Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, May 29, 1892, Page 20, Image 20

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ON I FISHING TUG
A Day in Nature's Glories
Catching the Finny Beau
ties of Lake Erie.
BAEE CU.RTAINS OF MIST
That fireak the Hays of a Morning
Snn Into Kainbow Colors.
OXE OF THE LAKE'S QUICK STORMS.
Gathering Shininp, Wriggling Masses of
Tearl From the Nets.
DOW FITTSBUEG'S MARKET IS SUPPLIED
CORRXSrOXDINCi: OF THI DISPATCH.!
Cleveland, May 28.
Jiutli are
"
few industries
in the Central
West more in
teresting or
surpassing in
magnitude
the fisheries
of the great
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T- J"
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! T (IW2
'tyw
lakes. From their clear blue depths tens of
thousands of tons of fish are taken every
year and shipped far and wide over the
country. Lake whitefish, trout and pike
hare in their season an established place on
the menus of first-class hotels throughout
the Xorth and are prime lavorites in the
food supply of Pittsburg, while salted lake
herring and "pickerel" find a ready sale in
a dozen great States, and lake caviare sup
plier all American demands, and is exported
to all parts of Europe.
Thn n the smallest of the sweet seas that
find 1 1 e outlet through the Niagara river,
Lake i. ie is the must productive, surpass
ing in its vield of fish any other body of
fresh water in the world. Herring and
blue pike constitute the larger part of the
total from Lake Erie. Uinetv-five per cent
of the catch is taken in either pound or gill
nets.
Wonders of tb Pound .Net.
The pound net used is the familiar device
of Eastern fishermen and was bronght to
Lake Erie from Connecticut about ISoO. It
consists of three parts pot or bowl, heart
or funnel, and leaders. The pot or bowl is
the net proper, and is usually about 30 leet
square. Into it leads the heart or funnel
from the leaders, which are long stretches
of netting, with a 3 to 6-inch mesh, extend
ing often for miles into the lake. The fish
Lifting the GUI yet.
swim against the leaders, and, unable to
jiiss the obstruction, work along it till the
heart is reached, and thence through the 14
foot funnel into the pot. Once there they
rarely escape, and all the fishermen need to
do is'to lift the bowl or pot sufficiently to
dip out the fish with scoop nets. It is "ad
mirably adapted for shallow water, but is
rarely set where the depth exceeds 40 feet
Thirty vears ago almost fabulous catches
were made with these nets in the western
end of Lake Erie and particularly in the
vicinitv of the Bass Island, where hundreds
of miles of them are now in use every sea
eon, four tons of whitefish were taken in a
single pound, and herring in the early days
of the war were often so plentiful that they
could be bought at the islands for 25 cents
per hundred wcig it Even yet these nets
are very successful and much more than
half the catch ot Erie is taken in them. In
ISSj 11 tons of herring were caught in seven
nets, and last fall in a single week over
1,500 tons ot fish were marketed in Sandusky,
O., which handles more fresh fish annually
than Xcw York City or Gloucester, Mass.,
and proudly claims to be the greatest fish
mart in America, if not in the world.
Catching Fish by Tlielr Gills.
In the pound net th'e fish are rarely caught
in the meshes, while in the gill net the de
sign is, as the name suggests, to take them
by the gills. The meshes permit entrance
as far as the gills, and thus hold the victim
prisoner. It the net is not lifted within a
lew hours the fish are likely to drown and
become worthless. The ponnd, however,
permits the fish to be taken as uninjured,
usually, as if captured in a seine. For this
rsason pound-caught fish usually command
a slightly better price than those taken in
gill nets." The trill net is used in deep water.
The lives of the lake fishermen are not
easy ones, though the hardships grow less
as steam tugs supersede the old sail boats
for visiting the nets. OilskinB sheeted with
ice, numb fingers cut and bleeding from
drawing in the freezing nets, and laces
irost-bitten by icy spray, are common ex
periences, while often the gales drive the
nets far ont of position and not infrequently
tangle them with others almost inextricably.
One storm last fall destroyed $20,000 worth
of nets for the Erie, Pa., fishermen in this
way. Yet 10,000 hardy men earn a liveli
hood along the lakes by this means every
year, and rarely is a life lost. Nearly a
score of steam tugs now do business from
this port, over 30 from Erie, Pa., and many
lrom Sandusky, where a few years ago there
were scarcely more than a score on the
whole lake, sail boats being used. Every
where down the lakes the same change is
going on.
A Day on a Fishing Boat.
It was 6:30 on a foggy May morning when
we started. The steam fog-horn was bel
lowing in hall-minute intervals. The sky
was clearing, and as we steamed briskly
down the river the soft sound wind gave
promise of a warm and pleasant dav. The
fog was beginning to shift and scatter, but
once on the lake it still shut the horizon
down close about us by 'many colored cur
tains. Eastward under the lays of the sun
it hung the air with veils ot silvery gossa
mer, or fled along the surface like the great
moist breath ot a living creature, while in
the west, near at hand, a bank of slates and
grays lay impenetrably dense upon founda
tions of Violet and rose. Against that back
ground circled the silver wings of gulls.
The wind drove the column of black
smoke that belched from the stack of the
tug over the port bow and spread it fan
shaped mingling with the drab ot fog and
cloud. Beneath that black canopy the
water rippled in wakes ot green and blue,
black and rose, as tbjc smoke in varying de
grees refracted the sunlight. The sunshine
brightened, and lrom the east a great reach
of silver looked up into the eyes of the be
holder, and dazzled and bewitched, while
blushes of lavender, rose, and violet crept
up from the water into the dissolving bank
ot fog in the west.
The captain was studying a tug that far
ahead threw a banner ot steam across our
course, but paused as we passed a slender
cane lifting an abbreviated banner six or
eight feet above a small cedar buoy, to
point to it as marking the first gang ofgill
sets, lour miles out of Cleveland. Mean
&l--
-8f -l
while the crew was bringing forward boxes
with flaring sides. One with a coil of
heavy hose, like a great blacksfiake, washed
down the deck.
Oat AmoBc ths Gill Nets.
The breeze freshens, but the pilot house
with doors and windows closed is filled
with the hot greasy breath of the engine.
The captain stands at the wheel'in his shirt
sleeves smoking as philosophically as ever
Isaak Walton dreamed of beside an English
brook. The fog drives further away. The
horizon widens, but tho curtains of drabs
and slates and the faint bands of rose and
Eurple still fill the hazy distance. We
aye reached the nets and the work of lift
ing them is begun.
A rill net is about sir leet wide and
stands on the bottom ot the lake, often in
60 or 75 feet of water. The only sign that
marks its existence at the surface is a two
foot cedar buoy, with a cane and pennant
fastened through it, which is anchored at
each end of a gang of nets. In this respect
it diflers radically from the pound net, which
is wider and fastened to stakes, long lines of
which may be seen in all the western end of
the lake. There are usually 60 and rarely
less than 40 gill nets in a gang, and as each
net is 300 feet long the average gang of
nets stretches for nearly three miles and a
half.
The men are in yellow oilskins or, more
properly speaking, oilskins that once were
yellow." The buoy with its great stone for
an anchor has been drawn aboard, and the
work of lifting the nets commences.
lifting the Freighted aleshes.
The tug is slowed down to two miles an
hour or less. The crew takes turns draw
ing in the net, raising it through 40 feet or
more of water. When the catch is big
enough to keep the others busy taking the
fish from the nets, two men have to do the
lilting, but to-day it is light and three are
drawing in over the smooth oak roller. The
steady tramp of the men walking backward
across the narrow deck lilting the net is
heard above the long breathing of the en
gine and the occasional creak ol the wheel,
as the captain keeps her "head to" along
the nets. We creep forward so softly the
novice is scarcely aware of motion at all.
From the stern comes! the splash offish as
the men cleaning the nets thrust the cruel
gaff-hook into them to puncture the air
bladders, pull them through the meshes
and toss them into the flaring boxes. A
little old tug wheezes by on its way to a
gang of nets farther out. A great silver
eel, or "lawyer," as the fishermen have
dubbed it because of its thieving propensi
ties, slaps and threshes about on the wet
deck aft, making as much noise in its way
as some other lawyers in a bad case. Pres
ently it will be skinned and sold as catfish.
The sun is among broken clouds. With
coquettish uncertainty it shines one mo
ment and the water glows with greens and
azures and is hidden the next, leaving the
lake brooding and gray, with the horizon
drawing near on every hand in rising mist.
The great gulls circle about us, now rush
ing down to rest lor a moment on the sur
face, again rising with swift, strong strokes
to lose tnemseives in ine uim air. .Lime
true spirits of the chameleon lake their
brownish backs clow almost ruddy in the
sunshine, and breasts and inner wings shine
ghastly wfeite in the shadow.
The Fishermen read to roetry.
The men see only the fish in- the nets be
fore them, joking in a sardonic way at times
over the light catch. In come the slender
meshes, with now a golden perch, now a
family of blue pike or a beautiful silver
herring, and occasionally a great whitefisb
tangled in them, all to be coiled in the
flaring boxes together until each one is
heaped high with nets and fish, when
it is removed to the stern and the
fish taken from the nets. The yellow
scales of the perch shine like gold of dif
fering degrees of fineness in the sunlight,
the darker markiug of back and sides coming
out in fine relief. Fins and tail grow
golden too. and one might almost imagine
so gaudy a fish to be selt-consoious. Here
is a whitefish that has threshed in the toils
in agony tor hours. The pearl-like opaque
fins and tail shine red with the blood that
has been driven into them by mad efforts to
escape. That other is as bright a if just
lrom a bath of silver. He has not known
the meshes long. The spring catch of
whitefish is usually not large. In July and
August considerable numbers are taken in
deep water at the eastern end of the lake,
but the bulk of the catch off this port and
west of here is in November, when the
whitefish Coregonus clupeiformis seek the
spawning ground's about the Bass Islands.
No sturgeon (Acipense rubicundus) are
taken in gill-nets, too small a mesh being
used. They are the largest ot lake fish and
are taken in the greatest numbers at the
eastern end of the lake, their favorite
spawning grounds being rocky ledges near
the shore. Thirty years ago this fish was
held in small esteem: now smoked sturgeon
finds a good sale in all the principal markets
of the country. It is not unusual for 1,000
tons of sturgeon to be handled at Sandusky
in a single year, while the roes, which some
times weigh as much as 60 pounds, are
spiced and pickled there in great quantities,
a large part ot the caviare being exported.
A considerable quantity of isinglass is also
manufactured annually from the air blad
ders. "
Treasures of the Bine Waters.
The annual catch of Lake Erie approxi
mates 25,000 tons, about three-fifths of
which is sold in a fresh condition, being
shipped on ice to the principal cities of the
country. Five thousand tons are salted,
4,000 lrozen and fully 1,500 tons smoked,
while some herring is canned and put on the
market as "salmon."
The sun is a veritable magician to-day
and the wind works the cloud curtains for
him to perfection. Where in all nature can
such rare surprises in color be found as on
the water, when conditions are attheirbest?
The varying densities of mist and cloud to
day produce wonderful effects. There are
more colors in air and sky than painter would
ever dare to put into a picture, even if with
transcendant genius he were able to catch
them all. They shift like the turnings of a
kaleidoscope; a blue that is almost intense
enough for a black hangs under yon dark
cloud-island; the yellow of beaten gold floats
and glows beyond; to the left are rose and
violet deepening to tints of Tyriau purple
and waxing and waning in intensity in a
wonderful way; to the right silver, with
patches of rare shades of shifting evanescent
iniangmie greens, sucu uguis as glow ana
die away in the eyes ot a great cat
Catchlnc a School of Pike.
Further and further from the land we go,
drift I had almost said, for it seems like
drifting. The nets still come up; tramp,
tramp echoes the dull tread of the men on
the water-soaked deck. The tug rocks
gently as she pushes along. The wash of
the water comes faintly lrom her sides.
The net brings up a score of fine blue pike,
15 and 20 inches long, all caught within a
dozen feet A school of them had run their
unsuspecting noses into the subtle deadly
meshes together, and their frolics are over.
Their color is the blue of fine blued steel,
the sides darkening into black above. Tail
and fins are of the same beautiful metallic
blue. In certain positions, the scales show
green as well, intensifying the beauty of
the fish lresh from their native depths.
I exclaim iu admiration and point out the
magic changes ot sky and water to the Cap
tain. He looks blankly at them:
"One person sees lots o' things another
feller'd never notice," he observes senten
tiously, aud turns to watch through his
glasses the smoke column that marks the
passage ot a big lreight steamer down the
lake.
The net is all in, . and we steam farther
Hiking- the Fish From the yet.
out to find new grounds. The water is too
still, the captain explains, for a good run of
fish to-day. The slime on the nets tells of
the settling to the bottom of the silt borne
down by creek and river and carried far
by wind and wave. The settling drives the
fish from the bottom for a time, and a light
catch results. We have taken but 600
pounds all told to-day. Yesterday it reached
1,500 pounds. A few years ago, the captain
tells me, five tons of fish in a gang of nets
was not unusual; now one ton is a good
catch. Too many In the business,he thinks,
is the cause of the trouble.
Dinner Time for the Fishermen.
We steam rapidly as he talks. One by
one the men come to the pilot house, take
their pails, and eat their lunches. The fish
have been cleaned from the nets and sorted
by specie3 into boxes. Flltv pounds of
white fish, the captain figures, 250 of pike,
and 100 each of herring and perch. Soon
the men are washing the nets over the side
of the tug, one slowly paying thein ont from
the bow, the other drawing them in at the
stern and coiling then in the boxes. A new
gang, which lies clean and white and ar
ranged in order in flaring boxes, will be
set to-day, and this one will be taken in,
dried, and brought out to-morrow.
"Eiirhtppn miles out and we have stopped
and put about The work of setting the
nets begins. First is dropped overboard the
stone for anchors and the buoy with its cane
standard and soiled little pennant Then
from the stern two men pay out the nets,
the cedar bobs in a line at one side, the lead
sinkers at the other, to bring it into an up
right position on the bottom. The tug steams
an ay at ten miles an hour. Quickly, deftly
the men catch the net from the" flaring
boxes and pay it out smoothly and steadily.
Upon its proper setting to-morrow's catch
depends, and the safety of the net a well
I erhaps. Two others stand by to lift away
the empty box and replace it with a full
one as occasion requires, the engine slowing
down to permit each change. The screw
throbs and the tug breathes hoarsely as we
dash along and the men pay out the net, the
captain himself taking one side of it We
are headed south. The nets are alwavs run
from north to south in order to catch the
fish in their migrations from the deep water
at the east end of the lake to the shallower
stretches westward, and buck again.
One of Old Erie's Qnlck Storms.
The sun is entirely hidden. A storm is
gathering. Behind us as We rush along the
sky is a brilliant bluish purple, and the
water darkening under it. In 20 minutes
or so, the thiee miles and a half of nets
have been set and we are away lor home.
It is none too soon. The sky is overcast.
The water no longer changes with each
shifting cloud. The purple blackens on the
horizon ominously. The waves break in
white caps of foam under the whip of the
strong south wind. We dash forward fear
lessly, now breasting a wave and riding
high, now dashing the bow into a great
comber and throwing the spray high over
the pilot-honse. The deck was all a-wash.
The spray flies angrily against the pilot
house windows and clings there till nothing
can be seen through them. On we go at
full speed, swinging like a great rocking
chair. The harsh metallic breathing of the
engine is almost drowned by the wind, and
the throb of the screw lost in the splash of
the waves.
It is one of the quick storms that change
the great lakes from mill.ponds to strong
seas in a few minutes. The clouds roll up
in purple and black mountains, and the
rain comes down in large drops, making the
nearby waves in rare artistic designs. The
shadowy shoreline emerges from the hori
zon, grows more distinct through the rain,
draws near, and before the full fury of the
storm breaks we are racing up the yellow
river bent on beating to our dock a rival
tug that entered the harbor just behind us.
Samuul G. McChtbe.
GEHEEAL GBANrs PH0T0GEAPH.
An Incident That Happened at tho Close of
the Vlckslmrg Campaign.
Prof. M. B. Brady said in a recent con
versation with a correspondent: "I was the
first man to make General Grant known to
the people. I photographed him when he
came East at the close of the Vicksburg
campaign. I caught him at the depot, and
he came to my gallery at 4:30 one afternoon
with Secretary Stanton. Stanton came in
first and told me that Grant was ready to
have his picture taken, and I told him to
come rigtit in. A moment later General
Grant was standing in my gallery with a
half dozed cameras bearing upon him to
take him from all sides. It was so late in
the afternoon and the light was so weak
that we feared to lose him, and we pro
posed to use every means possible to get a
good likness.
"I then sent one of my assistants up to
the roof to pull back the s'kylight to its full
length. The man appreciated our anxiety
to get the picture. He was very nervous
in the presence of General Grant, and was
so excited with the fear that we would lose
the sitting that he stumbled on the skylight
and fell full length, knocking an immense
pane out of the plate glass, which fell down
at the feet of Grant. Had it struck him it
would certainly have killed him, and when
it fell everybody started up with exclama
tions. I shall never forget the action of
Grant He never moved aud not a
feature of his face changed, saving a slight
satirical curl which appeared upon his lip.
I can see him now as he stood there looking
at the plate glass at his feet However, I
got a very fair picture of him, and I took
him a number ot times afterward."
LOHG-DISTANCE PHOIOGEAPHY.
A Camera That Works Successfully at a
Distance of Two Miles.
New Orleans ricaynne.
Photographers, especially the abused
amateurs, will be interested in the new tele
scopic camera invented by a German artist,
Dr. Adolph Meethe. Excellent photographs
have been made with it at a distance of two
miles. AVith this instrument no one will
be secure against the snap-shooter.
The objective consists of a convex lens of
considerable length of focus and a concave
lens ot short focus. These are placed a cer
tain distance apart, depending upon the dif
ference of the two loci. By the laws of
optics, this arrangement projects an in-
verted image ot an object at a long distance
from the lenses. The size ot the object is
greater the nearer the lenses are together,
and the greater the difference between the
foci. To obtain good images, the lenses are
of special form aud achromatic. The whole
camera looks very like a Galilean telescope.
By substituting an ordinary opera glass for
the objective on the camera and drawing it
out, a fairly good picture will be obtained
on the ground glass of the camera.
Glass llricks in Favor for Building.
Bricks made ont of plate glass are of
very superior quality. A sand of iron and
glass is forced into a mold under a pressure
of several thousand pounds per inch. Then
the bricks are subjected to a temperature of
2,700 Fahrenheit, which causes the glass
aud sand to unite. The bricks are perfectly
white, and will stand both frost and acid.
No safer remedr cm he had for coughs and
colds, or any trouble of the tbroat, than 'Brown's
BronchlalTroches." Trice 25 cts. Sold only in
boxes. 1TSSU
Oitvx Awhiros Entirely new and fast in
colon and exquisite in designs, at Alamaux
& Son's, 539 Peun avenue. Tel. ISfli. Thsu
Paying Out the Fresh yets.
GOVERNING A CITY.
Key. George Hodges Wonld Giro Conn -cilmen
More Work to Do.
THAT W00LD GET Ift BETTER MEN.
One Eane is Mixing National Politics
Municipal Elections.
in
CHRISTIAN DUTY IN IMPEOTEMEITrS
rWHITTEN TOR THE DISPATCH.l
Some good people in the old revival meet
ings used to go about asking everybody;
"Are you a Christian?" Very often that
was found a difficult question to answer.
Sometimes they would request everybody
in the congregation who was a Christian, or
who wanted to be a Christian, to stand up.
I am afraid that the division that was.made
in the congregation upon these occasions
was not always a perfectly accurate one.
It is not likely that it corresponded ex
actly with that other separation to the right
hand and the left that will be made some
day in the future. And that was not only
on account of certain objectionable traits
of human nature that such a summons would
bring forth, such as love or approbation on
one side and natural obstinacy on the other
side, but on account of a certain difficulty
in the definition of the name.
For the people of the congregation might
naturally have asked "What kind of a
Christian do you mean? Do you mean a
conventional Christian or an emotional
Christian, or a real Christian?" A conven
tional Christian is one of whom we
know very little more than that he goes to
church twice every Sunday and belongs to
the Christian society and has never been
accused of heresy. Our Lord, when he was
here, had very little sympathy with con
ventional religionists.
A Christian Common at Revivals.
An emotional Christian is one who has
passed through a certain spiritual experi
ence and is in possession of certain relig
ious feelings. Our Lord was quick to re
press all false sentimentality. A man came
once to Him, saying in an enthusiastic and
impulsive manner: "Lord, I will follow
Thee whithersoever Thou goest" And our
Lord said to him quietly, "The foxes have
holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay
His head." Upon another occasion when
He was teaching, a certain woman called
out in this same emotional and enthusiastic
manner, exclaiming npon the blessedness of
the mother of such a teacher, to which our
Lord answered, "Yea, rather blessed are
they which hear the word of God and
keep it"
The real Christian, however, is one who
lives as far as he can the kind of life that
the Lord Jesus Christ lived when he was
here. The trouble with emotional Chris
tianity and conventional Christianity is
that so much of it is veneer. It comes off
in the moment of temptation.
There has been very little said in the
course of sermons which comes to an end
to-day, about either conventional or emo
tional Christians. We have been talking
about the only kind of Christians which are
worth talking about the real Christians.
The subject to-day is the Christian in the
city.
The Bible Is a City Book.
The Bible is the book of the city. It is
true that the first heroes of the Bible story
lived in a garden, but there was no city at
that time for them to live in. It is true,
also, that as the story progresses the heroes
are found dwelling in tents and wandering
about over the vast plains of the Bast, and
going down on visits into Egypt, and mak
ing long journeys hither and thither in the
plains of Sinai. But we find that they were
always in search of a city; that was their
continual ambition; they were forever look
ing forward to the time when they would
have a city. And by and by, when they
did have a city, O how proud they were of
it, and how much they loved it, aud how
loyal they were to itl They used to say
their prayers in their days of exile with
their faces toward the ruins of this city.
Even to-day the descendants of that Old
Testament people still make pilgrimages to
that dismantled city, held as it is by the in
fidel, and beside its walls they say their
prayers and shed their tears.
Onr Lord when he came was born, it is
true, in a village, and was nurtured in a
village that is a good place for a yonng
man to be born and to be brought up. But
when the time came for Him to begin the
real work of His life, He did exactly what
thousands of young men are doing to-day
He came into the city. And instead of
choosing Jerusalem, He chose a city that
was more of a city than that He chose
Capernaum, which was a brisk town of
business. By and by, when the apostles
began their work, they centered their mis
sions in the city.
The Significance ot Names.
Presently so strong was the hold of
Christianity on the cities, that the name
of "pagan," or villager, and "heathen," or
hearth-dweller, came to have their modern
meanings. Christianity began its work in a
city. In the last book of the Bible, when
the apostle St John sees his vision of the
future, He beholds the ideal condition of
things, the Golden Age, not under the
simile of a holy garden, or of a holy farm
ot a holy village, nor even a noly temple;
He sees a holy city coming down from God
out of heaven. It there is any place where
the Christian ought to feel at home it is in
the city. And it there is any place in the
world to-day that needs Christians it is in
the city.
The Christian in the city will realize that
he has civic responsibilities. The heathen,
the savage, in the city, although he may
wear Christian garments and live in a
Christian habitation, will show his lack ot
Christianity by his selfishness. He will be
aware of no responsibilities apart from
those involved in his own money getting
and his own comfort and his own happiness.
The City Christian is Progressive.
The Christian's duty in the city, set
forth comprehensively, is part positive and
part negative. It is the Christian's duty to
be on the side of everything that is toward
the uplilting of the city, and to be set
against everything which seems to be a hin
drance to the well-being ot all the citizent
ot the city.
For the well-being of the city depends
not alone upon appliances for making
money, but upon appliances for making char
acter. The Christtan iu the city, with his
money, with his influence, with his inter
est it he has nothing more than that sets
himself distinctly upon the side of progress,
in the upward direction. He wants to have
good schools in the city. And he is proud
of the good schools that the city has. He
has au admiration for work that is done in
the city, and when that work is simply
equal to work done outside the city in any
intellectual or artistic or musical direction
the good citizen puts the city's workmen
first There are a great many people who
have the idea of the small boy who believed
that if you wanted to catch very large fish
you must go to some very distant pool.
There are people who can see beauty in pic
tures that are painted outside the city, and
in music that is sung or played by people
outside, but are somehow blind and deat to
real merit at home. The Christian desires
that the city shall be a good place to live in
for everybody who has any kind of ability,
and with all his interest and influence fie
encourages that ability wherever he fiuds it
Believes in Fubllo Enterprises.
The Christian is glad of such a Christian
institution as a free library in the city, and
sucti another Christian institution as a con
servatory of beautiful flowers. He believes
in public expositions that givo an opportu
nity to all the citizens to see what the city
is accomplishing, and in everything that
brings out the ability that is in the city and
ministers to the desires for improvement
that are in the hearts of all the citizens.
The Christian believes also that his dnty
toward the putting away of evil from the
city is not discharged by the payment of a
tax whioh supports the policemen and the
expenses of the connty jail. He believes in
all kinds of influences that can be brought
to bear to prevent evil before it happens.
He is not of those who think the best use of
money is to spend it for ambulances at the
foot of a dangerous cliff, but that a far more
wise expenditure is for a fence along the top
to keep the people from falling over. Ac
cordingly, the Christian citizen is exceed
ingly interested in the moral issues ofall
the questions that are raised in the city.
Mr. Stead said the other day to the electors
at Newcastle that if there was to be a prop
osition made that on the first day of Janu
ary there should be an altar raised on a
hill on one side of the city dedicated to
Bacchus, and that a young man chosen from
the youth of the city should be offered as a
living sacrifice to that heathen deity, the
whole city would be up in arms. And that
if upon the first day of July a similar prop
osition should be attempted to be forced
upon that city, that a youne woman should
be offered as a living sacrafice upon an altar
to Venu, built upon another hill on the
other side of the city, there would be an
other and still more vehement outcry.
Mr. Stead's Striking Simile.
Ta7 wrttil1 nn 1rro unniMf WnAL
party politics they had or what church they'
belonged to all the Christian citizens oi
that city would be up in arms. And then
he reminded them that it is not only one
here and another there who is offered as a
sacrifice to these unspeakable divinities of
the past, but that every day ten3 and scores
of the young men and the young women of
the citv are given up and no reckoning
made of" them. It is when things are put in
that picturesque kind of way that we real
ize the prosaic duties that we have every
day around us. The Christian citizen more
and more reatizes that
The Christian citizen recognizes that one
of the greatest enemies of Christianity and
one of the greatest provocatives to crime is
poverty. And he knows exactly how to
measure poverty. Poverty, unless we set a
definition to it, is a most evasive word. A
man may be popr who has 5100,000 in com
parison to another man who has ?5,000,000.
We are all of us poor in comparison to some
other people. But poverty accurately de
fined is the deprivation of the opportunity
to enrich one's life. The man who fcas no
chance to better himself, who has no hope
in the future of being any higher than he is,
who has no opportunity to cultivate his
mind, or to get any of the healthful pleas
ures of life, is poor.
Tho City Is a Big Family.
And because the city is all one family,
we cannot afford to have any poor people in
the city. We cannot afford to have any of
our brothers and sisters lacking in those op
portunities that belong by right to every
child of God under the wide sky. And
although the Christian may not know
exactly what to do, he sets his face against
poverty, and he wants the Christianity of
the city to do everything it can in the min
istration ot opportunity to trie people who
lack opportunity. He wants clean streets
in front ot all the tenement houses. He
wants the observation of sanitary law to
the utmost
The Christian, realizing his civic responsi
bilities, realizes also that there is need of
good officials in the city government to help
him, to represent him; nad, accordingly,
he does his share in their selection and
election. He wants men who will actually
represent him, and not some ring or corpora
tion. If he finds that a Councilman repre
sents such hidden influence, he votes next
time for some other man.
The Christian citizen in electing the offi
cer nf the ChristlAn pitv. httv nn rpo-nrrl tn
J whether they belong to one political party
or tne otner. xne Dane ot municipal ad
ministration in this countrv is the admix
ture of national politics. The only requisite
of an official in a city is efficiency. It
makes no difference whether he is a Bepnb
lican or a Democrat, any more than it makes
a difference whether he is a Presbyterian or
an Episcopalian. We care no more for his
opinion In regard to the tariff, than we care
for his opinion in regard to the Westmin
ster Confession ot Faith.
Banning a Cily on Soilness Line.
We want a man who will fulfill his
duties. Because, after all, the city is only
a larger pffice-building in which the houses
take the place of rooms and the streets take
the place of the halls. There is no reason
why a city should not be run as well as an
office-building. And the city is only an
other kind of a club, to which we all be
long, and in which we ought to be served
with the common conveniences utterly re
gardless of onr income, as men are served
in their clubs. The city ought to be con
ducted upon Christian principles. ' There is
no distinction between good business and
good religion. That does not mean there
ought to be a prayer meeting in the Council
chamber before every session; but it does
mean that those who have the rule in the
city, and the rest of us who give them rule,
ought to desire simple efficiency in all mu
nicipal administration.
Tne Christian citizen recognizes the diffi
culty of getting the right men, and he
realizes that there is still another way of
getting good government beside the absolute
of the ideal men, and that is the giving of
the city officials a great deal to do. It is
the people who live in the little country
towns, where all the interests are petty, who
fall into miserable gossip and live narrow
lives. It is the" little sleepy country parish
that has all manuer of parochial fights going
on from one end of the year to the other.
Slaking the Coancllmen Work.
It is in the body of men who have obscure
and insignificant duties that you will find
the obscure and insignificant men. It is
said that the great trouble with the Prince
of Wales is that he is not given enough to
do: the great trouble with municipal ad
ministration, in the opinion of a good-many
people, is that there "is not enough to do
that is worth doing. And accordingly, they
are going on the principle on the other side
of the water, where are to be found the best
governed cities on this planet, of giving a
great deal into the hands of the Conncilmen.
The more they have to do with the great
public parks, and with the management of
libraries for the people and" with the care of
all the great monopolistic interests of the
city, to be run in the interest of all the
citizens; the more they have to do directly
with tho life of the citv in its sanitary legis
lation, the more great burdens are laid upon
them, so much more will tney come to leel
themselves actually the servants ot the city.
That is not realized by the half of the offi
cials or the tenth part of the people. The
idea in many cases seems to be that one
great purpose of holding office istogetsome
share of our money. The people say some
times: "Well, the Democratshave had the
offices a good while, and now we ought to
turn them over to the Kepublicans."
Getting Eminent Men in Councils.
But the wholo purpose of office ought to
be the service of the people. The desire of
the man in the office should be to serve the
people to the utmost, and the desire of the
people should be to get a steady and effi
cient servant The more there is to do, the
wider the responsibilities, so much the more
will the eminent men, the men of position
and standing in the community, come for
ward. The cities of Glasgow and Manches
ter and Birmingham and Berlin and London
have in their councils the most eminent of
all their citizens.
That was a singular dialogue that took
place between Abraham and God regarding
the destruction of Sodom. Abraham said:
"Suppose there are 50 righteous men within
the city, would you not spare the city for 50
men?" God said "Yes." Then said Abra
ham: "Suppose there should lack 5 of the
50, will you destroy the city for lack of
five?" God said "No." "But should there
be but 40 or 30 or 20, or only 10?" And
God said: "If there be but 10 righteous
men in Sodom I will spare the city." That
was a fair bargain. Because God knew that
10 good, zealous, earnest, righteous citizens,
examples of good manners, and missionaries
of true religion, would save the wickedest
of cities. George; Hodges.
Sfbiito tlmo Is here. The bugs will soon
begin to crawl. Kill them all before thov
multiply. Busing will do It Instantly, si
cents.
TRIAL OF A WITNESS.
Howard Fielding Gels Locked Dp for
Seeing Fart of a Saloon Bow.
HIS EXAMINATION IN COUBT.
Had a Good Reputation Before, but Now
Gets the Finger of Scorn.
A SAMPIE OP PAEKHDEST JUSTICE
rCOBBZSPOKDXKCX OT TOTE DISPATCH. 1
NewYokk, May 28. Previous to the
time when I witnessed the unfortunate
affair in Swagley's saloon, I had never been
found guilty of any criminal act Indg ed,
I had never been arrested. My reputation
could hardly have been better; it was only a
short head behind my character. But now
all this is changed. I have been dragged
into court and convicted of knowing some
thing derogatory to an eminent scoundrel.
I have been cross-examined by one of our
most notorious criminal lawyers, and the
good name which I held so dear has been
lost in the shuffle. He has left me a repu
tation which wonld not have been jack high
among the 40 thieves.
Let me explain the circumstances. The
neighborhood in which I reside has been
eminently respectable, even before T moved
in. There one might have seen a little law
abiding community surrounded by the re
mainder of the Tenderloin Precinct Except
the monthly visits of our landlords' agents,
few robberies were committed among us;
and the crimes of violence were, for the
most part, confined to the same periods. We
bad that guarded and cautious respect for
one another, which is the highest form of
neighborly cordiality in New York.
How Swagley Carried an Election.
Then for our sins, came Swagley upon us
and established a saloon on the corner.
He Came Out Hurriedly.
Swagley is a man of national reputation. I
have spoken of him myself more than once.
Among his public services was the carrying
of his ward in the hotly contested election
of '85. A great part of the opposition votes
was cast in a single precinct, where the
polling place was a fire engine house. Just
before the close of the polls Swagley
knocked down the stove in his saloon near
by and pulled in an alarm. In the confu
sion, the ballot box was run out of the poll
ing place with the fire engine, and was the
only total and uninsured loss occasioned by
the'eonflagration.
We did not welcome Swagley amongus.
We did not need him. Most of my neigh
bors walked a couple of blocks to Billy
Blood's place when they wanted a drink;
and they didn't mind the exercise so long
as jt was necessary for the maintenance of
our respectability, whereas the people who
lived near Billy Blood's were not nice a bit
As for me, a glass of soda water and
served in tho main room, if you
please, is the limit of my indulgence. There
was talk of an organized effort against
Swagley, but we hesitated to act Some of
my neighbors did not wish to leave their
families unprovided for, and, as for me, I
am too young to die. It was mere accident
which thrust me forward in this affair. The
only reliable shoe blacking stand near my
home is established beside Swagley's "fam
ily entrance."
Gets Arrested as a 'Witness.
I was sitting in the chair about 11 o'clock
on a peaceful Sunday forenoon. The
artist had just blacked the lower portions of
my spring pantaloons, and was about to
begin on my shoes, when the noise of an
argument in Swagley's resort caused me to
turn ray head. A man was just coming out:
and, being in a hurry, he had taken a large
portion ot the side door with him. I think
the door was banging around his neck when
I saw him, but as I have since been shown
in open court to be entirely untrustworthy,
I shall not insist upon these details.
However, I obtained a good view of the
debate, and distinctly saw Swagley con
vince his opponent so thoroughly that an
ambulance subsequently removed this un
successful disputant, not to the hospital
from which a surgeon had been sent, but to
Bellevue, where the death rate doesn't so
much matter. I was arrested as a witness on
the theory that having been outside the
saloon, I couldn't have observed the occur
rence. The policeman forgot the broken
door. Several other outsiders shared my
fate; and, with Swagley, we were taken to
the police station -where Swagley secured a
magistrate and bail, while we others were
locked up.
I do not propose to dwell upon this
episode. It is well known that in many
parts ot this broad land one would better be
the assailant, or even the victim, than a
witness. I shall pass at once to the trial,
which was held with remarkable prompti
tude, refuting the criticisms of those who
say that "influence will secure delay.
Swagley was impatient to face his accusers.
The nature of the other man's injuries was
such, that, while he was able to be up and
about within a fortnight, he was always
liable to drop dead. I mention this, not lor
its bearing on the case, but because it may
interest the medical fraternity.
Collecting Evidence a la Farkhurst.
Swagley was defended by two eminent
counselors, Mr. Slyme and Mr. Mucker.
They exercised great c?re in the selection
ot the jury, rejecting all men who had an
inherited or acquired prejudice against as
sault and battery. A preference was given
to those who "generally went to Coney
Island on Suuday, but objected to the jour
nev. The judge was strictly impartial, but
he"had a little less authority than a base
ball umpire in Chicago.
I had made strong effort to collect evi
dence against Swagley, believing that I
was acting in the interests of my neighbors.
coo
Mr. Mucker Cross-Examines.
Because of my lab or in this field I was be
ginning to be regarded as a man unduly fa
miliar with crime. It was currently re
fiorted that the shoe blacking story was an
nvention of a palsied imagination. It was
said that in reality I had been polishing my
parched and dusty gullet with Swagley's
old Kentucky coffin varnish at the time of
the assault My wife's dearest friend con
doled with her, saying that it must be
dreadfully unpleasant to have a husband
who sought notoriety in such a shocking
fashion. These and other expressions by
sympathizing faiends made me leel a good
deal ashamed of myself.
Un the morning ot tne trial Airs, uexter,
a neighbor, called to accompany Maude to
court and lend her the support of her pres
ence and her smelling bottle: She was sur
prised to find that Maud was not going.
She wonld not venture to interfere, she
said, in matters of this kind, but it had
always been her creed that a wife should
stand by her husbapd no matter .what he
had done. This so affected Maud that she
Eut on a black dress and sat down to read
er Bible.
The Appropriate Smell of a Justice Mill
Under these cheerful auspices I left my
home and went directly to that palace of
justice which cost so much more than any
body was ever able to account for. The
court room was crowded with people and
full of that odor which always attaches itself
to the abode of the law, and which has
nothing in its favor except its appropriate
ness. The selection of a jury I have already de
scribed. Then came the opening for the
prosecution, after which the policeman on
our beat told. how he had arrested Fielding
on the scene ot the assault He described
my appearance and behavior, and admitted
that I had made no attempt to escape.
Afterward, in response to urgent questions
by the Assistant District Attorney, he con
fessed that he had also arrested Mr. Swag
ley. Cross-qnestipned by Mr. Mucker, he
said that Fielding had been greatly dis
turbed, while Mr. Swagley had been calm.
ne knew nothing about the assault
The prosecution then desired to call the
victim of the assault, but it appeared that
he had gone to take up his residence ih a
small town on the northern frontier of Zu
luland, and would not come back unless
sent for. The defense offered to wait until
he could be brought bacs:, which would
probably take about four years if he agreed
to come, and longer if he resisted. The
trial then proceeded.
I was placed upon the witness stand. It
was a nervous time for me. I expected to
get through the direct examination all
right, but when Mr. Mucker got after me I
knew there would be trouble.
Under the Cross-Examiner's Fire.
Mr. Mucker is an able cross-examiner; he
knows how to make a witness angry and
lead him into rash statements. Mr. Mucker
is admirably calculated to make any Chris
tian angry. His mere existence is a peren
nial spring of righteous indignation. To
carry on a conversation with Mr. Mucker is
to go beyond the cleansing power of con
fession, absolution and a Turkish bath.
That he should be allowed to come into
court and make finger marks on the robe of
Justice is an incredible disgrace to all
concerned.
I feared Mr. Mucker.but I did not under
stand him. I supposed that he would be
wilder me with questions, and enrage me to
the point of self-contradiction, but he took
another tack. After I had told mv story in
my weak and stammering way in the direct
examination, Mr. Mucker began. I had
alwavs believed that the object ot a cross
examination was to get the truth out of a
witness; I quickly perceived that its object
is to get lies ont of a lawyer.
My answers were of no account what
ever. Most of the questions were not in
tended to be answered; it was the question
itself which was supposed to influence the
jurors. I kept tally on Mr. Mucker. He
asked me 300 questions, of which 298 were
simnlv interrogative insults, and had no
other object The Judge ruled out 279 of
them, and would nave ruiea out tne oiners
if he had considered them to be of any im
portance. This is a sample:
Mr. Mocker's Style of Examination.
"Fielding, on that quiet, peaceful Sabbath
morning, when the chnrcii bells were ring
ing, when the steps of all good citizens
were turned toward the honse of worship,
and yon, with your besotted head bent over
a bar were '
"I object," said the Assistant District At
torney. "Objection sustained," said the Court
"Fielding," continued Mr. Mucker, "are
you aware that one of your relatives was
hanged in Ohio in 1849?"
".No, nor you, either," said I, hotly, be
fore the prosecutor could interpose.
"Will vou swear that one ot your rela
tives was not hanged?" persisted Mr.
Mucker.
"Certainly."
"Fielding, how many relatives have yon
in both branches of your family?"
"Heaven knows,"said L "Several thou
sands, I suppose."
"Are vou personally acquainted with all
of them?"
"Certainly not"
"Will you name all your first and second
cousins, and tell me what each one died of?"
"I can't; it's. preposterous."
"Then you cannot swear that one of them
was not banged, as the records show."
But here the prosecutor who had been
objecting till his tongue was fairly cramped
with weariness, succeeded in making him
self heard; and the judge ruled out all
these questions. But I could see the jurors
eyeing me with morbid curiosity as a man
whose first cousin had been hanged.
Be Fared Just as Parkharst Did.
If, however, he had confined himself to
remote accusations such as this, I would
have cared little; but he attacked me on
every hand. He accused me of everything
of which he himself had been guilty; and
after thus exhausting all the possibilities of
degradation he sat down, and I escaped.
Mr. Slyme made the closing argument. He
treated: all the questions which had been
ruled out as if they had been unassailably
proven against me. He urged the jury not
to regard the word of a perjured, rum
soaked wretch like me, against that of a
gentleman like Swagley. And about half
of them took his advice; that is, they
disagreed.
Since then X nave telt that tne nnger ot
scorn points at me wherever I go. I have
received letters from various old friends,
some of whom naturally labor under the de
lusion that I have been tried, and so con
gratulate me on the verdict; while others
venture to warn me that intimate associa
tion with a man like Swagley might have
been expected to lead me to the depth to
which thev regret to learn that I
have fallen. You, my ont-of-town
reader, may regard this picture as
overdrawn. Bnt come here and in
vestigate. I wish you could have been here
while Dr. Parkhurst was being tried for
every crime on the calendar, on an indict
ment against somebody else. But come
anyway, aud if in a week's time yon don't
have more respect for my veracity than
the Swagley jury did, I'll pay your board
for a month in Bloomingdale Asylum. It's
a beautiful place. Just let me be a witness
against a dive-keeper once more and I'li go
there myself. Howabd Fielding.
Eome'l Good Progress.
The population of the city of Rome,
which by the census of 1881 was 273,000, is
now over 500.000, havine nearly doubled
within the past ten years. Since the city
became the capital of United Italy thou
sands of new edifices have been built, and it
has been greatly changed otherwise. The
Seven Hills themselves are undergoing a
Erocess of leveling and the valleys are being
lied in.
It Is Good.
The more Chamberlain's Cough Remedy
is used the better it is liked. We know of
no other remedy that always gives satisfac
tion. It is good when you first catch cold.
It is good when your cold is seated and
your lungs are sore." It is good in any kind
ot a cough. We have sold 25 dozen of it
and. every bottle has given satisfaction.
Stedman & Friedman, drugs'5'3. Minne
sota Lake, Minn. WSa
JONES' SICK CHILD.
The Part It Played in the Senator's
Bonanza Strike of 71.
HIS EEMAEKABLB' PEESISTBNCT.
Fought Against Hope and the Advice of
the Wiseacre iliners.
A EISE IN SHARES PKOH 2 TO $340
rwRiTTEjr vob -rar. dispatch.!
Senator John P. Jones' recent-purchase of
mining property out West sets the gossips
to work On stories of his remarkable career
He is a stockily built, deep chested man,
with a trunk nearly as round as a barrel.
His thick moustache and chin beard and
hair are grizzled white, and his face is ruddy
with healthy blood. What a vitality and
staying power are in that sturdy frame!
His shoulders are slightly rounded, but it is
not the stoop of the midnight oil burner.
It is the swelling and overlying ot muscle.
That ridge was first made by the swing of a
pick in a mine. There was a day, not many
years ago, when he could split a fly on ths
wall with the point of a pick. It would be
risky to bet that he cannot do it to-day.
His arm is still strong and his eye is as clear
as ever.
The story of his sickachild and its bear
ing on the Crown Point Mine has never
been told in print It was in 1870 that
the shares had reached their lowest
ebb. You could bay them for $2L This
meant $24,000 for the mine, plant and all,
though its nominal assets were $114,000 and
four times that amonnt had been sunk in it
Wherever the weary miners turned with
their drills and their picks there was tha
Senator John B. Jones, of yevada.
same disheartening face ot hard gray Por
phyry. They groped in all directions on
the lowest levels they had reached, but their
search was vain.
Jones Had TTnlimlteI Faith.
All the unlucky stockholders in the
Crown Point mine now lot heart completely
except the plucky and stiff-necked superin
tendent, John P. Jones. He had come to
the great mining camp on the Virginia
Range three years before alter a political
campaign in California in a run for tha
lieutenant governorship. He lost his stake
and the prize, but the loss was the turning
point in his fortune. He did not lose heart,
but the defeat determined him to cross tha
Sierras and seek a change of luck in the
silver fields of Nevada. His pluck and
ability commended him to the directors of
the Crown Point Mining Company and
shortly after he reache'd the camp he was
made a superintendent of their mine.
When the last great cross-cut had been
tried in vain, Jones began again to drift
southerly along the line of the lode, start
ing from a point 360 feet east from the
shaft It was a wild goose hunt in the eyes
of the Stock Exchange and almost every
body except himself.
Worked Till His nalr Turned Gray.
The miners under him fought eight-hour
rounds in three relays daily, and welcomed
the relief that gave them rest. For the
superintendent alone there was no shift and
no relief. He snatched sleep when he could.
He bore the strain without flinching, but
his hair grew white. How much longer
could he keep up the fight with the pitiless
rock?
At the end of the darkest day, for every
day was darker than the days that had gone
before it, a slight change wa3 sighted with
a thrill of exultation by the anxious super
intendent At a point 23!) feet from the
opening of the drift a sheet of clay covered
the face of the rock. AVhen this was pierced
by the miners a body of soft, whitish quart
was disclosed with scattering pockets of ore.
It was the first discovery of the kind inall
these weary months of search. Was it a
mere freak of deposition or the fringe of a
bonanza? On the answer to this enigma tha
future. of the Crown Point mine and tho
whole Comitock Lode and its owners hung.
As was natural, Jones' faith overcrowned
all doubts. His supreme confidence per
suaded some moneyed men in San Francisco
to venture the carrying of some olocks of
stock for him on his agreement to halve tho
profits and bear al I losses. What his agree
ment would have been worth in the event
ot a collapse, except as an acknowledgment
of debt, was not apparent, but his friends
relied on the inside information which
would probably enable them to drop their
blocks before the crash came.
The Message From the Sick Child.
For some weeks in the spring of 1871 the
outlook was chpuded. The ore pockets
Eanned out insignificant bunches and the
onanza was still in the eye of the superin
tendent and not at the end of his drills. In
tim TnifiaR et thu nlniiil he received a raes-
sa-'O from the East telling him of the dansei
ous illness or one or his children and warn
ing him that he might be called away at any
moment to the bedside ol a. dying child.
He made up his mind promptly to answer
the summon at any cost to niinseir and de
cided not to carry the rK or his holdings
when he was no longer present to watctt
every turn or the drills and stroke of the
picki So he w ent to San Francisco and told
Lis partners frankly of the probable call
upon him and his conclusion to dispose or
tlie stock in their hands. He was still san
guine or probable development, but ho
could not ask them to carry tha risk lor his
The clian"e in the mine had quickened tho
market demand for stock and it was possible
to dispose or the holdings without loss. So
his partners sold off tho stock discreetly and
closed the deal. But they took no stock in.
the sick child story which seemed to them
mere flim-flam to cover a confession of mor
tifying lailuro of judgment on the part of
the disappointed Jones. They set down tha
Crown Point mine as a lizzie and congratu
lated themselves on getting oat ot the hole
in the lode.
a be Turning Point at Last.
Heanwhile Jones returned to the mine
and pressed the wort as before. Keassurlng
telegrams came lrom the East in regard to
his child and with them came the opening
up or an oie body that grow in volume with
every stroke or the pick. It looked like the
long sought bonanza. Jones wired to agents
in San Francisco to buy largely and his re-
ort or developments sustained his credit,
i a few weeks the Crown Point bonanza
was the talk ot the street, and tha keenest
kind or a contest was on foot for the control
or tha mine. Crown Point, which six
months be toru was a drug at $3 a share,
touched the boom mark of $310 per share.
Every mine on the lode felt the good or the
boom, and their stocks shot up to double
prices.
Every bull In the market was made a rich
man, the great mining center was lifted out
or Its slough ot despond and the tottering
Bank or Calilornla was saved. The only
blue face on tha street were the faces or
men who took no stock In the invalid story.
Jones' fortune was made. It has been un
made since and remade indefatigably, but
its fonndatlon was tho "sick child" or ths
Comstock Lode. uox Jfoasi
J1L3
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