Newspapers / The Wilson Mirror (Wilson, … / March 27, 1889, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Wilson Mirror (Wilson, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
SOMEWHAT STRANGE. ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVEKY-DAY LIFE. Funny Episodes and Thrilling Ad ventures Which Show That Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: RAT and cat may lc scon playing together almost any day at De Witt's livery stable in Lou isville. The cat is a big black Tom, with doner whiskers, a short tail, and yellow eves. Tho rat is a sfeek and fat speci men of the genus ro dent, and has a cun ning but prosperous and contented look. The cat is fierceness and savagery itself, and bears the scars of innumerable bat tics, not alone with nits and other felines, but with dogs as well, and he has never been known to decline a tight. The rat was caught in a wire trap one night last week. He was so uncommonly large and looked so ugly as he stood up on his hind legs and rattled the wires of his cage that his captors resolved to have some sport with him and Tom. The cat and he were accordingly taken over to a neighboring saloon, the doors closed, holes stopped up, and a select few gath ered to witness the tight. When the rat was turned loose from the cage Tom was ready and pounced upon him instantcr. To the surprise of all, however, be did not hurt him. His claws were sheathed and he plainly invited a romp. The nit did not understand his advances at first, but was soon reassured, and would final ly run from the men to the cat for pro tection. In a short time they became fast friends. They now play together constantly, and seem to understand each i other perfectly. Hie rat climbs all over Tom's back, pulls his cars and tail, and treats his big friend with the utmost freedom. Both spend the greater part of their time under the stove in the sta ble office and large numbers of visitors go there to witness the unusual friend ship between such natural enemies. W. C. Stokes, of Grass Valley, Cal., a member of the Society of California Pioneers, keejs a snug saloon where the old settlers congregate. The other even . ing a San Francisco newspaper man was toasting his toes at the stove, an old fashioned cooking affair, when Stokes called his attention to one of the lids, 6aying: "Look at that. You are an old- timer what do you see?" It was a pie-1 turc of David C. Broderick. "You arc! right," Stokes went on. "That is a pic ture of Broderick, and it is a better likeness of him than are the engravings often seen. That picture has been there for years. I do not now recollect when I first noticed it; but one day I spilled some water on the lid when it was hot, tha water sizzed, and there was the pic ture of Broderick. I instantly recog nized it, and so have all who knew him and who have seen the picture. Rubbing and scrubbing that stovelid does not diminish the plainness and distinctive ness of the likeness." The old-timers "who frequent Stokes' place have been discussing w hether tho pictures made on these stovelids are of spiritual origin or caused by accidental stains on the iron. All admire the likeness of Broderick. In the Forest and Stream a hunter tells a good story of an otterand a duck: "OnG XV as I was standing on the shore of Cranlierry Bog Pond I saw a large flock of ducks m ar the middle of the pond, and soon after discovered three otters in front of me, but not near enough to shoot. While watching the manoeuvres of the otters, they started down the pond in a straight line for the ducks. The old leader struck out live ly, leaving the mates far lxmind, and as he neared the ducks he dived, and pres- t entry 1 saw one of the ducks disappear beneath the surface after a considerable struggle, the remainder of the flock ris ing and flying away in great commotion. The otter had gone under tho flock and selected a certain duck and pulled him under. A few minutes later the otter made his appearance near the south shore of .the pond with the duck in his mouth." The little daughter of Mrs. Mary A. Goodwin, of Savannah, up to a recent Saturday morning owned a pet dog and cat. The two pets entertained for each other more than the usual affection known to exist between such animals, and of course there was a happy family all around, which was broken into by the sudden death of the dog. The singular thing in connection with the death of the dog was the uncontrollable grief ex hibited by pussy, and in ten minutes after the dog's spirit had fled the eat began to stagger, and finally fell pros trate between the fore paws of the dead dog and there died. Some not altogether favorable com ment has been caused in London bv an exhibition lately opened in the New Gallery, on Regent street. It is made up of pictures and other relics of the past. Included are a large number of portraits of the Stuart family which are of great interest. But the feature which has attracted attention and comment is the display made of the linen worn bv ' ATI 1 T J1 mm - vianes i. at tne time ol ins decapita-! tion, together with locks of his hair and j beard removed at the same time. The j good taste of this ghastly display is st- ! riously questioned. Diana Dotrrr has just celebrated t ! 100th anniversary of her birth at tin- S home of her S'.m,ainbridge Douty. in ! Charlton, Mass. Scores of visitors wen- i present during tho day, the gathering j including children, grandchildren, great-, grandchildren and great-great-grand-! 9 children, with every one of whom tha r old lady chatted pleasantly. Although her sight and hearing are failing gradu ally, she is in good physical and mental condition. Henry Fischer sold his farm near St I Cloud, Minn., for $3,700. Ho gave the I money to his daughter, who sewed 900 j up in a quilt and put the remainder in j the bottom of a lard pail, running lard I on top of it. Tli3 family started for I Washington Territory. On the way the girl went crazy and the quilt and lard pail were lost. The family is destitute, the mother has died of grief, and the daughter is in the insane asylum. The other day tho wife of Georgo Platky, a merchant of Grand Forks, Dak, purchased a pickerel from a fish vender, and out of curiosity thought she would clean it herself. Nothing singular occurred until she espied a morocco purse in the stomach. Tho purse con tained several old coins, that appeared none the worse for their engulfment. The fish was caught in the lied River there, A curious weather prophet is being shown in a St. Louis store window. It is a tree toad confined in a glass tube. There is a little ladder for it to climb up and down, and so susceptible is the lit tle prisoner to chauges that it ascends to the top of the tule when the air grows moist in advance of rain and de scends when clear w eather is near at hand. John Wilson, living near Astor, Fla., cut a big cypress tree in the swamp north of the town, and found therein a live alligator about seven feet long. As the opening in the tree was not half large enough for the 'gator to get through, tho presumption is that it crawled in when quite young and lived on other animals and reptiles that sought shelter in the same tree. The San Francisco Celestials turned out en masse to attend the funeral of an almond-eyed nabob, who at his specia equest was buried in his gala dress, clean-shaven, with his eves wide open, and with the following assortment of traveling outfit to the far beyond: Two silk shawls, a bottle of cosmetics, canned meats and preserves, nuts, figs, two pis tols and a long dirk-knife. In Ware, X. H., a big six-pound cat saw an owl in a tree and decided to eat it. So it scrambled up the tree, and, after a short, shaqi fight, fell to the ground dead. The owl s big claws had been too much for it. The bird was captured and was found to measure six feet from tip to tip of its extended wings. Two English servants, Ann Warde and Eliza Wylde, went to a Salvation Army meeting on a Sunday evening, overstayed the time when they should have been home, and for fear of a scold ing, tied themselves together with a woollen scarf and drowned themselves in a canal. Tx is told in Indiana that in 1880 a dinner was given in Madison county, and thirteen men sat at the table. Gov ernor Williams, who was one of the thirteen, called attention to the fatal number, and there was considerable fun made of the superstitious. To-day but three of the thirteen are alive. The Empress of Austria carries a traveling basket fitted up so that she is able to make soup on the cars. It has silver sauce pans with gold handles, and" the Empress declares that she can make in it better broth than any chief can concoct. A pony is being daily sent up in a balloon, and Wing let down by a para chute, in London, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is l)eing agitated by anxiety to know whether the pony is scared or not. An oyster dredged up in English waters measured 7 inches in length, the same in breadth, and 20 1-2 inches around the outside edge, and o 1-2 pounds. weighed Myths About the Moon. A maiden was accustomed to spin lato on Saturday in the moonlight. At one time the new moon on the eve of Sunday drw her up to itself, and now she sits in the moon and spins and spins. And now, when tho "gossamer days" set in late in the summer, the white threads float around in the air. These threads are the spinning of the lunar spinner, says Dr. F. S. Crauss iu tho J.'umtlur The moon is esiccially a ghostly aven ger of human arrogance, and has its humors, according to which things go well or ill with it. In its increase it has a special force and certain good will for the earth and its inhabitants, while in its decrease it is friendly to no one. The good woman must, not do any sew ing in the decrease of the moon, for the stitches will not hold; fanning tools must not be left in the field, because, it is lelieved, if they are, crops will not again thrive there. If an unbaptized child is exixsed to the moonb'ght it will lose its luck for its whole life. If one points at the .moon with his finger lie will suffer from swelling aronnd the nail; and whoeveivspits at the moon will lose all his teeth. These leliefs, too, are international. The same is the case with the religious notions about the moon. Sorceries of every 1cind, to be successful, must be performed on Sunday night Of the new moon. The hair must be cut only iu the increase of the moon, otherwise there is danger of getting headache. Tf a per son returning home in the evening sees the full moon, he ought to take some money out of his purse and utter an in cautatiou that will make it increase a hundred times during the month. The moon is also supposed to have an influence over animals and nlants. t ACT AT7 Till? PTTPTTATn Li AO 1 Ur lillj DUrr UJ. A MAGNIFICENT ANIMAL NOW ALMOST EXTINCT. The Indian and the White Man Joined Hands in the Slaughter of the Buffalo. Dr. William F. Carver is probably responsible for the death cf more bison than any other one man. For a number of years h? hunted them on the plains, and in shooting tliem he developed that wonderful skill in handling tirearms which has mado him the best all-round shot in the world. To a Kansas City Timtt representative he told the follow ing story of the bison, and how they were formerly hunted by the Indians, then by the whites : "Before the invasion of civilization the Indian relied almost entirely upon the bison for his subsistence. The red man, although daring in his attempts to ; from them. I have killed them at a dis kill game, was yet the complete slave of j tauee of a mile. Hunting in this way the medicine man.' How did he rule ! we had to be very particular and watch them ? I will tell you. When the In- j the herd closely. Lake a lienl of cattle. dian's supply of buffalo meat legan to give out, or the season came to lay in the winter rations, the medicine man was notified, and ho ordered a buffalo dance. If the tribe was a large one the festivities would often last for weeks, and all sorts of can -cans would le indulged in. At the dose of the feast tho medicine man would gather all kinds of herbs, roots, leaves and grasses and retire to his tent. Exactly what his process of preparing the medi cine was no white- man has ever found out ; but the faith in him was so strong that even tho most powerful chief would not be followed by a dozen braves if the medicine 'was wrong. From time to time the medicine man would come to the door of the tent and announce to the waiting chiefs what the mixture indicated. "Upon the final announcement that the medicine was right, the whole camp would be broken up and the tribe would I start in luu lorce upon tne nunc, a few sharp-sighted old scouts would be in the van and keep the tribe xsted as to the location and number of bison by riding in -circles of different sizes and points of intersection. When a suitable j herd was found, the warriors would stop, mount their favorite hunting horses and prepare for the slaughter. The bow was made of hickory wood, about four feet long, covered with a paste made of- the boiled sinews of a bison, and stiff enough to serve as a jumping iole. Notwithstanding this strength, th . Imlian would bend the bow almost double :bofore sending the arrow to the winds. It was strung with the cord which runs from the top of a bison's hump to his tail, this cord being first wrapped with small strings of sinews. The arrow was from thirtv to thirtv-six inches in length, almost the i size of a leM pencil, tipped with several feathers and having the familiar Hint ! head tied on the front end. From the head grojves are cut in the arrow, so as to let the blood How freely. The great warriors sometimes had arrows made of bone, and in later days the white men taught tho Indians to use steel arrow heads. "Havingkilled as many bison aspossi- rest ami tne squaws TaKe cl large ol tne frame. Thev skin the animals, cut the nesli into strips ami Jiang tliem m tlte sun to dry. AUien the meat lnvame j crisp enougli to DreaK it was placed m a . rawnmo poucn, covered anoverwitn tal low and put awav for winter use. In that condition the meat is very good to eat, but when boiled for a short time it absorbs the water and returns to its for mer size and tastes almost like, fresh meat. The squaws also tan the hides or dress them up Ut be traded. The fuH dealers would pet them for a few pieces of common jewelry worth possibly CO cents. As the Indians hunted them, the ! race of bison would probably have Listed j A 1 . X. 1 X 1 t ' X I 1. . i I lorever. inn aooui 1000 me Millie men ; turned their attention to the 1 j! r or V- monsters of the plains. Large Eastern firms organized hunting parties and paid the shooters &2S0 lor each bison where he lay dead on the plains. I then went to Southern Nebraska and lecamo a proiessionai imnter. mo oison con- sisted of two large divisions, tho one hv- ing in tne south ami tne otner m tne north. Their only common feeding ground was along 'the llepnblican Itiver ana its m-.mcnes in eorasKa. jliic in- i dmns .wen : well aware of that fact and ; i,orsCs lmt the bov nimbly scaled a! ho-tile tribes have had many a light for ; fl.nc0 aluf bcfol.e disappearing from j that territory. It was not until 18.:Jivi(.,v again paceu lis thumb "to his j by sending the Pawnees south and the v... -v,, " " 1 - . i Sioux to their northern reservations. 1'rior to that time we had to do all of our limiting at the rik of being scalped at any time. "Our favorite gun was an army model j of! the Springfield rifle, 45-calibro and j In the social condition of the Austra loaded with ninety grains of powder. lian people, in the absence of hereditary Tho whites patterned after the Indian's j and hunted on horseback. Having s wagons to haul oxir game, we did not care to 'circle' tbt?m as the Indians did. When a herd was located we would mount our best horse. and as quietly as I possible approach the herd from the lee-j tency, the same readiness to take ad ward side. As soon as they saw us the j vantage ; of oppoitunities presented, fun would bearin. Although of a low build, the bison will make a very inter esting race with a horse for ten miles. We would press up on the right flank of tho herd and ride so close to the ani mais that our guns would touch the side when fired. The mort deadly shot was j to lire quartering through the lung j so that the animal would bleed to death. ' In this vay we would follow the herd a1 ; thove m their enqnov as high wages as long as our hor.c: could stand it. On I m:v given to those in the employ of one of these runs I killed 113 bison, j sheep-raisers in the United States, find none of which were more than 109 yards : not the least difficulty in getting wool, apart. In riding bn-.-k an awful 'sight , sending it to London,' and selling it at was presented to the eye. The tvf.ii was prices which would ho considered ruin marked bv dead and dving animals. An ' ons by those in this country who are tn- occasior.a: jr rould have a broken ' t t . . . furious than his shaking: head with coal r "- . . . , ... . black eyes glaring in a death stare from his shaggy front. We received our pay for the animals dead on the plains and wagons followed us up, quartered the animals and shipped the saddle and tal low to Eastern markets. "About 1S71 the hide hunting began. Prior to this time little or no attention was paid to the skins, but when the de mand for them created a high price the meat was allowed to rot upon the plains, and this j magnificent race was extin guished simply that extravagant tastes might be satisfied. With the improve ments in firearms un entirely different mode of hunting -.vas adopted. The Springfield army gun was superseded by a Sharp 50-ca.liVor and loaded with l'lO grains of powder. The hunter used his horse only in finding a herd. This done, we would go to the leeward side so that the tcent of the powder and report would not reach the animals, and find a suitable shelter about 1,000 yards distant j the bison arc always on the go and are apt to walk out of rifie range in a short time. In movinir, however, thev always have a leader, and the trick was to kill any one that started to lead the others off. By thus killing the leaders we could ofien shoot for an hour from be hind one clump of grass. When they had moved out of range the skinners would come up, cut the hide in the ordi nary way for skinning, tie the animal's head to a stake, hitch a team of horses to the hide and jerk it off. No one will over know what immense' numbers of bison were killed by these hide hunters, but to my certain knowledge 3,000,001) hides were shipped from the banks of the Frenchman River in one winter. The hide hunters, by a system of fires, kept the bison from .the streams until many of them perished and thousands of others were easily killed. At the close of tlnrt winter a man could go along the banks of the Frenchman for fifty miles by simply jumping from the carcass of one bison to that of another. Considering facts of this kind, it is not surprising that a small tame herd and a few old circus animals represent the great herds which, less than a quarter of a century ago, blackened miles of prai ries as a thunder cloud darkens the sky. ' The Lord and the Nimble Gossoon. Here is a scene which 1 witnessed, says a writer in the Brooklyn Citizen, when I was a boy, iu PJienix Park; Dublin. There was a grand review, and Lord Cardigan and his dragoons were there. In those days the old musket known as Brown IJess was in use, and it used to kick so that it was a very common practice for the soldiers' at a review not to fire. They pretended to load, but instead of doing so, dropped the cartridges on the grass. After the review was over the voung fellows went round and gathered up the cartridges. On tho day 1 refer to the review was partly over, and Lord Cardigan was walking up and down, lashing his boot with a riding whip. The brother of the old lady you have just seen was then a stalwart young chap, and he was hunt ing for cartridges. Walking along with his head 'own, looking for the cartridges, u, wt,nt unwittingly in the direction from winch Lord Cardigan was approach ur He saw a cartridge on the grass. At the same moment Lord Cardjgan espied it, made a quick step toward it, and picked it up with his left hand just as the young fellow was preparing to grab it. Lord Cardigan smiled. The Itoy was somewhat taken aback, but when Lord Cardigan held out the cart ridge toward him his countenance brightened, and ho reached out his hand to take it. At that moment Lord Car digan brought his whip down upon the i...mi of ! bov. who doubled himself U1 nnt howlcd with pain. Lord Cardi- iran passed on. Vengeance was burn ing in the lx)ys soul, and, quickly turning, he raised his foot and adminis tered a terrific kick to his lordship. Utterly astonished, Lord Cardigan wheeled round, but the boy was a dozen vards awav, with his thumb to his nose. Alis iorjshin started in pursuit, but the 1)OV was rt,llv jmJ xeiliq out, "who stole the lady ; lie started on a gallop. Lord Cardigan called a dragoon and bade him follow and capture the oflen- ri... i ,f cnni- r l.ic nose ana twirieu ins nugers lusuitmgiv at tho dragoon as he drew rein at the fence. A Sheep-Raising People. rank, and the opportunities afforded of acquiring such positions as can be gained by wealth, intelligence or gener al ability, there is a close similarity with j the people of the united fetates. Ihey j have al-o the same industry and persis whereby wealth can be produced with the least amount of lalor. Perhaps no better illustration can le given of this ! than the groat success tliat has attended the raising of sheep in these colonies, particularly in that of New South Wales. That one colony has a larger number of sheep than all of the United States, and j the slrcep-growers, although they pay to j back so that ho could only get up on his frkrrt nml nothing could look more gaged in s.:nia: .i.isin Insurance To Babies. 4 lafe insurance has been brought down to such a fine point novadara that I am told," says John Preston Beecher, in the New York JVVim, a company is being organized to insure the lives of babies. A baby's life is a very precarious thing, and I should think there would le quite as much risk attached to it as there would lie in in. snrinrr i birr rtifvo rf --V, f !..., ----o --. r i s"s, and yet they insure plate glass against break age just as they do one's arm or leg. As far as babies are concerned, I should fancy that the rates of .insurance woul J have to be graded on a very high Wis. Thev are susceptible to colds and dirK theria in the w inter time, and to choice iniantum in tne summer, to say nothing of measles, chicken pox,whoopiufr coue and scarlet fever all the year round. How. ever, the charges on a thousand dollars' insurance on a baby's, life might lie scaled in this way. For a 1,000 polior for a one-day old baby a premium c'f $999 might be charged. Then the ia. surance company should agree to return one dollar a day as long as the lial,T lived until the preminm was reduced t) S10.. At the are of two and a half Tours the result would be still 1,000 iiwifa:jt on the baby's life at an annual ett of but S10. If tho child should die w:, u it was but a week old, tho;;?! vvj would be $992 out. Still yon can't rea sonably expect to insure ari infant's lif for nothing. It would be jxiv.il,,. t avoid this heavy percentage by waiting until the child was two years of at U fore buying a policy. That is the oidr solution of the problem that I tun see. I If the wealth of the Vandcrbilts.W not oversratett, it amounts to neariv sio, 000,000. With this sum they cmM purchase 312 tons of gold and have something left over, but they couldn't buy two tons of gallium, that rare metal being worth $5250 an oum-e. With this metal the highest price is reached, and it may well be called the rarest and most precious of metals. Glucinum is worth $250 per ounce; indium Slr8; iridium SG58 a pound;, lanthanium, 175, and lithium $160 in r ounce. Niobium costs $128 jier ounce; asmium, palladium, platinum, potas sium, and rhodium bring respective! v $540, $-100, $130, $82, and $512 jvr pound. Strontium costs $128 an ounce; tantaum, $144; telurium, $9; thorium, $272; vanadium, $320; yttrium, $141, and zirconium $250 an ounce. t Thus wo see that the commonly received opinion as to. what are the most precious metals is quite erroneous. Barium is more than four times as valuable as gold, and gallium more than 1G2 times 'as costly, while many of the metals are thrice as valuable. Aluminum, which now costs $S or $9 a pound, will eventu ally bte produced as cheaply as steel. When this can be done it will push the latter metal out of a great many of its present uses, as it posscsM-s great strength, toughness, and elasticity, with extreme lightness of weight. Its sour ces of supply are inexhaustible, and its present high cost arises from the diirl culty of its extraction in a metallic form. Indium seems to bo .chiefly used for pointing gold pens, and many of the metals mentioned have but a limited sphere of usefulness. Globe Democrat. Shooting Ptarmigan. About half way up we fell in with a 1 arge flock o f p ta n n i ga n . 1 1 i r i si n g t h ry t(xk us by surprise while struggling through a heavy squall, accompanied by fine, hard snow, which stung our faces unpleasantly. In the midst of this we were suddenly conscious that the air was full also of white wings; for the plumage of tho birls waj at this season nearly as pure as the snow itself. It soon became evident that owing to the stormy weather and the birds, leing packed, they were far wilder than we had supjjosed they ever could be, and that there was little chance of doing much by pursuing them in ordinary fashion. So we agreed to separate ami work singly alout the mountain, vary ing our direction and elevation on the terraces as each judged lest for himself. These tactics succeeded admirably. The ptarmigan, when flushed by one wandering gun, swept round the but tresses of their rocky citadel, which they naturally never left, and were sure before long to encounter another, swing ing past him, or over his head, or light ing within view, only to be flushedagain and passed on once more. While this state of things lasted the shooting was a wild and sporting as a man could desire, but it was bitterly cold work. Earthly enjoyment consists a good deal in the absence or cessation of discomfort, as one fullv realized on that day when, 1 stretched in jKwitive luxury, under the lee of a big Ixmlder, and not feeling a breath of the biting wind, one gnawed greedily chunks of. cold nqer and black bread, washed down with ardent spirits. In the afternoon, however, the squall abated and there were transient gleaim of sunshine, when, as the Icks were partlv broken and disorganized, som? few birds took to crouching tamely and fell easy victims. I cannot sav how many we lost of thoe. which dropped over steep, slipicry places, where foroui lives we durst not follow them. Some indeed, were eventually retrieved by making long circuits, but a considerable number were never gathered. Our unit ed bags, when turned out, produced twentvnine brace, which, under the circumstances, represented, I think, an excellent bit of wild shooting. Fvrt nigh tly Rf- tie. Jwob Perch, tax collector of Mt. Pleasant, Peuu., was taken with a tit yl sneezing one dav a shoit time since li sneezed violently at short intervals ol fifteen minutes." When the Iro.n were finally quitted it was found that four of Perch's ribs had been broken, s violently was the shock to his fram from the convulsions.
The Wilson Mirror (Wilson, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 27, 1889, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75