HELD UP BY ROAD AGENTS.
Veteran kni;iitsof the box tell,
iiow1twasdose.
The Snminary Methods of Black Bart
Talk Between Robber end Robbed Tbe
nian with a Head on the Driver A Con
stable in the Same Box.
From the San Francisco Examiner.
"One Snmmer afternoon," said Stage
Driver John Holmes, "while driving
down Berry Creek Hill, on the Oroville
and Quincy road, with two passengers
D. Wi Banks, a lawyer of Modoc county,
and Mr3. Jacob Millar, now of San Fran
cisco a tall man with a white cloth over
his face sprang into the road from be
hind a.bunch of manzanita, and, poking
a shotgun right tip toward me, cried:
Holdut)!' i
"I held tip mighty sudden, and when
he said, 'Hand out that box, boy,' I
didn't lose any time, but handed out
that box sorter spry and cheerful, as
thouch I was anxious to accomodate him.
He did not molest me or the two passen
gersi or examine us to see whether we
had any money or not, but took the ex
press box and carried it out of the road
to a low point where, as we afterward
found, he opened it. He obtained about
$450 in cash, a watch, and a diamond
ring, valued by: the shipper to the com
pany at only $100, but which was really
worth $250. The lady passenger got off
very luckily, as she was carrying down
from Quincy about $1,100 in gold coin,
and this, of course, the robber missed.
"The tall man was none other than the
famous Black Bart, as he left his usual
note in the empty box with his name
signed to it. The diamond-ring man
tried to hold the express company for
the full value' of his ring, but received,
of course, only $100.
"I was stopped a second time near
Bangor, in this county, while driving
between Marysville and Laporte. In
this instance there were two of the stage
agents. I was driving through a little
gully, and just as the team camo up out
of it two men sprang out from the bush
es and cried 'Stop!' They had the drdp
on me, and I stopped instantly. Two
passengers were on board. The robbers
took some stage money I had and $5
that a man at Bangor had given me o
take his wife and daughter from down
the road further, to Marysville, to see a
circus. I had about $25 in a back pock
et, and this the fellows did not find.
They took my watch, but I said, "you
better give that back; you don't want
it;" so one of the men handed it back.
The two passengers were made to get
out and hold up their hands. One of
them only held up one hand. When the
foot pad poked him in the breast with
the cocked pistol and cried, 'Up with
that other hand!' it went up in a hurry.
The passenger said: 'I haven't anything
that you want;' but the fellow searched
him and pulled out a purse that looked
as though it had a large amount of mon
ey. 'That is something,' said the rob
ber. They went through the wagon,
shook the mail sacks, but did not cut
them open, and took what change they
found on the other passengers. This
done, they said, 'Now drive on,' and I
struck out in a hurry. The roan with
the big purse didn't seem to feel bad.
and finally told me that he only had j
$9.50 in silver, and the purse was filled j
up with some quartz specimens of no
value. The foot pads obtained from us
all less than $40. We found out shortly
af terward that it was Red An tone and
one of his men, as they were captured,
tried and sent to State prison within
three weeks from the time of the rob
bery." Said Frank Morse: "I have during
the psst sixteen years been stopped by
stage robbers no less than ten times. In
these robberies only upon one occasion
did the footpads trouble me or the pas
sengers or rob the mail. The men gen
erally had flour sack masks or some
thing of that kind, with holes cut in the
same to see through, and they were not
inclined to talk any more than it was
absolutely necessary. In almost every
instance they sprang out into the road
from behind a convenient rock or bunch
of bushes and cried 'Halt!' in terms that
were not to be disregarded, especially as
long as the command was' backed up by
shotguns leveled directly upon us.
"Once a man near Miner's ranch
stopped me with a riQe and cried:
'Throw out that box!' I did not work
quite fast enough to suit him, and he
yelled out: 'hurry up, or I will blow the
top of your head off. I replied : 'Don't
be in a hurry; I will get the box in good
time.' On one occasion I was robbed
by four Mexicans, and another time by
one Indian; but the other times it was
white men who stopped the stage. The
biggest haul waa $2,500. .
"Upon one occasion when George
Hackett, the express messenger, was on
board, we saw a man hide behind a tree,
with a gun in his hands. Both he and
Hackett fired at the same minute, and
Hackett was struck in the- face with some
of the shots. The man broke and ran,
and in the thick brush it was impossible
to rind him. This was the second time
that Hackett had been interviewed that
day, and on the upper end of the line
the noted Black Bart had attempted to
stop the stage, but was slightly wounded
by Hackett; at least, so Bart afterward
told the detectives,"
"Though I have been driving most of
the time since 1872," said James Parker,
"I have never been stopped but once,
and that was on the fourth day of De
cember, 1886, in t e Bid well Bar canon,
near where the Gassoway family robbed
the Quincy stage many years ago. I
had expected George Hackett, Wells,
Fargo & Co.'s messenger, to come down
on this trip, but he did not reach Quin
cy in time. The only passenger was
Mr. N. D. Plum, a former Sheriff of
Butte county, I was letting the team
walk up a pretty sharp pitch in a nar
row canon, when a man jumped into
the road with a gun in his hand, and
cried: 'Hold ud. there!' pointing the
gun at me. 'Tell those passengers in
side to get out,' said he. 'There are no
inside passengers,' I answered. 'Get
down off there, old man,' whs his next
command to Mr. Plum. Plum started,
but moved rather slow on account of
rheumatism. 'Hurry up!' cried the
robber. He replied, 'I will, but give
me a little time.' you! hurry
up there, I say! Get a move on you.'
As Plum started to climb down I no
ticed for the first time a second man
in a little eoillv to the left, wi h a shot-
gun pointed at me and resting on top of
. " r - .
the stump. The -first man now called
to this one to come out, and asked me if
my team would get scared if there was
any excitement.
'I don't know,' I replied, 'I never tried
them. He said, 'Wind your lines round
the brake and get down.' As I started
to get down on the off wheel he said,
'Here, come down over this wheel, and
come here and hold the leaders.' I
asked him to let me put a rock under
he wheel of the stage, 4 All right, w as
this reply, 'chuck it under.'
"As I then came up to hold the horse,
I tried to get a look at him so as to idens
my mm. ne saw tins anu cneu uui
look the other way. Don't you look at
me,' Then to the other man he said,
'Get your chisel and cut the iron box
out of the stage. Then to me. . 'Have
you an iron box V 'No,' said I, 'it is a
wooden one.' 'Get up and- throw it
down,' said he to his partner.
"The box and mail sack were thrown
out and then the second robber took a
chisel and hammer and broke open the
box. This took him longer than the
first one thought it ought to and he said:
'Can't you get it open V Yes,' was the
reply, '1 can open it alone.' 1 thought
he would be watching the other man
breaking open the box and tried again
to look at him, but he saw me and said:
'Ifyou look at me againT will blow a
hole through you.'
"The box was broken open, and a bar
worth $950 was taken out. Then the
mail sack was cut open, and one regis
tered letter was taken out. The mail
sack was tough, and one of them said:
'Boys, have either of you a sharp knife ?'
But finally he used his own knife. This
done, the man near me asked me if I had
any money. 'Only a few dollars in
change,' was my reply. He put his hand
into my pocket, and took out what
money I had. The other man said:
'Don't take anything from the driver;'
but he answered: 'This is what we are
after, and held fast to the money. What
money Mr. Plum had was also taken.
They started to take my watch, but I
said: 'It is only worth a few dollars to
you, and was given to me by an old
friend; so they let me retain the watch.
" 'Now climb up and get out of here
as quick as you can,' were their next
words. I said: 'Let us take the mail
and express.' So they had Plum pick
up the matter, put it into the box and
sack, and then hand it to me when I was
up on the seat. Just as we were start
ing one of them cried, 'Give our regards
to Thacker and Jim Hume !'
"Three weeks after the robbery the
man who stopped us was captured. The
other has never been found. The first
was George Henderson. He had only
been out of State prison a short time for
the crime of rape, committed at Red
Bluff. For the robbery he was tried and
sentenced for fifty years.
DISCLOSED BY A CLOUD BURST.
Buried City Strangely Brought to
Light in New Mexico.
The propriety of a bill introduced a
day or two ago by Chairman Holman of
the Committee on Public Lands into the
United States House of Representatives,
to set apart a large tract of land near
Cochite, on the Rio Grande, in New
Mexico, as a national reservation, on
account of its many archaeological re
mains, was illustrated and confirmed by
the Hon. Amada Chavez, one of the
leading citizens of the Territory, who
lives not far from that section of coun
try, and who comes occasionally to El
Paso on business.
He discovered a short time ago, one
mile north of the little town of San
Maeto, the ruins of an extensive city,
the existence of which had never even
been suspected before. The action of
the windshado covered the larger por
tion of the ruins with sand and other
detritus, and converted the whole into
an extensive mound, and it was only a
severe rain storm and cloud burst,
sweeping away one angle of this mound
and disclosiug some heavy stone walls,
that made tho discovery possible. Mr.
Chavez has since uncovered one or two
of tho rnins and obtained a number of
interesting relics. A skeleton was found
having three strands of beads around its
neck one of turquoise, one of jet, and
tho other of bone. There were also
large earrings of jet and turquoise with
the skeleton, and remains of the hair,
which was not black, but light brown,
besides ornamental pottery arrow-heads,
wiui a quantity ci maize, partly carbon
ized. This skeleton, with the articles enu
merated, wiis found in a small chamber
of masonry built up with a very adhe
sive cement. The excavations thus far
made have discovered a large building,
with massive stone walls and a tower at
each corner. It looks more like the re
mains of a citadel than an ordinary
dwelling. The masonry is of the best
kind, and the interior chambers are
plastered and painted white. In the
centre of this structure wa3 found a
water roseivoir, from which stone aque
ducts led in many directions. A dim
tradition among the native Pueblo In
dians located here a prehistoric city
named Guato, which, was still in exist
ence at tho time of Cortez's coming to
America.
Chicago Boy What's the matter, sis?
Little Sister Nothin' only mamma's
got that divorce frown again.
Chicago Boy Well, I'm glad of it. I
don't like this papa very much myself.
BR ATE GIRL TELEGRAPHERS.
On Duty at Night in Out-of-the-way
Offices at Texas Stations.
From the Galveston News.
Some days ago a reporter had occasion
to use a telegraph line in sending a re
port to the paper. It was long after
midnight, and the . nearest Western
Union wire was a good mile and a half
from the town in which ho was' located.
The telegraph office was found to be in
a railroad block station, situated in one
of the loneliest and bleakest parts of the
country through which the road passed.
No dwelling houses were within calling
distance, and the entire surroundings
were of the most uninviting and forbid
ding kind. The office itself was but a
small frame building utterly devoid of
any means of defence from intruders,
and the country round about was infest
ed with tramps.
The reporter knocked at the door, and
receiving no answer, knocked again,
with the same result. Finally, after a
third summons, a window was opened
ana a leminme voice txuiiu-iv ijj.iiiaxj.ova.
"Who's there?"
The surprise of the newspaper man
can be better imagined than described.
The idea of a woman being in charge
of an office in such a dismal place seem
ed almost preposterous. He, however,
explained his mission, and after a little
delay was admitted by a delicate girl,
who appeared to be hardly older than
18.
The little room was as neat and clean
as a new pin. The floor was as white as
a scrubbing brush could make it. On
the walls were tastefully pinned a num
ber of pretty advertising cards. A glass
on a table near by contained a bunch of
flowers, and a comfortable, homelike air
pervaded the' whole room, so entirely
different from the average country rail
road station with its foul odors of bad
tobacco and oil. When the last word of
the message was out the reporter ques
tioned the young lady upon her work.
"Yes, " she said, "this company has
lady operators at night in all their offices
as far east as the mountains. My office
is not as lonely as some of the places up
in the mountains, where the girls do not
have an opportunity to talk to anybody
from the time the leave the train at 6
o'clock in the evening until they return
the next morning. It is an awful place
even here sometimes. Not a train will
pass for hours at a time in the morning,
and we must walk the floor to keep
awake. At first I thought I would
never be able to stand it, but it is grow
ing easier now. At the beginning I was
afraid of every sound. We form odd
friends at such times. The best I have
are the mice, who come out of their
holes and eat the crumbs I leave on the
floor for them. They are good company
when there is nothing better."
"I should think that the company
would give the lady operators day
offices," we said.
"Well, it does not. They give the
easy positions to the men. The only
reason I can give for that, since you a3k
for it, is that young ladies are more
careful, and do not go to sleep like the
lazy men do, and pile up a wreck in
front of the office."
"Are you not afraid of tramps ?"
"Good gracious! yes. They are the
bane of our existence. We are prepar
ed for them, though!" said she, at tho
same time glancing at a loaded revolver,
which had until then lain unnoticed
within reach of her hand. "I bad to
use it once or twice. I did not want to
shoot the man and only fired to scare
him."
"Have you had any odd experiences
while at this office ?"
"There was one," she answered "I
will never forget. It was one of the
coldest nights of last winter. Rain had
fallen the night before, and toward even
ing it had grown colder. After midnight
the thermometer was down below zero,
and a high wind was raging. About 2
o'clock in the morning somebody rap
ped at the door. I did not notice it at
first, as I knew it was only a tramp.
One had been loitering around all day
and had insulted me the night before,
and I thought it was the same one come
back again. He kicked the door again,
and I raised a window and asked him
what he wanted. He said he wanted to
come in, and if he did not get in he
would break in the door. Then he
began to swear at me. I told him to go
away, and that 1 would not admit him.
That made him more angry.
"He beat and kicked tbe door until I
thought he would break it down. Then
he tried all the windows, and finally
came back to the door again." No train
had passed for an hour before. None
had left the city, and tho nearest tele
grapn omce was two miles away, j
pulled out the drawer to get my revol
ver. It was gone. Then I remembered
having left it at home that night to have
it repaired. The man was knocking
away at the door, and every moment I
thought would be my last. I knelt
down and prayed for assistance. The
man at the door had grown quieter, and
commenced to beg me to let him in.
Great God, lady.' he said to me, I am
freezing, and if you don't let me in you
will find me dead here in the morning.'
"I opened the window again and
begged him to leave, but he only contin-
a 1 " 1 " 1 A TT
had grown weaker, and sounded so piti-
fulthat I finally went down stairs to
the door. I wanted to let him in, and
vet I was afraid. '
" "At last I unlocked the door and turned
ueu to plead lor aamuiance. ms voice
on its hinges, and there fell in upon me
one or the dirtiest, meanest, and worst
looking tramps that I had ever seem
His clothes were covered with mud and
his face looked terribly fierce. 1
screamed, and turned to run awav to es -
cape him,, when he caught hold of both
of my hands and fell on his knees lie-
fore me, and then and there poured forth
one of the most beautiful prayers
rayers I have
ever heard. It was 30 pathetic and full
of thankfulness at times.
.""
"Tears were streaming down his
cheeks, and he kissed my hands repeat
edly, saying I had saved his life. I re
pented and. told him to come up stairs to
the stove, but half way up the stairs he
knelt and prayed again. He lay down
by the fire for a while, and after he had
become warmed, he told me the story of
his lifehow he had become a drunkard
and deserted his home. He said he had
not eaten anything for two days, so I
gave him my lunch. 1 kept him nore
for a couple of hours and then sent him
West on a freight. Every time I think
of that man and that night I feel better,
although everybody said I was foolish
to let him in when I told the story at
home."
THE ROMANCE OF A LETTER.
Narrative ot the Strange Chance
that Reunited 'Two Lovers.
A
About a tear ago a young woman m
Chicago to whom Henry Reightmeyer,
chief clerk of a hotel in .Lewisburg, was
engaged, failed to send him a reply to
his last letter, and he was piqued at the
neglect and "did not write for an expla
nation. As time went on and he re
ceived no word from her, he became
convinced that she had jilted him for
some one else, and he gave her up. lhe
young woman was employed in a large
bookbindery in Chicago. Two weeks
ago young Reightmeyer received a letter
addressed to him in the well-known pen
manship of his late sweetheart, and an
other one in a strange chirography,both
letters bearing the postmark of a town
in Maine. He opened the girl's letter
and found that it was dated Chicago
nearly a year ago and was the answer
that had never come to his letter. The
other letter was from a traveler on a
Maine railroad, who said he had pur
chased a Chicago magazine on the train
on the day his letter was dated. On look
ing over the magazine he found between
the pages a letter held fast in the close
binding. It was addressed to Henry
Reightmeyer, Lewisburg, Pa., and was
stamped, but bore no post-mark. The
traveler had mailed it to the address at
the first town he cume to, and wrote the
explanation of its discovery.
Rightmeyer wrote at once to the Chi
cago girl, telling her the story of her
lost letter. She replied, and the only
explanation she could give was that she
had placed the letter under some loose
sheets of the magazine she was folding
until she could mail it and had then
forgotten that she had not mailed it.
The letter had been folded and bound
within the sheets withont discovery.
Not receiving any reply, she, too, had
been seized with jealous doubts and was
too proud to write again. The corres
pondence and engagement have been ret
newed. The Street Bands of Hoboken.
There are few, if any American cities,
whose residents are furnished with as
much music as Hoboken. The select
ions are rendered by bands of music on
the street, and musicians are satisfied
with what money they can collect. Vul
garily these bands nre called "mud gut
ter bands," but their, names cannot be
applied to those of Hobkoen. Each music
ian is a thorough one and some of the
most aristocratic people of this and other
cities have sat for hours and listened to the
musical programmes furnished by these
musicians. A few afternoons ago one of
the Evening Sun men was strollling up
Hudson street, and in front of
Myer's Hotel had assembled a band of
ten pieces. It was not what one would
call a brass band, but rather an orchestra
The musicians were all uniformed, and
each had a music stand with a sheet of
music on it in front of him.
The reporter remarked to a friend who
was that him that the music was better
than with generally heard in the streets,
and the selections of instruments much
better. In reply the friend volunteered
the following information : "That band
is off of one of the German steamships.
You see on every one of the German
steamships there is a band of music made
up of the waiters. Every evening they
furnish music to the passengers, who re
spond liberally when the hat is passed
around. When the steamship is lying at
the dock the musicians are idle, and to
turn a few dollars they go about the
street playing. Id the afternoon they
don their uniforms and go from house to
house. At dark they return to the steam
er, change their uniform for an evening
suit, and then you will find them at one
of the large hotels giving a concert. The
hotel proprietor pays them, and the tran
sients more than repay him in their pur
chase of liquid refreshments. They are
all good musicians. And aom nf iho
I j hotel concerts are well worth attending.
A Druggist's Trick.
Talking the other day -with a cut-rate
druggist, says an exchange, one of the
tricks of the trade came out. He told
me that he was selling a certain line of
i patent medicine at retail at two or three
cents below its wholesale cost to him,
when I remarked to him that I did not
see how he could make that profitable
"I will tell you how," said he, "I have a
preparation of my own for the cure of
the same diseases as that medicine mo
' tSe f aU ?f Stuft J.osts? less than
! f D-tS' b.lt e label
! ?laf1L f abP,u the, "&lnal cost
j oftent iane that sells for tt dolbr
S u bot.tle' Thf. medicine of which I speak
, nns Deen selling lor sixtv-fi TA pan t o
T 18 loW ksale cost. If any
i w iT- V 2 , . " """Je oi it 1
1 wwt "r,1 am ust oat.
I t1 1 my 0wn 1
1 lll 71 TD fmea sell to him
1 E Jou catch n ? I
Stif JtG Centa. on mv bottle of
' Swi f l i P.1518 in wanting the
" , "ttve. " a.n 1Qse two or
I ZZ: v "IVu 11 advertise the
but the chances are nine out of ten
that ho will take mv remedy bei-ause it
is five cents cheaper than the other.
lit TOOK THE CABLE Cifc,
Terrible Results or a Chic
Recklessness-He Lost ufMx
I,s liOTe.
"Hasn't he come vet? " ,
hapless bride-elect " bhr"ed&,
The richly dresssd attend
fnllv shook their hcads
ot desolation settled ain " UM
princely North side mansion t tl
darkened banauettin k.ii r Aa th
kanquetting hall the
cent wedding
feast lav
untouched. The guests
parted It was long past midnth7
Nothing was heard gave the rU ,
swish of the sand flies a-tintt ?
dows on the outside, and the snh
whispers of the saddened mel
the family as they tiptoed
from room to room in consultation?
cernmg the untowered event
shrouded a happy home in pW
blighted the life of its fairSt'flSS
Veronica Washabaugh, attired in b.
bridal robes, sat in tearless oe in 5
own chamber, dazed by the caW
that had fallen upon her. CouUiM
that only a few hours had elapsed, sH
she was the happiest of the ha?'
Had an angel came down from thea&il.
of the blest when the sun went do
that evening to assure her that CvJt
Barker would play her false she uotil
have laughed him to scorn. (4
Barker was truth itself. She conll
realize could not realize his rra iv
Yet why had he failed to appear as tii
bridegroom at his own wedding
Years passed. Time had mellowed the
grief of Veronica Washabaugh, and tbe
silvery threads that now besprinkled in
profusion the once auburn glory of her
hair shone above a brow that "bore the
impress of a chastened sorrow and the
light of a calm and peaceful resignation.
Yet there was that in her eyes that test"
ified to a deathless expectation.
In her inmost heart she trusted that
the mystery of Cyrus Barker's apparJn:
treachery would yet be cleared awav
and the act that made his name a forbid'
den one in the home he had desolated
would yet bo atoned for, amply and
nonoraDjy.
Toward the close of a beautiful aa
tumn day a middle-aged man, attired in
a faded suit of black, slowly mounted
the steps of the Washabaugh mansion
and rang the belL He inquired for
Miss Veronica and was shown into tha
reception room.
She came down.
He stood up, weary, haggard and
shabby, and looked imploringly in her
face.
"Veronica," he said, at length, "Icaa
explain."
"Cyrus, is it indeed you ?" she gaspeJ,
sinking into a chair. "At last ! At last!
Oh, thank heaven I I knew you woidl
come !"
He fell at her feet, and in broken sola
assured her of his innocence and his un
dying devotion, and with a heavenly
smile she beamed forgivingly upon the
lover of her youthful days, and waited
for him to clear up the mystery that
had darkened both their lives.
"Veronica," said Cyrus, "there is but
a remnant of life now left for us to en
joy, but let us be thankful for even that
remnant. On the afternoon cf that
eventful day so long ago" and he shnd-,
dered "I took a North Side cable oar,
two hours before the time for the cere-
! monv, and "
"Well I" exclaimed eronica bream
lessl f.
"That cable car got here just five
minutes ago !" Chicago Tribune.
The California Back-Scratcher.
The back-scratcher has reacheJ'Pbi
delphia. It comes from the Pacific coast,
and out there it is a very useful article.
Here it remains to be seen whether it has
a place in every-day life. The back
scratcher is a little stiff brush with
long, ivory handle, and Che first speci
mens seen in Philadelphia were brougtt
yesterday by a party of returned tourists
from San I'rancisco. "What are they
for?" echoed one of the party to
curious, reporter. "Why we srratca
our backs with them. What for? I v
fleas, to be sure ; and it is fun to goinW
a Pacific coast theatre some-times aaJ
watch the deftness and art with which W
spectators use their back-scratchers.
Pleas abound on the Pacific coast, wa
even the most aristrocratric behe oi va
upper ten' cannot say when any of tnea
pests will make himself known.
you will readily see that the safest pl
for a flea is on the back, where he v
out of the reach of all ordinary modes o.
disturbance. That is why the back
scratcher was thought of, ond it w n
in general use on the Pacific coast, w
sees, for instance, a lady and her g
tleman escort - seated quietly at i -opera,
listening enrapture1 to a ctar
ing tenor, when all at once a spasm cry
ses the lady's face, she twists xrn.
in her seat and finally appeals to
companion. He at once responds
the little back-scratcher. He thrnsa
gently down the back of her collar a
pushes it on down to the spot wlieIl
offending insect Las taken refuge. "
she tells him that the pest has hep
ached he proceeds to scratch .-t
brush. The relief which this .afloru s
at once testified by the clearing rxy
the lady's face and the appearance
soft smile of satisfaction and tu;3
One can also use these scratches
one's own back with success, bni
frequently tho operation is PVv
bv a second person. We broug ; -t-
these we have with us more as c-r
ies and trophies of our trip than .
other reason. They are very
ing to us as mementos."
Caul Hebtz, the conjurer, h.
trick. He proposes to do the f;
ing flameV act out of fche oSa
stage, with the beautiful yjCB ieSia
apparentlv being consumed
the full view of the audience, A ,
will reappear rom the wings-
variation of the vanishing lV