Bellefonte, Pa., May 4, 1900. P. GRAY MEEK, - - Ep1Tor Terms or Sesscarerion.—Until further notice this paper will be furnished to subscribers at the following rates : Paid strictly in advance......cccuuuue.s $1.00 Paid before expiration of year.. vs 1.50 Paid after expiration.of year... . 2.00 Mountain Fires are Raging. For the past week a cloud of heavy brown smoke has hung over this place; effectual- ly obscuring the sun and giving the im- pression that rain is about to fall. But the rain does not come and the smoke in- creases in density, while the mountains all about us are ablaze and the grain fields and meadows are withering for want of water. The fires began last week. In some sec- tions they were started from sparks thrown out by the engines on the numerous nar- row gauge lumber roads that ramify all the forests in the county and in others they were undoubtedly set out by indi- viduals. Both of these causes are worthy serious consideration on the part of the people who make our laws. In the first instance, if the State and the county shall continue to pay out money to posses organized by con- stables for fighting fires that have heen started by the business operations of cor- porations or individuals there is no esti- mating where the end of it will be. Would it not be a wise amendment to the act to hold all such parties responsible for fites started along the line of their operations? In the second instance, the law provid- ing for pay for fighting forest fires defeats its own end. As has come to public notice in the vicinity of Howard during this re- cent burning, fires have been set out by in- dividuals who were undoubtedly prompted by a desire to reap the bounty allowed for fighting the same. In such cases the law cannot be too drastically meted out. Men guilty of such a crime should be punished to its fullest extent and if the constables fail to ferret out such offenders the county detective should be detailed to work on them and the effect of one or two examples would probably be saffi- cient to stamp out this villainous farm- ing of a fund that was desigued to pre- serve and not destroy the forests. Fires have been raging in the Seven mountains and the Linden Hall Lumber Co. has had quite a time protecting its rail- road and other property. Work. on the saw mill was suspended and all the men were taken into the mountain to fight fire. Several had narrow escapes of being sur- rounded and savel themselves by jumping into a stream of water. One man had the hair burned from his head, another had his feet badly scorched and others had parts of their clothing burned. Nittany mountains are also on fire. Extensive forest fires are raging along the Tyrone R. R. between Gatesburg, and Scotia, in the township of Patton. All Thursday night the constable had a large force of men at work fighting the flames. The fire started at a place called the junc- tion in the lumber camp of A. M. Brown, and quickly destroyed several hundred cords of pulp wood, fences, lumber piles, etc. The large force of men only saved the mill and a lot of buildings belonging to J. P. Harris, trustee of the Thomas estate, also buildings belonging to estate of Samuel McWilliams, with great difficulty. The fires are still raging and everyone in the vicinity is doing all they can to stop the distructive course of the flames. IN THE LOWER END OF PENNS VALLEY. The smoke of several mountain fires could be seen from Millheim Saturday evening and Sunday. The most extensive being near Ingleby and Brush mountains. The former fire was at its height Friday, how- ever, when it burned several carloads of cut timber and paper wood tor F. P. Bar- ker and was only kept from destroying his house by the valiant work of a bucket bri- gade. Other$ in the same vicinity lost many fences and much wood. The fire on Brush mountain, which be- gan Friday on the land of Hol Herring, near the head of Philips Creek, only pur- chased the previous day from J. H. Reif- snyder; is said to have heen started acci- dently by Wm. Lingle. Intending to work on the tract, he was about to build a cabin and started to burn a small spot upon which he might store his lumber with safe- ty. There being considerable wind the fire soon got beyond his control and burn- ed rapidly. For several days the sun could hardly penetrate the smoke that enveloped the town. Men and boys fought the flames continually, but it continued to burn until Tuesday, by which time it had reached the pike in the narrows. It burned over the lands of Walter & Gephart, F. P. Musser, J. C. Smith, A. A. Frank, Kerstetter & Bilger, Hol Herring, George Homan and others, in all several thousand acres. The houses occupied by E. C. Confer and Harvey Minnick were in great danger Fri- day and it was only by the prompt assist- ance of their neighbors that they were not destroyed. Fences on many properties were burned and the fire throughout was one of the most destructive that has oc- curred in that section for several years. The Undefeated ‘Golf Champion. New York, May 3.—Harry Vardon, the world’s golf champion, met and defeated George Low by ten up and nine to play in a 36 hole match over the Dyker Meadow Golf club links yesterday. In playing out the bye holes Vardon gained two more on his oppo- nent, winning outright by 12 up. Low is quite the best of the resident pro- fessionals, and Vardon, after the first round of the links, was forced to show his best golf. From that point on, however, Low was never in it and Vardon won easily. Laborers Indicted For Conspiracy. Chicago, May 3.—As a result of the grand jury’s investigation of the pres- ent labor troubles in Chicago so far true bills were voted against eight men yesterday, all on the charge of con- spiracy, and some of them on the ad- ditional charge of perjury. The men indicted are laboring men, the cases originating in the attempt to secure the release from custody of William Major, who was on trial for assault. The Utah Mine Horror. May Be the Most Disastrous in the Nation's History Fully Two Hundred Killed. And the Death List May Possibly Reach Three Hundred—Work of the Rescuers Retarded by Poisonous Fumes—Rujes Probably Violated. Scofield, Utah, May 3.—Today’s es- timate of the number of killed in the terrible mine explosion here Tuesday is 260, but the total death list may not reach 300. Relief work is still in progress, being conducted by shifts of men. The shift now in the mine has 50 bodies ready to bring out and the num- ber of corpses yet to be reached is still uncertain. Arriving trains are constantly bring- ing relatives of the victims from out- gide points, and the coal company has designated a committee to carry the dead to Salt Lake, Ogden and other cities. On account of gas No. 4 mine has been abandoned as a means of rescue and bodies are arriving at the mouth of No. 1 mine by the carload. Ferrish level has been cleared of dead and all are burned and unrecog- nizable. Up to the present 149 bodies have been taken from the wrecked mines. According to the very closet esti- mate there were about 300 men all told employed at the two mines, which are practically one mine. About 50 of these were working in what is known as the No. 1 back level, which was so far from the explosion that it had spent its force before the shock could reach them, and they all got out. They heard the report, but did not grasp the situation at once, one of the men continuing to load a car after it occurred. When the removal of the bodies from the mine began hundreds of men volunteered their services for the pur- pose. The rescuers came from other mines and towns surrounding, and worked incessantly to bring out the burned and mangled remains of the dead miners. The bodies were taken to the company buildings as soon as they were brought out of the mine and were there dressed and laid out pre- paratory to the coroner’s inquest and for identification. Many of the rescuers came near losing their lives from the fatal after damp, but the work was continued in the face of all danger, and most of the brave fellows remained at their posts until they were almost ready to drop from physical exhaustion and the deadly effects of the poisonous fumes. John Kirton was the first man brought to the surface. He was still alive, but presented a terrible sight. His scalp was burned to a cinder and his face was almost unrecognizable. In his horrible pain he cried out to his companions, begging them to end his misery by taking his life. All efforts are now being concentrat- ed to bring out a large number of bodies known to be in No. 4, where 85 men perished. Here the force of the explosion broke down the timbers, and ive bodies can only be got at through 0. 1. The theory of Bishop Parmalee is that some of the Finns recently import- ed secretly took giant powder down into the mine to assist them in their work. They were exceedingly anxious to make a good showing and make as much money as possible, and it is thought this form of explosive was used in order that great hodies of coal could more easily be dislodged. It is thought that when the giant powder was touched off it ignited some of the dust, of which every coal mine has more or less. One of the miners sent over from Castle Gate to aid the rescue work said, when he came out of the tunnel: “This explosion is the most disas- trous, so far as loss of life is concerned, that has ever occurred in America. There will be 200 dead when we are through work. In the great explosion at Almay, Wyo., a few years ago, 65 were killed.” ‘“We have had some hard experiences digging through the mine. Several times members of our party were over- come by the damp, but we got them out in time. We found the bodies of the men in every conceivable shape, but generally they were lying on their stomachs, with their arms about their faces. The men died almost instantly when struck by the damp, and did not suffer. They just became unconscious and were asphyxiated. Their faces were calm and peaceful as though they had just fallen asleep. The men in No. 1 might possibly have escaped had they started to run as soon as the ex- plosion in No. 4, which connected with it, occurred. Evidently they did not appreciate this fact untll too late, as they put. on their goats and arrazced their tools before sta tihg. They start- ed, however, just in ‘ime to meet the damp half way. The bodies found near the entrance are badly crushed, as they got the full force of the explo- sion. They are few in number, how- ever. Mine No. 1 was damaged com- paratively little, but No. 4 is badly damaged.” A curious fact connected with the affair is that five men, Thomas Sellers, Alexander C. Wilson, John Wilson, Harry Taylor and John Bedoes, who were working outside of the mine, were severely hurt. Three hundred and ninety-eight men entered the mine for work Tuesday morning, and a great majority of them have perished. It will not be surprising if the total death figures aggregate 300. The Mad King of Bavaria. Berlin, May 3.—A bulletin issued regarding the demented King Otto, of Bavaria, says: ‘The king suffers from pains in the loins, which have been continuous since April 21 and which are due tc a stone in the bladder. His condition is otherwise satisfactory, and does not. give occasion for alarm at aragent.”’ Crowding the Tobacco Growers. Havana, May 3.—The tobacco grow- ers in the provinces say that the state of the market for leaf tobacco is very bad. Buyers are holding back, owing to .the fact that they have enough to 80 on with, and they also know that all the small growers have sunk all the money they possess in the present crop, which they will ultimately be forced to sell at nominal prices if the buyers hold back long enough. Prices now are about half what they were at the beginning of May last year. Prob- ably many small growers will not get back the money which it cost them to grow the cron. ~——Suberibe for the WATCHMAN. Reduced Rates to Washington, D. C., via Pennsylvania Railroad. Account Imperial Council, Order of Mystic Shrine. For the Imperial Council, Order of the Mystic Shrine, at Washington, D. C., May 22nd, and 24th, the Pennsylvania railroad will sell tickets to the general public, from all stations on its line, to Washington and return, at rate of one fare for the round trip. Tickets to be sold and good going May 19-21st, returning to May 28th, in- clusive. 45-19-36 A Prompt Remittance. Bellefonte, Pa. Mgr. GEO. H. SMULL, Genl. Agent, New York Life Insurance Company, Williamsport, Pa. Dear Sir :—I am in receipt of yours of the 19th, enclosing draft of the New York Life Insurance Company for $1000, in pay- ment of policy my deceased husband had in said company, for which please accept my thanks. Iam very much pleased with the treat- ment received from the company and the prompt and satisfactory payment of said claim. Yours very respectfully, 2t ANNIE S. RIDDLE, Admx. ADDITIO NAL LOCALS. ——Millheim is preparing for quite a patriotic observance of Decoration day. oo — ——Maurice Jackson has given up his rooms at Miss Magill’s boarding house and gone to the Brockerhoff house to live. ey —— The Bellefonte Academy base ball nine will play the Altoona High school nine on the Glass works meadow hele to- morrow afternoon. —t lp ——The gentlemen members of the Belle- fonte card club, that enjoyed so many pleasant sessions at various homes in town during the winter, entertained the ladies at the closing meeting of the season last evening at the Bush house. Elegant prizes were given and the refreshments were quite elaborate. irate: ——Mrs. Lydia Musser, Mrs. Reuben Hartman, Mrs. William Miller, Miss Jen- nie Reifsnyder and Mrs. Wm. Musser, with her daughters Ada and Margaret, make up a party of Millheim ladies who will start next Tuesday to spend the summer visit- mg relatives in the West. Their touring will include points in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. ->o- ——Spring brings much that is new and fresh and good and enjoyable, but in the line of fresh, good and enjoyable things it is not in it with Sechler. He has been do- ing business here for, lo ! these many years and has earned for himself the reputation of keeping the purest and freshest and finest groceries to be had anywhere. If you have never dealt with him you don’t know how much you have missed. If you have, you are still one of his patrons, and will remain so. There are no impure goods on his shelves. You get at his place what you know you can depend upon, and you can get anything in the line of eatables that is in the market. a eat MARRIAGE LICENSES.—Following is the list of marriage licenses granted by or- phan’s court clerk, A. G. Archey, dur- ing the past week : George Rapsock and Lizzie Federal, both of Gordon Heights. Wm. Bradford and Lizzie J. Rishel, both of Farmer’s Mills. C. M. Harter, of Bellefonte, and Bessie May Harter, of Walker, Pa. Claude P.Borden and Gertrude Markley, both of Snow Shoe. James St. Clair, of Karthaus, and Edith B. Zimmerman, of Snow Shoe. Maurice Lewis Monash, of New York, and Lena Baum, of Bellefonte. Reuben Miller, of Yarnell, and Hattie Ravoley, of Clarence, Pa. Thomas O’Neil, of Osceola Mills, and Bridget Sullivan, of Powelton, Pa. John A. Crock, of Runville, and Annie J. Irwin, of Fleming. Claude W. Fulton, of Milesburg, and Cora A. Neff, of Roland. . Joseph Sobek Glod and Mary Donajcon, both of Clarence. ies GET READY TO ANSWER THESE QUES- TIONS.—In the last issue of the WATCH- MAN was published a list of the persons who have been appointed to take the census of 1900 in Centre county. They will begin work on Friday, June 1st, and are supposed to have it completed in fifteen days from that time, so that in order to facilitate it a little we herewith present the questions the enumerators will ask. Some of them are extremely delicate, but they will all have to be answered and the bachelor girls might just as well begin at once to steel themselves for the ordeal. These are the census questions which you will be called upon to answer this year: 1. Surname, Christian name and initial. 2. Residence, street and number of house, 3. Relationship of each member to the head of family. 4. Color or race. 5. Sex. 6. Age at last birthday. 7. Day, month and year when born. 8. Are you single, married, widow, widower or divorced ? 9. Number of years married. 10. How many children ? 11. Number of children living. 12, Sex of these children. 13. Where were you born? If in the United States, give State or territory; if of foreign birth, give name of the country only. 14. Where was your father born? Your moth- er? Same conditions of the foregoing. 15. If of foreign birth, when did you come to the United States ? 16. How many years have you resided in the United States? 17. Have you been naturalized? years since you became a citizen ? 18. What is your occupation, trade or profes- sion? (This question applies to persons 10 years of age or over.) 19. How many months during the year are you employed ? 20, How many months have you attended school ? 21, Can you read ? 22, Can you write? 23, Give the main facts concerning your edu- cation ? 24, Do you own the house in which you live ? 25. Do you rent the house in which you live? 26. If you own the house, is it free or mort. gaged ? (The same questions apply to farmers.) How many A Youxe WoMAN BURNED TO DEATH. A most shocking accident occurred in this place about 10 o’clock Wednesday morn- ing, by which Mrs. Bertha Koch was so frightfully burned as to die from her in- juries yesterday morning. The unfortunate woman was the dangh- ter of Samuel Rice and lived at the parental home which is located just off Willowbank street and along the Lewisburg railroad tracks opposite the Phoenix flour mills. Wednesday morning she was helping to clean up the yard in the rear of their home and started a fire to burn up the dried grass and other rubbish that had accumu- lated there over winter. While working about she got too close to the fire and it caught her skirts. Ina moment the flames leaped up along her clothing and she was completely enveloped. The woman was panic stricken and her screams attracted the attention of her mother, who called to her at once to lie down, but the poor girl was too terribly frightened to understand and ran screaming toward the house. Edward Foster, who was working in a car on the mill siding, saw the girl run- ning, with the flames dancing all over her, and ran to her assistance at once. With Mrs. Rice’s help he soon got the fire out but not until his own hands and arms were badly burned. Mrs. Koch’s injuries extended over all parts of her body except her face and breast. She was burned so badly as to make her condition almost unendurable. Doctors Dobbins and Hayes were called at once and did what they could to relieve the unfortunate victim but her agony was so intense that she expired yesterday morn- ing about 7:30 o'clock. Some parts of her limbs were burned to a crisp. Deceased was formerly Miss Bertha Rice, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rice. She was born in Bellefonte April 25th, 1877, making her age 23 years and 8 days. She was married to Frank Koch who with two children, Lillian and Catherine, sur- vive her. She is also survived by her fath- er and mother and the following brothers and sisters : David, Harry, Gammel, Mrs. George Hockenbury and Mrs. Jacob Shirk, all of this place. The funeral will take place . aturday afternoon at 2 o’clock from the Methodist church at the Forge, of which deceased was a member. Rev. White will conduct the services. Interment in the Forge ceme- tery. AN Orp Mt ua, — Joshua D. Mitchell, aged 84 years, 7 months and 14 days, died at the home of his son-in-law Ellis Flick, in Milesburg, on Sunday even- ing having suffered but a few hours with heart trouble. Deceased was born in Lancaster county in 1815, but for more than fifty years he bad been a resident of Milesburg, where he was generally respected as an upright, christian gentleman. He was postmaster of the town under Garfield and was a work- ing member of the Methodist church. On Sunday morning he attended services in the Evangelical church, during which he was called upon to pray. His ardent christian spirit worked with such fervor as to bring on the attack of heart disease that caused his collapse. He was married to Miss Isabella Brown, daughter of James Brown, of Bellefonte, in 1844, and for fifty-six years they have shar- ed each other pleasures and trials. Their sarviving children are May, wife of Ellis Flick, of Milesburg; William B., of Atlan- ta, Ga. ; Ida, wife of S. I. Miller, of Renovo, Pa., and Laura B., wife of George Long, of Milton, Pa. He also leaves seventeen grandchildren and seven great grandchil- dren. Burial was made in the Milesburg ceme- tery on Wednesday afternoon. I i ll DIED IN ALTOONA.—Mrs. Ann Eliza Saucerman died at her home in Altoona on Monday afternoon, after a five months’ ill- ness with blood poisoning. She was born at Pennsylvania Furnace, Centre county, July 26th, 1854, and was consequently aged 45 years, 9 months and 4 days. She was married in Altoona on March 20th, 1880, to Josiah B. Saucerman, who sur- vives her, as do these children : D. Frank- lin, Fannie, Josiah, Ralph and Anthony, all residing at home. She also leaves two brothers and one sister—T. W. McClain, of Duncansville; Franklin P. McClain, of East Tyrone, and Mrs. Ellie Hastings, of Six Mile Run, Bedford county. Interment in Fairview cemetery, Altoona, Wednesday afternoon. EE ROBERT BARR.—Robert Barr, aged 75 years, died at the residence of his sob, Homer, near Boalsburg, last Thursday morning, from the infirmities of advancing years. Deceased was an honorable, christian man who filled his humble sphere in life in a conscientious manner. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and is survived by his widow and the following children: Mrs. Blair, Howard and Cyrus, of Gatesburg; Mrs. Emma P. Wilson, of Bellefonte; and Homer, of Boalsburg. In- terment was made in the Boalsburg ceme- tery on Saturday afternoon. ll I I ——Parulysis caused the death of Elias Motz, a well-known resident of Woodward, this county, on Thursday of last week. Deceased was 74 years old and for forty years had been a member of the Evangelical church. Rev. Doerstler officiated at the burial on Sunday morning. I ——Edward Reber died at his home in Butte City, Montana, on the 30th ult. He is survived by a widow and.several children. Deceased was a brother-in-law of Jerre Nolan, the veteran locomotive en- gineer of this place, and was a resident of Bellefonte a number of years ago. ——Mrs. William Rishell dropped dead in the yard at her home in Tusseyville about 8 o’clock last Tuesday morning. She had been out to the barn and was return- ing, when the vital spark flickered out and she fell dead on the walk. Deceased was 80 years old and was the widow of the late ‘Wm. Rishell, whose sudden death which oc- curred while sitting by the stove in their home, at 8 o’clock on the morning of Feb. 28th, was such a shock to that community. She had been a life-long member of the Evangelical church and Revs. Rhoades and Buck, of that denomination, will officiate at the funeral this morning. Services will be held at the house at’ 9:30. Mrs. Sam- uel Swartz, of Tusseyville, is the only sur- viving child. . I ll I ——George Reiber died at his home at Colyer last Friday with paralysis. De- ceased was 70 years old. tes OF INTEREST To OUR GRANGER READ- ERS.—Centre County Pomona Grange, No. 13, will meet in the hall of Victor Grange, Oak Hall, at 9:30, a. m., on June Ist, 1900. This will be one of the most im- portant meetings of the year, as a number of subjects of direct interest to Patrons will be discussed and passed upon. The question of the utility of rodding farm buildings as a protection from lightning and the propriety of discriminating in in- surance rates between rodded and unrodded property, laid over at last meeting, will be further discussed and final action had. This interests all Patrons and every sub- ordinate Grange should be represented. Discuss the subject in your home Granges and you will be the better prepared to act intelligently at Pomona. Program—9:30, a. m., opening of Grange by the Master. Roll call of officers. Read- ing of minutes. Address of welcome by Victor Grange. Response by lecturer Co. Grange. Appointment of committees. Recitation by Miss Florence Marshall. Dis- cussion : ‘‘What Advantage is the Pomona Grange to the members of Subordinate Granges?’’ To be opened by George L. Ebbs. Discussion : ‘‘How can the Directors of the Grange Fire Insurance Co., assist to build up the Grange in our County ?”’ To be opened by J. A. Keller. Recess. 1:30 p. m.—Discussion: ‘‘By what Method of Farming can we make our Farms more Profitable ?’’ To be opened by J. J. Arney. Recitation by Miss May V. Rhone. Discussion : ‘‘Of what Benefit has the Grange been to the Farmer?’ To be open- ed by Hiram Thompson. Discussion : ‘‘How can Farmers best se- cure their Rights to the Appointments and Control of the National and State Agri- cultural Departments ?’’ To be opened by John S. Dale. Recitation : By Mrs. John S. Dale. Conferring of degree of Pomona. ‘‘How will our Recently Acquired Territory affect the American Farmer ?”’ To be opened by Hon. L. Rhone. : Resolutions. Closing in regular form. Program will be interspersed with music. SS gm—— Cores Says BE JoYFUL.—Let all the people in America rejoice and be glad, for the month of May will be a great ‘‘high flood’”’ month and prosperity will rule in spite of all the afflictions that the jealous “‘low-ebb’’ vital forces may choose to send upon her! The greater part of the month will be fair and lovely; but the planets are in position to give us some unprecedented storms; resulting in destructive floods. Snow storms and hail storms may surprise us all; as the sun’s magnetic and electric focus will be interfered with by the sleet- king planets and cause severe electrical storms, seisinic disturbances and volcanic activity in the earth. Watch out for strange phenomena, as the planets will be in a very unusual position this month. About the middle of the month Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Uranus, will make a perfect right angle with Mars, Mercury and the Sun, while Neptune and Saturn will be in conjunction with each other and the Sun. On the 27th, the Earth passes between the Sun and the great planet Jupiter; and on the 28th the eclipse will appear; therefore, it will be well for us to keep a watchful eye upon the ‘‘weather’’ and upon our ‘‘finance,’”’ as unusual dis- turbances may be looked for during the middle and the latter part of the month. — ete FosTER AND His WEATHER PROPHESY. —My last bulletin gave forecasts of the storm wave to cross the continent from 28th to May 2nd, and the next will reach the Pacific coast about 31d, cross the west of Rockies country by close of 4th, great central valleys 5th to 7th, Eastern States 8th. Warm wave will cross the west of Rockies country about May 3rd, great cen- tral valleys 6th, Eastern States 7th. Cool wave will cross the west of Rockies country about 6th, great central valleys 8th, East- ern States 10th. Temperature of the week ending 8 a. m. May 7th will average about normal in the great central valleys, above in the Eastern States, and below on Pacific slope. Rain- fall for same period will be deficient. ober IT MIGHT BE YOUR LAST CHANCE.— The eclipse of the sun that is to occur on May 28th will be the last one visible in this country for eighteen years and if you have never seen one and don’t expect to be about eighteen years hence you had better look for this one. The eclipse will be the first in eleven vears. It will be visible in Bellefonte, but not in its totality. According to the almanac for this year, which gives the times when the eclipse will be visible at different points in Pennsylvania, the eclipse will begin at 7:20 a. m. and end at 9:55 a. m. THE FATE OF AN AMBITIOUS TROUT.— It seems to be according to the divine ap- pointment of things that the feathered tribe should be the only practical navigators in mid-air. A few human beings have tried it with sundry broken bones and grave stones as the souvenirs of the folly that has prom pt- ed them todally with flying machines and parachutes, hut in all our study of the ex- traordinary in animate or inanimate life we have never seen or heard of a parallel for the freakish performance of a little Spring creek trout. It happened in this way only a few days after the opening of the season. An at- tachee of the Bellefonte postoffice was in- differently whipping the stream from the Water street boardwalk, just below the High street bridge, when a trout about eight inches long shot to the surface of the water, viewed the worm on his hook and disappeared again with a splash of his tail, that seemed to be the piscatorial style of giving a fisherman the merry-ha-ha. It was some time before the trout ven- tured back, but back it finally came to give the wormed hook another kick with its tail. A third time the speckled beauty came up, but the exertion of the former excursions had evidently made it hungry for it decided to take a nibble. Then the fisherman jerked and the wise little trout hung to the worm until it was hoisted about four feet out of the water, when it let go and fell back with a splash. A repetition of this performance continued un- til it had attracted quite a crowd of spec- tators. Every time the tront would take hold it seemed to be sure to be caught—but it wasn’t. An end must come to all good things, however, and the end of that little trout’s afternoon sport was the beginning of its marvelous career as a flying fish. The fisherman rebaited his hook in the most tempting manner possible and cast again. This time the fish took too much of the worm in its mouth, the barb caught it and the desperate fisherman gave a haul that would have lifted a hippopotamus out of the water. Away into the air went the fish, flying round and round like an Aus- tralian boomerang. Its weight was suffi- cient to run the line out as far as the reel would let it go and by the time it had reached the highest point in the circle it was describing, with the line as the radius, it bad gained such momentum as to tear loose from the hook and land, high and dry, on the top of the four story hardware building of Potter & Hoy. It had rained a little that morning and some water was still standing in the gut- ter on the roof, so that the trout wiggled itself into it. At first there was a terrific splashing and darting around up there, but as it became acquainted with its strange surroundings it ceased its mad cavorts and settled down to make itself at home. From one of the dormer windows the little beauty could be seen making frequent ex- cursions out onto the tin roof, where it would flop and wiggle round as if thor- oughly at home. It would play until seemingly almost exhausted, then it would wiggle back to the gutter and roll over and over in the water. These strange proceedings so interested a few of the gentlemen who had seen the wild flight of the fish that they contrived to keep a little water in the rain spout for several days. On the second day the trout was still alive—livelier than ever. It was noticed, too, that ts Excursions onto the tin roof were both longer and more frequent. The third day it scarcely went into the wa- terat all and on the fourth the watchers were amazed to discover that the pectoral fins were taking on a gauzy, wing-like look. The following day, instead of its wiggling about on its belly, it was jumping into the air after flies, the fins moving with the rapidity of a humming b'rd’s wings. A few days later the trout could make a Rocky mountain canary look like an A. D. T. boy when it came to flying and Water street was crowded most of the time by a crowd that stood amazed at the wonderful gyrations of a fish that some of them had seen caught only a few days before. All unconscious of the attention it was attracting it flew about on the roof, often reaching quite a height and venturing out over the eves. Last week one day it stop- ped in the midst of one of its flights to watch some sparrows building a nest. Af- ter it had watched the birds sweep to the ground, pick up a straw or twig and carry it back to be placed in position in the nest for some little time the fish evidently re- solved to build a nest, also, and made a dart for the street. No sooner had it lighted than several bad youngsters made a scramble to catch it, but the fish was cute enough and flew away. It began the process of nest building and it was really remarkable, the bird-like manner in which that piscatorial novice went about the work. Everything went well with it until the beginning of this week, when the heavy pall of smoke from the forest fires settled over the town. The flying trout was ac- customed to swimming about in diluted real-estate in the spring of the year and in the blue Bush house laundry water all of the year, but when it came to flying in smoke—that was a different thing. Its movements became very erratic. On Tues- day the smoke had evidently so affected its eyes that after flying to the street it could scarcely find its way back to the roof. Its flight became so misguided as to attract an unusually large crowd of watch- ers, who were marveling at the strange metamorphosis when, all of a sudden the fish-bird swept out over their heads and flew right into the creek. Of course all thought it had merely grown tired of its life in the air and gone back to its native element. But, wonder, of wonders, it had scarcely gone under the water until it re- appeared on the surface, gave a few feeble struggles and turned its poor little belly up to the sun. It was drowned.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers