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SOLDIERS COLUMN.
THE 55th IND.
———
& Bhort Histo y of a Shor: Lived
Regiment by a Boy Member.
I HAVE noted
two orthree refer-
ences to the 55th
Ind. recently, all
of which are true
as far as they go;
but, as you say
you can secure no
S— other information
as to the regi-
7 ment, I will, as
fo) one of them,”
Ai ’
—= give a brief his-
z tory as I reeall
my first enlist-
ment.
As you have
> stated, the regi-
«-~2u» ment was organ-
ized “at large,” but, what you have
got said, it was enlisted for prison-
guard service, as we each were assur-
ed, or our parents were. Most of the
tegiment, or the seven companies of i*
rendezvoused at Camp Morton, were
youths and old men who would not
pass muster into the three year service
‘at that time—June 1862. While act -
ing as prison guards at Camp Morton,
and less than a month after our en-
listment, the Governor of Kentucky—
then trying to be nentral—called on
our Gov. Morton to send troops to de-
fend the archieves at Frankfort, as
John Morgan was marching ou the
Kentucky Capital with avowed threats
of destroying it. A courier was sent
to our camp at the northwest corner of
old Camp Morton, and shortly we were
in line to listen to a proposition. After
the request from Kentucky was an-
nounced, we were asked to vote upon
whether we would go, and the vote
was made by all who would go taking
two paces to the front, Nearly all came
to the front, and we were hustled off
to Frankfort, muchly enthused, where
we arrived about an hour ahead of Mr,
Morgan, and found a bountiful repast
spread for us on the blue grass in the
Statehouse grounds, the which we
were heartily investigating when the
alarm was sounded,
Well, when the alarm was sounded.
Morgan came, saw, but did not con-
quer; although I fear he could have
done go notwithstanding our four to
one of his command, He ran and the
55th followed, and kept foilowing un-
til the last of August.
Our seven companies of the 53th
Ind. and several other regiments and
batteries were drawn into the Rich-
mond (Ky.) battle, where we met with
the losses mentioned in issue of July
20. The number of wounded was not
given, and as many went home and
never reported to Surgeon, it i3 un-
known. The Union forces were badly
whiped by Kirby Smith, and the time
of our regiment being out, we tarried
not until we reached our mothers.
Most of our men were captured,but im-
mediately paroled. and overtook those
who escaped before arriving at the
Ohio river at Maysville, where we em-
barked, very tired from our all-night
forced march,
Of the history of the three other
companies belonging to the 55th I
know nothing, except the report that
they were organized after we left the
State, and served out their time down
at Paducah or in that neighborhood,
and were not, of course, mustered out
with us.
As a comrade remarked about us in
reference to the Saunders raid, we were
“pot in it;” yet the 55th’s brief life
was not mglorious.-——A Boy or Co. B,
55th Ind., in “National Tribune.”
jo 7 Y
—_—
fii
-
A Ride For Life
B. Fitzpatrick, Corporal Co. D, 91st
I1l., Syracuse, Neb., tells how in the
Spring of 1865, after the capture of
Mobile, his command followed
Gen. Taylor's army some 150
miles up the Tombigbee River,
The Second Brigade, Third Di-
vision, Thirteenth Corps, under Gen.
Benton, was 1n the advance, with one
pattalion of 2nd Iil. Cav, as scouts.
The troops were about one day’s march
in the rear of the rebels and the caval
ry had many a skirmish with them.
The writer was in charge of the corral
in the rear of the moving command,
aud the foraging was always poor, be-
cause the advance got the best that
there was. So Comrade Fitzpatrick
and the trainmaster decided that they
would go ahead and try to get some-
thing good for once. Early one morn-
ing they started out. 71'hey went about
15 miles before finding a place that the
rebels themselves had not “cleaned
out.” There the Jady whom they saw
gave them a good dinner,so on leav-
ing they bought a corn pone and some
chickens of her. They started on the
back track, ona road that the lady
said would bring them to about where
the Union army would camp jthat
night.
“Fverything went well until we
reached the main road,” says Comrade
Fitzpatrick,*‘when, to our surprise, we
struck the reb’s rear-guard. As soon
as they saw us a squad of cavalry
wheeled and took after us, and we
found we had a race on our hands.The
Trainmaster was mounted on a brown
mare, and soon left me in the rear, but
I could see the tebs were not gaining
on me yet. * After we had gone about
two miles they commenced to gain.and
had got so close that their bullets
whistled past me. Then I concluded
that my corn pone would lighten my
mule’s load so I pitched it out side of
the road. But they still gained, and
I could hear their commands to halt,
and their bullets came thicker and
closer. I thought I was a goner. Sud-
denly my mule gave a bray, and 1
looked up just in time to guide my
mule out of the road to let a squad
of the 2d Ill, Cav, pass. When I got
my mule stopped and turned around,
our boys haa met them and were us-
ing the saber on them. They did not
let one get away.
“The trainmaster had met our boys
and told them of the circumstance,and
it did not take them long to save me.
I lost my corn pone, though the Train-
master saved his chickens, and we had
a chicken stew for supper,”’—National
Tribune.
KEYSTONE STATE CULLINGS.
’ ‘PREPARING THE BLANKS.
STATE DEPARTMENT CLERKS KEPT BUSY BY THE
COMING ELECTIONS,
Harrissure.—The clerks at the state de-
partment have been busy preparing the
forms of blanks made necessary by the
Baker ballot law as amended at the last ses-
sion of the legislature. The forms sent to
each board of county commissioners on
Saturday are as follows: Official ballot
(ballots for the same voting plate must be
bound together in convenient numbers in
books ir such manner that each ballot may .
be detached and removed separately), speci-
men official ballot, certificate of nomination
nomination paper, letter to county com-
missioners and sheriff certifying! nomina-
tions, letter of transmittal to sheriffs,
watchers’ certificate, card of instructions
containing directions to voters, card con-
taining penalties.
GRASSHOPPERS EAT MONEY.
HustingpoN—There is a grasshopper
plague in Trough Creek valley. They have
destoyed much of the grain crop and vege-
tables. A farmer hung his coat, which
contained several 85 bills, on a fene> post
while he worked in a field. The insects
took possession of the coat and bored hun-
dreds of holes into it and literally tore the
bank bills into shreds. The farmer for-
warded the fragments of the bills to Con-
gressman Mahon with the request that he
have them redeemed at the national Treas-
ury.
>
BROTHERS DROWNED WHILE BATHING.
Crarion.—A sad accident happened here.
Martin and Malichi, the 15 and 13 year old
sons of M. C. Graham, were drowned in the
Clarion river. It seems that the boys were
out picking berries and thought they would
take a bath. A party of fishermen noticed
them struggling in the water and ran to
their aid, but were too late. The bodies
were recovered.
ARR
A SUCCESSOR TO TYSON.
Harrissure—William Findlay Shunk was
appointed by Governor Pattison to succeed
Colonel A. Harvey Tyson, removed, as en-
gineer of the State forestry commission, Mr.
Shunk isa son of ex-Governor Francis R.
Shunk and a grandson of ex-Governor Wil-
liam Findlay.
————ie
A GOOD PRICE FOR COAT,
GrERNsBURG—D. D. Miller, of Mt. Pleas-
ant township, has sold the coal underlying
113 acres of his farm to the H. C. Frick
Coke Company for $64,000. The price is
the highest ever paid in Westmoreland
county.
dR
ONE THOUSAND MORE IDLE.
Brrreroxte—The large furnace of the
Valentine Iron Comrany was blown out and
the entire plant including rolling mills and
mines will be closed down indefinitely.
About 1,000 men are thrown out of employ-
ment,
re
PRESENT STANDING OF THE STATE LEAGUE,
W. 1. Pct, | W. 1. Pet,
7. 1. Pct,
York...... 19 9 .679|Harrisburg 15 15 .500
Easton .... 19 11 .633|Scranton.. 14 14 .500
Johnstown 16 13 2|Altoona..., 15 15 500
Allentown. 15 14 .517|Reading.... 3 25 .107
a
Tue list of pensions granted at Washing-
ton contains the following, for Pennsyl-
vanians:—Increase— Daniel Ryan, of Pitts-
burg. Jacob Boyer of Allen Mills, John
Stauffer of Linisay and Stephen W. Morse
of Havfield. Eastern Ohio—Increase—Wil-
liam Romans of Freeport and David Skeel-
ers of Carrollton, Reissue—Wiiliam H.
Boor, of Bowerston.
Tromas Merz, of Lawrence Junction,and
a Miss Bender were walking on the track
near New Castle azd did not see a train _un-
tilit was upon them. Metz shoved Miss
Bender from the track but was struck the
next instant and horribly mutilated. The
young lady is frantic with gries and may
lose her mind.
DurING a storm Saturday night, Farmer
Coy’s large barn at Huntingdon was struck
by lightning and burned to the ground.
Farming implements and much of this
year's crops were consumed. The loss is
several thousand dollars.
Tur W. C. T. U.. of Philadelohia, has
raked up an old section of the blue laws
imposing a fine of G7 cents for everv curse
uttered and proposcs to enforce 1t against
the profane.
On Saturday fire destroyed the building
of the Erie fish association on the Loomis
dock, causing a loss of $15,000. The fish tug
Annie Laurie was burned to the water's
edge.
Mavupe SMITH, a child of 4, was killed at
Bellwood, Blair county, by her brother-in-
law, Adam Pelier, who was shooting at a
target.
Ar Bedford, the Everett furnace was
blown out, throwing several hundred men
out of employment indefinitely.
Pavr Smit, of McClintockville, near Oil
City, accidentally shot and killed his brother
while they were out camping.
Tur drouth is said to be so bad around
Uniontown that the farmers are selling off
their cattle.
Roser Durr, of near New Castle, died of
blood poisoning caused by being gored by a
bull.
Two of Uniontown's water reservoirs are
dry, and the third nearly so.
i
Eighteen People Drowned.
During a terriiic gale at Halifax, N. 8. a
number of vessels were wrecked on the
coast. The tug Dorcas and barge Etta
Stewart were sunk and all on board, 17 men
and one woman, were drowned.
—A PANTHER broke into a Mexicans
house in the mountains near Tombstone,
Ariz., and stole the baby from the cradle.
The mother, awakened by the noise pur-
sued the animal, hurled a boulder at him
and killed him. The child was badly
scratched by rocks and brambles, but other-
. wise unhurt.
iit its
—The outlook for a gradual resumption ol
work in the Pennsylvanla cose regions is
more hopeful than it has been for some
time owing to the starting up of a number
of Pittsburg mills. The indications point
to a large trade in crushed coke during the
|
fall and winter.
Jighte
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON FOR SUNDAY, SEPT. 10.
—i ee
$Y. **Ana as theshipmen were about to fies
out of the ship, when they had let down the
boat into the sea, under color as though they
would have cast anchors out ofthe foreship.™
I feel grieved to begin this lesson with the
treachery of these sailors, when such rich
food for the soul is in verses 22 to 25. so
strangely omitted by the lesson committee.
31. “Paul said to the centurion and to tha
soldiers, Except these abide in the ship ye
cannot be saved.” Paul was only promised
the lives of those with him in the ship (verses
24) ; if they should start off in the boat by
themselves, he could not be responsible for
them. Noah wasgiven those with him in the
ark, and Rahab those with her in the house.
Only those can be saved who are in Christ,
and abiding is the evidence that we are truly
in Him (Jobn x., 27. 28 ; I John ii., 19).
32, “Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of
the boat and let her fall off.” It looked like
throwing away their only hope, but it was
really their only safety. In orderto be saved
by Christ we must let go our own righteous-
ness, our own works and even our own ways
and thoughts—in fact, all that we have (Isa.
Ixiv., 6 ; Titus iil., 5; Isa. lv., 7, and Luke
xiv., 33). /
33. “And while the day was coming on
Paul besought them all to take meat.” They
had endured fourteen days of such tempest-
nous weather that they had little opportu-
nity and perhaps little desire to taste food.
In verse 20 we read that all hope of ever
seeing land had been given up. But now
there is light in the darkness. He who con=
trols the winds and the sea (Mark iv., 39)
had for His servant's sake sent a message of
peace.
84. “This is for your health, for there
shall not an bair fall from the head of any of
you.” This is a common Old and New
‘Testament illustration of perfect safety. See
I Sam. xiv., 45; 11 Sam. xiv., 11; I Kingsi.,
525 Math. x., 30; L.ake xii, T: xxi, 18.
Even concerning Daniel's friends wh o were
cast into the seven times heated furnace it is
written that there was not a hair of their
heads singed (Dan. iii., 27).
35. “And when he had thus spoken he
took bread and gave thanks to God in the
presence of them all, and when he had
broken it he began to eat.” Thus he glori-
fled God, whoss he was and whom he served.
Thus he magnified Christ in his body (Phil.
i., 20). He testified before all that he knew
God, that he trusted in God and that he had
dealings with God. He gave thanks for de-
liverance when it was not yet visible except
to faith.
36. ‘‘Then were they all of good cheer, a1
they also took some meat.” He not only
horted them to be of good cheer, but beir
good cheer himself he influenced others:
do likewise (verses 22,25), Compare
xxiii., 11 ; Math. i , ard John xvi., 33.
Ii we steadfastly believe God. we will be filled
with joy and peace (Rem. xv., 13), and inas-
much as it is impossible for any of us to live
only unto ourselves (Rom. Xiv., 7) we must
of necessity influence others to be cheerful
also.
37. “And we were in all in the ship two
hundred, three scors and sixteen souls.”
Think of 275 people saved irom a watery
grave by one man, Ten righteous men would
have saved Sodom from its fiery overthrow.
Bow many thousands have been saved from
eternal death by such men as Spurgeon,
Moody, Munhall, Needham and others? What
is your influence in the wor!d? Does it tend
to the health and safety of others, or are you
Ziroupier and a dishonor to the Prince of
eaca?
38. ‘“And when they had eaten enough they
red the ship and cast out the wheat into
.”’ The angel had told Paul, and he
had passed it on that the ship would be lo
(verse There was therefore no object in
attempting longer to preservethe cargo. The
life is more than meat, and to lighten the
ship would tend to their safety. If some
Christians would unload some of their wealth
for the good of others and for Jesus's sake,
it would be better for them, both for this
world and for the world to come.
39. “And when 1t was day they knew not
the land.” How welcome the daylight
would be and also the sight of the land,
since they knew that all would somehow
reach it in safety. The storm was still on,
and on a lea shore as they wers there would
seem to be more danger of their lives than
ever, but the word of God has been given
that no life will be lost. How happy and
peaceful should those be whose anchor is
Min the vale, sure and steadfast (Heb. vi.,
19)!
40. ‘*And when they had taken up thgans
chors they made toward the shore.” “Now
came the greatest danger apparently, for
might they not all be dashed to pieces? No,
for the word of God was pledged on their
behalf. One who trusts in that word can
say, “Therefore will not we fear though the
earth be removed and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea” (Ps.
xlvi., 2).
41. **And {falling into a place where two
seas met they ran theship aground.” Thus
part remained immovable, while the rest was
soon broken by the waves, and the vessel
that had held together thrzugn all the tem-
pest on the sea and kept them from going te
the bottom was now a hopeless wreck, It
came to pass as Paul had been told--the ship
should be lost (verse 22).
42. #‘And the soldiers’ counsel was te kill
the priscners, lest any of tnem should swim
out and escape.” It was because of one of
these prisoners that all were alive. They
were glad enough to listen to his words of
encouracement in the storm, but now they
would ruthlessly tale his life if permitted.
‘Ah, Paul, thou hadst much fellowship with
thy Master, for those whom He came to bless
‘actually took His life. When shall we learn
the lesson that the servant is not greater
than his master and he will content to he ag
He (John xv., 19, 20)?
43. ‘‘But the centurion, willing to save
Paul, kept them from their purpose.” The
records of the centurions whom the Lord
used to accomplish His purposes or who
were led to know Him as their Lord is most
instructive. The name of this one is given
in verse 1. Compare chapter x., 22, and see
also Math. viii., 5, 6, 10 ; xxV 4.
44. “And so it came to pass that they es-
caped all safe to land.” What God and
angels testify we may surely believe, ior
“The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying,
surely as I have thought so shall it come to
pass, and asI have purposed so shall it
stand” (Isa. xiv., 24). May the fulfilment
of the words of this ange! lead us to believe
firmly the words of some other angels who
said, ‘“This same Jesus shall so come in like
manner.” And also the words of Gabriel,
that ‘‘the Lord God shall give unto Him the
throne of His father David, and He shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and
of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Acts
i., 11 ; Luke i., 32, 33).—Lesson Helper-
—_—
o
the
Out of Sight of Land on a River.
Were it not for a decided differ-
ence in the color of the water you
would never know when the Atlantic
is left and the Rio de la Plata en-
tered. The high-rolling, white-capped
billows are the same, and no land is
visible, for the great river which
James Diaz de Solis discovered is
125 miles wide at its mouth, though
with an average depth of only Afty
feet. Sebastian Cabot, who arrived
in the year 1520, soon after the na-
tives had murdered poor De Solis,
dubbed it River of Silver, not ac-
count of its color, which might have !
won for it the more appropriate
name of Golden River or River of
Chocolate, but because he had wrest-
ed quantities of silver from the In-
dians who swarmed its banks, and
naturally imagined that an abun-
dance of precious metal remained in
the vicinity.—Philadelphia Record.
aang
* POPULAR SCIENCE.
Absolutely fine gold is said to be
twenty-four darats fine.
The horse has a smaller stomach in
| proportion to its size than any other
quadruped.
France has more persons over sixty
years of age than any other country;
Ireland comes next.
A recent invention converts waste
paper into kegs, barrels and vessels of
various kinds. Even racing boats are
made from it.
The greatest average height in any
European army is found in the Nor-
wegian, sixty-nine inches; the least in
the Italian, sixty-five.
In the cholera plagues since 1848
the death rate has been tolerably uni-
form, about forty per cent. of the
cases terminating fatally.
Castiron melts at 3479 degrees
Fahrenheit, copper at 2548 degrees,
gold at 2590 degrees, silver at 2233 de-
grees, lead at 617 degrees and cast-
tin at 442 degrees.
An artesian well at Pierre, South
Dakota, spouts a combination of water
and gas at the rate of 400 gallons a
minute. The water blazes for a time
when alight is applied to it.
A female codfish will lay 45,000,000
eggs during a single season. DPisca-
torial authorities say that were it not
for the work of the natural enemies of
fish they would fill all the available
space in the seas, rivers and oceans.
Taking the earth as the center of
the universe and the polar star as the
limit of our vision, the visible uni-
verse embraces an aerial space with a
diameter of 420,000,000,000 miles, and
a circumference of 1,3209,742,000,000
miles.
Scientific analysis shows that nery-
ousness in a cow increases the per cent-
age of butter-making qualities in the
milk. The percentage under normal
conditions is about 44, but under ex-
citement it sometimes rises to twelve
per cent.
In view of Chandler’s discovery a
year or two ago of an invisible third
orb about which the star Algol and
its dark complexion revolve, it is in-
teresting to know that the late William
Ferrel, the eminent meteorologist,
suggested in 1855 the existence of
such a body.
When dogs are kept for six hours
at a temperature of 107 degrees
Fahrenheit, the white corpuscles in
their blood diminish to half the nor-
mal amount, but the number of red
corpuscles is unchanged. When their
temperature has fallen to normal, the
number of white corpuscles increases
beyond the usual limit.
The ocean contains several fish
which clothe or adorn themselves, the
most conspicuous of them being the
antennarious, a small fish frequenting
the Saragossa Sea, which literally
clothes itself with seaweed, fastening
the pieces together with sticky, gel-
atinous strings and then holding the
garment on with its fore fins.
The shellfish known as limpets form
a very interesting group, of which
there are many species having a world.
wide distribution. Through theiz
ability to cling closely to the surface
of rocks by suction, they are well pro-
tected from their enemies. The species
which live on the leaves of marine
as many of them do, have
sides parallel, and in this way fit
exactly to the leaves.
Professor Bell thinks the time ocecu-
pied by inventors in working out the
problem of aerial navigation by the
usual inflated gas bags and methods ol
steering them is wasted.. He thinks a
feasible means of propelling and di-
recting an air ship would be by a kind
of trolley system where the rod would
hang down from the car to the
stretched wire, instead of extending
upward. He recommends the idea to
inventors.
tn
Even a Tax on Death.
In the history of taxation there is
nothing more curious than the imposts
to be found in the laws of the early
days of Holland. The most curious
tax of all was one imposed in 1674 on
boots and shoes, says the Shoe and
Leather Review. In order to prevent
the impost from being evaded, each
of those articles so essential to human
comfort had to be conspicuously
marked on the upper leather with the
stamp of the maker, and also that of
the taxing officer. The sum to be
paid was regulated by the size of the
boot or shoe. So, apart from the
question of beauty, in those days it
was areal advantage to have a small
foot. In 1666 a tax was imposed on
all passengers traveling in Holland by
land or water. In 1791 this tax was
still in force. In 1674 a duty of five
cents was levied upon each person who
entered a tavern before noon. The
tax was increased for afternoon visits.
Persons who assembled in a private
house after 3 o’clock in the afternoon
for the purpose of amusing themselves
had each to pay a certain sum, and
those who entered a place of public
entertainmert were likewise taxed.
There was a duty on marriages and
deaths. The amount of the tax varied
according to the social position of the
parties; while in the case of a person
buried outside of the district in which
he had lived, the amount payable by
his executor was doubled.
Gigantic Shoes,
Ben Sapp is having ‘‘put up” at his
shop a pair of shoes for a colored man
of this city that are larger than any-
thing of the kind ever onexhibition in
the Southwest, unless it is Vaneil’s
election boots. The shoes are No. 14
and one of them measures eighteen
inches around the top. They are for
the colored giant, Xvans.—Joplin
(Mo.) News.
’
gD
Coal mines were begun in Pennsyl-
vania in 1734-
WAR TROPHIES.
SOME GHASTLY POSSESSIONS OF
SAVAGE TRIBIS.
Necklaces of Human Fingers and
Teeth Worn as Ornaments—Sacks
of Human Skin to Hold
Aboriginal Medicines.
ORRORS in the shape of war
trophies have recently af-
forded a subject for investi-
gation by the Bureau of
Ethnology, says the Washington Star.
Perhaps the most remarkable specimen
secured is anecklace of human fingers. |
It represents eight lives. There are
only as many fingers, each individual
slain being represented by the middle
digit of the left hand alone. They
were subjected, after amputation, to a
careful and elaborate antiseptic treat-
ment in order to thoroughly preserve |
them. Fhch one was split lengthwise |
on the inner side and, after the bone |
had been extracted, the skin, both in-
side and out, was washed with a kind
of earth containing ocher. The bones
were not replaced, but sticks were in-
serted to keep the fingers in shape.
The necklace was formerly the prop-
erty of High Wolf, who himself slew
the eight men, belonging to rival
tribes. He was a big chief of the
Cheyennes, who were for a long time
desperately hostile to the whites. Gen-
eral Crook conducted a long and ar- |
duous campaign against them and the
Sioux, which ended in the surrender of
4500 of the allies in 1877. |
morning of November 25, 1876, the
fourth cavalry surprised and destroyed
the main village of these fighting
savages on the headwaters of the Pow-
der River, Wyoming. The red men were |
forced to flee with nothing save their |
arms and ammunition. More than
half of their great herd of ponies were |
captured or destroyed. The cold was |
so intense that on the night after the
fight eleven papooses froze to death in
their mothers’ arms.
This blow, the most severe ever in- |
flicted upon the tribes of the plains,
resulted in the surrender of the
Cheyennes, and later on of the princi-
pal chief of the Sioux, the renowned
Crazy Horse. Among the most]
lamented losses of property suffered by
the defeated foe on this occasion was |
that of two necklaces of human fingers,
together with a small buckskin bag
filled with the right hands of slain in-
fants belonging to the tribe of the
Shoshoni. The latter are deadly |
enenies of the Cheyennes. These |
trophies of war were picked up in the
deserted village. The one already |
described is now in the National
Museum ; the other was buried.
The necklace that was preserved is a
round collar of buckskin, inerusted
with blue and white beads. and further
adorned with bits of shell wampum of
native manufacture. Pendant from it
are five stone arrowheads, as well as
four ‘““medicine bags.” One of these
latter contains some sort of vegetable
powder, the second is filled with
tobacco, the third with small garnet-
colored seeds, and the fourth with a
yellowish vegetable substance not
identified. Likewise attached to the
trophy are several artificial teeth,
carved out of soft stone in imitation of
the teeth of fossil animals which are
found abundantly in the bad lands of
South Dakota.
Such a trophy is kept by the savage
not only as a proof of personal
prowess, but also on account of a
deeply rooted belief in the talismanic
potency possessed by all parts of the
human body, especially after death.
It was such a faith that impelled the
Aztecs and other American tribes to
preserve the skulls of their dead, and |
especially those of victims sacrificed |
in honor of the gods. The Zuni Indi- |
ans take care to offer food at stated |
periods to the scalps of their enemies. |
Necklaces of human fingers are found |
in many parts of the world. Some-
times the whole arm is utilized, and in |
other cases only the nails.
The Cheyennes did not always re- |
strict themselves to fingers; they gen- |
erally made use of the whole hand or
arm of the slaughtered enemy. In a
picture painted by one of themselves
is represented a scalp dance, in which
the squaws are seen carrying the arms
of foes elevated on poles and lances. |
This practice of cutting oif the arm oxy
hand presumably gave rise to their |
aboriginal name of ‘‘Slashers,” or
“Wrist Cutters,” just asa correspond-
ing peculiarity of the Dakotas caused
them to be crnlled ‘‘Throat Cutters.”
Necklaces of human fingers are made
and prized by other tribes. In East- |
man’s ‘‘Legends of the Sioux” a squaw
namad Harpsthinah is mentioned as
wearing a necklace composed of the
hands and feet of Chippewa children.
In New Zealand the natives used to
wear necklaces composed of several |
rows of human teeth. Captain Cook |
speaks of seeing fifteen jawbones of |
men attached to a semi-circular board |
at the end of a house on the island of |
Tahiti. They seemed to be fresh and |
not one of them wanted a single tooth.
In the same place he saw a model of a |
canoe about three feet long, to which |
were tied eight familiar jawbones. It!
was learned that these were trophies |
of war. The wild Andamanese, who
live on the fruits of the forestsand on
fish, so far revere their progenitors |
that they adorn their women and
children with necklaces and other
ornaments made ont of the finger nails
and toe nails of their ancestors. |
The aborigines of California did not |
usually scalp, but they cut off and |
kept the hands and feet and head of a |
slain enemy. They also had a habit
of plucking out and preserving the |
eyes. The Ojibwas have made it their |
custom to cut off fingers from the |
hands of their foes, preserving these |
ghastly relics for use in their dances.
Sometimes the warriors become so ex-,
«ited that they will
break
| chivalry.
off and | thereo:
swallow a finger. They also use sacks
of human skin to contain their medi-
cines, fancying that something is thus
added to their efficacy. The principal
war fetiches of Uganda, in Africa, are
dead lizards, claws of animals, beaks
of birds and human nails. The ex-
plorer Stanley saw such charms dis-
played before King Mtesa.
The women of some Australian tribes
preserve the hands of defunct relatives
or friends for souvenirs. They also
utilize the skulls of their dead for
drinking vessels. Thus a daughter
would utilize the skull of her mother.
For the same affectionate purpose
females in Gippsland wear around their
necks human hands, which are beauti-
fully prepared. One of the most ex-
| treordinary of the laws among Austral-
ian natives is that a widow for every
husband she marries after the first, is
obliged to cut off a joint of a finger,
which she presents to her spouse op
the wedding day.
The Sioux Indians make puzzle games
out of the finger bones of men and
women who have fallen beneath their
tomahawks. The bones, after being
freed from the flesh by boiling, are
strung. Such practices are very
ancient. Itisrelated that Adoni-bezeh
cut off the thumbs and great toes of
seventy kings of Syria. The necklace
of human fingers is not a particle more
horrible than the ornaments of human
bones to be seen in the cemetery of the
Capuchins at Rome at the present day.
Indians of several South American
tribes wear necklaces of human teeth.
Stanley says that the natives of the
lower Congo country are frequently
adorned with necklaces of teeth of
men, gorillas and crocodiles. Whena
king of the Wahuma dies—at the head
of the Nile—his lower jaw is cut out
and preserved. The explorer Schwein-
furth speaks of having seen piles of
“lower jawbones from which the teeth
had been extracted to serve as orna-
ments for the neck” by the Monbuttoe
of Africa. The Sandwich Islanders
| used to keep the jawbones of their en-
emies as trophies. King Tamaahmaah
had a ¢‘spit box which was set round
with human teeth.” It had belonged
to several of his predecessors. Among
some Australian tribes the women wear
about their necks teeth which have
| been knocked out of the mouths of the
boys at a certain age. The North
American Indians usually take their
teeth as they fall out and carefully
bury them under some tree or rock.
The fierce Araucanians of South Amer-
ica, after torturing their captives to
death, made war flutes out of their
bones and used the skulls for drinking
vessels. According to Captain J. G.
Bourke, U. S. A., desperate Ceylonese
gamblers often play away the ends of
their fingers.
ER —
Sealing in the Antarctic.
Tt was with the produce of seals that
we were destined to fill our ship, and
till February 17th we were literally up
to the neck in blood. All the sails are
stowed ; the captain sits in the crow’s
nest from early morning till late in
the evening; the two engineers, re-
lieving one another, take charge of
the engines; the cook or the steward
is on the lookout on deck or on the
bridge ; and the doctor takes the helm,
unless he can manage to get away in
the boats, in which case some other
noncombatants has to take his place-
all the rest are away after plunder.
Now a full boat is making its way to
the ship. We steam toward her. As
we near, the engines are stopped and
she glides alongside. The cook or the
steward rushes from the lookout, the
doctor from the wheel, one working
the steam winch and the other un-
switching the skins, while the boat’s
crew swallow a hasty meal. The boat
being unloaded, they are off again for
another fill. The greatest rivalry ex-
ists between the boats’ crews, each en-
deavoring to get the greatest load for
the day. Another boat is seen ap-
| proaching, and away we go again,
dodging this piece of ice, charging
that piece with our sturdy bows, bor-
ing away where the ice lies closely
packed, rounding this berg, and on to
the next until we reach the boat,
| which is down to the gunwale in the
water, with its crew cautious, plying
their oars as they lie crouched upon
their bloody load. So it goes on-from
day to day ; hay is made while the sun
shines, and the pile of skins and blub-
ber rises high upon the ship’s deck,
Then comes a gele of wind, accom:
panied by fog. sleet and snow, and we
lay to under the lee of a stream of ice
or a berg. The deck becomes busy
with life, the blubber is ‘made off”
ald put into the tanks, and the skins
are salted. When the gale is over, at
the end of two or three days, the next
few days of calm weather are again
taken advantage of in the boats. Thus
the periods of gales and calms which
alternate in this part of the world
| come in quite conveniently for sealing,
the produce obtained in the calm
weather being ‘made off” during the
gales. We never experienced much
swell, being sheltered by the land, our
work lying only a little east of Erebus
and Terror Gulf.—Popular Science
Mouthly,
i
A Gallant Remark.
It is said that this is not an age of
There is much evidence in
{ hand to prove that, whether the days
of knighterrancy hawe passed or not,
this certainly is an age of gallantry.
There was much of this quality, forin-
stance, in the young man who had butre-
cently been married to a young girl,
who, though short of statue, was a
person of great beauty, who is report-
ed to have said, ‘she would have been
taller, but she is made of such precious
materials that nature could not afford
it.”
This man would seem to have the
qualities of mind and disposition to
| make any woman happy, if he does
not permit time to dim the lustre
—-Harper’s Bazar.