The Scranton tribune. (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, August 05, 1896, Page 9, Image 9

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    THE SCBANTON TEIBTTNE WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 5, 1890.
TERRACE BUILDERS
OF OLD MEXICO
AMtlcr Race of Prehistoric Architects
' , ,', Discovered.
slayers. A young lady stappsd up to
HONORS BESTOWED BY QUEEN . .VICTORIA.
nd asked to see epys' Diary. "WedasVt
keep them," said the youth blandly, "bat
we have th Cxoelator." Extremes asset.
and the salesman In this same book store
who wrote down aa order for tits T" arhi
at Markua I'Relius could scares' toast
of a college education. He was a ooili
bred youth, however, but unacqualntea
FOUND IN NORTHERN MEXICO
Sloan Where Now There It Not a
Hssdful of InhabitantsNot a Ar
rowhead Found, Hut Some Rude
Implements and Pottery.
J. W. Mitchell. In New York Herald.
. To the vanished races ot the mound
builders, the cave dwellers and the cliff
dwellers, American archaeologists will
henceforth have to add another class of
prehistoric architects In tho peopling of
the western hemisphere the terrace
builders of Northern Mexico. This dis
covery was the result of an expedition
sent out this winter by the United States
bureau of ethnology Into Northern Son
ora, the most northwesterly state of old
Mexico.
The expedition did not go primarily to
look for prehistoric ruins, but that Is
"another story," and the finding of these
remarkable remains in a region hither
to considered barren of ruins of any
tort was strange and Interesting enough
to alone have repaid the labors of the
party.
Imagine a great stretch of country,
big as any one of the New England
states, a maze of black frowning moun
tain ranges, broad alluvial valleys and
scattered buttes of fantastic shape; a
land that Is a garden for a few short
weeks In spring and a fiery furnace for
the balance of the year; a region where
the scattered ranches may be counted
on the Angers of one hand and the In
habitants themselves scarcely know the
trails from one to the other; and then
fancy almost every butte and mountain
wrought more or less completely Into
terraces, like to the hanging gardens of
Babylon after ten centuries of drought,
Snd you have a fair Idea of the land of
the terrace builders.
But this description must not be taken
amiss. The monuments to the Industry
of this vanished people, when taken
singly, are neither magnificent nor stu
pendous. Neither do 'they Indicate any
great amount of engineering skill more
than Is necessary to lay a very excellent
quality of rubble masonry with the ma
terial generously quarried by nature al
ready to hand. But, taken In the aggre
gate, the work Is enormous, bespeaking
a swarming population and a social con
dition which it is hard at this time-to
appreciate or understand.
To account for them, however, it is
not necessary to resort to any wild or
romantic theories. Too many such
myths have already been exploded by
the practical, painstaking ethnologist
of today. The idea of a distinct and
mysterious race to account for the
mounds of the Ohio and Mississippi val
leys, has long ago been settled In the
negative by that hardest of field-working
scientists, Major Powell, while the
same hand, seconded by the researches
of Frank Cushlng and others, has
traced back the genealogy of the Pueb
los to' the time when their ancestors
peopled the cave and cliff houses of the
Manchos Canyon and the Canyon du
Chelly, and still later Carl Lumholtz has
found the wild and scattered fragments
af the same race still Inhabiting dwell
ings of the same sort in some of the
most inaccessible mountains ot Old
-Mexico. -
A LOST RACE.
So It may be safe to suppose, for the
present at any rate, that the vanished
architects of the terraced mountains in
' Sonora were the progenitors of some of
the peaceful tribes that were struggling
to hold their own aglnst their fierce No
madic neighbors, the Plmos, the Apa
ches and the 'Serl, when the country was
first opened to settlement by the Span
lards. But none of the tribes then ex
isting had any records or traditions con
necting it with the terraced mountains,
and there Is, so far as known, no men
tion even In the Spanish records of these
strange antiquities.
Teri years ago, when Bandalller was
carrying on his Interesting researches
among the ruins of New Mexico and
Arizona, he penetrated a short distance
Into Sonora, but, finding that the ancient
Pueblo ruins characterized by Casa
Grande, Qulvlra, and by the modern
Znnl had disappeared entirely, he re
turned to report the country barren of
ruins of any sort. This region being
cut orf on the north by the forbidding
waste of the Arizona desert and on tho
west by the even more desolate shore of
the California gulf, untouched by rail
roads and scantily watered throughout.
It Is little wonder that other scientists
were willing to take the pioneer's word
for It and that region remained a terra
incognita to the ethnologist.
The expedition 'which ut length
brought these hidden ruins to light was
in charge of Professor W. J. McGee,
chief archaeologist of the buren of eth
nology, a scientist of national reputa
tion, and a conscientious Held worker,
but.one whose fame among his associ
ates is based almost as much on the ec
centricity of using no periods after his
Initials as upon the number of mono
graphs he has written. With the party
was Wlllard Johnson, of the United
States Geological Survey, as topogra
pher, and, through the courtesy of Pro
fessor McOee, I was Included In the offi
cial capacity of photographer. A Mexi
can driver, whose chief characteristic
was a mortal fear of Serl Indians, and
a Papago Interpretcr.whose strong point
was his unlimited capacity for eating
and sitting still, completed the outfit.
The first of the terraced mountains
visited was a comparatively small one,
overlooking the very ancient and sleepy
town of Caborca, an isolated, dusty
speck of town, whose only claim to
fame lies in having been the scene of
the now almost forgottoit massacre of
Crabbe and his hundred American fili
busters, almost half a century ago. This
Caborca Trinchera Is a fair specimen of
its sort, though not large. All of the ter
raced mountains are known as "La
Trinchera," the Entrenohed Mountain,
by the local population, and they calm
ly speak of their entrenched mountain
as though the name were distinctive
and there were no other in existence.
But they have lived so long in its
shadow that they do not regard it with
amy more interest than any other part
of the landscape. The only interest it
has for them is to furnish ready made
"melates," or grinding stones. And this
may account for the scarcity of imple
ments of any sort on the various moun
tains visited, for they must have served
from time immemorial , as treasure
houses ot -worked Stone for the wander
ing Apaches, PI mas and Papagos, all of
whom have, at one time or another, had
their range over this .territory.
' ' . V POOR DEFENSES. .
"' As a matter of fact, the term "en
trenohed mountain" la misleading. The
terraces, except in few cases, do hot
seem ' particularly adapted for pur-
poses Of defense. The Caborca moun
tain to s ragged butts of black basalt
COLONEL MALCOLM. C. B.
INew Peer.
Queen "Victoria's annual list of birth
day honors Includes many prominent
men In England ad her dependencies.
Three peers were created. They are the
Marquis of Oranby. Mr. Heneage, and
Colonel Malcolm. The marquis Is the
eldest Bon of the Duke of Rutland, and
was born in 1852. He was educated at
:ton and Trinity college, Cambridge.
with scattered Veins of hardened vol
canic ash. It is perhaps three
fourths of a mile along the backbone,
from end to end, and a third longer at
the base. It rises about five hundred
feet above the valley, the land it over
looks being a rich alluvial plain, covered
for the most part, With a ragged waste
of giant cactus, mesqulte. ironwood,
cut's-claw and every other horned,
splned and prickly thing that grows in
this inhospitable region. In the few
spots where the land has brought un
der ditch, however, it is fertile and pro
ductive, and the same may be said of
the valleys overlooked by every one of
the Intrenched buttes. They would
seem to have been a comparatively re
tired and sheltered aerie for a peace
ful agricultural people who planted
their crops In the valley, but felt the
need of a retreat from predatory foes.
The most conspicuous of the many
pieces of work on the Caborca Mountain
Is a long and strongly marked wall run
ning almost the entire length of the
mountain side, two-thirds of the way
from base to . summit At the south
west end this work gives the Impression
of a defensive structure. The wall Is
from four to six feet on the outside of
its points of greatest height, and the flat
terrace formed by filling In behind this
rough masonry Is protected by a wall
two feet high at the outer edge. It Is
at this point that the work Is approach
ed by a fairly marked trail, that be
comes quite a well defined and graded
road fifty yards' below the wall. The
road approaches the wall at a sharp
angle, and on entering the break
doubles bark on itself at an equally
sharp' angle In the other direction, so
that with the aid of a rude sort of bas
tion thrown out.from this point the en
trance Is fairly well protected. This is
one of the points that gives the strong
est color to the theory of defensive in
trenchment. HOUSE CIRCLES.
The side of the mountain Is seamed
with several deep gorges, and the ter
race and its sometimes accompanying
wall cease at these breaks, but on the
points overlooking the gorges there are
small terraces, with circles of rock two
or three feet high,, like sentry boxes.
These may have been stations In which
the defenders might command the ap
proach, or perhaps only "house circles,"
like scores of others scattered all over
the terraced portions of the hill. These
"house circles" at Caborca are largely
confined to' the upper parts of the hill
and far above the main wall. The rings
of stone, which we came to call "house
circles," seemed to have been either
mere wind breaks, or else simply a
foundation on vn',on to rnlon a imjer
structure of thatch, skins tr matting.
They were from eight to twelve feet
across and from two to four feet high,
A few had the remains of a fireplace in
side, and occasionally a bowlder "In
polished to a glassy smoothness, similar
polished to u glassy smotohness, similar
to the paint grinding stones of the Pap
agos today. ' . r
Doth at Caborca and at the Greater
Trinchera of San Rafael Allmlta the
southern slope was the one which had
received the createst attention In ter
racing. Whether the exceedingly steep
northern face had been neglected In
each case because of Its natural de
fenses, or whether it had been too steep
to admit of terracing for living pur
poses, It la Impossible to say.
However, whether Its original purpose
was for defense or merely to eult the
exigencies of the peculiar domestic
economy of the ' terrace builders, the
Trinchera of Caborca is a remarkable
piece of work, and where it the only
one of the sort would be worth a long
Journey to see. But tt Is fortunate that
It was the first which we found, for be
side that of Allmlta it dwindled into
Inslgnlfloencei
The Trinchera of Allmlta Is larger al
most by half In every way, and as a
work of barbaric man Is Blmply as
tounding. From a distance the side of
the mountain looks like the rough side
of a washboard, terrace rising above
terrace In regular lines from the bottom
almost to tho top. Some of them are
but fifty or one hundred yards long,
others a mile and a half, following the
contour of the hill over gully and ra
vine, and fairly making the whole
mountain seem a gigantic piece of ar
tificial work. .
1 The mountain itself Is of irregular
form. At the east end and at the west
It rises to a sharp peak, the two con
nected by a saddle perhaps two hundred
feet lower than the rest, but on this Is
some of the most remarkable work on
the mountain. One of the structures
that distinguishes the saddle Is an ob
long stone house or corral thirty feet
long, with walls eight feet high and a
protected gateway of the main wall at
Caborca. There are two or three simi
lar structures, but smaller, a little
higher up on the slope of the south
peak.
But Just where the saddle Joins the
south peak Is the most extensive piece
of masonry on the mountain.- It Is the
retaining wall of a great terrace from
ten to twenty feet high and about 100
yards long. The wall of big lava blocks
Is about a yard thick, and behind it is
filled in even with the top with smalt
stone the size of a man's first, making
a terrace from twenty-five to thirty
feet ibroad,. on which are numerous
house rings and two well holes that
might have been reservoirs except that
there is Ho remnant of a lining that
would enable them to hold watr.
b. v. p. rrrzoBiuux icr.
New BaroMt
In 1886 he was private secretary to Lord
HallBbury and again from July, 1886, to
March, 1888, when be was sent to parlia
ment by the Milton division of Leices
tershire. Mr. Heneage is the eldest son
of a. F. Heneage. late or Hinton Mall,
Wragby, Lincolnshire. He. la M years
old, was educated at Eton, and was
one of the life guards for six years. Ho
These two depressions were, In fact,
the only suggestion of either a reser
voir or food cache found on any of the
intrenched hills, but at the foot of the
great Allmlta mountain there were the
remains of an ancient conduit or irri
gating ditch that, after skirting the
base of the hill for a mile or more, dis
appeared In the drifting sand and tum
bled rock heaps of the open country.
Half a mile west of the great hill of
Allmlta Is a smaller cone known to the
Mexicans as Trlnchertta, or tho little
intrenched one. It too, has a number
of terraces and some "house circles,"
but it seems chiefly to have served as
a natural art gallery for all the tribes of
the region. From halt way up Its slope
to the summit it Is a mass of. picture
writings, chipped into the black vol
canic bowlders with the flint and obsi
dian tools of the natives. Some of the
drawings are evidently recent, of the
past decade or two. These are all the
familiar animal fissures of the Apaches,
looking like the first rude drawings on
a schoolboy's slate. But the older carv
ings, some of them all but weathered
out, are the work of a more cultivated
race. They consist of highly conven
tionalized animal forms and regular
hieroglyphics, much like the ancient
Azteo and the Mass inscriptions of
Yucatan. Photographs and drawings
were made of the most striking of these
for future comparison and study.
NO ARROWHEADS.
The strangest feature of these strange
hills, however, waa that although we
spent days in searching over them from
end to end, not once did we find a single
arrowhead. There was importd stone
in plenty, varieties found nowhere "in
place" In the vicinity, and. there were
evidences that this stone had been
wrought, for there were many piles of
spawls and splinters. But of finished
spearheads, save a broken white quartz
spearhead at Caborca, we. found not
one. Neither waa there a single vessel
ot pottery nor a piece of baked clay big
ger than one's hand. But of minute
pottery fragments there waa an- in
credible amount. The ground for yards
in some places waa covered almost an
inch deep with pottery chips and
spawls of worked stone, which might
have been gathered up by the cartload.
There were also a few hammer stones,
stone mortars and pestles, but all more
or less injured. It looks as though
either In the general exodus of the
rightful owners they have swept off
every Implement of any value. to them,
or else the mountain had been looted
by the victors and by the wandering
tribes that have since passed over It.
As to the evacuation of the whole
group of terraced hills, there would seem
little question that it was by force of
necessity In the face ot a savage and
pitiless foe. Through many' of the
broad valleys over which we passed
there were ancient village sites, even
more ancient, perhaps, than the aerial
houses on the mountains. It is possible
or even probable that the peacefully in
clined tribe of Indians, slmillar In many
respects to the Pueblos of today, and
skilled in Irrigation, as Is shown by the
ruins of numerous ditches made these
plains their home and there cultivated
their crops. Driven to seek a more se
cure retreat by the inroads of the Apa
ches, Serl, or some other fierce 'tribe of
nomads, they probably maintained
themselves for a time in their system
of mountain terraces, trusting to Prov
idence and the caprice of the enemy to
get some small return out of their
crops, which they still planted In the
valleys below. But pushed finally to
extremity, either by continual persecu
tion, or some generai, sweeping raid of
the enemy, they seem to have forsaken
the broad valleys of Sonora and vanish
ed. Whither? Perhaps It was to the north,
to become a hardy, desert roving tribe,
like the Pa page, moving from temper
alle with the shifting rainfall, and
wringing subsistence from from na
ture where the sand llsard had a strug
gle for existence. Or perhaps it was to
the south, to seek a miserable exis
tence among the moat ' Inaccessible
cliffs In the wild mountains of south
western Mexico.
It Is more than likely that the Serl
themselves, were they In a communi
cative mood, which they are not, could
throw some Interesting light on the
passing of the Terrace Builders.
THE LAND OF USED-TO-BE,
Good-night, dear love, ' tnay all your
dreams be fair
And hasten not to waken and to weep;
For tender happiness and hope are there
There In the sweet and silent Land of
Sleep.
Dream on, dear heart, and linger once
- again
In that fair land of days of long ago.
Live for a little while those momenta when
We knew the Joy we ne'er again shall
know.
Recall those hours and once more live in
them.
In that vague realm where Memory is
king.
His scepter Joy, and love his diadem,
Where earthly winter is not, only spring.
Wake not, beloved, for night is every
where, And dawn will never break for you and
me. - ,
Good night, dear love, ni'ay all your
4 reams be fair '
Leave not, my sweet, the Land of Used-to-Be,
London Fun."
RIGHT HON. B. HINSAO&
INew Fw.J
sat in parliament from 18(8 to 1868; is a
Liberal, and ' was returned for Great
Grimsby in 1880 and 1885. He went back
to parliament as a Unionist in 1888.
Colonel Wlngfleld Malcolm, C. B., is the
son of the late John Malcolm, of Port
allock, and is tt years old. He was edu
cated at Eton and at Christ Church
college, Oxford. - Hs sat for Boston in
STAR SHOWER C0MIN0.
Meteoric Display Dae Aug 10As
troaomers Fix the Date of' the
Earth's Contact with the Fragmea
tary Plaaets Which Harl Their
' Pieces at the Istruder.
Frees the Times-Herald,
Flaming meteors will bombard the
earth about Aug. 10. The sky will be
veined with streaks of light as the stars
shoot through the atmosphere, but the
siege will be raised before the meteoric
combatants get within hailing distance.'
Some of the meteors Joining in the fu
sillade may hurl the chips from their
shoulders to the earth. None of the
shooters, however, will come nearer this
planet than seventy-five miles, though
they may leave a few reminiscences of
their visit behind them.
Astronomer have scheduled the me-'
tsorio shower for Aug. 10, but, though
they . have Inside information, the ar
rangements may be upsat at any mo
ment. The earth is doing the best it cart
to hasten the event by traveling toward
the stresm of meteors at the rate of
eighteen miles a second. In fact two
of the advance agents of the heavenly
visitants have already made their ap
pearance.' One was seen by Professor
W. R. Brooks of the Smith observatory,
Geneva, N. Y., last Tuesday, as It was
taking: a peep at the moon. This was
supposed to be a free silver meteor
which had deserted the earth for a new
love. Part of another meteor fell to
the earth on Wednesday In Mexico, with
such terrific force that It penetrated 700
feet through rock and soli. A clear at
mosphere will be all that is needed to
enable everyone to see the futile bom
bardment of the stars. But thousands
of meteors will shoot toward the earth
in th4 day time, thua Interfering with a
continuous performance.
August and November are chosen
every year for the threatening but
harmless f usllade. The most brilliant
meteoric shower only occurs . every
thirty-three years, and Is not due until
18M or 1899. The August display Is only
a sideshow compared with the shower
which takes thirty-three years to get
here; Observers will get plenty of
chances to wish, however, whenever
they see a shooting star within the next
three weeks.
EARTH INVADES THEIR SPACE.
The metoers travel In- their own cir
cle around the sun, and would never
think of threatening the earth H. the
latter did not plunge right through the
ring. This stream or ozone of meteors
travels round the sun in a direction al
most opposite to that of the earth. Con
sequently the latter Infringes on the ter
ritory of the nieteors at certain periods
and a shower of flaming stars follows.
The meteoric stream Is a vast ellipse,
having no beginning and no end. Pro
fessor Herbert A. Howe, of Chamberlln
University, Denver, says the meteors
travel In parallel paths, like drops in a
rianstorm.
Sometimes August is not favored with
a brilliant shower of shooting stars be
cause the belt Is not so dense In some
parts as In others. Sometimes there are
gaps in the stream and only a few hun
dreds of stars fall. The earth strikes
the belt again in November, and a
bright shower Is usually seen between
November 11 and 13. The August me
teors are denser about the 10th of the
month. The meteoric river Is so broad,
however, that it takes the earth a
month to get through it, and shooting
stars may be seen from July 18 to Aug
ust 21. It was one of these meteors on
the edge of the stream that sent a re
minder to the Santos Reyes mine In the
state of Chihuahua, Mexico, last Wed
nesday. A huge piece of meteoric iron
struck the mountain side and carried
away cliffs before tt burled itself 700
feet in the earth. ' It also destroyed a
miner's cottage and killed his two
children.
Although the stream travels at the
rate of twenty-six mites a second it
takes It 100 years to make one revolu
tion. These shooting stars never strike
the earth, but only Impinge on its at
mosphere. So swift is the motion of a
meteor thst It flames into lnrandes
cense when ' encountering the higher
strata of air, skirting the globe at a
safe distance, though sometime fling
ing a souvenir to the invader of the
stream.
IS A BRILLIANT SIGHT.
The great meteoric shower which oc
curs every thirty-three years is one of
marvelous brilliance and beauty. Pro
fessor Howe says that when the earth
struck the dense part of the stream No
vember 12, 1882, the ncgiors of the south
ern states were struck with terror and
thought the world was coming to an
end. The falling stars were as th ick as
snow-flakes. Another' brilliant dhiplay
was seen In the heavens In 1866 and the
next Is expected In November; 1S89,
though a bright shower may be seen In
the fall of 1898 as a forerunner of tho
great bombardment ' The dense part
of the moteorlo stream Is 2,000,000,000
mile long and consumes two years in
parsing' a-given point. i.
PrbfesSor B. Wl Burnham is awaiting
the advent of the meteoric visitors In
his observatory in Fifty-first street.
"We may have fine display in Chi
cago' about August 10," he said, but it
is largely dependent on the clearness of
the atmosphere and whether the earth
strike the dense part of the meteorin
LBWIS STIVER. M. P.
New Baronet
From the Chicago Times-IIearld,
parliament -from 1860 to 1874. In the
latter year he was defeated, but was
reseated - on an investigation and re
signed in 1878. One of the queen's hon
ors was the gift of a baronetcy to Rob
ert Unlacke Penrose Fitzgerald. Mr.
Fitzgerald comes of good old Irish
stock. . He was born in 1839 and was
educated at Westminster School and at
stream at night If this happens dur
ing the daytime hundreds of shooting
stars will waste their brilliance, as we
shall not be able to see them. Even at
night some of the meteors only appear
as brilliant stars which die out quickly.
This Is because they travel straight to
ward our line of vision. We only notice
those particularly which cross the line
of vision. August is not (rated to os
brilliant a sight as that which occurs
every thirty-three years. Then there
are .thousands ot shooting stars In the
Bky. We may expect a bright shower
in 1898 nd a splendid bombardment by
meteor in November of the following
year."
HOW LEAD PENCILS ARE MADE.
The Graphite Is Itednccd to Dnst and
Compesaded with tierman Clay.
From the Chicago Record,
. The "leads" of lead pencils are made
of a mixture of German pipe clay and
"black lead," which Is not lead, but
graphite. But the first pencils were
made of real lead, and the name has
clung to "lead" pencils ever since.
Graphite, or plumbago, is nearly a pure
form of carbon and most of the pencils
made in 'this country use the graphke
mined at Tlnonderoga, Vt, where tho
only graphite mine of any consequence
In the United States is located.
The graphite is taken in the lump
from the mines and caried to the reduc
ing mill, where It is ground or pulver
ized in stamp mills under water. The
fine particles of the graphite float away
with the water through a number of
tanks, collecting at tho bottom of these
reservoirs.
It Is packed In barrels In the form of
dust and sent to the factory, where
tens of thousands of lead pencils are
turned out every day.
The pulverized graphite Is so fine that
it really Is a dust, dingy in color and
smooth and oily to the touch. It Is di
vided Into various grades of fmenes by
floating; it on water from one tank to
another.
The coarse dust sinks to the bottom
of the first tank, the next finer to the
bottom of the second tank, and so on
down the line, the finest powder for the
finest pencils settling In the last tank.
, In another series of tanks the Ger
man pipe clay, which Is mixed with
graphite to secure the different grades
of pencils from very soft to extra hand,
Is graded in the same way, by floating.
The finest clay Is mixed with the fin
est graphite, end the hardness of the
pencil is secured by Increasing the pro
portion of clay In the mixture.
. For the medium grades, seven parts
by weight of clay ar.e mixed with ten
parts of praphlte,
The mixing Is done under s grind
ing, mill, similar to that used for mix
ing paint, and water is added to facili
tate the mix. The grindlng-stones ere
about two feet in diameter and only
the upper one revolves.
After the graphite and clay are
ground together the mixture Is put In
canvas bags and the water Is squeezed
out under a hydraulic press, leaving a
miss's the consistency of putty. This
plastic material Is placed in the form
ing press, which is a small iron cy
linder, in which a solid plunger or
piston works up and down.
A steel plate, having a hole the size
and shape of the "lead," Is put under
the open .end of the cylinder, and the
plunger, pressing down, forces the
graphite through the hole, making a
continuous thread or wire of graphite.
' As long as this thread Is moist It
Is pliable, but it becomes brittle when
dry, so it is handled rapidly. It Is cut
Into ' three-lead lengths, straightened
out and then hardened in a crucible
over A coal fire. The leads, when taken
from the crucible, are ready for the
wood.
- Pine Is used for the cheap pencils, an
ordinary quality of red cedar Is used
for the medium-price pencils, but noth
ing but the best Florida Key cedar is
put Into the best pencils. .
The saw mills In Tampa, Fla., cut
the cedar into blocks about seven In
ches long, and these are sawed Into
strips wide enough for six p-nclls, but,
as pencils are made In hnlvs. each
strip Is only thick enough for half a
pencil.
When the strips are received nt th
factory they are run through a ma
chine .which cuts In each one six
grooves, round or square, and at the
same time smooths the face of the
wood. Both strips are grooved alike,
for, unlike the Kuropean-made pen
cils, the American made has the lead
equally In each strip.
The filling of the strips Is done by
girls.. The first one takes a grooved slip
of wood in her left hand and a bunch
of lead;) In the right. She spreads tho
leads out fan shape, and with one mo
tion tills the six grooves with leads.
Next to her sits another girl who
takes the filled snip, and quickly and
neatly lays on it another grooved strip,
which has Just been coated with hot
glue by a third girl.
The filled mid glued Btrlps are piled
Up on each other and put in a rrrss,
where they are l;ft to dry. The ends
of the strips are evened off under a
sandpaper wheel, nnd then the strips
are fed Into A machine which cuts out
the Individual pencils, din pes them,
and delivers them, smooth and ready
for the Color and pollBh In six streams.
1 The coloring Is done In liquid dyes,
after" which the pencils are sent through
the varnishing machine. Then follows
Taa marquis or oranbt.
Uew Fmt.
By the Courtesy of B. H. Koblsaat.
Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He has been
a member ot parliament since 1874. An
other new baronet is Lewis Mclver, who
is a retired East Indian civil servant.
He was born in 1846. In 1885 and 1886
he was a Liberal member of parliament
and was beaten In the latter year. He
now represents the south division of
Edinburgh,
the stamping and finishing, all done by
automatic machines, and finally the fin
ished pencils are packed around the
oval, grooved blocks, tied, papered, and
shipped out.
The pencils are counted at various
stages of the making, and the counting
Is done In a way as simple as it is accu
rate. The "counting board" is a board
on which two strips of wood are fas
tened the length of the board and about
four inches apart. .
in each strip are 144 grooves. The
workman grasps a handful of pencils
and rubs them over the board once or
twice, leaving a pencil In each groove.
In this way he counts a gross ot pen
cils in a few seconds, and does it with
out a mistake, for only 144 pencils can
be placed on the board at one time, and
If any grooves are empty the workman
notices the mistake at once.
CULLED ANECDOTES.
As the C. and O. train was pulling
out of Covington for Cincinnati, an Irish
laborer, with his regulation tin dinner
can and clay pipe, stepped into one of
the passenger cars, and, putting his
pail on the floor, ensconced himself in
a comfortable seat, with his pipe in one
corner of his mouth. A moment later
the brakennan came in and, looking
around, espied the Irishman. Leaning
over, he tapped the man on the shoulder
and said: :
"If you want to smoke, go forward to
the smoking car."
The Irishman looked at him cooly for
a moment, and replied "I'm not
schmoklnf, man."
" you've got your pipe in your mouth,
haven't you?"
"Faith, yes," replied the son of Erin,
"un I've got me fut In me boot, but
I'm not wolkln'."
II I! II
A good story is told of an English
family living in Norfolk county, who
possessed tho euphonious name of
"Bug." As that term in England Is
never mentioned in polite society snd
signifies a minute insect noted for its
power of Jumping, the family of that
name did not appreciate its unique
ness. Upon coming into possession ot
some money they at once petitioned to
have it changed to "Howard.". Their
request was granted; but, alas for them,
the bugs of that portion of the country
were henceforth known by the more re
fined title of the "Norfolk Howards."
II II II '
A doctor, who had a great dislike to
tobacco in any form, managed, In his
hurry at the railway station, to get Into
a smoking compartment. A young
men feat opposite, puffing away at a
huge cigar. After eyeing him for some
minutes the gentleman at last addressed
him:
"Young man, as a medical man let
me warn you against smoking. Ex
peilence has proved to me that of every
ten men suffering from epithelium and
paralysis of the tongue, nine of these
have been caused by tobacco."
"Sir," exclaimed the youth, "exper
ience has proved to me that of every
ten men suffering from block eyes, nine
of 'them have been caused by people
neglt-ctlng to mind their own business."
II II II
when Pala went tq Australia he ar
ranged to deliver n series of lecture!,
and he was fond of telling an anecdote
about one of his platform experiences
there.
"I was describing to my "audience,"
he said, " in my very best Kngllsh the
coronation of Her Majesty. I had seen
the procession from the corner of Par
liament street, and was telling how the
young glrl-qUeen drove by In the state
llness of childhood's simplicity, the dig
nity of sovereignty already seated upon
her pale young brow, with heaving
breast, 'A hectic flush upon her blanched
cheek.' I was saying, 'her sweet, pallid
Hps slightly parted, a teardrop tremb
ling on her quivering eyelid all showed'
'Bosh!' suddenly murmured a buxom
old dame In the front row, and my In
spiration was gone.'.'
The Westminster Budget tells a char
acteristic story of the kute Rev. Peter
Mackenzie, of London. Many years ago,
after delivering a lecture In a village
near Sunderland, he waa returning to
his host's house along a lonely road,
when he was accosted by a robber. The
latter was a believer In the right of
might and requested Mr. Mackenzie to
turn out all the cash he had got. "Well,
my dear man," replied Mr. Mackenzie,
"you know I am big enough to thrash
you. If It's money you want. I'll give
you r"rlf a crown." The robber would
not accept this very charitable offer.
Mr. Mackenzie "doffed" his coat nnd
gaw him what tl.e man Is now pleased
tn call " a dashed good hiding." That
thrashing did the men a great service,
for he afterward Ifft the paths of vice
and became one of Mr. Mackenzie's
many converts.
"B0OKMAM" GOSSIP.
Here Is a (rood story for the enemies of
Philadelphia. A prominent lawyer of that
verpntiile city was narrating to a younger
advocate some of the delays and compli
cations of a chancery suit in which ho was
engaged.
"Bleu me!" said the Junior advocate,
"I never heard of anything parallel to
thst except Jarndyce vs. Jarmtyce."
The other at once looked thoughtful, and
pretty soon, pleading an engagement,
went off. The next morning he came Into
the younger man's office with an air of
great vexation.
"Look here!" he snld. "Why can't you
remember names accurately? Here i've
spent the whole nlfht trying to find that
case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce that you
mentioned, and there Isn't any such case
In Pennsylvania law reports, at all!"
II II II -
He was a callow youth, fresh from col
loee. and as he was supposed to know tt
all, he was considered an acquisition In
the retail department of a well-known
book store in New York. Ills first custo
mer shook the confidence of his proud em-
with the ways u business, who, when
asked If he had sn Balllnger' Guide
lying about, replied. "No.;" ttiea reflec
tively. "I can't say I remember having
seen it In stock."
- II II II
8. 8. MeClure. the enterprising pro
prtctor of MoClure's Magazine, meditates
a very hr.jortant ntw departure. He
thinks that the putollo are beglnnla; to
be wearied of black and white, and pre
poses to make experiments In colored Q
lustratlons. For this purpose he has sr.
ranged to publish a life of Christ which
will probably be written by laa Heelers
or Mr. 8. R. Crockett, in his magaslae.
and he is travelling In Egypt and Pales
tine making arrangements for the pl
turea An immense sum Is to be sunk 1
the hope of securing thoroughly satis
factory reproductions. If Mr. MoClure
succeeds, no doubt others will have to fol
low In his track, and a new terror will
be added to magazine publishing.
QUAY AND CAMERON.
Ooe Story About Eacl of PeinrylTula'a
Two Picturesque aod laterestlag
SeoitortCameron'i Nerve,
From the Washington Post.
Politics make strange bedfellows,
says the old political saw. An Instance
of this Is seen In the fact that a Pitts
burg Democratic newspaper, which,
until since the Chicago convention, was
a strong gold standard advocate, is now
supporting Bryan and the Chicago plat
form and quoting from Senator Don
Cameron's rare speeches in favor of free
silver to make good its new position.
"Don Cameron," said a Pennsylvania
admirer, "has more nerve than his fa
ther, Simon Cameron, ever had, though
he was by no means deficient In that
necessary political article. For In
stance, In the campaign of 18TI Penn
sylvania voted for governor in October.
General John F. Hartranf t was the Re
publican nominee. A tight was made
against him by the self-styled "better
class Republicans," the kind since de
nominated as Mugwumps. Old Simon
Cameron and some of his advisers be
came frightened. A meeting to consid
er the advisability of substituting some
other person for Hartranft was called
to meet at the Continental hotel, in
Philadelphia. In the midst of It when
old Simon and the rest had about come
to the conclusion to retire Hartranft
and put up somebody else, Don, who
was not In the confidence of the meeting
and had not been invited to attend it
but who had learned what was going
on, strode Into the room. With soant
ceremony he addressed the meeting in
this fashion:
" 'You are talking about taking Hart
ranft off the ticket. If you do I will
beat whoever you put up. You can put
up him (pointing to Wayne MaoVeagh,
his brother-in-law), and I will beat him.
Or you can pu up him, even (pointing to
his father, Simon), and I will beat him.
Good-day.'
"With that he turned on his heel and
left the room, without waiting to hear
the reply of the meeting. Hartranft re
mained on the ticket, and was elected,
and four years later at Cincinnati waa
Pennsylvania's candidate for the Pres
idency. It waa a great exhibition ot
nerve by Don."
Matthew Stanley Quay. Pennsylva
nia's other senator, is on the executive
committee of the Republican national
committee. It is said that he could
have been chairman of the executive
committee had he so desired. As It is,
he will undoubtedly have the confiden
tial ear of both Major McKlnley and
Mr. Hanna, at least till November 3,
no matter how it may be after that
Senator Quay began his career as a
legislator as a representative In the
Pennsylvania legislature for the term
of 1865-'7. At that time and until the
adoption of the new constitution In 1874
the legislature had the sole power of
granting divorces. Quay's first aot
as a legislator was the Introduction ct
a resolution to divorce Henry Lord Me
Connell and Mary Wilson McConnell.
This resolution passed both houses un
der suspension of the rules with in two
hours after It had been introduced by
Mr. Quay, and became a law by ths
immediate signature of Governor Cur
tln. Of course, there is a stovy.
Henry Lord McConnell was a captain
in the Union army stationed at Harris
burg, In 1865, about the close of the
war. He was a handsome, showy fel
low, but as nothing was known of his
antecedents he gained no particular so
cial position at the Keystone capital.
Mary Wilson McConnell was the daugh
ter of Andrew O. Cuvtir, governor of
the commonwealth, fclie was In 1866
but a school girl of seventeen. She was
attracted by Captain McConnell, and
one afternoon yielded to his pleading
and went with him to the office of a
Justice of the peace and was married
to him. Then she returned to the gov
ernor's mansion to tell what she had
done, and try to reconcile her father.
He, however, took another view of the
matter and his daughter never saw
Captain McConnell again. Governor
Curtln was not only a power In hi
owmstate, but he possessed a great In
fluence at Washington. Captain Mc
Connell was speedily ordered away from
Harrlsburg, and dropped out of sight
and this story.
The marriage was kept as secret as
possible, and never In fact became gen
erally known in the social circles of the
Btate cpaltal.. So when Mr. Quay of
fered his resolution there was not half
a dozen members of either house who
had the remotest Idea who the parties
were. Quay had been military secre
tary to Governor Curtln during th
four years of the war, and knew how to
di al with the legislature. Mrs. McCon
nell had repented of her hasty and Ill
advised act; McConnell had gone no one
knew whither and none cared, so he
never returned, so that there was non
to oppose the divorce. Miss Curtin, al
ways a social favorite, subsequently
married Into a wealthy family In an ad
joining state.
COIfSTUVfJ THE COST.
From the Philadelphia Times.
In wages alone the loss to wage-earners
would be Incalculable. Under the free sli
ver policy the worklneman of today must
receive Just double the wages now paid
him to enable him to earn what tie is
earntnK now. One .dollar under the free
silver syrlem would purchase for the
wage-earner In the necwsarlcs of life Just
one-half what a dollar purchases for him
today, and who Is reckless enough to as
sume that employers would double the
whips of labor under a degraded money
system that must paralyze business, cre
ate the profountrt distrust and greatly
lexsen the opportunities for employers to
mSka their capital profitable? As a ruts
employers would be much less able to pay
fair wages for labor under the ehear
money system than they are todey, and
the wage-earner must know that when
business Is staggering tinder paralysis the
first to sviffer Is the worklnrman by the
reduction of wages, and when business
Improves he Is th last to gain th aVa
tage ot it