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.