"wt!ppr w . 'J' . ;r -r i. " .s Si t- E PITTSBURG THIBD PART. TH DISPATCH. , PAGES 17 TO 20. PITTSBURG, STXTSTDAT, OCTOBER 5, L890. THE GOLDENGREASE. An Oil Region Retrospect In spired by a Look at the Old Drake Well. GROWTH OF THE DERRICK And the Evolution of the Modem Equipments For Drilling. BEXSIKGHOFF KMi IN ITS GLORT. "I he Celebrated Eobbery That Kctted a Clean 400,000. EARLI PIPE LIKES AND EEFIKERIES. rwuiiTES ron Tnr dispatch.) OKSI DEE ABLE improvement has been made in the methods of drilling for oil between the old Drake well sod the development of the Cbartiers field in this city. No where is it more noticeable than in the derrick used. The old Drake well was drilled in 1859 with a derrick, Jp-1 the corners of which T were saplings about ! on r . 1 T lO-pj,.; was cumbrously boarded up its en tire height. Its im mediate successors tl inVrod only in that tbesapling corners were 1 el i together by girths and crossbraces in ei ad of being boarded up. The derrick ft to-day is of plank and 80 feet high. It is s.mtneirical in its proportions, and Tery much s trouger than the old-time affair. The evolution has been gradual. In 1 3--9 the oil well derrick had reached a 1 . frln oi 40 to 48 feet, and was built in niuch the same style as at present By the t nteunial year, 187C, it had reached a 1 .ght ot C4 !eet. and the old, heavy bull v net lb were thrown out for the light kkele tus. Now the standard height is 80 feet, wan the corners double planked ball war up. or HISTORIC IXTEREST. "ur picture, illustrating the primitive r'vie, is o' the Drake well itsel!, completed u August, 1859, the lirst well ever drilled lor oil. This is copied from a photograph taken soon after the completion of the well bv J. A. Mather, a personal friend of C sloncl E. L. Drake. In the -foreground is o.onel Drake, wearing a plug hat, and Ptirr Wilson, who afterward befriended 1 i, and loaned him money when his lu iut.es were broken. Lcininc against the i. -e are two ot the men who worked on the wo i and a friend who happened to be there. Mr Mather is full of incidents of the e-arlv days of oildom, every view calling i.to li e recollections ot interesting scenes t nd history. He w.is the first photographer , t ie oil regions having established liim fr i in Titusville, where he still is, in 18o9. it s pergonal acquaintance with the oil j nnces is wide, and he takes treat delight n shon inc photos taken 20 or SO years ago, ot men who have since trained reputation a: d lortune. He showed The DisrATCH a view in which "Lew" Emiry is seen on 1 or-eback, the background beinz one of the f st ells in w Inch the great Republican kiccer w.is interested. A SUGGESTIVE TICTUEE. But "Sir. Mather prides himself most on t'-c iw of BcnninghoiT run, taken in 18C5. Just two days after the photograph was taken lightning strucC one ol the 87 wells fchown In the picture, and the whole valley was swept bv fire. Two prominent events oi oil region history are also recalled by this p nure Iu the center the trench of the . in il Harlev pipeline is seen, likea path, -i i-cding the hill. On the very crest of the t ii, at the lelt hand side, is the homestead wt pre old man Benninghoff was robbed of -.' (100 in hard cash. 1 rom that small thread in the center of ' . picture grew the great pipeline system ihe cuntrv, now representing a capital over 10.000.000. A hard time the old i o had. It was not a rich and powerful n .i.dy. It was ouly a etep toward the e utii n of a difficult problem, THE SHIPPING OF OLL paper than by wagons and barrels. For i t .irlvdas of Benninghoff run, the i t product of the regions was taken to r i r .ad and waterway by hundreds of t vs. l.en the pipe line was first built it was 1 .n j, by the army of teamster, it could rm be successful operated. "When they b..w it could be, somebody took occasion to J (A Tlie Isl Oil Well attach teims to it at several points to break jt. The breaks being persistently repaired, and guarus having been stationed on the line, tlie teamsters became desperate and madr a fierce attack on the terminus one gbt Tne guards defended the pipe line property as well as they could, a cumber of s.iots were fired from each side and several persons were wounded. The guards were everpowered, however, the tanks burned, and a good bit o, the pipe line torn up. PKOGIiESS XOT STAYED. The march of progress could not be stayed by a horde ot lawless teamsters. The pipe line w-s rebuilt. By that time there was another line in operation from Pithole. to Miller farm, and tbe&e were soon followed bv one from Pithole to the Allegheny river at Walrut Bend. When this third iron arm, rauiating Irom Pithole, was completed the production ol that famous field was al ready on the decline and the teamster, like Othello, found his occupation gone. But he did not wait long until he found another job at some other kind of work. Of course the oil hauling teamster's pic- ir lf 'nm t . icj- u . t ffl-fca i i L-dSJlS&iiLdK JT IjMtufluuUMEuKritmMt!' i dntoJiffliifM iMiiTTrriilijHM I "SHilllWTREr'MSPmfctfTjBS' turesqne profanity was missed for a time and then the wheels went around more briskly than eTer to the tnne of dollars and dimes tumblinc into the lucky men's pockets. Pipe lines sprung up everywhere and carried the golden grease to market much cheaper than the teamsters could. The slender iron trails coiled over the hills in stead of the long coils of wagons with their loads of barrels, their spavined mules and their swearing drivers. The saving, in mud alone, wag enormous, for the traini of oil wagons bad kept the roads of oildom in such a mixture that tbey were well nigh bot tomless at all seasons ot the year. A FAMOUS BOBBEBY. On the 25th day of October, 18G6, the Benninghoff farm "was reported to have a production of 2.200 barrels, and the average price of oil at the wells for that month was S3 40. BenninghofPs royalty was enor mous. He was a plain old farmer with little knowledge, a fresh remembrance of the failure of the Culver banks at New York, Oil City and Titusville, and a great fear of rotten banks in general. He there fore sold his oil legularly and hid the money about his bouse. One night the house was entered by masked burglars, Benninghoff and his wife bound, gagged and roughlv handled. One of the visitors was evidently acquainted, as he knew where the money was. The robbers made off with over 400, 000 in cash. A young man who had formerly been in Benninghoflfs employ, and treated like a member of the family, disappeared about this time from his Crawford couuty home and several of his associates were also misted. The identity of the robbers was thus easily established, but their where abouts was a different matter. The cash. though it had not taken wings, had flown never to return. MOKE GOOD MOSEY. Detectives traced both robbers and wealth Into the West, and Mr. Benninghoff paid ont another handsome fortune of good money to secure their arrest and conviction with out avail and he abandoned the search. Froai that time until within a very .few years ago the Beuninzhoff robbers were being periodically discovered, Tascott fash-- ion, oy detectives ana correspondents, but none of the stolen thousands have ever come back to the Benninghoff heirs. This robbery is the most celebrated one riVx. lt&tu 4 r The Fee Writ in the annals of oil, though several more atrocious have been committed. And it is a wonder there have not beepmore, considering the reckless dis position made of vast sums by the suddenly enriched farmers. One of the most flagrant instances is that of the Butler county farrn'r who spread 550,000 in bills on the grass in his orchard to air it There has been prog, ress inthis matter as well as others, and the oil-enriched farmer handles bis treasure like a born banker now. A riON EEE BETINEBT. One of the first refineries in the oil region was located on the Shaffer farm, near Ben ninghoff run. It consisted ot one small still, from which one run a week could be made. Later on it was enlarged, but compared with the enormous refineries of the present time, with their multitudinous products, it was even more primitive than the derrick of the Drake well as compared with the exhibition riii on the Pittsburg Exposition grounds. By theway, the managers of the Exposition might introduce a novel feature if they will mystify their well and have a corps of field men to scout it. The little refinery at the Shaffer farm was only one of many of the same kind. The ideas of the business were gleaned from the shale and coal oil works and the waste of product inrefining was enormous. Improve ment iu this branch of the business there has been, but it mjght have been greater had it had more of the element of competition in it. Inventors of improved appliances, like se'lers of crude oil, find practically only one buyer in the field and that buyer not much inclined to encouratre investigations on this line. ASOTHEE LIVELY SECTION. Our picture of the type of derrick common to the late sixties is a view ot the Pee well No. 4, atShaniburg. Itwasan advanced tvpe lor its time, being 06 feet high, having seven girths. In rig building the "16-footplank" is the standard. This gives ou even eight feet to the girth. The most common type in the sixties were of six girths and many but five, while the standard now is ten. Shamburg must be remembered among the very lively little oil towns long since delunct. Its neighbors. Bed Hot and Cash Up, had more euphonious and descriptive titles, but were not one whit more red hot or one whit more on the business principle of cash on delivery than Shamburg. The Fee No. 4 was abont the sixth well completed at Shamburg, and, having a production of sev eral hundred barrels a day, assisted mate rially in creating the "boom." wnich swept over that part oi the country. ABANDONED ENTEBPEISES. The towns above named were not far from the far-famed Pithole, which has served as the great type of the decaved oil towns. But the collapse of the town'or Pitholewas . m 4 $ sr-t-ZZ-J-S ?USM infAX mm? . m - ju..K.jhiuu t . .lx ,. ,-M i . ..oa aaa-e, ..aats.e.-uVj ..Ara. - i . , . r-trniiMtr'-, -i i-TKA-WTwnr frftyfri x-nrer i r mm rr m iriTinTMW'T'nnii Tirim itiiit isWimrmiriiMr-nrirrTfiirTi'r t wnTrrri nil urn i in ihiiM a small part of the disappointments of that time. James MeHenry, in charge of the Atlantic and Great Western Bailway now New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio pro jected a line from Erie into the oildorado via Titusville. He was alreadv building a line from Meadvllle to Oil City." Work was begun on the other line, and a considerable portion was graded at heavy expense Thousands of dollars were expended for right ot way, and then the whole project was abandoned. McHenry's -Jortunes were broken, and the whole scheme became a dead letter. Eecently, however, Titusville people have been talking of completing tne old road. . Culver's famous air line was also begun at this time.. It is now the Oil City branch of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. General George B. McCleUan was cbiet engineer of the Pithole road. The route was surveyed without much regard to expense, TBESTLES AKD TUKNELS abounding along the line. From the main line of the Lake Shore to Oil City the road was eventually completed, but the Pith6le end is as mournful and complete a wreck as Culver's fortune was. A few rotting trestles speak weakly of the mighty ambitions of men. This whole country has beenjjdrilled over again within the past three years, the mod ern derricks, machinery and tools contrast ing strangely with the old-time appliances. The new wells have all been small, none of them gnshiug thousands of' barrels a day as the old timers did, but as about 4,000 of these little wells have been added to the list in Venango county the production has been ndded to materially. Out about Shaniburg, Bed Hot and Pithole there have been more signs of life the past three years than for many years previously, and tome of the operators have been rewarded for their labors. Not in old Venango, though, can we look SCENE OIT BEXKISGHOEP BUN, OIL CKEEE, JUST BEFOBE From a Photograph Taken in 1S65, for the greatest improvement in drilling machinery and tools. The deep fields about Pittsburg, in Washington countvjiud West Virginia have developed drilling rigs in the highest style of the art In these fields long strings of heavy eas ing require great strength in the derrick. The large holes drilled call for heavy tools. A drilling bit for a West Virginia 10-inch or 13-inch hole is now nearly as heavy as a whole string of tools used in the palmy days of Oil creek, bit, auger-stem, jars and sinker. One of the modern 4-inch stem would have "paralyzed" the driller of 25 years ago on sight, and its 45 feet of length would have beeu altogether too much lor that driller's 40-foot derrick. IMPEOVED MACHINEET. 'Old engines may yet be seen rusting on Oil creek in Pennsylvania and at Burning Springs, West Virginia, that make the modern driller smile hard. Side connecting cranks, single slide valves and other anti quated features about this old machinery gives rise to the wonder how they ever got any wells down at all. The present style of reversible engine, with its wonderful quickness and strength, can hardly be com pared in the same breath with the old machine. It is the same way with the old sills and timbers. The main sill of 18135 would not make a decent mud-sill for the rig ol the period. The driller's methods, too. have kept pace with his machinery and tools. None of the old processes for him; no pulling the cable over the shaft while an attachment to the crank-pin will do the work as well: no slack rope or down jar while he can keep things humming with the tight rope. It is all so very different that the changes can hardly be realized. pittsbubg's siiaee. Iu keeping with all the other improve ments of the oil men is his home. What a howling wilderness ot mnd Oil City and Titusville were, to be sure, when the oil man first made headquarters in them. Brad ford was not much better. But the oil man made a oity of it much soonpr than he had of the others and secured citv facilities. It couldn't long be compared with the crudities of -Petroleum Center and Pithole. When the oil man got back to Oil City he wanted more improvements.. Now Pittsburg is the oil metropolis. To use the well-known phrase of an old-time oil man, "There is but one metrollopus in tins country, ana that is;ror the oilman, Pittsburg. It is a great improvement over all his previous homes. In fact he couldn t find a better if geological conditions per mitted him to go east of the Allcgbenies. And he is appreciating the fact. From Bradford, Titusville and Oil City he comes here. From Buffalo, Jamestown and Olean he seeks permanent residence in the Gas City. The familiar faces are seen on our streets.by hundreds, and gradually they are settling down here, preparing to keep house and vote in our midsts. They have reached perfection in the matter ot home-hunting, though some genius wants them to improve their drilling by using electric motors and do their fishing by flash-light photograph instead of the time-honored, soap-coated im pression block. A. E. CauM. Hoir She Minded the Child. Blnghamton Leader. "Now you know that I hired you ex pressly to take care of that child," said a Front street lady to her nurse girl, "and I should like to know why you don't mind her." "Well, I declare!" answered the girl; "if that don't beat all. As if I didn't mind herl Why, she never issued an order tbat I didn't obey. Only yesterday she ordered me to walk up to the County House and back and I did it, and left her playing for four honrs on the railroad track." Diamonds Agalatt Diamonds. Boston Herald. Will it keep Mrs. William Astor awake nights to have a New Tork correspondent say Miss Nellie Farren.of the Gaiety Thea-J terowns more diamonds than she? Tlio Astor diamonds were Supposed to be un equaled, but here is a snip of a burlesquer who claims to be the champion dinmoud owner, and who boasts she doesn't fear rivalry iir'that direction with royalty or commoner. Nellie is a charmer. .. ' t. .. 4 . .y JL- 7L . Ji , -u- ttL.. , ' i- ,SLJ. JT&hS ,-4tfi""fi"Kftrtt&'V4;i,fi-j f tflifc-.i..,! THE IRISH FiGHTEE Who Has Taken Command of the English Forces in Ireland. SIE GARNET WOLSELEX'S CAKEEE. Like the Great Soldiers cf the World, He is of Slight Stature. A FIGUBEHEAD C0MMANDEE IN CHIEF -COREESrONDENCE OF TUB BISPATCB.1 London, September 27. An Irishman to the manner born will command the British force in the Emerald Isle, after October 1. No military appointment made in Great Britain for more than a hundred years has caused more comment, and is more signifi cant than the transfer of Lord Wolseley from the position oE Adjutant General at the War Office and the practical executive officer of the English army to the command of the troops in his native land. There is much speculation among classes as to what the change means, and a settled conviction that he would not have been pro moted to the higher grade, had not the Brit ish Government felt assured that the peace of Europe for some time to come, at least, w assured; for by common consent Lord Wolseley, in case of war, would be sent as the commander of the force on the field. It is no disparagement to other officers to say this, because he has earned the place in the white heat oi battle, ranging all the way from THE PIKE. England's first conflict in Burmah jn 1852 to the war in the Soudan iu 18S4. Thirty two years or great achievements in war have also been sunnlemehted bv some rrades of I civil duty, which developed a high degree 1 ofexecntive and diplomatic ability in the xnsn gentleman who has been and is both soldier and diplomat TWO IKISH FIGHTEBS. It is a singular, if not a natural, fact, that the two most eminent soldiers in the British Sir Garnet Wolseley. army are both Irishmen Lord Wolseley, who is just now filliwr the national eye and keeping busy the English tongue, and Sir both iredenct Boberts, who commands iu India. Upon them England would rely for its ex perience and abilitv in action in case of a conflict at arms. Both of them, I think, came from what may fairly he called the middle classes, at least Lord Wolseley did, and he is emphatically a self-made man. But he comes ot a fighting family, for his father, grandfather and even earlier an cestors were all soldiers, and he takes, to the profession ot armsjes an inheritance. His mother, who rearaj him for the profession while his father wfft in the army, turned his mind carefully an'd earnestly in a military direction, and his first books ot reading re lated to war. Tho Duke of Cambridge, the cousin of the Queen, is nominally the commauder-iu-cliief, becauso the law of succession requires that place to bo filled by one of royal blood and in direct communion with the head ot the nation. But for several years past Lord Wolseley has been recognized as the leading soldier of the kingdom, and has exerted an influence in army matters rarely ever before accorded to any man, except iu'time ot war. DIPLOMAT AND SOLDIEE. It is rare to find embodied in one compo sition the twin elements of soldier and 'dip lomat, and yet. Lord Wolseley is a living example of the fact that a man may have the elements which go to make a commander and at the same time the power to manage a delicate job of diplomacy, for besides his brilliant military services he has handled several important civil commissions of a high character with marked ability. Be tween his army and civil occupations he has been constantlv kept in the foreground of combat with the world ever since he was of age. For the first time in forty years, this com mand in Ireland will not only give him a rest, but the opportunity of being of great use to his people While enjovine his books, and an opportunity to indulge his literary ambitions in finishing his life or the great Duke of Marlborough, upon'wlTich he has been engaged for some time. Besides be ing an Irishman, Lord Wolseley is a Lib eral. Atone time he lavoreti" Mr. Glad stone's policy, but he has parted company wiin "tne grand old man upon political matters, and while hoidinj the idea that localities shonld be left eft to look after their own affairs be believes that the diplomatic service, the army and the navy should all be dominated by a representative assembly doing business under the shadow of the throne. WOLSELEY'S PERSONALITY. 'During the past six weeks I have had tomewhdt of personal association with him, and during the army, reviews, which ,1 at: tended at bis invitation, I have carefully watched his habits of mind and action in comnariBinn trlth thnisa abont him. A -stronger personality, clad in a soldier's tahl- lorra, nave rarely ever seen, a nave oeen trying for a mouth to liken and compare him with some Federal General of distinction from onr rebellion. But he is different from any of them I can recall. . Besides possessing an abundance of firm ness, and a good opinion of -his own judg ment like Grant, he has plenty of push like Sheridan, whom he admires as much lor his rppnrd an fi htd TAtnA Art Tfetitnfin- Tint there is a sort of finish in his composition, polish in his manners, mental activity ot a thoughtful kind and a subtle diplomacy that I have never before met in an officer Who has won distinction in the pestle of fight These Qualities are all foreign to the jugged soldier, such we knt w In our country uunng ine war. xnese nneiy arawn meo retical minds' were doubtful of their own genius, in the crncihle of plan and onset ANOTHER SMALL riOBTEB. It is remarkable how many small men have been great sofdiers. Napoleon was nndersize, Grant hardly up to the average, Sheridan below it, etc. Lord Wdlseley is in the same group. He is hardly up to the medium, and is slim and lithe of frame. His face is rather small, but full of firm lines that are yery apparent when he closes his thin lips under his gray mustache. His eyes are sharp and searching and his man ner the perfection of fine breeding, as al ways found in a real Irish gentleman. His hair was once dark, but now almost white, but there is a freshness to his face and a twinkle in his blue eyes that make him look as fresh as at 40, when he. must have been an exceedingly handsome man. There is rarely much in the peaceful side of a strong soldier's life that is striking enough to write about. People love to read abont heroism, adventure and the dramatic features of a military chieftain's career not what he has done with his legs under the desk and a pen in his hand. The story of Lord Wolseley's life is so full of the dramatic tbat it intrudes itself at every turn and sets aside all else. VEBY NEAR TO DEATH. During England's second war with Bur mah in 1852 he was only an ensign. Iu leading a storming party, both he and a brother officer were shot down as they en tered the enemy's works. One bled to death in five minutes and Wolseley was only saved almost by a miracle after months ol terrible suffering. The Crimean War in 1834 found him ready for duty, but he got terribly knocked to pieces there. During the se'ige of Sebastopol fate was strangely against him. He was slightly wounded on the 10th of April and again on the 7th of June, but on the 30th of August, while at work in the trenches, he was knocked over by a solid shot striking near him, killing those about him and rendering him almost lifeless. He was picked up for dead, and hardly recognizable from the nnmber of wounds on his face. His body was as if filled with the contents of a shotgun. The snrseons regarded him as beyond hope, but ho took a different view of it, and alter suffering for many weeks he recovered. For a long time he lived in a dark cave, total blindness being threatened from the effects oi his wounds. While in this plight and the dire calamity hanging over him, the fall of Sebastopol was announced. In wounds and other casnalities Lord Wolseley had any amount ot bad luck, for he hardly ever went to war without returning with it wound, but they gained for him the coveted promotion for which he fongbt SHTPWEECKED KEAB SINGAPORE. After the Crimea he was ordered to China on a diplomatic mission, and was ship-wreeked-near Singopoje..vAlter,a startling adventure he was rescued, completed his duty and the name year, 1857, he is found iu.Iadia suppressing a mutiny. This created him a Lieutenant Colonel at' a single jump front the Captaincy, that his brilliant service in the Crimea bronght him. In 1860 be was in the Chinese war, and afterward on a diplomatic mission to Nankin. In 1861, about the beginning of .our war, he was hurriedly sent to Canada in connection with the Trent affair, and became Deputy Quartermaster General of the Dominion. The Bed river expedition in 1870 won bim a knighthood, and the following year he spent as Assistant Adjutant General in the War Office. The Ashantee War made him a full Major General and Inspector General of the forces. From 1875 to 1878 he was Governor ot Natil first and of Cy press afterward. The Zulu War, in 1879, found him Commander in Chief of the forces and High Commissioner to South Africa. The Egyptain campaign of 1882 raised him to a peerage, and the war in the Soudan in 1884 carried him forward to be considered the first soldier in England. On his return in 1885 he was made Adjutant General at the Wnr Office. THE FIGUREHEAD OniEFTAIN. Lord Wolseley can .never be in peace the army chieftain, because he is not of royal blood. That place is a kind of figurehead kept for one of the royal family, and the Duke of Connaught, the Queen's youngest son, is being trained to till the shoes that will ere long, in the natural course of events, be left vacant by the Duke of Cam bridge. It may be said' to this young man's credit that he is likely to be more than a figurehead, for he has not only been care fully trained, but has studied hard, and is filled with an ambition to make himself an efficient commander, and is credited with much military ability. Lord Wolseley believes that there will be another war between France and Germany which will be one of the bloodiest conflicts that Europe has ever known. Of America he said: "In America you havea pure democracy, and a pure democracy Is capa ble of doing much more in the direction of strung measures and of war, than a mixed system such as ours. When democracy is thoroughly established in England, the chief seenritv against war will have disappeared. It is democracies that make wars, oligar chies that are atraid of them, especially an oligarchy like ours which is timid and hampered by the party system. AMERICA ACTS AS ONE MAN. Oursystem, by dividing the nation politi cally into two halves, each of which op poses on principle whatever the other pro poses, paralyzes our strength when a Minis ter is tempted to go to war. If our people were as unanimous in cases of affront as the United States, we should go to war many mora times than we do. In America ques tions of foreign policy, involving the main tenance of the honor of the' flag or tho rights of American citizens, are outside the area of party dispnte. The whole nation acts as one man. Hence, Kussia, Germany and France habitually show the United States a deferencetwhich they never show England." Speaking of the annexation ot Canada, Lord Wolseley said he did not believe that it would ever join the United States. He is a very firm believer in the permanent peace between this country and the United States. He regards it as the' duty of these Euglish speakiug nations to stand by each other for tbe final struggle between the powers of the earth, will be between the English-speaking people on the one side and those who talk in other tongues on the other. Frank A. Bore. -oloiD6n'a Wisdom. I The Epoch. "Siiy, pa, Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived, wasn't he?" "Yes, my son, he is so considered.' "And he had 300 wives, didn't he?" "I believetbat is the number." "Say, pa, if Salomon was the wisest man that ever lived how did he ever come to get Lin such a fix you can't live Deaceablr with one?" "HemI hawl heml ho got wise after he marrjed theui. You go to bed." Perfectly Froner. Boston Herald. , j It is not surprising that tho young man "T- rlintllH etna I .. !.!-. r al n j1 whom he takes fishing.' It is percctly proper for them to .have aching smack. aJifett,v. ; 4V. i ) . 1- -,- BOOMS Lie CELLARS. Your Shoes Will Mol'd While Yoh Sleep in tho City of Para. NOT ONLY DAMP, BUT VERY HOT. A Disease in Wiiich Death CliAba Slowly s Front Feet to Head. TBE OflLX O0W5 CURB IS 1H FLIGM1 ICOEIIESrOHDBXCS Of TBI DISPATCH! PAba, September 16. Para (pronounced pah-rah) is, by reason of its situation on the, Equator, not only the hottest, bnt perhaps the most unhe<hful city on the globe, a distinction which its rivals on the.Braziltan coast do not attempt to emulate. Being practically almost surrounded by water, it is not only hot every, day in tbe year, but correspondingly damp every night. At this season it rains regularly at exactly i o'clock every aiternoon, which serves to cool the parched atmosphere, rinse the tile roofing of the houses and, in general terms, to act as a grateful shower bath to not Only the sweltering humanity, but likewise to all inanimate nature. The nights are always damp. We go to sleep in upper floor rooms that are precisely similar, as regards air, to those of a damp cellar in the States. My shoes, left on the floor alongside of my bed, became covered with mold. Clothing that is hung in ward robes and not aired daily also becomes so moldy that it leaves a stain that cannot be erased. Stockings are so damp in the morn ing tbat one can scarcely draw them on. II DON'T KILE THE ITATIYE3. The doors and windows are necessarily closed, causing every breath of air we in hale to have a peculiarly pnngent musty smell, so that I go to sleep feeling some how tbat I'm under the influence of ether or chloroform. Yet, though tbe population of nearly 100,000 souls do this every day, the mortality among the natives, as far as an be ascertained, is not greater by com parison than that of some of our olties. Tbe very paper on which I am writing this, though kept in the zinc lined box in which the State Department sends out sup plies, is so damp that pen and ink cannot be used. Those that are in the habit of wetting a pencil to their lips would be cured by coming to this climate. Yet low fever prevails here all the time, but little attention being paid to it by the hative population. Perhaps it is best tbat the officials should studiously conceal the real state of health, as the natives are of that peculiarly mercurial temperament tbat once a panio takes possession of them it would be impossible to control the lower classjs. THE PRESS STILL MUZZLED. It is practically an easy matter to prevent the people from learning of the disease be coming prevalent, because there is a censor ship oi the press, as well as telegraphs and cables, to a limited extent, that would of course prevent the fact becoming known either at home or abroad. There is a law in force which subjects anyone who may pub lish anything ot what may be considered of an iAcendiary character, to a tiinl, not by jnry in the place of residence, but by a court martial at Kio de Janerio. There is also a law of recent, date which completely pre cludes theVossibility' ofauyoae common! eating by telegraph or cable any facts detri mental to ihe Government; no telegrams in cipher being permitted at this time. In addition to this sconrge of yellow fever and smallpox, tbey have here a disease which in its effect is worse tban either, i. e., beri-beri (pronounced as though it were spelled bnry-bnry), the name being imported from India, and possibly the dis ease also, it being distinctly peculiar to Brazil and India alone. A TEBBIBLE DISEASE. Beri-beri may be briefly described as a living death: tbe victim is at first afflicted with a swelling of tbe feet, accompanied by a numbness and partial paralysis beginning at the toes, and at the same time a tickling, crawling feeling of the skin, although the affected parts are insensible to the touch. In the progress of the disease the paralysis gradually proceeds upward, as does also the dropsical swelling, rendering the lower limbs entirely helpless; the flesh becomes of a spongy nature, taking an impression like a piece of soft putty. The finger pressed against the limb will leave an indentation precisely the same as that in any pliable material. The course of the disease is as surely up ward as the growth of a well-watered plant in good soil in a hothouse, taking, in some cases, months to reach the vital parts, when death a horrible, prolonged death, ensues by a slow strangulation, caused by the grad ual paralysis of the respiratory mnscles of the thorax and diaphragm. Tbeir action becomes more and more leeble, and respira tion more and more difficult; but so slowly that it sometimes takes tbe victim a week or more to choke to death. CUBED BY EMIGEATION. They have what is known as galloping beri-beri, when the pale horse and riaer does his work in five or six days. The doctors do not pretend to understand the caue or tbe nature of the disease, which they attribute in gencal terms to a break ing down of tbe system; or, as our doctors sometimes when they are not sure of a case, call it "nervous prostration." There is but one cure for beri-beri, and tbat is to leave the country. The fact is well established that patients who do make a change of base recover. Instances are related where pa tients who have been carried aboard vessels so helpless that they were placed in ham mocks were within a few days after leaving port able to walk about the dect. This es tablishes the fact that beri-beri flourishes at Para. Notwithstanding these discouraging facts Para has existed for hundreds ot years, it being one of the earliest settlements of the Portuguese in South America. It is iu many respects a most interesting place. Its streets in the lower parts ot the city are narrow, numerous and very crooked, but generally well paved with imported Belgian block. APEEP AT THE CITY. Street car lines extend throughout the labyrinth ot little streets, going and coming in all directions. Tbey have both wide and narrow gauge tracks, which occupy almost all of the thoroughfares in places. In many of the streets, wagons cannot pass them; in faqt, I have not yet seen a wagon, though two-wheeled carts drawn by small exen and ponies are quite common; and I have no ticed a couple of dilapidated old hacks skir mishing around, containing some Wnor official in their carriage of state. The houses are small and generally quite picturesque, with their balconies, shades and windows, queer looking hallways and tile roors. I havs walked all over town, without being able to find a chimney; in fact there are noTiearth stones in Paraand a fire on the he irth is one of the family educators theyhave sadly missed. I've seen quite a number of right pretty dark eves peeping through the shades, or neat forms, and (lark complexipned faces posing grnceiully over tho little balconies. With a view to self preservation, no doubt, the windows are slightly above the ordinary heighr. They have j curious custom here that prohibits any lady from appearing in the street, unless uccompauied by one of the family aud my observation is that they live up to'tba rule strictly. J. O. Kebbey. Two U Company. , Indianapolis Journal. There is great pleasure in showing some other fellow no asaj fool.,, It taices away mat loneiy leciiny :a iLwere. , a ' JBgJJlaifei vf A NOVEL DEALING WITH COTBMPORAtlY LIFE. WHITTEtf TOE THE DISPATCH, BY WILLIAM BLACK, Author of "A Princess of Tliule," "Sunrise," and Many Other Stories of the Highest keputatlon on Two Continents. CHAPTER X1T. PUT TO THE PROOF. To soy that VI h Harris' jealousy was un reasoning, ungovernable, and the cause of cruel and incessant torture to himself, is merely to say that it was jealousy; but by an unhappy coincidence this was the very moment chosen by his father to make a dis closure which, for a breathless second or so, seemed to recall and confirm the young man's wildest suspicions. When Vincent, in obedience to the telegraphic summons, arrived at the house in Grosveaor Place, he found his father in the library, standing with his back to the fire. On this occasion the great capital-denouncing capitalist did not wear the suit of hodden gray which, at dinner in his'own house, was designed to show his contempt for conventionality; no; when this interview was over, he meant to lunch at the Atben&um Club, and with a view to that solemn rite he had donned a black frock-coat which was tightly buttoned over his lubstantial form. A stiff up standing collar and a satin tie added to the rigidity of his appearance; while his manner was, as usual, pompous and cold. With a roll of paper in bis hand, he wonld hare looked as if he were going to deliver an aiternoon lecture at the Bovnl Institution. "I have eent for you, Vjn," he began, "because I have something of importance to say to vou, and the sooner il is said the bet ter. You are aware that I have never sought to interfere with your way of life. Indeed I have seen no cause to do so. Your line of study I approve; your ambitions I would encourage; and as tor tbe amuse ments and pleasures natural to your years, I can trust you to remember your own elf- VINCENT'S INTEBTIEtVVITir HIS PATHEE. respect. But in one direction I confess I am disappointed. My chief aim in your education has been that you should see and know the world; that you should under stand men; and by contact learn to cope with them, and hold your own. Yes, I confess I am disappointed; for I am not misinformed and I have taken the greatest trouble not to be misinformed here are you, after all your travel and experience of the world, become the dupC of two common begging-letter impostors." j The young man, startled, looked' np quickly; but he held his peace. Now this somewhat disconcerted Harland Harris, for he had expected an instant and indignant protest, which would have justified a little judicious warmth on his side in production of proofs. But Vincent sat calm and col lected, listening with apparent respect. "Yes, deeply disappointed," his father continued, with a little more animation, "for this old charlatan who seems to have got hold of you is altogether too bare-faced and cheap an impostor! Did you ever ask yourself how he lived; what was his business or profession; where he got the money to go from one country to another? Well, if you have not, I have; I have made inquiries; I have bad him traced; I can tell you bis story, and a very pretty story it is. Would you'like to hear it?" "I don't know that it concerns me much," said Vincent, with composure. "Ob, it does not!" said the gentleman with the pompous professional air, upon whom the indifference seemed to have a somewbat irritating effect "Well, there is nothing very grand about it except the magnificent and wholesale lyinel And perhaps also the incredible simplicity of the people who allowed themselves to be imposed on. y uy, in uauaaa ne caiieu himself Lord Betbune was there no second hand copy of Burke anywhere about to show them there waa no such peerage in ex istence? Lord Bethune haunting the news-,. paper othces, ana oorrowing money ngnt ,and left, because of his Scotch name and bogus literary schemes! His sham estates his sham lineage his sham coat of arms; did nobody think of turning up a book? Stand Fast, Craig-Boystonl' Craig-Boys-ton " He crossed the room and took down a vol ume from one of the shelves. "There," be said, putting the book on the table, "there is 'Black's Guide to Scotland.' Can you find out where Craig-Boyston is? Turn up the index." Mechanically and carelessly Vincent did as he was bid. "No, I don't sea it there," he said. "I should think not! Kor BaUoray either; can you find Balloray? An easy thing to claim estates that don't exist; and wear armorial bearings of your own inven tion! Cadww oh, yes, Ca'dzow yoa will find Cadzow undoubtedly exists; bat most people thought tbat Cadzow belonged to the Duke of Hamilton. Or does Lord Betbune claim to be Marquis of Douglas and Earl of Angus as well?" He paused; so Vincent was bound to answer. "I don't know that it concerns me much," tho young man said, repeating bis former phrase. "Even if all yon say. is true, what then? You sent me ont to see the world, and take people as I found them. Well I found a good many liars; and one more or less doesn't matter much, does it?" But Harland Harris was no- fool; he in stantly divined wherein lay the secret oi Vincent's real or assumed indifference. . "Ab, I understand," said he. "I under stand. You don't care so much abont him. You are willing to let him go. Your think you can dissociate him from his grand daughter. He may be a swindler but yoa fanev she manages to keen aloof" r- Ihe youngman grew somewhat pAle. '?!" caxe Uka care' said he.Ad he I " jxuc l said he,4Md he I TAND EfiJU ROYJTPN, held up bis hand as if he would enjoin silence "Words that are said cannot be unsaid." His father regarded him for a second, and then he endeavored to bring a little more 'friendliness and consideratiou into his manner. "I have heard of this infatuation," he said. "And if you had been like Other young men, Vln, I shonld have said noth ing. I should have left you to find out for yourself. But, you see, you have the misfortune to imagine other people to be as straightforward aud honorable as yourself) you do 'not suspect: and you are inclined to trust your own judgment Bnt even if this girl were all you think she is, what madness It would be for you to contemplate marrying herl Look at her position and at "yours; look at her up bringing and present surronndings and at yours; think of what is expected of youj what chances you have; what an alliance wilha great family might do for you la public life. What good ever comes of over leaping social barriers of Quixotism of self-sacrifice lor sentiment's sake? What does a marriage between two people In dif ferent spheres mean? what is the inevlta ble result? it is not the one that is raised it Is the other that is dragged down." "These are strange doctrines for a Social ist and a Communist." Vincent observed. "They are the doctrines of common sense," his father retorted, sharply. "How ever, it is unnecessary to say anything fur ther on that score. You will abandon all this nonsense when you understand who and what this girl is; and you will thank God you have had your eyei opened in time. And, indeed, if all that I am told Is true if I guess aright if I piece the story prop erly together I should say she was the far more dangerous of the two accomplices" Vincent's lip curled; he did not put his disdain into words. "A painful revelation?" his father con. tinned, in more oracular fashion. "Oh, yes, no doubt. But occasionally the truth is bitter and wholesome af the same time. What yoa believe about the girl is ona i thing; what I know about her is another; indeed, I can gather that it was only through her artifice that tbe old man's impostures were accepted, or tolerated, at all. What is he? a farceur a poseur who would at once have been sent to tbe right about bnt for the ingenue by his side, with her inno cent eyes and her sad look. When th writer of the begging letter calls, his story might be inquired into: but nbl for here is this interesting young lady and the hard est heart declines to cross-examine while she is standing there. And. of course, she mn.t go to the newspaper offices, to beguile the editor with her silent distress, while her grandfather is wheedling him out of a loan; or she accompanies hint to the wine merchant, or the book seller, or a tbe tailor, so that nothing can be said about unpaid accounts while she is by; and of course there is a renewal of credit. A very simple and effective trick: even where the people know the old man to be a rogue, they are sorry for the girl, and. they have a pleasing senso of virtue in allowing themselves to be mulcted: tbey little snspect that she -is by far the more accomplished swindler of tha two " Here Vincent laughed, in open scorn; bnt the laugh was a lorced one; and his eyes were lowering. "I am glad you consider it a laughing matter," said Mr. Harris who fonnd it leu easy to combat this contemptuous unbelief than if he had been met with indignation and wrath. "Perhaps, after all, the story is no revelation? Perhaps your complai sance goes further than merely tolerating the old man's lies? Perhaps the glamor the girl has thrown over you would lead you to accept her just as she is, her hy pocrisy, her craft, and all? Or perhaps yoa have planned out for yourself a still mora brilliant future than any that had occurred to your friends? Perhaps you aim at being the old man's successor? It is an easy way of getting through life, having a womaa like that by your side, to earn your living for you. The lover of Macon Lescaut " Vincent leaped to his feet, his eyes aflame. "You go too far," he said, breathing hard. "You go too far. I have been trying to re member you are my father; don't make it too difficult. What do I care about this farrago of nonsense that some one has pat into your head this trash this venomous guessing? It is nothing to me. It is idle air. I know otherwise. But when it comes to insult well, it is all an insult; but some thing must be forgiven to ignorance; the peonlewho have supplied you witq this guesswork rubbish are probably as ignorant' as yourself about those two. Only no more insults, if you pleasel I am your son; bat but there are limits to what you ask me to bear in patience. You talk of my madness and infatuation; it is your madness, your infatuation. What can you say of your own knowledge of that old man and his granddaughter? Why, nothing. You have never spoken to them; never sees them. And yet, without an atom of inquiry, with out an atom of proof, you gs'iafiaieept all this tissue of guesswork this tfMiih this trash as if it were gospelf.assToa'expeot , me to give it a patient fliaXC It is too contemptible"" -?i "Yes. but unfortunately," && Mr. Har ris, with great calmness for now he felt he had the advantage on his side, "you ara mistaken iu supposing that I have made sa inquiry tad hava reserved bo prooi Tha1- Inntfl. L n liA . an Ja Cn ..... B.I&L iu; " " " w Bran skill asdftM dag fcfcj yat fcoajfrg skill asddaM dvria.vlfcf.pat ft m lO $ m O!" &3m C ." fc
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