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THOS. J. ADAMS, PROPRIETOR. EDGEFIELD, S.- C.. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1897. VOL. LXII. NO 33. I THE EONDIKE GOL f The United States Government ii 1867 paid Russia .$7,200,000 for thc Territory of Alaska says the Chicago ffimes-Herald. Alaska has paid back her purchase money in gold four times,, having pro duced during the time it has been a pari of the United States about "$30,000, 000 of the precious yellow metal. : To-day the eyes of the world are turned toward our frozen acquisition in the north, for within its borders has been discovered an Eldorado, seem ingly "richer than Pluto's mine." A iew weeks ago the word Klondike, literally translated meaning Deer River, was known to geographers and a few miners on the Yukon; to-day it is on every tongue and is known as the designation, if the reports be but half true, for a gold-bearing district greater in area and richer in character than any the World has known, with the possible exception of California. The reported gold discoveries bf the' present day in Alaska and the report ed gold discoveries of '?9 in California afford many parallels; To the average man the treasures of the cotast State ?frere .seemingly as inaccessible as are the. riches of th? Yukon and. its tribu taries. One was more than 2000 miles across a trackless desert and over snow-bound mountain passes, beset by savages, whose deadly attacks marked ihe trail with bleaching bones across the "Western States; the other is nearly 7000 miles by water, through a rigorous climate, or almost 4000 miles by land and water, "with moun tain passes to scale as dangerous as those of the Swiss Alps. The fabulous tales of wealth sent out by the California pioneers were no less wonderful than those brought back by the men who braved the last cold season in the Klondike mineral belt, and in both cases those who returned brought back with them great nuggets of the precious stuff that left little or no doubt in the mind of the hearer. The California miner in the song who had so many nuggets that he was ac customed to "go a hatful blind" finds his^ parallel in the Yukon miner who claims to have "washed out" $212 in one panful of dirt-a process that re quires ten or twelve minutes. AS THE MINERS JOCBNEY DOWN LAE Poor 3t?t???6 Mines. ] The Alaska and California gold fields < are alike also in being placer mines. Placer mining is commonly called : "poor man's mining," for the reason that it is done without machinery, while the implements required in the work are few and of small cost. A placer miner can get along very well with a pick, shovel and gold pan? <1f the dirt is not rich, he can accomplish better results by running it through a sluice box, but where tho yield is iu nuggets instead of fine gold he prefers to "pan" it. The great Klondike strike was made nine months ago, but nothing was known oTit in the United States until June 15, when a vessel called the Ex celsior arrived in San Francisco laden with miners'from the Klondike, who in turn were laden with gold. They told almost incredible tales of the richness of the newly discovered district, where fortunes had been ac cumulated in a few months. Experi enced miners and "tenderfeet" seemed to have shared good fortune alike, and with some justice, too, for the credit of the discovery of thc new gold fields is due to the inexperienced men. Another vessel brought to Seattle ? second party of successful prospectors and a ton and a half of gold. These men had endured peril and undergone MINERS CROSSING THE CHDLKOOJ PASS. great hardships in accumulating the fortunes they "brought, and they told a story that had a dari: as well as a bright side. To follow their example means a risk of wealth, health and even life, but for those who are willing to take the chances the prospect they hold out is alluring. location of the KloncUke District. ; . The richest of the mines in the Alaska region seem to be in the Klon dike, a few miles over the British border. They were discovered, as has been said, by a party of "tenderfeet," who, against the advice of the old timers in the district, w;andered "over yonder in the Klondike" and struck it rich. From Klondike comes much of the gold and from Klondike seems to come all the excitement. A few "tenderfeet," going it blind, have stirred up the Nation. Out of the regions of their discovery has come, it is estimated, $2,000,000 worth ol gold during tho present summer, Nearly all of that gold has found its way into the United States, I D FIELDS IN ALASKA. I i It is hard to tell where the Alaska ) gold fields are located except that in o > general way the best of them are along the Yukon. There are a few "lode" i miners near Juneau and along the ? southeast coast of the Territory (the i most accessible part of it), but the ore is of low grade and mining is made profitable only by the most careful management. The placer mines, from which pros pectors are said now to be lining their pockets with gold, are in the region remote from civilization, little known, and, on account of its uncertainties, dangerously alluring to the average man. ^ This gold-producing country of the interior is in the vicinity of the Yukon near where that great river turns to the west in its course to the sea. Before the discoveries in the Klondike the most productive districts bad been along Forty Mile Creek, partly in^ British arid partly in Ameri can territory, and thc Birch Creek dis I riet, all in American territory. Along nil of the river in this section, tributaries to tho Yukon, gold dig gings exist, and in many places pay the prospector well for his trouble. In all the immense country over which the placer mining extends it is estimated that up to last year there were 2000 miners; The districts in which most Of them worked were in a a broad belt of gold-producing rock, through which quartz veins carrying gold occur frequently. Through the gold-bearing rocks the streams have cut deep gullies and canons, and in their beds the gold which was con tained . in the rock ; is ?poncentrated. The mining of this country consists, therefore in washing out the gravel of these beds. So the miners worked, being fairly well paid for their labor, until the "tenderfeet" made the Klon dike discovery. That was nine months or so ago, and the news of it is just reaching the outside world. It was not long in reaching the miners along Forty Mile and Birch Creeks, though, and they shouldered their picks and moved forward in a wild rush at the first word of the new lucky strike. As a result gold dust aud nuggets by the ' ton are turned into the mints out on the coast, and men who never before ? E LAB ARGE DURING THE WINTER. rose above, the level of the commonest of miners have come back to civiliza tion and comfort loaded with gold to last them a lifetime. Take as an il lustration this list of returned miners who came on the Excelsior: Brought Valuo from of Alaska claims. T. S. Lippy.S 05,000 $1,000,000 F. G. H. Bowker. 90,000 600,000 JooLaDue. 10,000 500,000 J. B. Holllnseed. 25,500 William Kulju. 17,000 . James McMann.. . 15,000. Albert Galbraith. 15,000 . Nell Macarthur. 15,000 . Douglas Macarthur.... 15,000 . Bernard Anderson. 14,000 35,000 Robert Krook. 14,000 20,000 Fred Lendesser.' 13,000 . Alexander Orr. 11,500 ........ John Marks.?. 11,500. Thomas Cook.'.' 10,000 25,000 M. S. Norcross. 10,000 ,. J. Ernmerger. 10,000 . Con Stamatin...". 8,250 . Albert Fox....Ti... 5,100 35,000 Greg Stowart. 5,000 20,000 J. O. Hestwood. 6,000 250,000 Thomas Flack.5,000 50 000 Louis B. Rhoads. 5,000 85,000 Fred Trice. 5,000 20,000 Alaska Commercial Co. 250,000 . Total.$899,850 . A Perilous Journey. Every one of these men has a story to tell of the vast riches of the new gold fields, but they tell another story, too-a story of hardship, trial and suffering through long winter days, when the sun was smiling on this earth's other pole and leaving them in miserable cold and darkneas. They tell a story of prodigious travels, of stagger ing journeys and the dangers that be set the traveler. They tell what a trip it is to reach the gold fields, and when they get through the faint hearted prospector, who isn't thor oughly convinced that he wants to un dergo the trial, decides to forego the trip to Alaska aud dig up his wealth at home or go without. Some of the gold-mad adventurers, though,rush on unheeding, crowding into the Alaska bound steamers without anything like enough supplies or enough money to see them through ten days of travel on land. Miners who have been there say that such as those will perish. How to Ko II ch the Now Gold Vichis. There are two general routes to the Klondike district. From Chicago both lead to Seattle, and there diverge. One goes by ocean steamer west and a lit tle north, and passes through Dutch ..Harbor, at the extreme end of the southwest Alaskan peninsula. From there the steamer turns north and con tinues on to St. Michael's Island,a little above the mouth of the Yukon, in Ber ing Sea. At that point passengers are transferred to the river steamers to be gin tho long journey up the Yukon, which winds northward and eastward, and finally brings the traveler to Daw son City, now tho principal town in the mining district, although sixty-five miles.from the Klondike fields. The cost of the trip'i from Chicago this way, as prospecting miners usu ally travel, is 8251.50. .It is divided as follows: From Chicago to Seattle . (eeoond-olass), $51.50; from Seattle tc DawBon City, $200. _ In time the trip costs thirty days 1 four from Chicago to Seattle, sixteei from Seattle to St, Michael's Island and ten np the Yukon to Dawson Oitj by the fast boat. The distanoo in gen eral figures is 2250 miles from Chicag< to Seattle, 2500 miles to St, Michael'! Island and 1890 miles up the Ynkoi to Dawson, a total of about 6600 miles The other way to the Klondike, the ; "mountain route," is shorter in miles, but equally long in the time it requires and a great deal more difficult. Bj this route the traveler sails more di rectly north to Juneau, which is 899 miles from Seattle, and then goes by lake and river and over the mountains 1000 miles to the new mining terri tory. On arrival at Juneau the trav eler changes to a smaller boat and sails 100 miles north to Dyea. From there he has a portage of twenty-seven miles through the Chilkoot Pass. The last half-mile of this pass is over a glacier and the severest of climbing. Chilkoot Indians are employed to pack supplies to the top of the pass, but from there on the traveler has to pack his own load. After getting through the Chilkoot Pass the traveler reaches Lake Linde man. At that point is a sawmill, where boats are sold for $75 each. Travelers who do not care to pay that price can purchase lumber and build theil1 own boats. The lumber can bo bought for $100 a thousand feet, and about 500 feet are required to build a boat that will answer the purpose. Still other travelers carry whipesaws and get out their own lumber, and a man handy with a saw and hammer can build a boat in three or four days. THE UIVER ROVIE TO DAWSOX. To continue the trip, though, a boat is necessary and by some means or other one must bo had. After securing his boat the travel er floate down Lake Lindeman and Lake Bennett and then has half a mile Df portage where his boat has to be . SSC Ut ''3 f?J *c _,3 tbossh. ' ;.~ i..t.-;:.?r bearra rf M paca I-f,. . I; -'*. ths'lS 'P : ? i?l/ ? ?v,,! .fw-.f..- &9 tr - . ia T'^-y . '...'rurh .?.hy.i r.o goos :-iz ?cite? %n? '? Lewis Biver, lou muco .... ;er Bapids, to the Yukon at Fort Sel- ? kirk, and then down stream 250 miles to Dawson.' The cost of the trip this way can not be definitely stated beyond Ju neau, because after that point it de pends somewhat on the bargain made with the Chilkoot Indians, who pack supplies '. through the pass, and the length of time the overland part of the journey requires. The cos?- from Chi cago to Seattle is the 6amt as by the other route, of course, $51.50 second class and $10 more for first class. The steamer fare up to Juneau and on to Dyea is $42. "What it costs on the overland trip each traveler determines partially for himself, but the Indians who act a3 guitlc3 and pack supplies do not work without big pay. _ r Tho Centre of the Gold Keaton. Dawson City, thc centre of the new mining region, . although sixty-five miles distant from the Klondike, is said to be a typical mining camp minus the guns. The British Govern ment enforces its laws in Dawson, and those lawa prohibit the use of firearms, so few men carry guns. The laws of the camp are enforced by mounted po lice, whose captain is ajjeivil officer. Though there are said to be 3000 peo ple in Dawson, few houses have been built, for tho principal reason that lumber is $100 per 1000 feet, The general fear is, of course, that there will bo great suffering there this win ter, and it will be increased, it is ex pected, bv the rush of unprepared prospectais who sailed for the now fields immediately on learning what luck had befallen those who have but recently returned. To give an accurate idea of the cost of living in Dawson City, tho price list of a general store there is herewith given: Flour, per 100 pounds.$12.00 Moose ham, per pound. 1.00 Caribou meat, per pound. .65 Beans, per pound... :.50 Rice, per pound... :.?S Sugar, per pound.-? Bacon, per pound..? -*D Butter, per roll. 1-50 Eggs, per dozen . IM Better eggs, per dozen. -'.jw Salmon, oach....?lto Lot Potatoes, per pound. -2? Turnips, per pound... .lt Toa, per pound.< l-0[ Coffee, per pound -.'.5( Dried fruit?, per pound. Canned fruits.jjj Canned moats.? Lemons, each.?jj Oranges, each.* ?5j Tobacco, per pound. Liquor.?, per drink. Shovels.i.- 2.5 Picks............... Ml - Coal oil, per gallon.^ 4 1. - Overalls.1. Underwear, per suit..,.v.,.$5to 7. ? Shoes...,. 5. j Rubber boots..'.'_810 to 15.i Alaska and Its Resources. ? In the purchase of Alaska, the Unite i States acquired a Territory more tha i half a million square miles in exten . a part of it within the arctic circle an ) in the region of everlasting ice an _A PLACER MINE IN THE snow, where, during part of the sum mer, there is continuons day and dur ing the winter continuous, dreary night. The Alaskan coast line is greater than our Atlantic seaboard, but the entire population of whites, Eski mos and fierce Indians, who are called the Apaches of the north, is not much more than that of a ward division in Chicago. In acquiring the Alaskan Territory,; though the United States moved its center, figured in geographical miles, not in area or population, as far west as San Francisco. The country now extends from about the sixty-fifth de gree of longitude up at the far east corner of Maine to the 122d degree up at the far northwest tip of the Alaskan mainland. This is taking no acoount of the little island of Attu, 1000 miles: out in the Pacific, beyond tb a Hawaiian'; group, which, since the purchase of ! Alaska, has really been our western land limit. The United States, therefore, may almost say with England that the sun never sets on its possessions. ? The principal river in Alaska, the Yukon, up which prospectors have to work their weary way to reach the gold fields was called by Schwatka, the Alaskan Nile. It rises a little more than 200 miles above Sitka, in the southern part of Alaska, and thea strikes northward, following a broad circle to the west before it empties, into Bering Sea through an extensiyf j Jeito. Sis ... ft ti ' ' ": ru'yre ? ;;,><-> fe j ^ j If .?H. . f{j? *n??< g {frit: :.?> ? he >,'.-;;?.:ir.^t vj;.?c.? ..f ,\?w' ;-. The Governor's residence is m ?iwn?. The citizens up in that frozen coun try do not vote for President of course, being under Territorial government, but they do send delegates to the Na tional political conventions. The judi cial function there is exercised by a district court, established in 1884. The court sits alternately at Sitka and Wrangle. [How odd for a court to sit at Sitka and Wrangle. ] And speaking of Wrangle, among the things Alaska has dono for this coun try aside from stirring up the present gold excitement one of the most forr ward was to involve it in disputes with England on the boundary question and the seal fisheries business.* Both of these'disputes threatened war, but white-winged peace settled over tho situation in each case and brought the suggestion of that newly invented English-American institution -arbitration. However, the boundary question is not settled yet, and the Brit ish lion is even now roaring a little and angrily swishing its tail because of a diplomatic (the British call it undiplo matic) note from Secretary of State Sherman demanding that British ves sels "keep off the grass" as it were in thc seal fishing grounds. Tho Boundary Question? It was not unexpected, of course, that the discovery of gold in the Klon dike region would revive in a measure CLONDIKE GOLD REGION. tho old question of a boundary line be tween Alaska and the British North west Territory, Tho Klondike fields are considerably east of Fort Cudahy and Dawson City, and both of these are on British soil. Into the new regions, though, Ameri can miners first ventured and made tho first discoveries of gold. Sine? then hundreds of them have troopec over the border, staked out their olaims in the rich hills and begun to dig Should the Canadian Government pas! au exclusion act all of these miners \ of course, would be dispossessed. 1 The difficulty of enforcing such ai j act, especially on miners who havi i staked out their claims, is at once ap i parent. The result in retaliation b; ! the Government of the United State ! is also easily imagined. . The Domin i ion Government has already establish^ i a custom house on the border, and i \ doing a fair business collecting dut; ? on the goods that go into the ney ) country, aud miners think they' wil I bo satisfied with. that. The exclusio: j pf Americans would practically clos ) the country for a time, f?r^hoj?e.st c ?jg the means of transportation te thai 50 frozen region are owned by American 00 companies. 30 : In the past miners of vany national. irv have been free to enter any new el diggings and stake out their claims ?n without restriction. Canadian miners A -are,tw ?ree 10 work across the border d in the Alaskan fields. What the result d. of an exclusion act would mean to KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS. Canada in a retaliatory measure by the " United States, Canadians know better than they can' be told. . It is not believed, however, that Canada will attempt to exclude Amer ican miners, lt is true that the United States excludes Chinese, but Canada . PJ?.DaDl7 recognizes that keeping out ! Chinamen and barring the way for I Americans aro two different things. Topography, Population and Climate. The Territory naturally falls in six grand divisions. They are the Arctic division, a treeless expanse diversified 'by icy hills and mountains and with no inhabitant? but the Eskimos; the Yukon basin, with its extensive forests nparthe coast and its inhabitants of Es kimos and Indians; the Kuskokwim dis trict, the Aleutian district, comprising the islands off the coast.^where fishing and sealing are the chief pursuits, and where the population is mixed Aleutian and Russian blood; the Kadiak district, including the mainland and islands south of the Alaskan range, and the Sitka district, including the archipel ago and the coast, extending south to British Columbia. The Sitka district is that seen by the tourists from the States. They gaza on its enormous forests and imagine they have seen the country. As a matter of fact, they do little more than set foot on the Terri tory. The census enumeration of 1890 gave the population of the Territory as HIKERS CROSSING THE BORDER. that it goes clown to 70 degrees and lower. During all this kind of winter up in the Yukon region little can be done but sit about a fire in a vain en deavor to keep warm, for darkness exists most of the time, and the life seems like that of a man uncomforta bly seated at the bottom of a well. During the summer season the days are sometimes even a little bit hot, but not for long. In that time, too, there is almost continual day, for that end of tho earth (for it may be so called) ?B the one that is pointed di rectly at the sun. But as the summer brings warmth and daylight it also brings mosquitoes. And such mosquitoes. Creatures that buzz and bite in such a way as to make the dreaded Jersey variety seem by comparison like the silvery, angelic, sweetly, humming fancies of a peace ful dream. The travelers who return from the Yukon region tell stories of how brave and strongmen, courageous enough to undertake the perils a jour ney to that country involves, actually break down and sob in utter despera tion and despair under the torments of these terrible pests. The ice and the "magnificent distances" of the country are not the only drawbaoks to its exploration or to journeying to the goldfields; the mosquitoes must ever be remembered. Of course, in the southern part of Alaska, where Juneau and Sitka are situated, the winters are not so rigor ous. There the weather is compara tively mild, and in summer is said to be delightful. But Juneau and Sitka are infinitesimal as compared wiA.h the whole country, and they are not an in dex to what is furnished farther up and farther inland. Quoer Flaco or Refuge. The passengers on a Tenth street trolley car were treated to an unusual sight early yesterday morning. As the car was bowling along in the vioinity of Parish street a couple of sparrows, one in chase of the other, swooped down in front of the car. The pursued, by a quick flank move ment, eluded its tormentor by darting under tho roof of the front platform, and before the motorman knew what was up the bird had perched on his hand which gripped the lever. There it sat contentedly, while the passengers craned their necks to get a view of the odd spectacle. The sparrow didn't seem to mind the fact that the motor man's baud was constantly turning around as ho manipulated Iiis lever, and, after riding on its queer perch for fully a block, chirped its thanks and flow away.-Philadelphia Record. An Orlando (Fla.) citizen, who is known locally as a successful inventor, has devised an apparatus cy means of which he says he can by suction trans port grain for several hundred railes ?romiulaiitl?el?eto tiver boats. MAN AS BULLET TARGET. CLOTH THAT PROVED ABSOLUTELY IMPERVIOUS TO DEADLY MISSILES. Inventor Safely Faces the Lead Fired nt Ten Faces-Medical Witnesses Amazed -Success at Revolver Experiments Prompt Inventor' to Ritte Tests. Brother Casimir Zeglen covered his breast with a piece of his own bullet proof cloth yesterday afternoon and set himself up as a target for lead bullets. He was not hurt. Dr. E. H. Westerschulte emulated the example of Brother Casimir. He said the sensation of being hit by a thirty-eight-caliber bullet, fired at a distance of ten paces, was like being poked in the ribs. These were final tests to determine the qualities of Brother Casirair's bul let-proof cloth. The inventor demon strated his own faith in the invention by giving his own body for a target. The bullets were of calibers from thirty-two to forty-four, and all were fired from a distance of ten paces. R?gulation revolver cartridges were used. Brother Casimir thinks his thorough"y alive and healthy condition ought to be sufficient proof of his claim to having invented the first genuinely successful bullet-proof fab ric. The cloth of Dowe and other Europeans has proved valueless. Ever since Carter H. Harrison was j assassinated by Prendergast Brother Casimir has been at work on this idea. Every moment that could be spared from his regular duties as a member of the Roman Catholic Order of Resur rectionists was given to the ' effort of producing a fabric which should with staud the impact of a bullet; Ho felt certain he had succeeded, but gained but little encouragement until Dr. L. C. Borland became interested in his .work. Then tests were made in the usual way-by the use of cadavers and animals a J targets. It remained to be demonstrated that the new fabric would protect hu man life. Neither Brother Zeglen nor Dr. Borlaud had any doubt of tho fabric's efficacy in stopping the flight of a bullet. There was a ques tion whether the force of the bullet's impact might bo so distributed that the blow might still be dangerous. Dr. Borland turned the, roof of his private hospital at Ogden avenue and Twelfth street into a placo of test. Men whose integrity could not be im peached were invited to be present. The human target was so arranged that the person offering himself for experiment could not bo injured un less the bullet-proof cloth failed to do ' its work. A shield was set up made ~t J-,- t,-.. -_ ._^r_, ri. . _ ..i. ;.. 1 ?>p?ijt???iaf.*i**? ?ii>.it?... ?VJ i?cMk? un ex- . ainination of the revolvers and cart ridges. This invitation was extended ! particularly to Sergeaut Boyd, who ! had been seut to the test by the j Police Department as an expert in firearms. Tho first test was made with a Smith and "Wesson revolver, 32-caliber. ! Brother Casimir took his place at the target with his breast pressed firmly against the fabric. Besides the bullet proof cloth, his breast had no cover- 1 ing except an undershirt, a vest and a cravat, tho ordinary garb of the Order of Resurrectionists. Sergeant Webb . handled thc revolver, taking aim from a distance of only ten paces. The 1 spectators were breathless as he pulled the trigger. There was a flash, a report and Brother Casimir stepped from behind the shield with a smile and picked up the bullet from where it had fallen at his feet. The cloth showed an in dentation where it had been hit, but there was no sigu of break in it. Brother Casimir said he felt no pain further than a slight stinging sensation as the bullet struck his breast. It was so nearly painless that he was eager for a second trial. Tho second test was identical with tho first. It had the same result, ex cept that Brother Casimir's quiet smile of triumph was slightly broader. A third test waa made. The condi tions were the same as the first and second, except that a thirty-eight-cal ibre revolver was substituted for the smaller weapon. Still the marvelous results were the samo. Brother Casi mir said the concussion from the third bullet was heavier than from the other two, but that there was no lasting pain. Dr. Westerschulte offered himself for the fourth test. He had even less protection for his body, under the bullet proof, than had Brotuer Casi mir-only a slight neglige shirt and a thin gauzo undershirt. He was fired on with the thirty-eight Colt. "It feels just like being poked in the ribs with a stick," he declared with triumph as he stepped from be hind the wizard cloth. Brother Casimir then took his place behind the shield for tho fifth test. Thia time a Colt's revolver of forty four calibre was used. Tho cloth was not penetrated. Brother Casimir'said the shock of tho bullet's impact was considerably more painful than either of thc shots that had gone before, but it did not hurt so much that he would be afraid to have it repeated. Then all who had witnessed the tests signed their names to a concise statement of what had taken place, substantially as it has been related here. Brother Casimir intimates that the secret of making his fabric lies in the method of'shriuking tho cloth fiber. He is a chemist and he became satis fied, from a long study of fiber enter ing into the composition of cloth, that the fibers themselves possess, if prop erly treated, sufficient strength to stand thc impact of a lead bullet. This he now claims to have demon strated. His cloth is made, ho says, of silk and wool aud one other fiber which he will not name. Tho tests- yesterday were confined to revolvers, for against missiles from such weapons is all Brother Casimir claims his cloth will hold. This par ticular fabric he expects to see utilized for clothing for policemen, for lining the overcoats of men who are out lat? nights and in danger from footpads, and for all who are in danger of being fired on with the ordinary lead bullet. He does not claim this cloth would be of service in the army, for armies now use steel bullets. But he is mak ing a fabric for armies, and so confi dent is he of success, in view of what he has now disoovered, that he has al ready made arrangements to go to Europe to introduce the invention to the Continental Powers.-Chicago Times-Her?ld. About Tea, The ancient way of preparing tea was ? not very appetizing to those familiar with it, but "what the eye does not see the heart can not grieve. " The mode of packing it, in China, was to have the nctives tread the leaves into the boxes with their naked feet, and, as Chinamen's feet are not al ways scrupulously clean, the effect on those who saw the operation was not favorable. They used to say that sauer kraut was packed in a similar manner among the German families of Pennsylvania, but that was probably slander. At ? any rate, it is believed that tea packing is now carried on in a cleanly manner. There are hundreds of different kinds of tea, and the best undoubtedly goes overland to Russia. When tea arrives at the London docks it is sent in sealed vans to warehouses uptown, emptied out on large floors and bulked, so as to make the samples even. The tea is then put back into the ohest, and all the members of lhe tea board pr the tea trade are allowed two ounces from every parcel, which .makes a large quantity in the aggre gate. Four days in the week there are public sales, whioh often amount to 30,000 packages at a time. There are regular tea testers employed at large salaries to test the samples. Some of these experts' continue their work during the entire day. If they swallowed "the tea., they tested they would drink a hogshead during the twelve hours. The tea tester must have the digestion of an ostrich, the strength of a lion and the nerve of an elephant to endure what he has to undergo day after day. Sparrows Fight a Tarantula. On Walnut street there is an unused private mail box. In this box the spar rows built their nests and hatched their young. Recently there was a great ado made by the birds in that neighborhood, and examination proved that a large tarantula had ascended the post and was threatening the safety of the little baby birds. An almost infinite variety of chirup Inv. calling signaling, flutter-*' . ;;r.-7 ! . -. '-n-7 I....! ... .;.:;,/;.. V.? ! .u?u. v. Hil I.QU. ??ju liiiugai, ~j?kxt?i? ;he enemy had reached the ground ind while still further seeking safety in flight, he was poured upon with increased and combined fur". He would rear back upon his hind legs iud thrust his long hairy feelers out toward his antagonists and apparently ?nap at and rush at them. But the wary little adversaries kept up their fusillade till they had literally torn limbs and body all to pieces.-Sher man (Texas) Register. Living: Crate or Eggs. A successful shell game of a new brand was worked on Cleveland (Ohio) egg consumers the other day by an honest Ohio farmer, who lives down on the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus road, seventy-five miles southeast of this city. This time the farmer came near victimizing his city cousins, and all but succeeded. A c:\se of eggs reached a commission house, and when opened it was f onad ?hat one of the eggs had hatched, and fifteen minutes later, when the eggs were exposed to the air, a doz?n chick ens were peeping. The eggs in the first two layers con tained chickens, most of which were dead. The commission merchants re ported that as soon as the eggs were exposed to the air chickens were hatched. The temperature in which the crate of eggs had evidently been since the shipment will not be changed, and all the eggs will be given a chance to hatch. The commission merchants decline to give the name of the consignee, and agree that now they have a good start in the poultry business. The eggs which are hatching must have been in a temperature of ninety degrees for the last three weeks. Big Block of Granite. The pedestal for the new statue of Peter the Great, which has recently been erected in St. Peterburg, con Mists of a block of granite which weighs about 1217 tons. In order to get to its destination it had to be carried four miles overland and thirteen miles by water. For the overland journey a railway was used consisting of two lines of timber furnishe'' ^ith hard metal grooves. Spheres of hard brass about six inches in diameter were placed between these grooves, and on the spheres, the framework contain ing tho block was moved by means of sixty men. The Shah of Persia. The Shah of Persia is in search of a sanitarium. A Tiflis paper reports thai a Russian doctor, who was tem porarily resident in Teheran under or dere to prevent the spread of the plague, has seen the Shah and pro nounces him to be suffering from dis oase of the kidneys and gout, which will compel him to resort to a foreign watering place for cure. A Russian place, Borzhom, which is half way be tween Tiflis and Batoum, is being strongly recommended to the Shah. Across the Sahara Desert. A letter has just reached the GOT ? ernor-General at Algeria from the Gov ? ernor of the French colony of Senegal, by way of Timbuctoo. The dispatch was carried by Arab couriers on dromedarios, and it constitutes the first knovn instance on record of European ?flioial communications hav ing traver! 5(1 the great Sahara desert, Quinine and other fe ver medicines take from 5 to 10 days to cure fever. Johnson's Chill and Fever Tonic cures in ONE DAY. DOOM OF THE LOCOMOTIVE. lt Has Done Its Work and Must Soon Cive Way to Motors. About 100 years ago Oliver Evans, the inventor, was rash enough to say that the time would cone 3 when his high pressure locomotive would take people after breakfast in Washington and get them to New York for supper. The idea of covering 200 miles in this time was of course preposterous, and he was the butt of many a joke. But when the rails were finally laid, which was not so many years ago, the passen gers soon began to want more speed, and thus it has gone on. Americans accept inventions as marvels for a whole day sometimes, and then de mand more. Some people have been known to complain of the telephone. But the locomotive has been a faith ful old friend. Locomotive engineer ing goes so far as to say it "was al ways kept equal to any speed require ments put upon it," and that the only, obstacles to fast trains a half a cen tury ago were the tracks and the lack of signals, and the absence of efficient meaus of stopping the trains. How human this sounds. If we only had the right sort of tracks, the proper warnings, and the powei to stop, how many of us would arrive at our desti nation in time to sup cu success and prosperity instead rf getting side tracked or wrecked? It is the fact, however, that the lo' comotive has kept strictly up with the times and few of us care to travel faster than on the limited trains that allow us to breakfast in Washington and take luncheon in New York-a beggarly five hours of smooth motion that could easily be reduced to four if the railroads wanted to do it. But the faithful old puller, varying in size from the shifting, if not shiftless, busy-body that puffs around stations, to the mar velous machine of a hundred tons, is reading the handwriting alor g its tracks. The electrical motor, dumpy and ugly, is preparing to retire its handsomer rival. It is like a mean little torpedo boat sending the beau tiful full rigged man-of-war into re? . tirement; but it represents force, and force rules. Millions upon millions of dollars are represented in these loco motives, bnt even millions cannot pre vent the .adv?mrv? nf invAnfcipn. And *.. ;~x"*" th* oid ?ooonu?*-'-. Cure, It cures the most stubborn case of Fever in 24 Hours, An Incombustible Tree. A Government report from Colom bia contains a description of a tree, known as the chaparro, which is said to possess the quality of being fire proof. It grows on the vast plains of Colombia and the north of South America, called savannas, extensive districts which are parched with heat except during the rainy season. It has long been the custom to clear the ground for the new vegetation which springs up so luxuriantly on these plains after the rainy season by means of fires-and such fires, miles in extent, kindled by the herdsmen, destroy everything in the shape of vegetation, except .the chapparo tree, which survives to afford a welcome shade in an almost treeless region. It is a small tree', seldom growing to more than twenty feet in height, with a girth of about three feet, and it owes its protection from fire to the na ture of its hard, thick hark. The bark lies on the trunk in loose layers, which do not readily conduct heat to the more delicate parts bf the struc ture. It is a general idea among the natives that this tree grows only where gold is abundant in the soil be low. That it is common in auriferous districts is indisputable, but there is no ground for supposing that it does not grow elsewhere.-The Manufac turer. Why take Johnson's Chill & Fever Tonic? Because it cures the most stubborn case of Fever in ONE DAY. Much has been said about the de cadence of the constitution of our American citizens, that people don't live to be as old now as formerly, etc. Yet the Massachusetts census o? 1895 which was extremely accurate on this point, found over 18,000 persons in tho State who were 80 or more years of age,constituting three-fourths of 1 p.c. of the population. Of this number, over 14,000 are native born and only some 4,000 foreign born, but in both cases there waa a larger pro portion of women than of men. Thir ty-five persons were reported as 100 years old or over, including one aged lil. The number of aged persons ie fully as large in proportion as in 1885. This is further confirmation of the fact, well known to all students of the subject, that the health and longevity of the masses is on the increase, ow ing to the better conditions un-ier which thev live. Johnson's Chill and Fe ver Tonic is a ONE-DAY Cure. It cures the most stubborn case of Fever in 24 Hours*