with embroidery, extra gooda valge for $1 25, will be “offered at $1 each. LADIES SHIRT WAISTS! | MEN'S FURNISHINGS! At 25 Cents. 95 dozen MEN’S AND BOYS’ TENNIS FLANNEL OVERSHIRTS, in light and medium vertical stripes, made with regulation rolling collar, shaped shoulders, sizes 1214 to 17, regular price 50c, will be closed out at 25¢ each., At 50 Cents. 78 dozen MEN’S FINE JERSEY RIBBED UNDEKSHIRTS AND DRAWERS, shirts made with French collarette and drawers with 7)¢ inch linen facing and taped seams, regular price $1 50 a suit, will be closed out at 50c a garment. At 60 Cents. 55 dozen “Eureka Milis” Random Wool UNDERSHIRTS AND DRAWERS, skirts made with silk tape bound neck, drawers with long French ribbed an- kles and taped seams, regular price $1 80 a suit, will be closed out at 60c a garment. LADIES' AND CHILDREN'S UNDERWEAR! - At 25 Cents. 100 dozen CHILDREN'S JERSEY RIB. BED EGYPTIAN COTTON VESTS, high neck, long sleeves, pants to match. regular. price 40c, will be closed out at 25¢ each. At 50 Cents. 150 dozen LADIES’ CAMEL’S-HAIR AND NATURAL GRAY WOOL VESTS, high neck, long sleeves, draw- ers to match, regular price 75¢, will be closed out at 50c each. At 65 Cents. 50 dozen LADIES’ JERSEY RIBBED WOOL MIXED VESTS, high neck, long sleeves, warranted non-shrink- able, white and natural, regular price 85¢, will be closed out at 65¢ each. ATTRA 21 (TIONS! $2.50, LADIES’ SINGLE RIPPLE CAPES, of navy blue ladies’ cloth, lined with changeable silk, neatly embroidered; also Single Capes of black cloth em- broidered in gray; also Double Capes of black ladies’ cloth, nicely braided; worth $5, will be closed out at $250 each. At $3.50. | LADIES' SINGLE CAPES, of light weight Kersey cloth, in scarlet, navy, tan and | lack, finished with stitched bias bands of cloth and trimmed wita small pearl ° buttons, inlaid. velvet coliar; also Tan Ripple Capes, neatly braided, collars finished wiih either ribbon or fancy ruching; worth $7 50, will be closed out at $3 50 each. At $3.50, LADIES’ RIPPLE CAPES of black vel- vet, lined with twillea silk and trim- med with ribbon and narrow passe- menterie; also Ripple Capes of black velvet, neatly jetted and neck finished with ribbon and lace, worth $7 50, will be closed out at $3 50 each. LADIES' SOITS! . At $3.90. LADIES’ SUITS, consisting of double- breasted Jacket and lined Skirt made of black cheviot, worth $650, will be closed out at $3 90 each. { At $7.50. LADIES’ DOUBLE-BREASTED REEF- ER SUITS, in tan, gray and brown mottled effects, lined tgroughout; also Blazer Suits of tan mixed material, neatly finished and lined throughout; wort:.b $12 50, will be closed out at $7 50 each. LAGES and EABROTDERIES At 15 Cents a Yard. CREAM, BUTTER AND BLACK AP- * PLIQUE and CHANTILLY LACES, all silk, 4 inches wide. regular price 25¢, 30c and 35¢, reduced to 15¢ a yard. At 25 Cents a Yard. CREAM, BLACK AND BUTTER' AP- PLIQUE'and CHANTILLY LACES, 6 and 7 inches. wide, all silk, regular price 50c, 60c and 65¢c, reduced to 25¢ a yard. At 5 Cents a Yard. 2800 vards CAMBRIC GUIPURE EM- BROIDERY, regular price 10c and 12}4¢, reduced to 5c a yard, At 15 Cents a Yard. 1600 yards CAMBRIC GUIPURE EM- BROIDERY, regular price 25¢, reduced to 15¢ a yard. Lxmgw CAPES! SPRCIAL LINEN SALE! This week we will offer our entire Household Linen Goods at such Reduced Prices as should command the attention of all shrewd buyers. Hotel and res- taurant proprietors will find it to their advantage to avail them= selves of this opportunity. BLEACHED TABLE DAMASK, 58 inches wide, nice and styl- ish, was 35c a yard. On saleat 20¢ CREAM TABLE DAMASK, heavy faoric, well made, that was 50c a yard, on sale at..... 35¢ BLEACHED TABLE DAMASK, Irish flax, 62 inches wide, that was 60c a yard, on sale at..... 45¢ CREAM TABLE DAMASK, 72 inches wide, good heavy fab- ric, that was 75¢c a yard, on 60c BLEACHED TABLE DAMASK, 66 inches wide, satin damask, that was 85¢ a yard, on saleat 65¢ VERY ELEGANT SATIN DAM- ASK, 73 inches wide, tha was $1 35 a yard, on sale at. . = nE BLEACHED IRISH LINEN HUCK TOWELS, well made, close weave, size 17x31 inches, that were $1 35, on sale at.... $1.00 $1.15 FINE IRISH LINEN HUCK TOWELS, handsome borders, that were $1 75 doz., on sale at $1.35 EXTRA QUALITY HUCK TOWELS, fully bleached, size 19x40 inches, that were $2 50 1 80 dozen, on sale at . 500 dozen 3-4 DINNER NAP- KINS, pure Irish linen, 21 inches square, that were $1 50 a dozen, on sale at....... $1.25 L@ All Remnants and Oddments Table Damasks, Napkins, Towels and Toweling on sale this week. Murphy Building, Market and Jones Streets. Murphy Building, Market and Jomes Streefs. Murphy Building, Market and Jones Stregts. and our Boer friend said: zeker de ‘vaarhuit wes.”” tainly the truth.) “Karels, it zal (Men, it is cer- tell the past, present and future. | After asking him to throw them for us | he agreed to do so, but demanded that we | each give him sixpence, and loosening his | pag he asked: *‘For which boss shall I throw first?’ My friend Bill was duly | elected premier. After throwing the‘‘ossen’” | out he immediately began by saying that two or three years ago the big boss went | across the big waters to white man’s coun- ‘ try, and during the time he was there he fell in love wiiha young lady. He was | going to be married to her, but she died. | Now he is engaged to another young lady | in Pretoria, but although they are very; fond of each other they will never marry, | as her father will break the engagement because he has not money enough to please him.” During the time the doctor was saying | this he did not raise his eyes from the | “ossen.” It seemed as if he were really | reading something from them; and Bill { and I were looking at one another in as- tonishment, as it was perfectly trne that he was in Europe at the time mentioned, and while touring on the Continent fell in | with a very nice, jolly German family traveling in the same direction, got very | intimate with them, and eventually fell in love with the daughter and was engaged to be married to her m the iollowing | September, when, to his great sorrow, | she fell ill and died. Thus the past event | told was correct. 7 It was also true that at the present time he was engaged to a young lady in Pre- “toria. 1 was a friend of both and am sat- isfied that they were very, very fond of each other, and were looking forward to a | happy married existence, which they both deserved. The present was true. Now comes the most curious part of the affair. About four nionths after this the young lady’s father really did break the engagement, stating that he did not think Bill was in a good enough position to keep | his daughter as she bad been in the habit of living, and be would not sanction the match. The future came true. c After having finished with Bill the doc- tor threw the “ossen” for me. but imme- diately picked them up and replaced them in the bag, saying ‘*‘they were too tired, | they would not talk to him any more.” Of course we knew there was something up, so Lordered him to throw them again, | which he did, but only to gather them up asbefore. Upon using a great deal of pressure he at last said he did not want to hurt my feelings, as what they had to say was not pleasant news; but upon my again commanding him to throw and read them he did so, and you can easily im- agine that under the circumstances our curiosity was raised to a great pressure to know what was coming for me, Upon looking at them for some minutes he said: ‘*“The boss lives half an nour to foot, the other side of Proot Dorp. He is a married man and has two little daugh- ters, and the youngest of them, about 18 months old, is so very ill that the medi- cine doctors say she can’t live, and her mother is walking about with her in her arms in a veryexcited state, and is say- ng, ‘She will die, and her )‘nhgr will not get home in time to see her again.” ” Well, you can imagine that after the truths ha had told about Bill, and know- ing that what he was telling me about my residence, wife and family was also per- fectly true, it gave us both a bit of a shock, especially myself. I tried to look ¢heerful and iangh it off, but could not, so 1t last I took out my vocketbook and nade a note of the day, time and words ued by the doctor, and Bill initialed it The matter was forgotten during the next day or so, and it was about six weeks before we reached home—as we were some 400 miles north of Pretoria at the time—and just as I jumped off the wagon to embrace my wife and children, she said: “Oh! Tom, darling, I am so glad you have come, for our little Violet has been so ill that the doctors gave her up and said she would certainly die.” I then thought about the witch doctor, and immediately hauled out my pocketbook, asking my wife what date the child was so ill. She immediately gave me the same date as that in my book and the time of day exactly corresponding. When I asked her if she conld recollect any particular thing she said in her ex- citement over the child’s serious state, she said: *“Yes, dear; I could think or say nothing else as [ was carrying her about the bedroom but, ‘Oh, my little darling! I am afraid your dada will never see you again.’ "’ Here is the whole thing. ‘“Whatisit?” A Kaffir, you may say, almost a savage, perfectly uneducated, did not understand asingle word of English, had never seen us before—at least, not to our knowledge— comes out 1n the bush and for a shilling tells you most thrilling truths, both past, present and future; in fact, what I con- sider most wonderful was his telling me the very words my darling wife was saying, in her great agony of mind, at the very mo- ment he was telling me, 400 miles away. The affair has always been a great mys- tery to myself,nd friend, We have told { of it many times to friends, some believ- ing, others doubting it, and we still re- main in ignorance of what it could be; therefore, I have at last come to the de- termination to ask some one to answer my { question, **What is it?"”’ Without attempting to enter into details, our correspondent’s question may | be answered in a few words. There are various metheds of natural divination, | divided into two broad classes. The first of these is based on the fact that the soul itself, from its own nature and essence, has some foreknowledge of future things, as well asa retrospective view of the past. By means of this soul power, acting as clairvoyance and clair- audience, the Kaffir saw the sick child and heard the spoken words. The second gen- eral class is based on the postulate that the soul, after the: manner of a mirror, receives some secondary illumin- ation. This may be set up by artificial divination (external signs, etc.). The casting of the bits of stone by the Kaf- fir comes under the head of lithomancy. By observing the relative -position of the various pieces, as regards size, color, ete., he formed a general idea or skeleton of the facts to be known, and with this as a basis he was able to become en rapport clairvoy- antly with the exact facts of the past, and the probable facts of the future, so far as they had been mapped out by Karma: The whole oper- ation comes within the range of natural lews, though they are little understood at present. RaM SiNeH. CEPRE Ll Burke as an OQrator. Burke spoke in a.monotone and the splendid orations that are cited as models of English composition were listened to by few auditors. So dull was his delivery that he was called the “‘Dinner-beli of the House,”’ because when he arose to speak the greater part of the members at once went out. —————— XKalamazoo, Mich., is famous for celery, Thomas Slater's advertisement on page 4. Great Galifornia Gold Nuggets The Wonderful Ghunk Found by Oliver Martin Worth $20,000. The history of the great California nug- gets is in many respectsinteresting and ro- mantic. The discovery of one of the great- est ever found was under most singular cir- cumstances. It is known as the Oliver Martin nugget and a gilded cast of itis now an interesting object to all visitors of the California Mining Bureau. This nug- get was found near Camp Oorona in Tuolumne County and weighed 151 pbunds and six ounces. Oliver Martin and a com- panion named Flower were camped in a canyon when a terrible rainstorm came on in the night and the water in the stream suddenly rose to a great height. The miners attempted to climb the hill, but the flood overtook them and both were carried down the stream. Flower was drowned, but Martin, though severely in- jurea, escaped. Afterward, while trying to bury his companion’s body in a grave at the foot of a tree, Martin discovered the nugget which bears his name. He was too exhausted to remove it. He attempted to reach some neighboring miners, but fainted from overexertion and was found on the trail by them in a state of com- plete collapse. ‘It was weeks before he re- covered sufliciently to again visit the nug- get, which was found intact and removed fo camp with great rejoicing. It was composed of gold and quartz, but the Iucky finder received $20,000 for it. The Martin nugget was not the largest ever discovered in California. One was found in November, 1854, at Carson Hill, Calaveras County, " which weighed 180 pounds. Another nugget was subsequently found at the same place which weighed 149 pounds. In August, 1869, W. A. Farish, A. Wood, J. Winstead, F. Ctevers and Harry Warner were partners in the Mon- umental claim near the Sierra Buttes in Bierra County. During the last week of that month they discovered a huge nug- get which weighed 1493 ounces troy. It was sold for exhibition purposes to R. Woodward of San Francisco, who paid $21,637 for it. It was afterward melted and $17,655 realized from it. Sierra County is famous for the number of nuggetsfound within its limits. It was in this county at a place called French Ravine that one was found in 1850 worth $23,000. The largest nugget ever found in Shasta County was discovered in 1870. One day three Frenchmen, Oliver Longchamp, Fred Rochow and another, drove into the old town of Shasta in search of a place to mine. - They happened to have some busi- ness with ' A. Coleman, a dealer in merchandise, and inquired of him for a lucky spot to mine. He carelessly ‘answered, “'Go over to Spring Creek.” The Frenchmen followed his advice and Murphy Building, | Market and Jomes Streets Murphy Building, Market and Jones. Siregts. Murphy Bullding, Market and Jones Strests. CAN WOMEN PLAY WIIST? One of the features of the sixth congress of the American Whist League was the large number of ladies that were in atiendance. It pleases us to say they made a very excellent showing. It istrue they did not enter any of the major contests, such as the Hamilton, the A. W. L. or Minneapolis trophy, but the matches they did enter showed by their whist play that they were capable of holding their own. In all matches that we conducted where the ladies played, they conformed to the law of playing their cards on the table better than the men. The law reads: “Each player, when 1t is his turn to play, must place his card face upward before him and toward the center ot the table, and allow it to remain upon the 1able 1n this position until all have played to the trick, when he must turn it over and place it face downward and nearer to himself, etc.’” We could not help but notice this. Most of the men dropped their card anywhere it was convenient, on the edge of the table. on top of their other cards, anywhere as long as they dropped it. A ‘“bali-bearing” jointed neck ought to be applied to players who do this. The first match that the ladies entered was for progressive pairs and & remarkable feature of this match was the distinguished achieve- ments of the ladies who took part in it. There were six women teachers of the game who played together and their scores were all above the average. The six in question were Mrs. T. H. Andrews (vice-president of the Trist Club of Philadelphia), Miss Gertrude Clapp of New York.Mrs. Rodman Wister of Philadel- phia, Mrs. W. S. Fenollosa of Salem, Mass., Mrs. W, H. Newbold of Philadelphia, and Mrs. Rachael Frances Harrison of Columbus, Ohio. The splendid showing of these sadies placed them in the front rank in the wide world of whist. Sixty-one pairs entered in this mateh. In the progressive match for fours, twenty-five clubs were represenied, and twenty ladies took part and they all made a remarkably good showing. This was the match that was won by Baltimore with 670 tricks. We an- nounced two weeks ago that the Trist Dupli- cate Club of this City came out second with 677 tricks; it should have been 667. The match between the men and the wonten, played on Thursday afternoon, was a sort of a go-as-you-please conducted by Miss Kate Wheelock. This match was won by the men by a score of 20 tricks. Professor W. H. Whitfeld and C. D. P. Hamilton made the highest score for the men—146 tricks. Mrs. Fenollosd and Miss Harrison tied Mrs.T. H. ‘Andrews of Philadelphia and Miss Bessie Al- len of Milwaukee for second place with 142 tricks. ladies with 187 tricks. The next match, “free for al),” for players not engaged in any of the contests that the ladies entered, was the straight whist, Saturday night this match wound up. the week's carnival. There were sixteen tables and twenty deals were played. The prizes, a rabbit’s foot mounted in a silver matehbox, were awarded to Mr. and Mrs. H. Payot of the San Francisco Whist Club. AMERICA’S QUEEN HOLDS A LEVEE. There were many other young ladies at the Whist Congress, who played a very little. One little woman, neatly dressed in dark blue, with salmon lining to her jaunty jacket, was the center of attraction. From the crown of her well-poised head to the tips of her dainty tan shoes she was every inch a “whist queen,’” full of dash and vigor. She held quite a levee in the main corridor, for delegates from far and near sought introductions to this famous exponent of scientific whist. Miss Wheelock was one of the tournament committee, and had very little time to play. ECHOES OF THE CONGRESS. The great whist department of England’s standard sportsmen’s newspaper, the Field of London, in its issue of July 11 devotes the space of thirty-two lines to its report of the pro- ceedings of the sixth congress of the American Whist League, but there is one item of infor- matjon in it that our papers did not report. It sdys: “The Minneapolis trophy was won by the Baltimore Club of Baltimore, Indiana.” Our little scrapbook, “Echoes from the Con- gress,” contains 380 columns of over 200 lines to a column. 3 THE FATE OF SHORT-SUITERS. The Globe of Boston says: ‘‘Judging by the results of the Manhattan Beach whist tourna- ment, the Boston whist-players can’t call the Boston Baseball Club names.” ESTABLISHED TRUMP. A communication was received by the re- cording secretary of the American Whist League from the Superior Chess and Whist Club stating that they wished to go on record by their club péssing the following resolu- tion: “Resolved, that it is the sense of this club that an established trump should be adopted for general use in the American Whist League and that we recommend club as such trump.” The idea does notstrike us with favor at all, but we will be glad to get the views of clubs on this coast. Milton .C. Work, the whist editor of the Evening Telegraph of Philadelphia, sailed for Europe on Wednesday, July 29, therefore his whist articles will be discontinued until his return in the latter part of October. No one The third best score was made bv the in this country deserves a rest from his whist labors more than Mr. Work. It was simply phenomenal the way he kept up his work. A daily column, and a very interesting one it was, requires an immense amount of brain work. Doing all thisas a labor of love, Mr. Work has certainly done his share to popu- larize our National game. We will miss him every day while he is awey and we hope the rest will do him & world of good. ‘Bon voyage. HOWELL'S “WHIST OPENINGS.” Inan 1ssue of July 26 we asked Mrs. F. H. Atwater of Petaluma to send us a criticism. Mrs, Atwater says: bea second edition of Foster, in which one finds tittle to admire but his courage, Idonot know whathe means in his introduc- tory remarks by ‘the fallacies of the long-suit game.” Most of the leads and plays of the long-suit game have been thoroughly tested by practical players and only those rules and principles ac- cepted which have been proven to be inthe ma- jority of cases productive of the best results. His attempt to ridicule those who do not agree with him is not srgurhent and “Cavendish and his parasites” can never be convinced by such style of Teasoning. It might not be presumptuous to ask Mr. Howell i he considers his opponents to be novices at the game. * 11 50 his “short-suit system” or any other system might be equally effective; but with “long-suit in- vallds” of ordinary whist intelligence his “system” would at once be understood and he would find his game securely blocked. His “short-suit system” seems to rest on the false hypothesis that his opponent cannot draw correct references from the drop of the card. While he is holding back his long suit “waiting for something to turn up” his opponent will be taking in the tricks and Mr. Howell will find hirh- self turned down. In leading & supporting card that support has two chances of assisting an ad versary to one ot as- sisting a partner, and if these adversaries be “up- to-date’ players they should beable to piace the strong suits and defeat the short-suit tactics. In his summary of secondary leads he says: “Keep your nerve, and don't turn a baireven if the development seems to run dead against you; stick to your game, and, sooner or later, the ad- versary will abendon bis, which shall be the short- suiter’s victory and reward.” This 1s not whist, but rathera matter of physi- cai endurance. The “top downward method” of playing short suits Is & new idea in whist literature and well worth the consideration of ““I'Tistians.” But, taken as a whole, a_match between teams of short-suit players would seem to me to suggest the resnit of the simuitaneous explosion of an assortment of skyrockets sending their fiery darts in all direc- tions without apparent aim or purpose. located a claim on the creek, eight miles north of Redding, and in a few days dug out the Shasta nugget, which they sold for $16,000. . Plumas County, though it has contrib- uted many miilions of gold to the world’s supply, has furnished but few nuegets. The largest was found by a Chinaman in 1860, which was sold for §9600. Archie Little, a miner, found one in the same dis- trict that sold for $4960. In Placer County, in 1859, Edward Gilbert, in a drift mine near Butcher Gulch, about a dozen miles from Aubarn, found a gold and quartz nugget that he sold for $5000. The same man later on discovered another one, less valuable, however. Another miner, whose name has not been rescued from oblivion, found in Placer County the most beauti~ ful nugget ever discovered in California. The gold was imbedded in a mass of crys- ‘tallized quartz. It sold for $6206. 1n El Dorado County at Spanish Dry ‘Diggings & nugget weighing 105 ounces was found in 1853. It sold for $1800.- An- other was found at Kelsey in tne same county which sold for $4700. In 1863 a mass of gold weighing 360 ounces was found at Cofumbus, El Dorado County, and was valued at $5236, and not far from the same spot a poor Frenchman found a nugget worth $5000. The finder was so overjoyed at his rich find that he lost his mind and had to be taken to a lunatic asy- lum, where he subsequently died, and the proceeds of his rich nugget were remitted to his family in France. Near Kuapp ranch in the same couniy John Strain dis- covered a nugget that weighed fifty pounds, which was so nearly fine gold that it brought when sold $9500. Near Magalia in Butte County, on Aug- ust 14, 1859, Ira A. Willard found a nusget that weighed 54 pounds. The celebration which followed the discovery of this mass of gold was participated in by every micer for miles about. and is still regarded in the annals of Butte as the greatest historical event in the history of that prolific county. The days of nugget-finding in California seem Lo have passed away. Nowadays the nugget has been supplanted by the pocket, in which depositories rich finds of $100,000 at a time are notuncommon. It is not doubted that with the revival of mining nuggets of equal or even greater magni- tude than those recorded will be discoy- ered. The treasures awaiting the patient miner are just as great now as of old. The stores of gold in California are practically undiminished, ana the’ opportunities for acquiring wealth are quite equal to any period of its history, but no incident in the history of mining in this State ever surpassed in absorbing interest the finding of the great nuggets. Pace, the dester. Pace, jester to Queen Elizabeth, was so bitter in his retorts upon her that he was forbidden her presence. After he had been absent for some time a few of his friends entreated her Majesty to receive him back into favor, engaging for him that he would be more guarded in his dis- course for the future. e very first time they again met Pace was as bad asever. “Come on, Pace,’’ said the Queen, in ner gracious humor, ‘‘now we shall hear of -our faults.” “No, madam,” said Pace, "I never talk of what is discoursed world.”—Alliance News, Mr. Howell’s ““Whist Openings” seems to me to | A Tree JThat Has Split A Bowlder Remarkable Strength of Growth of a Mill Valley Liaurel The wonderfut force of the roots of grows ing trees is demonstrated on a hill in Mill Valley, where a laurel has split a huge bowlder into three pieces. The tree is of the type common in many parts of Cali- fornia, but there are several queer things about it and its surroundings. The place where the tree growsis a most unusual one for its species, which naturally re- quires considerable moisture. The fact of the tree taking root in a barren rock is also unusual in California on account of the long, dry summers, during which young sprouts usually perish unless there is considerable moisture in the soil. The exact location of this botanical curi- osity is a few hundred feet east of the trail to the top of Tamalpais. The general ap- pearance of the tree is most unusual and undoubtedly it is very old. At first glance tlo oks like an oak, but a most unusual one. The upper branches aresfwisted and turned in all directions and a large portion of them are dead. In reality the treelooks like those iu the Dore illustrations of Dante’s Inferno. An examination of the tree and its sur- roundings shows that the bowlder is one of the largest stones in the vicinity and cannot weigh less than 500 tons. THe loca- tion of the tree is almost exactly in the middle of the stone and about five feet from the end of the split. This rift in the rock is about fifteen feet long, and at one end is only a few inches wide. At the end wherethe tree isitisat least three feet. To prove that it was the tree that caused the split there is a crack in one of the halyes of the bowlder showing that the force of the growing roots was so much that it cracked the rock where it could not move it. Miss Eastwood, a botanist of the Acad- emy of Sciences, gave as her opinion that the strange natural curiosity was the only one of its kind in the State. She says that in all her studies she has never seen its like here, although in localities where there are summer rains the phenomenon is not unusual. And yet even under those conditions she never heard of a laurel growing as the one in Mill Valley does. In Miss Eastwood’s opinion there must have been a small rift in che bowlder to begin with. Possibly it was tight enough to hold water. In the fall of the year the seed of the laurel blew intoit’ and in the spring of the year-came to life. The walls of the rift then acted as sunshades and also kept the water from being evaporated too rapidly, so that the young shootl was able to struggle through the long summer until the winter rains came. Or it may be that there was an unusually rainy summer that gave the tree its start in life. ' After the tree was a year old it was able to take care of itself, and then showed its in- gravitude to therock that had protected it