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VOL. XtV.
NEW BLOOMFIELD, FiV., TUESDAY, AUGUST lO, 1880.
NO. 32.
'' 14
THE TIMES.
In Independent family Newspaper,
II PUBLISHED B VSR Y TO BSD AT BT
F. MORTIMER & CO.
TEltMS t
INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
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When Tald In Advance, f 1.25 Per Tear.
Advertising rates furnished uponappll
cation.
A Detective's Story.
TTARD case up this way," said the
JlX telegram sent in my direction by
Harney. A break-out of convicts.
Warden Bates killed. Deputy Warden
Locke dangerously wounded. Two pris
on ere escaped. Get np here on the 1.30
train for further details."
Flung on my coat, got under my cap,
swung on at the rear car just as the
train was moving, and got Into Knox
county in due time.
Found things even worse than repre
sented by the lightning. These were
the particulars :
As Warden Bates made his usual
rounds to ascertain if all was right in
the prison cells, he was unexpectedly set
. upon by a desperado, who from some
outside source had been helped to a
knife, and was stabbed in several places,
the keys torn from his grasp, and other
convicts were speedily released.
An unusual sound in the rear of the
jail buildings had alarmed Deputy War
den Locke, who rushed to the scene, as
he went arousing other jail officers.
They were met by a half dozen of the
liberated wretches, and a fierce fight
still raged fiercely.
At this juncture a young fellow, lodg
ing in a house near the jail yard, hear
ing the unusual outcry, sprang out of
bed, and plunging into his pants, in his
shirt sleeves and bareheaded, seized the
first thing that came to hand, which
was a heavy oaken club, and with a
short run and a marvelous leap that
would have done credit to a gutta percha
acrobat, seized the top of the fence
inclosing the jail yard and flung himself
down inside where the fight was raging
hotly. But it were better to use his
own words:
" I mowed around me briskly, help
ing to lay down qtilte a windrow of
them, and gradually made my way to
the gate. At that moment a thin, slight
fellow charged upon me, intending as" I
thought to attack me with a vengeance.
I braced myself for the shock, when
with a light, elliptical spring he vaulted
quite over me, and caught by the spikes
upon the top of the gate. I was fearful
that I had lost him, for he drew his
rubber legs immediately beyond clutch
ing distance of my hand; but swinging
my club over my head, I calculated
upon giving the fellow a compound
fracture ; instead I only emote against
his stockinged foot, and a splinter of my
battered club caught in that useful arti
cle, jerking it off the fellow's foot.
" He got off, however. It was just
about here that I stood and faith I
here's the stocking now."
I stooped and picked it up from the
little hollow where Tom Saunders had
tossed it from his club the night before.
There were marks of blood upon it. I
turned It inside out, and, sticking to the
fibre of wool was the entire great toe
nail.
"Jove 1" ejaculated Tom, turning
away with a shiver, " how do you like
my style of paring toe nails V A clean
slioe off." Thunder! how It smarts
about this time If the fellow has
stopped long enough to find out that
be has left horn enough behind blm to
make a hair comb."
Probably the -fellow belonged to a
. gang outside, who would aid him to
avoid discovery. '
"Photograph him !" said I to Baun
. ders
" Blender, medium height, young and
light oomplexloued," '
" Manner ? What's his usual appear
.noe?". " Sullen as a thunder cloud. Lower
ing brow ; seldom speaks."
The jail officers agree in their descrip
tions with Tom.
" You get down by stage or some way
to Bayton. In every other direction a
stream of fire Is ahead of him. To Bay
town no especial thunderbolts penetrate.
He may cross by water there, strike the
stage route and reach Bath. Then he
might get out of our reach and bother
us."
I took the 0:30 train down toward
Bretford, and it was a matter of doubt
whether I should able to connect with
the Btage there, as it would be ten
o'clock by the time I arrived in that
place.
It was late in the fall and chilly.
The elections were Just over, and there
was considerable exciting talk in the
car.
I got my attention fixed upon one
loquacious fellow, plethoric and excited,
who kept every one within hearing In a
roar of laughter. I rather regretted
being across the aisle, for I lost the pith
of the jokes entirely. He spared neither
party, and his humorous contrasts or
parallels pleased In spite of themselves '
the opponents who could at least appre
ciate wit from any source.
I was pleased, on leaving the train at
Bretford, tp find that the old fellow also
got off, and still more pleased to find
him heading, wheezy and aldermanic,
towards the one hotel.
"Really, gentlemen," said mine host,
In fat, sweetened tones, " I hardly know
what to do. There's a horse race here
to-morrow, a sort of wind-up to the fair,
and I'm just chuck full. Howsoever, If
you don't mind sharing the same room
and ten chances to one the same bed,
why, walk in, walk In, gentlemen."
" Land alive ! I can't be put out In no
way,?' says thy companion, flashing his
heavy gray eyebrows loosely about.
"You remember me, Nash, of course,
Dyer, always at the races always bet
and invariably lose."
" Dyer 1 yes, seems to me I remember
you," says Boniface.
" No doubt, no doubt, come one year
to lose, the next to win never win, but'
still continue to come to punish my
self." After partaking of a hearty supper,
the landlord informed us that a fire had
been kindled in our room, but, of course
I expected the social chap would spend
an hour or more in the bar-room ; on
the contrary, he declared he must get to
bed, so as to be clear-headed on the
morrow, and thus be able to use judg
ment on horse-flesh.
We sat some time before the cheerful
fire In our room, telling over some com
ical or other incidents, and smoking
our cigars; but directly my feet feeling
uncomfortable in a pair of new, rather
tight boots I drew them oft and placed
my feet on the fender. My companion
prepared to do the same. One boot was
removed, and he began on the other, but
soon desisted with a violent contortion
of the facial muscles.
" C-orns ?' queried I. ;
" Bunions real John Bunyans at
that."
By and by, with a huge gasp, and a
careful twisting, the useful article was
removed.
The last uncovered foot, however, was
not advanced readily to the fire, and I
really sympathized with the cork screw
pain that I calculated he felt.
After stooping forward to knock the
ashes from my cigar, I was seized with
an idea so Eudden and extraordinary
that I wonder I did not cry out some
thing and betray myself.
What had I seen that led to this extra
ordinary idea ? Only a huge bunched
up place in the stocking of my compan
ion just where the great toe would nat
urally be located.
I felt that the surface of my body . waa
undergoing that curious transformation
known as " goose flesh," although I at
the time mentally portrayed myself as a
fool. It was a fine time of day if an
honest man couldn't have a sore toe If
It pleased him without giving a neighbor
ague fits. The idea was very disagreea
ble, and although I talked on briskly
and shook myself, the thought, like a
leech, still stuck to my brain.
How could I be so absurd as to cling
to this Idea V How reconcile the anato
my of this man before me with my
pocket memorandum ?
"Slender, medium height and young,
sullen and lowering brow." Antipodes I
Just then my companion tipped for
ward to knock aside the ashes. His coat
collar stood back uncompromisingly,
showing a slender ueck draped In front
with a small cataract fall of gray
whiskers. Looking still closer, I found
as he just then laughed uproariously at
something which I had said, that there
was no rising, falling, or wrinkling of
vest or coat. The man who laughed
was but the core of the plethoric form
before me.
What then ?
Evidently the bulk was made of
stuffing.
If a legion of ants had been crawling
over me just then it would not have
produced a more disagreeable sensation.
Here I was, closeted with a ruffian of
the most ferocious dye, wuobb bauds
were even now stained with a fellow
creature's blood, and the least sign to
betray that I suspected his identity
would be my death warrant. Yet I
must have him, and I must also have
help to secure him.
Directly I fumed out about the cigars,
and wondered if the landlord had no
better ones said I'd find out before he
had gone to bed.
I went whistling out, not unmindful
that a sharp pain from a stiletto might
be the result.
As I ran down stairs I tore a leaf from
my pocket memorandum, and I scratch
ed upon It these words :
Bretfc-hd, 11 o'clock. " Harney
Quick 1 get down on the midnight ex
press. Come prepared to do up a sore
toe. Caknes."
"Herel landlord," I exclaimed, get
that telegraphed to A In two mln-
utes quick caution and you shall
have a suitable reward."
With this I snatched a handful of
cigars and went whistling back to my
room, while a score of thoughts more
vivid than pleasant ran through my
mind.
I found him still seated unsuspecting
ly before the fire offered him a cigar,
and again resumed my smoking.
The cautious reader may wonder that
I did not either remain at a safe distance
below stairs, or give the alarm and
secure him immediately. Neither plan
appeared feasible to me. In the first
place It was my business to catch Just
such fellows as this one before me ; in
the next place an alarm given among a
crowd of persons, undisciplined, not
knowing how to act, invariably results
In defeat. No, I must wait develop
ments just then. The night express
would be In at 1 o'clock, and Harney
would come prepared for the emergency;
and it was only 11 now. How would
the next two hours pass? and what
might not occur ?
At half past 11 my companion pro
posed retiring and as it providentially
happened that the room held the two
beds, I could not object.
" I never take off my clothes," he
remarked, " on such times as this
and then if there is fire one is prepar
ed." I pronounced the advice excellent,
and believed that I should adopt it, and
to further win his confidence I suggested
that we should place our watches and
purses under our pillows. He made a
show of doing this, and we flung our
selves upon our couches.
In a short time he began to snore,
and not doubting but this might be a
feint, I also began breathing even and
heavily.
At twelve o'clock some slight noise
occurred outside. There was a rustle
and a creak in the other bed.
" What's that ?" he questioned, and I
noticed that his voice was hardly the
same as I had listened to an hour before.
" Url" I sleepily muttered.
He listened intently for a moment,
and then fell back and began snoring
again. I had no doubt he had planned
to rob, perhaps murder me, and get off
before the house was astir.
A quarter to one o'clock the train
came blowing into the heart of the
place. A hot flush passed over me.
Waa Harney there ? and what would
fojlow the attempt te secure this des
perado ?
At I o'clock precisely there was a
creak upon the stairs.. The landlord
was vigilant and understood hla busi
ness. At the sound.the heavy breathing
In the other bed oeased. Then, came
another long, tremulous creak of the
stairs ; evidently some heavy person was
trying to cautiously ascend them. As
the second unmistakable sound came
Into the room a prescrlent feeling drew
my muscles into a ball, and I dropped
between my bed and the wall. None
too soon, for in a minute after I had left
my bed a dull tbud told me that a knife
had been aimed at my vitals. He had
taken In my actions at a glance.
The door was flung open. I rolled like
a ball under the bed, caught the rascal
by the ankles, and gave him a jerk that
floored him, allowing Harney and Offi
cer Copps to master him before receiv
ing any dangerous wounds.
The landlord being near with a light,
we soon had off the wig and beard and
eye-brows, the wrinkles being penciled
on to perfection. The stuffing betng
taken care of, there lay before me the
exact memorandum
" Slender, of medium height, sullen
and scowling."
Harney brought word that the other
convict, who was thought to have es
caped, had been so severely wounded
In the affray that he had fallen into a
ditch In the rear of the jail, and,
being unable to extricate himself, had
drowned.
So we got the sore toe and the corpo
real system attached to it nicely bound
up for a long term in the penitentiary.
Some Odd Fish.
IN THE rivers on the coast of Suri
nam Is a small flsh, about the big
ness of a smelt, which hath four eyes,
two on each side, one above another.
This flsh, from its faculty of Beeing
double, is probably caught half-seas over
but in swimming it Is observed to keep
the uppermost two under. As many
flsh at particular seasons prime that Is,
come to the surface and swim half sub
merged may not the reflection or refrac
tion of the water have had its dual ef
fect upon the eyes of the intelligent ob
server ?
Captain Leigh, in his voyage to Guia
na, recounts : We saw a white thing
floating upon the water, which sunk
when the ship came within fifty or sixty
paces of it. It resembled a man's head
without hair. Some said they saw a
great many of them, and observed two
black eyes and a mouth upon them. We
also saw a strange sort of fish, about as
long as an ordinary lamprey, and equal,
ly round, with a large fin or crest above
a foot high over Its head, and Btooped in
a continued series down to its tall. It
swims upon one side, so that the fin, to
gether with the body, represents a large
flsh of triangular form, and it makes its
way by shifting from one side to the
other. But when it catches its prey the
fin Is straight, and appears above water
an ashy color, though the body is as
white and round as a tallow candle.
This is corroborated by Theyenol.
Sir Thomas Herbert gives an account
of dolphins, which he says were no big
ger than a salmon, and that these also
were incredibly swift. He was on the
coast of Zanquebar, a large kingdom on
the east side of the Cape of Good Hope.
There he saw great numbers of dolphins
of which he gives the description : That
they must effect the company of men,
and are nourished like men. They are
always constant to their mates embrace,
go with young ten months ; are bo ten
derly effected to their parents that when
they are 300 years old they feed and de
fend them against hungry fishes, and
when they die carry them ashore and
bury them.
At Kllgarrlng, Pembroke, there as a
cataract in the river, called the Salmon
Leap, because they take their tails in
their teeth'and spring over the cataract.
This notion still prevails In Norway and
Sweden.
Perhaps the tallow-candle flsh men
tioned by Captain Leigh is a relation of
the one noticed in the Colonist, Decem
ber, 1879, as follows :
In the waters of British North Amer
ica, as we are Informed, there is a flsh as
surprising In its way as the sea serpent,
and inflnately more useful. It Is a spe
cies of smelt, and may be poetically de
scribed as an aquatio glow worm. We
are told it may be literally used the same
way as a candle, by simply setting a
light to the tail, when It will burn with
a flame as steady as that of the " dips"
which our grandfathers used to have to
put up with before gas waa invented.
It Is a small silvery fish,averaging about
fourteen Inches long, Is excessively fat,
and affords an excellent and valuable oil
which is so inflammable that the dried
carcass will serve as a torch. Among
the natives the fish is known as the
oolaban, and by them, as by many
others who have tasted it, it is consider
ed one of the most delicious products of
the sea, being far more delicate in flavor
than the herring. The flsh are caught
in wicker basketB, and are smoked as
much as their oily nature will allow. .
Here are some very odd flsh from the
Danube.
The river Danube has a great plenty
of flsh, and one sort uncommon called
the hellsow, a very large flsh, some of
them twenty feet long, which are sup
posed to come of the Euxlne sea. They
taste like sturgeon, and have a hollow
nervous chord down the back, which
when dried they use instead of a whip.
When they flsh for tbem they blow a
trumpet, the noise of which brings great
shoals about their boats. There is a fish
called a grundel, that has six beards,
two short and four long.
Mr. Fotherby tells us that In the Cas
pian sea there is a deformed sort of flsh
be within Its belly. It has a round tail
seven or eight feet broad, and as many
long, by which it can overturn a large
boat.
Poisonous fishes are often alluded to
in ancient works, and It Is but due to
their authors to say that their state
ments have been fully confirmed by sub
sequent inquiry into results. There is
no doubt that congers, pike and barbel
In Europe are poisonous at certain sea
sons, and the roe of the barbel especially
so. But it is curious to observe that
identically the same fish caught In two
different latitudes shall possess the ex
tremely opposite qualities '.of whole
someness and otherwise.
Dr. Stuart Eldrldge states that the
salmon Is doubtless the most common
toxto flsh of Japan. From the spring
onward this fish is out of serfson and if
eaten after that period of the year occa
sions such accidents as follow the eating
of tainted meat. In Japan the like dan
ger follow the eating of the kateuo (bo
nlto) and the maguro. The Lethrinus
nambo can be eaten with impunity un
til it attains a certain size says a length
of Ave to five and a half inches after
which It became poisonous. Here then
it would appear that the age of the fish
has something to do with its injurious
qualities. Pappenheim gives a list of
more than forty poisonous species, prin
cipally inhabitants of the torrid zone.
Among these we find mackerels, percbe,
herrings, sea pikes, and a large number
or species belonging to the order of
Plectognathls. The latter order, con
tains five genera that are poisonous ; the
most common genius In Japan is the
teutraosow, or swill fish, the species of
which are known by the general name
of fugu, so poisonous that their sale are
prohibited bylaw; but there is strong
evidence to show that it is the roe of the
flsh and not its flesh that has the fatal
effects to which several medical men
attest.
An Eloquent Passage.
The following is from the gifted pen of
the late George D. Prentice : " It cannot
be that earth la man's only abiding
place. It cannot be that our life is a
mere bubble cast up by eternity to float
a moment on Its waves and then sink
Into nothingness. Else why is it the
glorious aspirations which leap like
angels from the temple of our hearts,
are forever wondering unsatisfied?
Why is it that the stars that hold their
festival around the midnight throne are
set above the grasp of our limited facul
ties, forever mocking us with their un
approachable glory. And finally, why
is it that forms of human beauty pre
sented to our views arx taken from us,
leaving the thousand streams of our
affections to flow baok in Alpine tor
rents upon our hearts? There is a
realm where the rainbow never fades ;
where the stars will be spread out before
us like the islands that slumber in the
ocean ; and where the beautiful beings
which pass before unlike shadows will
stay In our presence forever."
3 A sour godliness kills every bud of
hope about us ; a sunny soul kindles
into a glow of life arid freshens the
whole circle in which it moves.