Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / May 10, 1908, edition 2 / Page 10
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10 CHARLOTTE DAILY OBSERVER, MAY .10, 1CC3.. There 1 a good deal of vaguenesg about the real origin ot tne wonuenui Invention known under una uue. , X'a Ann ran say DOsitiveSy Whether the good old Uaron was the , author or them all. or whether Be waa creo. lted with manrtnat he . never, nar . rated. The only thing that is certain la that the storiea were published by a German eatlle In England. Kuaoipn Eric Raspe, during the Baron s life ! time "and - translated into German eleven years before Von - Munchhau sen'a death.; So the logic of the prob lem la with those who claim that the . Baron really did tell all these remark- , able tales. '.-. .f ' A lovable old bon vlvant and ra conteur without doubt waa the Baron or rather ! Freiherr Hierottymurf Karl Freldrlch : von Munchhauaen of1 Bo denwerder. Hanover. He waa born in UJO.ri From, 17J7 to Mi, he served in the Russian cavalry against the . Turk, and altogether he had a euf-. ficient" exciting and romantlo career, sifhnni the embellishments that lila Ingenious fancy added to his adventures. The Munchhausen family la atlll on important arisio- ratte famines of Germany, and its living representatives hold high rank and are prominent In government and military service to-day. They hardly know whether to be proud or aahamad of their lamoua eia ances- tar. . i "Dear aira. friend and hunting rnmninlom!" tha Baron von Munch tiniMn iiwivi began, rubbing his ' hands according to custom. Then he ' took a long draught from the old-,- fashioned das that waa filled with hie favorite drink, a genuine, not too old Kauenthaler wine, gaged tnougnt fully into the greenish-yellow fluid, -sighed, smiled and began, f "One evening." said he, "I waa rid ing" homo' after a long day'a chase, when my horre stopped auddenly In front of a stream and I discovered to my charging that the bridge had been swept away. Without considering, I gave my horse tha spur and In an Instant we were In the air. At that moment It atruck me that the animal - waa ' too tired to make, such a leap without a belter start (We had run down thirty hares during the day ) At once I turned his head and we alighted again at tha spot we had Just left. . .. "Well, then! I patted the horse's neck, rode back a short distance and again we Jumped. Whan we were half way across I saw that I had un derestimated the breadth of the stream. I spurred my Allx again, and ha gave hlmaelf an extra Jerk and darted forward, but atlll he fail ed to land. We both alichted In deep mud Into which wa sank till only the horae'a head waa clear. "Quick action was needed, gentle men! I gripped my bravo horse with : all the power of my thighs, grasped - my hair firmly with my right hand and with a mighty effort aucceeded . In hauling myself and my horse out, I merely mention thia to ahow that I waa strong in my younger days.' f "I. had a rather curious experience once with this same horse Allx. In the Russian service I led a troop of hussars. We were ordered to make a reconnoitring advance, and acciden tally met the whole Turkish army face to face. I immediately apread my handful of men In a straight front across the plain and ordered the charge. The cloud of dust that arose waa ao huge that the Turks Imagined the whole Russian army was before them. They turned back to get be hind their fortified town, and we cut them up terribly. "So hot were we .after them that we not only drove - them Into the town through one gate, but actually out of the town again through the opposite rate something that truly . exceeded our wildest hopes. "My horse was so wonderfully fast that I waa far ahead of my men. After I had klUed the last enemy I could reach, and had closed the town gate behind the fleeing army, I rode back. s Imagine my 'amazement when I failed to find a single one of my htrsaafe In the town! f ' turned my horse's Jhead to the fountain In the market place to let him drink. The beast drank without topping. I waited patiently for it to quench that unheard-of thirst, and lurned again to look for my men.' V "What did I ee? The whole after part of the poor animal waa miming; and all the water it drank simply ran out again without refreshing the1 faithful brute.- While I waa wonder ing, my groom came galloping up and explained that aa I crowded through the. first portal on top of the Turks the gate had been dropped with a rush and had cut my horse clean in two!. Deanlta this, its . awlf tm waa such that even with only two legs It kept pace with the fleeing Turks. "I galloped back to the portal, and our very skillful regimental aaddler tltcbed both halves together so wall that the keenest eye could hardly no tice the Injury. "It waa nothing at all for ma to ride thirty or forty miles on this horse In on afternoon and to course a few bares on the way. Once we jrorsued hare that crossed the high way Just aa a coach with two beauti ful women came along-. My horse leapea so graceiuiiy at that moment that we went Into one window and out of the other (both being fortunately open), and I had barely time to re move my hat and beg the' ladles'; pardon.. , .......... - i "Allx and I traveled In Russia that winter. One day I rode hour after hour over an endless waste of snow. Neither village, road, tavern or tree :wag visible, , although forest and eneny , villages were marked on the map. Toward evening I tied Allx to a abarp protuberance in the snow and lay down to sleep a ' short distance away, - The north wind had ceased, end;a south wind had begun to make tbe night .quite mild, ao I slept very well. - .. . - "When I awoke, t found myself In the middle of a -village. , There waa not a trace of my horse; -but' sud denly I heard a neighing high la the ear. , What do you suppose? , up were nunc aux. uea 10 me top of the church eteeple. ... , -ur course i - understood at . once hat Had - haTnwndr--Tta-wholr vil la had been covered with snow wben I got there at night, and when Jt -nv-Jted before the south wind of oure I sank down with It, but mv tiorae could not. I drew my pistol shot the re!ni in to and Alix slid down and ran to me overjoyed. The tavern keeper told me that eyes a -"ft!i l not at all extraordinary ; r t- st part or Russia, but occur f ""il tims during every a Inter, " I had a greyhound, by the way. that waa almost aa awlft a . Allx, Zephyrette waa her name. Only once did I meet another beast that could run faster: than she .did.' It was during a rabbit hunt. We put up a hare that ran like the wind. For two days and nights Zephyrette coursed that hare, gentlemen, yet ev ery time she got-hear him the hare aeemed to gain fresh, apeed. At last I got a ahot at him and dropped him. and the mystery of his speed waa ex plained. The hare had not only-the reaulatlon four less, underneath; he had four legs on his back, 1 have never seen a similar hare galn "Poor Zephyrette ran so long and so continuously that toward tbe lat ter nart of her life her legs were al moat worn off and I wa compelled to use her aa a dachsund Instead of 'a greyhound:' But it Is a wretched and unprincipled invention to aay. aa some do. that she became so onna tnat i had to tie a lantern to her tall when we went hunting."-. had another splendid dog, con cerning whose deeds a great many Ilea are told : by. peraona wno thing that it 1s a Joke to tamper with the truth. The strict facts .about thia In telligent anlmaL Pi k as, are Interest ing enough, though they may not be so extraordinary aa Inventiona might be. -. , "One day I waa quail hunting with Pikaa, when he came to a point be fore a flock of several hundred birds. I withheld my ahot oecauae I was waiting for my wife, . who was to come up with my lieutenant and ray groom.. They did not arrive and I rode back part of the Way. leaving Pikaa on hia point. A courier on a foam-lathered horse met me with an order to go without delay to the Fortress Weael on a" matter of the highest Importance. I galloped to my castle, changed my clothes and rode there straightway. It waa fourteen days before I returned. "On the day after my arrival home I ' wished to go hunting and called for Pikaa. lAy servants told me that the dog had not been aeen aince my departure and that they had sup posed he waa with me. I rode to the field and soon found myaclf near the apot where I had left Plkas two weeks before. Behold! There was the faithful dog, "holding hla point, but ao nearly starved that he looked like a skeleton. I advanced and tip aprang the birds, equally thin. Not wishing to slaughter them in that condition I contented myself with one shot, which brought down only twenty-five of them. I have rarely heard of a dog holding his birds longer than that Have youT He waa really one of the heat dogs that I ever had. When ha died I had hi skin tanned and fashioned Into a hunting waistcoat, for I had a sentimental desire to have Pikaa with me on all my hunts In aome form or another. A rather peculiar thing hap pened the first day that I wore thia garment on the field. "All at once without warning. the waistcoat became aa rig-Id aa iron. ao that it actually aqueexed my heart. I stopped. A buttoa flew off and up aprang a covey of quail, of which I ahot live. I had not walked fifty feet before the aame thing happened. In abort, gentlemen, alnce that day -.1 need no dog. But it ooata me- a pret ty penny for button. I consider thia one of tha". moat touching proofs of the fidelity of a dog even after death. "Of course every hunter haa odd experiences, and mine are not to be called - wonderful, although some are rather interesting. For instance, one morning I saw a flock of fowl on the lake and hurried ao eagerly to get a ahot that I atruck my head against the doorpost with a crash that made aparka fly out of my eyee. I did not permit that to deter me, of course. But when I arrived at the lake I found that the collision had also knocked the flint from my run. There I was, with a loaded weapon and no way to Are It. I had a happy thought. I put the gun to my shoul der, aimed and then hit myself in the eye with all my might. Of course I saw aparka Immediately and one of them exploded the priming.. The ahot went on and I had the nleaaure of re turning with five pairs of duck, four geese ana two moorhens. "That trip to the Fortress Weael. which I have Just mentioned, waa connected with a mysterious occur rence that I did not Intend to men tion. because It Is a State secret. But I see that you are all curloua. and aa there ia little danger of a recur rence of the episode. I will almnlr fcek you to respect my confidence and keep the matter to youraelvea. --wnen i arrived in Weael. the commandant and the other officer met me with desperate alarm In ev ery feature. Silently they jed me to the batteries, and silently, with des pair 1n the very motion of hia hand, me commandant pointed to the guns. I looked and saw an almost In credible sight. The Immense cannon were full of worm holes! The terrible iron worm had attacked them! There were sixty-three casea last nleht.' said the surgeon with a hopeless voice, 'and since then we have had ela-ht more.' , I shuddered, for this waa on Irk and fearful work, even for the Iron worm, I immediately ' ordered the construction of a great caldron, which waa ready within three days. But swiftly aa the men worked, eleven more guns had been attacked before it waa ready. , - - "I must confess that I myself did not know exactly at that time how to destroy the worm: but' I ordered the caldron to be made white hot and then we threw twenty of the worm- eaten cannon into It with twelve that! were still sound. To make a long atory short, we kept them . there in white heat for three days and nlghta, auring wnicrt time lirty-one other cannon were eaten by the worms. The garrison had already begun to; toast me aa the worm hero and can-, son doctor, when we took tbe guns out aad found to our horror that alt the guns, even the tweiv originally sound one, were pierced through and through with worm holes, r ' "The , officers were thunderstruck. Not Mil ordered the entire garri son? out to gather poisonous mush rooms. We filled the caldron, boiled them into a paste, and put all the cannon i8LThfpeijL morning I visit ed the caldron early and aaw millions of long, thin creature dead on the surface. They were the Iron worme. killed at last! Two of the creatures, about three Inches long, had crawled out and were altting on the edge of the caldron, writhing with pain, and moaning. At their heade they had tiny red hot feelera like little files. Just aa I reached for them they aprsn into the polaon and disappear ed. . There never haa been a case of . " -::- , . 1 ; . . the iron worm alnce. "In my connection with , the artil lery I have had some other experi ences with cannon that are at least entertaining if not ao remarkable aa tnia. on .a fourth or June I once found myself in Wapplng. In Eng land, when I felt ao far overcome by the heat that I decided to lie down for while In a cool place. The only refuge I could see waa the musxle of one of the huge cannon that are planted there. I crawled In, and aoon waa In a sound sleep. Unfortunately 1 did not know that It waa the King's birthday and that all the guna had been loaded to Ore a aalute. Present ly the troopa arrived, the artillerymen took their atationa and off went the cannon. Your tromble servant, the Baron von .Munchhausen, was shot clear across the Thames and flew headfirst Into a mighty hayrick. "We Munchhauaena always have been unusually aound aleepera, and. I did not awake, but slumbered peace fully. Perhaps I might be asleep to thia day If the owner of the rick had not sold the hay three months after ward. When "the men took it down, of course they awakened me. This narrative has been doubted at times; but the proof of its truth Is furnished by a pear tree that stands there to thia day. 'As you know, pear trees blossom In June. " When I awoke the tree wa full of the finest fully ripen ed fruit, and very welcome It was to ma after my long sleep. "By the way, while I wa In Lon don I saw the royal coachman do a' rather amusina thing. Whenever he anapped hia whip he did It In such a way that the lash formed a perfect monogram O. R. (Georglus . Rex) In the air. It waa rather skillful. "However, I waa going to mention another little episode connected with the artillery. When I waa . in the Pruaaian army, , we oesleged a little fort, the name of . which I have for gotten. The commander waa anxloua to get Information aa to tne affairs in the beleagued garrlaon, but the enemy guarded all the approachea so well that It was impossible to send in a apy. "An Idea struck me. I placed myself alongside of the muzzle of our largest cannon, and as It waa fir ed I aprang on the ball. The moment I waa under way I began to consider; and I aaw many difficulties. It Is true that I wa certain to enter the fort. But how could I get out again?. They might hang me as a spy. That would never do. . . .. "Just then a cannon ball -came from the fort With quick decision I leaped from my own to that Of the enemy and returned to my men with a whole akin, though I had failed in my mission, I consider myself rather fortunate. -: The cannon balls were extremely smooth and It ; waa some what difficult to maintain a aeat on them. However, all's well that enda well. , . "During thia campaign We 'fought' constantly until my right arm become o customed to smiting with t the word that for eight days after our final battle It continued : the motion dog pointed a fine covey. I had only a moment to decide. Quickly I load ed with powder, sharpened my ram- rOd, thrust It In, flushed the birds, waited till they were In line and fired. There were seven birds In the - covey. When I went to sea what execution I had done I found the entire seven neatly spitted on .the '' ramrod. 'I carried my game hoane. that way and had it put right over the . ore - ana eerved on brochette. . ' ' Shortly after that-1 had another experience that .demanded audden in. genulty. .-- I came unexpectedly on a black fox. It would have " been - a thousands pities to damage tin wond erful pelt- with a .bullet. The beast waa atandlng quite atlli -beside a great oak. Again I had a happy thougnt I remembered that I had put a big nail mto my pocket to repair a arbi ter hut in the forest. I rammed r It into my gun Instead of a bu;iet aimed very carefully and succeeded in v ac complishing my design. The fox waa neatly nailed to the oak by. hla tali. Then I took my dog whip and lather- ea nim mi. ne couia Dear u no longer wnlp madry. - xhua wo went , helter and finally slipped out of his skin and gkelter until we reached St. Peters ran for hla life. : , -f - j burg and flew -through the gatea, to ."You laugh! Yet consider that, aft- the really extreme surprise of every er all. It waa due to the lucky circum- J body. s stance of my having a nail In my rhe next' wolf I met nearly coat !"" less iucy m iew y,m. my life.. I waa without weapona ly I entered the room half ah hour kft terward. and what did I see? That raacaly fox had only been doing what foxes do so often shamming death-v and Just aa I entered he waa In the act -of putting his. pelt on again, as if he. were slipping into an .overcoat Well, a bullet settled him.. j w.-f v "Foxes remind me of wolves. In Russia 'one winter . I waa driving a single horse to a sleigh Just outside St. Petersburg. ' Suddenly - a gigantic wolf came up behind us and leaped at me I threw myself flat, and the wolf, missing me, fell on the poor horse'. Immediately he began to eat it, ravenously. He gorged Its hind- .qu art era whole.' a fact which only re doubled the., apeed 'of the wretched animal, .1 ventured -to raise my head, and aaw that he was swallowing the rt' oj the. horse, -v; "I eeixed ' the Whip and began ' to lash him with all my might He leap ed forward, the remains of the horse fell from' hia Jaws, and, of course, left what freeiyr. I waa totally unarmed; but with quick determination I seised him by the throat - and held him .firmly till he frose to death, i .. "It waa cold that winter in ' St, Petersburg, and In Ruasia generally. One - day we . were traveling with a postilion and we commented on the fact that he did not beguile the way as most of his class do, by playing aweet tunes on his horn. - What an in Justice wa did the poor fellow! That evening when we alighted at a cav ern everybody crowded around the huge stove. - The postilion hung his norn up on ine wati. : euaaeniy it De Kan to play. ' Tune after tune came out of it Alt the famous melodiea poured forth with delightful .path oa, hour after hour. They were the tunes that the 'postilion had tried to play "during the day, hut without producing a sound because the fright ful cold frose all the notes before they could come -out ; "Of course you aever have exper ienced such a' cold In thia country. Therefor, you cannot .realise what a Russian winter mean, a winter when the weather geta so cold that It Is lm poasibla to. light a candle because the wax freesea immediately under the burning wick. - .y...- ' "That la a trifle otherwise than the weather that I experienced in Ceylon, where I went hunting with the gov ernor. I wore a coat with' leaden buttons, and Jt happened often that the heat was so Intense that one or more . buttons two u id melt during the day.' - .,y ,x---. "By the way. on afternoon in the Jungle I heard a rustling behind" me and there crouched a huge Hon pre-' paring, to leap! I must confess to my ahame that I lost -my presence of mind and fired a charge of bird-en ot at him, a most foolish proceeding.. It only . enraged him. aiTd I wheeled around to run. A cold chill went over me, for I turned only to find myself face to face with an Immense croc odile that had already apread lta hor rible-Jaw to their fullest extent to gulp, me down! y - w- .. ' "I am sure that Hercules himseir would have done what I did in thia terrible predicament I sank to tne ground, stunned with terror.; "The next instance I heard a loud crash and lifted my head. ' In hla fury the Hon Jumped over me and clean into the open Jaws of the reptliei It was the work or an-instani to lean to my-feet and hack, the great cafa head off with my hunting knife. Hardly had the body faijen at my reet. before I aelaed my gun and forced the head down Into the crocodile's gullet till it choked to death. . .. .- "When the reatof the party ar rived there waa aome astonishment at the double bag. We - measured the crocodile on the spot and found that it waa exactly 40 feet 7, inches long. It is now a prised possession of the great museum In Amsterdam, but I never go there because the shameful liar who lias charge or tne exnioua la la the habit of telling strangers th'at the Hon leaped clear through the reotile before 1 could kill nim. '" To embellish- an adventure thua untruth fully la highly ffeneive to me. "I can tell you that a great load fell from my heart when I aaw both brutea dead at my .feet. -By the way, I can show you that load some day. I picked it up as it fell and have it in my collection. v It la a red white and blue r atone and ; ; weigha ( .thirty-two pounds, ; : ' "I quite forgot to tell- you that on my i way to Ceyloniwe Mopped at an island where we saw a storm that waa different from any I had seen before. It tore up trees of enormous bulk by the roots, and though they weighed many tons they were carried so high ago when I stumbled across a fine stag when I had neither ahot nor nail. All I had in my hand waa a fist ful of cherry pita, for I had Just been eating that fruit -Wall. I couldn't let that noble atag go without an at tempt, so I loaded the stones Into the gun, fired straight at hla forehead and the atag looked at me Ironi cally and walked quietly away. ."It waaquite a Joke on- me, for of course people got wind of it In fact after a couple of yeara I waa ao tir ed of having some fellow . hunters offer me a handful . of cherry pita mat i natea tne very names or Cher involuntarily. I bad to tie it ' down to rtea. Then It happened that the aame my side and leave it that way for the i party of us hunted In the aame d la habit to wear'off. -. v- - . Strict Suddenly a mighty stag broke Habit la a queer matter, any war. cover and came straight at ua. What For instance, gentlemen, we are all In the habit of seeing the moon wane monthly and Anally disappear, . and men we think that the so-called new moon Is arriving. - Well, I can tell you differently. At least once the entire world was mlsaed by its habit of thinking that way. ' " . '" "I waa on a visit to the Shah of Persia,' and one evening he entertain ed me with hla very fine declaration of Persian moonllaht Doetry.. when he groaned suddenly and said: 'Alaa! there are spots on the moon again. That Is rust from the dampness of the season Of course, I smiled within myself at the Shah's Ignorance; but he waa Impassioned about the moon, ao to do him a favor I decided on a feat that I do not heaitate to char acterise aa Immenaely difficult - -. "Not to annoy you with dull details, I aucceeded In deviaing a machine which enabled us to lower the moon to the earth. When the Shah aaw It coming he ordered all hla soldiers to fetch sand; and while the civilised world, with you gentlemen among it waa not- at all aurprised at the tem porary absence of the moon,-: your friend, who la talking to you now. was aupertntending the polishing of it; for when the moon came down' we found that there really were great ruat spot on It Before we ralaed It again, however. It wag a bright aa It ever waa. ;-.-.:-'- "I do not often tell of thia experi ment, for the average mind cannot grasp the simple truth, while it snap greedily at the silly and disgraceful lies told by travelers and others who have no sens, of . either honer or modesty. For thia reason I hesitate to tell many of my most Interesting experiences, unless I am sure of my company. Among friends like your selves it Is another matter. 1 am minded, therefore, to tell you of an other rather Ingenious expedient that I used not ao far away aa Persia, but right at home here. "I waa out hunting with Plkas and had used up all my shot, though f atlll had some powder left, when the waa the surprise of my companiong to aee that he had a cherry tree ten feet high, between his antler! I laid him low and thua had my roaet and my dessert secured by on shot ' ' "I did not have even cherry, pita a few days later when I met a madden ed .old boar, .which charged me at once. I aprang for a young birch and had Juat managed. to pull my Uga out of barm'a way when the furious brute atruck the tree, and with auch force that hla tuahea went into the trunk at one aide and protruded from the other. ". ..-. - . "I saw my opportunity. I slid down, picked up a heavy stone and clinched the points of the tushes. Then I walked home at my case, went to bed and returned with a rifle and cart next morning after breakfast The boar weighed 60 pounds. . - "By the way, you will have won dered that I aucceeded In bending a boar's tuahea as If . they were Iran, nails. This was not poaslbla until af ter I had battered them .with the stone till they were thoroughly heat ed and thus became soft enough to bend. ' -.. -.. . ..-.. "I had another somewhat Interest ing experience with a boar a few years ago.. I waa watching for game when a young' boar. and an old one came trotting exactly In line, the old one behind. I aimed and fired. The young boar scampered , away. The old fellow remained standing, aa If rooted to the poU I walked cau tiously up to him and found that he', waa atone , blind and that he held bit. of the tali of the young boar in hi mouth My bullet had cut the tall off. I took home the blind boar .fol tarted for home the blind boar fol lowing me trustfully. I ahall never forget my .wife's laughter when I thua delivered the gam rifht.at the kitchen door. - "Such a trick could not have been played with a fox. I remember on re, when a lot of game was laid out in the lower part of my ctle, I aaw a fine fox. and orderei my hunts men to skin him at ence. Accidental- him atricking in the harness. I 'gave oy the wind that they appeared like him no tlme.to think, but plied the I feathers floating in tne air. as soon . . . -. . . . I avt-. .a.m vtsakA - rhatf sill rnll taH II 13 BIVIIU gUWOlMyVVi wasw w- - perpendicularly Into thehv respective places and took root again. I said all. That la ' not precisely true. Wl)en the largest tree waa blown . Into the air it 'happened to have on it an old man and hia wife, who were gath ering cucumbers. (That honest veg etable growa on treea there.) The weight of thia couple 'overbalanced the tree when it deacended and brought It down out of poaltlon. " " - . . -"It struck the headman of the is land and killed him on the spot He had run front, hia houae when the and on foot. The brute Jumped at me fiom a dark thicket and I 'had Just time to see hia widely opened Jawa before he waa on me. Involuntarily I thrust out my arm, and my fist went into the beast'a gullet. Once in, I pushed with all my might, till It was in up to my shoulder. ' "We looked. at each other' in no amiable, frame-of mind. I could aee the determination in hla eyea to Jump at my throat If I withdrew my arm. From thia desperate situation there was only one way - of - eecape that I could aee. ,1 gripped all I could, and while . Monsieur Wolf howled and .yelled, I pulled, turned him Inside out like . a glove, and threw him - under ' some bushes, where the gardener found him next morning. Through him the city learn ed of the little affair, as, df course, I had not mentioned It ' . "I must confess that I never cared to repeat ' that procedure.- When I met a mad dog in a narrow street of St. Petersburg aoon afterward,' I did not wait but ran. 'To expedite my es cape I threw him my coat which he worried till he was killed. I told my servant to hang the coat in the ward rob and take it to the tailor next day to be cleaned and repaired. - ', . ' "The next morning I was awakened by his cries. I sprang out of bed, and the eervant waa shouting: 'Herr Bar on! Herr Baron! Your -" coat hag gone mad!' Correct! My coat was pull ing all my other garments around the floor and tearing them to bits. It had hydrophoblta! Juat aa I arrived It seized my evening clothe and began to worry them savagely. I ran for my pistol and ahot the mad coat' Then I burned all the other clothea, for" fear that they might develop the dis ease, too. ' , - " "This happened while I waa viait Ihg General Skrbudanaky, whom you must have met here some years ago. He was a delightful host and we had gay parties every .night Of course there wa a 'good deal of wine. After a whiles I noticed that though' the old General drank Just aa much aa tha rest of- us, he would merely stroke hla head when he got. a little: tipsy and in a Jiffy he was perfectly ' cool and sober again. Finally, one night I stood behind him and discovered hia secret!-. - . - " -- . '' - "During the Torklah war a splinter of shrapnel had taken -olT a pieee of hie'akuil. Thia would 'md"beeBctrs ered with a altver plate, which the ahrewd old soldier had caaaed to be raise it at times. Thia enabled him to let all the alchollc vaper escape whenever he felt them getting the better of him. , "On my way home one 'night from one of these little drinking bouts I met a bear. - Thes creatures used vlded ua with dessert at exactly' the ' -a a tiivuiu. l va ws uai caic u couple of bushels of these we felt re- ' -freshing enough, tocllmb down, and Arabia. '. We made our way to Eu-r A rope Without anv nnta hla hfinnnlntf': I Mil merely mention, aa- another . illustration of the degree of heat, that all the akin came off my face la one VV piece. I bad it tanned apd made into j - .7. . anu uiauL iur iniinMii VHn w rnnni their showing the- slightest signs of. ' wear,- .. -. - . . ',.:., ; ; "The heat that we felt on that me- ' morable day reminds me of the cruise i that took me Into the Gulf Stream aume yqars agQ.- 41 IS true Mat Ue ordinarily, warm while I -waa there, 1 ! and thia may have Increased the heat of the Gulf Stream beyond the ordU - nary. At any rate,' on very Bunny I ; dava' tha water aiwan rrav u hat " at noon that It was sufficient merely : .: to dip our meat and other food Into -it to have it thoroughly cooked. -: "... .-y. "What aurprised me the most were ' ' " the-fish that played around the ahlp y - in rnormoui num-nei a. 'uuiia .invrriiT - r. and lively,' only to die the moment they were pulled out with line r net.. - By the time they reached tha " deck they were well cooked and. all -ready to eat ' ''' ' -!" "We were puzzled far 'a long tlnja to understand how these fully cooked - fish could swim and p'ay 4n the bofl-' ' ing water., but the explanation. Ilka v : the explanation of alt apparent won ders, waa simple enough. It waa the ; . cunumru iu me leoiperaiuro grtuio- , any. . inen, wnen. tney are ' nauiea -t, auddenly into the cool air. of course- - i tm iiria giriiM in. sinna i nMir . iivpi ir and cooka them, .. - - .;., : v do inB is noining very marvelous . about) it after a'l. . ' '.; . v - tvmv i xiau aa ex cellent hunting dog aboard. On day when our observations ' showed that 7 we were at least a thousand - mlleg "f v.,, uuu, . uuaeryeu inai in . aog kept coming to a point again v and again. I told- the captain that ' we -muat be near game of some kind. Ha .-' " Flna Itt T ' waffaMil ah.' alM - - J v. wv uwuuavu u I II vt... aaa V. , & wnnlj . ' - -- ..V .V. MM. .UI. KllUltl.. i. half ah hour. .' ... - , : .;; ;- ' "Scarcely had the wager been en- ' tered before the aallora. who had been fishing, hauled In a. shark of ordinary - slie. i The dog made a dead point at' ' tha aea mnnatar anit t mmA 1Tnaa '... "Dear friends and hunting com pan- uf" lona. when the shark waa niwimil ara ivuna in nim aix pairs oi living part- - inayiwvr unui mun nave been there .long time, for one of i During the rest of that voyage wa had ' " iuaianii, M VU9 or 1(1. other of the partridge waa aura to ' jr"T,a.'. ,: . . . p .. . "We .hadi a . most severe storm dur- ' '' ', lag that voyage which ia worth men-y : tionlng. It began with a phenomenon ' that I never observed before. A strong Wind blew, from the east for. threes mtnutea and then from the west for ' . three 'minutes, alternating during the whole night . without pause. With ; the dawn came a mighty gale .'from tha north- - Tt. laataV ' m .1t.t. - month. We aaw neither sun, moon nor stars during all that time. The pow er of thia wind can fce .better appre. ' elated when I mention that our ahip.- did not climb to the crest of a wave " and then shoot down into the trough, anil ia. on. . lTftP that whola mnnlh it '.1 ' waa simply blown from crest to crest in a perfectly horizontal line. This ta. I something that happena only rarely to ' , a vessel like ours, that must.. Tiave ' weighed many thousands of tone, with ' her 500 men and aeventy cannon. -. "When-the storm was over we were dismasted and uite helpless.' Our pro- ; ilrinna.waM avhanata and ra . VMM getting worried, when guddenbr' ev erybody sniffed. The air had a moat -remarkable aroma. Jt waa that., of, roaat beef, orange and cigara . Bo' . . powerful and nutritious was the air' k that w lived on the smell, alone for a '. whole week. -'' On. the eighth day v. we sighted land. It was Havana, w..i.iu) that ntTt niv. and T - haDDened to tell aome or tne topacco - nianters a few or my aaveniurea. any hearers were so amazed that some of ' ao arranred on hlngea that he couldf Xoked around ood andf ound atorm began n.w" VhT. 'i'"! 1 them stood on their head with won through hi own gat when tnia for-. ' ....... v.- t..i. turvata accident happened. :' ,T aay 'fortunate.' Thia requlrea t .u. . Trt a Afiiftf waa fin spina eyia."- i (h,i, v.i. . jn...,va Infamous tv-! tneir nair. vi iiuua, vft" . , - rant. He had plundered the nattvea, and " they were starving, while the goods that he ha taken - front them were rotting In hia stores. The grate ful people choee tha two cucumber gatherers to govern them as a mark of their esteem "for having destroyed tha tvrant .- . ' . 'v ' t . - 'Ttovtver. we ' were speaking of! heat I call to mind .an Incident which will aerve to suggest what real heat can be like. . It waa when I was in Turkey. . An i. American named Smith arrived in Constantinople one day in a balloon In which he liad suited from New Tor k five days be fore, thua making a lairiy quica p aa Ha invited tee to make an as cension with him. We took-with us only one companion, a hug Persian hound. - We rose swiftly. In Ave min utes -we were so big that,.I could see the entire Black Sea spread out be low, also a good bit of the Mediterra nean and a oart of Africa. Jn an hour 11 FnHiM lav below ut like a map, huh we went higher, till at last we could see all of Asia. -. Including China and Japan. It waa really ln tereatlng. I waa go occupied in look? Ing downward that I did not realise, until we were at least fifteen or twen tv miles above sea level, - that , my friend Smith could not manage hla monater. I tried to nern nim oy open ing the valve and broke the rope. I fell .backward, anunne nrcn - , together with the terrible heat due to our being so much nearer the sun, overcame me so that. I lay uncon scious for a ITme. ; ? ' i "When I recovered I found Smith lying insensible, and the hound quite dead. ' I eeixed a gun and shot at the gaa bag. The air was so thin that I could not hear the report; but the ahot had Its effect It tore holes Into tho- bag and, we ,hegaa Jto ; descend. Mr. Smith recovered gradually, and we both began to feel very nungry. ider, while others clutched their hair. with both handa and held It down, . crying that my narratives were raising ( elr hair. . "I, left their company at the first opportunity. People who cannot dis tlngulsh between pure fabrication and . ; simple truth - simply told are beyond . hope. Everybody who knows me knows how utterry impossible it la for me to .tell even the least of false-,. hoods. I believe that this repugnance to lie is an Inherited trait "In our ; family, for I have several relative who are eeixed with severe flu,, when ever the slightest untruth Is uttered In their presence."-: Good night?" . Next Sunday' One-Page "Classic ' will DeQuentln DuTward.l' , Slf , - V Walter ScotC . ' - . v .v . 111 ' '- :,- 7 - rnns CAiJj of the sorrH. . V" A Story of Tremendous Force aad In- i ! ; .tense Realism. , .:.,f '-y.- that the fierce heat had done ua one kindness at-leasu It had .roasted the dog to a brown turn. "I had never eaten rorfrt dog.be fore. but I must say thatl It did not taste half bad. Just aa we finished eur strange repast the balloon landed to stroll about t. Petersburg some-1 In th top of a date palm, which pro- Birmingham Age-Herald. ' . In It are subjects which the South : and the North, too, have neglected to . dicvM. Not because they are hot vital subject but simply because , well there does not seem to be any.' good reason why they should not be . thoroughly thrashed . out . If these subjects are not settled, and they can - V never- be settled without the consent of the' 6oUth. "time holds terrlblejf- tilings In store for this -whole counJT -try. jMr. Durham ' holds the mirror . of future -possible event up to us In . -a fascinating, dramatic form. " The plot of the story would alone be suf- flcient to Insure Its success but when a subject of so vital an Interest to ' all the South and North, too, is so admirably handled as It Is by Air. Durham, then there should be a great demand fcr thia really auperlor lit-, erary production. ; The dramatic pro- ". ducer, Mr. Brennan, aa mentioned above in this review, speaks of "Tne Clansman.":. That book or any of the "trtetegy-praduced-- y .... Be.- Jlri. Dixon, are not In the same class with , "The Call of the South." For Mr. Dixon's triology a great many well in formed .people think there never waa' any excuse for at an. on the con- trary. or as Samuel Weller said, "quite the reverse" should "The Call of the Bouth" appeal to all classes of people. ' both North and South. "The Call of the South' la a atory of tremendoui farce and Intense realism. - i
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 10, 1908, edition 2
10
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