The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 31, 1897, Page 17

SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 31, 1897. T TZ. R S 1 i song and story is a dainty Dresden | ok cravated by silken ribbon and a | als browsing near to complete the placid pair of shepherdesses entitied to quite as | they wear brown overalls and blue jumpers, s instead of crooks and perform deeds that would m nd white predecessors faint dead away with terro emplate. Such is the yawning differ- ence betwe e and reality. A few icisco man, traveling by team on the ove <iah and Eureka, reined in his horses to let i sheep pass by in charge of two herders mounted on broncos. <« the back of one of the horses, be its rider, la; cent deer. The mascaline attire e strangers, whose wide sombreros shaded sunbrowned was oddly out of keeping with their musical voices and 1 ke demeanor when questioned about their antlered in truth they were no rough men of the moun- garb and vocation, but two very whose home 1s perched on a Men- re the forest fastnesses and whose d un good temper shame the cowardice of some men and the peevishness of some women. They are blood heroines, although, being unspoiled children | they happily are not aware of it, and their names | i Louise Lahm. ee Jacob Lahm took unto himself a wife in Petaluma and went to the northern frontier and home. He wasone of the earliest settiers taking up 7000 acres for cattle were other t plendid for honeymoon in Mendocino, of wildwood land along the mountain and sheep ranch. But on these wooded ings than giants of the forest in the shape vines and redwoods reaching skyward, and such bery as only California yields. There were coyotes and other wild animals that must be exterminated before the ranch could be stocked. So Jacob Labm turned trapper and hunter and became the most expert them all th 10ut the county. ters came to this sky ranch, but the mother them. Thatduty fell to the father, and ne was not wise? For, having no sons, and e could not always protect his little ones in their ment, he taught them outof his wonderful | ife in the open—how to combine the wisdom of man with the modesty of a woman. The these girls, now 19 and 21 years of age, pos- sual list of accomphshments. * | nch beiween Laytonville and Eureka, enterprising, well-to-do young farmer, James comely wife is famous in that part of the country king, and whose father, “*Bob” White, died at Cahio azo, a well-known pioneer. FKive miles up the e from the White place live the- Lahms, in an naccessible spot. Their property is now worth about The fatber has grown old, and his blithe, willing glters take entire charge of the place, devoting themselves their responsibilities and caring nothing at all about the reat world of which they seldom hear. They have never even seen a railroad train, and what little education from books | they have acquired has been in the district schoolhouse, miles | away. Probably almost any two sisters who read this would | ink they bad not much time for lessons either if they had to k after a band of 35000 sheep. In their least busy season, the sses Labm don skirts and mingle with the pupils. When hool hours are over they ride qnickly home, change to the jeans and jumpers in whick they feel so much more at ease, | coil their thick blonde hair atop of their semsible, shapely | heads, pull their leather-trimumed sombreros over their pretty, | = 25 . o f\f/-) = &5 5 Y e R s, SEa ODEST = freckled saucy little noses, and away they go to bring those wandering 3000 sheep | into the fold pefore ni- .tiall. the wide blue sky! These California wild flowers of womenkind are superb sam- vles of what au athletic career will do to develop muscles and sinews, yet in no way are they coarsened by their freedom. The fair, rosy skin of the fatherland is tanned, the strong young hands are as brown as sun can dye them, the clear b ue eyes, accustomed to penetrating dense underbrush and far-off bluffs in locating lost sheep, are calm and unafraia. Excepting that the elder is a trifle taller, the sisters look as like as twins. each day they ride a radius of sheep and tracking zame. can lasso a wild steer with unerring success. the shearing and assist the men they employ for that task, sadale their horses, do their cooking, housework and washing, atiend to the shipping of the wool after shearing time is over, pitch bay in the field, set traps for coyotes, and are always DIANAS or AENDOG Every foot of the range, every tree and every bowlder is familar to them, and From the time they were big enough Think of spendin: ihe greater portion of your life in a Mexican saddle under | tocling to a horse’s mane they have been as much at their ease ina man’s saddle as is a debutante of last season in to-day’s drawing-room. Their father has made them skiliful in shooting, trapping, lassoing, branding A leather riata is always tied to their saddles, and they They brand all their sheep, superintend twenty miles. cheerful, whether preparing the morning meal before the sun climbs up to smile at them, or out in the teeth of a blinding midnight storm on the mountain, searching for a b'eating lamb crying like a motherless babe in the darkness. There is no grander forest scenery in the world than can be found in the extreme north of California, and no ranch more secluded than that of the Lahms. There are precipitous places in those 7000 acres, but none which these intrepid young mountaineers would not risk their supple necks to reach were a helpless lamb to stray thers in its search for tender blades of grass after a rain. Down in the thick timber caitle do not flourish, but between the ranges there are canyons covered with chaparral, manzanita and oak, where they feed on acorns; and on the ranges there are plateaus where they graze. In the late fail, when grass is short, the girls feed the sheep on hay in the corrai. Before the rains come the animals are not so troublesome, but in hpnting for grassy tit-bits they fre- quently get lost, so far away do they wander, and when counted at the corral several may be missing. Then their guardians mount for the chase, which sometimes lasts all night, miles from nome, perhaps in wind and rain, their ears on the alert for a lamb's distressed bleat. When found, the little four-footed pet is taken up in stout, tender arms and carried a-horseback home, where maybe the dawn has arrived first. Nordo the sisters ys accompany each other. It is a picture to keep in the memory, the sight of these | modern shepherdessesdriving their mighty band at twilight into the corral, the big sneep rushing in a riotous herd toward | the inclosure, the lambs breating loudly and the intelligent horses obeying the guidance of small brown hands that can grip like steel. The Lahms own a number of fine shepherd dogs, valuca at $200 apiece, and these always accompany their mistres-es in search of the sheep, though their journey take them to the farthermost peak, where the snow flies, or to the bed of a can- yon, where the frightenea animals have hidden from the fury of a storm. Sometimes a bungry enemy steals to the Lahm estates makes a meal of mution or lamb, and it is then that the tectors of the flock prove their admirable courage. Ifth be a bear—which they can ascertain by his tracks—they t day off, with their bounds, and bunt him to the death. heir dwelling, a plain board house, is handsomely carpeted and hung with trophies of their valor in skins of bears, wildcats, coyotes and panthers. One of the largest panthers killed in the county was brought low by Miss Gu: recently. He measured eight feet from tip to tip, weighed 200 pounds, and had dined so often at the expense of the Lahms that the young D ana set forth to siay him. Tracking him to a canyon, she shot him with her rifle. Having learned from her fatier how to lcad game upon a horse's back, she secured two stout poles from near-by tree:, placed the ends on the ground, slanting against her horse’s side, dragged Mr. Panzher to them and graaually rolled him upward until she could swing half of him around squarely across the saddle. Then, she unconcernedly led the horse home, & trifling distance of seven miles or so. Whenr the coyotes get too numerous the sisters set out io silence their insistent howls, loading themselves with heavy steel traps which they convev to different poin's and place in them meat bait which is then scented to attract its prey. Once a fire swept the pine woods and crept near the fence. For a distance of amile the girls tore down the rails to save them, working without a moment's rest from 7 o’clock in the morning until 10 at night. Is it any wonder, think vou, that every man, woman and child in the county respecis Gussie and Louise Lahm ? Honesty and industry count for considerable away up in the redwoods of Mendocino. Litriax Fercudon. The mnvement inangurated by the local Irish sogieties under the auspices of the “98 Centennial and Monument Associa- tion” is of more than passing importance. ‘!t is to perpetuate the memory of those who fell fighting for Irish independence. The plan includes the erection of a suita- ble memorial in Ireiand at the approach- irg centennial anniversary of the rebellion o1’98. To all who appreciate the valuable material fora chapter in the philosophy of history the stirring events connected with that struggle afford this idea will appeal. It is one of those strange compensations of history that the graves of those who failed as well as the gory fields of the Ra- bellion should be the Mecca of next sum- mer’s tours of the Irish exiles. Thou- sands are expected to visit the Green Isle to participate in the memorial exercises appropriate to the occasion. The efforts of the United Irishmen un- der the leadership of Theobaid Wolf Tone, its founder, to promote a union of inter- ests among all Irishmen, regardless of creed, the recent success of the American colonists and the infiuence exerted by the French school of political economy, brought the subsequent series of events that immortalized the name and memory uf Tone, Emmet and others, and won deathiess renown for the subject of this sketch in the aunals of that period. Ganeral Jean Joseph Amable Humbert, in command of the Army of Invasion at Castlelar, was born of humble parentage in the provnce of Lorraine, France. At the inception of the French Revolution, that period of civil, social and politieal eruption, he was 38 years of aze, and en- gaged in buying and selling rabbit skins in his native city. At the outbreak of the Revolution he entered the army of the republic, and tore himself so acceptably as a solaier that he was gradually pro- moted until in 1798 he was occupying the position of general of brigade, and pos- sessed of a reputation for military skill and personal courage that seemed to as- sert him the man for bold and arduous enterprises. Through the advice and efforts of Wolfe Tone and Emmet the thoughts of the French Directory, including Carnot, the friend of Tone, Hoche, the republican general, and General Dumouriez, were turned to Ireland as the locality bes: adapted for inflictine a deadly blow upon the power of Great Britain. By the death of General Hoche in September. 1797, the caunse of Irish freedom lost an ardent and influential patron and one of its warmest supporters at that critical period. With the approval and support of the French Government General Humbert undertook his famous invasion of Ireland. Finan- cial aifficulties tended to delay his de- parture, but on Augus! 6, 1798, with funds advanced by the municipal authorities of the city of Rochefort, he embarked for Ireland, and after a successful voyage cast aanchor on the evening of August 22 at Kilcummin Point, near the littie town of Killala, in County Mayo. The choice of this remote district was for a long period unaccountable, for Con- naught bad remained tranquil during the insurrection, the objective point of the French flset being, it would be supposed, tre well armed and organized counties of Antrim and Londonderry, but the mys. tery. was accounted for by Mr. Fitzpatrick, the Irish historian. He atiributea the wrong location to the work of a British spy, who had deceived the French on pre- tense that he represented the United Irishmen. A nistory of that period describes the excitement prevailing when the French troops disembarked at Ballina and planted for the first time in the *‘moat of and other Irish Pairiofs of 98 an Irish barp without a crown and a Gaelic motto, “Erin Go Bragh,” em- broidered on its emerald field. The Frencn commander must have been somewhat of a Social Democrat for his time with a jervid conception of the rights of the people, as the following brief extract of one of his manifestoes wouid indicate: Liberty, equality, fraternity! Union, brave Irishmen; our cause is common! Like you we abhor the avaricious and blood- thirsty policy of an oppressive Government. We swear the most inviolable respect for your properties, your laws and ail of your religious opinions. Union—Liberty—the Irish Republic, our hearts are devoted to your cause! Our glory is in your happiness! Heslth and fra- ternity! HUMBERT, General. Ballina, 1798. Humbert's first contest with the English resuited in a brilliant victory known in Irish.annais as the “Races of Castlebar,” at which he completely routed the English forces under General Lake. His success, so unexpected, revived somewhat the hopes of the people, especially those ca- pable of bearing arms whom he called unon to enlist under the standard of a Provisional Government of the Providce of Connaught, which he estabiished under the Irish Republic, appointing Join Moore as President. Moore was duly vested with power to discharge the functions of his office, subject to popular approval. The expedition was to be re-enforced if successful, and re-enforcements were eagerly looked for by the invading force, whose impetuous dash and disciplined valor, with the fragmentary assistance of the peasantry, could avail but litile against superior strength. History records his subsequent failure, for which he can- not be held responsible. Finding himself and his small army in an open country, hé started by a forced march to unite his little band, which num- bered about 800, with the main body of the Irish insurgents, then fighting in the southeastern counties of Wickiow and Wexford. Surrounded by a much larger force and his rear cut off, disaster over- took him. After a march of foar days be met defeat, giving a stubborn resistance on the hillside of Ballinamuck, a small village in County Roscommon, where he surrendered to General Lord Corn- wallis, commander of the English in Ireland. The treatment civern Humbert and his men, numbering 46 officers and 750 non- commissioned officers and privates, was magnanimous in contrast with the Eng- the Bishop's casile’ a green banner with | lish treatment of Irish prisoners of war. o Humbert's small force was disarmed and marched to Tullamore, whence the men were escorted under guard of the Fer- managh Militia Regiment to Dublin by water. The Irish papersof the time described { the picturesque scene, which was not al- together without its inspiring as well as pathet:c features. As the long procession of barges wended its way along the bosom of Ireland’s midland waterway, the G and canal, laden with French prisoners of war en route to Dublin, the officers and pri- vates embraced each other with Gallic enthusiasm, chatting gayly or singin: what must have sounded like a clarion call to the sons of liverty in every land in those days, their national song, “The Mar- sellaise.” Returning to France Humbert again entered the service of his country, fight- ing under Massena and other French gen- erals. Hoa was living in retirement at the defeatof Marshal Massena by the Russian general, Suwaroff, when he offered his sword again to his country, but Napoleon declined the offer, being loth to trust him on account of his ardent republicanism. After Suwaroff’s repulse in Switzerland Humbert resolved to battle with fortune anew in the great republic of the west. He settled in New Orleans scon after his arrival in 1814. Though quite an ola man—60 years, in fact—the martial spirit was still strong in the bosom ot the old exile, and he joined the Americanarmy in the war then prevailing against Great Britain. That he bore himself with distine- tion was evident, for he was fighting at the head of a volunteer legion nide by side with General Andrew Jackson on the field of Cualmette on the 8:h cay of January, 1815, at the battle of New Orleans, in front of the same enemy e had met and defeated nearly soventeen years before on the historic plains of Mayo, at Castlebar. His closing years were uneventful, save that the old hero developed into a quasi- crank of a harmless type. Bending be- neath advancing vears, he was at last almost a fesble parody of a French gen- eral. His halting footsteps on the way to his dilapidated lodgings vrovoked the ridicule of jeering youngsters, whose at- tention he drew from his peculiarities of dress, arrayed, as the old veteran custom was, in the former habiliments of his rank, with cocked hat, sword and military clonk. He was in receipt of a small pen- sion from the French Government, with which he religiously discharzed his obli- gations to tradesmen. At his death he was buried in a plat in the St. Louis Cemetery, New Oxlelns.k LEBAR His eccentricities of dress whila he lived were respected by his friends and he was carried to the tomb in his French uni- form, with his martial cioak around him and hia sword and cocked hat by his side. Nothing very definite is known as to what society conducted the obsequies of the old soldier, but 1t is stated that the tomb was subsequently demolished by reason of removai, an inciaent of periodical oc- ~urrence in all growing centers of popula- tion. At the opening of the tomb the skeleton was taken up, articulated and preserved by the lodge under whose aus- pices he was interred. Rec=nt inquiries by Irish citizens of New York, who de- sired to erect a monument to his memory, failed to locate the old hero’s bones. The Irish are proverbially a warm-hearted race, grateful for deeds of valor done on their behalf, and it is to be hoped that, under the stimulus of next year’s pilgrime age and a great popular movement to come memorate those who fell in '98, some effort will be made to locate more defin- itely the mortal remains of this valiant hero of Castlebar. THEODORE LYNCH. Vivaparous Fish of Arizona. The other day when the City Hall foun- tain of the capiial city of Arizona was cleaned and the water turned out of the big cement basin where a goldfish variety of the carp family has disported itself for the past two years to the edification of the Phenix nursegirl and the Maricopa County hobo, it was found that many of the fish had given birth to progeny that were fuliy formed and ready to dart about in search of food at the moment of coming into their watery world. Other fish give birth to tiny creatures that were globular in shape, except for the protruding eves and a nascent tail fin that conld scarcely be seen. From all the evidences it was ciear that the clean-up had been made during.the breeding season, yet there was no sign of fish roe nor eggs. Many specimens of the sirange young fish were collected, and will be shipped to different experts, one lot going to the Smithsonian Institution. This fish was first found in Western waters about four years ago by Herbert Brown of Tucson, Arizona. Thousands of them were scooped out of a deep pool near the mission building and specimens sent all over the county. Professor Jordan of Stanford identified them as of & species that is common in Fiorida and one of the only two vivapor« ous fresh-water fish known in this county. Salt-water vivaporcus fish are numerous