Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, January 13, 1910, Image 3

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    SUZETTE. 1
She Made a Quick Journey and
Saved the Property.
By FRANK H. SWEET.
iCopyrisht. 190i>, oy American f'reaa ABHO
ciation.j
"I say they come here and drive
away our game!" cried Suzette. stamp
ing her pretty foot. "Oui, 1 say It bold
ly. Do we not have to search the
wood all day now for a deer or a tur
key when both used to come to our
very door? And they have angle and
seine and troll and spear till there be
no feesh any more. Do uot tell me
fhey have come to civilize, to open up
the country and to bring pros-per-i-ty.
Bah! Have not we been happy here
all by ourselves on our little slope
overlooking the river, and does not our
grandmother sny she was happy here
when a little girl, aud did not her
mother and her grandmother live here,
too, and be happy in their time? What
more is there? Have we not had pros
per-i-ty? And what do we care for
more civilize, more open up? it is not
good for us. See!" scornfully and
sweeping her arm toward a building
SHE SHOT OVXB AND DOWN THE FALLS.
whose many open, mouth-like piazzas
grinued affably at them through the
trees. "That Is their civilize, to dance
and be amuse, and they have put up
a—a clubhouse on the bank, at the
very top of our own beautiful falls,
where they have canvas shells—to
shoot the falls, and that be amuse too.
And that is not all—non. They"—
"Child, child," remonstrated her moth
er, "do not goon so. They mean
well and want to be friendly. Aud.
anyway, nothing we can do will
change"—
"That is not all," repeated Suzette.
"This morning some of them come on
our owu land with things to measure
around our own cabin, and I did hear
one of them say the slope would soon
be theirs nud that it would he a beau
ti-ful spot for a bun ga-low. Think,
mother! The land has been ours since
the time of my great-grandfather, with
nobody but ourselves here, and all the
game and fish for us alone, and now
they come here and walk across the
land and tnake some figures, and all
they have to do is to send the figures
away and the land will be theirs for
ever and through all time! That is
what 1 bear the man say. Bah! SVhat
kind ot civilize do you call it, this
open up? It is not we who have live
here. God did uot make two lands for
one man."
"H'sh, Suzotte!" auxiously. "They
may hear you and drive us away when
they owu the land. We are nothing
but squatters. Uiey say."
"We have lived here, and they have
not," flashed Suzette. "And what are
the figures but marks that any school
boy can make! 1 look at them and
know. The first paper the man they
call sur-vey-or make he lay down, and
the wind blow It toward me. Then he
make another. And when they go I
pick it up. 1 have It now. and It is
nothing but some figures and some let
ters.-'
Her mother was usually calm and
submissive to fate, but now a quick
light flashed to her eyes.
"If we could get the paper to Que
bec first, Suzette," she almost breathed,
"maybe—maybe the land would bo
ours. I hud an uncle who got some
land that way once. Another man
was try to get it, but my uncle reach
the land place first, and the land have
been his ever since, and now no man
can lake it except they pay him mon
ey and he is willing'. Tf-if -rr ecald
get our land like that!"
Suzette drew a paper from her bos
om, and liie two women bent over it
eagerly, a'most reverently, for to both
it was alihe unintelligible.
"Did you hear the man say when he
take his paper to the land place.
Suzette?"
"Not till next week. They were stand
near the cabin, and I could not help
to hear. They will fish this week and
hunt, and the next week when they
start home they will goto Quebec,
too, and steal our land."
"If they can," the submissive face
growing yet firmer with Its new pur
pose. "But wo try to do like my undo
did first, only," with a note of appre
hension hi ber voice, "these people
know things, and they have been to
Quebec. The man who try to steal my
uncle's land was only a tramp seller
of pins, with slow wits, and it was a
race of legs. This may not be so easy,
but we will try. Vou hurry to the
traps and find your father, Suzette,
and tell him to come quick. lie must
start with the sunset, for it will be a
long, hard Journey, and he will have to
goon foot. When 'hey go it will be
with fast horses. Hut there is the
week's start. Hurry, suzette!"
But the girl only drew herself up,
shaking her bead.
"Not father." she said. "He would
lie vet' grt to Quebec. lie would [SD
at first, meaning to do everything, buf
when he found water or a sigtl Of
game he would stop to tisb or bans
and forget everything. No. no, HOD
uion pere. Now, there is a way Wtf
must not risk. 1 will go myself." j
"You, Suzette!" incredulously. "Yo|
cannot, child. It is three days' Joan
ney, and you have never been a (liijl
from hotue."
"Only two days by water, mothnu
and 1 shall go that way. It will be ■
straight course, and 1 cannot get lo«fl
1 will take my 00 shillings and somj
bread." 4
Ten minutes later the keeper of tha
boathouse at the head of the falls saw
her running down the slope. Suzette
never walked when sne could run. As
she approached the man rose to his
feet. There were few visitors at this
hour.
"Ob. m'sieu," sbe called merrily as
she stepped on the platform aud slip
ped past bitn to the riverside, where
the boats were kept, "uiay i take one
of the—er—shells togo over the falls?
Vou know you said 1 could use them
any time when not engaged."
"Certainly, Miss Suzette," the man
answered respectfully. He had orders
to treat these first settlers with every
consideration possible that did not in
terfere witli business or profit in any
way. "Which one will you tryV"
The girl's eyes swept over the boats,
instantly fixing upon the one she felt
to be the strongest aud most seawor
thy.
"This." she replied as she stepped
into it. "Now see it I not go down the
tails as nice as any ot your hotel peo
ple."
A minute later, with shoulders erect
and hair Hying, she shot over and
down the falis, the man standing on
the platform watching her.
After passing below the rapids the
man expected her to turn back by the
little side stream prepared for that
purpose, up which the boat could be
drawn. But, 110; she paddled calmly 011
without looking back aud soon disap
peared round a betid iu the river.
The man stood there for some time
watching, then resumed his seat, with
a chuckle. J lie girl hud likely gone ou
to some quiet pool tor an hour's lisb
ing, or perhaps she was gathering
' lilies or leaves or just keeping out or
sight ihroush some leasing mood. She
was a iiaruiu scarum thing anyway.
But when she had not returned at
noon uor at night lie grew anxious
and at last went to the owner and
spoke with him In a low voice, then
sought the cabiu with faltering steps
Yet somehow, though Suzette's mother
expressed anxiety in a voluble voice,
he had a feeling that tbe words did
not reach much farther than tbe lips,
and the feeling lessened bis own cou
cern. Very likely tbe girl was accus
tomed to such escapades.
So little was said about it tbe next
day, and it was not until tbe end of
i the third that the disappearance be
came generally known, l'ben it seem
i ed chletly to affect two men who bad
| Just come iu from a fishing trip. They
I had planned to leave tbe week follow
| lng, but after a hurried consultation
I they ordered the fastest horses and
within half an hour were on the way
to Quebec.
Three days afterward Suzette rowed
to tbe foot ot the rapids, turned Into
the small side stream aud signaled for
the keeper to draw her boat up. When
she stepped upon tbe platform her face
i was pale, but triumphant.
"You may tell tbe owner his boat
have been very useful to me,'* she
said, "and that I have not harm it.
At'd you may add that 1 own the land
around tbe cabin now and all the slope
| beyond. All 1 have to do Is to live on
| it. And. oh. yes. If the hotel want to
! ii •<* any more of tbe water from our
1 s; ring it must pay us something for
the privilege! So far it have paid
m thing and tried to take everything.
[ but 1 will let the use of the boat can
| eel all that."
And then she started up the slope to
j meet her mother, who was hurrying
' down from the cabin.
Meanwhile the two men. who follow
ed the girl on fast horses, were gallop
: lng toward the land office at Quebec.
I They traveled fast, but Suzette had
j got too much a start of them. When
| they reached Quebec they threw them
j selves from their jaded horses and
j went into the office to register the land
i they found that an entry had been
j made only a few hours before. There
| on the books tbey were shown the
| name of the girl who bad outwitted
: them. Their fishing trip had been
I spoiled, they bad ruined two valua
ble horses, and they had got nothing
i for their pains.
And the bad temper of these men
was balanced by the rejoicings of
Suzette and her mother. They could
not return to the times when the deer
and wild turkeys cou!d be shot at
their doors and when the fish were
plentiful In the streams. But people
who bad plenty of money wanted
their property and kept bidding more
and more for it every year. At last a
j hunting club that had purchased many
acres lying all about it made them
sueh a fine offer for it that it was ac
cepted.
With the money Suzette and Uer
mother went away and purchased a.
new home. And now the game comes
again to their door.
To School by Air Tube.
"Fifty years from now there will be
no schools lu Chicago," said Architect
Dwlght H. Perkins of the Chicago
board of educution the other day. lie
meant that conditions In Chicago, par
ticularly transportation, will have
changed to such an extent that the
schools will be thirty or forty miles be
yond the city limits, far from its
smoke, dust, dirt and turmoil and close
to nature.
"We will shoot the children out
through pneumatic tubes every morn-,
lng into fields, groves and parks to!
school," was the architect's enthusias
tic prophecy. "And in the evening we
will shoot them back again."
Tanning.
Johnny—Don't they use bark to tan
hides with, pa? Father—Yes, my son,
but if you ask any more questions this
•evening you'll fiud that a slipper does
Just as well.
A Mean Comment.
The Man—She looks nice enough to
eRt. The Woman—M-yes; plain food
seems to appeal to some people.—Lon
don Illustrated Bits.
I The Work
| Of Doctor
I Jonnesco i
entire med
-8 ical profession
of the country
is at present in
tensely interested
In the work of I)r.
Jonnesco of ttouma
nia, now in Amer
*4o9 ' *'emonstrations
' 'if Jjk have won the high
est praise, our phy
sicians intend to
DIJ. JONNESCO. await results before
adopting his methods here. Dr. Jon
nesco by the injecting into the spine
of his new anaesthetic, stovaine and
strychnine, is enabled to operate while
tile patient is perfectly conscious. lie
cently in New York city he anaesthe
tized four patients, three of them chil
dren and the fourth a woman of thir
ty-live years, with stovaine, while half
n hundred keen, critical American doc
tors, six of them women, looked on
from the amphitheater, following every
move.
Dr. William Mayo, one of the noted
Mayo brothers of Minnesota, ranked
by some as the foremost surgeons of
America, was among those who watch
ed the demonstration. lie had come
halfway across the country to wit
ness it, and when it was at an end lie
congratulated Jonnesco and invited the
professor to demonstrate at Rochester,
Minn, where the Mayos have their
hospital.
The behavior of the patients was
most remarkable. The youngest of the
four was a boy four and a half years
of age, suffering from infantile paral
ysis. lie whimpered just a little as
the needle punctured his spine and for
a moment when the sharp lance touch
ed his heel. The rest of the time be
laughed. When he was asked after it
was over how he felt he replied in a
INJECTINO HIE HTUVAINi:.
[From Harper's Weekly.J
voice that carried to every corner of
the room: "1 feel all right. 1 feel
One."
The third boy was deeply worried
for fear that the doctors were "golug
to do something" to him. Even while
he worried over something he believed
impending Dr. Coley finished the op
eration for hernia. The youngster lay
on the table ns calmly as if he were
in his own bed, looking at the physi
cian with big, unwinking eyes, feeling
nothing, though there was an Incision
several Inches long in the region of his
abdomen.
Trofessor Jonnesco said that uot one
of the patients had felt any pain, and
that was tlieir own testimony. Some
skeptics present declared that it re
mained to be seen whether stovalne
had any effect on the spinal cord,
which would take several months to
determine. Professor Jonnesco was
asked about these possible after ef
fects, and he said there would bo none.
In an operation for appendicitis
where stovalne had been Injected the
patient laughed and talked with the
doctors. After the incision had been
made and the appendix found the sur
geon asked:
"Do you feel it much?"
"Feel what?"
"That pain."
"No. When will you begin?"
Spinal anaesthesia is 110 new thing,
nud I'rofessor Jonnesco does not say
It is. Dr. .1. Leonard Corning, "an
American surgeon, is sakl to have been
the first to suggest it.and Drs. Bier
of Berlin, Tutiier of Paris, Morton of
Sau Francisco. Matas of New Orleans,
George Fowler and William S. llain
bridge of Washington have all used It.
But Dr. Jonnesco uses stovalne com
bined with strychnine to stimulate the
heart action, and that is a new solu
tiou. As lie explains his method there
are "two essential points of novelty—
the puncture Is made at the level of
the spinal column appropriate to the
region to be operated upon. An anaes
thetic solution is used which, owing to
the addition of strychnine. Is tolerated
by the higher nervous centers."
Professor Jonnesco prefers stovaine
to tropa-coeaine and novocain, though
ho admits that the latter are equally
efficacious and harmless.
What He Lacked.
"lie's got no license to talk the way
he does."
"Oh, he's got a license, all right!
What he lacks is a muzzle."—Cleve
land Leader.
Disagreeable.
Aunt—l can tell at a glance what
Other people are thinking of me. Niece
(absentmindedl.v) —llow very disagree
able for you. auntie!
Although the world Is full of suffer
ing. it Is full of the overcoming of It.—
Keller.
MATCHING,
A Story of Love Between Intel
lectual People.
By WAYNE S. BORROW.
JCopyrlght, 1009. by American Press Asso
ciation.]
A little dark wotnnn dressed In a
kimono was arranging a mahogany tea
table, with claws to Its legs, on which
were a teapot, dainty china cups and
saucers, cream and sugar bowls. The
Apartment was as daintily furnished as
the tea table. Persian rugs were on
the floor, damask and lace curtains
hung in the windows, while a pro
fusion of bric-a-brac was scattered
About. It was an apartment that a
man would never dare enter, for should
lie turu around suddenly his coattall
would be sure to sweep some valuable
bit of china onto the floor, of course
breaking it into fragments.
A woman large and fair entered.
"You poor thing! You look fagged
to death."
"I am, dear. I'm dead already. This
is my ghost that wants a cup of tea."
The little dark woman In the kimono
pushed the large fair one into an easy
"OBEKN STREAKS," BHB TOM) FS, "BTOOD
POU PATIENCE."
chair, Bllpi>ed out hatpins and dis
posed of the gorgeous picture hat that
crowned a blond pompadour.
"I'm sure you're an angel, Laura.
Perhaps this poor ghost has got to
heaven."
"Tell me about It," said the other
sympathetically. "You haven't lost
flesh over It, Anne."
The visitor laughed ruefully. "Do
I lose flesh over anything?" she in
quired. "But I have taken what Jack
calls my annual vow and swear-off
from clubs. The federation may fed
erate in any town it sees fit. I'll not
go near it. No, I'll not!" as her
hostess laughed and refilled her tea-
I cup. "This vow is not to be annually
I broken—only annually renewed.
| "You see. it was like this: It was
| worse than an ordinary federation
| meeting, for I had Myra Heed Morton
and her daughter Lily's love affairs
on my tnind. You know, Professor
Henry of the university has been des
perately in love wilb Lily for a year.
I only be doesn't know It. poor soul!
He's so wound up in his 'oiogies and
knowledges that he doesn't understand
| what he wants."
| "And you were trying to help him.
I you matchmaking creature!'" suggested
Laura.
"Of course 1 was! Isn't Myra Hoed
a widow and one of rny dearest friends,
and isn't 1 Jly the sweetest and l»est
girl of her age 1 know? I've invited
! the professor to my house and listened
I to his theories till"—
"Till you're very, very tired of it."
agreed the other sympathetically.
The sufferer tiodded. "I've given
! him every chance in the world to be
1 alone with Lily, and I've tried—well,
I it sounds brutal to put it just that
: way—but I've tried to shield Myra's
I little idiosyncrasies from tho sou-in
; law I hoped she would have.
I "Then along came this miserable fed
| eratlon meeting, and the evil one
couuseled me to put Myra on the pro
gram. Some madness lod me to think
that she would actually follow Instruc
tions and give tue a paper on colonial
families of Virginia—that for the
Daughters, you know. In uiy besotted
state of mind 1 ran and Invited the
j professor to be present at that partic-
I ular meeting. To Invite him It was
necessary to invite the entire faculty
j unless 1 wanted to seem desperately
! special. Oh. Laura, 1 don't know
| whether 1 hnve fortitude togo on!"
, "Yes, you have," her friend Insisted,
j "Take a wafer and several long breaths.
i Did Susie Alllngham faint? I heard
] the most garbled account of the
thing."
| "Faint? No more than you or I.
i She had promised me to have a paper
j on traveling libraries and a full report,
i Five minutes before the reading I
1 asked her how long her paper was
and would she please let me glance
| over it. The shameless creature hadn't
the scratch of a pen. She said she was
I going to give us a little talk, aud she
I was shaking like a leaf with stage
I fright right then. Oh. yes, she pre
j tended to faint!"
I "You can't quite say that, can you?
Tou didn't have a physician present
or test her with a redhot Iron?"
The president of the Spare Moments
club giggled comfortably. "I rather
think the latter. Jane Courtney—you
know what a soldier Jane is—oh. a
grenadier! Well, perhaps Jane had
been on foot all day looking after tho
refreshments and various things that
nobody else wants to, and when she
saw Susie keel over she turned around
and remarked: 'That Alllngham girl
looks a sight with her bonnet knocked
over one ear, and her switch is coming
loose. Good gracious, it'll fall off in
another minute!' "
There was soft murmur of apprecia
tion from the other side of tho table.
"And Susie?"
"Susie opened one eye to see who it
was talking, and theu she changed her
mind about fainting. My, but she was
mad! She wept. I had to nil her num
ber ou iln- |>roj_lit llJ witU some music.
1 didn't cure. Ity (bill time it was all
a mad. seething, lioilliiK whirlpool of
managing lo make something do for
something else anyhow."
"But about MyraV"
"Ob. yes! Well. Myra came. and so
did all the professors. 1 had uo idea
tbose men were so interested in wom
en's clubs. What do you suppose that
woman bad done in place of anything
on earth about colonial Virginia?"
"Something wild, of course."
"Something wild? 1 like your
phrase. It was bloodcurdling! She
bad diagrams! I thought 1 should sink
wheu she drew those diagrams out.
You know, site's a fanatic on some new
ism about reforming the world by set
ting down and holding your breath and
thinking about something else."
"Not a bad idea." with carefully pre
served gravity. "And you put it so lu
cidly. Anne. 1 think 1 could do that
myself."
"Oh. well, you know! The kind of
thing that used to be in the front of
the first readers when you and I were
babies at school. You sit dowu and
shut your teeth nnd say. 'l—am—in—it.
he—ls—in—it.' or something like that."
"No, dear. It's 'assertions' that you
mean. You build them into your char
acter by saying them over that way."
"Laura," in a tragic tone, "you're al
most as bad as she is! I don't want to
build things into my character. You
talk as If it was a summer cottage.
Oh, dear me, 1 haven't a shred of char
acter left since Myra disgraced me as
j she did! She got to talking about
I things that weren't quite nice, it seeni
| ed to me, for a mixed audience, and 1
was in agony because 1 had Lily por
tioned off with the professor there in
the back room.
"I could see the other men trying not
to laugh, and I felt so apologetic—so
abject! if 1 could have crawled out
under the seats, dusting those men's
boots as 1 went, 1 should have been
' glad. Then came the diagrams! A
I large pink thing meant your natural
i affections. Laura, do you love people
in that shade of pink? Because, if you
| do, pray never love me any.
"A blue wedge was for your—for
your—lntellectual capacity, I think. 1
hadn't any by the time that came
Some green streaks, she told us, stood
| for patience, but mine was at an end.
| I pulled the back of her frock and
I whispered to her, 'Where is your pa
| per on colonial Virginia families?'
! Laura, that aggravating creature look
ed across her shoulder at me as serene
ly as she will look at her son-in-law
I when she runs right over him, and she
] said, loud enough for everybody to
hear: 'Oh, this is a much more im
portant matter, my dear. This con
cerns the source and origin of man
and his cosmic destiny.' Laura, what
is cosmic destiny? Do you suppose
you and I each have one?"
Her hostess got breath finally from
the smothered laughter that had greet
ed the diagrams. "Never mind your
cosmic destiny, honey," she counseled.
"Tell me what the professor and Lily
did."
I"I was in agony for them. Some of
I Myra's remarks were very plain and
| hardly the things for young girls to
hear, lot alone girls accompanied by
: gentlemen. Hut there! 1 might have
' spared myself worry. It seems 1 am
I only a plain fool."
! "Oh, no," remonstrated her friend
j slyly. "Nobody would ever say that
; of you."
! "I'd rather be a plain fool than a
' pretty one," retorted the other. "And
that's what M.vra Morton and her iike
1 call me. I know! It seems that M.vra
is a brilliant woman and that 1 had
| only made trouble and retarded things,
| instead of helping."
I "How was that?"
"Oh, the professor is deeply interest
ed in the particular isiu that Mvra is
i exploiting just now. 1 suppose he loves
Lily in that shade of pink and does his
thinking iu blue wedges and has
streaks of green patience. Anyhow, he
said that Myra's diagrams were very
illuminating. lie was up in the crowd
j congratulating her on that disgraceful
' performance. 1 saw that both he and
• Lily looked mightily pleased about
1 something, and after the tiling was
i over he told me confidentially—l have
j been encouraging his confidential talks,
! you know, during the past year—that
the hearing of that paper had removed
; the last shadow of a barrier between
; himself and Myra's daughter."
j "Barrier V"
"Oh, yes; I have been trying to tell
j him about Myra and prepare him for
! what he might expect, and 1 suppose
j my opinion of her cranklsm and J'ro
' feseor Henry's dou't precisely agree."
| "They wouldn't naturally."' slipped
from Laura's lips, and then was re
gret ted.
"Don't )oii tell me Hint I mean well!"
! turning sh.ir; ly. "I'll bear anything
i but that, '!■ '!':t IJ's what the pro
fessor a".l d Mynt Peed Morton
are sn.vh. . • 141- this minute. They
nre sitting 1 holiiing their breaths
and thin!;'.- <1! ,»ut something else and
saying (lint am a well meaning crea
ture who l.\,■!set;sc."
"Well." _•>-:nn-ented her friend crisp
ly, "If they can do all that at one time
I believe I'll iu'estigate the system
myself."
Tco Risky,
In boring for oil when the drill
reaches the depth where it allows gas
to escape every precaution is taken
ngainst igniting it lest there should be
a destructive explosion. This neces
sary precaution gives point to the fol
lowing story, told by a writer iu the
Pittsburg News:
"I can deal with men," growled a
drizzled oil driller, "but a woman can
outdo the best of us.
"1 brought In a well In Vlrglnny
right close to the kitchen door of a
little farmhouse. Just as we were get
ting to the ticklish point where smok
ing wasn't allowed within forty rods,
out comes the farmer's wife and goes
to building a big fire In a Dutch oven.
"Mebby I didn't kick, but she Just
showed me a batch of dough an' said
if she didn't bake it 'twould spoil. If
I wanted the fire out 1 had got to pay
for the dough—ten dollars too. She
Just dared me to touch that Dutch
oven, an' 1 didn't touch it either. I
Just gave her the ten.
"Mebby we didn't get that fire out
quick. If the well had broken loose
It would have blown me an' the whole
farmhouse out of sight.
"No, sir; 1 don't want any more deal
ings with women. They're too risky."
D.O.QLLS.HGIED
riLLHwTiaSOPIST
Financier Wiio Favorsd Aiding!
Glta to Help Tliomselvas. :
FOUNDER OF NOTED HOTELS.
Three Built In New York Are Monu- '
merits to the Late Banker's Common
Sense Charity —lncidents of His Ca
reer and Early Life—A Sample of
His Wit.
To many thousands of persons lu the
United States the name of Darius Og
den Mills, the famous banker, tlnau
eier and philanthropist of New York,
who recently died at his winter home
nt Mill brae, near San Francisco, will
be associated solely with his broad
Interest in the welfare of his fellows.
His theory was that there is too much
waste in the United States and that
the value of money is not appreciat
ed. lie believed that economy could
be practiced without a loss of self re
spect or injury to the physical being,
and lie pointed the way in practical
fashion. Thousands of young men he
saw were expending every cent of
their earnings for a bare living amid
squalid surroundings, and lie erected
cheap hotels where food and lodging
could be obtained at a minimum price
and where a man's self respect would
not suffer.
Object Lessons In Thrift.
These hotels, of which there are now
three in New York city, are object
lessons in thrift, cleanliness and de
cency. There the man of small in
come may live well at a small cost
and absorb a motive to save a part
of the earnings that he would other
wise have to expend for food and lodg
ing. lie also erected several model
tenements for families of small re
sources and found that these people
respond quickly to the uplifting influ
ences of modern sanitation and mod
erate rentals. Although bis charities
were broad, he was always thinking
of a way to help men to help them
selves before the time came when they
had t<> lie helped by their more fortu
nate fellows.
Mr. Mills was born iu North Sa
lem, N. y., on Sept. 5, 1825. He
was the fourth son of James Mills and
Hannah Ogden Mills of North Salem.
Iu December, 1849, he started for Cali
fornia, going around the Horn, and
arrived at San Francisco on June 8,
1810. From that day his name was
Interwoven with the story of the
growth of California.
Bee-no a Leading Banker.
He established the banking house
of I). O. Mills is Co. of Sacramento,
which is siill the leading bank of the
interior of California. Although Mr.
Mills i-pent the greater part of recent
years in New York, he passed some
mouths each year iu California.
Mr. Mills married on Sept. 5, 1854.
Miss Jane Templetou Cunningham of
New York, who died on April 20, 188 S.
When youUK Mills left his lxoiue in
Westcnester county, N. Y., to win a
place for himself in New York that
city was little more than a provincial
town, with woods and meadows cover
j ing the district north of the city hall.
| it was not diliieult to obtain a clerk
| ship iu a bank In those days, and Mr.
Mills was not long iu finding work,
j He was not satisfied with the outlook
for promotion, however, and gave up
j the position for a better one ia lluf
J falo, where ho soon became cashier
and his employer's partner. The tlrst
| tumors of the discovery of gold in
| California found him an eager listeuer,
j and he resolved to try his fortunes iu
| this new western world.
Got the "Gold Fevor."
The "gold fever" which possessed
i lilm was not of the speculative char
j actor, which was typical of the man.
j Ho argued that the rush of men to
j the gold sections of Calbornia would
i result in suffering from lack of the
j necessities of life and that there would
I be a dearth of business organization.
I Investing his savings in a stock of
tnlniug supplies, he made his first ap
pearance in the gold fields as a mer
chant. He was successful from the
start. Sacramento was not much more
than a village at that time, but the
proximity of the diggings made It a
center of trade with the miners. It
was not long before he had establish
ed a bank, the first institution of the
kind on the Pacific coast. It became
a prominent factor In the growth of
the community surrounding It.
The bank spread out into a network
of enterprises and was finally follow
ed by the Bank of California, which
Mr. Mills helped to organize in San
Francisco and of which he was the
first president. The Institution soon
attained an international prominence.
A sample of the banker's ready wit
was displayed on one occasion in the
fifties when an amateur dramatic per
formance was given In San Francisco
for the benefit of some deserving char
ity. Among the performers was the
late Ilugh Farrar McDermott, the poet,
and in a box was Mr. Mills. The play
was some classic j)lece, and the acting
was so bad that what should have
been a tragedy became a farce. In
the last act McDermott dropped his
sword and, stooping awkwardly, pick
ed it up. There was a titter in the
audience, which Increased as the luck
less performer asked, "What shall I
do with this envenomed blade?"
From the banker's box came in a
queer stage whisper, "Stab yourself,
Hugh, and be done with it"'
Needle Dust.
In factories where needles are made
the grlndstoues throw otT great quanti
ties of minute steel particles, with
which the air becomes heavily charg
ed, although the dust is too fine to be
perceptible to the eye. Breathing the
dust shows no Immediate effect, but
gradually sets up irritation, usually
ending in pulmonary consumption. In
effective attempts were made to screen
the air by gauze or linen guards for
uose and mouth. At last the use of
the magnet was suggested, and now
masks of magnetized steel wire are
worn by workmen and effectually re
move the metal dust before the air is
breathed.—London Graphic.
CHINA'S DEMAND
. FOR RAILROADS
Wu Tells oi Early Prejudice Now
Changed ta Enthusiasm.
NETWORK OF LINES PREDICTED
Former Chinese Minister and Li Hung
Chang Dared Not Even Suggest Rail
ways Once—Remarkable Revolution
In Sentiment In Twenty Years.
Wu Ting Fang, the former Chinese
minister, who was Interviewed at New
York a few days before he sailed for
China, spoke on the question of rail
road building in China and Imparted
some startling facts.
"CLlna for the Chinese" Is, accord
ing to Mr. Wu, the motto of the Chi
nese so far as railroads in their coun
try are concerned, ami the fault, ho
says, lies with Americans. To make
this clear lie gave a rief history of
Chinese railroads.
Li Hung Chang's Strategy.
"Twenty years ago," he said, "Li
Hung Chang, whose legal adviser and
secretary I was, was the only Chinese
statesman who favored the building oC
railroads in China. lie knew that it
was useless to try to persuade the Chi
nese by argument of the advisability
of having railroads, tut he felt that if
they could once see a railroad hi oper
ation they would want tlieni all over
! the empire, where traveling is so iliffl
| cult that many persons live and die
I without stirring from their native vil
lages. L.i Hung Cluing dared i.ot asit
the imperial sanction tor building tlie
j first railroad.
| "He got around ttie difficulty by hav
| ing me construct a road from a mine
I to the bank of a river that passed
I through no towns or villages even, so
) that no sanction was necessary. This
j road was ten miles long. People floek
j ed to see it and were so favorably im
pressed that when 1.1 Hung Chang
asked the emperor's permission to ex
tend the road to the city of Tientsin it
was granted. All opposition to the rail
road among the Chinese died out.
Network of Roads Soon.
"The Chinese now are so strongly in
favor of railroads that in a few years
the whole country will be covered by
a network of them, but they want to
do it themselves. As they have nei
ther the money nor the experience the
work is progressing much more slow
ly than It should, But they persist tn
the •China for the Chinese' policy.
"Now, 1 am as loyal and patriotic as
any Chinaman, but 1 recognize the dif
ference between u foreign capitalist
like the late Calvin lirice and an ex
ploiter, and 1 hope to make my coun
trymen see the difference, too, but it
will take a lot of diplomacy.
"There is a great future for China
men with n knowledge of railroading.
I continually advise young men who
come from China to study in the Unit
ed States to lake it up, and more and
more of them are taking my advice."
SCHURZ MEMORIAL
Relics to Be Preserved In His First
American Home.
The Wisconsin Society of New Vorl;
has started a movement for a me
morial to Carl Schurz. the late publi
cist and statesman, that is being high
ly commended. The project is to pur
chase the site near Watertown, Wis.,
which was the tirst American homo
of Scburz and to make it a perma
nent memorial to him.
\ For .$3,500 the strip of land for tin*
I site can be purchased, and in th.s
BBfijSjjjgls 1 BBSSSSBSSfifiSSSIa
I CAHI* SCHUItZ UoMK, WATJSUTOWN, WIS.
house that stands on the ground It la
Intended to collect the speeches and
writings and other relics of Schurz and
to preserve them. The society holds
an option on the site.
Mr. Schurz was a boy of twenty
three when he landed in New York.
He lived tirst in Philadelphia and then
purchased a home near Watertown,
Wis., where the new memorial is be
ing planned.
Practical Considerations.
"My family tree"— began the titled
suitor.
"I'm tired of hearing about family
trees," answered Mr. Cuuirox. "lu
the part of the country 1 catue from
a man's industry and consequence nro
measured by the size of the family,
wood piles."—Washington Star
SMfflfi
A Flellablo
TO SHOP
ror all kind of Tin Roofing*
Spoutln* nnd Csnerai
Job Work.
Stoves, Heaters, Rsn«ss,
Furnaces, eto.
PRICES TEE LOWEST!
QIIiLIT! TDK BEST,'
JOHN HIXSOfI
NO. 1W E, FKONT 81,