The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1898, Page 21

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, S TNDA?, DECEMBER 25, 189S. SHE DRIVES A FOUR-HORSE COACH OVER THE MAIL ROUTE. HANDSOME young lady, Miss Westover, daily drives four-horse Concord stage which conveys mail and pas- sengers between Mesa Grande and Ramona, in the mountains les east of the city of San Di- It would not be strange if the were performed by a man, al- ugh the grades are steep and acci- m forbid me to make the attempt I will drive the stage down to-morrow.” “Ho, ho!” was her fathe good- natured but contemptuous response, and nothing more was said about the matter that day. eXt morning Alice in a becoming hitched the four hol s and ready to start out with the coach e her fat 3 what was go- ing on. When he b me aware of the situatio e looke rise t sz rake fails to work and crowds the of advice ¥ fretful horses into a gallop down the _So Miss Westover, who had learn long grade between Mesa Grande and fe* things about driving during BIRRE Mottain. Casior: lifetime in the mountains, cracked ths But t e W seeing pretty Al- on the box, deftly he novelty ¢ alc long whip and s in-hand fo e Mes af ing rted with the four- Grande Postotfice mail. Postmastr ot outgo xul S e and & 5 ;.h idmg-m } hand up and down Ge ) vas also surprised when he the mountain grades remains as full of learned that the ge was to be taken interest to the mountaineers along the 9oWn the mountain by Miss Westover, route as it is to the occasional passen- ;um he placed the m pouch in the ger whe baggage and him. P°°t Of the stage and refrained from < ' .aying jusi E > thought abc - self from the San Diego stage at Ra- mattes . o e thOUght about she a to the stage bound for Me Miss Westover has driven the four nde and places himself under the bronchos down the mountain many of this alert and active young wo. times since then, but she will never for. L’w(r hat ‘lr.\‘(v trip t vllt w]rm. mg!luren Alice Westover is no ordinary young ™IS OVer the rough grades, and' the daughter of a mountaineer, whose life (oot ob ,';ll‘mv“,(,‘;]» I\{‘;.:li;}hs(;,?;”{,f,}:e and surroundings have been influenced Grande Postoffice ¢ the op lofi frie by the rough life of isolated communi- E&rade the stage lu the horses In ties. ~ She is not only pretty, but edu- high spiri n for a gallop. cated and refined, with all the culture and grace of the best c bred young There were rs in the stage that morning. and s ot . 18 The road takes a winding course W N vears old down the grade, and there are shary riends the daughter turns to be made to avoid the trees ang M. N. W a well-known 1l boulder. It makes a pa ancher of Mesa Grande who has the. ticular arp descent In passing Lace contract for carrying the United States Falls, Where the water from the mog; et Ao tain falls a sheer one hundred feet - Mr. ‘Westover is @ busy man. He Crock e omanyon e formerly employed men to drive the ing hoofs of the & hadi chrisaa an stac- to Ramona, but things never & traveler on the grade to make n BIy.) he i e turn out from the road at a con. nearly to death, and complaints wer numerous over the failure of the nt point even coming. e before he saw the e stared in unfeigned when he saw 1o make connections. Mr. Westover young lady on the box. the hors D.’.I,:ma has no son to share his responsibilities, pletely under her control, though rai. and was almost on the point of giving up his mail contract when his daugh- ter Alice cne day asked to be allowed to drive the stage to Ramona and back. “Wha exclaimed her father. Those leaders would whisk you off the box before 3 could say Jack Robin son You would never reach Santa Is- abel Creek, much less Ramona.” “I should lik o try, anyway,” was Alice’s reply. Unless you absolutely Ty - How Miss Alicce Westover Takes the Passengers Over a Mountain Road in Southern California. tling along at a lively rate with the swaying stage. The end of the nine-mile grade down Mesa Grande ends at Black Mountain Canyon, where Miss Westover drew up the horses at a farm house known as Sutherland Postoffice, and took on an- other mall bag. It was not long after that before the stage was crawling up the dangerous Graves Canyon road, where even lighter vehicles have to be managed with great care to avoid acci- at the abrupt turns among the But the stage was taken througn , and better time was made on the ad leading through Hatfield Canyon. The arrival of Miss Westover with the stage at Ramona was a notable évent. A small crowd gathered at the Post- office when it was-noised about that a young lady had brought the stage down from Mesa Grande. “Yes, 'it's so,” Postmaster Strachan had told inguisi- tive residents of the town, “and she is now getting her lunch down at the hotel. She's the daughter of Mr. West- over, and if the stage always got in'on panion, a crabbed old fellow out to look at a mine, that he never liked to ride on the -box because it made him feet sick. The remark was made on the way up from San Diego before Ramora was reached. But when he heard the people at the hotel in Ramona talking about a young lady being in charge of the Mesa Grande stage and when later he saw her drive the four-in-hand up to the steps of the hotel he wished he had not expressed himself so freely to his companion. . The nervousness experienced by the two passengers as they left Ramona in the care of this young woman gave way to confidence in her ability as mile after mile was covered. They poked their heads out of -the side when she drew up the horses with a jerk not far from the top of the Graves Canyon grade and heard her begin a conversation with an elderly man who had suddenly put in an appearance in a buckboard at a turn of the road just ahead. The two pas- sengers gathered from the conversation that their handsome stage driver was the daughter of this man and that he as good time as it did to-day I'd never kick.” had come down from the other end of “Well, she did certainly get in on the line to see if she had got through time,” observed a bystander,. “but all right. He evidently thought she had, blame me if I see how she handled them bronchos on the Graves Canyon grade. Dunno as I'd care to try it my- self, only as you give me time and a good brake.” After the arrival of the stage from an Diego and the transfer of mails for Miss Westover started with the stage and One of the passengers—a young man drum- ming up country trade for a Los An- geles house—had told his elderly com- Sutherland and Mesa Grande, two passengers on the return trip. rr— SN N WS ..\n\)\!&. Rounding One of the Curves in the Black Mountain Canyon. DOOOPPP002000000090000O®OOG 69090000 POOOOOOOOEOS L 4 HE feast is over and the crack- ers have been pulled. The vocal- CLEVER CHRISTMA @ > © & By Professor Hoffman. ) “With this ha! ollar, ladies and gen- | tlerhen, I propose to show you a rather curious experiment. 1am going to melt ists have warbled their latest| n'ipo"fame of one of these candies. lays and the elocutionist has en- [ Which candle shall I use? his one? livened the company with 2| Very good. Now, in a general way, comic recitation. What shall be the | you might hold half-dollars over can- next item of the programme? “Can’t |dles for a twelvemonth, with no result, somebody show us a few conjuring Zave léuiml"ifn"‘";fu',, S lu‘t‘}::' :g»e d of a e y -tic tric 1 propose to put the thing ‘becomes aa' eany bossible reader in a position to reply: (Showing the coin in the right hand, I will not undertake to make him in one lesson a Bertram or a Hartz; but if he will faithfully follow my instruc- | tions he will be quite conjurer enough, after a few davs' practice, to have been burnt as a wizard, had he but lived a | few centuries earlier. We will begin | with a comparatively simple experi- | ment. To Melt a Coin in the Flame of a Candle. Two lighted candles should be placed upon the table, where they may remain throughout the “show.” One only is actually needed for the trick, but it looks better to have two, and it adds gomewhat to the effect if you allow the audlence to decide which of them you should use. The only other require- ment is a little piece of tinfoil, crumpled up and rolled into a ball of, say, half an inch in diameter. This is to be dis- posed of as follows: Run a black pin through your vest, point downward, go that the head shall be almost level with the lowest button and an inch to the left of it. On the point of the pin impale the little ball, which will thus hang down just inside the front of the vest. This is, Jf course, done privately beforehand. Having proc ired the loan of a half- dollar so “marked” as to be easily recognized, you make a lit'le oration to semething lia the Zfollowing effect; | you transfer it to the left, letting it | lie toward the tips of the second and | third fingers. You rub it gently with | the fingers of the right hand, and then, | taking it again in that hand, hold it | over the flame of the ndle.) “No | result as vet; e must try again.” (Re- peat, and then test it by pretending to bend it with the fingers.) “It is getting soft, you see, for it bends quite easily.” This effect is an optical illusion. It the coin be held as shown in figure 1, and the fingers bent backward and for- ward (as though hinged to its edges), { some peculiar effect of light and shade makes it appear to the spectators that | the coin bends with the motion of the | fingers. To proceed: | *“Again I place it in the left hand- and rub it a little more, and this time {1t will melt clean away, right into the flame of the candle.” As you say these words you lift the candlestick with the right hand (as in figure 2), and with the fingers and thumb of the other hand make a rubbing movement immediately above the flame, as if crumbling the coln into it, The left hand is then 000000 @ MAGIC. R R R R R ORI R R OR R R RN R R opened and shown empty. From the position of the hand holding the candle the inside of that hand is also freely seen, but the coin has disappeared. ‘} This effect depends upon a very sim- ple little piece of sleight-of-hand. When you are, for the last time, about to transfer the coin from the right hand | to the left, you let it lie upon the mid- | dle joint of the second finger of the right hand. Just as the right hand ap. proaches the left you raise the fore- finger a little, and clip the edge of the and second the fore The coin is now as shown in Taking up the candlestick | with the saine hand, as in figure 2, the | coin is invisible, being hidden immedi- | ately behind the thumb. | coin between | fingers. figure 3. You continue: ladies and gentlemen, that this is rather a costly experiment; and so it would be if the half-dollar were en- tirely lost; but, fortunately, I can get it back again, not precisely in the same shape, but without any loss of the metal. Do you see a little red spot at the extreme end of the wick? That's the coin in a state of fusion, and by giving the flame a pinch—so—I - can pick it off. You may not see it for the first moment or two, but you will do so as soon as it begins to cool. Here it comes, you see. Here {is your half- for the loan of it.” What you really offer is the little POPOP000OOOOOP® 5| POOPPOO S “You are thinking, | dollar, sir, still warm. Many thanks | This is an ordinary champagne tumbl for he.let her pass on, while he could now and then be seen coming along be- hind as the road twisted and turned on the mountain sidé. Miss Westover was as promptly on time in arriving at Mesa Grande as she had been in getting to Ramona, and Postmaster Gedney peered over his spectacles at her as he had done when BREVUUBRURRIIRNN While all eyes are drawn to pot of red at-the end r left ha:_ 1 goes unper- of tinfoil. | the imaginary of the wick” yo ceived, | the little ball, which is then pushed by the thumb between the roots of the second and third fingers. After “pinch- ing” the flame, which you do with this | same hand, you make a rubbing motion with the thumb upon- the fingers, and | gradually work the ball down again to the finger tips. | " The lender naturally objecting to re- | celve back .is money in such an uu- marketable shape, the performer con- | tinues: “You can't take it like that? | My dear sir, that is the very newest However, I daresay I can flatten it out a bit for you. But while we have | been talking the metal has got hard. I | shall have to soften it over the candle again.” (You hold it over the candle accordingly.) “Now I fatten it out, give it another mesmeric rub. and there { you have it, in the very same shape as | at first. I have even restored the mark | you made on it. Please tell the com- pany whether that is really your own half-dollar.” The restoration' is managed as fol- lows: When you remark that the metal has.grown cold, and must be warmed | again, you are holding the little ball with the tips of the fingers of the left | hand. In'the act of taking it back | into the right, you drop the half-dollar | from the latter into the palm of the left | hand. Holding the ball for a moment over the candle flame you roll it round and round with the thumb, and in so doing work it in between the second and J third fingers. The moment it is safe | you make believe to transfer it again | to the left hand but in reality bring the gathered finger tips into the palm of the left hand on to the coin already there, continuing the rubbing move- ment, and a moment later exhibit the coin restored. style! | I e For the remaining tricks a little more preparation Will be necessary. The only item which need be purchased specially will be the glass which you can procure at any conjuring depot. of clear white glass, but with the rim d flat, instead of being, as to the walistband and secures | 21 N & \\\.\fi-\ N M s s 7 Wi ik " she started out in the morninz. All his predictions of disaster- to the young lady had failed of realization and he extended congratulations in a most hearty manner. “I'll say this, Mis Westover,” remarked Mr. Gedney, “you made good tim; s, very good time, and the roads ain’t in the best of shape, either.” Since that first trip with the four- horse stage las has made the trip of eighteen miles and return almost daily. Fortunately Miss Westover has haa no serious accidents on the road ana very few minor ones, though she was frequently alone both going and return- ing. One of the small mishaps wus Wwhen one of the leaders got to kicking as the stage was about to start up the | rounded. With this are supplied (where | | the glass is intended, as in this e, to | serve a double purpose) two glass discs (see figure 4). The one (a) is ~* the | same diameter as the top of the glass. | It is very thin, and is usually made | with a slight rebate or shoulder all | round its under side, that it may adapt | itself the better to the opening. Now for its use. Threé parts fill the tumbler with water, lay the disc above mentioned (which we will call the “cover”) on the top, and invert the glass as shown in figure 5. You may now take away the hand which sup- ported the cover, but it wiu not fall, neither will the water escape, being kept in position by atmospheric pres sure. By artificial light the cover is is that the water is held suspended in the open glass. ' The second disc (b, figure 4) is of the thickness of a haif-dollar and about the same diameter. such that when dropped into the glass it just covers the bottom. If the glass be partially full of water the disc will be invisible, even to close inspection. The other requirements will be found in any household. Thev consist of a carafe of water, two plates, - dessert- knife, and a couple of oranges. Of these | latter, one may be as nature made it, | but the other must undergo .a little | “preparation. Cut a decH slit in the orange at right angles to its axis, and into the opening thus made squeeze a half-dollar. Place an orange on.each | plate’and the plates on the table. a foot {or so'apart, the prepared orange having the slit turned away. from the specta- tors. Just behind the plate which is on your right hand (as you stand behind the table, facing the company), lay the smaller glass disc, and behind the plate to your left hand the larger. In these positions they will be quite hidden'from the company. . The table should have a woolen cover. The above preparations duly made, you are ready Eo show t.he company. . . ‘Water Bewitched and How to Metlt a Coin in a Glass of Water. Your “patter” may now be somewhat as follows: “Melting silver by the aid of fire is not an entire novelty, but now I am going to show you something much more surprising; how to melt, it in cold water. Here is some water” (you three parts fill tumbler from water bottle)—'‘mere plain water—the same stuff you wash with, or take with pills. By the way. did any of you ever try to mesmerize water? No? Then I'll show you how it's done. It's rather a curious experiment. It will be better, by the , to have the glass a little fuller.’” [ere, with the right hand, you pour a little more water.and under cover. 7z 77/ it L, ,/’////.’//,’///’//7)6/ 7 7 ////""/‘/.‘// 2 777 W summer Miss Westover - invisible and the effect to the spectator | Its exact size is | FRomMm Z7 2 0 AR : e’y Vi % 71 i a2 7 Fey| V) Graves Canyon grade. The unruly broncho kicked a trace loose, but the plucky driver, instead of calling one of the male passengers to her assistance put on the brake tightly and afte: wrapping the lines around the brake bar disniounted and hitched up the re- fractory animal before the passengers knew why, she had stopped. At Ramona, where the stage horses are usually shod, Miss Westover supe:- vises the operation at the blacksmith shop, having her own ideas as to how such an important piece of work shou:a be done. On the road she has become expert with the whip and can fleek a fly from the back of the off leader witn the skill of an experienced Jehu. Her courage in driving the stage is all tne more remarkable when it is remem- of so doing (for everybody watches the glass) take into your left hand the glass | “cover.” Then pick up the glass by bringing the hand down upon it from | above (in so doing gently lowering the | cover on to the top), and hold it up as if measuring with your eye the guan- tity of water. “I think that will be about right. I make a few passes over and round the glass” (you make believe to do so), “and now, if the conditions are favorable, the mesmeric force will and the water will stand on its head without difficulty. See, I place my hand on the top. I turn the glass up- side down. The water does not fall out. Why? pecause my hand keeps.it in, bu say. But I take away my hand” (you do so), “and the water still re- mains suspended “It is a curious experiment, isn’'t it? but anybody' can do it if they know how it'’s done. In the first place, you must have the right kind of water. Secondly, when you take away your | hand, you must hold the glass exactly perpendicular—so. Would any gentle- man like to try? It's quite simple. Spread your hand over the mouth of the glass—quite flat, mind. Now turn it over. Get the glass exactly upright, and then take the hand away. Ah! I'm afraid yom didn't get the glass quite perpendicular.” In the course of your remarks you have once more brought the right hand over the top of the glass and removed the cover in the palm. When the ex- | perimenter, following your instructions, | inverts the. glass and takes away his | hand the water pours out, as might be | expected. © “We will now fill the glass again, and I will show you, as I promised, how to melt silver in water. ~Will somebody lend me another half-dollar? Mark it, please. Now, who will hold it tAl I'm ready? Hold it high up, so ...at every- body can see that it isn’t changed; and in the other hand hold the glass of water for me. Now I must ask the loan | of a lady’s pocket handkerchief. Thank | you. Now I take the half-dollar” (you 'du 80); “throw the handkerchief over it, {and hand it back to you. Hold it im- | mediately over the glass, please, and we will drape the folds of the handkerchief gracefully round' the sides. Now, ‘sir, ‘when I say ‘three,’ drop that half-dol- lar ‘into the ‘glass.” One—two—three! | You all heard it fall? I just blow upon | the ‘glass and count seven—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven! Remove | the~ handkerchief—the half-dollar 'has disappeared—completely melted!” . The neophyte will at this ppint need a- little explanation. While you are Again filling the glass, which you do ‘this time with the left hand, you get into the righkt the glass disc. Just be- fore you take the half-dollar from the person holding it, you squeeze the disc with the thumb edgeway between the second and third fingers, so that it shall préject at the back of the hand. Hold- ing the coin .in the same hand, you throw the handkerchief over it, at the same time turning the hand slightly over, and with the thumb and fingers of the opposite hand seize (through the handkerchief) apparently the coin, but really the glass disc. This it is which is handed back to be held over the glass, and this it is which is dropped into the water, where it becomes, as mentioned, invisible,, | i / \ \ M55 ALice WESTOVER THE STAGE . DRIVER. il e ; i i overpower the attraction of gravitation | N APHCTE . 7 bered that the country between Mesa Grande and Ramona is thinly settlea and that an Indian reservation, upon which are numerous lazy and meddle- some Indians, is not far from the road. In spite of her signal success as a stage driver Miss Westover has always retained the soft manners that are characteristic of true refinement, ana at the balls that are frequently held in the section surrounding Mesa Grande she is the most popular belle. —e————— The old shoemaker took the doll and looked it over. A leg and an arm were gone, it had lost part of its sawdust, and one eve had disappeared. “Yes,” he said, “I can make a red morocco shoe to fit this foot, Wat what’'s the use? It isn't worth it. Why don’t you bring me one of your ew dolls?” B “This is my crippled child,” said the little girl. “T love it better than I do the others.”—Chicago Tribune. —_—————————— “Look here!” exclaimed the woman who had made a sandwich for a tramp and then thoughtlessly left him alone for a minute within reach of two whole pies, “what do you mean by eating all hat pie?” 5 "X\Iapdam," replied the tramp, politely, as he let his belt out another hole, “I am a believer in expansion.”—Chicago Post. R R R L R e R To resume: “The gentleman who | loaned me the half-dollar looks rather { uncomfortable. Cheer up, sir! Your half-dollar is still in the water, as I will prove by passing it thence into one | of these two oranges on the table. Choose one of them—which you like. | This one? Good!” (You thrust the knife into it, in the slit already made.) “Perhaps this young gentleman will hold it for a moment. High up, sir, so that all can see it. And now, sir, I will trouble you for the glass. I pour a few: | drops ®f the water over the orange. Presto! Pass! Now, sir, if you will cut | open the orange, you will find in the center the marked coin. There it is, you see, a little damp, but otherwise not a half-cent the worse. Do you see the mark? Wait one moment; let me dry it for you.” (xom wipe it with your handkerchief.) “Now you‘can see the mark plain enough. Perhaps the gen- tieman will tell us whether = that is really his own half-dollar. “As the other orange will mot be wanted. perhaps some one willicut it open, and testify that it is just a. fair, ordinary orange, as you would have found the other.- Please remember that you yourselves chose which. oné I should use.” "4 “But suppose,” says the reader, “that the choice had fallen on the unprepared orange?” It would have come to pre- cisely the same thing. The performer, in that case, says: ‘“You choose this one? Good; here is a knife—cut it in half, and see for yourself that it is a fair, ordinary orange. This other, which you might have chosen if you preferred it, I will take for the purpose of my, experiment.” As_the acute reader will doubtless have surmised; the substitute half-dol- lar is exchanged, under cover of the “drying” * process, for the original, which has remained throughout the lat- ter part of the trick in the right hand of the performer. . | The novice will, of course, understand that he must not attempt to exhibit the foregoing tricks in public without hav- ing duly practiced them, till he has the needful movements perfect before a looking-glass. Given, however, the usual number of fingers and thumbs, a little perseverance and (this in confi- dence). plenty of “cheek,” he will be surprised -at the effect he can produce with them. —_———— People often ask how it {s.that the fu- ture of Palestine presents such difficul- ties. The reason is simply that Jerusalem —you cannot separate Jerusalem from Palestine—is the sacred city of so many creeds and warring faiths. Naot only is it the Hholy place of all the Christian churches, and two of them ‘quarrel bit- terly over it—the Greeks and the Latins— but it is also one of the most sacred places in the Mohammedan world. “Mecca and Medina are hardly more sacred than the Mosque of Omar. That is a fact which is often ignored by Europeans, who forget that to turn the Mohammedans-out of the temple enclosure would disturb the whola Moslem waqrld from the Stralts Settle- ments to Albania. We must never forget that Mohammedan piigrims from In visit Jerusalent just as Christfan pilgrims. visit it from Europe. Lastly, Jerusalem is profoundly sacred to the Jews, and the Jews are beginning to be locally numerous and important.—The Spectator. ———— The Ohio man who hanged himseif a towel, simply wi himself out nt“& s