Simply Cannot Kill This Man

1908

Marvelous Record of One Born For Narrow Escapes

Easton, Pennsylvania. — Granville B. Snyder, an Easton printer, has had more narrow escapes from death than most living men. Some of his friends will tell you that he bears a charmed life, but Granny, as he is commonly called, scoffs at that idea.

"I guess it was ordained that I should die a natural death," he says, "and luck always seems to have stepped in and saved me from shuffling off this mortal coil in any other manner."

The first time Granny faced death he was six years old. Leaving home one morning and walking a short distance to Mount Ida, an immense rock 110 feet high, overlooking the Lehigh canal and river, he determined to climb to the top to gather honeysuckles. The north side of the rock is a sheer precipice, and toward this perilous point the lad's steps led unconsciously. He found flowers growing in profusion, and in his enthusiasm lost sight of the danger he was in. He reached for a stem, took a false step, and plunged over the perpendicular wall 110 feet to the towpath. Although he suffered a fractured collar-bone, both legs and arms were broken, and he lost a great quantity of blood from three gashes in his scalp, the doctor pulled him through.

When eight years old Granny fell through the trap in the haymow in Peter M. Correll's stable, in Bank street, while playing chase with companions and landed in the water trough. The other boys, terrified, ran from the building. When a stableman pulled the boy out of the trough he was nearly lifeless.

The same year he was bitten in the hand by a copperhead snake while playing in a yard near his home. His arm swelled to an enormous size. To the surprise of the physician Granny began to recover, and in a short time he was running around again.

When ten years old, and again when 12, he had two more narrow escapes from drowning. Upon the former occasion he broke through the deck of a sunken canal boat in the Lehigh and was rescued in an unconscious condition by James Herrin. The second accident resulted through him falling through a raft that parted along the old sawmill.

He had a thrilling escape from death on the New Jersey Central railroad in 1877. In attempting to jump from a rapidly moving coal train as it passed the Fourth street station his right hand caught fast in the side rod, he was thrown to the ground and the wheels clipped off his cap. He was dragged 25 feet, struck a signal target, hurled back against the car and thus his hand was released. Outside of a few slight bruises and torn and soiled clothing he was none the worse for the experience.

Twice he narrowly escaped death while handling firearms. The accidental discharge of a self-cocking revolver he was handling sent a bullet into his hip. The ball struck a bone, took a downward course, came out and then re-entered the leg. The lead is still there.

Upon another occasion, during a Fourth of July celebration, he picked up a loaded revolver belonging to a friend and discharged it in the air five times. Then, jokingly placing the weapon against his temple, he remarked, "good by, fellows!" and pulled the trigger. The hammer caught and Snyder lowered the weapon to examine it. He almost fainted when he discovered that instead of it being a five-chambered weapon, as he had imagined, it contained six chambers, and there was still a loaded cartridge in it. Only the fact that the hammer caught saved him from blowing out his brains.

Lumbermen May Return To Use of Oxen

1908

Workers in Northern Wisconsin Believe Them More Serviceable

Milwaukee. — The determination of the lumbermen to return to the employment of oxen in the woods of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota will recall the days of the pioneer of 40 and 50 years ago, when horses in the woods were a curiosity or luxury.

Horses succeeded oxen for the reason that they make quicker time in hauling over long roads, and for the reason that feed became more plentiful as the country became settled by homesteaders. It was when feed was impossible to obtain that cattle were employed, for they were generally able to forage with the deer through summer and winter months. Those were the days of the dense pine forests when feed was plentiful and the climatic changes were not so sudden as a present, but the present day has its advantages, though the winters are more severe.

Feed for the oxen may be had at any railroad station or of almost any farmer or homesteader. Oxen require less feed than horses, and here is the first stroke of economy, though not a large one. They are sure of foot and will haul as large a load as horses. In skidding logs they are said to be much preferable to horses, and, unlike horses, they may be slaughtered and served to the lumberjacks when they have served their purpose.

In some of the northern counties oxen are being employed by the new settlers for the cultivation of the farm. They move along slowly it is true, but they accomplish the work of clearing the land and bringing it to a state of cultivation. The only drawback to this new movement is the lack of trainers and drivers. The oxen men of the last generation have or are passing away, and it will be difficult to get men who will condescend to desert the horse for the ox.

Doctor Sews Up Gash In Heart

Printed Jan. 1908

Negro Injured During Brawl, Subject of Remarkable Operation

New York. — A few days ago the remarkable feat of sewing up a cut in a man's heart was successfully performed by two surgeons, Drs. Blake and Dwight, at Roosevelt hospital. The patient, William Johnson, a negro about 35 years old, is still in the hospital, ill with pneumonia, but, so far as his heart is concerned, he is all right. It has healed completely.

Johnson was stabbed in the course of a saloon row with a long thin knife, which severed the fourth rib two inches to the left of the mid line, and entered the heart. He left the scene of the stabbing without telling anyone of it, and strolled about the streets for three quarters of an hour. The wound appeared to be a slight one, and, as it was not bleeding, externally at least, Johnson did not worry about it.

By and by, however, he began to feel drowsy, and sat down on the curb and put his head in his hands. Here an acquaintance found him, drew from him the fact that he had been stabbed, and telephoned for an ambulance, which carried him to Roosevelt hospital.

Dr. Dwight, the house surgeon, diagnosed the case, and at once telephoned Dr. Joseph A. Blake. Within an hour and a half after the stabbing Johnson was on the operating table. Dr. Blake performed the operation with Dr. Dwight assisting.

First the surgeons made an incision along the upper border of the third rib, cutting from the sternum outward to the nipple line, thence down to the lower border of the fifth rib, thence inward to the sternum again, along the lower border of that rib.

This cut was deepened to the ribs, and then the third and fifth ribs were severed at the nipple line, the fourth having been cut through by the weapon that caused the wound. The operation to this point had resulted in the cutting of a sort of a trap door, which was easily raised, and turned back over the sternum with the costal cartilage as a hinge.

When the trap door was lifted and the pleura exposed, the left lung collapsed, and a pint of blood was found in the pleural cavity. It was found that the lung itself was not injured, but a small wound was discovered in the pericardium, or shell which incases the heart, from which the blood was running. The pericardium was then opened, and the heart itself exposed. This exposure of the heart showed the exact nature of the wound.

In the right ventricle, close to the anterior coronary artery, there was a wound in the heart about one half an inch in length, from which, at every contraction or beat of the heart, a little stream of blood spurted to a height of four inches. Examination showed that the wound extended to the central cavity of the heart.

The heart was grasped in the hand to steady it, just as one would clasp a fluttering bird in order to examine a wound. Four stitches with silk thread were then taken in the heart, it being necessary to sew entirely through the wall of the heart for that purpose. The wound was then drawn together and the flow of blood entirely checked.

Since that time, over a week ago, there has been no further bleeding from the wound in the heart, which is apparently entirely healed. Nor has there been any sign of blood poisoning. On the morning after the operation, however, the patient had a high temperature, and signs of pneumonia appeared in the lower lungs.

Traces of this pneumonia still persist, and it is this, and not the condition of the man's heart, that is causing the attending surgeons anxiety. The difficult and rarely attempted operation of sewing up the heart has apparently been performed with complete success.

Henri Farman Builds New Aeroplane

1908

Frenchman to Contest for $10,000 Prize

Paris. — Henri Farman, the Frenchman, who recently achieved so successful a flight in his aeroplane, has formally entered to contest with Santos-Dumont for the Deutsch-Archdeacon Grand Aviation Prize. In order to win the prize, which is valued at about $10,000, the amateur must arise free from the ground and in clear flight from the line of departure determined by two posts about 166 feet apart, fly around a post erected at a distance of about 1,650 feet, returning to the point of departure.

On the first attempt made by M. Farman to gain the prize In the presence of the official commission of the Aero club of France he made several ineffectual trials to arise, but finally appeared to be in clear flight. Unfortunately some of the ropes connected with his aeroplane grazed the soil, and the commission found it impossible to make the award.

Another attempt was made after Santos-Dumont had a trial, when M. Farman succeeded in making numerous flights of from about 1,000 feet to about half a mile. However, on each occasion he failed to achieve the prize because he did not succeed in coming back to the point of departure. The consistency of his results, however, has been regarded as remarkable, putting him at once in the front rank of the few who have obtained even creditable flights with aeroplanes.

In order to dispute the prize with M. Farman, M. Santos-Dumont has constructed a new aeroplane, numbered 19, for in this way he distinguishes his airships and at the same time confesses his enormous interest in the sport, for probably no person before the time of Santos-Dumont has built so many aerial machines.

With this machine he succeeded in covering about 650 feet, or less than half the required distance, to say nothing of the demand that the contestant shall return to the point of departure. As the case now stands it is generally believed that Henri Farman has the better chance of winning the grand prize, which really means more than the acquisition of $10,000, for it will be an achievement which may have far reaching effects on the problem of aerial flight.

Deep Breathing Helped One Sufferer With Insomnia

1908

Troubled All His Life

"I have been troubled with insomnia all my life," remarked the nervous man, "and like most people similarly afflicted I have tried all the familiar dodges to induce sleep. The results were never particularly satisfactory in the way of producing the desired effect until one night I thought I had actually found a sleep-inducer when I chanced to grasp one of the rods at the head of my bed with both hands and practically hung the weight of my body on them. That sent me to sleep and it did the same thing for a few times, when to my extreme disappointment, I found it had ceased to work.

"I was as badly off as recently, until one night, when I had a bad cough, as well as an attack of sleeplessness. I tried the well-known remedy of trying to send myself off into the land of nod by taking long deep breaths. What it did to me, and has done several times since, was not to only send me to sleep, but to stop my cough. Just why it did so is not of much consequence. That it did so is the thing that concerns me most."


Poetry Wins Bandit's Heart

Prof. Bliss Perry tells a story to illustrate the advantages of literary wisdom. A friend, he says, was traveling in French mountains when on a lonely road he was stopped by highwaymen, his life threatened, and his valuables demanded. His literary instincts were to the fore, even in his extremity and half unconsciously he burst forth with an appropriate couplet, quoted from some obscure French poet.

"Hold!" cried the leader of the highwaymen. "My comrades, this gentleman is acquainted with the works of our friend, M. So-and-So! He is, then, our brother."

The purse was returned, courtesies extended, and the traveler and three bandits adjourned to an inn near by and spent a pleasant evening. — Boston Herald.

Woman Sees Ghostly Visitor Shoot Himself

1908

Spirit Tragedy Enacted In India Occurred As She'd Witnessed It

This is the tale of a ghost who shot himself. The woman who relates it had accompanied her husband to Tirzapur, India, says the Kansas City Star. He had been sent there to undertake the duties of an agent who had gone home on sick leave. The only accommodation they could find when they arrived was an inspection bungalow.

They retired about ten o'clock, but Mrs. S. remained awake for some time reading a novel by the light of a lamp. She was just thinking of turning it out when suddenly a man holding a revolver appeared in the room, she says:

"Before I could move or speak he said: 'Don't stop me; I am going to shoot myself.' As he put the revolver to his head I shut my eyes and was nearly deafened by the report that followed. My husband jumped up, wide awake at once, with a cry of 'Who fired?' and I opened my eyes expecting to see a ghastly heap on the floor.

"To my amazement the room was empty and there was no sign of the tragedy that had just taken place in front of me. My husband said he had been awakened out of a sound sleep by the noise of the shot and when I told him what I had seen we searched the house together. Neither the punkah coolie, who was sleeping in the veranda, nor the servants, whose houses were close by in the compound, had heard anything. Even the dogs chained in the veranda had not been disturbed. It all happened so suddenly that I had no feeling of fright or terror. The man seemed to come from the direction of my husband's office, where there was a door connecting with the bedroom, in front of which we had placed a heavy wardrobe. He was a shortish, unpleasant-looking man and he held the revolver in his left hand. Neither my husband nor I were at all nervous people and when we could find nothing to explain what had occurred we decided that it must have been imagination and that our being in strong sympathy with each other had caused us to share the same hallucination."

Now for the sequel. Shortly afterward Mrs. S. accompanied her husband on a tour of the district. Among the bills they met a Mme. de Bevery, who had been a widow for several years. In the course of a conversation with her Mrs. S. discovered that at one time she had lived in the bungalow at Tirzapur where the spectral suicide had manifested itself.

"On hearing that she knew our bungalow and had actually lived in it," Mrs. S. adds, "I was impelled to relate our strange experience there, which hitherto my husband and I had kept to ourselves. She listened without comment, but when I ended my narrative by saying that we had come to the conclusion it must have been either indigestion or imagination she turned very pale and said, 'You have related something that really happened; my husband shot himself there before my eyes exactly as you have described.'

"I was terribly distressed at having, all unwittingly, reminded her of such a painful episode, but she reassured me by saying: 'It is many years ago and I can talk about it now, though I was ill for months afterward from the shock.'

"She then told me that her husband had gone into the bedroom through the door which we kept closed and had used the very words I quoted and the whole affair coincided exactly with what I had seen, down to the smallest detail. Mme. de Bevery spoke very calmly about her husband and said that he had been ill and mentally unsound for some time. I heard long afterward that he was a confirmed drunkard and had ill-treated her in every way."

Just Wanted To See Her Money

1908

And The Little Old Lady Had Her Confidence Restored

She was a little old lady, so little and so old that with considerate friends she would never, never have been allowed alone in the hurried throng on the busy streets. She was such an old little lady that she had only just learned that there had been trouble in the banks, and she had made such haste as she could to be sure that her money — all the money she had saved — was safe.

"Have you got my money?" she asked tremulously when she finally reached the teller's window.

"How much did you have?" asked the teller kindly. No one could help being kind to such a little old lady.

"Twenty-five dollars," she answered. "Two tens and a five. I didn't wish to take it out," she continued apologetically, "but I should feel better if you could just let me see it."

So they showed her carefully "two tens and a five." Her faded eyes brightened, and with a grateful "Thank you," she left, every line of her bent little figure showing happy contentment and confidence, for she had seen her money.


Has Good Opinion of Women

"Men have no organization in the world that is doing as much for the world at the present time and for civilization as the National Federation of Women's Clubs," said Prof. Zeublin of Chicago in an address at Minneapolis. He said that woman is not only stronger mentally, but she is superior to man physically, and the day of her equality with man is at an end as she is in every respect his superior

Farmer Charges Cat Sucked Breath From Children

1908

Gladstone, Michigan — Two children of Clarence Stearns, a farmer living near this village, are dying and three others are seriously ill, due to a cat having "sucked their breath" when they lay asleep in bed.

The father, in the dim light, saw the family cat sitting on the child's breast, its nose close to the babe's lips. The cat's claws scratched the child's breast as the father drew it away.

Going to the bed of the other children he found, he says, that the cat had sucked the breath of all and that two were so ill it was necessary for him to hitch up his horses and drive to the village for a doctor.


Goat and Man in Duel

Kansas City, Missouri — Bruised and battered on all four sides and with all of his corners knocked off, Frank Schleich lies on a cot in the emergency hospital as the result of a battle in the dark between him and a goat. The goat invaded Schleich's room in the barn and, as the man was unarmed, the goat might have killed him had it not been for the arrival of another barn man, who subdued the horned and whiskered beast by throwing a horse blanket over its head.


Baby Born with Brand

Peoria, Illinois — A letter "H" as distinct as though branded with an iron shows on the forehead of the two-months-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hartman of Alton.

Neighbors gather daily at the Hartman home to view the unusual birthmark, which is exactly in the middle of the forehead and which has become more plainly visible within the last few weeks.

Physicians say the birthmark will disappear within two or three years.

A Pet Cemetery

1908

Where Pet Dogs and Cats Are Buried In State

New York. — In a picturesque little spot situated on one of the most beautiful of the Hartsdale hills lies one of the oddest of cemeteries. The casual visitor here, inspecting the inscriptions on the tombstones, would expect to see records of long forgotten generations, perhaps the history of the village in the lives of its citizens, but instead the stones contained nothing but inscriptions to dogs, with an occasional cat epitaph here and there.

"Fido, asleep," "Our beloved fox terrier, Flossie," "Dedicated to the memory of our pet cat, Smutty." Such a jumble of inscriptions meet the eye that the visitor begins to wonder whether the souls of Fido and Smutty now rest peacefully side by side or whether they arise at the witching hour to fight out once more their lifelong battle. In that case even the back fences of Harlem would be preferable to the rural peace of Hartsdale.

This cemetery, moreover, contains French dogs and French inscriptions and German dogs. And just as human tombstones have little angels on them so these dog tombstones have little puppies carved on them playing with toys. Next to one of the graves the owner has erected a big rustic mourner's bench so that he may grieve for his pet in comfort.

The most elaborate grave is that of a bulldog that once belonged to a family named Willson. Besides having a big granite stone at the head, it has two little bay trees on either side, and at the foot is a little marble trough with three little marble canaries drinking out of it. The canaries would be more easily explained if it were a cat grave, but perhaps this particular bullpup had feline predilections.

For six months after he was buried tali dog had fresh violets or roses placed upon his grave every day, it is chronicled. The burial cost the bulldog's owner over $500.

The grave digger of the cemetery also tells of dogs buried in rosewood or mahogany coffins, some with gold handles, and gold, jewel-studded collars around their necks.

"You have no idea," he will wander on, "how much money some undertakers make on the side in these dog coffins. Often the coffins are lined with plush or velvet and cost large sums of money.

"And then some people insist on having their dogs embalmed before they are willing to bury them. Of course the undertakers keep that part of their business very secret, but they do it just the same."

Many of the dogs that were prize winners in their lively days have all their trophies, ribbons, silver mugs and such things buried with them. Others have all their old collars, whips and playthings, and one woman actually buried a Bible and rosary with a dog.

"Of course I know it must seem very silly," she said in explanation, "but it just makes me feel better, so why shouldn't I do it?"

"And do they have real funerals for dogs, with services and so on?" asked the seeker of information of the digger of graves.

"Well, no; no real services," he explained, "though some of them would like to, I guess, by the way they act.

"Sometimes they bring the body up from New York in an automobile, sometimes they ship it up as freight and meet it at the railway station with carriages. Only family and friends, you know. There are never very many of them.

"But the way those people act when it comes to covering up the box is — well — just about the limit. And the men are not much better than the women, either. I've got a pretty interesting job, I can tell you.

"And most of them come up regularly and see to it that I'm keeping the grave in OK condition. And on the day of the dog's death they usually decorate the grave with flowers. I can tell you I wouldn't mind being some dogs."

There are now 450 dogs and about 20 cats buried in the cemetery. Plots cost from $15 to $25 each, including a zinc lined box which is hermetically sealed for shipping. This, however, is only the minimum expense for a dog funeral, and from this point the price goes up far into the hundreds.

Neatness More Desirable Than Beauty

1908

Writer Makes Good Argument In Favor of Neatness

We all long for beauty, but there is within the grasp of all women something even more desirable than beauty — namely, exquisite neatness.

The writer has descanted on the desirability of neatness more than once, but it is something that will bear to be talked about more than once, or twice, or even a dozen times. "Faith," says Pat, when reproved for lying, "Oi have such a respect for Truth, Oi wud not be dhragging her out on every occashun." The writer differs in this respect from Pat. She has such a respect for neatness that she would be dragging her out on every occasion.

A man who had traveled much and seen many women in many countries, said the other day, "I prefer neatness to beauty. Beauty does not last, while the woman of 80 can still be charmingly neat." By neatness he meant more than simple tidiness. It included style and care and taste and the indefinable art of putting on one's clothes properly.

It is a faculty, alas, that Canadian women do not possess to any extent, says a writer in the Montreal Herald. They doubtless inherit the lack of it from their English ancestors, who are noticeably untidy. The mass of Englishwoman do not seem to know the meaning of the word. Their skirts and belts always separate at the back. Their hair is never beautifully coiffed like the Frenchwoman's, their whole aspect is frowsy to an extreme. Of course, this does not apply to all Englishwomen. There are exceptions to every rule.

On the other hand, the Americans are neat, and hence smart, for it is impossible to be smart without perfect neatness. They have a trim, trig way of wearing their clothes that gives a style to the cheapest ready-made. If you cannot be beautiful you can at least be charmingly neat. And neatness has an attractiveness that mere beauty lacks.

A Sailor and a Chow Dog

Printed Jan. 1908

At the hour when women were making afternoon calls one day last week a man attired in the uniform of a sailor in the navy attracted a good deal of attention in West Fifty-fourth street, New York, by something he carried under his right arm, a something that looked at first like a white bundle, but which, on closer inspection, proved to be a Chinese chow dog that the sailor was trying to sell.

The little animal was unusual enough in itself to catch the eyes of the women who stopped to speak to the sailor about it. But more unusual than that was the way in which the tiny pet was clothed as protection against the cold. He not only wore a coat with "sleeves" for his front and hind legs, but he also had his furry head covered with a veritable baby's hood, with a ruffle around the front of it, the cap being tied under his neck with red ribbons.

The "costume" attracted quite as much notice as the chow dog did so long as its owner remained in sight on the block.


Seeking Experience

Up to the age of 16 Dick had retained the proper scorn of things feminine. Then he went to dancing school and fell smitten by the charms of several youthful Eves. Accordingly, Dick approached his father and requested theater tickets for two.
Father complied and merely asked as he turned over the seats, "Which girl is it?"
"I'm going to take Mabel," responded Dick.
"Then she's the one you like best?" father continued.
Dick turned a superior and pitying eye upon his parent. "Oh, no! I don't like her best. You don't understand the situation, father. It isn't the girl I care about. It's the experience I want."

Slump in Manicuring Business

1908

Manicuring girls find that their business, like most others, is suffering as a result of the slump in the stock market. But they are still doing fairly well, thanks to bridge whist.

"As long as folks can afford to play bridge we'll have good business," explained one of the nail polishers. "Women who play the game have to be careful about the looks of their hands, they are so conspicuous when dealing and shuffling. In fact, the bridge craze saved the lives of most manicures. Highly polished nails had gone out of style, and the business was going to the dogs when the bridge craze saved the day." — New York Sun.

The Tear Cure

A good cry is a solace to many women. It steadies the nerves, and, added to a cup of tea and an interesting story, forms their idea of supreme happiness. Arising from the perusal of their books with red eyes, swelled features and a sopping pocket handkerchief, they feel their time has not been wasted. — Lady Violet Greville in London Chronicle.

Love

We are dazzled and charmed by those who love deepest, but we are comforted and strengthened by those who love longest.

The Smallest Human Brain

1908

Proof That Size of Organ Does Not Measure Intellect

What is believed to be the smallest brain ever found in a normal human being was revealed as a result of autopsy performed at the New York city morgue upon the body of Daniel Lyons, a watchman, employed in the Pennsylvania tunnel excavation.

Lyons became ill suddenly while at work, and, having had no medical attendance, his death came technically under the investigation of the coroner, Dr. Philip O'Hanlon, who, with Prof. John E. Larkin, of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, made the autopsy, found that the brain of Lyons weighed only 24 ounces, although the normal weight of the human cerebrum is from 48 to 50 ounces.

Lyons was 40 years of age, five feet five inches in height and weighed 140 pounds. Those who had known him for many years testified that he was of average intelligence. The cause of the man's death was inflammation of the kidneys. The man's brain seemed in every way normal except as to size.

"It is one of the most remarkable brains I have ever seen," said Dr. O'Hanlon, who has made thousands of autopsies, "and it shows that the size of the brain does not necessarily measure the intellect of man. Lyons was, from all that I can learn, intelligent and capable. The quality of the brain, and not the size of it, counts. One of the smallest brains known to anatomists was that of Gambetta, at one time president of France, and a brilliant and forceful thinker."

Comparative tables of the weights of human brains bear out the idea of Dr. O'Hanlon that there is little connection between the weight of the brain and the power of the intellect.

Froze To Death Before A Crowd

Printed Jan. 1908

Friends Unable To Give Aid

Providence, Rhode Island — In view of 200 persons who were powerless to extend aid, Alfred Jackson, aged 22, a Providence clerk, was frozen to death while his right foot was imprisoned by a rock on which he was standing under the falls of the Pawtucket river, in Pawtucket, the other afternoon.

Jackson, his brother Arthur, aged 20, and Earl T. Mathewson, aged 19, of East Providence, left the Pawtucket Canoe clubhouse about three o'clock and paddled slowly down stream. When just above the falls they allowed the canoe to drift too near the edge and were carried over. All were thrown into the water. Alfred Jackson was able to reach a half-submerged rock at the foot of the falls, grasped his brother Arthur, and kept him from drowning, although the water from the falls fell on them.

Finally persons on shore threw a line. Alfred caught it and fastened it around his brother, Arthur, who, shorter than himself, was gasping in water that was up to his chin. Arthur was pulled ashore and so was Mathewson, who had floated down stream.

They were removed to the Rhode Island hospital in a critical condition from exposure.

Alfred Jackson in the meanwhile remained standing up to his waist in water close under the falls, and when the rescuers threw a line to him expecting to pull him to a place of safety, they found they were unable to move him.

In the roar of the cataract his shouts could not be heard, but it was evident that his feet had been caught under water.

Several attempts were made to rescue him. Adelard Potvin, the strongest man in the village, popularly known as "Nervy Nat," risked his own life by climbing out hand over hand on a slender rope to the side of the drowning man. When he reached Alfred Jackson's side he used all of his great strength in a useless attempt to release the captive foot from the treacherous crevice, but, chilled to the marrow, he was forced to give up the attempt, crying like a baby when he realized that his work had resulted in nothing.

Dr. Clinton Westcott attempted to reach the perishing lad, and almost lost his life by a boat upsetting.

For two hours the rescuers worked hard and valiantly, Jackson standing calmly under the fall up to his armpits in water and the spray breaking over him, awaiting his doom bravely and uncomplainingly.

Finally, frozen stiff, the unconscious body sunk in the foamy waters, only a white life-buoy bobbing up and down in the water marking the place where he had gone down.

"Talking Hen" Is A Wonder

1908

Aristocratic Chicken Refuses to Drink from Ordinary Vessel

Atlantic City, New Jersey — A talking hen whose superintelligence puts to shame the wildest dreams of nature fakers is the pride of Mrs. John C. Ford of this city. Mrs. Ford vouches for the statements that the fowl possesses qualities high above ordinary instinct.

" 'Jo' — short for Josephine — seems to be afraid of visitors," said Mrs. Ford. "But the minute we are alone she talks to me plain enough for me to know exactly what she means. She calls me 'mommie' and she can say that as plain as any child. She has also learned to call for 'water' and if she gets thirsty during the night she will stand under our bedroom window and call out until we come down and give her a drink."

The hen drinks from a glass and absolutely refuses to notice the drinking dish used by less educated fowls in the same yard.

"If she doesn't get enough to eat she calls out: 'More, more,' " said Mrs. Ford. The hen immediately notifies the family of having laid an egg by scratching on the kitchen door and leading the way to the spot where the egg is hidden.

"No Period" McGee Prophesies Revolution

1908

Railways, Navigation, Rights Granted

Dr. W J McGee, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist, who is the secretary and mainspring of the inland waterways commission, predicts a revolution within a few years, if the railways are allowed to continue grabbing riparian rights, throttling navigation and depriving the country of its greatest single source of wealth, its waterways.

And Dr. McGee is no wild sensationalist, but a cool-headed scientist and investigator. He points out that, with the exception of Vicksburg, there is not a single town between St. Paul and New Orleans whose river fronts and bridges have not been grabbed by the railways with the kind assistance of the legislatures. The doctor's idea is that by redeeming the river fronts and developing waste water power, the whole cost of improving the rivers would be paid for in a few years.

Dr. McGee is a self-taught scientist. While he was working on a farm he was studying Latin, higher mathematics, astronomy and surveying. He had charge of the bureau of ethnology from 1893 to 1903, resigning to become chief of the department of anthropology at the St. Louis exposition. He was the first president of the American Anthropological society, and later was president of the National Geographical society. He has done some valuable exploring work himself, his topographic survey of northwestern Iowa being the most extensive ever made in America without public aid. He is now secretary of the inland waterways commission, which has in charge the deepening and improving of our inland navigation, together with the reclamation of land and the development of water power.

Dr. McGee was born in Iowa in 1853. He is known among his friends as "No Period" McGee, for he never uses periods after his initials. He maintains that everyone calls him "W J," and that that has become his name and ceased to be initials.

Genuine Wild Horses Discovered

1908

Beasts Prove to Be Distinct Species

New York. — There was little prospect 30 years ago of the discovery of a genuine wild horse. There are, to be sure, the so-called wild horses of the Americas, but they are the descendants of horses that the Spaniards brought to the western world some centuries ago. While evidence existed that wild horses were probably as abundant in prehistoric times in the south of Europe as zebras are today in British East Africa, most naturalists believed that true wild horses with an unbroken line of wild ancestry were extinct.

Then, in 1879, the Russian explorer Prjevalsky reported that he had discovered a new and quite distinct horse in the Gobi desert to the west of Mongolia. Two years later Poliakof published a description of the horse to which he gave the name Equus prjevalskii. Then the brothers Grum-Grjimailo saw the horses in the desert and learned many new facts about them.

The Russians were greatly interested, and it was decided to capture a number of the animals and bring them to Europe. These efforts were successful, and five years ago a herd of about 30 of the Prjevalsky horses, after no end of trouble, were landed in Europe. Most of them are still in Russia, but a few were taken to England, where they are kept on the estate of the duke of Bedford.

The English naturalists did not make a scientific study of the animals in that country because the Russians have had a most thorough investigation in progress, with the advantage that nearly all the captive horses and a number of skeletons are in their hands. Very few of the English naturalists believed that they were true wild horses, but looked upon them either as a kiang, hybrid, the kiang being a species of the ass, or as the offspring of escaped Mongol ponies.

The Russians, however, have settled the question. They have proved by the methods of comparative anatomy and in other ways that the Prjevalsky horse has no relationship with Mongol ponies or the kiang but is a valid and distinct species of the genus horse, without relationship to the ass, though it has some features that remind one of the Asiatic ass; but even in these features, as the tail, for example, the resemblance is closer to the horse than to the ass.

The results of the investigation were, prepared for publication by Dr. W. Salensky, director of the Zoological museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. The book has just been translated into English and published in London under the title "Prjevalsky's Horse."

It contains a number of pictures of the captives, one of which is reproduced here. The frontispiece shows a three-year-old stallion and a two-year-old mare which are the property of the czar.

The animals were mere colts when they arrived in Europe and were not prepossessing, for they did not take kindly to the novel conditions, were out of condition and had ragged coats and awkward gaits. They have now reached maturity, have been well cared for and are good looking animals.

Many naturalists have held the opinion that the domestic horse of today was mainly derived from three wild species, which have been named the steppe, forest and plateau varieties. The Prjevalsky horse is a representative of the steppe variety.

The Mongolians have made many attempts to tame the wild horse, but in vain. All efforts to tame the animals that have been brought to Europe have also failed. Thus far the horse will not submit to man, is afraid of him, and cannot be rendered serviceable. Though now accustomed to the sight of human beings, the captives are very badly frightened if a person approaches nearer than within two or three rods of them.

Still some facts are known which indicate that there is hope that those horses may eventually be tamed. The explorer Koslov about 40 years ago saw a colt of six months belonging to a chief in the Gobi that had been so far tamed as to walk peaceably in a bridle. It would permit itself to be led up a stairway to the floor above, and even allowed the seven-year-old son of the chief to sit on its back.

It is practically impossible to capture adult animals on their native plains. The Russians followed the comparatively simple Mongolian method of getting possession of some of the horses.

From time to time they could see from afar that young colts had been added to the herd within a day or two. They thereupon pursued the herd of horses until the colts became so exhausted that they could travel no further and then it was easy to capture them.

Great Irishman To Visit United States

1908

Sir Anthony MacDonnell Coming To America

New York. — Sir Anthony Patrick McDonnell, permanent under secretary for Ireland, is on his way to the United States, but just what his mission to this country is, is known only to himself. It is safe to conjecture, however, that it is to explain to the Irish leaders on this side of the water why he has failed to get Ireland home rule and a land act that would turn the property of the land owners over to the peasantry. These were the aims he had in view when he entered his present position under Mr. Wyndham.

Not only was he a staunch Roman Catholic and home ruler, but an intense radical as well, and the conservatives writhed in horror at the idea of their leaders making MacDonnell virtual dictator of Ireland. For Mr. Wyndham was not a strong man, while Sir Anthony is strength personified. He had learned in India how to take the land from the big land holders and return it to the people. Before accepting the office he stated his views to Mr. Wyndham and insisted upon a written pledge that he should have a free hand. Immediately he set to work to make himself solid with the Irish people. He won the support of the clergy, he manipulated the police in a way that won him the affection of the people who regard the police as their natural enemies, and he traveled the whole length of Ireland to plead with rapacious landlords not to evict helpless tenants.

It was not long, however, before the tories of the old school raised a howl against the unlimited power given to Sir Anthony, and Mr. Wyndham had to drop out after the reading of the agreement in parliament. This made no difference to Sir Anthony, for he remained in his office under Mr. Long, who succeeded Wyndham, and was as much of a power as ever. The party papers denounced the under secretary and all his works, but the government still retained him. It found itself in the position of the man who had a bear by the tail — he couldn't hold on and he dare not let go.

When the Balfour government was defeated Sir Anthony remained as the adviser of the liberal government. Mr. Bryce became his chief and at the same time his tool. Mr. Bryce was no more successful than either of his predecessors, for the Sinn Fein movement, which sought to separate Ireland by strictly legal means, had grown up and was working at cross purposes with Sir Anthony. Prof. Bryce gave up and Mr. Birrell took his place. Sir Anthony advised the "devolution" bill, which the Irish people, investigated by the Sinn Fein, refused to accept. Nor were his land measures more popular, and Mr. Birrell came to the conclusion that Sir Anthony was the champion of a lost cause. It came to a test of will power between a dour Scotchman and an obstinate Irishman, and the former seems to have prevailed. Hence Sir Anthony's trip to America.

Sir Anthony entered the Indian civil service as a young man. He rose to the very highest position in the service, lieutenant governor of Bengal, and subsequently governor of the northwest provinces. He did much to reform the land tenure of Bengal. It was his dearest wish to do even more for his native land, and this is why, after retiring on a pension, he accepted the under secretaryship for Ireland.

Farming in Mexico

1908

Primitive Methods Still in Vogue in Many Sections

Mexico City. — The most primitive methods of agriculture are still in vogue in many parts of Mexico.

Even upon the farms adjacent to the City of Mexico and other large cities of that country, where it might be expected that modern machinery would have replaced the antiquated implements which have been in use since the time of the Aztecs, the ground is broken by wooden plows drawn by oxen.

These plows are cumbersome in construction and method of operation. The beam is about eight feet long and to it is frequently spliced another beam in order to afford working room for two yoke of oxen. The handle of the plow is an upright curved piece of timber. The plow point is also made of wood and is lashed to the brake-beam by means of thongs of rawhide.

The plowing with this heavy and unwieldy piece of mechanism is frequently done by Indian women. The men pick the easier kind of labor. The plow does little more than scrape the surface of the soil and but for the natural richness of the land and the splendid climate little could be grown where the work is performed by the ancient implement.


Famous Woman Life-Saver

America's bravest woman, in the opinion of the Society of the American Cross of Honor, is Ida Lewis Wilson, keeper of the Lime Rock lighthouse, off Newport, R.I. "Mistress Wilson," as the sailors call her, is declared by the society to have "rendered greater service tending toward the saving of life than any other woman of the country." The society has therefore awarded her a cross of honor. Mrs. Wilson is better known as Ida Lewis, who years ago gained a world-wide celebrity through her many heroic rescues of drowning persons. — Leslie's Weekly.

Money Spending a Habit

1908

Spending money is a good deal of a habit, and though nobody need expect to break it off entirely, it can be restricted with much less serious inconvenience than most of us suppose.

It is by no means the only way to have fun. The problems of economy are just about as interesting as the problems of expenditure. It is sometimes so harassing to decide in which of several ways to spend a sum of money that it comes almost as a relief to have the money crawl back into its hole and make a decision unnecessary.

Thrift has great powers of entertainment, especially when it is successful, and relieves the mind of fiscal anxieties without depriving the body of the food, raiment and shelter that are necessary to health. — Harper's Weekly.


What She Said

"What did your wife say when you told her that you had lost your money in stocks?"
"What a foolish question. She said what every other woman would say under similar circumstances: 'Isn't that just like a man?' " — Detroit Free Press.


The Ideal

The ideal man, as woman considers him, is one who can trail around for half a day and not get weary while she stops to price things.