FIRST QIL REFINERY
Sam Kier Got tlio Idea of
Clarifying His Petroleum
in the Year 1853.
A PHILADELPHIA CHEMIST
Advised Him and He Constructed a
Single Barrel Affair.
THIS WAS AFTERWARD STOLEN.
Colonel Drake Got His Tointers From the
Alleshenj ialt Wells.
TUXKEL1XG FOR THE GOLDEN GREASE
Below is the second installment of the
story of the discovery of petroleum from
the pen of the late L. E. Stofiel. As stated
a week ago this was the last newspaper
work he did.
PART II.
O doubt it was the
marketing of petroleum
C? fv v?l as a medicine that sepa-
trfJ 2v N rated Hon. R T. Jones.
the prominent iron
manufacturer, and S. M.
Kier, in a business way.
They had long been
associated. The first
employment B. F.
Jones ever had was ob
tained in the Pittsburg
office of the Mechanics'
Line of canal boats be
tween this city and
Philadelphia, with a
branch line to tidewater
at Havre de Grace, Md.
Mr. Kier was one of the chief owners of
this line, and his attention was attracted to
young Mr. Jones by his business tact and
alertness, and he took a keen interest in his
advancement.
Kier subsequently made Mr. Jones his
manager and then partner. At dne time
Hon. James Buchanan was a member of the
firm, being associated with Messrs. Kier
and Jones before he became President of
the United States. Their business enlarged
to include various branches.
B. F. Jones In the Iron Business.
Mr. Jones' tastes did not run along the
line which Mr. Kier's petroleum develop
ments now took, and the former went into
the iron business in 1&51, with which he is
still identified. But, notwithstanding their
separation at this period, Mr. Jones real
izes how much he owes to Mr. Kier for his
early business training, and he says he can
not speak too highly of the man who was
one of Pittsburg's best and most enterpris
ing citizens. Mr. Jones saysi
Talk about the discovery of petroleum in
1S39 In Venango county! 'Why, it was lu 1818
that Sir. Kier began to think of using It as It
came out of his well up at Tarentum, In Al
legheny county. He knew it had some com
mercial value, and he was untiring In try
ing to have its usefulness generally recog
nized. And then you know, perhaps, he was
the pioneer In refining oil. Ills experiments
along that line right here in Pittsburg were
most valuable to the great oil Industry that
v. as to oome. lie was the first person in the
United States to refine petroleum and so
clarify it that it made a steady, clear and
clean illumlnant. Had he taken out patents
on the apparatus ae then designed for refin
ing oil his heirs to-day would be among the
ricaest persons in the world. Think of what
a royalty on all the oil today refined in the
world would amount to.
Mr. Kier's Neglected Opportunity.
There is no reason why he should not have
done it. I believe his old oil still is still in
existence, and it would show what a price
less principle he discovered before others
had thought of It.
But to protect his discoveries through any
personal or selfish motive was not in S. II.
Kier's nature. He was of a most generous
spirit. Indeed, I have sometimes thought
that he did not go into the business of sell
ing oil as medicine so much on genuine
speculative objects as he did from a philan
thropic standpoint. lie believed he was
taking from the ground a fluid which pos
sessed great medicinal qualities believed
that It was a sort of boon or benefit for man
kindand he doubtless wanted to let hu
manity have the benefit or it as much as he
did to make money for himself.
He was always willing to reach forward a
hand to help others, and he regarded wealth
as a means to further develop the great re
sources of the country, and certainly his
foresight was great in the matter of oil and
oil refining. lie won a reputation here in
Pittsburg for charitable acts, and they were
generally of philanthropy in the widest
sense.
What Suggested Kier's .Experiments.
Charles Lockhart, as one of the Pittsburg
officials of the Standard Oil Company, has
handled millions of barrels of petroleum,
but it is safe to say that he thinks less of
their asgregate worth than he does ol five
or six barrels which, away back in 1852, he
sold to S. M. Kier, at Pittsburg. The story
Mr. Lockhart tells fits right in here. He
says:
What I tell you will make you readily
understand what suggested to Samuel II.
Kier the idea of refining petroleum. Across
the river Irom Tarentum there was a well
that had been sunk originally for salt water.
It had been producing that article for sev
eral years, when, along about 1652, it, too,
began to pump up petroleum with the salt
water. A man named Isaac Huff operated
the well, and I was clerking in Pittsburg.
Huff brought the oil to me, and I bought it
from him, turning right around and selling
it to Mr. Kier on my own account. In the
following year I took Mr. Kip. of Tarentum,
lntopaitnershlp with me, and bought the
Huff well, we running it as ourown. Then 1
entored into a new contract with Mr. Kier,
and here is the account I opened with him.
And Mr. Lockhart produced a small time
worn little account book, in which there
runs from page to pae entry after entrv ot
oil sold to & M. Kier. On the 19th of
March, 1853, there is credit given Mr. Kier
for 5174 69 lor seveu barrels of oil, or 62)4
cents per gallon. How's that for prices?
"What a moment for a bull ring!
six Tears Before Drake's Enterprise.
And this, too, only seven years after
Kier had ventured to DUt the greasy stull
on the market, and fully six years belore
Brake got down to solid work on Oil creek.
One alter another Lperused the items in
this book. Once I fiud Mr. Lockhart re
ceiving GGJ cents per gallon. Is it any
wonder that the petroleum magnate smiled
over the pages ol thi6 little book, and at
the same moment pushed aside a clearance
sheet, on which, perhaps, was written the
record ol 6,000,000 barrels. Mr. Lockhart
resumed:
When I thus began selling Mr. Kier my oil
he found that he had more than he could
market as medicine. .Mr. Kier knew that it
had a certain value also as au Illumlnant,
but to make it entiioiy successful in that
ine it would nave to be in some other than
its crude Btate. With a surplus of petroleum
on bis hands, therefore, lie got the idea
of putting it through some procesi wtiich
would separate the medicinal paitof it from
the other, or, in other words, to clarify it in
some niannerso that he might sell it both as
an Illumlnant and medicine- He went to
Philadelphia and consulted a chemist there.
The chemist suggested distilling the petro
leum, but offered no hints as to apparatus, I
believe. Mr. Kier came back to Pittsburg
and entered into some experiments.
Th Firt Ptroleuui Kefinery.
The result of them was that be set up a
small refinery on Seventh avenue, above
Grant street, where lie commenced to dis
till the petroleum. At first he used a one
barrel still. After this he enlarged this to a
five-barrel still, and I believe this is yet in
the possession of his sons, who hold it as a
.c-t n T7
V4
:
telie of the origin of a world-wide Industry.
Mr. Kier's business in refining oil from that
tims on was eminently luooessfuk HI
claim to betas the first oil refiner in the
country cannot be disputed, though I hear
some man in the East has been trying to do
that lately.
Mr. John X Kirkpatrick, who lives on
Fortieth street, Pittsburg, is at present the
principal owner in the Leechburg Iron
Works. He says:
I was in partnership with S. M. Kier in his
oil refinery tin Seventh avenue. He was the
first man in the country to appreciate the
value of petroleum, and he was the first man
to purify it by the ordinary refining pro
cesses. Although they might seem small
now by comparison, our operations then In
that flve-barrelj still we considered quite
large. The refinery was subsequently re
moved to Lawrencevllle. After Mr. Kier
began refining the petrolenm, it was used to
a considerable extent in Pittsburg for illu
minating purposes. Mr. Kier had been in
vestigating that snbject all the time, and
finally he invented a lamp-burner that
would fit any kind of a lamp, and which was
put on sale In Pittsburg. This was a burner
with four prongo, so arranged to lot in the
air and give a good clear light.
"William L. Kier, a son of the late S. M.
Kier, has a place of business at present on
Liberty street, near the Union Depot. He
sars:
The First Still Was Stolen.
The five-barrel wrought-iron still, In which
mv father refined oil before any other per
son had ever thought of such a thing, is still
In our possession. We preserve it as a curi
osity, and it is to bo seen out at our fire
brick works in Sallna. No, it is not the first
still father used, but the second. There is a
little story as to why we have not got the
small cast-iron still he first experimented
with. After he had been refining oil for
some time on Seventh avenue, people up
theie got afraid that the petroleum was too
dangerous stuff to have around In a thiokly-bnllt-up
section. They feared explosions
SAMUEL M. KIER.
tFroin the only photograph ha ever had taken. 1
and fire. Finally, the City Councils gave
father notice to move his refinery outsiae
the city limits.
Airungements were made to move the re
finery out to Lawrencevllle, which then bad
not yet been absoibed by the city. The ap
paratus and machinery bad been set out on
the pavement to await wagon?, and when,
sometime later. Investigation T as made, it
was discovered that the small cast-Iron still
had been stolen. Although be was using the
five-barrel still at the time, father held his
first still as very valuable, and a search was
made in all the junk jnrdsfor it, but with
out success. We have never heaid of It
since.
No, I don't think father ever thonght seri
ously of taking out patents on his refining
process. On a subsequent visit to the client
ist at Philadelphia, the chemist remarked,
upon hearing of the success of the experi
ments: "We missed it by letting this thing
slip." Ton can safely say that carbon oil
must havo been made by distillation by my
father aIon in the torties, for we have
papers showing sales of it in 1351.
Drake Comes to Tarentnm for Pointers.
To return, now, from the little Pittsburg
oil refinery to the villageot Tarentum, is to
suddenly stumble across a revelation,
startling because it is not generally known,
and important because it very materially
changes the face of petroleum lore. Three
persons tell me the story, each at a different
time, neither knowing that the other has
touchtd upon it in their respective
narrative Thus, each confirms the state
ments of tho other. Listen:
F. N. Humes In 1853 1 was cleaning out the
salt wells at Tarentum, when a man came to
me, giving his name as E. L. Drake. He said
he had come down to Tarentum to see the
manner and mode of drilling wells, especially
those wells which were at that moment pi o
duclng oil. It is an old tradition how the In
dians used to gather oil from the springs
along Oil creek in Venango county by soak-
ing their blankets in the water and then
wringing them into buckets. The oil got tho
name of Seneca oil in this way. I believe.
Well, after Mi. Kier got to bottling the pe
ti oleum in Allegheny county for medicine,
some Eastern people thousht they would re
sort to the old Indian fashion of gathering
the same kind of oil on the surface of Oil
nango county. These Eastern people mada
"oil of spike," horse liniments, etc., out o)f
this. It was some such venture by Eastern
people which brought E. L. Drake Into Ve
nango county about this time.
To Get a Driller for TituivlIIe.
Drake got the idea that if the oil came
up Into these springs from the earth, be
might get it in larger quanties by .."boring a
hole into the ground. He was unable to suc
ceed, however, and finally concluded to
come down to Tarentum and aee how we
did it heie. He Impressed me ?.s agreeable
enough, and he remained wih me at my
workaround then ells all that day. Then
he asked me, it he naid me gfood wages, if I
would go back to Titusvllla1 with him, and
bore a well tor him there.
Sovr, I had a contract with Mr. Peterson
at the time to clean these aralt wells out, and
I could not have broken it if I would. I
therefore declined Mr. Drake's offer, but
said that all our tools for the wells were
.made by a blacksmith Juft below Tarentum,
named William 6mtth, wnd that he might
get him to make the too'is for him, and rjossl
bly logo with him to Jlitusville to drill the
well which he proposad putting down. He
went to Smith, and in the following year
that individual made all the tools hero in
Tarentum, taking them with him to the
upper country, and! boring Drake's well for
him in the summet and fall of 1859.
Mare Testimony as to Drake.
William Kkedt I was in charge of
some department of Kier's salt woiks at Ta
rentum alonglabout 1653 or 1859, when this
man Drake, jrho is erroneously given the
Grandfalher Kenned;;.
THE
credit generally of discovering petroleum,
eame down there to see how thetork of
boring and pumping oil wells was per
formed. He ooaxed William Smith,. our
blacksmith here, to make tools for him ami
foup to Tltusville to bore a test well for
im. Smith made our saltpans as well as
tools for the wells, ana we liked him as a
faith rul workman, building him a new shop;
but the offer he received from Drake was so
much of an inducement that we could not
keep him, and he went up the river. By
and. by Smith sent us reports about oil up
there that seemed fabulous.
Ex-Mayor Louis Peterson, Jr. This man,
E. I Drake, could not have bored his fa
mous oil well near Tltusville without the
aid he got from Allegheny county. I was
managing my fatbor's salt woiks, be'ldes
B reducing oil myself there, when. In 1838,
rake diove up to our works in a sleigh. He
had driven clear down from OH creek. He
said he had tried to sink a well up there In
search of oil, but the bole caved In on him,
and ho did not know what to do. He want
ed some help from us, but I thought him
visionary and put him off. He looked
around among the wells at Tarentum, and
finally made Smith, our blacksmith, an offer
to make tools like be made for our wells,
and go back with him to Venango and Craw
ford counties. Smith promised to consider
the matter. Now, this man Smith was in
some litigation at the time, and 1 told him
that this was a good chance to get away
from this part of the country and get rid of
his trouble. He said he thought so, too, and
that ho believed he would accept Drake's
offer.
They Found Oeean's of Oil.
Along toward spring of 1839 Drake drove
hack to Tarentum in a sleigh and got
Smith's promise to go up to OH creek. Now,
Smith was an ingenious fellow, a jaok-of-all-trades,
and prided himself on his workman
ship, and when he told me he was making
the tools for Drake's venture I never felt
anything else than sanguine of success up
there. But some months after they got
down to work on the first Drake well, 1 got a
a letter one day from Smith late in 1859
which opened with these wordsi "For God's
sake, Mr. Peterson, come up heie. There's
oceans or oIL"
Well, perhaps if I had "gone up." as Smith
advised, I would have been better off to-day.
Smith also wrote advising other Tarentum
Seople to come up and lease land near
rake's well. Some took his advice. James
Kier and William Donnell were the nrst to
go, and Samuel M. Kier himself followed. 1
believe they all made more or less money.
Dr. F. R Brewer, of Pittsburg, owned
property near Tltusville, on which he knew
springs of "rock oil" existed. In 1853 he
received a letter from George H. Bissel in
quiring about it. Dr. Brewer assisted him
with valuable information. As the result
o! this correspondence1 Bissel & Eveleth
formed a partnership to collect this oil irom
water in trenches wliich they dug on land
that they leased near Tltusville. In 1855,
Bissel & Eveleth sold a third interest in
this lease to some New Haven capitalists,
and the "Pennsylvania Bock Oil Company"
was formed. It was this company that in
1858 employed Colonel Brake, of New
Haven, to try to sink an artesian well.
Digging for Petrolenm I
These early oil developments at Tarentum
terminated in perhaps the most daring .ven
ture ever undertaken in any oil region. It
is described by ex-Mayor Peterson as follows:
While managing my father's salt works at
Tarentum, 1 became impressed with the
growing value of this petroleum, or rock oil
as we called it. Through Mr. Kier's ventures
the oil had become worth anywhere from 50
cents to $1 per gallon. 1 concluded I would
improve any opportunity thereafter of get
ting oil myself. At this time Thomas Don
nelly was operating the salt well on the
Humes farm, not far from onr own property.
Peterson & Irwin, of whioh firm I was a
member, determined to buy the well. It
was only producing salt water, but I rea
soned that ir it was enlarged to the size of
the other wells there It too would pnmp up
petrolenm. But as we proposed imDroving
it and pumping for oil, a serious question
arose, viz: whether in letting the salt water
run to waste, as we proposed to do, we would
not violate the terms Of the Humes lease
which we were buying from Thomas Don
nelly, and lay ourselves liable to forfeiture
by reason of Humes receiving no rojalty.
his sole royalty being every twentieth barrel
of salt water. Therefore to extinguish Mr.
Humes' claim to any royalty we purchased
his whole farm, we paid him $20000 and
Mr. Donnelly $20000 additional for his lease.
Tben we reamed out the well, enlarging the
hole. This was in 1S56.
y A Demand for Oil at Baltimore.
'Sure enough, oil came, and a very valuable
grade of it,too. It produced from two and a
half , to five barrels per day. We found th at
a specimen of the oil that bad been sent on
to Baltimore was very successfully used in
oiling the wool made at carding mills there.
A demand for it was created in Baltimore,
lo thisVcity our e.ntire product went. There
was a ".middleman," hon ever, McKeown,
Nevln A Co , of Pittsburg. They handled
all our oik This continued until 1864, when
we sold tho well and property to Eastern
Seople for about ($150,000. The "Taientura
alt xnd Oil Company" was organized, the
Srinolpal stock being held in Philadelphia,
evt York and Brooklyn.
TJhls company conceived the idea of
d'lgging a shaft into the ground in search of
pll and salt watei. The Taientum wells
were only from 100 to 500 feet deep, and they
argued that it was practicable to get that
deep dow,i with pick ard shovel, and pos
sibly discover a monstrous cave of the
fluids. They selected a Bpot, piobably 100
j ards from the Donnelly well. They sent to
Europe and brought across the ocean a lot
of Coinlslimlnei. These men were taken
to Taientum and set to work. The hole
they dug into the ground was about 6x8
feet, and in many places larger.
Cornish Miners Seeking the drraje.
Two and a half years were consumed in
digging this shaft, and $10,000 was spent in
the work. Timbers 16 or 18 Inches square
were walled into the well in the upper part,
but when the rook was struck below no
wall was needed. Cast Iron pipes 8 Inches in
diameter were inserted to pump out the
water, so that the men might work uninter
ruptedly. The Cornish miners at length got dissatis
fied and quit work, going off to the copper
mines of Lake Superior. An agent was sent
to New Tork, where he gathered up another
corps of Cornish miners just over. These
worked lu the shatt for awhile, but they too
gave the employers trouble and bad to be
let go. Tben an effort was made to gel deep
mine diggers from Scotland, and two of the
men who were in a party, James and George
Jenkins, are still living up the Monongahela
river I believe. It was a huge engineering
scheme. Nine men worked in a gang in the
haft.
Iverllly believe some great result would
have been the outcome of this experiment
bad it been finished. It had reached a
depth of 400 feet, and we all notioed that it
had a marked effect upon the Donnelly well.
The salt water in the Donnelly well wai
,-.t:-AiJi&"iw
PJTTSBUR& DISPATCH,,
from 6 to 7 in strength, but it weakened to
8 ir the water In the shaft was allowed to
stand any length of time. It showed there
was some orevice or connection between the
two.
An Enterprise Spoiled by the War.
The digging of the shaft was finally aban
doned in the datkest period of the war from
the necessities of the time. A New York
man named Ferris, and William MoKeown,
of Pittbnrg, bought the property. haft and
all. The daring piece of engineering was
neglected, and Anally it commenced to fill
up with cinders and dirt, until at last it was
level again u ith the surfaoe or the ground.
You may walk over It to-day and I could
point it out to you if I was up tnere. Dig it
out and yon vdl find those oast iron pipes
and timbers still there, Just as they were
originally pnt it.
Mr. Peterson's story brings one point out
pretty clearly, and that is that be went to
work" improving the Donnelly well in
1856 for oil exclusively. This is important to
remember in view of the statement some
times made in Drake's behalf, that if he
was not the discoverer of petroleum alter all,
he was the first man to sink a well solely
for petroleum. He did that in 1859. Louis
Peterson practically did it in 18561
I should be stated that some persons in
Tarentum say the real reason why work
in digging the big shaft was discontinued
was because natural gas was encountered,
and it flowed into the well so freely that all
laborers became afraid to stay down in it
any longer.
Virtue of the Grease,
In this connection a clipping from a
prominent French publication which has
lately been going the rounds of the Ameri
can newspapers is interesting. It is as
follows:
Dr. Blache states, in the Bulletin dt Thera
paitlqite, that a refiner of petroleum having
been prohibited Dy a prefect the distribution
of petroleum in medioinal doses, the fact led
to an Inquiry being made as to its alleged
utility in affections of the chest the native
Sett-oleum from Pennsylvania and Virginia
eing that first experimented with. Dr.
Blache states, as the result, that in obronio
bronchitis, with abundant expectoration, it
rapidly diminishes the amount ot the secre
tion and the paroxysms of coughing, ana in
simple bronchitis rapid amelioration has
been obtained; its employment in phthisis
has been continued for too short a time as
yet to allow or any opinion being delivered
as to its efficacy beyond the fact that it
diminishes expectoration, which also loses
its purulent character. The petroleum is
popularly taken in doses of a teaspoon ful be
fore each meal, and, after the first day, any
nausea which it may excite in some persons
disappears.
And, now, these different thoughts and
reminiscences inveigle still another into the
mind of every intelligent reader, viz.:
Hadn't that monument better be erected
over S. M. Kier's grave in Allegheny Cem
etery? The Story Is Dramatic
So, here is a group of men still living
who once called this useful petroleum "a
mysterious grease!" They remember hand
ling it when it had no commercial value.
They either aided or watched the progress
of aPittsburger who sought to give it a com
mercial name and a marketable value. That
man's associates have been recalling those
curious days in these memoirs.
This group of Allegheny county people
watched it run to waste at first. Then they
remember paying $1 per gallon for it when
a Pittsburg man had made it known pretty
well all over the United States. They re
call Drake's visit to Tarentum, and tell of
the aid he procured there. They bold their
breath when they think of the gold that
changed hands in Crawford and Venango
counties after William Smith, of Allegheny
county, bored the test well up there for
Colonel Drake.
Then this group of men watched the
flow of petroleum as it set out toward Eu
rope in exports. They will tell you how 40
casks of it were sent to Prance in 1860 as a
curiosity, but how 3,940 casks went from
Pennsylvania to Prance in 1863 as a com
mercial adventure. Since then they have
seen this same "mysterious grease," that
used to flow over into the Pennsylvania
Canal at Tarentum they have seen it
grease and light the whole world
irom Egypt's pyramids to Paris' salons.
In 1888 some genius attempted to tell how
many oil wells bad been bored into Penn
svlvania's bdaom. He said there had been
57,000 such holes put down, and about 400,
000,000 barrels of oil taken out of Pennsyl
vania's loins. Let him try it now, since the
Washington, the Shousetown, the Mc
Donald fields have been added, and he
would probably give it up.
A Half Century of Growth.
Thus, have this group of men lived to see
their lour sait-ano-ou wens ol Tarentum
multiplied beyond calculation, and the
"odd mysterious grease" bubbling over the
most immeasurable calculations in barrels!
Do the gentlemen composing this group
occupy a position dramatic in thf marvel
ous events their memories review?
Well, if they do, it might be impractica
ble for them all to attend the Columbian
Exposition at Chicago. But if the public
of Allegheny county appreciates the won
derful growth of a famous industry which
these stories prove Allegheny county to
have originated, why should they not send
to the World's Pair some relics ot the start
of the oil business? Por instance,
the still with which Mr. Kier
refined oil is still in existence. Mr. Lock
hart's little account book, which shows
that he sold petrolenm as a marketable
commodity six or seven years before Drake
began his well, is in the Standard Oil Com
pany's office, on Duquesne way, at this mo
ment Mr. Peterson, who at present lives
on North avenue, Allegheny, can no doubt
add documents of interest Involving his
operations in searching for oil exclusively
as early as 1856.
What a notable feature it would all make
in the Pennsylvania exhibit at Chicago I
L. E. Stofiki
THE BIGHTS 07 WIDOWS.
Some Iiegal Points of Present Interest Dis
cussed by a Female Lawyer.
A widow is just as free to engage in busi
ness and to bind herself by legal obliga
tions as a man, savs Mary A. Greene in
the Chautauauan. But her right to a share
in the property of her deceased hnsband is
a right arising out of the previous marriage
relation and is affected by the ancient laws
concerning that relation.
At her husband's death she is entitled to
the use and income for her life of one-third
of his real estate, and this "dower" is hers
whether she ever had any children or not.'
The rest of the real estate goes to the hus
band's heirs.
The widow's share of personal property
varies in eaoh State. Asa rule she has one
third of it and the children two-thirds. If
no children are living, or 'their descendants,
she has a larger share, one-halt in some
States, the whole in others.
As the widow is- legally competent to
transact business she can be appointed ad
ministratrix of her husband's estate and
guardian of the children.
THE GENIUS OF WEBSIE8.
Similar' Trails of Character to France's
Famous Victor Hugo.
"There is something In Webster that re
minds me of Victor Hugo," says James
Bussell Lowell in JTarper's Magazing. "There
is the same confusion at times of what is big
with what is great, the same fondness for
the merely spectacular, the same insensibil
ity to repulsive details, the same indiffer
ence to the probable or even to the natural,
the same leaning toward the grotesque, the
same love of effect at whatever cost; and
there is also the same impressiveness ot
result.
"Whatever other effect Webster may pro
duce upon us, be never leaves us indiffer
ent. We may blame, we may criticise, as
muoh m we willj we may say that all thh
fhastlineis is only a trick of theatrical blue
Ightj we shudder, and admire nevertheless.
We may say he is a melodramatic, that bis
figures are magic-lantern pictures that
waver and change shape with the eurtain
on which they are thrown; it matters not,
he stirs us with an emotion deeper than any
mere artifice oould stir."
Fits All fits stepped free by Dr. Kline's Great
Nerve Restorer. No at! after first day's ate. Mr
velons eur, TreatUe ana SI 00 trial bottle free t
yit cues. Dr. Kuae. Ml Arch St., Phil,, Pa. fa
I &L J &ka.ac2
SUNDAY, ATTGUBT 7.
DRUNKS IN CONGRESS.
Mr. Watson Would Have Had Spasms
Bad Be Lived a Century Ago.
SOBRIETY IS THE RULE NOW.
In That Elder Bay Everybody Carried Off
a Jag Once la Awhile.
SOME AMUSINGLI TIPST STATESMEN
CcOjmiSrOjrpENCE qp the msFATCH.1
Washington, Aug. 6. Herbert Spencer
calls attention to the enrious economic para
dox that it is those who are least oppressed
that first revolt that slaves seldom rebel,
but freemen on whom some slight burden is
laid often da The French in 1789 rose and
cut off the head of the best.King they bad
ever had a King who abolished serfdom,
remitted taxes, prohibited torture and es
tablished reforms for the benefit of the
working people. America plunged into a
revolution against a mild monarch to get
rid of a 3-cent tax on tea. When Bepnblics
are proclaimed it is noticeable that a good
crop is generally harvested. Bloody strikes
are always inaugurated by men who get the
highest wages.
So it is that where drunkenness is com
mon it attracts no attention; it is only
where it is very uncommon, indeed, that
men are shocked at It. That is to say, it is
the abnormal only that is considered worth
noticing or recording.
Wouldn't Have Counted a Century Ago.
A hundred years ago a man would have
got merrily laughed at for staggering into
Congress and making a maudlin effort at
oratory, and few would have considered it
really disreputable, but no newspaper
would have thought it worth mentioning
and no committee would have investigated
it. When half of the men in the land oc
casionally or frequently got drunk, a spor
adio case ot tipsiness caused no comment.
The fuss that is made over a transient
and doubtful lapse of temperance on the
part of three or four members Is a very
high tribute to the general sobriety of this
Congress. Since the close of the War for
the Union drunkenuess has become, for the
first time in the history of the human race,
thoroughly disreputable, not only in Con
gress, but in all public bodies and in society
everywhere.
Has there been a scandalous exhibition of
drunkenness in Washington in a year by
any well-known man?
As late as when Kossuth was in this city
inebriety was common. The banquet in his
honor was held at the National Hotel;
speeches were made by Cass, Webster,
Shields, Seward and others, and several
prominent guests got into such a condition
that they had to be helped away from the
table.
A United BtatesJadge Drunk.
There was more intemperance in the Sen
ate in 1804 than there is to-day, but it
brought to the bar and tried for "habitual
drunkenness and profanity on the bench"
one of the United States judges, and the
man was convicted. The city was a dreary
mudhole theu, full of ague and monotonous
misery, and there is no reason to marvel
that Congressmen when they left their un
finished quarters drank deeply, bet heavily
and amused themselves with dog fights and
cock fights. There was not only bad rum
in those days, but there was plenty of
rough-and-tumble prize fighting in which
men lost their eyes and noses. A tall gal
lows appropriately stood at the loot of
Capitol hill.
We have fallen on curious times, indeed,
when a man cannot get drunk in publio or
be seen emerging irom a gambling saloon
without injury to his reputation and credit.
Different, indeed. .was it in the good old
heyday of "Blifil and Black George," when
Pendleton kept open his "palace of for
tune" on the avenue, and presided at a
sumptuous dinner every day at five, in full
dress, and surrounded by 20 or 30 members
ot the House and Senate, Cabinet Ministers,
generals, diplomats and judges, attracted by
the pleasures of the duplex table the faro
table immediately succeeding the dinner
table. The cusine was presided over by
an artist; the wines were bought at auction
when bankrupt German Dukes sacrificed
their cellars; everything was luxurious; and
scores of distinguished gamesters chssedthe
ivory chips around the green baize till the
morning came in with its glow.
Luck of a Minister to China,
Humphrey Marshall beipg appointed
Minister to China in 1852, dropped into
Pendleton's the night before he started to
play "one farewell game," and he lost all
the money he possessed, his entire outfit
and six months' pay in advance and then
Pendleton lent him money enough to carry
him to the flowery kingdom where he
doubtless taught the funny game to the
almond-eyed Celestials. And when the
good Pendleton died the Mayor of Wash
ington and Senators and members bore his
pall, and President Buchanan wept at bis
funeral. And there was no scandal about
it, and no reporters watched, as they now
would, to see who went in and out at
Pendleton's. Ahl Times have changedl
But even that day was visibly more cir
cumspect than society in England a hun
dred years earlier, for then it seems to have
been the fashion ior every man to get
drunk at every dinner of ceremony he at
tended, ior servants were on hand whose
business it was to loosen stiff cravats of
gentlemen when they slipped or rolled un
der the table, so that they would not choke
to death. Perhaps the story told by Pren
tiss is not too familiar to be repeated, how
the god-like Daniel made a maudlin speech
at a dinner here one night, his hearers shed
ding inebriate tears, when a Kentucky
member, in a frenzy of whisky and patriot
ism, jumped upon the table and shouted "Be
form or revolution! Liberty or death!" and
flung an empty champagne bottle at the
head of the great expounder of the Consti
tution who hiccoughed defiance as the
crystal missile whizzed by him and crashed
against the opposite walk
No Confirmed Drunkards Nowadays.
In this Congress there are probably some
scores of men who take a drink occasionally,
but there is not a confirmed drunkard in
either House. Even the half dozen who
sometimes drink too much have not lost
their self-respect, and they pay to temper
ance the tribute of concealing their weak
ness. There is no man in either House so
nnconsoious of the disgrace of drunkenness
as McDougall or Tom Marshall used to be.
Even poor Saulsbury made bis way into the
Senate one day about a month after he had
ceased to be a member of it, and, being in
terested in the bill under consideration,
leaned on a convenient desk, and, address
ing the Vice President, said he would like
to offer a few reasons in favor of its passage.
The Viee President kindly reoognizedhim;
his late colleagues forebore to call him to
order; but after he had been talking a
minute or two, a member took him by the
hand and whispered a word in his ear and
retired with him to the oloak room.
There were two other men ot irregular
habits in the Senate about the close ot the
war both from border States. But, like
Saulsbury, they were gentlemen even in
their tipsiness. and careful not to make an
exhibition of their infirmity that would be
publicly injurious.
One of Senator IngalU Trials.
Many will remember a remarkable scene
in the Senate within a very tew years. A
member of that body persisted in speaking
when he oould not maintain either his bod
ily poise or lingual equilibrium. The
President quietly ignored him and went on
for some minutes with, other business in
spite of his clamor. ,
"Mr. President, as I was saying "
"Report from the Committee on Terri
tories, ' said Mr. Ingalls in the chair.
"Here, stop!" exclaimed the unbalanced
Senator to the reading clerk, "I will not be
interrupted!"
"Is the gentleman from Virginia endeav
h
!&jb:afe9u;., . . . ,.jJLia, ..,.. . tfsfa-..j.(w., .,.... - ?'-
1892.
oring to address the Senate?" asked the pre
siding officer, coolly.
"No, it!" was the response, "the
gentleman from Virginia is addressing the
Senate!"
He rambled on, not to say maudled, but
finally consented to be led away. Indeed,
among the stories told of the House when it
met in what is now Statuary Hall, Is one of
a member who was permitted to keep his
valet in the cloakroom to take care of him
when he became helpless, and another of a
chairman who caused great amusement and
consternation by suddenly insistinc on go
ing to bed, gavel in hand, under the
Speaker's desk. Such things do not happen
now.
Clay Had a Good Constitution.
Every honse of social standing in Wash
ington CO years ago was equipped with a'
sideboard furnished with choice wines, and
every visitor was regaled with brandv tod
dysingular and plural. But the habit of
constant drinking seemed to be, with many,
an insurance against sottishnes. Mr. John
P. Coyle, author of the forthcoming "Fifty
Years of Men and Mann en in Washington,"
tells me a good story told him by Mr,
Gales:
"Clay and I," said Mr. Gales, "had sat at
a poker table on Capitol Hill all night, and
we started homo just at daylight. He lived
at Brown's and I was afraid he would never
get there, because we had drunk so much.
He said he would get home perfectly well.
I said: 'Well, Mr. Clay, I bete that you
will not go to the House to-day.' 'Why
not?' he asked. 'Because vou are so tired
and you will be sick,' I sail Very anxious
I went up to the Capitol in the afternoon,
and there he was in'the Speaker's chair, as
self-reliant and clear-headed as ever. After
adjournment I saw him. 'I didn't lie down,'
he said, nor sleep a wink. I just went
and took a bath and got a shave and a
breakfast, and I never felt better in my
life.'"
Drunk on All Big Occasions.
There were three terrible drunkards in
the House just 0 years ago the last year
of Clay's service Tom Marshall and Jim
Sprigg, of Kentucky, and Felix McCounell,
ot Alabama, all Whigs, I believe. Tney
were all of them regular rounders, and
liable to disgrace the House any time.
Marshall, In fact, was pretty sure to be
drunk when anything great was expected
ot him. I have seen him attempt to lecture
before a large and refined audience when he
was unable to stand and coolly sat down on
the floor and talked conversationally to
those who were not too disgusted to remain.
"Jim Spriggs" drank as much as he could
get, and was made very happy by it. One
night he had a bar-room fizht with a loafer
and had an ear bitten off. "We welcome
back to Kentucky," said Prentiss in the
Louisville Journal, "all there is left of our
gallant fellow-citlzjn, Hon. James C.
Sprigg."
Felix McConnell should have been named
Infelix. He was a very brilliant and
erratic member, quick at repartee, witty,
well-informed and the delight of the House
when on his feet, drunk or sober. But he
was sensitive and humiliated, and one
morning just belore his term expired he
committed suicide here in this city.
But why multiply instances? With in
creasing civilization come improving man
ners and morals, and even if it were not a
logical deduction it must be obvious to all
careful observers in Washington that every
Congress has been more sober and better
behaved than its predecessors. Of the wis
dom of the Fifty-second Congress it does
not become me to speak, but probably not
one has contained so many total abstainers
from spirituous liquors since the Republic
began. W. A. Croffut.
THE LITTLE MOONS OF MARS.
Their Discovery by a Washington Astron
omerSomething About Their Con
dition. 'Washington Star.
The moons of Mars were discovered a few
years ago through the telescope of the
Naval Observatory at Washington, by
Prof. Asaph. He will be actively in
terested in the observations of that
planet and its new-found satellites
which will be made by astronomers all over
the world. Since the discovery of the
moons in 1887 this is the first opportunity
afforded for examining them, inasmuch as
they are so small as to be perceptible only
at close range. Once in every 15 years Mars
reaches its nearest point to the earth.
Eight weeks hence it will be within 35,000,
000 miles of us, whereas its greatest dis
tance is 141,000,000 miles. Great interest
attaches to the matter, because this sister
world is so much like our own in respect to
its climate and other conditions that it may
reasonably be supposed to be inhabited.
There are at least 20 moons in the solar sys
tem. Satnm alone has eight, the biggest of
them, Titan, being nearly twice the size of
our moon; aad Jupiter, possesses four, rang
ing in dimensions upward from Europa,
just about as large as the orb of terrestrial
night, to Ganymede, greatest of all known
moons, with a diameter of 3,480 miles,
whereas the moon belonging to this world
is only 2,160 miles through.
Though our moon is supposed to be dead
and cold, similar conditions are not assumed
to govern all the satellites ot the sister
planets. Some of these pertaining to
Jupiter are believed to emit lights of their
own, showing that they are still hot. How
ever, astronomers are usually eager to find
evidence of life on other spheres,even discov
ering on the earth's attendant orb apparent
traces of mighty works of engineering arti
ficethe imagined certain creation of races
being long extinct such as the stupendous
bridge that appears to span a crater of the
moon volcano called Eudoxus. Eclipses
are every-day affairs on Jupiter. Three of
its satellites are eclipsed at every revolu
tion ot that mighty gioDe, so mat a specta
tor there might witness during the Jovian
year 4,500 eclipses of moons and about the
same number of the sun by moons.
One of Saturn's moons, called Mimas,
about half the size of the earth's satellite,
is so close to the planet in its circling that
it seems to cross the lace of the latter at an'
astonishing rate of speed. Of the seven
others, Titan has a diameter of 3,300
miles, Iapetus 1,800 miles, Khea 1,200 miles,
Dione and Thetys each COO miles, while
Euceladus and Hyperion are very little fel
lows. Several of tbem in the sky together,
with the flaming ring of star dust stietched
athwart the heavens, must make a gorgeous
spectacle by night on the Saturuian
sphere. Through the telescope it is very
interesting to watch the shawdon a thrown
upon Jupiter by that giant planet s moons,
observation of .the eclipses of which fur
nished the first data tor estimating the
velocity of light. Uranus has four little
moons Ariel, Umbnel, Titania and
Obc-on which, funnily enough, rise in the
north and set in the south. A single
diminutive one, belonging to Neptune,
traverses the sky from southwest to north
east. Neither Mercury nor Venu3 has any
satellites. But the most interesting ot all
moons are the two that attend Mars, each
about GO miles in diameter. That planet is
just one-halt the size of the earth; its surface
is divided into continents and seas, having
as 'much land as water; it Laau atmos
phere, clouds frequently concealing its face,
and its seasons are about the tame as here,
though the waters are colder.
Some Tarts Auont Tors.
Some authorities insist that the great toe
ought to project farthest, others that it
should not project quite so far as the second
toe; while others, again, maintain that the
two should be of equal length. It is well
known that in antique statues the second
toe is usually the longer of the two, while
the first is longer in living men.
, Inhabitants of the Deep.
Many of the dwellers of the deep seas
have no eyes, and are, therefore, unaffected
by the total absence of light, which is one
of the characteristics of great ocean depths.
Others, besides having irom 1 to 100 eyes,
carry torches of phosphorescent light, which
natnre has kindly provided for the denizens
of the deep.
( -
I
vm
ckj15;
t,s-
WRITTEN FOR
BY DORA RUSSELL,
Author of "Footprints in the Snow," "The Broken Seal," "The
Track of the Storm," "A Fatal Past," Etc.
SYNOPSIS Off rBETlOCS CHAPTERS
Two lovers, Sis James SiacKennon, Bart., and MI33 Miriam Clyde, are standing by the
seashore, and tho former Is urplng her to name the weddlnr day. She pleads for delay. In
the meantime an accident ooonrs, a soldier being wounded oy a firing party. Miriam bind
up his wound and saves his life. Qlancing at each other's face a mutual recognition takes
Elace. On arriving home the doctor who was summoned to the wounded man gave
er a note whioh the soldier had hastily scribblod. It contains the words "For God's saks
keep my seoret." Miriam, by means of Dr. Beed, sends to her soldier-patient a brief mes
sage, "Do not he afraldl" which he receives as bo is lying in the hospital. In tho meantime
Miriam's mother, Mrs. Clyde, makes up her mind that her daughter shall be married to Sir
James in a month, and tells her so. But Miriam, thinking of a life dearer than her own,
banging in the balance, pleads earnestly for more time. Mrs. Clyde writes to her other
daughter, Joan, who is married to hard and stern General Conway, asking them to the
wedding. Conway thinks it's a good match, bnt pains Joan by intimating that Miriam
should not so soon forget another affair in which his nephew was the hero. He and Mrs.
Clyde a free it is best to hurry the wedding for fear Sir James should hear of that. Miriam
is obstinate, and pets Sir James to ask Mrs. Clyde for postponement. Colonel Clyde is
unable to change Miriam's mind. She worries herself sictc, and Dr. Beed is sent for. By
means of notes through him, Miriam and Private Dare arrange a clandestine meeting.
Miriam tells ber secret lover ho must leave the country. He says he would have to buy
his way out of the army. At her next meetinz with Sir James she asks him for the neces
sary money, and ho gives her double the amount. Then she arranges another clandestine
meeting, and just as she is returning to her room in the,nlght Mn. Clyde catches her. Mrs.
Clyde suspects the truth, but Miriam refuses to tell her. Dare meets Ford and gives her
the money to Rive back to Miriam. Mrs. Clyde decides to have the weddlnrr at London, and
she and her danghter go there. The weddln? occurs and it so affects Joan that in her
sleep she speaks the name of "Kobert." Her hnsband hears it and the first doubt as to her
faithfulness enters his mind. Then on her return home Joan becomes ill with fever and
raves about Bobert. The Colonel begins to suspect the truth. Robert had loved Joan. At
a meeting in the garden Hugh Ferrars, wbo loved Miriam, mistaking Joan for Miriam, hi'l
shot Robert dead. Miriam, in order to shield Joan, testified that It was she who was with;
Robert. The Court holds that Robert committed snicide. Miriam and her husband takes
continental trip and tben return to the castle of Sir James' mother in Scotland. The old
lady receives Miriam rather coldly. In his anxiety, Colonel Clyde goes to Scotland and
demands of Miriam the truth. She denies everything. Sir James' mother overhears the
conversation. She tells her on. He refuses to believe. Hugh Ferrars writes to meet Joaa
once more. The letter comes to the maid, Ford. Sir James at la3t suspects.
COPYRIGHT, 1392,
CHAPTER. Xft,
PLAYEfG "WITH FIRE.
'Ton will see," replied Lady MacKen
non, grimly, and naturally Sir James felt
exceedingly annoyed.
But he tried not to show this to Miriam.
They had planned to pay a visit to the wife
of one of the neighboring lairds in the after
noon, and now he asked her to go out with
him to inspect the kennels, and the horses.
Miriam was fond of animals, and she there
fore went at once to put on her hat, and
went with him, and Sir James never hinted
to her how his mother had disturbed him.
He felt, however, so angry with the dowager
that he determined to stay no longer at
Kiutore.
"I think we have had about enough of
this little one," he said in the afternoon as
they drove by loch and brae, and mists crept
round them; "the truth is November is not
the season for the Highlands, and I think
we would be jollier at Halstone with the
reeiment?"
1,When do yon think of going then,
James?" answered Miriam.
"Well, we must give the old lady some
ANOXHEE LETTER
notice or it wonldbe a dire offence. Suppose
we say the beginning of next week?"
"Very well; I shall be quite ready,"
smiled Miriam.-
Thev then talked over their plans, and
spoke of the house they meant to take at J
Halstone, as long as sir James regiment
was quartered there, and Sir James'
spirits rose at the idea of a change His
mother had depressed and worried him and
he was glad to go away from her. He was
very cheerful at dinner in spite of the sour
looks which Lady MaeKennon continually
directed at Miriam, and Miriam sang and
played to him during the evening, and Sir
James felt quite happy as he hung over the
piano and turned the pages of her mu'a
Lady MaeKennon sat reading in her easy
chair, and presently Sir James went up to
her and told her that they intended to leave
Kintore on the following week. The
'dowacer's thin blue lips quivered as she re
ceived this communication, but for a
moment or two she made no comment.
"I suppose it's not gay enough for you
here," she said, bitterly.
"Oh, it's not that, mother, but I have to
go on duty."
"I thought you had two months' leave,
James,'.' replied Lady MaeKennon.
"At all events we are going next
week," said Sir James", who was not unwil
ling to show his mother how deeply she had
annoyed him about his wife, and Lady Mae
Kennon made no further remark on their
leaving.
But the next morning at breakfast when
Sir James was as usual opening the letter
bag and drawing out the letters, he thought
lessly gave a little exclamation of surprise,
as he lifted one in his hand and looked at
the address. He had at the moment for
gotten what his mother had said the morn
ing before, orie probably have made no re
mark. "Why, Miriam, here's another letter,"
he said, "for that maid of yours, in the
same handwriting as the one she got yester
day, and yes, actually it has been posted
at Strathloe. Her young man must have
followed her here. "
As he said this he looked at his wife, and
he ww that Miriam had suddenly grown
very pale, and in an instant his mother's
Insinuations recurred to him. He glanced
15
'MM
Miff
)WM
-i
THE DISPATCH
BY DORA BUS3ELL.
quickly and uneasily at the dowager, and
she looked at him in return, and then at
Miriam's agitated face. There was a sort of
grim triumph in ber expression, and her
looks said very plainly "I told you so."
Sir James, however, ignored his mother's
glance. 'He rose quietly and wifh a certain
dignity of manner a moment later, went to
where his wife was sitting at the breakfast
table, carrying the letter addressed to Ford
with him.
"Here's your maid's letter, Miriam," he
said, and he laid it on the table beside her.
"Thank you," she answered, '1 shall
give it to her," and she put out a trembling
hand, and turned the letter with the di
rection downward.
A great restraint fell on the little party
after this. An uneasiness he could not
subdue was in Sir James' heart; fear and
anxiety in Miriam's; and bitter satisfaction
in Lady MacKeunon's. But strained mo
ments pass like pleasant ones, and pres
ently Sir James, having finished his break
fast without his usual appetite, rose and
went to the window, and stood gazing
vaguely out on the blue-green waters of the
loch. His attitude, somehow, was unlike
himself, and Miriam glanced at him un
easily. Then she rose and went to his
FOB YOUB MAID.
side, and pnt her band timidly on his ana,
after first putting the letter addressed to
Pord in the pocket of her dress, an action
which the dowager's keen eyes duly noted.
"What are you going to do, James?"
said Miriam. He turned round and looked
at her.
"Anything yon like, dear," he answered.
"It's not very fine is it?" continued Mi
riam, now in her turn looking vaguely at
the loch.
"No, it's-not; look at the mist stealing
dawn from 'the hills, but it may clear up
later," said Sir James.
"Perhaps alter luncheon; if you want me
to go out 1 shall be upstairs goodby for
the present then," said Miriam with a
somewhat forced smile, and she was turning
to leave her husband's side, when he put
his arm through hers.
"I will go with you as far as the hall," he
said; "then I'll go and look at the horses, I
think"
He was determined, in fact, not to be left
with his mother, and Lady MacKennou
quite understood this, and a souV and bitter
smile distorted her gray-tinted floe as the
young pair disappeared together Upm the
"She U nlnvlmr with fire." she thousfi
"and some day James will know it, or
they who have sown the wind shall reap the
whirlwind.' "
In the meanwhile Miriam and Sir James
were standing for a moment together at the
foot of the broad staircase.
"Will you come out for a little while 1
I come for vou in half an hour?" he said
"Yes, I s'ha'l be very pleased," answ
Miriam; "I shall be ready in half an
He stooped down and kissed her
feeling of protecting love for
heart.
"Poor little woman," he s
turned away. He lit a cig'
among the horses and do'
feel very happy. He
from Kintore, and f
hated the memorr
MacKennon's f
Ford's letten
from himself
mistakably as
"Somethini
be?"heaskea
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