Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, July 26, 1901, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    fRftUBD TRIBDHE.
insTAni,Y*iii::> rs is.
PUBLISHED EVERY
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY,
MY THE
TP.IEDNE PRINTING COMPANY. LillliicJ
Office; Main stkilt amove cj:nthk.
Long Distance Telephone.
sriJSCUII'TIOX KATES
FREELAND.-I'heTßinuNE is delivered by
carrier- to subscriber* in Fmdnndnttlio rate
of 1-Mj cent* per mouth, payabL* t vory two
months, or $l oiia year, payable in advance
The Thiuune may be ordered direct form tin
enrriors or from the < fiteo. Complaints of
irregular or tardy delivery service will re
ceive prompt attention.
BY MAIL —The Tinbune is rent to out-of
towu subscribers for §l.s'ft year, payable in
advance; pro rata terms for tdiortor peril ds.
The data when the i*ascription expires is on
the address label ot each paper. Prompt re
cewnls must bo made at the cipiration, other
wise the subscription will be discontinued.
Entered at the Postofllce nt Freeland. I'a„
as Second-Class Matter.
Make aV money orders, cherka. c' -. ,p-y bit
to tUt- Tribune J'railing Company, J.muted.
LABOR WORLD.
Store clerks in the Philippines gel
twenty cents a day.
In Chicago the metal polishers have
established a co-operative shop.
The Boston brewers have granted
their coopers the eight-hour day.
The Scotch miners are refusing to
•work more than five days a week.
The Iron Molders* Union of North
America will order 110 strike this year.
The Steel Trust has voluntarily
raised the wages of 2000 of its Ohio
workmen.
Trolley employes at Dayton, Ohio,
have struck to l'orce recognition of
their uuiou.
There are now fifty-eight factories,
with 1150.000 horse-power, in the
French Alps.
Marble workers to the number of 450
have struck at Cincinnati, Ohio, lor
higher wages.
The United Switchmen of North
America have chosen Buffalo, N. Y.,
as headquarters.
All the employes of the street rail
way. in Torre Haute, lnd., went ud
strike because the wages of one mar.
were not raised.
The machinists in tlit Alabama
Great Southern Railroad shops, at
Birmingham, Ala., went out on strike
to enforce the nine-hour demand.
The striking hrickworkers of Den
ver, Col., have returned to work at
the old scale of wages. Three weeks
ago they struck for au increase iu
wages.
President O'Conrtoll, of the Interna
tional Machinists' Association, said
that reports from all parts of the Uni
ted States continued favorable to tho
cause of tho striking machinists.
The Wage Committee of the Amal
gamated Association, in session at
Milwaukee, Wis., has adopted the
plan for a continuous wage scale.
This av ill do away with all strikes in
the future in the iron industry.
SPORTING BRUVITIES.
Saxon, the favorite, won the French
Derby.
Athletes of the larger colleges have
already begun to train for the foot
ball season.
Captain S. S. Brown, of Pittsburg,
Feun., has just paid sio,"ioo for a
yearling colt.
The Boston yacht Independence lias
had a trial spin and her performance
was satisfactory.
tt. D. Little has won the Southern
tennis championship from J. P. Paret,
at Washington, D.
Montclair Iligh School hoys have
won the championship of the New
Jersey Intcrscholastic League.
Practical motors for bicycles are
now in use; their cost, however, pre
vents them from being popular.
' Kenneth A. Skinner has made an
automobile record l'rom tostou to New
York City of eighteen and one-half
hours.
Cyclists McFnrlnml. Cooper, Down
ing and Freeman have returned from
the West, and are training at Vails
burg, N. J.
Ilarry Vardon, tho golf player, said
that he would not defend the title of
champion of America at the furth
coming meeting at Boston.
T his year eliainless bicycles are
more popular than they ever have
been, and even those who were at first
their greatest opponents now admit
that the many advantages this type of
wheel possesses far outweigh the
minor drawbacks.
A curious slate of affairs is that
which confronts the National Cycling
Association just now So great is the
* umber of regular cycling meets
-eheduh <1 for the several tracks in the
East 1I1; i tlie munug'-rs are experienc
ing the greatest dillieulty in getting
an adequate number of riders to carry
the in-.' is through without filling in
with other events.
A Korttriil Remtdfi
Rev. Dr. H ill is. pastor of Plymouth
church, Brooklyn, Is evidently not a
success in maintaining the congrega
tion that Henry Ward Beecher so
long ministered to. If he were he
would net he going around the coun
try lecturing on the decadence of re
ligion as reflected in the absenteeism
from church services. One of the rea
sons he gives for non-attendance at
church on the part of the people is
"that tired feeling." Tho American
young man, after a hard week's work,
is too ccary to arise on Sunday morn
ing and sleeps until noon. That keeps
him from church. To overcome this
Mr. Hillis would have a half holiday
on Saturday so that tho young man
could go to bed early in the evening
and get sufficient rest to he up Sundaj
In time for religious services.
In the March quarter of 1901 Eng
lish shipbuilders put out -115 steam
ships, as against oil In 1900.
LIGHTENED LABOR.
'Tis hard life's duties to perform,
When we are tired and wish to dream,
I'.ut love will lighten labor so,
And make it sweetest pleasure seem,
li keeps our thoughts above the toil,
On comforts which our work will add,
And sends such thoughts of sweet de
light,
' When we without them might be sad,
And think our lot was pretty hard,
And worry with the constant care.
Hut oh! how love will lighten toil,
And all the heavy burdens share,
Till work seems joy, to make all nice
For dear ones that we love so well;
How well we feel repaid for it,
When they their approbation toll.
—Martha Shepard Lippincott.
i&k Jtw Ak. A • JU Jk • AL. wCk At*. ▲ A
t THE £
|RESULT OF A DOUCHE,'
I Maria Bonner and her brother Jim,
| old maid and old bachelor, lived alone
in the comfortable farmhouse their
I parents had left them. Both were in
tistrious; a b-.-ti.er farmer than Jim
rould have been hard to find in those
parts; and as a neat and thrifty
housewife Maria posed for the neigh
borhood. They had no one but each
other to care for or look after, and it
is grevious to record that in their
quiet home peace was not a con
stant visitor.
The truth is that Jim possessed
enough bad temper for several men,
and Maria was not wanting in this
particular. It resulted quit • natural
| ly, therefore, that they quarrelled.
| Sometimes, indeed, quite often, Maria
i bore off the laurels in their war of
I words, and wh :i she did, it so an-
I gored Jim that ho went to a small cot
| tage on the other side of the farm,
| and here lie would keep house for
I himself till lie had exhausted his an
-1 ger. Then, some evening, when Ma-
I ria was putting supper 011 the; table,
i in he walked, looking as serene as if
| nothing uiiph asant had occurred, and
with some remark about the weather
01* the crops he would take his usual
i seat. Maria always answered in tlie
I same vein, and all went well till an
other squad came up.
I If, 011 the other hand, Maria was
worsted in the quarrel, she would be-
I take herself straightway to the house
| of her married sister, there to stay
; till Jim went alter 1: r. She would of
| ten emile grimly when she thought
j that he must attend to her duties in
1 addition to his own. It gave her
; :-c it satisfaction to picture him try
ing to clium when the cream was
100 cold, or performing any of the
numerous tasks which require deft
-110: s added to experience. But for all
that she knew that in her absence
the house was not tidy, and many
things were going to waste. So, when
Jim walked in at some odd time of
the day, Maria was always glad to
see him, and when he was ready to
go home she was ready too. And
across the fields they would walk,
chatting as pleasantly as if they had
never disagreed.
One very cold spring night found
Maria at her sister's. She had been
there two weeks, and during all that
time she had neither seen or heard
from Jim. Their quarrel this time
had been unusually violent. Maria
was perfectly furious, Jim doggedly
stubborn. Jim said Maria begun it
one morning before breakfast; sh.
knew he begun it the evening before
at prayer meeting, when ho picked up
the handkerchief of that fast litll
minx, Kathic Wood. If there was one
person in the world that Maria utterly
detested, that person was Ivathie
Wood.
"She's hod her cap set for Jim goin'
on three year now," said she with in
finite scorn.
This was the first time she had
openly attacked him on this subject,
though it had been the main cause of
many a scolding he received under
cover of slighter pretexts.
Three weeks passed, and Maria was
still visiting her sister. For a while
she had been too angry to think or
care anything about Jim's welfare, but
now she was growing restless. She
was sitting by the kitchen fire long
after the other members of the house
hold had retired. For the first time,
so far as she could remember, she
was sorry she had left home. But she
was too stobborn to think of return
ing till Jim came for her, unless—
and this was why she sat so late by
the fire —Jim might bo sick.
"Ef lie is sick, it'll be my fault, fer
I didn't have no business leavin* ef
he was agravatin'. He don't know
j how to take keer of his self. I believe
! I'll step over and see how he's coming
on. Ef lie's all right, I'll come back
and none of 'cm will be the wiser."
She wrapped herself up warmly in
her thick woolen shawl, and started
briskly on her half mile walk through
iho bare, moonlit fields. As sh<n
drew near the house, she saw a light
in the kitchen.
"I'm afread he is sick," she thought
uneasily.
| The window was in a sheltered cor
ner, and as she approached i f , the
I dead 1--aver- whic'r v filed ap jngh,
rattled loudly under her feet; but be
I ing anxious for a look within, she paid
little heed to the noise.
Applying her eye to a crack in the
shutter, she saw Jim seated before a
roaring hickory fire, his face half
turned toward her as if listening in
tently. But —and Maria's eyes almost
bulged out of her head—who was that
seated beside Jim, hands clasped on
his arm. bright, adoring eves upraised
|to his face? Kathie Wood!
i "Is Jim married?'' she gasped, then
j shut her lips tightly. "Has 110 brought
' that woman to my house? I don't
j wonder ho prefers my room to rav
i company. Oh, ef I bed yer here. I'd
| take pleasure in wringing.ycr rock!"
she apostrophized the unconscious
Kathie. "An' Jim looks a sickenin'
id jit. with thet grin on his face." And
she turned away in disgust. "Another
woman, an' that un, of all others, in
my place!"
Only by experience could one under
stand what Maria now felt.
During the years that had passed, a
hard crust had formed over her heart,
and buried almost out of sight the af
fection she felt for her brother and
her home. But the scene within,
which told her that what had been
could be no more, that there was an
other to share her brother's toils aud
cares, broke the crust and left her
heart sore and aching. She laid her
head on the cold, bare window sill
and wept.
But the thought, the bitterest drop
in her cup, that she bad brought it on
herself, made her wipe her face rough
ly on her shawl.
"I'll go back ter Mary's, fer I cain't
think of livin' in the same house with
her, even of Jim wanted me." Her
lip trembled piteously. "Good-by dear
ol' home! I guess I'll never be this
near ye agin." And she turned away,
taking little heed of the noise she
made in the leaves till she heard a stir
within.
"Who's that?" called Jim's voice.
Maria paused. They must never
know she had come back. But in the
stillness her every movement could be
heard. She stood shivering till an in
spiration came.
"M-i-aul!" She mimicked a cat per
fectly.
"Them blasted cats agin! "exclaimed
Jim. "Scat! scat!" And he stamped
on the floor with his heavy boots.
"1 b'lieve every cat in the neighbor
hood comes to that corner as soon as
it's good dark," said Kathie.
The sound of that voice impelled
Maria a few steps further, she gave
another dismal "m-i-aul" as she went.
Jim started up, and she heard his
heavy steps as he attempted to cross
tl*o floor stealthily. She crouched
close to the wall, hoping if he came
out lie would overlook her. But Jim,
Instead of coming out, was going up
stairs.
"He's arter his gun," she thought.
1 guess he won't shoot straight down.
Anyway. I'll hev to stay fer ef 1 run
he'll be shore to fire on me."
She waited anxiously for Jim's next
move, and be did not keep her long
in suspense. From an upper window
a bucket of icy water deluged her,
while Jim. engaged in a species of war
dance, shouted "Scat!" at the top of
his voice.
Maria barely suppressed a scream
as the cold water ran down her back
and . naked through her clothing. The
thought of walking a half mile after
uch a bath would have been out of
the question at any other time; but
now ; ho bounded to hr feet, and re
ardlc of the noise of her steps, was
running through the leaves when
Jim, with a final vociferous "Scat!"
dashed the bucket from the window.
It. truck Maria on the head, and with
a frightened scream she fell to the
ground. .
Jim heard t.he cry and rushed out,
closely followed by his bride.
"Oh, Kathie, it's Marier! Do you
s'pose I've killed her?"
"No," answered Kathie, soothingly,
"she ain't dead. Go build a fire in her
room right quick, while 1 get her
some dry clothes."
Maria scarcely knew, or was too
ick to care, where she was all night,
nd Jim brought the doctor to sec her
before breakfast.
The injury from the bucket was
trifling. The doctor said her illness
was a general breakdown, caused
probably by overwork and exposure.
"Shi never would take keer of ber
. If." Jim said to Kathie. "But now
you kin watch arter her, a ltd mebbe
persuade her ter bo keerful."
"I don't know," answered Kathie,
doubtfully. "I'm afeard she don't like
mo much."
"She'll soon Tarn to love yer,
though," said Jim, fondly stroking the
sunny hair.
Jim's words were prophetic. Dong
before Maria was well enough to bo
moved to her sister's she had learned
to love gentle Kathie, her faithful and
affectionate nurse.
And in the peacefully happy years
that followed if Maria and Jim seemed
•li the verge of a quarrel, it was
Kathie's soft words that soothed the
ruffled tempers, and made all calm
and serene again.—Waverley Maga
zine.
Tlinintiß .Icfl'orfcon a* a Letter-Writer.
Mr. Jeff< i son probably wrote more
letters with his own hand than any
other public man that ever lived. The
::tent of his correspondence may be
inferred from the fact that 20,000
lc ttc-ra n ally folded and briefed, were
!•• ! by him and found carefully
111 •(! away at the time of his death,
with copies of the replies sent to
mire than IG.OOO. These, however,
were only a small portion of his cor
.i • I cii'lc ac - . as lie retained only
those he cons!J red of future useful
ness or importance. Stenography vras
not 1 at that time. Every one
of his U Iters was written with his own
1 and, and with great care, although
after breaking his wrist while min
i. ter of France, it became a great
labor to him. His penmanship was
small, plain and 1 gible, every letter
being perfectly formed, and his ac
count books are kept in so small a
hand that many of the pages cannot
be read without a magnifying glass.
Jefferson was ambidextrous. He
could write equally well with either
hand. When his wrist was broken he
Darned to write with his left hand,
which became as skilful as the other.
It would have been impossible for
him to have carried on his extensive
correspondence without being able to
relieve his right hand at intervals.—
Chicago Record.
POiSONED ARRCW3.
Far! JUS Method* of Making Tliom Deadly
Practiced by Savage*.
Dr. W. J. Hoffman of the geological
survey has been making a study of
poisoned arrows. Among other things
he says:
"The Ainos of Japan prepare a poi
son for spreading upon bamboo or
metal arrow points, to kill game with,
a small portion of flesh about the
wound being cut out before the animal
is cooked and eaten. In Java, Borneo,
New Guinea and other islands the
practice obtains to a considerable ex
tent.
"The poisoning of arrows prevails
extensively in Africa, particularly on
the west coast, in the Gaboon, among
the Somalia and with the Bushmen.
By the Bushmen the juice of a plant
Is used, mixed with the pulp of a ven
omous worm.
"The best-known and most active
of arrow poisons is the woorara or
urari of South America. It is chiefly
used for the tips of darts blown from
the blow gun, and the most important
ingredient is the juice of the plant
from which strychnine is obtained, to
which arc added certain other vege
table elements and serpent venom.
In Central America poisons arc also
employed on arrows and blow-gun
darts. The Carlbs employed similarly
a poison made from the sap of a tree
called the mancen illes. The antidote
was the application to the wound of
what we call arrow root.
"The Seris of Northwestern Mexico
prepared a poison by putting into the
ground a cow's liver, rattlesnakes,
scorpions, centipedes and other un
pleasant things, and beating them with
a stock. Into the mixture the arrow
root points were dipped, and it would
be difficult to imagine a much more
poisonous concoction or compound.
The Apaches and neighboring tribes
were until recently in the habit of
smearing upon their arrows a composi
tion said to be composed of a decom
posed deer's liver and rattlesnake
venom. On some instances crushed
red ants are also reported to have
been used.
"A microscopic examination of such
a coating upon arrows obtained from
Apaches years ago showed the pres
ence of blood and a crystalline sub
stance that was apparently rattle
snake venom. It is a well-established
fact that the venom of serpents retains
its poisonous properties when dried in
definitely.
"The Shoshone and Bannock Indians
that the proper way to poison arrows,
as formerly practised by them, is to
secure a leer and cause it to be bitten
by a rattlesnake. Immediately after
which the deer is killed, and the meat
removed and placed in a hole in the
ground. When the mass lias become
putrid the arrow points are dipped
into it. The Clallams of Puget Sound
used to make arrow points of copper,
which were afterward dipped in sea
water an.l permitted to corrode. This
was a dead sure death dealer.
"I have never met an Indian who
would admit the use of poisonou ar
rows in warfare against man. They
will say they use poisoned arrows to
kill game, but not to shoot in warfare.
In nearly all Instances when poisons
are prepared by Indians the operation
is performed with more or less cere
mony. chanting and incantation, for
the purpose of invoking evil spirits or
demons. In their belief the effects of
poison are due wholly to the presenco
In them of malevolent spirits or dem
ons, which enter the body of victims
and destroy life."
A Newspaper IJeat.
Some years ago a popular bishop
of the Northern Province decided late
in life to marry. The secret was well
kept; neither the date nor place of
the rite leaked out, but the memorial
notice writer on a morning paper, who
was intimate with nearly every eccles
iastic in his lordship's diocese, heard
a mysterious rumor of the coming
wedding. He mentioned the rumor
at the office, and was instructed to
give a special report of the ceremony.
Jaunty, gossippy, indefatigable, he
ferreted out the church, though it was
distant, attended the wedding, bustled
into the vestry, watched the signing
of the register, and then, to the pre
late's astonishment, heartily grasped
his hand and said: "Good morning,
my lord—pretty wedding—much hap
piness—allow me to congratulate you
in the name of the diocese!'" —Good
Words.
Following the Beaver** Plan.
Animal instinct often gives a valu
able hint to human reason. A case in
point is cited by an engineer in a re
c ntly written scientific review of the
subject of dams. The beaver, be say;,
does not build li is dam straight acro s
the stream, but with an arch again t
the current, his instinct telling him
that in this storm it will better resist
floods and the impact of floating ice.
This Hint from the little animal has
been acted upon in many cases lately,
notably in the building of the Great
Bear Valley dam in California. Engi
neers, as a rule, build straight across
stream, chiefly, perhaps to save ma
terial, but the arched dam is the more
economical in the long run.
A Genuine Irih Hull.
A very fine and genuine specimen of
the Irish bull comes from Dublin,
which deserves to be recorded, says
the Westminster Gazette. A member
of the Dublin corporation, in speaking
of the electric light question, said:
"You are standing on the edge of a
precipice that will be a weight on your
necks all the r<-t of your days." It
would lie difficult to beat this. The
idea of standing on something that
rests on your own neck is bewildering,
and would puzzle eve \ a professional
contort'onist.
will
Tli© Ways of th© Ant.
if wheat-stalks waving in the breeze
Towered above you like tall trees,
If every sand-grain seemed a huge
stone,
Should you go walking all alone?
If winged creatures that did not love
,vou
Shadowed like thunder-clouds above
If many a creeping thing should hate
you
So that it casually came and ate j*ou,
Should you keep steadily at your work,
Or should you hide from the sua aud
shirk?
Every one's shadowed by things above
liini.
So:.:,- that hate him (and more that love
him).
Every one has his enemies,
Though not of water or earth or breeze.
The worst lurk concealed iu a corner
apart
Of one's own little leathery human
heart;
And the tiniest of the tiny creatures
Are not too small to lie our teachers.
—The Christian Register.
Tli© tlliigli'iui Nest.
"Mamma," said Edie. coming In
from school, "our teacher wants each
of us to bring her a piece of one of
our school dresses, to put into a quilt.
Can't I give her a piece of this new
gingham dress?"
"Yes, certainly," said mamma; "and
I know of another place where sonio
of your dress might be welcome. Some
very little bits."
"Where?"
"Mrs. Robin Redbreast is building
a nest in the pine-tree; and, if you
take this handful of clipping and scat
ter them about under the tree, she
may be glad to weave them in."
Edie did so; and Mrs. Robin made
good use of tliem. After the nest was
done, Edie could look up and see the
bits of red and blue; and she called
It a "gingham nest."—Mayflower.
A Hall Game with No Shouting.
Boys, what kind of sport would
baseball be to you if you couldn't yell
and laugh aud give vent to your bois
terous feelings? It would be tame,
wouldn't it? A game in which you
could not shout "Slide, Johnny, slide,"
or "Come on. come on. Bob," wouldn't
be worth seeing, muck less playi::;;,
but this kind of game is on the dia
mond up at Delavan, Wis., nearly
every day In the week. It is played
by "tho deaf mutes in tho Wisconsin
school for the deaf, located ai Dela
van.
A match game between the mutes
and the nine of the Beliot high school
\Vas played last Saturday afternoon.
Tho "dummies," as everybody there
calls the unfortunates, batt d the vis
itors all over the field and won by a
score of 15 to 8. The pitcher of the
home team is a full-hlod Onci.la In
dian boy. His name is Archie Wil
liams, and he comes from the Stoek
bridgc reservation at Gresham, Sha
wano county. The catcher is a big
chested fellow named Fred Smith,
who from behind his mask s , in : to
pick the Indian's twisters from off tho
bat, and another player who cu:uc ill
fcr much applause was a strapping
young man from Argyle, named "Joe"
Ryan. To the onlooker the game of
these speechless hoys is extremely
interesting. Tho umpire must call file
balls and strikes by bom voice and
-motion so that all may know ills de
cisions. In the- event of a controversy
they gather about the umpire, making
all kinds of signals by the use of
their fingers and sundry shakes of the
head. The whole school gathers to
witness the game, and when a fine
play or run Is made by one of their
number 200 hats go up in tho air, and
long arms and rapidly crooking digits
are saying all kinds of things. When
a fumble or other misplay is made
the unfortunates have unique ways of
venting their displeasure and unutter
able disgust.
There are now 200 boys and girls
In the school at Delavan, which is ac
credited with being one of the most
successful institutions in the north
west—Chicago Reeord-Heraid.
"Go It, Tom."
Tom belonged to a settlement school,
and the school had furnished most, if
not all. tho real happinc s lie had
ever known. Here the good in him
was developed until somehow lie be
gan to forget the bod.
He was a sturdy little athlete, and
won most of the races and other con
tests of strength. Through various
winsome traits he had found his way
to the heart of his teacher, and she
was always interested in his success.
One day arrangements had been
made for a foot race. Sevi ral boys
were to run, although everybody was
sure that Tom would win.
The preliminaries were settled, the
race started, and the boys were off
over the course. Tom led clear and
free for about half the distance, then
to the surprise of every one, Johnny
began to gain upon him. Jim was
just behind Johnny and running vig
orously. Tom's feet tieemed to grow
heavy, and Johnny steadily decreased
the distance between them, until
finally he shot past Tom, and, with
a sudden spurt gained the goal fully
five yards in advance. Jim was close
behind, and he, too, sped over tho line
a little ahead of Tom. but enough to
give him second place and to leave
Tom out of the race.
"Why, Tom, what was the matter?"
asked his teacher, as the defeated boy
came toward her with the tears
streaming down his face.
His only answer was a sob.
"Tell me what happened, Tom."
Tom dug his knuckles into his eyes
to dry his tears and tried to tell his
story.
"I started all right, you know—"
"Yes, you led them all."
"But when I got half way there
the boys began to rail 'Go it, Johnny,
you're second.' 'Hustle. Jim, you're
gaining.' 'Bun, Johnny, run; you're
most up to him.' But nobody said
'Go it, Tom,' and somehow it got into
my legs, and they wouldn't go;" and
Tom, dropping to the ground in a
heap, cried as though his heart would
break.
Moral: Many have failed in life be
cause there was no one to say, "Go it,
Tom."—American Boy.
About Carrier IMgoons.
"The New Popularity of the Carrier
Pigeon," Is the tit! " of an article by
George H'lv Ibert Walsh, which ap
pears iu the St. Nicholas.
Both iu war ar.U peace the carrier
pigeon has won new laurels in the
past year, and its popularity as a well
bred pet and domestic messenger has
become as great as its usefulness as
a carrier of war dispatches where tel
egraph and telephone lines are not
established. That so innocent a crea
ture as the dove-like carrier should
be selected for important war pur
poses, and taken into the service for
furthering the bloody conflicts of mod
ern armies seems out of keeping with
the aims of nature and an abuse of
man's power. The pigeon is eminent
ly a peace-loving bird and its nature
is so different from those of thrt
sen anting eagle and falcon that as an
emblem of war it should bo a total
failure. N -vertheless, the timid bird
has served armies In times of need,
and is cultivated for Its practical war
usefulness to an extent never dreamed
of for either the falcon or eagle. In a
rrr e it is the war bird of the day.
The pigeon post at Durban, in
South Africa. v,:i3 the beginning of
the pig! "n experiments conducted In
recent campaigns between the Eng
-1I s h and Boers, and scores of mes
sage s wore carried from one part of
the English army to another by means
of the birds. Colonel Hassard of the
Royal Er.gii err, a stuff-officer at the
Cape, has made a life study of the
c. : iicr-plyr ons, and before the war
broke out he had established pigeon
posts between most of the beleagured
ci ii • From I.n.dysrnith. Kimberley,
and Matching, pigeons early in the
: i ;,vs regularly brought messages
from the English soldiers cooped up in
the towns. Sir George White's first
me--age from Ladyrmlth was carried
by a pigeon, and this means of com
mun!cct{pg with the outside world
c nunue.l until th" number of birds
In the city "wai "unlisted. •
It was only a short time before the
outbreak <ft the war in South Africa
that the English government had de
cided to establish a service of ca'-rier
pigeons. In the navy, pigeon posts
were recognized mean 3 of carrying
information as early as IS9C, and
there are over a 1000 birds recorded
on the books of the royal navy. The
first naval loft was at Portsmouth and
now there are two others. In the
English army the po is have been con
fined almost exclusively to the Cape,
where the nature of the country
makes the homing-pigeon service ol
more value than In England.
The development of the war homing
pigeon service throughout Europe has
been more rapid than elsewhere, and
army posts support largo numbers of
them. Strict laws are made to protect
t'uo in private lofts. As a great mili
tary camp, Europe looks upon the
carrier-pigeon as a menace to the
re .ntry If not held under strict mili
tary control. In Germany, for In
stance. every pigeon raised by private
breeders must be registered, and the
pigeon cannot he taken out of the
country or sold without permission
from til - military authorities. In the
event of n war the German authorities
re--, rvo the right to claim and take
pors .---l-m ' every carrier-pigeon in
the 1 :::!. In addition to this, every
fortn s and camp on German soil has
its pigeon service, and over SIO,OOO is
appropriated annually for th - support
of this service. There are upwards
of 10,000 pigeons belonging to the xvar
department, and every bird is careful
ly trained and tested.
The United States military and nav
al authorities have approved of the
pig ens as aids to the regular tele
graphic means of communication, and
there arc - -voral posts established in
th" west and along tho Atlantic coast. H
But on the whole this country depends
more upon private breeders for its
supply of carrier-pigeons than upon
ti- bird:-, already in the service of tho
army or navy. Our great distance by
a f:-> m all other powerful nations
makes it unnecessary to arrange for
tlie services of oarr-ier-pigoens as the
European countries have done. There
Is little <fiance of any foreign army in
vading this country and destroying
tho railroad and telegraph lines con
nect i:-g the big cities. Pigeon breed
ing and training have therefore been
rallied on in the United States more
In the interests of peace and pleasure.
Ilie,c are hundreds of enthusiastic
owners In every state of the Union,
and probably In no country lias the
work of rearing the birds' been at
tended to with greater intelligence
and success.
c trenuori* Inactivity.
"Pa, what do statesman do?" A
"Well, mostly, Tommy, they ride on '
the railways from city to city, paying
visits whlrti have no political signid!
cancc."—Chicago Times-Herald.
r