SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. VIII.
HIDDEN.
Afar on the pathless prairies
The rarest of flowers abound.
And in the dark caves of the valleys
There is wealth that will never be foun<J.
80 there are sweet songs in the silence
That never will melt into sound.
The twilight illumines her banners
With colors no artist can teach.
And aloft in the clouds there are sermons
Too mighty for mortals to preach.
So life has its lovely ideals
Too lofty for language to reach.
Afar on the sea there's a music
That the shore never knows in its rest,
And in the green depths of the forest
There are choirs that carol unblest.
So deep in the heart there's a cadence
And a music that's never expressed.
—Larry Chittenden, in Mail and Express.
SAVED BYA STEER.
Several years ago, if one had been trav
eling through Lake Towhship, in a
county of Eastern Dakota, and had in
quired who was its best known and most
reputable citizen, the answer in almost
every case would lmve been Emmet Car
len, and almost any settler could have
pointed out ou the level prairie, from his
own door, the house and buildings of the
young Norwegian upon the crest of "Tip-
Top Knoll," at the head of Rush Lake.
Emmet began life in Lake Township
ns many other Norsemen in many other
regions of our new West have done, with
no possessions save a change of clothing,
but, at the end of a few years, he had.
by his thrift and industry, secured and
improved a new farm and placed himself
011 the sure rond lo comfort and plenty.
At the time of which I write, however,
it was not so much his thrift that made
him a marked man. but certain daring
cool-headedne=s which he had always
displayed when courage and intrepidity ,
were demanded.
Once, at his own great peri!, he had !
carried food and ex'.ra clothing to a j
school-teacher and a half-dozen small '
children who were confined in a little j
school-house, nearly a mile from any j
habitation, by one of the fiercest bliz- j
zards ever known in that region. This I
happened during the first year of his stay j
there, and while he was working for his j
board and attending school with the lit- j
tie ones whose lives he had saved.
Strangely enough, he was again to fig- j
urc as the rescuer of two of these same
children from another sweeping storm, '
one even more terrible than the dreaded j
blizzard, a storm of fire, as it swept over
the tall, dry grass of the unbroken [
prairie.
To this exploit, however, there was ;
another party, Emmet's big steer, 1
"Comet," without whose aid,indeed, the
children must have perished.
This animal was quite as noteworthy as
his master. "Comet" was a huge, long
legged, long-horned steer. Eor two
years Emmet had only his help in plow
ing and cultivating the "Tip-Top" home
stead, except that the breaking of sod
was done by hired "breakers."
The young Norseman hitched his steer
to a heavy cart, and drove him to market
at the small but ambitious town of
Boomerang, eight miles distant. Tn
winter, when snow fell and the roads
were good, a light sled took the place of
the cart.
Before the sled Comet soon gained a
local reputation for speed upon the road.
His gait was a steady, long-stepped trot,
like that of an elk, and nearly as swift.
At any rate, it was soon an admitted fact
that there were no horses in the neigh
borhood that could pass Comet in a trot
ting match. This was abundantly proved
by many races along the road to town
and back, where the drivers of the teams
or single horses had tried and failed to
"go by" the fleet steer.
One day in October Emmet was
plowing. The day was one of (hose
common to that season in new prairie re
gions, smoky, with a strong northwest
wind smelling of burned grass, a fine
dust of cinders sifting down, and the sun
shining through smoke and dust with a
dull red glare. But as Emmett had
sometime before burned a broad "fire
break" around his shanty, grain and hay
stacks. he noted these evidences of rag
ing fire without uneasiness. They came
ill sometime every autumn.
It was about the middle of the after
noon that little .Take and Lib Walker
came into his field, bringing some grain
bags which Emmet had lent their father
to use during his threshing the week be
fore.
Wnlker iired at Jlie foot of Rush Lake,
iibout !<. mile from the school-house,
where the young Norwegian had taken
lessons in English, and these little fel
lows. Jake and Lib, had been his ichool
inntei when the "big bliztard" came,
cutting them off suddenly from home
and impc-illing their lives.
"Hallo, Yakie; hallo, Libbief You a
koot fays fom home, ain't it?" was Em
met's greeting as the lads came up, each
staggering under a back-load of sacks.
"We've been a good deal furtlier'n
this more'n once," said Jake, "and
we've got togo clear round the lake'n
drive the cows home yit to-night.
They're away over yonder," pointing
across the lake, "where the wild rice
grows 'long the edge, and pa's gone to
town."
"Sit you ride town on t'em packs
t'ere," said Enimet, "unt rest yo' leeks,
unt I feel let Comet rest, too. I did
tink meppe as I coot feenish tot
plowin' py night-time, put I ton't know
off I ken tout."
And then, seated on the plow-beam
he talked pleasantly with the boys for a
few minutes, then, telling them that he
would carry the sacks to the house when
he turned out, bade them "look out unt
not ket lost een t'em tall krasses"—tall
grass—as they trudged sturdily away
toward the upper eud of the lake.
The lads had been gone from the field
about half an hour when Emmet noted
with alarm that the smoke which had
pervaded the air all day had thickened,
until now the sun was almost clouded
over, showing only a dull red disk. The
smell of burning grass had grown more
pungent.
His fears were aroused wholly on ac
count of the two boys who had gine to
the other side of the lake. The field in ■
which he was at work lay upon the south
side of the hill upon which his shanty
stood, shutting off the view to north and
west, from whence the wind was blow
iDg.
He unhitched Comet at once, and
drove him at a trot to the top of the !
hill.
No sooner had he reached the crest I
than lie saw cause enough for alarm. Not |
two miles away to the northwest dense!
volumes of smoke were rising and rolling
forward over a broad stretch of prairie.
A big prairie fire was sweeping down at a
tremendous rate of speed, the "head fire"
lining out directly toward the head of the
lake.
What could he do to save those two
boys? was the young Norwegian's first
thought. They must be even at that
moment, he thought, well round the head
of the lake, wading through the tall grass
of the flat. There was no bank to the j
lake upon that side; wild rice and tall
rashes grew far out into the water, and
this swamp growth would burn to its j
very edge. He could not race v ith the j
fire on foot, and he doubted if even a :
horse would be able to outstrip it, but he ,
instantly resolved to make the trial with j
Cornet.
He had frequently ridden the big fel- ,
low, who had become as docile and
obedient as a dog, to and from the field,
hawing and geeing him about at will.
Now, if possible, he would ride the fleet
footed steed to some purpose. To throw
off the yoke and harness, tic a rope around
the animal's body to cliug to, and another
to either horn to serve as reins, was the
work of a minute; then, whip in hand,
Emmet mounted and was off.
Comet, feeling a few stinging blows of
the whip, broke away at hit swiftest trot.
Although his gait had more than once
defied the best trotters of the settlement,
the big steer could hold it with ease for
a length of time that seemed incredible.
In fact, as had been proved when Comet
ran wild among the settlement herds, the
animal was as nearly tireless as flesh and
blood could be.
But it was a rough ride, and Emmet
j was obliged to cling tighly with one
hand to the girth-rope, while managing
j reins and whip with the other.
The whip, however, was not needed,
! and the rider had only to yell "Hi! Hi!"
jto keep the steer flying at his best gait.
With head up and tail streaming, Comet
; rounded the point of the lake, some half
mile from the knoll cabin, just ns the
! "head fire" reached the upper end of the
| flat which lay to west and north of the
' lake.
That, "head lire" was now a mile dis
| tant, and was coming directly down the
flat, >vhich followed the southeast trend
' of the lake.
| The smoke had grown so thick that
' Emmet could only sec a few hundred feet
ahead, but he kept well within sight of
the lake shore, knowing that the boys
could not have gone far down as yet, and
j that they were not likely to wander far
j from the lake's edge, for fear of getting
I lost. Their cattle, too. would be found
j along shore, feeding upon the rice-heads.
1 "Hi! Hi: Hi!"
LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1889.
Away they tore through the high grass,
across ditches, over rough, boggy spots,
the rider getting a terrible poundinr, the
steer possessed of but one instinct, it
seemed —to respond to the sharp yells
with the utmost possible strides of his
long, fleet legs.
The fire meanwhile was gaining every
moment, in spite of his tremendous ex
ertion. Emmet could see that the smoke
closed in thicker, and feel that the air
was growing hot and oppressive.
But suddenly two little dark objects
appeared a few yards ahead, bobbing
above the waving grass.
Emmet gave a shout it was
the black heads of Jake and Lib,nodding
as they ran. Their hats were off, and
they were running as fast as the wilder
ness of grass would let them. In an in-
Rtant Comet was alongside, and, with a
few sharp whoas and a hard pull at the
reins. Emmet managed to stop him but a
few yards in front of the boys.
They ran to him with eager shouts,
their fright turned to joy at the sight of
him. But without waiting to answer
them he leaped forward, caught Lib by
the arm, and swung him up in front,then
helped Jake to scramble on behind.
"Hank tight to me, Yake," he said;
then, throwing an arm around Lib and
grasping the rope, he dug his heels into
Comet's ribs, and, with a shrill "Hi!
Ili!" set the steer off again at a swinging
pace.
The crackle and roar of the fire could
plainly be heard as they started, and
Comet, either objecting to his additional
burden or uneasy at the smell and the
roar ol' the fire, began snorting and
throwing his head on either side omiu
ouslv. j
Emmet feared that the steer would be
come unmanageable, and, as a last resort,
determined to run him into the lake and
make him swim for it. Somewhere uot
far below he knew there was an arm of
the lake about one hundred yards wide,
extending out a considerable distance
into the flat, and this arm. or bayou, he
had hoped to reach.
He knew that Comet would not hesi
tate an instant to plunge into it and swim
—the steer had been known to swim
clear across the lake itself—and once
upon the other side he could soon make
his little party safe.
Suddenly the smoke lifted, and he
ventured a glance backward. The sight
was appalling 1 The smoke, driven up
ward by the rush of heated air, was fly
ing above their heads, leaving the jump
ing flames in plain view.
The head fire was uot a quarter-mile
distant , Emmet judged, and was bearing
down on them with terrible speed, the
flames shooting higher than he had ever
seen them rise before.
Little Jake and Lib clung to him with
out a word, while Comet threw his head
about and snorted more violently than
before.
But suddenly there was a strip of
water before them; the arm of the lake
had been reached. A moment more,
and they were into it with a splash, and
Commet was swimming with his heavy
burden and carrying it more easily than
he had been able to bear it upon land;
but his body sank until the water came
up to Jake's waist, and nothing but the
nose and horns of the steer could be
seen.
But swimming was much slower work
than running had been, and by the time
the opposite shore was reached the fire
was already roaring at the other edge.
Emmet leaped off into the edge of the
! water, and pulled Jake and Lib with
j him.
"Here!" he shouted, giving them the
r.oxws. "Hank tight to 'im; ton't let'm
loose off you cau holt to 'm. You yust
i so safe as to home now."
They obeyed manfully, and Emmet,
drawing a match-box from his vest
pocket, dropped upon his knees at the
nearest dry place, and, lighting a match,
held his hat over it until the flame had
touched the blades of grass which he
bent toward; then he stepped back into
i the water and took charge of the steer
I again.
The flames on the other side had now
reached the very water's edge, and
1 bunches of burning grass were blown to
woard them.
For an instant the heat was intense,
almost scorching. Great tongues of
I augiy flame lapped over among the waters
j and reached out toward them. Then,
! with a final crackling wliis'n' they died
I out, leaving a black smoking surface be
yond.
The Are swept on around the bayou,
but meanwhile Emmet's small blaze
[ sprung up and stretched away, gathering
fjree and speed as it swept a wide* ,
space.
Comet took things quietly after his
swim, which had cooled his skin, and his
dripping coat of hair served to protect
him from the violent heat which reigned
for a moment.
"Veil," said Emmet, when the coast j
was clear; "Veil, little poys, ve ken ko j
to you' house now."
Walker's house was only a mile dis- J
tant, but they reached it after the fire
had passed, and found that Mrs. Walker i
had beeu nearly wild about her boys i
until she saw them coming.
"I might have known you'd save 'em,"
she said to Emmet, while grateful tears j
ran down her face, as she listened to the j
story of their escape. Their cattle had ;
taken fright and came home about an |
hour before.- Youth'* Companion.
The Result of Inventions.
In cutting out clothing and cloth caps
with dies one worker does the work of
three by old methods.
In leather manufacture modern meth
ods have reduced the necessary number
of workers from five to fifty per cent.
A carpet measuring and brushing ma
chine with one operator will do the work j
of fifteen men by the old methods.
Iu the manufacture of flour modern im
provements save seventy-five per cent, of
the manual labor that once was necessary.
In making tin cans one man and a boy
with modern appliances can do the work
of ten workers by the old process.
By the use of coal mining machines
10(1 miners iu a month can mine as much
coal in the same time as 500 miners by
the old methods.
One boy by machinery iu turning
woodwork and materials for musical in
struments the work of twenty
five men by the old methods.
The horse power of steam used in the
United States on railways, steamers and
in factories and mines was in ISBS 12.000,-
000, against 1,(>10,000 in 1850.
In the manufacture of brick improved
devices save one-tenth of the labor, and
in the manufacture of firebrick forty per
cent, of the manual labor is displaced.
In stave dressing twelve colaborers
with a machine can dress 12,000 staves
in the same time that the same number
of workers by hand could dress 2500
staves.
In nailincr on shoe heels one worker
and a boy with machinery can heel 300
pairs of shoes per day. It would require
five workers to do the same by hand.
In the raanfacture of carriages it used
to take one man thirty-five days to make
a carriage. It is now made by the aid
of machinery with the work of one man
in twelve days.
Iu the cotton mills in the United
States the manual labor has been reduced
about fifty per cent. Now one weaver
manages from two to ten looms, where
one loom was formerly tended by one
worker.
Millionaire Jay Gould.
Everything about the hundred million
aire, Jay Gould, is of public interest,
says a writer in the New York Press.
You will hear him talked about in
groups of men of all classes. Even his
i personal habits are topics of conversa
tion. Not long since one of his inti
mate acquaintances and business asso
ciates told me that Mr. Gould has within
a short time made a new rule about his
letters. They are all opened by his con
fidential private secretary. Those which
1 relate to business affairs in which he is
related are laid upon his desk. All oth
ers of whatever nature are consigned to
the waste basket. His mail is enormous.
It consists of begging letters, proposi
tions to enter new business lines, threat
ening letters and a great many others,
which, under his rule, are destroyed.
His legitimate mail is still anormous, and
would task an ordinary man to answer
it. lam told, however, that he is never
in a hurry, which shows that he must
have extraordinary working power. He
■ has come to limit his reception of callers
to much the same lines as his correspond
ence. "I don't want to see you, sir," he
said recently to a man who had pushed
his way into his presence. "I have no
interest whatever in the matter you wish
me talk about, and you must ex( tice me.''
When the gentleman said that he sought
I to interest Mr. Gould the latter quietly
but firmly responded: "But, my dear
' sir, that is just what I do not want you
!to do. I don't want to be interested in
j anything more than I am now interested
in.''
Wlwn =tung by a hornet jump two feet
j high and yelt for lue police.— 'Detroit
Krto. /*"
Terms—sl.2s in Advance ; $1.50 after Three Months.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Foreign scientists have discovered i
minute diamonds in meteorites found in ,
Siberia.
Cable messages are sent from Nev; j
York to Liverpool not by the ordinary J
method of dots and dashes, but by elec- !
trie flashes.
Some electric railways will be laid i
along the rivers of northern Russia, i
where the extreme cold endures during
a great part of the year.
The new apparatus for feeding the fires I
of electric light plants docs away entirely J
with the necessity of handling coal after
it has been dumped in the fuel room. I
To add to our knowledge of terrestrial '
magnetism it is suggested that regular !
magnetic observatories be established at i
Cape of Good Hope and in South |
America.
Miss Bruce, of New York city, has
given $50,000 to the Astronomical Ob
servatory of Harvard, to be devoted to
the purchase of a telescope for celestial
photography.
It has been satisfactorily demonstrated
that the arsenites are effective against the
codling moth, that in their use there is
no danger to the fruit of the tree upon
which they are. used.
The opinion seems to be gaining
ground among scisntific men, concerning
the formation of petroleum, that it is in
all cases due to the decomposition of
vegetable matter contained in the rocks
where it is produced.
The latest improvement in the manu
facture of filaments for incandescent
lamps consists in heating them to a high
temperature by burning fluid fuel in a
suitable furnace, and at the conclusion of
the operation raising the temperature to
a still higher degree for a short period by
the introduction of a blast of Oxygen.
Take two eggs of equal size. Care
fully dissolve the shell of one with dilute
hydrochloric acid, and immerse it in pure
water. In the course of a day or two
enough water will pass through the out
side membrane to cause it to nearly double
its volume, as may be shown by com
parison with the second egg, which is
used as a standard.
An instantaneous photographic appara
tus is proposed to take the place of the
judge at the winning-posts in race-courses.
Its value is seen in very close races, when
the judges can not decide accurately, and
in what are called "dead heats," when
two or three horses appear to reach the
winning-post at exactly the same time.
The photograph will show one of the
horses to be an inch or so ahead, and de
cide in his favor.
In a French medical paper Blanche
Howard, a female doctor, gives statisti
cal proof that, the mortality from diptli
theria is rapidly increasing. Twenty
years ago in France this mortality was
between thirty-six and forty-five deaths
in every 100,000 inhabitants; now it
amounts to 110 to 120 in every 100.000
In England the deaths in every 100,000
number twenty-two; in America, sixty
to ninety, and in Germany 140 to 155.
The true scientific attitude of the day,
as expressed by the President of the
British Association, Professor Flower, is
"a suspended judgment." Professoi
Flower indorses Sir John Lubbock's idea
that the field of inquiry is limitless, and
that there may be "fifty other senses as
different from ours as sound is from sight;
and even within the boundaries of oui
own senses there may be endless sounds
which we cannot hear, and colors as dif
ferent as red from green, of which we
have no conception. v These and a thou
sand other questions remain for solutiou.
The familiar world which surrounds us
may be a totally different place to other
animals. To them it may be full oi
music which we cannot hear, of colot
which we cannot see, of sensations which
we cannot conceive."
Memorial Cards.
The business of selling memorial cards
to the families of deceased persons for
distribution among friends has grown
into proportions of considerable magni
tude. One such family in this city has
already received a sample card from five
different firms bearing the name, age and
date of death of deceased, with two
stanzas of commonplace' poetry. Three
of the cards have the same stanzas. The
price ranges from fifteen to twenty-five
cents. The firms are furnished death no
tices clipped from newspapers, and after
hrinting and mailing the cards, expect
either to receive an order for cards or the
return of the sample by mail.— Columbus
(Ohio) Dispatch.
The vnlue of a ton of pure gold is
$602,799 20.
NO. 6.
FUN.
Most people have their lives insured as
a mere matter of policy.
The way of the transgressor is to shin
over into Canada.— Pvch.
A man without honor in his own
country may have profit abroad.
The young man who is in love is con
spicuous for his courtly manner.
Sheets of flame are usually spreat' over
abed of coals.— Baltimore American.
The man who wants to get ahead of
time should use the spur of the moment.
"All's well that ends well" is the
motto of the artesian borer.— Boston Ga
zette.
First Grasshopper—"You look riled."
Second Grasshopper—"Yes, I'm hooping
mad."
When a man gets drunk he generally
proceeds home at "full" speed.— Texas
Siftinqs.
Wifely Care.—"John, do tie a knot in
your handkerchief before you goto bed,
so as not to forget to get up to-morrow
at four o'clock."
To the lone bachelor patching his shirt
at two o'clock in the morning, the mot
to, "It is never to late too mend" comes
with striking force.— DnnsviUe Breeze.
Little Flaxen Hair—"Papa, it's rain
ing." Papa (somewhat annoyed by
work in hand) —"Well, let it rain.
Little Flaxen Hair (timidly)—"l was
going to."— Clothiers' Monthly.
Extra-ordinary.—Smith—"Look here.
Brown, we'll soon decide the matter; lets
| ask the waiter. Waiter, are tomatoes a
fruit or a vegetable?" Waiter —-'Neither,
sir. Tomatoes is a extra!"— Funny Folk*.
Between the summer's torrid heat
And winter's frigid storm,
There comes a charming breathing spell
That's not too cold or warm.
It's after we're relinquished from
The ice man's fearful clasp,
And just before we get into
The coal man's fatal grasp.
—Chicago Ilerald.
Nowadays the young men of the peri
; od don't go down on their knees in nerv
, ous agony before their future wives.
They hold a solitaire diamond ring above
their heads and the girls jump for it.
J Somerville Journal.
The Wonderful Flying Squirrel.
Among the small animals which are
i quite a rare sight to city folks, and even
' dwellers in the towns, is the cunning lit
j tie flying squirrel. This is really a won
j derful creature, and seems to be a sort 3t
j compromise between a bird and an ani
| mal. It is about live inches long as tc
i its body, which is black and gray and
| white beneath, and carries a bushy tail
I quite five inches in length, having a pe-
I culiar construction which assists it in its
' flight from tree to tree, but the main ap-
I paratus used in living, or in reality leap
| ing, is a loose membrane connected to
j the front and hind legs on each side,
j which the squirrel has the power to ex-
I pand at will, thus increasing the surface
j presented against the air. When they
j desire togo from one tree to anothei
| they first ascend to the topmost branch,
and boldly leap off into space. Then it
is that their kite-like appendages make
themselves useful. They spread out and
the little animal, guiding itselt by the
tail, takes a downward, circular flight
| toward another tree. When it arrives
it hin six or eight feet of its intended
landing place it chauges its position so as
to light upon its feet against the tree
when the membranes become greatly re,
duced and are not at all in the way.
They live in decayed trees, where, if
not disturbed, they become quite numer
ous. They arc difficult to catch, and
bite viciously when captured, but they
are easily domesticated and make admir
able pets, and soon become an unfailing
source of amusement to the children.
They live upon nuts, acorns, insects,and
are said to eat small birds.
Every evening a family of three or four
of tbcsp interesting surviving denizens of
our suburban woods, who make their
home in a giant oak. sail across the
street, one after tha other, to a tree at
the residence of the writer, where they
scamper about the limbs searching for
their favorite food. It seems from their
actions that they are nocturnal in their
habits and pass the day snugly curled up
in their home in the old oak, which prob
ably accounts for their survival long af
ter the dainty gray and fox squirrels
have disappeared.— St. Louis (lloU-Demo
crat.
A census of farm animals has recently
been taken by the Italian Government,
and it appears that there is a very large
in -.ease in all kinds excepting pigs
which have diminished considerably u.
number*.