Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' ISSUED SEMI-WEEKI/^ l. m. grist s sons. Publisher!, j % Demspaper: |[or the promotion of the political, Social. Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the People. {T sraGLE'cIlrV ?ve iENmVAXCE ESTABLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, S. C., TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 19Q8. " " N~Q. '28. I >1111 >11 >1t HtlMUillkUMlUMM ! '"r,J G1 I i By CLARENCE wUwiriiwiwiwiiiiwniniwifH* CHAPTER XVI. Prior bade Mr. Kane "good morning." and went to the hotel to think. You have not forgotten that he came to Itoomville on purpose to think. For some reason, possibly on the prin ciple that one usually finds that of which he earnestly goes in search, this gentleman was finding plenty of things to think about. He went to the hotel. He shut himself up in his room. He took a little hook from his pocket. He took his pen. He drew his ink toward him. "One may as well write the results of such an interview as that while his memory is fresh." he said, reflectively, "and change or modify his opinions afterward if flie necessity arises." He hent over his hook. He headed a page as follows: "Results of my Interview With hev. John Kane, Being the Questions I ask Myself and the Answers I Give." "Did John Kane have any guilty knowledge of the death of Constance Craig? No, I am sure he did not. Did he learn of Aldrich's engagement In any strange and mysterious way? I Probably not; it is more likely, coni sidering the distance from here to Blankford. considering the retired life Constance led, considering the naturally secretive habits of a lawyer, considering everything, that only a limited number knew of his engagement and that it was never a subject for general gossip and discussion. But I cannot think that it was ever a secret?ever after any one knew of it besides themselves?in the sense in which we usually use the word 'secret:' I cannot think that his visits to her were concealed and private. And T ???c?r?A?iA U? I'ono lonvnp/1 nf this 1 an. ivuuv avM*i?v\? w? v...? engagement in some perfectly natural ami legitimate manner. "Was John Kane the only one. besides the two most interested, who knew of the fact that the lovers had made up their quarrel? I think not. Everything considered, it was, perhaps, marvelous that they had made up their misunderstanding, but I know of no reason why it may not have been known that they had? known to several, possibly to many. "Has John Kane been perfectly frank and honest with me? I think he has. "Has John Kane kept back anything I should know? I think he has not. "Has his information been correct and accurate? Unless he has been misled himself. I think it has. "Is John Kane my friend and wellwisher? I think so. "Has he a firm .opinion that Gilbert Senn is guilty? "I believe,he has?an opinion which it will be alrhosf Impossible to shake. "Has he any personal reason for wishing Gilbert Senn punished? I think not. What possible reason could he have? "What is his reason for thinking that Senn is guilty? "His opinion that Matilda Webb was absent two nights, undoubtedly. And I confess that if she were so ab sent it would mane me ease against Senn about as black as ever circumstantial evidence made a case yet. "Was she absent two nights? I don't know. 1 must ask her. I will. "Did Kane write the anonymous letter? I think not. I fear it would destroy all my remaining faith in human nature if 1 found he did. But I will examine. I will satisfy myself. I will know. "Jf he didn't write it?why was his language as it was? Were the expressions and questions so natural that one could not help using them? When I find another and another and another?if I ever do? who know something of the horrible event I am | trying to trace to its guilty author. shall I hear this same series of questions again and again and again? "I do not know; I cannot answer; I shall not try to answer. All this is beyond my powers. It lies so far outside the beaten tracks of the domain of Psychology, so far under the dark clouds which vail the unknown, so far from the natural, so near the supernatural, that I shall not attempt to even guess." Mr. Prier closed his book. He put it in his pocket. He leaned wearily back in his chair. Short as had been what he had written, it had taken long to write it. Weak, illogical, poorly arranged?full of groundless opinions ami naseiess Doners?laum-n mm doubt that, once fully expressed, would have been doubt of man and his honesty, of God and His providence? shadowed with a superstition which would close certain avenues to knowledge with the command "Ask not!" --he had yet done his best. His best, God help him. and all of us! His best! Man's best! Our best! The summary of life; the record of ruin: the confession of confusion; the linale of failure! "There is one thing I'd like to know." said Mr. Frier, as he closed his ink-bottle and put away his pen. (Yes. Mr. Prier, I think there is.) "Though, of course, it hasn't anv^ thing to do with this case." (Hasn't it? Has any event, anywhere. nothing in common with any other which one can mention? Does not the stone, thrown into the shimk mering waters of the tropic sea. under vertical rays of the burning sun, stir lbe icy flood which rolls restlessly to and fro. fretting its crystal walls and barriers, in the frozen night where the pole star shines in the zenith for ever? Nothing to do with this case? Nothing? Ah. Frier, Frier! Would you '* *' ..f ft CO !i\n ? limit lilt* lilliKr " ! mm...II . Would you bound the omnipotence of > Hod?) "I'd like to know where John Kane met that female fiend, I.ut'line ltannottie." (Yes. I think you would.) "It would l?e as well to know how ' much or how little such a woman as she is to such a man as he." (Yes. it would. Yes. Mr. J. f?. I'rier. you are right.) "I'd like to know where she has been these many, many years since she slipped away from justice and disappeared utterly." (Would you? How long is it since > you walked by her side up the path, side by side with her. to see Klsie Senn the sorrowing made from the sweetness of Klsie Barron? How long is it since she lived here, where you passed her vailed figure every day? How | long is it since you burned the announcement of her contemplated trip abroad with Mrs. Senn?an announcement read by every man and woman in Boomville? Ponder on all this, if juiuiiuMUinnmuiMiuiumi ffTSIBI i BOUTELLE. \ > nwnimwunrwfuwu mutiu you ever know it all, and then bow your head in wonder that any mystery over becomes plain under yom hands.) * * * * c * * Mr. Prier took out the anonymous letter. He examined it with care. H? looked at every word, at every letter, at every stroke and curve. Was it disguised? He had thought so. He had felt almost sure of it. But he did not quite know. There was a lurking doubt in his mind?a haunting suspicion?that when he found the hand --<* ..l,~ hn,1 i<-i-ltlan it Willing 1*1 Kit" "Itr nmr ii?iu found it some who re else, found it under common and everyday sort of circumstances. lie would find it a perfect match fur this. What of it? Just this. Mr. Prior had searched his memory for some hint of writing looking like this, and had found nothing to help him. He had no doubt that when he compared it with another specimen written by the same hand he should be sure of that fact; no matter how much care had been given to the production of this letter, no matter how much art had been used in the effort to make its author-ship an impenetrable secret, he never feared for a moment that the problem would be too great for his powers. He had only to take a carelessly and thoughtlessly written specimen. produced by the one who had sent him this letter, put the two side by side, give them a thorough study, taking more or less time according to the skill the author had expended upon the letter warning him of the questions it would be well to ask Aldrich, and Miss Webb, and?shall we say??Kane, and lie would lie able to go to the one who had written this letter, saying: "Some one knows more of the tragedy of Constance Craig than he has told. Anonymous letters hint, hut tell nothing. Whoever knows must tell. And?'thou art the man!'" It might he difficult: it might take long study: the similarities to he considered, and to be referred to accident, coincidence, or to undoubted and valid evidence, as the case might be, might be sli ht?very slight?and not visible to one less acute and less experienced than he. But he could solve this question: he knew he could. And so?if the handwriting were disguised, it might be that any one of those most closely connected with his Boomville experience had written it. While, if it were free, and the usual handwriting of his unknown correspondent, lie had to find some one whose writing he had never seen. It was not the ordinary writing of Aldrich, or Senn, or Mrs. Senn, or John Kane, that he was certain of. For he had seen the writing of all these persons, and the general characteristics of a person's penmanship was something lie never forgot. Prier's first work was an endeavor to find who had written the anonymous letter. Don't ask me why. I do not Know. 1 uouoi wneuicr rnrr too. ne had not been a tenth part so anxious before his interview with John Kane. I'p t<> that interview lie had had the asking of tlie questions suggested by I that letter uppermost in his mind as I the most impoitant work to be performed in his immediate future. But now?with the mystery of the letter deepened and intensified by that breakfast hour spent with the clergymanhe put aside the question he meant to ask Miss Webb?everything?to the end that he might know who wrote the letter, if he could! It was not a difficult matter to obtain specimens of the writing of the different individuals who naturally suggested themselves to the mind of the detective. He did it without exciting question or comment or suspicion. He examined the work he obtained?examined it carefully and exhaustivelycomparing it at every step with the unscholarly insult he so much treasured. He began with the writing of John Kane. I don't know why. I hope Priet didn't. When a man has said that knowledge of a certain possibility as a fact would destroy his faith in human nature, it must be a terrible thing to sit down in deliberation to determine whether it is a fact or not. Ot course, prudence made it necessary t< examine Kane's writing. I grant that And. equally of course, there is agreal gulf ti xed between honest prudence ami wild and breathless suspicion. But 1 don't know why Prier began witl Kane, and I say again that I hope it was accident. I scarcely know whether you woul< call the result of Prier's investigatior by the name of success?or by that ol failure. Perhaps it would depend ot the standpoint from which the resuli was viewed. One night he knew that Rev. Jolir Kane was not the writer of tlie lettei which so puzzled and annoyed him The next night he knew that Waltei Aldrieh had not stooped to anonymoui writing. The night following he was sure that Mrs. Klsie Senn, was equally innocent. One more day of work and he was certain it was not Senn. He couldn't have said clearly, I fear why he had examined into the penmanship of any of these persons. Kan< had been frank and candid. It wouh have been strange, indeed, had Aldricl been so foolish as to turn suspicion s< directly toward himself. He doublet whether Klsie Senn would have communicated with him at any or undei any circumstances?no matter hou great her need. And had not Senn denied him any aid toward the solutior of the mystery of the murder of Constance Craig?the mystery which overshadowed his life? He could have given no more deliuitt reason for looking upon one of them a: the possible author of whom he was ii search than the fact that some on* must have written the letter. "And I know no one else who p closely enough connected with the mat ler to be naturally suggested," he said musingly, as lie finished his examination. . And I suppose ho didn't. Do you? ' ******* , Prier retired early tlie night after lie had determined the fact that the letter was more mysterious and baffling , than lie had hoped?or feared. He rose late the next morning. He looked old. He was very weary, i He was somewhat dispirited. He had I had a bad night. He awakened vaguely wondering whether he should live long enough to bring the murderer of 1 Constance Craig to justice, and if not, ! I to whom he should leave the legacy of < his hate and his determination when 1 ' he died. 1 What would he do? He would do something very quick- 1 ly. He would procrastinate 110 longer. 1 He breakfasted hurriedly. In an hour ; after leaving his bod he was in the \ , office of Walter Aldrich. ( "Good morning'," said the latter gen- 1 ' tleman, looking up as the detective en- 1 , tered. I doubt whether he was glad , to see Mr. Prier. His coming to Boom- ' . ville was too closely connected with 1 his own severe disappointment to make ids presence pleasing. ; Mr. Prier drew a chair close to the < 1 desk of the lawyer, and seated him- J self without waiting for an invitation. ] "I have come to ask yon a few very plain questions," lie said, abruptly. ' < A Id) ifli looked up quickly, but With * no trace of agitation in his face. j "Very well." he replied, "I am ready t | to listen." "They relate to the Craig case." , Aldrich smiled. i , "I suppose so." he said quietly: "no one at all versed in the ways of the . world would believe f?>r a moment that t you came back to Boomville for pleas- i ure." "No? Really I think you underrate the charms of Boomville. I believe it ( is generally understood that I reside here for pleasure." 1 Aldrich shrugged his shoulders. 1 "Perhaps so," he said; "at any rate 1 you may have your own way. You , wish to ask me some questions regarding the matter of the murder of f your half-sister?" I "I do.' j "I have already told all I know, in j court, and under oath." s "Have you?" i "I have." ( "Will you kindly tell me where you spent the Sunday before the murder?" i Aldrich (lushed, but he looked the ^ dt tective in the eyes as he answered, \ and his voice did not tremble or falter. "I understand the motive of your 1 question. I know the sort of reckless ( statements which have undoubtedly \ reached your ears. I wonder you have .? not been here with that question long before this. And now?I will tell you. I spent Sunday ten miles from Blankford. in the opposite direction from that in which Mrs. Craig lived." . "But ' "I can prove it. if you desire," said the lawyer, quietly. "You were Mix. Craig's lawyer, were you not?" "Certainly." "When did you last see her?" "I was at her funeral. Do you not remember me? I remember you well." "I didn't mean that When did you ' last see her alive?" "About one week before her death." "When?when " "The afternoon of the Monday of the week before the one when she was killed." , "And why?why " "On business," was the curt interruption. "That was not my question. I had * not finished. Why did you say 'about J one week before her death?"' "Because I am not at all satisfied Viiit di?jil Mnndnv niirlit." "I)i? you?do you?know " "1 know nothing about it. I never f suspected that Mrs. Craig: died other 1 than a natural death until after the ar- < rest of Ciil?of Mr. Senn. But now, I doubt. Ask Miss Webb how long she ' was away from home?" ' The same advice again. A third time. Once in the letter. Once from Rev. 1 John Kane. And now from Walter ? Aldrich. ( > "Thank you. 1 will." said Prier, 1 gravely. "And that will prove whether? ( whether " began Aldrich, and then ' paused. ' "Well?" < "Whether I was a fool or a knave ' when 1 cleared Mr. Senn." 1 i "A fool or a knave? I do not under- 1 stand." "Why, you know Senn must have ( l been guilty if?if the discrepancy in 1 the time can possibly be accounted for. : There was never so strong a case of circumstantial evidence in the world 1 before. Was I a fool in not asking ' > this woman that simple question, or 1 . only a knave in trying to clear such a 1 t rascal as 1 feel Senn must he?" I "You think Senn is guilty then?" [ "Guilty beyond a doubt." i "And you hate him for that. I pret sume, unite as much as you do for his 1 act in marrying Elsie Barron?" I "Certainly not." i "I am astonished at that. I should ' [ not have taken you to be a tickle man." 1 i "I do not understand you, Mr. Prier." 1 t "Don't you? Were you not engaged to Mrs. Craig at tlie time of her l i death?" 1 [ "No, sir." 1 "Had you and she not recently made r up a quarrel?a lover's quarrel?" ? "No. sir." "Were you not engaged to her be- i fore she married Mr. Craig;?" 1 "No. sir. Those stories were all lies, wicked and malicious lies." 1 "Indeed!" said Mr. Prier. "Wicked and malicious lies," repeat ? ed the lawyer. 1 "Good morning;," said Mr. Prier, as i lie hurried from the room. > "I studied law once, some years be1 fore I became a detective." he growled, as lie ran down the stairs, "and I'll r thank God every night and morning ; as long as I live that He saved me from - being a lawyer." l "Lies!" he muttered, as he reached the street; "lies! I should think so." Put. Prier, in all seriousness, why did you fly into a passion? Would not any man's story be better than his < silence? Why didn't you tusk him who l invented the malicious lies? And when? And where? And why? Oh, Prier, Prier. foolish Prier!" 3 *?*?* ** Mr. Prier went to the postoffice im, mediately after his interview with Mr. - Aidrich. There was a registered letter 1 for him?a bulky letter. He opened it. , "More anonymous mystery?" he questioned himself, as he tore the end off the envelope. It was not an anonymous letter which he drew out. It was a letter dated at Jahnway Park?a place he had never heard of, and signed h.v Jasper Jahnway?a name he had never known. No matter. It came from a place?and from a man: "Mr. J. B. Priep: I have been much interested in reading of the recent remarkable trial and triumphant acquittal of Mr. Gilbert Senn, in the matter of the murder of Constance Craig, as related in the News-Express of your city?or, rather, of Boomville, since your residence there is only temporary?and 'for pleasure'! "My interest is the greater, because of the inclosed document, recently picked up by myself on my grounds. A. fragment, without date or name or signature, there is still a similarity between the story it tells and the theory of Mrs. Craig's death as developed at the trial, which I cannot believe is a mere accidental coincidence. "I accordingly send you this bit of evidence, sincerely hoping it may be useful to you. In conclusion. I beg that you will not annoy me with either questions or gratitude. Your thanks i will take for granted: I assure you rou are welcome. I have nothing to tell. I don't know who wrote it, I Jon't know to whom it was written; 1 know nothing about it but what I liave told. "I might, in truth, add that 1 don't are who wrote or who received it. I tend the document as a matter of luly. I like excitement, hut I warn /ou I will not submit to being bored ibout this matter. "Hoping that you will understand, ind insisting that you shall respect my bluntness, I remain. Very truly, /our well wisher. "Jasper Jahnway." Frier hurriedly read the document hus strangely sent him?the same one ve read long ago. And then? He ran to the hotel as though sudlenly insane. He dashed up the stall's. He sprang nto his room. He took the anonymous etter from the place where he kept it. de laid it and the document Jasper Tahnway had sent him side by side. No need to search longer. No need o ask whether the writing was disguised or not. He had the mate to his inonymous letter. But who?who of ill the world?wrote it? Must it be inonymous still?this letter, and this nore horrible production?anonymous "or ever? He sank upon his knees. The tears an down his cheeks as he turned his ?.ves toward heaven and his heart torn rd Omnipotence. "Just fJod," he cried, "help me to find lim? Deliver him into my power! The me who dared write me this wicked, ,vretched letter of warning killed Condance Craig with his own hands!" To be Continued. NEWSPAPER VALUATIONS. aood Will Often Worth More Than Plant The sale of The Baltimore News to Frank A. Munsey for Jl.HOO.OOO call? ittention to the high values now placed on newspaper properties in he United States. It was not so very ong ago that The New York Herald ,vas considered the only daily worth i million dollars. Now there are at east two dozen newspapers that are leld at that figure or more. The New York Herald could not je bought at any price, hut if it were 'or sale it is doubtful if Mr. Bennett would part with his property for any ess than $ 10,000,ftftO, as it is earning nore than ten per cent on that captalizntion. and is generally regarded us the most valuable of all newspaper properties in America. The New STork World is a close second. Resides these there are in New York Uity at least six others worth from two o eight millions each. Chicago, Kansas City. San Francisco, St. Louis, Pittsburg, Philadelphia. Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston and Washington are the homes of newspapers that will fetch from one to five million dollars. Probably there are not six in the intire number whose plants alone ire worth more than half a million dollars. Wherein, then lies the great t-alue of these publications? The greatest asset any newspaper inn have is that intangible yet exceedingly valuable thing known is good will. Nothing is harder to get or so easily lost. Some publishers have spent millions of dollars trying to gain it. but have failed utterly. Others have won it practically without the expenditure of a single ilollar. The successful newspapers of today were not born yesterday. They were established?the most of them ?many years ago and have attained their present position by patient, persevering and intelligent hard work. Hood will is based on public confidence and confidence comes only after trial. Hence no newspaper can expect, under ordinary circumstances, to have the loyal support of its public as soon as it is launched. Tt must be tested in the crucible of experience: it must prove its right to exist. Promises count for nothing: it is their faithful performance that inspires confidence and wins support. The newspaper that touches the goal line is the one that is honestly conducted in the interests of the community it serves. It stands for political as well as moral righteousness. It protects its public from fraud, graft and evil whenever it has the opportunity to do so. Tt wears no collar, is no man's organ, and doesn't flinch when danger threatens It does its level best to help the people to think right, to do right and to get the best there is out of life. It supports good men for office and opposes the unworthy even though they may be the nominees of its own party. A newspaper of this kind after awhile wins the confidence and esteem of the public. People believe in it and take it to their hearts. It comes to them every morning or evening as a friend laden with good things. They feel that the news it brines is reliable and that its edito rial opinions are honest even though they do not always agree with them. Out of this intimate relationship comes good will, that most important of all newspaper assets which often represents nine-tenths of its value.? Editor and Publisher. trT Glass bricks, a German product, are translucent but not transparent, and possess the advantages of being tire proof and of harboring no disease germs. pisffltoitfous fouling. FERTILIZATION PROBLEM. Practical and Illuminating Discussion of Most Important Subject. The Charlotte News of March 31, i publishes a paper that was read by i Mr. IW. S. Lee of the Southern Power ! comiany before the Engineering socle- i ty of the Carolinas at a recent meeting i In (marlotte on the subject of fertlll- ( zers The paper contains so much in- ] terestlng and valuable information as ? to make it worth careful study, and i we take pleasure in reproducing it ] herewith for the benefit of the readers i of The Enquirer. I "Wc stand near some trunk line < railroad and see whirling by us train \ load after train load of some product i of our local soil, such as watermelons, cantaloupes or various fruits and j vegetables, we are very much Im- | pressed with the magnitude of this t particular line of agriculture. When < we consider that the products of our soil arc being shipped in enormous , quantities to various quarters of the ; globe, then reflect but a moment, we can readily see that we must have some very fertile or productive soli which we are depleting, or which must be replenished by suitable fertilization. "If we could tabulate the tonnage of our farm products which are going out of our territory each year, I fear we would be alarmed as to what the conditions will bring forth. We are told by our physicist that according to the law of conservation of matter, not a particle can be annihilated. Reasoning along this line, we feel that while we are taking enormous products from the soil, this matter will eventually find its way back. This may be theoretically true, but it will require a long time for the fruits and vegetables which we are shipping to the large centers, such as New York city, and are there used or wasted, to ever find their way back to fertilize the ?>il of the Carolinas. "For many years ship load after ship load of cotton has been moving from the south to be spun in England. Can anyone tell you when the matter which is so moved will ever be returned to replenish the soil on which we have been drawing? Our agricultural resources have been so used and only partially tilled, that from year to year we have been laying aside the land which has been robbed of its fertility, only to clear away our forests and use more fertile soil. The rate at which this has been going on, is showing very plainly to tiie thinking man that this must be stopped and we must arrange to prepare to fertilize this old soil to keep up our enormous production. "The failure of the soil to repro duce as it formerly did, has given rise to^Mnormous business in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers. "Before considering our method of fertilizing we wish to discuss one important element which seems to pervade so many of the compounds which we find useful in every day life. This element, nitrogen, which we find in combination with others, is very active. "We find it in our perfumes, also in some of our most obnoxious smells. We find it in our beautiful dyes, also in a great many of our medicines used in our sick room: in the deadly poison, such as prussic acid, and in the ptomaines this element also lurks. It drives our bullets in the form of gunpowder, it forms our powerful explosive, dynamite: it dissolves our metals in the form of nitric acid, and it extracts our gold extracts in the form of cyanide. "About three-fourths of our atmos- ( IJIKT.C in wl I..I. wev , it is very active in other compounds, , it is very inert and inactive in our at- , mosphere. We find that compounds , of nitrogen furnish our chief source j of fertilizers. There are three sources ( from whici: this fertilizer is derived. , First: Peruvian Ouano. This is excrement and remains of sea birds, . which is shipped us from Peru. Tn . 1856 about 50,000 tons per year were | derived from this source; today there ? is practically none, as this has been ] almost exhausted. I "Second?Source of nitrogen is de- , rived from ammonium sulphate, this , being a bi-product in the distillation , of coal tar. Tn 1900 this amounted to . about 500,000 tons per year, valued at ( about $20,000,000. ' ( "Third?Source of nitrate of soda, , or oftentimes called Chili salt petre. This comes from a narrow strip of ( land between the Andes and coast ( hills which is a rainless district, and ( there from countless ages the fixation , of nitrates has been going on on ac- < count of atmospheric and soil condi- j lions. Tn 1860 about 68,000 tons were , derived from this source. Tn 1900, j 1.453.000 tons were used. Tt is esti- | mated that within from 15 to 20 , years, that this course will be totally i consumed. About one-fourth of this ( is used in the various industries, and about three-fourths is used for the f fertilization of the soil in the agrlcul- ] tural districts of Europe and Ameri- < ca. ] "The formation of these valuable < deposits required ages and ages, but ( man in his hurry today is not patient , enough to wait for such formations, i In a mad endeavor to secure more < from the soil that nature intended: he is continually looking for sornear- | tilicial means to increase its produc- 1 t ion. "Dame Nature has made heroic ef- i forts to provide for man, as well as I take care of the waste of her boun- i lies. she no doubt must look down ! on man and feel that he is using his ( energies to turn her plans topsy-turvy i or put the world awry. i "There is one other indirect source in which our farmers are endeavoring to replenish or to fertilize their < soils. That is by planting certain plants, such as clover, beans and peas, i Near the base of the stalks are little i nodules which are veritable colonies ( of nitrifying microbes. Our farmers i well know that a crop of peas will i produce a great effect in fertilizing their land, and they often plant for this purpose. "How many times have we stood and watched the beauty of a thunder : storm and wondered what good the 1 tremendous and oft-times destructive charges of lightning could do. We are told that as this lightning flashes i through the atmosphere It burns and fixes certain nitrates from the air. These in turn are washed down by the rain into the soil, producing a fertilizer. This has presented a new scheme to some of our scientists, and as we have made many attempts to harness the lightning in the way of i>ur tremendous electrical developments, it immediately occurs to the scientists that he should be able to make these nitrates from the air. The scientist further has weighed the conditions. and has noted our enormous products moving from our productive soil to other places, and the fast disappearance of our fertilizer nitra beds. He has come to the conclusion that unless there is some provision made for fertilizing, that we will surely lind aurselvcs without bread and in the midst of a famine and a country that s almost a desert. "While this is to the ordinary layman a very startling: assertion. It is none the less an absolute fact, that intess some provision is made it must ircur. y\s stated above the harnessing of .lit* immense water powers and out n.itation of the production of lightning has given us an opportunity to make these nitrates which, if carried :?n successfully, will remedy these Uartling conditions. "About 10 years ago the Atmospheric company was formed at Xiagra Falls, and from all their experiments succeeded successfully in making nitrate acids and some compounds of nitrogen. "We are told that in Norway and Sweden enormous plants are now successfully working, which are proluclng fertilizers and nitrogen compounds. The matter that comes nearer home to us is the manufacture of nitrates in our own immediate territory. From all indications it will be Put a short time in which the entire >utput of our water powers will be consuming men- energy m uuniuig nitrogen and producing fertilizer for nut" farms right at home. "Each year our electrical improve-) ments are enabling us to accomplish greater results. High voltages and excessive currents of a few years ago ire very commonplace today. There las been recently perfected apparatus hat is not costly but well adapted for he manufacture of nitrates from the lie. "We expect to see at no distant day he farmer who is situated near an) electrical development or near their ransmission lines, with his own plant producing his fertilizer, and doing it it a season of the year when the pow?r company has plenty of surplus power that could be sold cheap. This production of fertilizer will obviate, :o a large extent, the work of hauling from railroad stations to remote ?arms in the country." CABLE LINES NOT STRAIGHT. They Zigzag Across the Ocean Like Railroads on the Land. The island of Celebes, nearly half if which is still almost unknown, has low been connected by cable with the leighboring island of Borneo and also kvith the American Island of Guam, Tar to the north. It has thus been Drought into close touch with the rest if the world, for it is joined to all parts of the Eastern Hemisphere through Borneo and to the Western Hemisphere through Guam and San Francisco. Before an ocean cable is laid a'ves?pi i? ulwsivs sent out to make a care Till survey of the proposed route. The route is picked for these cables lines just as railroad engineers run lines of levels before they finally locate railroad routes. With piano wire for sounding lines :he cable engineer determines the levels of the ocean floor and secures samples of the bottom so that he may lecide where it is best to lay the able. Interesting discoveries were made about the ocean floor between Celebes and Guam, but they mean more to geologists than to the laity. Cable lines look straight enough is seen on the maps, but they are anything but straight as they lie on the ocean floor. Dr. Klotz of Canada said in a recent lecture that the great Pacific cable. S.ftOft miles long, between Vancouver and New Zealand was time and again deflected from a straight line between the island stations at which it touched in order to ivoid towering submarine mountains or craters or ground that was hard or otherwise undesirable as a resting olace for the cable. The samples of ground which cable engineers most desire to bring up from the bottom are the soft oozes or muds that are found only in the leep seas far from the continents and which are composed largely of the pulverized skeletons of marine animals. Cables last longest when they repose in these soft beds. They are riot found everywhere in the deep ocean, but if they are not too far away the cable route will be deflected to jross them. A great deal that has been learned ibout the ocean floors in recent years has been incidental to the laying of cables. The United States steamer .Vero was sent to pick .a route for a rabie across the Pacific, and while engaged in the work she found a lepth of r?,2tl!> fathoms, or six miles, the greatest depth in the ocean of which we have any knowledge. Thousands of miles of cable are laid at depths of three to four miles bo low the surface, and because at such depths the pressure of the water Is about four tons to the square inch the cable sinks very slowly to its restins place. The line paid out over the stern of the vessel drops Instantly out :>f sight, but the vessel is often twenty miles away before the cable finally rests on the bottom. At these great depths the water is very cold. The many hundreds of soundings taken during the cable surveys have established the fact that there is very little difference between the temperatures of the deepest parts uf the oceans. Their waters are uniformly only a few degrees above the freezing point. It is found also that the bottom of the deep parts of the seas is more favorable for the longevity of cable lines than the harder ground of the shallower waters nearer the coasts. This is fortunate, for it is less expensive to haul up and repair a eable that needs to be raised only from comparatively shallow waters. AFRICAN BUSHMEN DOOMED. Dr. Rudolf Poch to Make a Study of a Disappearing Race. A letter received in New York from Dr. Rudolf Poch. the well known anthropologist. says: I ant about to start under the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna for the Kalahari desert in South Africa to make a study of the bushmen. The race is rapidly dying out and the sole purpose of my expedition is to add to our knowledge of this people before they become extinct. The fact has been recognized for some years that this African race Is destined to extinction. This Is all the more remarkable because everywhere else the African races are more than holding their own. Pestilence, war and the evils that the whites introduce are powerless to obliterate them. Africa is growing steadily in native population. Rut the bushmen are now reduced to a handful and every year they are dwindling. Circumstances are too hard for them and it Is not believed they could be saved even by a change In their conditions. The bushmen inhabit the great desert of South Africa. There is no running water, and yet among the sand wastes there are depressions where the natives find water by digging, and in places it comes so near the surface that vegetation flourishes and many animals find nurture in the desert. The bushmen are only a few inches taller than the pygmies of central Africa. They live in rock caves or in huts of sticks and grass. They seldom wear more than a leather apron to protect their legs from thorns. They subsist on the scant vegetation, on roots and on the animals they kill. Clubs, bows and arrows and a few spears are their only weapons. They are primitive, but they do not buy their wives: they have been faithful to tho.?e whites who have befriended them, and they paint and draw in an astonishing manner. Much has been written of the thousands of animal paintings with which they adorn the rocks and the walls of their caves. Why do they not abandon the desert to which they are confined? They could not if they would. They are hemmed around by pastoral and agricultural regions, all occupied by strong tribes, who kill them like vermin if they venture across the line. If they were free to leave the desert it is doubtful if they would do so, for they are a hunting people, and such tribes have never volnntariiy become a pastoral or an agricultural community. Whenever cattle have been given to the bushmen they have killed them, for they will not herd them. The whites have been even more destructive of the bushmen than their native enemies. Late in the eighteenth century the Dutch used to shoot these little people as they would game. It is recorded that in the ten years ending In 1795 the Dutch killed 2,480 bushmen. They have always shrunk from contact with civilization, and today, when they see white protectorates planted all around them, they are retreating further into the desert. The whites are invading the more fertile valleys, are staking out ranches and building little settlements, are killing off the game that is the hereditary food of the desert nomads, ploughing the places where the bushmen go for berries and edible roots and narrowing the area in which they can live. They seem wholly unable to live under new conditions, and the old conditions are passing away. All who know them best say that their absolute extermination is a question of only a few years.?New York Sun. MONTHS ON A LONELY ISLAND. Sufferings of Norwegian SailoVs In the Pacific. A story of suffering at sea. followed by months of privation on a lonely Island. is told by survivors of the Norwegian bark Alexander Dubis, who were recently landed at Southampton England, and sent thence to Christlania. The story is not one of shipwreck; it is of disaster produced by a succession of calms. The region was the neighborhood of the Galapagos Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean, and it was on one of the smallest of the islands that the men were marooned for nearly six months. The story as told by one of the quartermasters. a man named Morrison, goes back to the beginning of 1907, when the bark fell into a series of protracted calms, varied only by light and adverse winds. These conditions lasted for over three months, during which her position varied little. Food ran short, tlie- frosh water became foul and undrinkable. There seemed to be no hope of getting into a wind zone and still less of making port. About May 5 land was sighted, which the captain recognized as outlying members of the Galapagos group. Every effort was made to steer tiie bark toward them, but without avail. The islands were in sight for two days without any sensible approach to them being made. Then as the bark seemed to lie drifting away from them and conditions on board had become hopeless it was determined to abandon the vessel and make for the land in boats. There were two of these, barely big enough to hold the crew. The crew took to them on May 8, leaving the bark to her fate, all sail set Then came a desperate struggle to make the shore. A strong current tended to carry the boats out to sea. At last the boat that Morrison was in seemed to get out of the direct current and distinct progress was made toward one of the islands. It was the tenth day after abandoning the ship that the men were able to make a landing. About the same time they lost sight of the captain's boat. The landing brought dissapointment to the castaways. The island was bare and barren. Ry splitting cactus leaves and sucking the pulp the men cooled their thirst. "Never have I experienced such a pleasure as when the sap moistened my lips," says Morrison. They found a turtle and made a fire with driftwood and seaweed and cooked it in its shell. The fire they kept burning day and night, for they had only sixteen matches among them. They were so careful that when rescued they still had nine left, t By way of variety In their diet they gathered some shellfish and caught a few lizards. Turtles fortunately were rather plentiful. What they longed for most was bread, and when they knocked down a few birds they tried to grind up the bones into flour. Another Island about a mile distant i seemed more promising. It showed ; considerable vegetation. But they were cut off from it by an impassable marsh i and their boat had been smashed. It was plain they could not exist long where they were, so four of the i most daring undertook to swim, to the other island and explore It. They found much better conditions, Including an abundance of good water, and they swam back to give the news to their comrades and concert ways to reach the better region. All except one resolved to attempt the swim, some making life belts to help them keep afloat. One of the party had fallen into despair. To all pleas he returned the answer that the spot where he was, was good enough to die in. He remained behind, and later, when help came, his skeleton was found on the beach. The reit all made the passage in safety. They found their new quarters much better than the old. Food was more plentiful and there was no trouble about water. But a new trouble was in store for them. The place swarmed with ants and mosquitoes. Sleep was almost impossible. The men were covered with sores. Their nerves were racked by loneliness and despair and more than one showed symptoms of mental derangement. The mate In charge of the Knot nnidir 1 /tot K to tvi nlotolxf iswcti |mi ij i??ni inn auuiii \.wiii|^icvcij and for five weeks he had to be watched day and night. One of the sailors, a German named Schaffer, irritated at a temporary scarcity of food, started out on a foolhardy exploring expedition along the cliffs which bordered part of the shore. He fell into the sea and was killed. Weeks lengthened into mortths. The castaways almost lost sense of time. They became pale and emaciated and almost too listless to search for food. They grew tp abhor the things they had to eat monotonously and their : cravings were all centered on bread. Their sight became impaired, too, probably from the merciless sunlight as much as from weakness. Sometimes they silt whole days gazing out over the sea but really not seeing It. They all told of visions of life elsewhere, at home, on board ship, in ports they had visited. Early after their landing they had put up a pole with a shirt for a signal In case any ship should pass that way. It was their salvatlcn. The other boat had not been lost. It had made one of ' the inhabited islands and the castaway crew had been sent to the mainland. A small government chartered schooner was sent from Iqulque to" * * search for the missing boat and its men and after a couple of weeks' vain cruising among the islands and just on the point of giving up the quest it sighted the signal of distress. It was October 29, just five months and twenty days from the date of the abandonment of the bark. The survivors of the party could not have lived more than a week or two longer. RIGHT OR LEFT HAND? Relative use of the Two Discussed by an Authority. There is no reason to suspect even the most vague or faraway beginnings in animals, writes Dr. George J.I. Gould in the Medical Record. So long as the fore feet are used for locomotion there could be no lateral differentiation of function. I have watched for It in squirrels that use their front paws to hold nuts, cits that strike at insects in the air or play with wounded mice, and <n many other animals, but I am sure that to neither paw is preference ass'gned. There is thus probably no dominancy of either eye in animals. Even in the monkeys and gorillas, who of all animals most use the forepaws as hands, one catches no suggestion of preferential use or superi ior expertness in the dextral or sini ister side. My very Intelligent dog, trained to "shake hands" with his right paw, lost his right eye, and after that he always offered the left paw. But in the lowest human savages all ovjr the world choice or greater expertr.rss of one hand is as clearly present as in civilized cases. No savages, however, are so near animal A ~ AuUIkU lan conditions as iu omuu na uiucientiating origins. Fixed in all our military and social customs and living at the back of language itself are two more facts which solve the riddle and make clear whence and how right-handedness arose. In all tribes and countries since man used implements of offense and defense, the sinistral or cardiac side was protected by the shield, and the sinistral hand was called the shield hand as the dextral was called the spear hand. Next to fighting and synchronous with it was the need of barter, and the fundamental condition of bartering was counting with the low numbers, one to ten. The fingers of the free or dextral hand were, of course, first used, and all fingers are today called digits, as are the figures themselves, and the basis of our numberings is the decimal or ten-fingered system. The tally stick, notched or numbered, is the record of the digits held in the air. Every drill and action of the soldier, from Xenophon to West Point, is dextral in every detail. The dominancy of the right eye is shown in firing from the right shoul der and sighting with the right eye. I have two patients, left-handed in every respect, who have been (aught to fire their guns from the right shoulder, but of course, they are left eyed and they depress the right eye below the level of the gun and sight with the dominant left eye. i Right-footedness. less differentiated, i of course, must follow righthandedness, so that all soldiers (and Freemasons, too) must step off with the left foot first; that is the spring must be made with the right. The loss of the right hand, or right eye, mutilations, etc., very common in barbaric times, would help to account for the preservation of the present four per cent of left-handed : people.