THE COLUMBIAN. BLOOMSBURO. PA
FOUND PYGMIES
Dr. Gell Tcl!s of His Travels
Along the Great Wc!l and Its
Little Known NcighborhooJ
REASON WHY THEY ARE DWARFS
Legend Has It that They Were Stunt
ed Through Fear of Ecing Buried
Alive for Mistakes in the Work
Modern Awakening in China.
Dr. William Kdgnr Ceil, tlio explor
er and writer, recently reached NVw
York from a quest In China Unit In
volved travelling the whole longtli ot
the Great Wall and the discovery of
200 miles of that harrier that never
had heen mapped before, lie says
that he has confirmed the Btory that
in the remote northern mountains of
China there lives a race of hairy
pygmies which has teen there since
210 D. C.
Dr. Gell started out In 1901 to study
the primitive rates of the world
wherever he could find them. He
crossed China and Africa In the course
of his search and ventured further
Into the pygmy forest of Africa than
Stanley had gone. He was gone pr
four years and traversed 120,000 miles.
This recent expedition of about
twenty-five men, headed by Dr. Gell,
ptarted In May of 1908 from Shan Hia
Yuan, where the Great Wall's eastern
extremity is washed by the Yellow
Sea. Its purpose was to reach Tibet
by sticking to the wall for all of its
1,250 miles. Crawling along with pack
mules the party got to the other end
of the wall, at Klan Ku Ylan, north of
the Nan Shan Mountains, In Septem
ber, 1908. Dr. Gell does not know
that anybody ever did the trick be
fore; It Is certain, he thinks, that no
white man ever did. The whole trip
was about 1,800 miles. It look the
the explorers Into Tibet, where Dr.
Cell fell 111 and had to be carried along
by his men for several days.
The explorer said that he made
sure of the existence of the pygmy
people by getting Chinese pundits to
translate for him Inscriptions in half
a dozen dialects on the sides of the
Great Wall. These learned men to'd
him that It was part of their folklore
that whenever one of the millions of
men who worked on the construction
of the wall was found to have erred at
his task he was Immediately burled
alive In the wall at the point where
be had made his mistake. It was
about 210 B. C, according to the le
gend, that a body of workmen, tired
of seeing their comrades and friends
transmuted into building material,
fled with their mlves and children into
the interior and kept on until they
ranie to the deep forest where their
descendants now live. Some of them,
tradition said, had become demented
because of their frightful experiences.
"The Interesting folklore that I
studied through interpreters," Dr.
Cell said, "gave me a line on these
wild men. We located them far in
the Interior. I have a man among
them now, and am interested to know
tiow he is faring.
"The Great Wall experience of the
Chinese who ran away stunted the
growth of their progeny, according
to the folklore, experts, and that Is
why they have kept to themselves as
a race of dwarfs."
' The explorer contributed the furth
er Information that the pygmies "live
like animals, and their long nails and
terrible faces give them the appear
ance of being of a lower type animal
family than the monkeys of Africa.
Dr. Gell said he found evidence ot
the existence of at . least ten great
walls in addition to the famous one
that he followed. Ho reasons that
the energy that went Into the con
struction of all this uiaeonry is the
measure of China's true strength. He
believes that the empire presently
will be in a position to reassert itself.
He found that in 2,000 cities and near
ly 100,000 towns the Chinese were be
ing instructed in the use of arms, end
heard that an army nf from 3,000,000
to 4,000,000 men could be put Into the
field before long. Dr. Gell Is one of
those who believe that China is doing
a good deal more than merely turning
over for another nap.
The members of Dr. Geil's party
' had no serious trouble with the na
tives, although they met many to
whom a white man was a novelty. The
hard going in one place the trail led
to an altitude of 12,000 feet seems to
have been more hazardous than en
counters with the men of Tibet. There
wus difficulty also in understanding
the maze of dlalect3.
Dr. Gell crossed China six years
ago, and he says that In many other
ways than the upbuilding of a stand
ing army there has been a wonder
ful advance.
The traveller remarked that he had
been in the African country where
Roosevelt is to hunt and that he could
not see any great danger ahead of the
former President in so high an alti
tude unless be should fall to protect
himself against the tsetse fly, which
the sleeping sickness Is said to prefer
as a common carrier.
Cumulative Dangers.
"When you have made a statement
for which you are sorry, you should
own up to it," said the idealist. "No,"
nnawered Senator Sorghum; "It is bad
enough to say something you rogrot
without following it up with an ex
pression of self-Uibtrust you are sura
to regret still more."
USES ALLtG.1TGnAS GIHl&lE
Bicyclist Pumps Air Into Caurio.i,
Tics It to Wheel and Calls
Away Merrily.
Brooklyn, N. Y. Even an alligator
amy serve a useful purpose In the
field of aviation. Richard Notts, a
baker In I.cfferts nvetu'c. Hoffman
Park, between Janinlci and Richmond
Hill, has demonstrated that fact, lie
Is tli" rcwcut nml the most dangerous
rival of Count Zeppelin and the, hero
of that section of Queens Horough.
Notts needed a horse and wagon yes
terday morning. He mounted his
w'.'.'H'l and started toward the home of
IV it r Heir, a furrier who Uvea in
I.rjs l,:r:o. Near Hie home of Horr
lie passed a pond owned by Mrs. P.
M. Potte of IJrooklyn, and saw In his
path a militant alligator four and one-
half foot long. The reptilo was itch-
lr i for a light and reared itself for
an encounter. Notts left his wheel so
hastily several of his friends assert
he fell off. Anyway, he dismounted
and bcRan looking for a weapon with
which to fight the alligator. Finally
his eye lighted on a large foot pump
with which he pumps air Into the
tires of his bicycle. Seizing It, he
Jammed Wie business end of the pump
into tha mouth of the reptile and Its
teeth closed on It with a vicious snap.
Notts tried to get the pump from
between the reptile's Jaws, and was
unable to do so. Then a happy thought
struck him. He began to pump away,
and soon had the satisfaction of see
ing the alligator swell to abnormal
proportions. The alligator w-as In
fnriited to such a degree that Its
temper heated the air as It passed Into
Its body. Notts pumped nway as hard
as he could, and In a few minutes the
alligator." filled almost to bursting
with hot air, floated clear of the
ground and it was as much as Notts
could do to prevent It sailing off with
his air pump. Fortunately he had a
coil of rope with him.
Holding the Inflated and angry alli
gator with one hand, he cut the rope
Into four lengths. To each of the four
leg? of the reptile he tied one piece
cf rope securely. Then he tied the
four loose ends to his wheel, two to
the handle bars and two to the
frame beneath the saddle, and pump
ed more hot air Into the alligator.
Horr looked on, and explained the
reptile had been In the pond two
months and that it had feasted on
fifty of his chickens and frightened
his ducks and pigs so they would not
go near the water. Notts listened
impatiently, to all that and to a fur
ther suggestion that an enemy of Horr
had put the alligator in the pond.
Then he sented himself on the wheel,
released the anchor rope and sailed
off for home, using the tall of the alli
gator for a rudder.
When he landed In HoiTman Park
with his alligator dirigible he created
a sensation, which wa3 increased
when the alligator gave an expiring
breath which blew leaves off a tree
thirty feet away and sent the nlr
pump and four alligator teeth through
a window across the street. The fact
that the alligator had died in the in
terest of science was a keen disap
pointment to Notts. He Just had
been figuring on establishing an alli
gator air line for the quick delivery
of bread when the reptile's released
soul started for the Florida Ever
glades. KILLED SNAKE, LANDED FISH.
Indiana Angler Had Bass on Line and
Blue Racer on Leg.
Fort Wayne, Ind. Charles Paul of
the Paul Manufacturing Company,
was fishing in a small lake near An
gola and stood on the bank, because
there was no boat available. Hook
ing a bass he found it necessary to
play for advantage in shallow water
to his right.
His eye3 were glued to his line, and
he did not see a big blue racer in his
path until the reptile whirled itself
around his legs and lifted its head
above his belt. Grasping the reptile
bj the throat with his left hand Mr.
Paul braced his fish rod under his
right arm, while with difficulty he
reached for his knife In his pocket.
Opening the blade with his teeth he
cut the gnake's throat, disengaged
the folds of the dying reptile, and re
scued his play of the bass. He drew
the fish to shallow water and lauded
it. The fish weighed five pounds, and
the snake measured 7 feet 2 inches.
Companions saw both.
BRING A MAN, GET A PRIZE.
Pastor Uses Candy Bait to Enlist
Girls' Aid.
Wilkes-Darre, Pa. Prizes are to be
given to young women who bring
young men to the Suuday School at
Christ German Lutheran Church at
Hazleton, near here.
The prizes are offered by the mln
ister, the Rev. .1. O. Schlenker, In an
effort to win back the adult attend
ance at the Sunday school classes,
which has fallen off greatly. Pastor
Schlenker promises to give each
young woman who brings two
young men to Sunday School next
Sunday a large box of candy. He doo3
not say whether he will give prizes
every. Sunday.
Raises Peach a Foot Around.
Montclair, N. J. In sorting a bushel
of peaches, taken from one tree in hia
garden, W. A. Hodges, of No. 132
Claremont avenue, found that not one
of them was below nine and ono-half
Inches In circumference. Most of
them measured ten and one-half
Inches, and one was twelve inches.
There are now tlfty-four phy
grounds for children at the schools
of Boston and twenty-eight In the
parks more than ever before.
CITY FOUNDED ON IRRIGATION
Rivers Always the Wet-Nurses of the
Earliest Civilizations.
Rivers are always the wet-nurses
of the earliest civilizations, and In
this respect the Tigris and Euphrates
are rivals of the Nile, for Babylonia,
like Egypt, was a river's "gift." The
Mesopotamia!! Valley Is Intersected,
gridiron fashion, by huge cannls not
dug out, but built upon the earth's
surface, crossing the plain from river
to river and seeming to the traveller
like ranges behind ranges of curious
ly regular hills. From these, lesser
canals branched In all directions and
gave birth in turn to others still
smaller, until at last the final threads
carried the life-giving water to every
grove and garden and Individual palm.
system of Irrigation so mechanically
perfect and on so vast a scale was
never elsewhere seen. All the wealth
and splendor and power of the ancient
Babylonian and Assyrian Empires
were dependent upon It. The pros
perity of the country hung upon Its
wuter supply as absolutely as the ex
istence of a Saharan oasis hangs
upon Its well. A harm done to the
Irrigation system was felt through all
the civilization it nourished.
It was so the Mesopotamlan civiliza
tion died. The complicated Irrigation
works which watered the country re
quired for their upkeep the superin
tending care of multitudes of trained
laborers and expert engineers. Only
knowledge and skill and large re
sources could deal with and maintain
the immense canals and sluices and
dams and locks which distributed the
river water over tie land and which
composed a machlrory as elaborate as
a clock's, though of water works, not
metal works. The hand of a ate dy
and strong government was needed to
wind that machinery up and keep It
going, and there came a time when
that hand was withdrawn.
Marriage and Meanncs3.
Some years ago there lived In
Atchison a young woman noted for
her good works and gentleness. She
was always helping the poor mil wn
patient and kind and universally h-1-
mired. She married a fairly good
man and abused him within U'.ree
months. She had been good and pati
ent for years, but a husband was too
much for her; she had never been
cross to any one until Rhe was cros
to her husband. There i3 something
about marriage that stirs up hidden
depths of meanness on both sidca.
Atchison (Kan.) Globe.
Murder Story a Hoax.
About a year ago a man named
Meckley who lived near the Buck
nell Campus at Lewisburg, was
found dead along the Reading rail
road track and the theory that he
had bi.cn struck and killed by a
train was universally accepted. Last
week the story gai.ied circulation
that a young girl who had been
employed in the Meckley home as
a domestic at the time, had recent
ly been taken suddenly ill, and to
relieve a guilty conscience made a
confession accusing Mrs. Meckley
of murder. According to the story
Mrs. Meckley had been intimate
with a college student and during
a quarrel with her husband about
it, struck him on the head with a
flat iron and then cut his jugular
vein with a pen knife, hiding her
crime by placing the body on the
railroad track.
Investigation has proved the story
to be false from start to finish,but
residents of Iewisburg are excited
over it.
The Dazzling Searchlight.
On a dark night no warship
would be safe from torpedo attack
but for the searchlight, says a Lon
don paper. The lull moon lights
up a torpedo boat so that it can be
fired at when nearly a mile away.
To produce the same illumination
with the most powerful artificial
light an electric arc of i6o,coo can
dle power placed three quarters of
a mile high would be needed if the
aid of mirrors were not available.
But with this light and an ingeni
ous arrangement of mirrors it is
possible to surpass the moon.
Searchlights are now made which
throw light a distance of sixty-three
miles, but objects can be seen only
a few miles from the source of the
light. The effect on the enemy is
most demoralizing. When the
bright b?am is suddenly thrown ou
the eye the pupil contracts violent
ly; when the beam is removed the
eye can see nothing. If this be re
peated a few times if takes all the
nerve out of a man, so that only
the best trained and most courag
eous can continue the attack.
An opportunity was given the
public to witness a display of these
powerful searchlights during thi
Hudson-Fulton Celebration, when
the international fleet lighted up
the heavens with their powerful
beams.
The project of the Cape Cod
Canal, now under construction,
antedates the Revolutionary War.
At last the Panama diggers have
something to which they can point
and say, "See how fast we're' working."
FOOT BALL.
The Rules Should be Changed or the
Game Abolished.
The Philadelphia Record piints
the following timely article on the
subject of foot ball:
.Vour trained college athletes mid
two High School boys have had
their necks broken playing college
football this fall, and 12 other play
ers have met death from the effects
of injuries received in this game.
One of t lie six with broken necks,
Midshipman Wilson, of Annapolis,
is not dead yet, but hiscase is hope
less and his lot is really more pitia
ble than that of Cadet Byrne, of
West Point, who, meeting with a
similar accident, died the following
day. Internal injuries killed five;
fractured skulls, three; heart fail
ure, two; blood poisoning, one, and
pneumonia following injuries re
ceived in a game, one. Only one
of all this number was of tender
age the grammar school grade
by whom college football should
never be played, thus disproving
the oft-repeated statement that it is
the novices and not the trained ath
letes, who are killed. The present
s;ason has been particularly dan
gerous to football players of the
first grade, but also damaging to
the high school boys ranging in nge
from 17 to 19 years. The deaths
have resulted from all sorts of plays,
including the deadly flying tackle,
piling up and blows on the head or
body, so almost every feature cf the
game will be assailed by some one
when the football rulemakers meet
three days after Christmas to dis
cuss the situation. Everyone mu.st
realize that radical changes should
be made to make football cafe, but
just how to bring about the desired
result without changing the char
acter of the game is a puzzling
question. The average college foot
ball man loves the game so much
that he is practically blind to its
faults, and this is particularly true
of the football solons who control
the destinies of the game. It was
with great rcluctai ce that they
went about the work of "reform
ing" the g. me after the disastrous
season of 1905, when 24 players
were killed, and it is only reasona
ble to expect that they will be slow
to take radical action this year when
only 17 players have met with fatal
mishaps. They argue that if tack
ling and piling up, which is the di
re :t result of trying to gain so many
yards in a certain number of tries,
are eradicated, it will not be college
football, but another game entire
ty. Their fondues? for the game
they have built up makes this prop
osition seem appalling, and they
would willingly let the rules go. un
changed for another year in order
to demonstrate the truth of their
assertion that the number of deaths
this season arc due to unfortunate
accidents, rather than to defects in
the game.
DANGER MAKES IT KXCITIXG.
College football i too popular a
game to be legislated out of exist
ence, as lias been suggested at
Washington, and yet that may be
its fate unless it is thoroughly re
formed. If the rules are radically
changed at this time :t will be be
cause public seutimeut demands it.
Pree discussion of the best meth
ods to bring about the desired re
sults can do no narm, and may re
sult in pointing out a better solution
of the puzzle than the originators
of the game have hit upon. No
one can deny that college football
is an exciting game, and a good
one as well, so far as bringing out
the manly qualities of courage and
pluck in players. It is exciting be
cause it is dangerous. Danger is
alluring to most people, particu
larly where the danger is to some
other person. It is this feeling that
makes college football popular
among women. They admire manly
men and love to see them in com
bat. Fashion has set its stamp of
app-oval on college football and the
women attend in great numbers,
although tne great portion of them
do not know much about the game.
In Spain the same feeling prompts
women to attend bull fights. No
one can deny the attractiveness of
a contest in which men are in con
stant danger of iujury or death,
but the fact that college football is
interesting does not necessarily
make it a good game for young
men aud boys to play. The 130
deaths and thousands of serious in
juries sustained in football during
the last nine years shows that the
game needs thorough reforming. If
it cauuot be made safe it should be
abaudoned altogether. It is up to
the rule-makers to decide which it
shall be.
The shepherd dogs used by the
police of Berlin cost $18 to $24 un
trained, and $72 trained, says our
'Dumb Animals." In Philadel
phia they might bring ten thousand
dollars a niece to some favored
breeder, charging per foot, or per
bark.
Tlio Kind You Ilavo Always
iu use for over 80 years,
and
jWjy?, fional supervision slnco Its infancy.
f-GUcu4i Allow no ono to deceive you In this.
All Counterfeits, Imitations and " Jnst-as-ffood" arc but
Experiments that trifle with and endanjrer tho health of
Infants and Children Experience against Experiment
What is CASTORIA
Castorla Is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare
goric, Drops and Soothing Syrups. It is Pleasant. It
contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other NarcotlG
substance. Its ogre Is Its guarantee. It destroys Worms
and allays Fcvcrislmoss. It cures Diarrhoea and Wind
Colic. It relieves Teething1 Troubles, cures Constipation
and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, regulates tho
Stomach and Dowels, giving healthy and natural sleep.
Tho Children's Panacea Tho Mother's Friend.
GENUINE CASTORIA ALVAYO
Bears the
The Kind You Have Always Bought
In Use For Over 30 Years.
Vmi ecNTMin eouMHv. ? mumm STD'cr. new von em.
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THE COLUMBIAN,
Forty Million Red Cross Stamps.
1
The demand for Christmas
stamps of the Red Cross Society,
the proceeds to be used for fighting
the spread of tuberculosis, has be
come so great that the order for
printing nas Deen increased to 40,-
000,000.
It was orieiuallv intended to
place IO.OOO.OOO oil sale, hut rt.
quests have been coming in so fast
mat it nas been decided to have an
additional io.oco.ooo printed. The
demand for the stamps comes from
all parts of the country, but unus
ually neavy orders nave been re
ceived from the Middle West.
Trespass Notices,
Card Slf'llS ''NnTrpmnecinn" l, r
O ivri
Bale at this office. TIipu orAmint.
J ' t , .1 fc -
ed in accordance with the late act
ot 1903. l'rice 5 cents each, tf
CASTORIA
Tor Infants and Children.
Iha Kind You Have Always Bought
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Signature
mm
Bought, and which lias bccii
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morU f a o1 1 .KoiK-.? nnA
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and renew within thirty days.
Bloomsbunr. Pa.
Booze at Mahanoy City.
According to figures compiled
by Rev. M. S. Rees, an evangelist
working in Mahaiuy City for the
last four weeks, that town pays an
annual "booze" bill of only 11 little
less than $500,000. The town,
with a population of 16,000, has
166 licensed liquor houses or an av
erage of oue saloon to every 100
men, womeu and children.
Concluding, he said that there i
more beer sold in Mahauoy City on
Sunday than ou any other day in
the week, citing one instance w-iere
he counted 40 men go into cue
thirst station on Sunday, while at
auother a dozen men bad to remain
ou the outside, the inside being too
crowded.
TheU. H. OoveusmkntIii its "Pure
Food Law" does nut "Indorse" 01
"guarantee" nny preparation as sonic
manufacture iu their advei tisenieiit
would make it appear. In the emu
medicines the law provides that certain
drugs shall lie mentioned o 1 the labels
if they are ingredient of the prepara
tions. Kly'a Cream Palm, tlio well
known family remedy for eold in the
head, hay fever and naal eataiih,
doesn't contain a single injurious diiut.
bo the makers have simply to print th'
fact that it complies fully with aU the
requirements of the law.
1