Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, December 25, 1892, Page 17, Image 17

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    L
'T'
THIRD PART.
PITTSBURG. SUNDAY. DECEMBER 25, 1892,
W-bL Y SOKE PEOPLE A T?-"FJ USTOT G-Xi.D OUST THIS HVLIEJIRIEt" OIOIIR-ISTIMI.A.S OZEWSTIISra-.
THE
PITTSBURG
DISPATCH
- - - Pk&fllWU. ; :- "1
THE CBOPJF COAL
In West Yirginia Is Only Bi-
ralcd t)y the Great
Lumber Supply.
GROWTH OF A FEW YEAES.
The Immense Eegion Which Should
Be Tributary to Pittsburg.
EFFORTS OF COMPETING CITIES.
Territory to Ee Thrown Open by the llor-gantown-Uniontovn
line.
THE FUTURE OP THE FARMER EOUTII
tFKOJt A STAFF COERESFOVDENT.l
CA3iDEi.--ON-GAUl.Er, AT. Va, Dec. 24.
This place it representative of the great
region with which it is so desirable for
Pittsburg to open up reciprocal trade. If
any one had predicted four years ago that
there would be a town at this point he
would have been laughed at It -was in the
midst of an apparently inaccessible wilder
nets, where deer and bear still abounded
and where even the log cabins were many
miles apart
Xow Camden-on-Gauley, as it has been
named, is at the terminus of the Camden
Railway system, so far as it is in operation.
The line is- still being pushed to "Washing
ton, to join wjth a branch of the Chesa
peake and Ohio, but this is the extreme
point in the interior which has yet been
penetrated by the shriek of the lecoraotive
whistle.
Camden-on-Gauley now has a lumber
plant employing COD men, with a capacity
for sawing 60,000,000 feet a year. The logs
can be floated down three streams to this
point Gauley river, Williams river and
Cherry creek. There is enough timber
within easv reach to keep the mill and em
ployes busy for 30 years.
Almost a Direct Line.
The accompanying map shows that Cam-den-on-Gauler
is almost on a straight line
.south r Pittsburg, and will" be eaiy of ac
cess when the Baltimore and Ohio branch
Irom Morgautown to Uniontown is com
pleted. This branch is marked on the map,
but about 20 miles of it are still
to be constructed. A road is now
some hundred miles or more farther South,
as it must eventually, another remarkable
region will be in communication with Pitts
burg. That is the Pocahontas coal and iron
ore district, located partly in Virginia, but
mostly in West Virginia.
The" only line now running throngh this
section is the Norfolk and Western exten
sion. The country is so wild as to baffle
description. The "railroad follows what is
known as the Flat-top coal vein, and the
only settlements are around the collieries.
Nothing is grown not even potatoes. The
only crop is coal, but ot that the supply is
inexhaustible. The development has prae
ticallv only commenced, and so far the rail
road company, wnich owns and leases most
of the land, has averaged a profit of 5900 an
acre.
therefore excusable. When ConccllsviUe
coke is hauled to Chicago ior making Besse
mer steel, .in every 100 carloads there are
hauled 10 carloads ot ash. In 100 carloads
of New river coke less than five are ash.
There is gas coal enongh to supply all the
leading cities in the country. Fourteen
thousand cubic feet of 18 candle power gas
can be made from every ton, and when in
many places the natural gas gives out 00,000
feet of gas can be made from a ton of this
coal, better, too, than the natural gas it will
supplant"
In speaking of the Pittsburg vein Mr.
Hotchkiss said: "There is no other known
bed of such continuity in thickness and in
character as this which has given such a
reputation to Pittsburg. West Virginia
has 5,000 miles of this into which she has
juffln
riii ihiiih
RELICS OF BIG VALUE.
The Archaeological Collection
Thos. Harper, of Allegheny
of
WILL BE IN CARNEGIE LIBRARY
If the Councils Provide ' nitable Cases for
Its 1'eception.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE WONDERS
WMTTEN FOB TITE MSPATCH.l
The man who lives an active business life
and yet finds time to pursue a course of
scientific study is rare and worthy of more
than passing notice. As a rule, knowledge
is acquired as a means of worldly advance
ment, but ne who spends time and large
sums of money in studies an'd investiga
tions, which lie entirely outside the line of
his business, cannot be accused of selfish
motives, and must be acknowledged to pos
sess the spirit of the ideal scientist.
One such man is Mr. Thomas Harper, of
Allegheny. While engaged in carriage
making lie has become well versed in
archrcology and antbropologv, has made a Tei.s not t0 be
UUA11U J. TUi: JCEW KIVEit,
That the West Virginians do not exag
gerate their coal claims is proved by such
an authority as Major Jed Hotchkiss, of
Staunton, Va. In discussing the subject he
says: "West Virginia has three great coal
measures, each 1,000 feet thick. Coming
down the New river among the rugged bills
whore towering summits extend in almost
perpendicular lines toward the heavens we
see the first great measure, and when from
the Falls of the Kanawha we look up to
the hills from which the Indians made their
arrow points of flint we have seen the first
1,000 feet of coal. Following down the
valley to Charleston another 1,000
leet of coal is passed, and when:
the Ohio river is reached at the
mouth of the Kanawha the third great
hardly stuck a pick. It extends to the
Great Kanawha. The Kanawha and Michi
gan is now shipping it from the Raymond
City mines, but at few other places have
mines been opened. It is practically un
touched and can be counted on for an
aT :rage of at least six feet of coaL"
Can Be Multiplied a Thousand Times.
After a moment's reflection the Major
continued: "I once asked Governor Flem
ing how much the assessed value of West
Virginia's 22,000 square miles of land was.
He said it was $120,000,000. Vahderbilt
could buy in and Bell us all out. But this
valuation does not express our real wealth:
It is entirely within che bounds ot reason
to say that these 16,000 square mileJ have
an average thickness of ten teet of coal un-
i S "" D 4,leSh'n CltjWITTSBURG . "-'"v'---'-
' laV.-, A-F Sffi&&?' X aonBw srHrV u't
Wh-lf South XSp-J -, tSpencef , ""IK OkliMjA XlJ&kK
J wcnjNSSE fclV '7 WV C Ij J
jl ,,,f7iT fJ-S4teutCoy Wsrttto Oxford
built along the stream running from Sutton
to Charleston known as Elk river. Among
other features which Camden-on-Gauley
boasts, though only two years old, is a 550,
000 hotel, and the pioneers of the place are
confident that it will be the leading city of
Central West Virginia in the near future.
An examination ot the map will show
that the Camden system penetrates the
very heart of a wide territory reached by
no other line, and that Pittsburg should be
the denot of supclies for the entire region.
The branch which strikes out at Weston
penetrates to Pickens, where there is an
other great lumber plant, one of the most
exteuse in the country. Farther east is the
new river country, where hundreds of thou
sands of dollars are now being invested.
The coke made from the coal of this district
commands a higher price than the Connells
viils article, and is claimed to be the best in
the world.
When the railroad dsreloDment extends
measure has been passed. Just think of it I
Three thousand feet of coal measures. They
are not all alike. We have here what no
other portion of the United States has a
coking coal field 90 miles long and 15
broad. Maps of other States show fields of
this coal 15 miles long and 1 broad and they
are considered large. They have 25,000
acres of coking coal; we lfave a million
ceres. That is the comparison we can
make.
Derails of the Kntnral Wealth.
"To go into particulars," continued
Major Hotchkiss, "there is a mine in the
Pocahontas field that is well nigh as high as
this ceiling, where you could drive a coach
and four through and never touch their
heads. In that prince of coal fields the
Nutialburg the coal may be safely count
ed on not to yield more than i per cent of
ash, not more than 20 per cent of volatile
matter and to contain 76 per cent of matter
for making heat Comparisons are needful,
der them. On this basis we emild multiply
the real estate assessment a thousand time's
and still not touch it You can hardly
dream of such enormous wealth of re
sources Cincinnati is making a great effort to se
cure the trade of this section of the State,
and convince the people that the city most
noted for pork and beer is their proper
headquarters. To a certain extent the work
has been successful, but there is everywhere
a most friendly feeling for Pittsburg, which
only needs acquaintance and cultivation.
Bancroft.
Holiday Excursions via Pennsylvania
Lines.
December 24th, 23tl). SSth and 3lst, 1892, and
Jnnuarv 1st nud 2d, 1893. excursion tickets at
low round trip rates will bo sold from sta
tions on the Pennsylvania lines west of
Piltrtbuig to points on those lines In West
ern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Kentucky ana Wps Virginia lie turn
coupons valid uutil January SCU
special study of the mound builders, and
has one of the finest collections of relics
taken from their graves in thispart of the
State. At great trouble and much expense
he has obtained representative specimens
of almost every implement known to have
been used by them, hence his collection,
numbering 2,000 specimens, is gathered
from all over the United States and irom
Central America and Alaska.
Corresponding With European Curators.
He is now in correspondence with the
curators of the various European museums,
desiring to exchange relics for which he has
a duplicate, in order to be able to compare
the implements used in the European stone
age, which was from 1,500 to ,000 years
earlier than that of the New World, 'with
those found in America,
On inquiring what led him to make re
searches along this line, also what motives
served to keep up his enthusiasm, "ne re
plied: "When a boy my curiosity was aroused
and fancy stimulated by the daily sight of
the prehistoric mound at McKee's Bocks. I
then began gathering Indian relics, and have
ever since been collecting. I especially de
sire my work in this direction to benefit the
young. It was easy to find relics when I
was a bnv, but is not now. and the youth
,hss no-risible reminders of our predecessors
in the land. 1 una In this study recreation
and unlimited pleasure. I believe the
Mound Builders were a more ancient people
than the red Indians, and perhaps may have
been driven southwestto Mexico by the lat
ter, "and by the Aztecs, who in turn dis
placed the Voltccs. I find ample reward in
tne tnougnt that I may De increasing the
sum of human knowledge on asubject about
which so little is known and so much con
jectured. Whenever I feel the need of a
stimulus I te-read the life of Humboldt,
who spent his vast fortune and thought
nothing hard, if by his researches he might
ngnten the labors ot posterity.
To Be Placed In Carnegie Uhrary.
At the request of Librarian Stevenson,
Mr. Harper has generously offered to place
his -collection in the Carnegie building as
a loan, provided Councils supply cases
for its reception. The matter nbw rests
with a committee.
A view of it is instructive and interest
ing. .Arranged artistically on the shelves
ot a revolving case, he has arrow heads and
spear points ranging from the meresr point
to the spear point six inches in length.
They are ot obsidian, flint, jasper and ame
thyst, and are many colored. Knives and
wicked-looking, double-edged and sharp
pointed obsidian daggers look for
midable even in these days of steel
weapons. There are stone . resem
bling big and little turtle shells taken
from a mound found near the quarry
at Flint Bidge, Ohio, from which flint was
taken in prehistoric times. The flint was
put in this shape for convenience in trans
portation. Spades and hoes, broad and flat,
having an indenture around the top where
they were fastened to a wooden handle, and
by long use having acquired an excellent
polish for some distance abovo the sharp
ened edges, tell that the ground was culti
vated in ancient days.
There is a large assortment of stone bat
tle axes, which vary from 1 to li pounds in
weight. Tbey are principally made from
syenite, grooved for a handle," and are pol
ished by use. Weapons of this class were
all made by being rubbed with another
stone. Mr. Harper has experimented on
them and estimates tint it would take con
stant work for at least five years to make
one so hard as the stone.
The Handle of the Ax.
One pecularity of the American stone
age is that none of the axes are found with
a hole for a handle, while in Europe many
have this bole. A syenite ax from Bussia
itf-ereen, flecked with black, finely polished
and the hole for the handle is as perfectly
drilled out as if the material were wood and
the method modern. This work was done
with the little sharp-pointed drills made of
flint, and of these there was a number of
various sizes. In shape tbey resemble an
arrow head somewhat, except "that they are
thicker in proportion to their width. Orna
ments and weapons seen prove that this
people used the bow-drill, which was hol
low, as partially drilled implements show a
core, which could only be caused by a hol
low drill. Many fine specimens, which
all bear a "family resemblance,"
are supposed to have been used in cere
monials. The general shape is that of a
bird with wings outspread; a perforation,
supposed to be tor a stall, runs through the
middle and they are highly polished.
Mr. Harper h'as one, the like of which is
not in the Smithsonian collection, and he
believes it to be the only known one of its
kind He has noted the singular fact that
certain of his ceremonial relics represent
the different phases ot the moon, from new
to full.
To Count Enemies Slain.
A number of oddly shaped relics are sup
posed to be pendants and amulets. In all
are holes through which thongs have evi
dently been run. Some are scored on the
sides in uneven fashion perhaps to keep
count of enemies slain asitwas not even an
attempt at ornamentation. There are tones
supposed to have been used in playing games.
Most of these are convex on the sides, with
a slight Indentation for the finger and
thumb, A specially fine one Is black,
highly polished' and concave on the sides.
The edge describes a perfect circle. Pestles
and mortars taken from mounds in the
West show fine workmanship. The mor
tars, are perfectly symmetrical bowls and
the pestles are made from the hardest stone,
some of the latter being highly polished.
Those unpolished are worn smooth, just
where the hand clasped them while pre
paring food. It gave one an uncomfortable
nearness to those dead women of centuries
agOj to handle these implements worthy
their touch, that was suggestive of spirits.
Celts or chisels of varied size are many,
clumsy, as they would of necessity be
when made of stone, but all having very
sharp edges; also, scrapers used in remov
ing the skins ot animals.
Pipes of All Sizes and Shapes.
There are pipes of all possible sizes and
shapes taken from graves, and some ot these
are beautiful. One, grotesquo and black
ened with use, is the image in miniature of
a grizzly bear with staring eyes and grin
ning teeth. Another of odd shape has a
face rudely sketched on it. The most
artistic in shape and decoration is of the
red catlenite. This pipe is polished and
handsomely inlaid with some metallic sub
stance resembling lead.
"It must not be understood," said Mr.
Harper, ''that smoking was a daily habit
among this people. Their prophet and
wise men smoked to propitiate the spirits
before entering on any new undertaking.
Civilized man has made a habit out of that
which was the religious ceremony of a savage."
specially noticeable among numerous
included in tne general
classifications is a Inn!? strinsr of Indian
wampum and beads, made from shells and
grown like chalk with age, the last named
taken from a grave.
They Hade Good Pottery.
Marking the advancement of this people
toward civilization is their pottery, of
which a varied assortment was seen. A
large round-bottomed pot of modern shape,
used for cooking, is from a mound in Ar
kansas. A vase might have come from
Pompeii, so far as shape is concerned.. A
unique water bottle is surmounted with a
bonneted head, with a place for a thong
around the neck. Another has a rim around
the bottom exactly similar to that on mod
ern ware, while one is very like the kettles
we hang in front of gas fires. These two
last are known to be at least 700 years old,
by the trees that grew on the mounds in
which they were found. From the pre
historic Zuui, in New Mexico, is a large
cream-colored basic, ornamented with regu
lar patterns in black and red pigment
A number of curious pieces are from
Chiriqui, Central America. So long had
tbey been buried that the bones had re
turned to dust, but, owing to the stone
covering each grave and the dry conditio:
of the earth in that region, the pottery is
well prescrveri. Most ot the vases and
vessels are conical, as if intended to be set
in the soft earth; and all "are covered with
red pigment On one is the figure of the
hooded viper, a decoration found on much
of the Chiriqui pottery.
Burled Many Centuries Ago.
Of great interest were some curious look
ing copper implements' found under a huge
stump in Michigan, together with bones and
stone implements. This crave had been
made before the tree, which was centuries
old, had taken root AH were beaten out
of the copper, as the art of smelting was un
known. A knife is flat on one side, the
edge beveled on the other, and was intend
ed to be fitted into a wooden handle. It re
sembles the modern carving knife in shape.
a ceii, insveaa oi Demg rounueu use ine
stone celt, is a rude approach to the modern
chisel. An arrowhead is thinner than the
flint arrowhead. Another, supposed by
Mr. Harper to be an arrowhead for shooting
fish, has a stem and a cross piece at the top,
similar to that on an anchor, which would
prevent it from passing into the victim.
A flat piece of copper, having a place for
a handle on one end and a slit through
which to pass a thong near the other, is ac
tually a needle. The change from it to the
needfe of to-day represents centuries of
progress; but primitive though it be, no
doubt it made easier the labors of someone
in that faraway time.
IiAURA WlTHBOtV MClLEOT.
AMONG XMAS BUYERS.
A Busy Time in the Pittsburg Bead
quarters for St. Nicholas.
FUNNY SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
A Few Hours in ('ne of the Fig- Mercantile
Establishments.
THE DISPLAY OP CHBI8TBAS TREES
rWMTTIN TOE THE PIiPATCH.t
"Jes' buy onel Jes' one!" x
"What, are you stuck?" I asked, looking
at the pile of papers under his arm. There
were only three, and it was early in the
afternoon.
"No, I ain't stuck!" returning the look
rather contemptuously, and glancing at his
diminished pile of newspapers. Then the
rook turned to one of smiling entreaty, and
"newsy" repeated it:
"Jes' one; jes one. You see Christmas is
comin'."
And it was, in two days. The DISPATCH
had sent me out to find Christmas cheer. I
found it at the very door.
A little later I was carried by the cur
rent of a crowd into the doors of an
immense establishment, where people
I In i
Oimme the Infants' Department.
SIX MILES ON A C0WCATCHEE.
a be
Was
Terrible Ride of a Man Ttlio
Struck by a Limited Train!
Ciiicago, Dec. 24. Charles Griggs, a
was taken to his home
la., last night, snfiering
nervous shock of a
escape. He was struck
limited on the
traveling at the
drug clerk,
in Keokuk,
from the
hair-breadth
by the iMilwaiikee
Northwestern Bailroad,
surged to and fro, pushed and crowded.
It was like the grinding of a handful of
wheat between the burrs, when you tried to
stop. The in-goers pushed vou -ahead, while
the ontgoers shoved yon the other way,
punimeling your side and arms with their
bundles.
In a Crush of Bargain Se Iters.
Somehow I landed in a crowd of women
and a sprinkling of men, around several
tables, on which was a mixed-up mass of
cheap books. Dickens', bound in cloth,
nt ?3 75 a set; Longfellow's poems,
Owen Meredith's "Lucille," Scott's
"Marmion," each bound in leather, at 51;
"Seven Lectures on representative Men,"
by Emerson, at 47 cents; a pocket edition of
Shakespeare, in a handsome case, ranging
from S3 67 to $11 34, according to binding;
E. P. Boe's novels, at 80 cents apiece;
"Scottish Chiefs," "Dora Thorne," "Gulli
vei's Travels" and "Arabian Nights," st 47
cents apiece; books ranged from 4 cents
upward.
And such a scramble! Men and women
pushed and crowded, trampled on toes and
snarled angrily at each other whenever
rate of 45 miles an hour, and carried six
miles into Evanston on the pilot ot the
locomotive in an unconscious condition,
Though black and blue with bruises, not a
bone in his body was broken.
Mr. Griggs was bewildered by trains ap
proaching Irom opposite directions. With a
forlorn hope be jumped into the air. He
was struck by the trout of the engine and.
dropped naif stunned on the- pilot, where
his hands instinctively clutched the braces.
None of the trainmen saw the accident '
Doctors fear the nervous shock will prove
fatal.
GAS TUENEU ON AT PABKERSBUHG.
The Happy, Deluded Populace Swallow a
Promise or Lower Bates to Come.
PAltKEESBURG, W. Va., Dec 2i.Spc
aal Natural gas was turned on here to
day, and Parkersburg has high hopes that
the new fuel will help to boom the busy
town. The price charged is 20 cents 1,000
feet, but it is promised that this rate will
be lowered. Two hundred application-, for
gas have alreaJy been made, and there are
not enough plumbers in the place to make
connections as they are called for.
The company supplying the city controls
the gas fields of Wirt. Pleasant, Tyler,
Doddridge, Ritchie and Wood counties,
and the supply is practically inexhaustible.
'iilip
iil'i
1(111'
'1
Eer Triumphal March.
W0BKINGHEN AND POLICE.
A Enbor Demonstration In England Vtlilch
Was Feared by the Authorities.
Bristol, England, Dec. 24. A great
fforkingmen's demonstration, in which
thousands of gasworkers and dockmen took
part, was held in this city to-night The au
thorities bad expected the demonstration
would be attended with disturbance, and had
taken the precaution to obtain troops from
Aldershot; but with the exception ot a tew
slight scuffles with the police, no disorder
occurred.
A detachment of military cleared the
streets at a late hour. A few casualties are
reported,
favorite corns happened to be stepped on.
You would have supposed they were all
litterateurs, if you hadn't pushed in among
them and beard the expressions nsed. Bui
occasionally yon noticed tne careful book
buyer, who examined closely the print and
binding, and uas particular in the selection
of hisuthors. I noticed two women, one
pulling and nudging at the other, trying to
get her away from the books.
"Ain't you going to buy that silk?" she
would say.
"I don t think I will," the other answered
ruefully gazing at the pile ot books she
had purchased, and then peeping into her
flattened purse.
"Those books were straight this morn
ing," said a saleslady, "and now look at
'em."
Peculiarity of the New Father.
And I did look at that conglomerated
product of the work of wearr brain, and
those myriads of fingers diving into thr
pile, and fled wildly up the stairs, until I
collided with a man, who was going my
way, a smile on his face as broad as rour
hand, exclaiming: "Gimme the infants' de
partment." He found it on the top floor. But there
were girls behind the counter. His smite
changed to a loot: of despair, as he rushed
to the floor-walker and exc!aimeT:
"Can't I have a man wait on me?"
And not stopping for an answer, he
turned and walked down stairs.
On I went through the difierent depart
ments. Everywhere there was the same
pusning crowa, casn girls running hither
and thither their arms piled high with the
purchases of bargain-getters and Christmaj
buyers. The most unhappy individual I
saw was the saleslady, who had worked
hard all the year to build up a trade. A
crowd of women, pressed around her coun
ter, refusing to be accommodated by the
other ladies, clamoring in a chorus for Miss
Jones, to wait on them, while poor "Miss
Jones" was tired enongh to drop in her own
tracks.
Buying for the Opposite Sex.
It is amusing to note how women were
foundin men's furnishing and other stores
at which articles masculine are found, and
how men, on the other band, were to be
seen absently parading drygoods and fancy
stores, with a vague purpose of procuring
something that should please the girls, but
with no idea of the best way to accomplish
their object It is a question whether the
man or the woman is more at a loss in
stores with which they are not acquainted.
A man seen in a drygoods store, trying to
buy lace handkerchiefs, was a pitiable ob
ject He was told that this lace was "gen
uine duchesse," and be saw a little square,
no larger than his hand, the price of which
was calmly quoted at $20, accompanied by
the information that the lady was sure to
appreciate the gift When he was told that
a lady is always "dving to possess a
duchesse lace handkerchief," he determined
to buy it, no matter how bad a bargain it
appeared to him.
Bat a woman in a gentleman's furnishing
store was no better off than the man among
lace handkerchiefs. She went in to pur
chase a pair of suspenders, that being con
sidered the correct thing to present a gen
tleman this year. There they were, bejew
eled, embroidered in the daintiest of floral
patterns, with gold and silver buckles, and
no buckles at all, snch daintv designs
and of such beautiful materials that
they seemed almost too nice for men
to use as an article of , dress.
The maiden blushed, as she saw that bewil
dering heap of straps and webbing, which
she knew in a general way must be sus
penders. The clerk showed her that the
suspenders were strong, by pulling them,
and telling her that the ends would never
break, and that the main material never
stretched. But she cut him oS with the re
mark that she didn't know anything about
that. She wanted the prettiest pair, and
she got them, and the young man who is to
wear the articles will feel like a circus
when he gets them on.
Statistics of the Business Done
One music house reported that they were
selling on an average 16 and 17 pianos a
day, most of them to be delivered last
night
In the jewelry stores small fortunes
were being expended on diamonds, silver
sets, bric-a-brac, eta, for Christmas pres
ents. Smithfield street and Fifth avenue were
alive with humanity, moving in opposite
directions, with constant friction of the
"rub" "rub" of sleeves, up one side and
down the other, with jutting branches into
the stores, big and little. Every street car
arriving from the different parts of Pitts
burg and Allegheny increased the
flow. It is estimated that the
Pittsburg and Duquesne lines and
the Citizens' line carried about 40,000 pas
sengers each on the big davs of the week;
the Pleasaat Vallev, Manchester and Cen
tral lines at least 20,000 each. The railroads
handled at least 35,000.
An amusing scene on Wood street was a
woman, her arms piled high with bundles,
keeping measured steps to the "tump,"
tump" of two drums, beaten by her two
little boys, who headed this triumphal
Christmas march.
What the Postofflce Did.
At the Fostofnce yesterday and each of
the two days preceding over 500,000 letters
and 300,000 packages were handled. The
business of the express companies increased
to their full capacity. Tne crowds on the
streets were great. y increased on Friday,
when fully 50,000 'school children, wilder
than young colts, were turned loose for the
holiday season.
A turn in the market showed stalls piled
high with turkeys, chickens and ducks,
great barrels fille'd .with cranberries and
hickory nuts. Bunches of celery as white
and crisp as a snowy morning, and apples
as rosy as the cheeks such a day would pro
duce w"ere everywhere. Wreaths and fes
toons marked the aisles, little pigs with
lemons in their mouths looked not a bit un
happy over their untimely fate, but, orna-mented-by
a bunch of brilliant berries,
seemed rather to enjoy the prospect
of taking part in the general
feasting. Turkeys sold for from 18 to 21
cents a pound: chickens, 16 to 18 cents a
pouud; ducks, 17 to 20 cents a pound; geese,
15 to 16 cents a pound; rabbits, 50 to 60
cents a pair, venison saddles, 20 to 22 cents
a pound; pheasants, SI 50 a pair; prairie
chickens, SI 25 a pair; mallard ducks, SI 25
a pair;tsqmrrels, 25c to 30c a pair. So you
could get a dinner at almost any price you
wished.
Somehow a lone 'possum had strayed in
and hung himself up in a corner, in among
the rabbits and the turkeys and the ducks.
A funny little old colored man had cl
bowed up through the crowd and got near
"dat 'possum," as he expressed if, smack
ing his lips and sticking out his tongue as
if he rolled there a piece of " 'possum and
'later." His tattered hat was in his hand,
but he sremed unconscious of the cold,
although only a little tuft of woolly white
adorned his copper-colored pate, as he ex
claimed: "TJm! Urn! De place for dat
'possum am in de gribbiin' pan,"
Where the Trees Were Sold.
But the crowning event of Christmas is
the Christmas tree, and to the center of their
supply the Christmas buyer gravitates.
Across the Sixth street bridge and up Fed
eral street to the Diamond square, in Alle
gheny, the tree-buyer wended his way. The
vacant space in the square was a North
of Maine pine woods: the hardy
seller the woodsman. Here was
the market of Yuletide greens. Spruce,
hemlock, pines, mistletoe, hollies,
laurels, bewildering, bewitching meshes
of greens, packed closely into in
terwinding labyrinths. With night
fall the scene became weird and 'witching,
if you gazed only at the scene and turned
not your eyes to' the right, where loomed
the white walls of the Carnegie Library and
the city building, or upward where the
electric lanterns on the towers spangled
the darkness with their mellow lights, or
to your left down Fcdxral street to the busy
marts filled with shoppers. Imagine ltl
an immense array of green, a carpet of
snow, fur-capped, heavy-coated individuals
trotting about among the trees,and between
all the darting, meager ray of an occasional
gasoline lamp. Trees sold for from 75 cedts
to ?3 apiece. C.
MODEST JIM SEWARD.
The Only Ohio Democrat Since 1852
to Cast an Electoral Tote
AND THE ONLY OHIO DEJIOCKAT
Who t'efases Positively lo Have Hfa Pict
ure in the Papers.
NOT SO RET1BIXG AS TO OFFICES
roiixflporDxscn! or the oispatch.i
Mansfield, O., Dec. 24. James P.
Seward, who has the honor of being the first
Democrat since 1852 to represent Ohio in
the electoral college, is one of the best
known- men in this part of the State, and is
known all over the Union, as he never
misse a National convention. He began
attending conventions in 187GL As a result
he has met and is known by the leading
politicians of the country. It has been a
good school for him, and he has become one
of the best managers on the Democratic side
of Ohio political life.
Mr. Seward is always in office in this
county, and sometimes holds several. Ha
has been prosecuting attorney, member of
school board, Children's Home manager
and has filled various other offices com
manding more honor than fees. He has the
Democratic orgauization of Bicbland
county somewhere in the vicinity of his
vest pocket, and bos been.known as "Boss"
Seward for years. No one here attempts to
deny that he and a few others parcel oat
offices to themselves, their brothers and
friends about as they see fit Mr. Seward
has-been at the head of the County Execu
tive and Central committees three times
each, and is always a member of one or the
other. He is a hustler on election day, and
no one controls more Bicbland county voter
than he.
He Was a Bill Democrat
But for some reason Mr. Seward has not
been in the political whirl for a conplo
years. He tried, as usual, to pick winners,
but mostly failed. He was not a Campbell
man, never liked Colonel Brice, and next
to himself, was heart and soul for Senator
HilL Jim wants the boys to get at the
offices, and Mr. Cleveland's slow execution
was not at all to his liking. So Seward
rested on his oars the J art campaian, and
his strong lungs did not expand in deep
declarations of patriotic "I am a Demo
crat" utterances.
But there is another reason Seward's
voice waj not heard at the county Demo
cr.i tic gatherings. He gave to the country
Hon. Michael D. Harter, and at present he
is not especially satisfied with himself for
having done so. In the convention two
years ago, Seward held 42 of the 53 rotes of
the Bicbland county delegation. At the
close of the first day Seward had SG votes
the highest cast for any candidate at that
time. There had been 77 ballots, and all
the candidates- felt sure of the victory.
Balloting continued the second day until
151 were taken with no greater prospect of
a choice than at the start At this point
Mr. Harter made a deal with Seward that
he was to have the solid Bichland delega
tion tor three ballots, and if he failed of a
nomination, he was to withdraw in favor ot
Seward. Mr. Hartergained a little strength
in two ballots, and in the last one, Ashland
county started a rush for him, and in the
end he had votes to spare.
Why Seward Led the Ticket.
Seward has not fully recovered from hit
surprise and did not feel like helping his
opponent in the election, though he would
undoubtedly have been sorry to have him
defeated. Seward is always a fair fighter,
and when he is defeated at the primaries or
in convention, he keeps bis followers in
line, though he mav not always make as
great a noise in doing it as some might
think becoming.
Mr. Seward's name was placed at the
head of the ticket because he was the first
elector-at-large named before the conven
tion, and it was simply a ma'ter of courtesy.
He claimed a chance of election from the
first and based bis claim on just what did
happen, the blundering of voter:,
Mr. Seward is now 42 years om, j;4iat
he was just two years of 'age when his last
Democratic elector before him voted for
President. He was born in Knox county,
thfis State, in 1850.
One characteristic of "Boss" Seward is
his modesty. He always positively refuses
to allow his picture to anpear in a news
paper. It mar be an ambition to be the
only modest politician on record; if so, he
may feel that it is satisfied.
F. A. Paekee.
THE GK0WTH OF 1ES HAIB.
A Lone Balloon Journey.
The recent balloon journey of M. Mallet,
the French aeronaut, lasted 3G hourx, and
would have been the longest on record if
he had not landed for a time in the middle
of it He left Villette on October 23, at 6
p. 3L, and next morning landed at Alsace,
to clear the snow irom the balloon. At the
end of 22 minutes he started ngain, and
landed near Coblenz at 3 p. m. An hour
f and a halt later he landed once more in a
vallev of the Tauna Mountains, and finallyt
on October 25, at 6 a. m., at Walhen, in
Hesse.
The Peculiar Way Certain Kinds of Diet
Act Upon the Hirsute Growth. -
Washington Star. '
The influence of diet upon the growth or
hair is the subject of a paper in which the
writer says: "Several cases of shedding of
hair after influenza has confirmed my opin
ion that diet has much to do with the pro
duction and with the cure of sympathetio
alopecia Hair contains five per cent of
ulpli ur, and its ash 20 per cent of silicon
and ten per cent of iron manganese.
Solution of beef (or, rather, part of it)) -starchy
mixtures and even milk, which con-'x
stituto the diet ot patients with influenza'- "
and other fevers, cannot supply these elt- -ments,
and atrophy at the roots and falling '
out of hair result ' J-M
The color and strength of hair in Jounggf.-
mammals is not attained so long as milXis-.!
the sole food. As to drugs, iron has promptf rs
influence. The roods wnicn most aound--
antlr contain the above named elements are?
the various albnmenoids and the oat.t
ascof that grain yielding 22 per cent ot silU
con. f
I have often found a dietary largely cora
posed of oatmeal and brown bread to greatly
promote the growth of hair, especially wheal
the baldness was preceded by constlpatloal
and sluggish capillary circulation. Those
races of men who consume most meat i
thojuost hirsute.
are
rnrx diamonds, ruDtes, emeralds, :t.pi
phlres, opals and other precious stoneUsl
in all the latest styles, at M. U. Cohon's.iacl
Fifth avenue. We set all our own goods amtl
save you joooers proms- j
Ci.