SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. VIIL
AUTUMN.
"With shy brown eyes she comes again,
"With hair a sunny, silken skein
A» full of light as golden rod;
Love in her voice, love in her nod,
She treads so softly no one knows
The time she comes, the time she goes.
The grass is brown, the leaves begin
Their gold and crimson dyes to win.
Each cricket sings as loud as ten
To drown the noisy locust, when
You come, O maid, to bid us cry
To summer sweet a long goodby.
And when you go the leaves are gone;
The aster's farewell scent is flown;
Poor Cupid puts away his wings,
And close to cosey corners clings.
The rude wind ushers, with a shout,
The winter in, the autumn out.
There's sadness in her shy brown eyes,
Though gay her gown with tawny dyes,
Love's in her voice—but telling most
Of one who's loved, but loved and lost.
She treads so softly no one knows
The time she comes, the time she goes.
—Pittsburg Dispatch.
THE LODE STAR TRAIN.
It was during the fall of 1865 that the
Lode Star Mining Company sent an outfit
from Nevada, in lowa, across the plains
from Atchison to Denver. The train
consisted of a dozen covered wagons la
den with various materials, including a
small engine, in parts, as well as other
machinery. Each vehicle had four mules
with a driver and keeper, and altogeth
er the train embraced in its connections
about thirty-five men.
These men were generally armed with
revolvers, and there was also distributed
among them twelve Spencer repeating
rifles, placed in the hands of the best
men, designed to protect the train from
the attacks of those buccaneers of the
prairie, the red skins. The wagons were
heavily loaded, it being necessary to
carry grain for all the mules, as well as
provisions for the men, in addition to the
machinery.
The outfit made but about twenty miles
per day, and when night approached the
teams were corraled—that is driven into
a circle within which the men and ani
mals were grouped to feed and rest. This
arrangement formed a sort of fort, behind
which the men could fight to advantage,
if they were attacked by the Indians,
which was pretty sure to occur some time
during the long journey across the plains.
The Lode Star Company's outfit had
not been three days on the route before
they caught sight, now and then, of
Indian seouts in the distance, hovering
first on one fiank and then on the other
of the train, as it wound along the valley
of the North Platte. The redskins did
not come boldly in sight, but rode up
within long-rifle range behind the favor
ing shelter of some rise in the long roll
of the prairie, and throwing themselves
flat upon the ground, raised their heads
high enough for the purpose of inspect
ing the train.
The outfit was in good hands, and
under excellent discipline. There was
no staggering, no lagging behind. The
line was kept compact and perfect, and
all hands always in call of each other.
The Indians, seeing there was no chance
to pick off any isolated members of the
train by hanging on the skirts of the
travelers, were forced to adopt some
other tactics. But they were very
cautious, for they were impressed by the
watchfulness of the leaders of the ex
pedition.
The cunning redskins understand per
fectly the character of those constituting
one of these mining trains, after a few
hours of following and observation.
Nothing escapes their vigilant eyes. Any
want of discipline among the men, or any
carelessness in the way of exposure, is
carefully noted and taken advantage of,
while the train that is kept well in hand
by its leader, and conducted with cool
calculation and caution, if attacked at
all, it is only by very superior numbers
and under favorable circumstances of
position.
There were six or eight frontiersmen
with the Lode-Star train who knew very
well the Indian tactics, and who ere
prepared for an attack at any moment,
but, in the meantime, they steadily pur
sued their way across the dreary and
monotonous plains, appearing to take no
notice of the scouts whose heads now
and then appeared over the distant hil
locks.
By and by the scouts became bolder,
and would dash up to within rifle shot
of the train upon their little wiry ponies,
take a good look and then return again.
On the fifth day out from Atchison
twenty-five or thirty redskins, early in
the morning, came circling about the
train just as it started upon the
day's journey, and saluted the whites
with a shower of arrows from a good dls
! tance. This onslaught was comparatively
harmless, with the exception of a slight
wound in the neck of one of the mules.
Not so, however, as it regarded the
Indians, for one of the frontiersmen drew
a bead from his Spencer upon a Com
anche warrior, and put an ounce of lead
through his heart, while another shot a
pony from under his rider. The red
skins made a hasty retreat, leaving a dead
pony on the plains and carrying oil their
dead comrade.
The train was not halted at all, but
kept steadily on its way. However, the
Indians had learned a lesson of caution
for the future. As was afterward
known, they had lost one of their besl
chiefs in this useless attack, and though
they had the additional incentive of re
venge added to that of cupidity, yet
they were held back by a wholesome
fear of the Spencer rifles.
Still day after day they followed the
train, almost wearing out the whites by
the incessant watchfulness which was
necessary for self-protection, and oc
casionally, when some favorable in
equality of ground occurred, they would
get near enough to launch their arrows
and to send a few rifle shots into the
ranks of the whites. One or two of the
men and animals had thus been slightly
wounded, but nothing more serious oc
curred until the train had reached the
ford of the Little Blue River.
By this time, the ninth day, the In
dians had increased in numbers so that
the whites made out some fifty or sixty
of them, and, trusting to the disadvan
tage necessarily encountered in getting
the animals and wagons over the narrow
but somewhat swift little stream, the
enemy here attacked the travelers in a
very persistent manner, partly sheltered
by the belt of Cottonwood trees which
line the banks of the Little Blue at this
point.
But Captain Goss, who was train mas
ter, had anticipated this, and while the
drivers were getting their teams across
the ford he stationed eight of his best
marksmen to keep the Indians at bay.
Each of these men sought the cover of
the undergrowth and the body of sonu
Cottonwood tree of good size, and from
thence kept up such a steady and effec
tive fire that the redskins dared not make
the charge which the had planned.
Five or six of the Indians had been
sent to their long home, and several had
been wounded by the time the last wagon
crossed the ford. One mule and one
white man had been killed by the enemy,
and two of the drivers slightly wounded.
But the train was soon again winding on
its way, having fairly repulsed the pur
suers for a time at least. Crossing the
ford was hard work for the animals, and
a halt was ordered a mile beyond the
river and the teams coraled.
Here another of the wounded mules
gave out and soon after died, leaving but
two animals to draw the rear wagon.
The Indians had been severely pun
ished, but they were very persistent, and
on the following morning they were seen
hovering about the rear of the train,
which was now compelled to make fre
quent halts on account of having but two
mules in place of four attached to the last
wagon. The load was lightened and
divided among the rest to a considerable
extent, but still it was heavy work for
the two animals to keep up with the rest
of the outfit.
The Indians watched this rear wagon,
hoping that the train-master would
abandon it in his efforts to escape from
them, and they were encouraged by this
prospect of booty, pressing as closely as
they dared upon the rear of the train.
Now and then the best marksmen among
the whites would get a good shot at one
more venturesome than the rest, and
would wound him or shoot his pony, and
an Indian upon the plains without his
horse is of no account.
It soon became evident to Captain Goss
that he must sacrifice the last wagon, and
he, therefore, ordered a halt, and, shift
ing everything of value into the other
teams, took the two mules and placed
them as additional leaders upon the
heaviest wagons. Tossing into the
wagon about to be abandoned a lot of
comparatively valueless articles, he left
in the centre a heap of blasting powder,
for a sharp idea had occurred to the Cap
tain.
Something must be done to get rid of
these banditti of the prairie, or they would
worry out and one by one kill off his men
and animals before he could reach • Den
ver, at the foot of the mountains.
He knew that the redskins would
pounce upon this wagon in five minutes
after he had deserted it, expecting to *e
LA PORTE, PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1889.
cure the booty which he was compelled to
leave behind. He therefore went very
to work. He arranged
a seven-minute slow match, which he
connected with the bung-hole of the keg
of powder. The train was once more or
dered to get under wny.
In the distance, just out of rifle range,
the redskins were to be seen in full force,
but afraid to approach within range of
those deadly Spencers. They had lost
eleven of their fighting men, besides
several who had been left wounded far
behind. This was a losing game, for
they knew that they had inflicted but a
comparatively slight injury upon the
whites.
Once more the Lode Star train was
gradually got on its way, moving slowly
forward.
After it was fairly in motion Captain
Goss himself returned to the wagon which
was to be left behind and applied the
match, then dashed off after his train.
Rapidly as he rode away upon his little
white pony the Indians more rapidly came
onto secure the booty which was about
to fall into their hands. It seemed to be
a general race among them to see which
should reach the prize first.
There were forty redskins engaged in
that mad race toward the deserted wag
on.
In the meantime Captain Goss had
joined his command, and the train was
urged forward by his orders with in
creased speed, until at last half a mile or
so had been placed between them and
the abandoned wagon. Then the train
war; halted.
The whites were now all watching the
headlong rush of the redskins in their
race for spoils.
They swept down nearly together and
surrounded the vehicle on all sides, sev
eral dismounting, endeavoring to effect
entrance beneath the canvas covering,
both by the front and rear. They
swarmed like bees about a hive, and at
the distance of half a mile looked like
one solid mass.
Hark! The catastrophe has occurred!
The whites saw a cloud of smoke and
debris risen hundred feet into the air and
spread a hundred feet in all directions
laterally, then came a shock that made
the earth tremble under their feet as
though an earthquake had occurred.
It was a holocaust of men and horses.
Limbs and bodies east in separate direc
tions, heads and trunks severed. Twen
ty lives were sacrificed in one instant of
time and twenty more of the Indians
were burned half to death! A few of
the horses, which had escaped, were seen
dashing over the prairie mad with fright
and riderless.
A few of the wounded were seen es
caping on their hands and knees away
from the terrible spot.
"Let us return and finish them," said
one of the frontiersmen to Capt. Goss.
"No," was the reply. "They have
been awfully punished; our way lies to
ward Denver."
"But there are six or eight of the red
skins crawling away; they couldn't show
fight."
"For that very reason I would not at
tack them," said Capt. Goss.
"Chivalrie feelings are thrown away
upon such vermin," said the frontiers
man.
"Forward with the team," replied the
Captain, sternly, pointing to the west.
This terrible experience by the Com
al ches occurred about twenty-five years
since, but its effects upon the tribes were
lasting, and they rarely thereafter en
gaged since in attacks upon the trains of
miners crossing the plains. They will
long remember the running fight with
the Lode Star Company and its awful
ending.— New York News.
Value of a Life.
Before our Civil War the money value
placed upon the working force in a slave,
a young negro field hand, was SIOOO and
upward,and upon a skilled mechanic over
S3OOO. Dr. Farr and Edwin Chadwick,
both eminent sanitarians, practically con
firm these estimates. Dr. Farr says that
in England an agricultural laborer, at the
age of twenty-five years, is worth, over
and above what it costs to maintain him,
sllOl, and that the average value of
every man, woman and child is $771.
Edwin Chadwick says that each individ
ual of the English working classes (mere
children <vork there, we must remember)
is worth SB9O. and at forty years of age
SI7BO. Our values in this country are
much greater. Take the probabilities of
our length of life from the insurance
tables, and put our labor on the market
for that term of years, and you will find
what we are worth to the community.—
Medical Clamco.
DANGEROUS EELS.
A. CURIOUS FISH Altl-iE TO I>ELIV
EK KLiKCTIUC SHOCKS.
The Methods Use<l in Capturing
Them Their lMsasreeable
Appearance—How They
Produce the Shock.
Some wears ago, at Panama, says Wilf.
P. Pond in Youth's Companion , I made
the acquaintance of a trader, and ac
cepted an offer to accompany him to j
British Guiana, journeying as far as the |
delta of the Orinoco. This river annual- :
ly rises to a height of fifty feet, and cov- !
ers a tract of country half as large as the !
State of New York. When the water j
subsides it leaves large, stagnant pools '
alor.g the edge of the savannahs that lie j
beyond the limit of the inundation, and |
these pools are literally alive with fish,
the most common variety being the elec
tric eel.
The natives are very fond of these fish, I
but having a great horror of the severe j
shock they are able to communicate at j
will, employ a peculiar method in the :
capture which they call "intoxicating by
means of horses."
During our stay in the village a number
of tie natives were employed in catching
them, and I found the method highly in
teresting. On visiting one of the pools
not yet disturbed, I saw some of the fish
at rest. The pool was about half an acre
in extent, the surface being partly cov
ered with aquatic growth, and floating
around on the top of the water, or near
the surface, were large, yellow, almost
livid eels, that resembled rather water
snakes than eels. Instead of the back
being straight as in the ordinary eel, they
appeared to "hump'' themselves, that is
to say, they drew the stomach in, making
a slight arch of the back.
Lazily swimming along, they would
suddenly straighten themselves out with
a jerk, and then curve the back again.
This I learned was the action of produc
ing the shock, also that its habit is the
reverse ot that of the cat family, for it
straightens itself when annoyed, and be
tokens pleasure by keeping its body
arched. All around the pool were
marvelous growths of rushes, and the
great lta palms, which gives the natives
food, house, clothing, drink and furni
ture.
The hunt, or capture of the eels, be
gan in the early morning, soon after
daybreak, so as to avoid the heat of the
noonday. About fifty men started out
on horseback, and surrounding a number
I of wild horses drove them to a pool. The
■ animals plunged in and commenced
j swimming across.
The eels, driven from the bottom to
the surface by the splashing of the horses,
| endeavored to defend their territory
against the invaders, with the strange
means which nature has given them.
Rising to the surface they rushed at
their foes, not to bite them,
but to defend themselves by the dis
charge of their batteries. In and out
among the horses they swam, curving
and uncurving themselves rapidly.
The horses, crazy with the excitement
and the noise of the men, and the pains
from the electric discharges from the
eels, with straining, terror-stricken eyes
and bristling manes sought to escape
from the storm that had surpised them.
Swimming to the nearest edge they tried
to land, but were driven batik by shout
ing natives who viciously struck them
over the head and face, while the great
eels, pursuing them to the edge, were
speared by the harpoons, and thrown
from the points far up on the dry soil,
where other natives killed them.
The livid color of the eels was greatly
intensified, and they were disagreeable
looking objects as they writhed and
curled in the water, while their eyes, un
duly prominent when at rest, receded far
into the head so as to become almost in
visible in their rage at being disturbed.
Once or twice a native stumbled in his
excitement over some obstacle, and fell
so that some portion of his naked flesh
touched a squirming eel, and then a yell
was heard that left no doubt that it was
caused by acute pain.
At first, comparatively few were thrown
ashore, but in a short time several of the
horses, victims to the power of the
shocks, were drowned, and gradually the
eels became exhausted and seemed to be,
as the natives said, "intoxicated." They
swam aimlessly around, and were slowly
driven down to a narrow part of
the pool, wher3 they were secured,
as they lay half torpid in the shallows,
by means of small harpoons and rude
fibre nets. Those taken in the nets were
Terms—sl.2s in Advance; $1.50 after Three Months.
transported to small holes dug in the
soil, and filled with fresh water, from
which they could be easily taken as
occasion required, while those speared
were intended to be used as immediate
food.
Such, however, is the terror inspired
by these fish, that the natives are very
reluctant to take them from the har
poons, or otherwise touch them until life
has been for some time extinct.
The electric apparatus of these fish
consists of a series of honeycombed-look
ing cells, filled with a thickish, gelatin
ous fluid, abundantly supplied with
nerves, and situated between the head
and the gills. The electrical organ? are
two in number, and the number of cells
varies according to the size of the fish
In one fish each organ contained four
hundred and seventy, and in another,
larger fish, one thousand one. hundred
and eighty-two. Doctor Walsh, of th
English Royal Society of London, dem
onstrated the passage of the electric cur
rent from one of these fish through eight
persons, administering a preeeptible shock
to each.
As soon as the eels were dead and
harmless, they are conveyed to the village
where one of the intermittent festivals
which appear to come round about every
ten days was inaugurated. The women
were busy all day making cassava, which
is a starch obtained from a plant-root
belonging to the Euphorbiacea', by a
rather complicated process. From this
cakes are made, and baked upon round
pieces of iron, similar to our griddle
cakes.
A canoe full of piwarri—a drink made
of cassava and water fermented—was
prepared, and the fish, cleaned and rolled
in sections of palm leaves, were baked
and served up to the multitude, who beat
drums, danced, drank, and yelled until
I dawn next morning, when the usual
. occupations of the tribe were resumed.
The Demand far Shetland Ponies.
A great deal of interest has recently
1 been taken in the large shipments from
this city of Shetland ponies to Vermont
for gonerul breeding purpocoo. Thorc i'S
probably no one more competent to talk
about these interesting little bits of horse
flesh than George W. Elgin, a collector
and breeder in Scotland, who arrived
; from the other side last week to investi
| gate the cause of the demand that has
! sprung up for his pet stock. Referring
to the methods of raising Shetland ponies,
lie said:
"The race, so far as pure strains of
j blood are concerned, is almost extinct.
| A wrong impression prevails that these
ponies are bred in tne Shetland Isles,
\ whereas there are fewer there now than
! probably in any other quarter of the globe.
There was a time when some rich families
in that group of islands, with recollections
of feudal times, used to take great pride
]in sending ponies to the lords and fine
gentlemen of the Southern boroughs.
i Now the average Shetlander is so poor
that the breeding of Shetland ponies has
given way to the smoked fish industry.
It is often said regarding the poverty of
the inhabitants that a calf can only bo
permitted to live forty-eight hours, and
after being served with a pail of water, is
slaughtered for immediate use.
"The ambition of the Shetlander seems
| to have died out with the departure a few
: years ago of a favorite sheriff of the
1 islands, who is now Governor of the
Island of Mauritius. He was accustomed
to encourage the industries of Mainland,
I the island of which Lerwick, the princi
pal shipping port, is the capital. His
wife used to drive a four-in-hand basket
phaeton, drawn by four shaggy specimens
of the genuine Shetland pony. With the
sheriff's resignation the Shctlanders re
sumed their listless apathy, and there is
no such a thing as the weekly steamer
plying to Lerwick bringing a single con
-1 signment. Even the old family of Bruce
sold all its belongings this summer, and
■ now dealers have got. to depend upon
i what can be obtained from the farms in
Aberdeenshire.
"The diminutive little horses arc
shipped by steamer to Leith and thence
to Glasgow. It is from the latter city
that the American market is supplied.
| All the characteristics of the Shetland
pony have been lost and the familiar
shaggy hair has been supplanted by the
sleek coat of brown or smoky gray. The
finest pair of ponies in the United States,
named "Dot" and "Pet," were raised by
the Duke of Buccleuch and are owned, I
believe, by a young lady of twelve sum
mers, who lives in the neighborhood of
White Plains " — Nein York Star.
The drum was used by the Egyptians
.■•■ ad brouirlit bv the Moors into S»aiu
NO. 3.
FUN.
The greatest of all poetry is a girl's first
ove letter.
In a driving storm no one seems
capable of holding the rains.— State*-
man.
A man lost-$2,000,000 in less than one
minute the other day. Cause, heart dis
ease.—Binghamton Republican.
A -writer says that whipping a boy may
make him stupid. It may be, but it is
more likely to make him smart.
"James, you have been fighting. I
can tell by the look in your eye." "Yes,
but mother, you should see the look in
the other boy's eye."— Life.
Jones has been commanded by his wife
to send a telegram to her dearest friend.
Clerk—"The message costs twenty-five
cents, sir, but the postscript comes to
$2.50."
"Is there anything a man cannot do?"
asks an exchange. We have never yet
found a man who could scold the chil
dren with his mouth full of pins.—l/tie
rente American.
Young Man—"l have come to answer
your advertisment for a 'young man with
plenty of push.' What is the position
that is open?" Blobson (pushing a baby
carriage)—"My wife refuses to do it, and
I don't have time; so I shall have to hire
a substitute." — Lairrence American.
Ada—"So you have been to see
your husband's folks, have you,
Lulu? And how did you like
his mother? Lulu—"Oh! ever so much,
Ada; she made me feel so much at home.
Why, in less than twenty-four hours after
I arrived there she had me in the kitchen
washing dishes."
Forty Proverbs of the Sea.
He who would learn to pray should go
to sea.
When one falls into the sea he stays
there.
When you walk, pray once; when you
goto sea, pray twice; when you goto be
married, pray three times.
Women are ships and must be manned.
The sea refuses no river.
All the rivers goto the sea, and it
never overruns.
The sea is not soiled because a dog
stirs it up.
To a drunken man the sea only reaches
to the knees.
If the sea boiled, where would one go
to find water to cool it?
What comes by starboard goes by lar
board.
Being at sea, sail; being on land,
settle.
He that will not sail till he have a full,
fair wind will lose many a voyage.
Unless you have the wind astern you
must know how to navigate.
You cannot sail as you would, but as
; the wind blows.
In a calm sea, every man is a pilot.
To a rotten ship every wind is con-
I trary.
What fear would he have of the waves
I who had Noah for a pilot?
| Every sea, great as it is, grows calm.
A large ship ueedi!. much water.
Where the ship can go the brigantine
can go.
It is easier to get away from the bank
than from the bottom.
The ship which doesn't mind her helm
will mind the hidden rocks.
He who can steer need not row.
It will not do to have two mainmasts
in a ship.
Better lose an anchor than the whole
ship.
Good roller, good sailer.
I)o good and cast it into the sea; if
! the fish ignore it, God will know it.
If clouds look like they had been
' scratched by a hen, get ready to reef
! your topsails then.
The full moon eats clouds.
| He who sends a mean man to sea wil'
I get neither fish nor salt.
I Every port serves in a gale.
A mariner mußt have his eyes on the
: rocks anil sands as well as on the north
I star.
11l goes the boat without oars.
From the boat we get to the ship.
Don't judge of the ship from the land.
The freshest and sweetest fish come
from the saltest sea.
No one can complain of the sea who
has been twice shipwrecked.
He gets his passage for nothing and
winks at the captain's wife.
The sea isn't burning.
He that is embarked with the devii
must sail with him. United .Service.
One of Lord Tennyson s greatest re
grets is that lie luvs never visited this
countrv.