OUTWARD I
Outward broad airs, the sea's unshadowed
sweep
And larger voice on shores of lovelier
lands,
Starred heavens of vaster light and night
with sleep
Tender as women's hands.
Outward the grave processional of hours,
Each a discovered joy, a solved surmise;
Days dark in bud, that, ripening, fall like
flowers
Gardened in Paradise.
Outward! O throes resolved in mightier
6ong!
Splendor of nameless deeds, essential
words,
Merged in the large acceptance, in the
long
i Pulse of the cosmic chords.
I THE WOMAN OF SAN NICOLAS ISLAND. 1
A Strange Story of
-t i r HE story of the Indian w
'1 ' left alone on the ishu
I San Nicolas for nearly
Qm ty years has been writb
HE story of the Indian woman
ind of
twen-
itten by
a number oif romancers who gave but
little heed to fact and free rein to im
agination. From occurrences that
have passed into history and are
known to be authentic, this tale is
drawn.
' The aborigines of Pan Nicolas Island
were supposed to be of Aztec or Tol
tec origin, a peaceable people like all
tribes indigenous to the tropics.
War with the savage Alaskan In
dians had nearly exterminated the In
dians of Snn Nicolas when the Cath
olic fathers who founded the missions
on the mainland desired to bring the
few remaining natives across the
channel that they might teach them
the Christian religion. Accordingly,
after repeated efforts to accomplish
this, a schooner was sent to the island
in 1S3C for this purpose. Some, time
was consumed in gathering together
these people and their effects.
As the last boat was leaving the
strand, a woman with a young babe
in her arms sprang on shove. Her lit
tle girl, a child of eight years, had
slipped from her side in the confusion
gone probably in search of some re
membered trinket dear to her childish
heart or, perhaps, run away, over
come with terror at the unusual migra
tion, of her people.
The woman besought them to await
her return, and hastened over the hill,
calling as she went. The moments
passed the white man is ever impa
tient, and he grumbled at the delay.
An hour went by, but the woman had
not returned. The wind was rising
rapidly and a storm was imminent.
The schooner had signalled them twice
In the last half hour. The waters
about the island were shoal, and there
was no safe anchorage along its
ehores. The waves were running high
upon the ledges surrounding the little
bay, and their crests were white with
the foam of action. The ship signalled
again, and with a muttered impreca
tion and a gruff command, the boat
pushed off to join the tossing vessel.
As soon as all were on board, Cap
tain Hubbard weighed anchor and
tood away for deep water. When the
relatives and friends learned that the
woman had been left behind, tney be
sought the captain with many tears,
and with pleadings in their own
tongue, to return and bring her away.
The gale increased in fury and con
tinued unabated for the space of a
week. The, heavy-laden schooner la
bored hard and disaster threatened.
.-When San Pedro Harbor was finally
reached, the San Nicolas Indians were
distributed between Los Angeles and
San Gabriel missions, and Captain
Hubbard departed for Monterey,
where he had orders to take on a car
g$ ;of lumber for San Francisco.
On. . reaching the Golden Gate, in
rongh' weather, tha improperly laden
craft capsized and was eventually
blown out to sea, and is supposed to
have been' 'taken by a Russian vessel.
The crew reached shore in safety, and
It was always Captain Hubbard's in
tention to return to San Nicolas for
the lost woman. There was now no
craft of any description except open
boats and- Indian canoes from San
Francisco to San Diego, and no one
could be found willing to risk a voy
age, to au Nicolas in one of these.
It was generally known along the
coast of California that an Indian
woman and her children had been left
upon the Island of San Nicolas, but as
time passed and they were not res-
. piitcU... it came 'to be. .generally, believed
that all had perished. Fifteen years
slipped by, and in the spring of ISol
Captain Nidever, of Santa Barbara,
with cne other white man and a small
crew of Mission Indians, visited San
Nicolas in a schooner in search of
otter. They made a landing at the
eastern end of the island, and walked
along the southern shore a distance of
five miles or more. Captain Nidever
discovered footprints of a human being
soon after landing. These were no
doubfrnade when the ground had been
soaked by , the previous winter rains,
for the impressions were deep and
quite dry and hard. The footprints
..were small, and the captain felt con
Outward, where every word and deed
is tit;
Outward, beyond the lies of name and
shame,
Of sin and ignorance the cause of it,
Life's prison of fancied flame.
Outward! O heart, the secret solved at
last!
Love that enfolds, unites and under
stands; Love like the sea, with equal waters cast
On this and alien lands!
Outward! O free at last! O steadfast
soul
Calm in the poise of natural things! O
wise,
Itow wie is love! only, beyond control.
To pass with open eyes!
-George Cabot Lodge, in Scribner's.
the Pacific Coast.
vinced that they were made by a
woman. A short distance from the
shore were found several circular,
roofless huts made of brush, about
six feet in height and the same in di
ameter. These enclosures were ful
ly a mile apart, and near them were
stakes of driftwood driven in the
ground, from which were suspended
pieces of seal's blubber out of the
reach of wild animals. The blubber
was comparatively fresh, and had no
doubt been placed there but a few
weeks previous.
Captain Nidever had landed upon
San Nicolas early in the morning, in
tending to remain during the day to
search for seal and ctter, but near
noon a northwester began blowing,
and he hastened back to the schooner.
Here they remained at anchor for
eight days in the lee of the island, the
sea being at times so rough and the
wind so fierce that he expected mo
mentarily to be driven from his an
chorage. When the storm abated suf
ficiently, Captain Nidever returned to
Santa Barbara without again landing
upon the island.
The next year he once more visited
San Nicolas for game, landing near
the same place as on his previous voy
age. He and his ship's mate explored
the island nearly to its western ex
tremity. The blubber found on the
previous visit had been replaced by
a fresh stock. In the crotch of a tree
near the west end of the island they
found a basket containing a garment
made of the skins of the cormorant,
cut in squares and neatly pieced to
gether; with the ends of the feathers
all pointing downward. ... There were
shell hooks, bone needles, a rope of
sinew, and various trinkets in the bas
ket with the robe. . These things Can
tain Nidever scattered upon the
ground, thinking if they were replaced
on his next visit to the tree it would
be conclusive evidence that the wom
an was still alive. After several days
spent in securing seal and otter upon
the ground already explored, another
wind storm came on, and the spot
containing the basket was not revisit
ed; as on all previous voyages, the
woman was left to her fate and the
schooner crossed to San Miguel Island
without her.
In July, 1853, Captain Nidever again
went to San Nicolas, determined to
rescue the woman if she could be
found. Before, he had gone to find ot
ter and seal; now he had a nobler
quest.
He anchored midway of the north
western shore of the Island, near Cor
ral Harbor, where the natives had
embarked In ISoG. At this point and
at the western extremity of the Island
is found an abundance of good water,
seal and fish. Here Captain Nidever
made camp, and with his men began
a systematic search. On the second
day a hut was discovered upon the
ridge, and on approaching it, piles of
ashes and bones were seen at its
entrance.
Within the enclosure sat the object
of their search, talking aloud to her
self, and with a rude knife, manufac
tured from a piece of rusty iron hoop,
washed up by the waves, she was dili
gently scraping blubber from a piece
of sealskin.
She watched the approach of the
men with interest, but made no at
tempt at flight. She was clothed in a
garment of cormorant skins which
reached nearly to her ankles, and hei
throat and arms were bare. Her hair
was yellowed by the sua and tangled,
and her skin, where exposed, was
brown, but where protected by her
robe it was quite fair, showing her
'to be of Aztec or Toltec origin. She
received her visitors with the cuiet
and dignity of a queen, greeting each
with a bow and a smile. She talked
Incessantly, but no word of hers could
be understood, although the Indians of
the rescuing party spoke several d'al
ects. In her hut was a fire, and when
the captain and his men were seated,
the woman roasted roots, termed "car
comite'' by Californiars, which she
served to the company an abalone
shells.
One day she took her new comrades
to a deep hidden grotto, where bub
bled a cool spring from whence she
4 drew her supply of water for cookie;.
ITefe they found several unique water
jars woven by her of the island
grasses, and lined with asphaltum,
which is plentiful on the western
shore. The water jars resembled
wide-mouthed bottles, and would hold
from two to six quarts. It was inter
esting to watch her make baskets
water tight. She would drop into them
bits of asphaltum and hot pebbles,
whirling them deftly as the asphaltum
liquefied. It required skill and pa
tience,, but when they were thorough
ly galvanized with a thin coating the
jars were both light and durable.
A second spring near the above
mentioned grotto she used as a lava
tory, aud would frequently visit it, for
she was very cleanly in her habits.
At the expiration of a month, when
the schooner was ready to depart, she
was made to understand by signs that
she was to go on board. She evidenced
the pathetic struggle she had waged
with want in the years of solitude by
gathering together every fragment of
food in her possession. In the crevices
of rooks and in other spots secure from
the depredations of the wua dogs
which infested San Nicolas she had
laid up stores of bones and other re
fuse in anticipation of some future
'starvation time." These she insisted
should be carried with her. Once on
board and the firebrand she had
brought burned to ashes she clung
closely to the stove, showing that she
often suffered from cold, as well as
hunger.
Captain Nidever conveyed the In
dian woman to his home in Santa
Barbara, where she lived in his family
until her death. She was supposed
to be about fifty years of age when
rescued.
She had a docile, loving nature and
was a peculiarly happy disposition.
How she had retained these qualities
in her years of lonely life is a mys
tery. She became much attached to
her new friends, and they iu turn gave
her a most cordial affection. She was
naturaiiy intelligent and full of re
sources, and soon learned to communi
cate with those about her. She told of
her sorrow at the death of her oldest
child, who was devoured by wild dogs
on the day her people were taken
from the island by Captain Hubbard.
The young babe, met a similar fate
later, when the mother, driven by hun
ger, was forced to leave is unprotected
and go forth in search of food.
Strange to say, this woman had for
mulated an apparently fluent language
of her" own, which no one was able to
understand. Three of the mission
fathers, versed in every Indian dialect
on the California coast, were-quite un
able to make themselves understood.
hSome of the former inhabitants of San
Nicolas wore brought from San Gab
riel and Los Angeles, but they were
also unable to converse with her or
interpret her language. But few of
her words have been remembered.
Man she called "noche," the sky, "toyg
wah," a hide, "tocah."
Possibly the Alaskian Indians, who
overran San Nicolas in the early part
of the last century, left upon her mem
ory cn indelible impression of their
nomenclature, which superseded her
native tongue in the years when hu
man association was denied. This is
a question that might be settled from
the meagre vocabulary she has left by
some enthusiastic, painstaking student
of philology.
Travelers abroad who visit the Vati
can In Borne, and are permitted to
view the priceless relics from many
of the lands that have been gathered
there, will find among the collection a
basket woven of island grasses, and
within it a wonderful leather robe
made of soft breasts of the cormor
ant. This garment was fashioned by
the deft fingers of Morenita, the In
dian woman, when, she dwelt alone
upon the island of San Nicolas. Loa
Angeles Times.
Science and Beggary
A Berlin correspondent writes to the
London Mail: The theory of Professor
Koch that cattle tuberculosis cannot
be transferred to a human being was
the subject of legal proceedings in
Hamburg.
A beggar named Paul John Ileyn
was prosecuted on a charge of vaga
bondage. His defence was that six
months ago, while slaughtering a tu
berculous cow, he got some of the vi
rus into a wound in his arm. Since
then his arm had been useless.
Dr. Sac"h, of the Hamburg Hospital,
confirmed the man's statements and
said that the whole, of the right arm
was tuberculous. He had performed
an operation thereon aud was satis
fied about it.
The court acquitted the man.
A C'ntury of Progress.
It is well known that the immediate
cause of George Washington's death
was an attack of quinsy that baftled
the skill of the physicians of that day.
If medical science had been as far ad
vanced then as it is now no doubt his
life would have been saved. A medi
cal paper, In commenting on his case,
says that the almshouse patient to-day
has more rational treatment than he
had. This shows how the knowledge
of medicine and surgery has progressed
in a hundred years, but it also sug
gests that physicians a hundred years
hence may look back on our meihcds
as crude and Imperfect.
PfW . - jyg&p f in
Itoads of America.
IIE Influence of the mechani
I ca
X 1
cal steed on our civilization
best exemplified in the
(i growth and improvement or
the country highways, which, -in a
country that stretches between two
oceans, and includes within its bound
ary nearly all the climates and physi
cal characteristics of a mighty conti
nent, have been slowly evolved from
the almost indistinguishable trail of
the pioneer settlers into roads of high
engineering skill and achievement.
American country roads have lagged
In the development of the nation's
material growth and expansion until
within the past few years. With the
exception of the few old post roads, es
tablished in colonial days, when the
stage coach was the only vehicle for
comfortable travel, there were not
more than two or three country high
ways of passable physical condition,
summer and winter, a score of years
ago In the United States.
Military roads were the earliest in
existence in all countries, and the pro
tective necessity of having different
parts of the empire joined together by
highways over which an army could
be quickly moved inspired most of the
great engineering feats in road build
ing of the past. This factor had little
or no influence in American industrial
life. Our boundaries did not abut
those of other powerful nations with
whom we might at any time wage
war. Consequently no thought of es
tablishing lines of fortifications, con
nected by military highways, ever en
tered the head of our most warlike leg
islators or Presidents. Military road
were not features of our national de
velopment, and though potent factors
in the growth of many European
States, they are almost nil in American
history. '
The modern road-building movement
is attributed to the bicycle and auto
mobile, but It must be said that it was
rather the conditions of the times,
which were ripe for the change, that
made the populariiy of these mechan
ical steeds. Railroad construction had
almost reached its limit; Important
trunk lines were already paralleling
each other so that they cut disastrous
ly into each other's profits, and the
most important parts of the country
were joined together by the ribbons of
steel. Railroad shocks were declining
in value; profits were being reduced,
and capital was chary of investing in
new enterprises of this character.
What the country needed was more
feeders country roads leading from
farms, mines and producing lands.
For months in the year the great agri
cultural sections were shut off from
the railroads by almost impassable
country roads. Mills and manufactur
ing plants located on streams of water
that furnished excellent motive power
could not market their products in
winter. The logging camps and the
mining companies were likewise help
less in winter. Thus for a good por
tion of the year the country's com
merce was paralyzed, and the produc
ing centres were cut off from the
woild.
We rapidly grew into a nation of
cities as a consequence. There was
little attraction in the country except
in the summer season. Iurpassable
'muddy roads made rural life disagree
able in the extreme. Even the small
villages suffered aid dwindled in num
bers and population. In the cities
'stone pavements defied the mud and
storms of winter, and thither our pop
ulation flocked, building for them
selves haoitable places where they
would not be shut indoors for months
at a time.
The bicycle, and later the automo
bile! spread a propaganda of good road
building at a time when conditions
were ripe for a mighty change, and
the fire that smoldered for a time
soon broke forth Into flame. There
was need of better highways to im
prove trade, to develop the country
and to add to our appreciation of coun
try life. With the new movement
there commenced a counter-current In
the trend of our population cityward.
The country was improved by good
roads so that people who had been
shut up in the city now longed to re
turn to the less artificial life in email
towns and villages. Rural existence
suddenly received Dew charms, and
with the extension cf good highways
there sprung up handsome rural homes
and estates. The love for country life
has suddenly developed so that it
marks a new era in our existence. It
is not that our cities arc less prosper
ous, or that they will cease to grow In
size and wealth, but that the country
is better appreciated as a place of resi
dence, and that It has been made so by
the better roads. Cuatoa's Maazine.
The "People Impressed.
The people of New Jersey seen to
be so wonderfully impressed wiih the
idea that by good roads the value of
lands will be increased, transportation
cheapened, travel end business at
I tracted, school houses and churches
filled and civilization advanced that
they are praying as earnestly for them
as for great riches. Consequently.
thepressure for new roads is so great:
It seems almost impossible to hold the
people back. They are so anxious that
they are not filling to . confine them
selves within the limit of the State
and county appropriations. Th y arc
constantly Insisting - upon bv.iiuiGg
ahead of the State approprirllo;.1. i i
order that they may enjoy them :::f -V
therefore, although the law on account'
of the increased expense of construc
tion will not allow for the payment
this year of more than eighty miles of
roads, thei-e have been and are about
140 miles under construction.
The Good Roads Movement.
Over in Dooly County the pros and
many of the leading citizens have
united in an effort to obtain better
roads. The Citizen hopes the effort
will be "successful and that the con
tagion, will spread even unto , old
Irwin. Our roads are better now than
they used to be, but there Is lots of
room for Improvement yet. Fitzger
ald (Ca.) Leader.
LONDON'S BIRD TRADE.
A Surprising Export of Robins anu Im
port of Canaries.
The birds to which the majority of
people are devoting their attention at
this festive season of the year aro
thoso which are hung up or laid out
attractively in the windows of poul
terers' shops. There are other kinds
of birds, however, that cause a con
siderable turnover in money in th
..f. ...... n innt "rc nnmlinp n f TnTi-
ins, for instance, are caught aud scut
abroad.
The number of rcbin redbreast!
(Erythaca rubecula) that are exported
from this country to the United States,
Canada aud Australia during the year
reaches a total of nearly 25,000, and
they fetch about 18,000. A few starl
ings are included in these figures, as
it has been found impossible to obtain
separate statistics; but the great ma
jority are robins. " .
Among singing birds, at least ".00,000
canaries find purchasers in this coun
try in the course of a year, represent
ing in cash 120,000. Fully a quarter
of these come from Tyrol and certain
parts of Germany, where in some, lit
tle villages canary breeding is prac
tically the only industry. The largest
number, of canaries bred .In England
is by a firm in the neighborhood of
Norwich, which disposes of 20,000 per
year, the value of which is about
5000. " .
Piping bullfinches are also largely
of (ierman Importation, the best dis
tricts for these being Hesse and Ful
da. About 40,000 trained bullfinches
come into this country every year
from Germany and Russia, and their
value, taking one with another, is
over 100,000.
The chaffinch Is a very common
bird in England, so common that it
can be bought in the streets for six
pence, but la Germany there is a va
riety whose song is very highly es
teemed. A few have been brought
over here and sold at 4 each, but the
climate does not apparently suit them.
Larks and linnets are actually to
Be bought for twopence each from the
men who net them, but a dealer usu
ally charges at last a shilling for
them. Blackbirds, thrushes and gold
finches usually cost more, about a
couple of shillings, although they may
be got for sixpence first hand. .
The largest price obtained for a
British wild bird is 10, for a perfect
ly white specimen of a blackbird.
London Mail.
At tlie Moment.
It is not an unusual thing to bs able
to waken oneself at a certain time,
yet the habit may be carried so far as
to be almost mysterious in its delicato
accuracy. Says the author of "Three
Men on Wheels:"
There are men who can waken them
solves at any time, to the minute. They
say to themselves, as they lay their
heads upon the pillow: "Four-thirty,"
"four-forty-five" or "five-fifteen," aa
the case may be; and when the time
comes, they open their eyes. It is very
wonderful, this. The more one dwells
upon it, the greater the mystery
grows. Some ego within us, acting in
dependently of our conscious "self,
must be capable of counting the hours
while we sleep. Unaided by clock or
sun, or any other medium known to
our five senses, it keeps watch through
the darkness. At the exact moment it
whispers "Time!" and we awake.
The work of an old. riverside fellow
called hio to be out of bed each morn
ing half an hour before high tide. Nev
er once did he oversleep by half a
minute. At last he gave up working
out the time for himself. lie would
skep a dreamless sleep, and every
morning, at a different hour, this
ghostly watchman, true as the tide
Itself, would silently call him.
Youth's Companion.
Little May was showinrr thp nietiirr-:
j In the album to the visitor, and, on
opening the page containing the por
trait of her fathes first -wife, she
said: "That's my eldest mother."- -Tit-Bits.