THE PIONEER III OIL Sam Kier Develops! the Great Natural Product of Pennsylvania YE1US AHEAD OF DRAKE. At First It Was a Rj-Product Allegheny Kiver Salt Wells. of A FLASH OX THE CANAL'S D0S01I That Led to Its Use a? a Primitive Illum inant in the forties. SOLD AT Si A OTTIiE A3 MEDICINE The following story of petroleum, which trill be concluded nest Sunday, was the last newspaper wo rk of the late L. E. StofieL He finished it only a few days before hii death last January. remote, 'that the pen, un- less driven by the ! force of genius, would naturally creep along the straieht lines of truth, unwilling to risk a deviation into one boundarv or the other. Thu, the verv hazard of the writer's task becomes the curb upon his journalistic temptations and the narrative here stt forth is essentially true. It is a bare tran script of iaets, unvarnished and unadorned. If, upon its conclusion, the reader decides that it is cither dramatic or romantic, the writer lias no right to any of the praise, for it is the actual occurrences that will have made it such, and any penny-a-liner may have "written them up," once he was in possession of the facts. .lie MoTfm'nt for a Monument. There had been more or less talk for sev eral years of building a monument to the memory of E. L. Drake, the man who gets the credit generally all over the world for discovering petroleum in Pennsylvania. The proposition never amounted to any thing more than talk. Once it did assume the more definite suggestion that every oil producer donate one barrel of oil toward a lnndiorthe erection of such a monument. But frequently recurring "shut-down" movements reduced production, and the philanthropic Echeme dropped back into apathy. This apathy about an object seem ingly so worthy alwavs impressed me as strange. Somehow, I got the idea that fate had a voice in the delay, and that for some mrstenous reason Uolonel uracei tomo was to remain unmarked by any imposing marble. This ague idea excited my curi osity, so that wlien a friend in the upper oil country, a year or so ago, proposed news paper agitatiou of a monumental fund for tardv honor to Drake, I was ready to first enter into some historical researches. If Colonel Drake was entitled to a monument as "the discoverer of petroleum in Pennsyl lania," I wanted to be sure ot it before aid ing in the agitation. In the course of this investigation I interviewed manv people, and the result of it all was that I gath ered much information, which convinced me that there v as indeed something of Fate's intervenins influence between the monu ment lor "the discoverer" of petroleum and the gra e of E. L. Drake. Clearing Up the History. Recently I have been accumulating other reminiscences along the same line, and a curious reason, at length, induces me to publish this batch of strange stories. Two incidents appear to me to indicate that the time is now ripe for clearing uo history. One of these is the sudden appearance of oil in the waters of the lower Allegheny, which a couple of weeks ago annoyed Pitts bureers 60 much, and which has ever since been a fruitful theme for conversation and alarm. Tue second circumstance is the leasins of 2,400 acres of land back of Spring dale, Allegheny county, last week by an in experienced oil prospector whose divining rod tells bira to bore there, and upon which "wild-catting" will be commenced at once. Just what either of these oommon-place in cidents have to do with the main subject ii ill better appear in the fcequei. The group of men who figure in this nar rative are all living. They are residents of Allegheny county. The statements they make are about the enterprises in which four other persons, now dead, had set on foot. These four individuals nere Samuel M. ICier, ot Pittsburg; Louis Peterson, Sr., of Tarentum; Thomas Donnelly, the late Pittsburg banker, and E. L. Drake, of Titusvillc Tne group of gentlemen first mentioned will be permitted to tell their on n stories, the only interruptions I ven ture being to break their recollections into two or more parts, occasionally, so that a natuial sequence may be observed in the whole. Sim Kier Used Oi! as a Medicine. By this plan a wealth of details appears in print for the first time upon a subject of the utmost importance to Allegheny county. I am aware that Samuel M. Kier has by no means passed out of the recollec tions of Pittsburg busiuess circles, in which lie moved as late as 1673. I am also fully aware that whenever you mention, in the presence cf some of the older residents of this county, the fact ot Drake's oil well near Titus'wlle, in 1859, jou will be told: "Pshaw! Why, Sam Kier found oil up here at Tarentum long before that. "Why, he used it as medicine!" That much has been a threadbare histo rical fact known in Pittsburg for all these years, and it is for the reason that so little else has ever been told, beyond that terse boast, that the excuse exists lor this article. Puller details might have entitled the fact to a place in general history. The strange stories tell considerably more than that. They picture a unique community using Kier's petroleum for il luminating purposes before he began selling it lor medicine describe the old accident which demonstrated its combustible nature make public for the first time the inward ness of two visits which E. It Drake made to Tarentum prove how Allegheny county genius alone made it possible tor Drake to bore that celebrated well in the upper coun try recount the pioneer experiments In re fining the oil at Pittsburg finally, they tell of a shaft in Allegheny county which was dug hundreds of leet into the earth in search of oil. ATtor Oil VTlth Pick and Shovl. Dirging for petroleum with pick and f ho veil How fabulous that sounds to-day! Yet it was the actual climax to a chain of remarkable events which began with the boring of a salt-water well by means of a Soot-tread, right here in Allegheny oounty, twiv i PART I. ONCERNING a Cctory such as this, the pen moves along dangerous boundaries. It must quiver be tween romance on -vj: a one side and drama 'JX2 on the other. The V ji tale is abont petro- EJiftSS leuro. That out of $131 the baser minerals fS'Esi'HU' eitber romance or ?Z!t&Qfc&0$ drama might be if HS?3S5i3 T'yufyZ woven, is a possi- 1 .laHarvWBr'5?' bilitv so upon a little strip of ground which mast forever be historic John Kennedy, Sr., of Tarentum, is now 88 years old. He Is familiarly know among the townspeople as"Grandfather"Kennedy, though his great-grandchildren are by this time well advanced in the publio schools. Mr. Kennedy says: In about 1S35 1 built a derrick a short dis tance below hore for Louts Peterson, Sr. He was going to sink a well for salt water with which to operate a salt works. Yes, the derrick was a much los expensive affair than the rigs over oil wells to-day. Although SO reot high, it only cost Mr. Peterson about $30. The lumber was very cheap in those times, you will understand. Out of that sum I got $16 or $18 for my work in carpen tering the timbers. About the same time I built another der rick for a salt well whloh was bored by William Donnell and Jacob Stalcy. They sold the well to Thomas Donnelly, whom I believe afterward was a well-known banker in Pittsburg. Adjoining tbese properties was the Thomas Kier place. I built the der ricks lor the two wells unon italo, the last one being in either 1841 or 1812. Thomas Kier had two sons. Samuel St., and James. This gioup of wells turned out large quanti ties ot salt, which was shipped to Pittsburg on the canal and the industry was regarded by us as important. How the Old Wells Were Sank. Two other residents of Tarentum give in formation about the queer method ot boring these early wells: John V. Huices The Staley & Donnell well was on my father's propertv. It was a Jour inch hole sunk by treading" with foot The steam engine had not yet been attached to a drill. The wells up to that time, which In cluded the Peterson well, had been bored by foot also. But after Thomas Donnelly leased the Staley & Donnell wellheattaohed an engine and reamed it out to a six-inch hole. Johx W. Staley My father boiled salt at the woiksof the Kiers and the others. When a boy I wax arouud the salt ti orks much of my time. The wells were not then fitted with the iron casing which oil and gas wells have in these days. Its place was taken by two crude devices, via: the "seed-bag" and the "tallow-bag." The seed-bag was a sort aiZF&&9 Discovered in Boring for SALT WATER ""near-. A IheEariiisswfea, foati m fop. " jj battled-in its . - .V rt. xy,& lUVl II ( "HyTKpj&ll, vavjt izm: G0lsS-ifS& of cloth pouch filled with flaxseed, which was let down along the wall of the hole to Bhut off the fresh water from the salt water. The other contrivance was for wells In which there was an offset. It was a bag about four feet long made oat of muMin, wrapping paper or rags, and well greased with tallow. Where the Salt Wells tVere. Mr. James Kennedy, of Tarentum, a son of the venerable gentleman first interviewed above, fixes the location of the Tarentum wells a little more definitely. He says: The Thomas Connelly well on the Humes property, the two wells on Thomas Kier's place, and the Louis Peterson salt well were all on a strip of laud above the canal (now the West Penn Bailroad tracks) about a mile below Tarentum station. Lets than half a mile included all the wells. The site of the Kier wells is now occupied by the ma chine snop or blacksmith shop of the Pitts burg Plate Glass Company at Crehrhton. Thomas Donnelly, who, as President of the Fouith National Bank In Pittsburg, died only a few years ago, bad been boiling saic witn i. nomas tuer up aiong tne jusjci minetas river, which whs the great salt basin or those days. Getting the idea that there was sale water in paying quantities down here, he started a works here about the same time as Louis Peterson, Sr., father of the ex-Mayor or Allegheny City. "Grandfather" Kennedv had a whole week in which to stimulate his memory before I went back to him. Bobbing his eyes, as though waking up from a pleasant dream, he smiled, and said: A MystArloas Fluid Appears. Bye and bye, that salt well or Louis Peter son's, over which I built the derrick, aston- isnea everyooay oy bringing up a dark colored d easy stuff. It had never been seen in salt wells up the Kisklmtnetas, they said, and they were afraid that it might ruin the salt works here. It Just came right up out of the ground alonsr with the salt water as it was pumped by the engine. It got to be a nuisance, for wen ere after salt water then, and didn't want anything else. Tos, this fluid appeared several years after the well had been pumping salt water uninterrupt edly. Bye and bye tne other wells here also got to throwing this Ujly grease. It was called "rock oil." Mr. F. N. Humes is one of the best known citizens of Tarentum. He is hale and hearty, and, oddly enough, is still active in oil and gas prospecting business. He saysi it was in inn or isa beiore petrolenm ap peared in the product of the Peterson salt well. I was Working down at the salt works then, driving and doing general work, and remained theie for several years. The dirty grease that thus came up from the well with the salt water annoyed as for a time very much. We pumped the water, into a tank, and there the oil wonld gather on the top, enabling us to draw off the water underneath. But after a while in the winter, I think some of the petroleum, or "rock oil" as we only knew it then, got into the salt vats and threatened to injure our apparatus as well as the finished salt, ana Mr. Peterson gave orders to run the tank over the next time so that the oil could not possibly get Into the vats. We did this and the oil, which in that way flowed over the sides of the tank, ran Into the canal. Canal Men Complained of the OIL It would be anticipating to introduce at this point the story of absorbing interest which ex-Mayor Petersoa related to me in Allegheny the other day, bat one brief clause of what he said is apropos just here. He observed: When this petroleum was first found in my iainers salt wen aiong auout ' or 'a, he had no idea of its commercial value, nor in deed did any of the people hereabouts until a year or so afterward. They at first called It "rock oil." It was a worthless grease in their eyes, but it was a great curiosity also. Grease is a fat, andthat the rocks down In the earth could throw off fat seemed Incom prehensible to many. Indeed, petroleum has been well named "the fat of the land." Father let the stun go to waste, running it off into tho old canal, and sometimes Into an old cistern below the canal, rrom which the oil overflowed into an ancient pond, leaving us the salt water. John V. Humes, of Tarentum, is a brother of the other gentleman of that name quoted above. He says: The oil was wasted for a long time, and when the Kier salt well, a vear after tue ap- Eearanco or oil in the Peterson well, also egan to produce oil, the quantity of grease flowing into the eanal was quite large. The boatmen sot to complaining about It. I have heard them myself. They said It greased their tow-lines, making the ropes Hard to handle, besides soiling the sides and decks ot their canal boats. A Coi Iteration and Its Remits. About this time a startling episode created much excitement about the salt works ot Tarentum. It is well described in the fol lowing statements: F. U. IIrXK3 One day tho boys In the neighborhood threw a burning .brand into the old canal, and there was an astonishing result The whole canal, for a distance of hair a mile or more seemed to burst into flames. It was a very odd eight looked like the water burning, you know. Bat TVe quickly understood tne trouble: It was the oil that we had allowed to run Into the canul that had taken "fire It burned furiouSly. I icmemSfer It well, for we were afraid that a cooper shop along the side or the canal, in which the Kiers made barrels for salt, would bo linitod rrom tho flames. Most of the people in the vieinltr came running down to the canal. We could do nothing but Just let it burn ltselr oct, protaotlnz adjaoant property. Bat, sir, it demonstrated oue MssssMisHsOssMstttsMslsBslMilMssMsMslMssB IkAWfiEr -- 3fr. rk'mJSWt i'j&j&ifoJ&irhrfbtoitrif "-rji'- ,A. f .i. 4 Wt- a ttia- 5 mTHWKmKmi valuable faot to us, and that was that this greasy stuff that was bothering the salt works would undoubtedly barn, and that Is would make both light and heat. G&xxsimthib KiraiDT-The Are on the canal gave the men around the salt works an idea. Some of the oil was collected after that from the salt water and given to the miners who supplied the salt works with coal rrom neighboring pit. They filled their little lam D3 with the stuff, and begau burn ing it that war. Thev said It tilled the pits with smoke, but as it burned easily, and cost them nothing, they were willing enough to use it for illuminating purpose when It saved thnin from buying lard which they bad been using. The First Coal Oil tamp. Jons W. Staley After the Are on the canal the coal diggers used the oil for lighting the pits, and then some of the people tried it in their houses. Although I was but a boy, I distinctly remember the experiment rny fathermade with Jimmy Kier. They brought some of the oil to our house ana nut it in one of the old-time coffey-pot tin lamps in whlcn we had been accustomed to burn sim ple UrJ. Whew! How that lamp did smoke that night! Bat it made a fair light, and we kept on burning it. And then almost everybody living in the Tarentum got to going down to the salt wells and bringing away a lot of the dirty petroleum, with which they filled their lit tle tin house-lamps. At least a score of men and women are yet living in Tarentum who, as I interviewed them, invariably commenced with the words: "After the fire on the canal," etc Then they told me of the horrible smoke the oil made, and the unpleasant smell that came from It, The lamps were small tin affairs, with the spout protruding lrom them, resembling some what a coffee pot. This was before lard oil had been generally introduced, and the housewives had been accustomed to putting several tablespoonfuls ot common lard into these, and then slipping a wick, made oi rags, down through the spout until It pene trated the lard. Thus it burned without chimney and without any modern fixture for regulating the size of the flame. Jons V. Hums Into these lamps we put '" WiBm .AjmBCMEKT COUKTTPENffSlA. vtn9MssT?SfVSrftMiysi itmrsfl5iS&gs) mm UpiunpeilupwWi-.tfeSalt' Water, laws ffwp i uuxuUUv accumulates, is dmum - j . .-i iiazunl-&f(u& KtttwuupnvTsepqtqtufiit'U'rMir0i. -Jr .. A I . r " mnW2rrrrri& i i i.j:..J;,.va..;.jui w C-J'NJHK - .., JUii llh FACSIMILE OP ONE OF KIER'S NOVEL ADVERTISEMENTS.. the crude petroleum. Mr wife, over there, can tell you what a terrible smoke it filled our house with. Just after we married, but we put up with It. and kept on using the oil. because it oost us nothinir, and the lard did cost something. The lamps were fitted with a wire at the baok, by which we could hang them ud anywhere, either on the wall in the ' house, or to posts at corn huskings and sneuings. It was a unique spectacle, this village ailing crude petroleum to light their homes and shops in 1846-7. William Kennedy, of Tarentum, another sou of "Grandfather" Kennedy, when a young man, was em ployed about the salt works also, and was so intimate with the owners that he married a sister of Samuel M. Kier. He gives, per haps, the most definite information of how his neighbors got the idea of burning petro leum in lamps. He says: The fire on the canal occurred at an op pot tune moment. Just about the same time one Dennis Martin had been making some suggestions abont salt works, urging a trial of the dark-colored oil for fuel and light. He was Just such a genius as you will find in every rural community a sort of Jack-or-all trades. He had tried throwing into the fur naces In the works a bunch 'of rags greased with the stuff, and tried to prove that It burned moie fiercely. Samuel M. Kier knew of Martin's speculative talk, and. Indeed, Kier himself had some idea ot experiment ing with the oil that was now being pumped out ot his well, seeing no good reason why it, like other grease, would not burn. He bad actually begun some inquiries among people about lamps in which to try it, when the boys set fire to the accumulated oil on the canal. The Canal Flro Was the Starter. This canal fire brought both the Ideas of Kier and Martin to a head. Martin suggest ed dips from the oil for the coal diggers,and induced them to try it in their pit lamps. Kier and his brother experimented at once with the tin lard lamps, and the result was that people up here in Tarentnm generally Introduced the oil into their houses as an ZmtU Peterson, Sr. illmntnant. Mr. S. M. Kier, after a while, had heavier lamps made for burning the oil in houses that was in 18(3, 1 think but it was some vears before a chimney for them could be found. There is a vague tradition of a mineral oil being nsed in 1826 for an illuminant in dwellings and shops along the Muskingum river in unio, Dut tnere have never accom panied it such authenticated statements as Tarentum here produces. Petroleum is said to have been known along the Muskingum as early as 1811. But as for that; there is no question that it was used by the Indians when they inhabited Pennsylvania. It is not so much of a question as to when it was originally known, as it is where and by whom it was first put to commercial uses. t Good for Man and Iteast I F. X. Humes The Kier salt well began producing petroleum in 1816, I think, or about a year after the oil from the Peterson well had been going to waste. From the first, Samuel M. Kier became active In try ing to discover means to tnrn the new greasy fluid to some account. He was engaged in business In the city, but came up to his father's house here frequently, where I stopped much of the time I was employed about the salt works. Although people up here got to using the oil in their lamps, S. M. Kier believed it was capable ordthernses too. He consulted medical men, and at length ho decided that the oil really posses sed medical properties. He had all the oil product ot the Kier salt well sent down to him at Pittsburg, where he bottled It and put it upon the market as "Kier's Bock OU," or "Kier's Petroleum," and he advertised it extensively as good in either internal doses or external application. In two or three years the bnslness of sell ing this as medicine had so Increased on his hands that he made an arrangement with Louis Peterson, Sr., to' secure the entire oil Sroduct of his well also. In 1847 or 1848 the iierwell was pioduolng about one barrel of petroleum a day .and the Peterson well about tw6 barrels. Fiom a worthless stuff that was tor two or three years allowed to run to waste in the eanal, Kier's efforts to give It a commercial Importance eventually raised it to a value financially, right here at the wells, 71 and $8 per barrel, and that, too, long be fore' Drake bad been heard or with his TltusvlIIe venture. A Market far retrslram Hotter. Jossr W. 6tAunr Wasn't it In 1MB that the l gold fever broke out In California? Yes, I thought It was, for I remember that Mr. Kier sent dozens of his little boxes of "petroleum butter" away to California in that vear. "Petroleum batter" was the but-terv-Ilke stuff that oozed up from oar salt well on Kiel's place with each stroke of the sucker rod. It was formed by the petrolenm getting in the Iron parts, and churning from the friction of the machinery. Mr. Kier had ns scrape this off the iron every day and send it to his plane in Pittsburg. There it was put up In little boxes and sold for burns, scalds and bruises and 1 tell yon It was good for them, too. The "rock oil" which he sold in bottles for medicine was simply the crude oil of to-day, though there is no question that that found In the Kier well was of the very best. I have taken many a dose of it Inwardly, and, sir. If yon ever get a bad cold in the chest, there is no better remedy to-day than to soak a flannel olotb with crnde petrolenm and lay It across your breast. Try it some night. In thoie days everybody up here in Tarentum used the Kier oil for medicine, and I'll bet you will find plenty of persons stiu living nere wno yet ueueves in tue vir tues of petroleum as a medicine. I am never without half a barrel of crude oil now in the house, and it is my standard remedy. The First Find Was of the Bast. Jakes KnrsxnT The petroleum that was found in Tarentum between 1S15 and 1836 was of the very finest grade. That in the Kier and Peterson wells averaged 70 per cent of purity, and that subsequently taken out of the Donnelly well average as high as 90 per oent. This may better be appre ciated by comparing it with the petroleum afterward produoed la Northern Pennsyl vania, which, I think, only averages 33 per cent Louis Peterson. Jr. S. M. Kier paid my father SO cents a irallon for the oil from his well. As our well produced from two to five barrels per day, these 200 gallons at 50 cents a gallon made a nice profit. Kier made the oil known all over the United States. Undoubtedly he made a paying bnslness out of It. Yes, the Oil from the wells or Kier and my rather was of unprecedented purity. It only contained about 1 per cent of naphtha, and was of a good wine color. William Kennedy Mr. Kier was the first man to give netroleum a financial and com mercial value. He sold It as medicine in "WiiMlsWsfirl MEDICAL VIETuiS discovered."", r ,) r SS n Pi V0C01 wtoMie. fyslertif, tffutfo'B,arrel4, s - -- (ue-r oprttfe PjfWrgy fl 60-cent and $1 bottles and it became very popular all over the country. I firmly be lieved in its medicinal properties, and I do still. There are many persons still living here in Taientum who use orude petroleum as medicine, as you have no doubt dis covered in your investigation this week. I was la charge of Kier's store at the salt works at the period wlieu the rock-oil medi cine was most popular. At that store I have sold it as high as SI pergallon. Tne farmers became accustomed to driving down there every time they came to Tarentnm, In order to buy a supply of it. They were very friendly to oil, because it was of value at medicine in manv ways on the farms. As late as 1856 and 1S57, 1 have sold it at SI per gallon. First Law Suit Over Prtroltnm. understand, these high values did not come solely from its value as a medicine, but as an illuminant for bouses also, ror by 18S7 Mr. Kier had also Introduced it to a con siderable extent through a bnrner for lamps which he had invented. So valuable did petroleum become through the agency or this ingenious Pittsbuxger, that after he got solo control of the Peterson 'well,"Xouls Peterson, Sr., commenced proceedings In the courts at Pittsburg to compel S. M. Kier to pay htm a royalty, or divide the proceeds from his own sales. George P. Hamilton, Esq., was Kier's attorney, and A. W. Loomls was Peterson's. It was rather a noted else, because it proposed to test the limitations of a lease. Leases up to that day had been made for sali-water alone, this mineral oil never having been thought or. Peterson contended that it being found without any previous 'knowledge on the part of either side, the owner or the land had a light to share In the proceeds in spite or the fact that such a mineral was not mentioned In the lease or sale. Johx V. Hukes When my father leased property to Staley & Donnell to sink a well upon, near where the Kier well was, he wiote the lease in these words: "As long as water runs, and grass grows, these two men have the right to the salt water that may come from the ground there." There was no i eserve tor any tnlng but salt water. He knew nothing of any suoh thing as petrol eum, and his sole royalty for years after ward was each twentieth barrel of salt, or rather the proceeds from every 1 barrel in 20. By and by Thomas Donnelly, who had bought the lease, sold it to Louis Peterson, Jr., who bored it deeper ror oil. He paid us Donnelly and my father $40,000, which was regarded by us as an immense price, but Imagine our feeling of personal loss when a tew years later Peterson sold the property to Pastern persons tor $150,000. That's what come trom ns not knowing the value of this new giease. And It is quite true, that even to this day nearly all the old quarter in the thriv ing town ot Tarentum uses crude petroleum for medicine in some shape or form. I have heard of it in many households op there in fact have been presented with a flask of it for my own personal trial and satisfac tion. L. E. Stofieu IToTTe Concluded Next Sunday. XBASE IK PSESIDENTAL YEABS. An Old-Time Belief Is Shown to Be With out Any Foundation. North American Beriew. In such an age of evolution and change it is very hard to keep track of and judge cor rectly of cause and effect, and, in consider ing the influence ofl Presidental flections upon business, we are very apt to overlook many other conditions which directly or in directly contribute to results. If we turn to statistics we do not find much comfort The figures of the New York Clearing House probably furnish as good an idea of the state of business through out the United States as any. All the business activities of the country are focalized here, and "Wall street" is a b.trometer for trade and commerce as well as finance. Statistics show that in 1872, 'a Presidental year, the exchanges were 13,000,009,000 more than in 1871, and only ?1,000,000,000 less than the succeeding year. In 1876, however, they were 3,000,000,000 less than in 1876, and 1,000,000,000 less than in 1877, but in 1880 they were 13,000,000,000 more than in 1879, but 11,000,000,000 less than in 1881, when we had a "boom" year, owing to the good erops in this country and poor ones abroad. Whatever incubus a Presidental election might have been upon business, that year it was borne like a feather upon the crest of a tidal wave. The volume of exchanges steadily declined from 1881 until 1885, bat in the Presidental year of 1884 the ex changes were nine billions more than in 1885, from which point there was a substan tial recovery again during 1886 and 1887, but in 1888 they declined again four bil lions. The summing up of all these figures leads to the opinion expressed in the open ing lines of this article, that while a Presi dental election has some influence upon some kinds of business, there are other in fluences far more controlling in their nature. Fits All flts stopped free by Dr. Kline's Great Serve Restorer. A o fits after first day's use, Minna cures. TTeitlu and si on trial rtnttin r Kit eases. Dr. Kline, Kn Arch St., Fhlla., Pa. oM Lns, the popular photographer, will please prompt delivery. 10 and U Sixth street, snj you, First-class work,' moderate tirioes. ammz&emifa mmfW WMimm. oWl ! J ' W Mssstfr 7 iSfffrSi BOWSER HAS TROUBLE. He Invests in a Lawn Mower With the Best of Intentions. A FEW HARD FALLS SETTLE HIM. Carl Dander's Flj American Boy Arizona Kicker Clippings, and SELECTIONS OF M. QUAD'S HUMOR rwnirriN fob the dispatch, i "Did that lawn mower come np this after noon?" asked Mr. Bowser, as he came home an hoar ahead of time the other evening. "Was that a lawn mower?" queried Mrs. Bowser in reply. "What on earth pos sessed you to buy such a thing?" "J?or two very good reasons Mrs. Bowser. I propose to save about fifteen dollars this summer, and I want the exercise. I could have got a health lift, but I thought I would combine business with pleasure. Always kill two birds with one stone when chance offers. I'll work up a muscle In a couple of weeks to astonish you. The doc tor says it's exactly what I need." "But I wish you hadn't bought it." "That's yoa to a dotl Always in opposi tion to everything I dot That's why wo take so much comfort as a familyl The only thing yoa wouldn't oppose is my dying!" Mrs. Bowser had nothing more to say, and after dinner Mr. Bowser made ready for his exercise. He got into an old suit of clothes, dragged "the lawn mower into the back yard and oiled it up, and was presently ready to make a start. He looked up at the back windows, and seeing nothing of Mrs. Bowser, he spat on his hands and said: "Hal This is wbat'll give a man muscle and appetite. Only ,cost $9, and I'll get $100 benefit oat of it. I suppose I might as well make a start." He made one. He had gone about ten feet when the machine suddenly stopped. So did Mr. Bowser. He stopped so sudden ly that his feet left the ground and the handle of the mower just missed his ehin on an upper cut. "Struck a post, eh?" he muttered, as he investigated and found one rising about six inches out of the earth. "That's all right, however. I didn't expect to mow down posts as well as grass. Seems as if my muscle was working up a little already." He dodged the post and headed tor the back fence, and his countenance had just begun to beam again when there was a great clattering and the machine stopped. t'Oyster eans!"he growled, as he kicked two or three out of the grass. "She's prob ably watching me, and she's probably tickled halt to death, but I'd mow this yard if it was full of deadly torpedoes. " He reached the fence without farther mis hap, leaving a trail behind him as crooked as a serpent's, but at the first dash be made on his return journey something happened again. The machine stopped with a bump, and Mr. Bowser pitohed forward over the handle and brought up in a heap on the ground. "Now, I hope to never draw another breath if I don't slaughter somebody for this!" he yelled, as soon as he could get his breath. He was going to jump up and kick some body or something, but it occurred to him that Mrs. Bowser might be looking, and he sat up and looked around and pretended to be resting. . Nothing could be seen of Mrs. Bowser, however, and after a couple of minutes ho I'll Slaughter Somebody! got np and moistened his hands for a fresh start Everything went as smooth as grease for the next 20 feet Then the mower picked up a 100 feet of stovepipe wire and waited for results. "That woman's hand again I' hoarsely whispered Mr. Bowser as he saw what was the matter; "but I wouldn't give in now if I knew that death wasn't two rods off!" It took him ten minutes to clear away the wire. When this had been accomplished he pulled off his coat and vest, glanced up at all the back windows, and there was a dangerous light in his eye as he gripped the handle, drew a long breath and went ahead. At the fifth step Mr. Bowser's right foot found a post hole, and followed it up until he fell forward on his stomache and plowed along the grass. His first thought was to get up and kick both line fences down and make a bonfire of the splinters, but as be slowly reached bis feet a better idea oc curred to him. He picked up the mower by the handle and raised it over his head and pounded the earth with it until nothing but the handle was left Then he gathered up wheels, cogs, ratchets, flues, pulleys, cylinder heads and low water indicators and tossed them over the back fence and walked into the house. Mrs. Bowser sat reading, and looking verv innocent and humbl, but he was not to be deceived. Standing be fore her in his sternest attitude he said: "Mrs. Bowser, let me suggest an easier wayl" "Why, what do you mean?" "To kill me oft ! If you are so bent and determined to get rid of me, why don't you poison my food or cut my throat when I'm asleep? No explanation not a wordl I understand the situation perfectly, and nothing yon can say will excuse your das tardly machinations!" "Bat didn'fl say I was" "Never! Never said a word! That will do, Mrs. Bowser! We will not discuss the subject farther. In the morning we will seek an amicable adjustment ot difficulties, and I will go with you to the train. There are two trains a day bv which vou can reach your mother, and I will telegraph her. ot your coming, uur child will ot coarse remain with me. Good night, Mrs. Bowser. -A-hy suggestions you have to make had best be put In writing and submitted the first thing in the morning." CARL DUNDEE'S FLY BOF JAKE. The Old Gentleman Smelled Monnd Quickly Discovered Several Bats The Lad Will Be Brought Dp With a Sharp Turn Tlrtnons Indignation. Mr. Dander entered the station house very softly the other afternoon and dropped into a chair without remark, and it was some time before the fat police sergeant looked np and discovered his presence and said: "Well, yoa here again? You don't seem to be as tickled as yoa were the last time yon. came." "Sergeant, I like some advice," replied Mr. Dunder. "I like some advice about my son Shake, You know Shake?" ."Yes. What's the matter with Jake?" ''I belief he vas too files, as yoa call him, und I like t-. -sk you about him. Der od der day he cs. me 'gnferner,' and when I look at him he - :.yi . 'Oh, dot vas all right, you know. Do. to like all der boys la dis "fgLg. . One Side Mit a Hbbogaan. supper and. says he likes to get a dollar to go und see der boys pat up deir 'dukes at a scrap iron match. She gits him der money, but we can't make it ondt" "Ob, I seel He meant a scrap a boxing contest" "TJnd he goes mit a prize fight, eh?" "Very likely." "H'm! More rats! Sergeant, how much vas a dog license?" "Two dollars a year." "Only two dollars! Vhy, I sends Shake oafer mit seven dollar der odder day und he only brings back one. He said it vhas six dollar for a big dog mit a stab tail. Here vhas a telegram from my brudder-in-law in Chicago, nnd I had to pay two dollar on him. Shake paid der boy unci t paid Shake. All he says in dot telegram is, 'Yhas dis hot enough for you?' I can't make it oudt." "I think I can," replied the sergeant, after reading the message. "Jake wrote this himself aud beat you oat of two 'dol lars." "H'm! I seel Vhell, I am going home." "Yes." "Dis eafniog Shake vhill start oud mit his hat on his ear, und vhen I ask where he vhas going he vhill say, 'Qufercer, I vbas shust like an American boy now, und I go oud to see some elephants.' " "Yes." "TJnd I vhill take dot young mans by der collar und say, 'My son, I vhas sbust like an American ladder now, und I vhas onto vou like a house!' TJnd den his heels vhill hit oop by der ceilings, und he vhill smash in der walls und doors, und vhen I let-go of him he vhill be like some rags on a clothes line 1" "I wouldn't be too severe." "Ob, no. I doan' kill him, but I vhas shust severe enough to shange him back from an American boy to a Sherman, und to moke him so tired of dot races und to boggan nnd scrap iron and elephant dot he neter goes any more. Dot vhas alL ser geant I can't make her oudt before, but I see him now. Shake vhas shust like an American boy I vhas shust like an Amer ican fadder! Keep quiet und see me later!" TBE ARIZONA KICKEE. Points on the Manly Way of Settling Mews paprr Grievances. I clip the following from the last issue of the Arizona Kicktri Three weeks ago, in writing up some of the local characters of the town, we mentioned Colonel Dick White as one of the crowd who had been here too long for his health. Sev eral shyster lawyers went to the Colonel and encouraged him to bring a libel suit for heavy damages. He refused and sent ns word to look out We were ready in 15 sec onds after we got the message, but the Colonel had to send his guns to the shop to be repaired, make his will and fix np other little matters. It was not until Monday that he got ready to go hunting. He posted him self In a modest and retiring position on an empty barrel In front of Henderson's grocery, aud had been watting 15 minutes when we sauntered np to Inquire the price of cucumbers. We saw the Colonel and the cucumbers at the same instant, but he got the first shot, whloh ripped np the cotton on our right shoulder. We could nave shot him dead, but we didn't Only Eleven Seconds. do it. We simply shot his thumb off at the Joint, and he went out of business after fir ing only the one shot From the time he Hied until we had him disarmed and he was Degging our pardon was only 11 seconds, as counted by the grocer, who bad bis watch in bis hand. As Mayor of the town we shall sell the guns at public auction, as usual, aud turn the money into the street improvement fund. We understand that the Colonel left town lust night tor some point In Montana. While we firmly believe his going is a benefit to the community, we want to thank him for the manly way he set about KOtttug even with) us. Anybody can begin a libel suit, bnt it takes a manly sort of a man to go gunning for an editor who can shoot two handed and has bad three or four days' warning of what is to come. ill. yUAD. 1 How to Preserve insects. , Butterflies, moths and beetles should not be subjected to the cruelty ot being impaled by a pin while still alive Every entomol ogist should carry with him as a part of his outfit a small yial ot ether. A few drops of this poured on the sides ot worm, moth or beetle will instantly kill the insect aud enable the collector to adjust it with less difficulty than if it were alive, as by its struggles after capture a very fine specimen is often completely rained. The Indebtedness of MlssonrL Few States of the Union are better off, so far as concerns community indebtedness, than Missouri. Forty-eight counties hare no bonded indebtedness, 37 have only oounty indebtedness and seven have only township indebtedness. For a State ot the size of Missouri this is as fine a sbowing ss can be made, and better than that of many Slates which are much abler to pay. country.' How vhas dot, sergeant? Does your boy call yon gnferner?' " "Well, hardlyl" "TJnd vhen he speaks mit his mudder he calls her Tour royal highness.' Sne can't make it ondt, und Shake says: Dot vhas all right, we vhas in America row.' Does your boy speak like dot to his madder?" "I never heard that he did." "TJnd his madder finds some red and blue buttons mitont any eyes in 'em in Shake's pocket Here vhas one. She asks him about 'em und.he savs it vhas a new inden tion for Oafercoat Buttons. Did you efer see one before?" yes, several times. Those are poker chips, Mr. Dunder." t "TJnd Shake vhas playing some poker?" "Very likely." "H'm! Here vhas a ticket we find in Shake's pocket, too. Vhen I ask him abont it he says it vhas good tor one ride mit a toboggan, and dot all American boys yhas built dot vhay." "Jake has been playing the races," re plied the Sergeant as he examined the ticket "He got this ticket at a poolroom, and it seems that he played Lone Jack for firstplace." "H'm! I begin to smell some ratsl Ser geant, I like to ask yoa about a scrap iron match." "Scrap iron match? I never heard of such a thing." "Vhell, Shake goes to his mudder after WBITTEK FOB THE DISPATCH BY DORA RUSSELL, Author of "Footprints in the Snow," "The Broken Seal, Track of the Storm," "A Fatal Past," Eta SYNOPSIS OF FBEVIOTJ3 CHAPTEB91 Two lovers, Sir James MacEennon, Bart., and Miss Miriam Clyde, are standing by the seashore, and the former is urging her to name the wedding day. She pleads for delay. la the meantime an accident occurs, a soldier being wounded by a firing party. Miriam binds np his wound and saves his life. Glancing at each other's face a mutual recognition takes place. On arriving home the doctor who was summoned to the wounded man gave her a note whloh the soldier had hastily scribbled. It ooatatns the words "For God's sake keep my secret." .Miriam, by means of Dr. Beed, sends to bar soldier-patient a brief mes age, "Do not be afraid!" which he receives as be is lying in the hospital. In the meantime Miriam's mother, Mrs. Clyde, makes np ber mind that her daughter shall be married to Sir James in a month, and tells her so. But Miriam, thinklag of a life dearer than her own, hanging In the balance, pleads earnestly for more time. Mrs. Clyde writes to her otber daughter, Joan, who Is married to nam ana stern uenerai uonway, asking them to toe wedding. Conway thinks it's a good matoh, but pains Joan by intimating that Miriam should not so aooh forget another affair In which his nephew was the hero. He and Mrs. Clyde agree it is best to hurrv the wedding for fear Sir James should hear of that Miriam is obstinate, and gets Sir James to nsk Mrs. Clyde for postponement. Colonel Clyde la unable to change Miriam's mind. She worries herself side, and Dr. Beed Is sent for. By means of notes through him, Miriam and Private Dare arrange a clandestine meeting. Miriam tells her secret lover he must leave the country. He says he would have to huy his way out of the army. At her next meeting with 8ir James she asks him for the neces sary money, and he gives her double the amount Then she arranges another clandestine meeting, and Just as she is returning to her room in the night Mrs. Clyde catches her. Mrs. Clyde snspects the truth, but Miriam refuses to tell her. Dare meets Ford and gives her the money to give back to Miriam. Mrs. Clyde decides to have the wedding at London, and she and her daughter go there. The wedding occurs and It so affects Joan that in her sleep she speaks the name of "Kobert" Ber husband bears it and the first doubt as to her faithfulness enters hlsmind. Then on her return home Joan becomes ill with fever and raves about Eobert, The Colonel begins to suspect the truth. .Robert bad loved Joan. At a meeting in the garden Hugh Ferrars, who loved Miriam, mistaking Joan for Miriam, had shot Bobert dead. Miriam, In order to shield Joan, testified that It was she who was with Bobert. The Court holds that Bobert committed suicide. Miriam and her husband take a continental trip and then return to the castle of Sir James' mother in Scotland. The old lady receives Miriam rather coldly. COPTBIGHT, 1332, CHAPTER XIX. TbtjetoJoas; "You!" exclaimed Miriam, springing to her feet with outstretched hand, and then something in the expression of the General's face as he advanced into the room sent a sadden chill to her heart "Joan " she faltered. "She is no worse," answered General Conray slowly, as if he understood her un spoken question. "I have come to Scot land on purpose to see yon, Miriam," he added, with bis stern eyes fixed upon her, "to learn the truth at last from your own lips." As he said this Miriam's face suddenly flushed and then grew pale, and her eyes fell before his. "What do you mean?" she asked in an unsteady voice. "I mean are the words that Joan has spoken in her sleep and in her delirium true or false? Was Eobert' Conray your lover or hers?" As he asked this question in a load, harsh voice, the Dowager Lady MacKeunon en tered the front drawing room and paused on the threshold as she did so. She had been told that General Conray had arrived, and she knew him to be the brother-in-law of Miriam, and she had gone into the draw ing room for the purpose of receiving him, when his startling words fell on her aston ished ears. She was quick of hearing and she distinctly heard his question, and if she had acted rightly she wonld, of coarse, have left the room. But she did not do this. She stayed and listened to a conver sation she knew very well that she was not intended to hear. She had a sort of grim inward satisfaction in doing this. She never trusted pretty women, and her daughter-in-law was pretty, and she be lieved she was abont to hear something to her disadvantage, and so she remained in the interests of her son. Miriam did not for a moment answer General Conrayj she hesitated, and then she looked up in his face. "Has poor Joan been delirious then? - As ill as that, and I. was never told!" ."Yoa are playing with me, and I did not come here to listen to subterfuges. Yes, Joan has been very ill, but before her iU ness she spoke words in her sleep which filled my very soul with horror. Miriam, yon swore at the inquest that yoa were with Bobert Conray at the night of bis death7" "Yes," said Miriam, trying to speak steadily, though she knew her voice faltered. "Was this true then, or were Joan's rav- lDgs true? She cried out first in her sleep about Bobert Conray that she had loved him that he was hers, not yours? Will yon speak the truth, for this is life or death tome; if she deceived me I must know!" "She did not deceive you," answered Miriam; she must save Joan at any cost she was tninking. "Bobert Conray was my lover, I was with him in the grounds the night of his death." "Of his murder?" interrupted General Conray, sternly. "In her fever Joan spoke at least some words which I believe to be true; she said Hugh Ferrars, the man I al ways suspected, killed him; the young man who was your lover, and whom I disap proved of, and that you hid him; that yoa know where he is?" Miriam visibly started. "Why should yoa believe her ravings; the ravings of fever?" she said in a faltering voice. "I do believe them at all events. X be lieve there is something in all this: that something has preyed on Joan's mind, and that you are keeping something back. This Ferrars was your lover, did he murder Bob ert Conray in some jealous rage?" "I know nothing," answered Miriam. "I see by your face, I hear by your voice you dot Joan said yoa knew where Ferrars was hiding, and I asked where, and she said somewhere by the sea. Did she mean Newfcrough-ou-the-Sea? It is my duty to hunt this man down; to discover Bobert Conray's murderer if I can, aud you mast UCH wit- "I can do nothing; I know nothing." "Joan must have had something to go upon, and I believe she had. If this Fer rars murdered Bobert I believe von knew it and you screened him at the time, and would screen him now. "I repeat I know nothing," said Miriam; "nothing bat what I said at the inquest I parted with Bobert Conray alive and well that night, and the next time I saw him he was dead." What is there in truth that appeals to some subtle instinct of our souls, guiding us almost with unerring touch? Miriam spoke these words positively she was fighting for her sister, lying for her sister, and Gen eral Conray did not believe her. He had believed her before, because no doubt had then entered his mind. Now that it was there her words did not convince him. He stood looking at her hardly and severely, aad he believed her to be guilty of what he accused her of. "Yoa will say nothing then," he said at length. "Nothing bat what I have said before. I was engaged to Bobert Conray, and Joan knew it, though yoa did not Bnt what good does it do to talk of this now? Nat urally I do not wish Sir James to hear of this tragic story." "I do not wish to tell him. Let him be lieve In yoa if he can. Bat it is well knows that Ferrars was your lover; that you at one time at least encoorased him. and he mysteriously disappeared the very J The BT DOBA EU33ELL. dav of Bobert Conrav's death. Will von an swer me truthfully, did you never hear of or see him from that day?" "Never," answered Miriam in a low tone and with downcast eyes. "I cannot, I do not believe it. Joan could not have invented such a story, even in her delirium, without some foundation. Bat yoar father returns to Newbrough-on-the-Sea to-day, and I shall go to him there be fore I return to Tyeford. and institute in quiries about Ferrars. Yon have been at home ever since yoa left us, nearly two years ago; if, as Jean said, yoa baa seen Ferrer, yoa must have seen him there." "Do as yoa please," said Miriam, with a sinking heart, and a blanched face. "And," she added, "is my mother staying on with Joan?" "For the present, yes. Miriam, will yoa say again uill yon swear, that poor Joan never deceived me?" "I will swear." He looked at her long and earnestly; in spite of himself, against his inner sense these words gave him some consolation. They might be true, thought the grey-haired soldier, and so with bowed head he turned to go away. "Goodby," he said, holding out his cold hand. "Won't yoa stay to see my husband, to see Lady MacKeonon?" said Miriam. "James is oat on the hills somewhere, bat he will be disappointed it yoa go away without seeing him." "I am in no mood to exchange civilities with anyone, and Tmnst go." "They will think it strange " "Yon can tell them I came to see yoa about vour sister's illness. QoodsS" At this moment the dowager, Laa Mac Kennon, who had remsMiett Tsithe front drawing roooydurnTbe whola SrVsp venation hdtWenn f3naT f?y,nv -n .,. daughter-in-law thought fit to retire to her own apartments upstairs, and when the General passed through it on his way out the front drawing room was empty. Bat imagine toe anxiety and misery he had left behind! As 'the General disap peared Miriam clasped her hands together as if in despair. For a moment or two she felt utterly overwhelmed. Then she roused herself. There was no time to be lost Hugh Ferrars most be warned; must leave Newbrough-on-the-Sea at once. If General Conray went there he was sure to recognize him; sure to hear that she was supposed to have sayed his life upon the sands. The whole circumstances would leave no doubt in his mind. She sat down, therefore, to write to Ferrars; to write to him with, a trembling hand and a beating heart She wrote: Fly at once when yoa receive this. Hy unhappy sister has had fever, and in her delirium she betrayed much ot the truth to General Conray. He came here to-day to question me, but I denied everything. He is now going to Newbrough-on-the-Sea, as poor J. gave him some Idea yoa were there. Leave Kewbrough therefore when yoa re ceive this without a moment's delay. Ask for a few days' leave say afteryour illness in is will do saiest. x enclose i.3i lor yoa to leave with, but let me know where I can send the rest of the money: the money yoa gave me back, and which I have kept for you. Answer this letter addressed to my. maid Ford, but I entreat yon do not neglect my warning, for if yon do, even for a day, it will be too late. Always your friend, M. Miriam wrote this harried scrawl in haste and secrecy, and then carried it np to her own room, where she addressed the envelope to Private Dare, at Newbrough-on-the-Sea, aud placed four bank notes within it She felt a subtle pang of conscience as she did so. She remembered at this moment that she was James MacEennon's wife, but the next she tried not to think of this. She mast save Ferrars, and this was the only way to save him. Then she put on her hat and cloak aud went out to post the letter. The nearest postoffice to Eintore was at a vil lage, quite two miles distant But Miriam had noticed where it was, and $o speedily started on her way, walking as quickly as possible, and with a strong sensation of nervousness and fear in her heart But she reached the little village where the postoffice under the superintendence of an old Highland dame was situated without meeting anyone, and a moment or two later had slipped her letter into the box. She heard it fall with a feeling of relief, bat just as she was turning away, with a guilty start she recognized her husband's tall form, fol lowed by two deer hounds, approaching her from the opposite end of the village from where tho postoffice was placed. Sir James did not see her at nnce, but when he did his surprise was very great "Why Miriam, my dear!" he cried, when still a little distance trom her; "however have you cast up here?" "I I came to post a letter," faltered Miriam, doing her best not to appear em barrassed; "and for the walk." "To post a letter?" repeated Sir James smiling, and .drawing her hand through his arm. "Why did yoa not put it into the post-bag?" "I had a headache, and I thought the walk would do me good," answered Miriam. "A headache? My dear little girl, why did you not tell me?" said Sir James, tenderly looking down at her face. "I thought yoa wanted to stay at home t& write letters, or I should not have gone out" ' "So I did, James but I have been very ranch upset after yoa weat oat General Conray came; he he was passing through Scotland on some military duty, I think, and he came to tell me about Joan, and she has been much worse than I thought; than mother told me; she has been de lirious, and verv ill." "I'm so awfully sorry, Miriam; so awfully sorry, dear," and Sir James took one of her little trembling hands in his, .. "Why, you are shaking all over, Miriam! My dearie, yoa must not irtt about Joan; i i - ' '" W?M-'- ---'iasg"EteiR3r
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