Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, June 13, 1913, Image 1
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ISSUED SEMI-WEEKLY, =====
L.k.OBisrs 80HS, Pabiiihen. } % 4ami,8 IJettspjui: #>r fromotion o| lh< fotitiqal, gonial, Sflri<ultui;al and (Enmmtyial Jntfresta of fli* 1
EST^IBLISHED 1855. YORKVILLE, S. O.^FRIDAY, JUNE 13,191a ~~ ' NO. 47.
TREASURE T
i 1 i u' ? . ? MJ
Great Fortunes That
Centuries Si
. \ . .
The word "treasure" ?meaning 1
something very valuable, and prefer- 1
ably a few million pounds' worth of i
gold bullion fastened up in strong i
chests; and, again, meaning specially '
such treasure as has been lost forcen- i
' ?? ? ??? oniv with difflcnlty 1
kUi*C70 paov auu
be regained; and, once more, referring ]
to such bullion at the bottom of the <
sea, perhaps in the holds of Spanish 1
galleons?that word "treasure" Is one 1
which strikes quickly into our imagin- 1
ation and makes the most placid won- 1
der If there is not something of the <
adventurer in him after all, despite 1
his constant occupation by day in the <
routine of an office. Then let us con- 1
slder treasure for a while. Where is ]
the lost treasure? How did it get I
there? And how can we get it out? i
These are Important questions. '
Many of us had our fancy tickled <
immensely a year or two back by the <
terms of one of the most fascinating i
financial prospectuses that has ever i
been issued. A company was being t
with a oanltft] of ? 200.000 <
gui " I*? mm v?r ,
with the avowed object of making 1
such a thorough and scientific effort t
to come by some of this lost treasure 1
as had never been made before. The <
story is that seventeen Spanish galle- 1
one, men-of-war of two or three <
decks, laden with gold and silver and 1
valuable merchandise brought from 1
the West Indies, took refuge In Vigo i
Bay, where they were surprised and t
attacked by Admiral Rooke. In order i
to prevent the v*?torlous British and t
Dutch allies from gaining possession t
of the treasure the galleons were i
sunk. Dr. Iberti came to the conclu- i
sion that the toal amount upon arrival i
at Vigo, as valued in 1702, was up- (
ward of ?27,000,000, out of which the 1
Kw the flnAntarda. the (
iicaouic oarvu *.*v ? ,
booty taken by the victors and the
treasure recovered by the different
concessionaires since then is altogether
only worth ?3,000,000, so that
something very good remains.
All this treasure was the accumulated
value of three years' workings of
the gold and silve mines of Spanish
America, and the annual yield from
these sources is computed to have
been ipore than ?9,000,000. Besides
- all this, there was a great quantity of
costly merchandise, including pearls,
emeralds, amethysts, amber and precious
wcods from South American
forests, and it wus reckoned also that
the wood of the sunken galleons, .hardened
by centuries of submersion,
would yield a handsome profit on the
labor of recovering it Some critics
have essayed to show that the sunken
treasure, exceedingly valuable as all
must admit it to be, is not quite
worth all this. But at the low
eat estimate Its value must be many
millions, perhaps at least twenty; and
there was the word of Sir Roger Fenton
that "this Spanish flota was universally
regarded to be the richest
that ever came from the West Indies
Into Europe." The unloading of the
vessels had commenced some ten
days before the engagement with the
fleet of the allies, but, owing to the
difficulty of transport over bridle
paths on paok mules, only 3,653 chests
of plate or silver, worth about ?2,000,000,
were landed when the enemy
sailed In to the attack. I believe that
the concession In the present case extends
until 1015, and that there are
strong hopes of some considerable
success attending the treasure-seeking
In Vigo Bay.
It Is believed that there Is one of 1
those Spanish galleons at the bottom
T\.n.. ?
or toe sea near ia?uu wc, <*<.
Mount's Bay, in Cornwall, and there
is a local tradition that many years
ago the farm hands in the neighborhood
were in the way of going down
to 'the shore at low tide and picking
up the dollars in buckets! A year or
two back a serious effort was made to
effect salvage, if there was any salvage
to be done, and diving and sand
pumping were carried on at the spot
where the galleon loaded with specie
was supposed to have foundered. So
far as is known no tangible good came
of these efforts.
No community of persons is so constantly
reminded of great treasure
that lies on the bed of the ocean as
ni-a the mom hers of Lloyd's, in Lon
don, reminded of the last Lutine and
the treasure that went down with her.
The Lutine and Lloyd's are linked together
In divers ways. A large and
somber-looking bell hangs from an
Iron bracket at Lloyd's, and a good
length of a ship's cable chain Is attached
to It. This Is the bell of the
lost Lutine, and It Is rung?and ca-ses
a grave and anxious stillness whenever
it is rung?when there Is Important
pews to hand concerning some
Ship that has been reported overdue,
and whose fate, of course, is a matter
of great concern to the underwriters
of this famous exchange.
The Lutine was a sjoop-of-war carrying
thirty-two guns, and she came
by her sudden and unhappy end in
October of 1707. Just after midnight
on the 9th, when running under a
press of sail, she struck on the outer
hank of the island of Vilieland. She
sank at once, and all on board her
perished, except two men who managed
to cling to floating spars and were
ultimately picked up by a Dutch cuater.
One of these, however, died Immediately,
and the other survived but
a very short while. In the following
year some ?55,000 worth of treasure
was fished up from the wreck, and
since then a large number of attempts
at salvage has been made, for the
treasure that has been recovered is
small In comparison with that which
has not. In 1886 some 3,000 coins, two
cannon, three watches and various
other articles were obtained from the
wreck.
Comparatively recently another and
more determined attempt at salvage
was decided upon. It was ascertained
that the wreck is now so deeply buried
In sand and mud that special
means would have to be adopted if
any good results were to attend the
0 BE FOUND
Have Been Lost For
till Sought. .
work; and accordingly an oval steel
tube was made, nearly 100 feet long
md wide enough to allow a man to
walk erect down the center. There
was a metal chamber provided with
windows and doors at one end and at
the other there was a medley of giant
looks and tackle of various kinds. One
and of the tube was to be clamped to i
:he side of a steamship or barge, and ,
the other, by means of water-ballast ]
tanks, was to be sunk until ft touched \
the bottom. Then, by using compress-, \
ad air, all the water would be forced ,
from the tube and also from the j
ahamber at the bottom of It, which
would be flush on the bed of the sea. ,
Divers would walk down the stairway <
in the center of the tube until they ,
reached the submerged chamber, <
where they would assume their diving ,
aostumes, and then, opening a series j
>f water-tight doors, would step \
straight out Into the water. Engineers (
would be stationed In the chamber, ,
md, following the Instructions of the j
livers, who would communicate with ,
:hem by means of portable telephones,
they would operate the mechanism of ,
two powerful suction pumps or dredg- j
ars fitted to the sides of the tube. The >
dea was entertained that these dredg- ,
?ra wniiiii mink ?wnv the sand around ,
:he sides of the heavy chamber until <;
t would gradually sink by Its own
weight right down onto the deck of
:he wrecked ship. The divers would
lien make their way from the cham>er
to the deck of the ship, and from
:here to the hold; after which success
lothlng would be simpler than to convey
the treasure of the Lutlne to the
ihip above by easy apd comfortable
itages with something of the reguarlty
and method of unloading a big
sargo boat in the East India docks.
Such is one of the most Ingenious and
>est organized schemes for the recovery
of treasure ever planned, and in
food season it will be carried to exe
:uuon.
And then there Is Tobermory. All
lave heard of the treasure that lies at
Jie bottom of the sea at the northwest
:orner of Mull, one of the fairest parts
>f the western coast of Scotland. There
s some substantial fact and much
Ictlon In the stories that have been
old about the treasure-ship of the
Spanish Armada that was sunk in this
>lace, and both are attractive. It is
>nly comparatively recently that we
earned from the Spanish admiralty
he proper name and particulars of
:he ship that was blown up and sunk
it Tobermory. She was the Duque dl
Plorenzla (Duke of Florence), and was
jne of the largest and best equipped
vessels in the whole Armada, being
the senior ship of the Tuscan squaIron.
She was of 940 tons burden,
t>uilt of African oak, was armed with
Ifty-two guns of various caliber,
manned by 386 sailors and 100 marines,
and was commanded by Captain
Pereira. She was a treasure ship, and
carried bullion to very high value;
but It begins to appear unlikely that
she had on board ihe 30,000,000 pieces,
equal to 3,000.000 pounds sterling In
British money, with which she was
generally filled. Some have lately
been arguing that she was not a
treasure ship at all, that there has
been some confusion in names, and
that that of the Tobermory ship is
really San Juan Bautlsta.
During the latter part of the seventeenth
century many attempts at salvage
were made, and a few guns and
coins were brought up; while It Is said
that In 1688 a Swedish engineer, bringing
a diving bell to his assistance, did
actually recover a great deal of treasure.
Some fifty or more years after
wards the diving-bell was employed ,
again, and a very magnificent gun,
the work of Benvenuto Cellini, was
recovered, with other things more or
less valuable. This and others are
now at Inveraray. In the last few ,
years some very thoroughly organized
efforts have been made to recover the ,
treasure, all the most up-to-date mechanical
and electrical salvage appliances?submarine
tubes, diving-bells,
dredging apparatus, and all the rest?
having been brought to the assistance
of the searchers. The first of these
thorough efforts was carried out by
Captain Burns, of Glasgow; but
though many things were brought up
from the wTeck?which is really still
there?the treasure In bulk was not
eained. Skeptics began to say that the
hunters of the seventeenth century
must have got most of it, but others
are more sanguine. During the summer
of 1910 eight acres of the mud at
the bottom of the sea were probed in
the search for the chests of gold; and,
though they were not found, it is said
that the sensitive electrical apparatus
which was employed, indicated that
masses of gold and silver were still
hidden beneath the waters. Later endeavors
have not disclosed the treasure.
All this was treasure that went to
its hiding: place in the time of Elizabeth;
and, if that seems far enough
back, what of the treasure that was
lost (and, as some say, may still be
recovered) in the last days of King
John at the beginning of the thirteenth
century? At the extremity of
his career and his long-drawn out
conflict with the barons, John, with
his army and wagons?these latter laden
with the plunder of half a kingdom
and the costly treasure of a king
?was making his way northward
through Lincolnshire; and, coming to
Cross Keys, which was then on the
border of the Wash, he attempted to
cross the sands to the other side, but
was caught by the tide, and horses,
wagons and baggage were swallowed
up by the quicksands. The king, in
the rear, saw it happen from the Lincolnshire
coast, and it is said that he
himself had a narrow escape that day.
Now, it is quite certain that there
went down at this time not only vast
treasure in coin, but the most glorious
riches in the way of the spoils
that John had gathered from the
churches and abbeys he had looted ev
srywhere. There were the riches of
Croyland abby among them; and, valuable
as these things were at that
time?as John knew so well?how
much more so, magnificent relics of
the thirteenth century, would they be
today! What a scene of strife and
excitement would there be at Christie's
auction rooms could but one of
them be put up for sale there In these
times! And it Is considered probable^
also, that some pieces of the ancient
regalia of England were lost
with all the reqt.
Now, salvage of all this, If It were
still In the quicksands of the Wash,
would seem but a poor thought; but
the truth Is that What was the Wash
In those days Is now good solid Lincolnshire,
all that part having long
ilnce been reclaimed by diking and
draining. The line of the old passagefrom
Cross Keys to Long Sutton is
now as Arm as a street in London or
Edinburgh, and the treasure Is In the
jround below. It is said that the
Icing's wagon train stretched at least
two miles; and it'has been suggested
that if a trench some fen yhrds deep
were cut transversely across this line
It must surely be 'struck.
There, then, is 'a great treasure
waiting for recovery: and In this case
there Is no diving under water to be
tone, bat simply digging fn the light
>f day. Railway trains constantly run
icross from Cross Keys to Long Sutton
on the exact route that John's
jaggage train took; but how many of
the passengers know or think of that
iwful tragedy of history that took
?lace there, the evidence of wlhch \b
lurely In the ground below them?
There is plenty more treasure betides
all this. There Is much of it In
South Africa. "Lobengula'a millions."
rhat Is how they speak of the treasire
which was hidden and burled by
:he famous king of the Matabele.
Phoro wam nnlv five men who knew
vhere tbe treasure was deposited, and
>f those Ave there is only one still
iving, this being John Jacobs, a naive
minister who was at one time
irlvate secretary to the king. This
nan says that the treasure consists of
!,800,000 pounds In gold coin, thlrtyilx
bars of raw gold, ten wagon loads
>f Ivory, and 400 diamonds. Some two
>r three years ago Jacobs was taken
with an expedition that set out In
learch of the place, and trekked along
he Zambesi to Sesheke, and then to
Liealul, the capital of the king of Ba'otseland,
meeting with much hardihlp
and adventure all the way. From
here they tried to get to the head of
ho Vnrl rlitor nihtch nram undorfltonrf
:o be the wanted place; but they were
nisdirected by the natives, and, getlng
a long way out of their courso,
ind suffering from lack of food and
lesertlons, had to give up and turn
>ack.
Then there are also "Kruger's millons,"
which are understood to be lyng
at the bottom of the sea in the
vreck of a ship called the Dorothea,
>flf Cape Vidal. People whose authorty
in the matter has to be respected,
lowever, declare that, though the
rold is there, it was never Kruger's,
md. that, Indeed he knew nothing of
ts being on this ship. The alternate
and probably true story is that
:ertain officials connected with the
government of the transvaal, seeing
the way in which things were going
jhortly before the outbreak of the war
ssuea aiunomy xo several inaiviuuuis
permitting them to engage in illicit
gold buying. Having authority to buy
gold from mine managers at their own
price with a view to getting it out of
the country, they looked to make a
good profit on it between the purchase
price and what they would get for it
In Europe. It is confidently believed
that as the result of this arrangement
?450,000 worth of gold in bars was
placed on the sailing ship Ernestine
at Delagoa bay, the name of the ship
being then changed to Dorothea. This
vessel had been condemned as unseaworthy
on account of some acid having
been spilled In her lower hold; but
she was put to rights and the twelve
big boxes of gold bars were placed in
the hold abaft the foremast, cemented
over, and 200 tons of sand ballast
were tumbled into the ship on top of
them.
Then the Dorothea set sail, and It
was given out that she was bound for
Monte Video, which, of course, she
was not; and a few days afterward
she was wrecked. It Is believed that,
despite the failure of some very thorough
expeditions, this treasure will
yet be secured; and It is said that, on
one of the earliest expeditions that set
out In quest of It, a diver named Kramer
brought up from the wreck three
pieces of cement which plainly showed
the impression of the cases, and
also about one and a quarter ounces
of gold from a bar which was protruding.
Captain Gardiner, who has been
commanding the exploring ship Alfred
Nobel, and making a great specialty
of hunting for sunken treasure?being
certain, as he says, that "there Is
money In this class of adventure"?
has expressed himself with much confidence
about getting the gold out of
the wrecked Dorothea; and he reminds
us also of more treasure of the
deep?that which is In the wreck of
H. M. S. Grosvenor, a transport which
was lost coming home from India at
the time of the Mutiny. She had on
board a cargo, including precious
stones, gold and sliver, bars and tin,
valued at more than ?1,700,000. The
wreck took place off the Pondoland
coast, in from five and a half to six
fathoms of water, and Is completely
covered with sand. Recently it was
announced that a salvage company
was making preparations to recover
treasure to the value of more than
?4,000,000 in sunken ships which are
not only known to exist but have been
located, and with this scheme Captain
Gardiner Is associated. "After exhaustive
search in the archives of
Cape Colony," he said, "I selected 137
of the more valuable and accessible
wrecks, and during the last seven
years, at an expenditure of more than
?4,000, have succeeded in discovering
no fewer than thirty-two of them."
And beyond all this there Is much
money buried and sunken treasure?
far more. There is, for Instance, the
famous treasure of Cuzco, the story of
which was given last year In an article
In these pages entitled "The Lost
Treasure of the Incas." Then there Is
Lake Guatavlta, Into which during
unknown ages, offerings were cast by
the Indians among whom gold abounded.
And so on, If one chose, and had
the space for the telling1 of many other
examples of mineral riches taken
from the i rth, and held, and then let
slip again by intention or not, and so
lost; but Borne of them may yet be
found at last.?Chambers' Journal.
"HEAT OF BATTLE" 18 REAL
Soldiers Wet With Perspiration After
Three-Minute Fight.
The expression, "the heat of battle,"
often used by poets and hlstori?|
ans, is usually taken in a figurative
sense and supposed to refer not to aj
anal tomnsnitiiM of the combatants, i
but to the Intense emotional excitement
under which they labor. But a
veteran of the Civil *War, who ought
to know, declares that the heat of battle
Is an actual bodily heat
"It is no mere figure of speech,"
says Captain Samuel Chapman, who
was a trooper In the battalion of Colonel
John S. Mosby, the famous Confederate
cavalry commander. "On the
contrary, In a hot fight the soldiers are
often almost overpowered by the sense
of oppressive warmth, even In the
coldest weather.
"I remember that the second week
in January, 1864, was one of the coldest
ever known In northern Virginia.
A deep snow preceded the cold spell.'
At that time the Federal troops were
In possession of Harper's Ferry, at the
> foot of the Shenandoah valley. They
I had pushed their outposts out upon
j the hills known as Loudon Heights,
and Colonel Mosby determined to attack
ar.d drive In these outposts.
"We met at Uppervllle, 86 miles
south of Loudon Heights, about 3
o'clock one bitterly cold afternoon.
There were about 200 of us, all warm
ly clothed In heavy unaerwe&r, uuck
flannel shirts, heavy service trousers,
thick boots and stout leggings.
"When we took up the line of march
over the crusty snow the mercury was
near zero, a temperature almost unprecedented
in that country, and a
cold north wind blew in our faces.
"We sat a moment, literally frozen,
waiting for the word. Then came the
order, 'Charge!' and with a wild yell
we swept down upon the sleeping enemy's
camp. Of course, it was an uneven
light. Even the best of soldiers
cannot light unless in formation, and
these poor fellows, roused suddenly
from dreams by the crack of the reon<i
tho valla of our men. could
make only slight resistance, and either
surrendered or sought safety In
flight
"As the firing ceased I found myself
sitting with my leg flung over
the horn of my saddle, and the hot
blood pulsing through my toes. My
overcoat was thrown open, my Jacket
flung wide, my flannel shirt and undershirt
unbuttoned and my bare
breast wet with sweat, was cooling in
the icy blast. I was even fanning i&y
dripping face with my broad brimmed
slouch hat! Round me others were
doing the same.
"And, by actual time, it had been
less than three minutes since Colonel
Mosby had given the order, 'Charge!'
to his frozen battalion."?Youth's
Companion.
Lobbiest of Former Days.?It will be
interesting to compare the findings of
the senate inquiry Into lobby abuses
with which the public knows of some
In the past. When the Credit Mobfli
"t-- u/ooKlncrfnn
er soanaai urune upuu ?? u.u.....b
"Sam" Ward was everywhere recognized
as king of the lobby, and proved
his right to the title by the royal
way In which he ruled his domain.
Not only did he make no uecret of his
calling, but he established for it a sort
of ethical code which he was never
I loath to expound. He openly made
his headquarters in the rooms of the
appropriations committees and at
Chamberlain's restaurant, where he
entertained half-convinced members
of congress out of working hours. By
the time the Pacific Mall subsidy investigation
came along It was plain
that the lobby had escaped from the
control of Its handful of barons of the
Ward type, and degenerated Into a
rather motley army of adventure, in
which all conditions of men could be
found, Including sundry off-color
newspaper correspondents. It was one
of the latter who saved his skin, and
at the samo time lent a touch of hu
mor to an otherwise grim and sordid
tory, by his boast that, although he
had accepted a large sum of money
for use in Influencing the opinions of
certain congressmen, he had spent it,
Instead, in building a good house for
himself. In a still later era, the Investigation
disclosed the fact ahat the
place of the old-fashioned lobby of
"brokers," who plied their trade by
"tipping oft the right people" as to
how the market In certain industrial
stocks was about to move. In 1897
Senator Hale sought to amend the
senate rules so as to limit the "privileges
of the floor," always till then
extended to all ex-senators, strictly to
those "who are not Interested in any
claim, or in the prosecution of the
same, or directly in any bill pending
before congress." There is more than
one way of doing shady work; and
whether the lobby of today be better
or worse than the lobby of the past,
we may feel pretty sure that it is not
quite so brazen.?New York Evening
Post.
Charity for Hapgood.?Some of the
South Carolina editors do not take
kindly to the proposition of listening
to an address- by Mr. Norman Hapgood,
of Collier's Weekly fame, and
are speaking their minds. The incident
they hold against him was his
editorial in connection with the driving
out of Wilmington of the negro editor
Manlv for his unsDeakable insult to
the women of the south. For that
article, Hapgood's publication was
barred from many homes in North
Carolina and Is still barred. He
grievously offended against the sensibilities
of the south, but lr. the last
campaign In North Carolina we believe
he made professions of repentance.
Under the circumstances, we
believe the South Carolina editors
should welcome him and give further
proof, which they are so able to do,
that when he was writing, he labored
In dense ignorance of the southern
people and the south. We shoud never
lose an opportunity to take men
like Hapgood in hand and set the
right and this can be done In no more
effective manner than by welcoming
them into their homes and giving
them an opportunity to see how wo
live?to see what manner of people we
are.?Charlotte Observer.
Jftisttllaneous ^fading.
BLEA8E TO WIL80N
Federal Government Should Not loaut
Liquor Licenses in This State.
In a letter to President Woodrow
Wilson, of the United States, last
Tuesday, Governor Blease pleads with
him to instruct the revenue commission
not to Issue any more internal
revenue licenses In South Carolina to
retail liquor dealers, declaring that
such a course would assist him greatly
in enforcing the liquor laws. Ifj
u?ere is no autnority ai present to refuse
to Issue such licenses, the governor
asks the president to send a special
message to congress urging the enactment
of such a law.
"The United States government can
be a great moral and legal force In
helping to enforce the liquor laws In
this state, Instead of, as at present,
countenancing their violation," says
the governor In his letter. He says
that when he gets to the senate he
will Introduce such a bill. His letter
In full, follows:
"Columbia, 8. C., June 9, 1918.
'<Hl* Excellency, Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States, Washington,
D. C.?Dear sir: I have positive
Information that there are now In
this state several parties holding licenses
from the United States government
as retail liquor dealers, and I
a Informed that these licenses will
Ire on the 80th of this month. As
yop know, South Carolina has a stat
ute which prohibits the sale of whisky
wine or beer, except In eight counties
in which whisky is sold by the county
dispensaries, and any person, Arm or
corporation engaging In the sale of
any whisky, wine, beer, malt or vlnoui
liquors, save the legally authorlzed
dispensers in these eight counties.
is guilty of a misdemeanor. Still,
the United Btates government has
been and is yet continuously licensing
people other than dispensers in
the^. counties which have dispensaries,
and people within the counties which
have legal prohibition, to violate the
law of this state by becoming retail
liquor dealers. ,
"It does seem to me that you could
be of great assistance to me in the
enforcement of the liquor laws of this
state If you would instruct your Unit- ,
ed States commissioner of internal
revenue not to grant license to any
person, Arm or corporation in this
state, except the licenses necessary
for the legal dispensers, to engage in
the business of retail or wholesale liquor
dealer, and by Instructing your
United States marshals to see that
any person, firm or corporation selling
whisky, wine or beer in violation of
law shall be tried and punished by
the United States courts.
"If, after investigation by your attorney
general, it should be found that
there is any provision of law requiring
the Issuance of licenses to people
giving them the right, so far as the
Federal government is concerned, to
violate the state law, then I would
suggest that you could be of great assistance
if, in a special message to
congress vou would urge the passage
of a law remedying this defect to which
I have called your attention.
"Of course, under ho conditions or
circumstances would I put myself in
the position of suggesting that I might
want to dictate to your excellency or
even to suggest to you anything that
? ' " * ? * ? ? ? a U.tf I /Iaas aanm
would oe unpleasant, uui it =wm?
to me, as a private citizen of the United
States of America and as governor
of the greatest state in the American
Union, that it Is inconsistent for
the United States government to li?
cense people to violate a state law, so
far as the United States government
is concerned, saying to them. *you have
our license to violate the state law
without Interference from us.' It Is
true the licenses the Federal government
grants are only to sell under the
Federal laws, but at the same time,
the holders of these licenses, when
they apply for them, give notice that
*a *?Ia1oto fhn latua nf flfir
iliuy iiuojiu IU T|vmve ? *<? .? **?, w* ? Wstate.
Therefore it oertainly seems to
me that the United States officials
ought to say 'No, your state law prohibits
the sale by you of these goods
and we do not propose to make ourselves
parties to your violation of the
state law by guaranteeing you immunity
from prosecution in our courts if
you do violate the state law.' In other
words, the United States government
certainly can be a great moral
and legal force In this state, instead
of, as at present, countenancing their
violation.
"There are a great many social
clubs in this state today so-called
social clubs?which I am satisfied
would not dare attempt to violate the
state law without a Federal revenue
license for the sale of whisky.
"I hope that I have not made this
letter too lengthy, and that If I have
made myself clear. When I get to the
United States senate, If some action
has not been taken before that time,
I shall introduce a bill along this line,
but I do not conceive that it is necessary
to wait a year and a half or two
years for the government to take this
action along the line of the law, of
Justice, and of morals.
"Very respectfully,
"Cole Li. Blease,
"Governor."
GREATEST OF ALL DISASTERS
Flood of the Hoang-Ho in China in
1887 Heads List.
"Talking of floods, what was the
greatest disaster nature ever hit the
world with? I don't mean the deluge
or anything so far off as that, and I
don't mean wars, either. They're our
own work. But what was the biggest
loan of life that ever happened because
of a flood or a fire or an earthquake,
or anything of that sort, as
fur back as the ordinary records go?"
"I suppose you don't Include plagues,
such as the 'black death' that
ravaged Europe for a century or so,
almost continuously, back In the Middle
Ages?"
"No; that lasted too long. I mean
one of the sudden smashes that have
hit the world and knocked out cities
or sunk ships; anything of that kind."
"Well," said the man appealed to as
a handy reference book, "If you limit
It that way. I think the flood of the
Hoang-ho, or Yellow river, in China,
In 1887, takes first place. It began late
In September and before the water
went down about 50,000 square miles
of one of the most fertile and popu
lous plains In the world had been
swept by the swift current. That
means twenty-flve per cent more land
than there Is-in Ohio.
"More than a thousand villages and
towns were simply washed off the
map, and the loss of life has never
been calculated at less than a million.
Some authorities say that fully 1,100,000
persons perished. It was like
wiping out as many people as there
are in Cleveland and Cincinnati together."
"I should say that might be the record
disaster of all the ages!" exclaimed
the friend who started the
talk about losses through the violence
of nature. "It must be away ahead of
anytmng an eartnquaice ever cua, or a
storm at sea."
"Yes, probably by four to one, at
least. But some of the worst earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions have
done a lot of killing where there was
no way to get authentic figures. It is
possible that more than a quarter of a
million people have lost their lives in
some earthquake or eruption, or both
together, but the odds are against it"
"What a paralyzing thing such a
flood as the one In China would be if
It happened in this country or Slurope!"
"Indeed it would," was the reply,
"but half the people in China probably
never even heard the news."
THE WHITE MAN'8 MAGIC
How Houdin Conquered an Entire
Nation With Hie Little Black Box.
* "These are great times," exulted the
Electrician to his friend the Old Fogy.
"With machine guns and other Instruments
of war we certainly are going
some In the fighting game!"
"Yes," agreed the Old Fogy, as he
adjusted big glasses, "but do you
know that, before such things were
dreamed of, an entire nation was conquered
with a magnet and a little
black box?"
And the Electrician confessed,
"No!"
"Tou have heard, no doubt," the
Old Fogy rambled on, "of the marvelous
inventions of Robert Houdln,
the great French conjurer, a man who
did great things with electricity when
Alexander Graham Bell was an Infant.
Houdln applied electricity to
many of his magical experiments, and
delighted the Parisian public for
years In his - little theater. Wheh he
retired he was the most favored performer
of his day, and had bowed to
the plaudits of royalty!"
"Heard all about that," snapped the
Electrician. "What about the black
box?"
"Pomlnur to that, bov: comlnsr to
that Houdin retired to his family estate
on the left banks of the River
Loire, near St Gervalse, hoping to end
his days in peace. But after a year or
so there came to blm, through a military
friend, a request from the French
government that he go to Algiers. In
his memoirs, translated Into English
some years before his death, he says
that the Marabouts of that country, a
sort of medicine men and wonderworking
priests, controlled the masses
and incited them to Intermittent revolts
against the French by their
tricks. These tricks, he assures us,
were of the simplest and most primitive
type, It was the hope of the government
that Houdin, by his mysteries.
oould demonstrate that the
white conqueror's magic was superior.
And Houdin did It."
"With the little black box and the
magnet?"
"Yes. His recital of his performance
In Algiers Is exceedingly InteraoHhbi
qnma a# +Via mnaf /KaHncnilaVi.
COi-MlBi PWMIV V4 M*V ?iv?v uiov??QUio?
ed native* were there. Houdln show-'
ed them all aorta of things; allowed
himself to be ahot at, and caught the
bqllet unharmed, and many other such
feats. But his piece de resistance undoubtedly
was his bo*. He called for
a strong man to come on the stage
with him a moment and a giant re-'
sponded. Houdln toyed with him a
moment about his strength, and asked
him If he oould lift his little black
box. Disdainfully the Arab lifted it
and smiled. But Houdln warned him.
wn.il, out a, uiuuimii hiiu jruu ditai?
be as a little child!' He placed the
box on tho stage and dared his huge
guest to raise It. The Arab tried with
one finger; grasped It with his great
muscular hand; tugged at it with all
the strength of his massive arms,
bracing his legs like two huge bronze
columns, so Houdln says, to no avail.
Try as he would, this son of the desert
could not stir that little box from
Its place. For a breathing spell, he
released his grip for a moment, then
went at It again. And while the awestricken
audience panted In amazement,
he suddenly writhed In acutest
agony, and sank groveling to the
stage. The current coursed through
him had galvanized him into misery.
Then Houdln gave a signal; the current
from the electro-magnet beneath
the stage was turned off, and the
Arab fell back groaning. He lifted
himself to his feet, and, hiding the
face In his cloak, crept away to blush
unseen. The little black box had conquered."
"And??" inquired the Electrilcan.
"And," replied the Old Fogy, "Houdln
was triumphant. The country had
seen him shot at by a man who said
he wished to kill; had seen him rob a
giant of his strength. No Marabout
had ever done that. No Marabout with
prnpH'VP jrioita cuuiu cuuvmue uiem
that any revolt of theirs could prevail
against the white man and his magic
?his electricity. The conqueror's couquest
was complete."?Public Electricity.
Epitaph For a Grouch.?Once there
was a man who Was Not Thankful.
When good things came his way he
raked them in and never said a word.
He never saw the beauty In the fields
or the woods, and no sunset ever phased
him. He never heard a bird sing,
never said howdy to a stranger and
never gave a child a piece of oandy. His
morning and evening aalutatlon was a
grunt. He dragged along through the
yeara until the thing was over?but he
didn't die. He Just sort of shriveled up
and blew away. And the happy onlookers
who gathered near, saw a green
vapor hover for a few minutes over his
old clothes and then pass with a weird
and mournful sound Into an abandoned
well. And they filled the old well with
tin cans and erected a monument over
It, in the shape of a cucumber. And
this was the epitaph: "Here Lies a
Grouch. Blessed are the Grateful."?
Marlon, (Kan.) Record.
A SPORTINU BUSIIMbaa
Methods Uud in Whale Hunting
j Threaten Extinction of Industry
To the average newspaper reader
the knowledge will doubtless come as
[a surprise that within the last decade
an old Industry has been revived so
wonderfully that It threatens its own
eariy extinction by its amaxing sue*
cess, yet such is the case, and the
Industry in question is the romantic
one of whale hunting. Only about a
quarter of a century ago it seemed as
if the wonderful old sporting business
had died out, or was at its last gasp,
because the product obtained from
the whale copt too much In the getting,,
a hindrance that was fatal.
?'" -S" * * " * -4-- tHx*
men cfne tae muumiuu ui
new enterprise to the vast southern
ocean, where 200 years ago the seal
ushers swarmed until they had exterminated
the valuable animals they
sought. Nine years ago South Georgia
one of the barren storm-swept Isles
in tne heart of the southern ocean,
about 600 miles east of Cape Horn,
was found to'be a noted haunt of
whales, and a whale fishery was established
there. In 1911 nineteen of
the small whaling vessels operating
ihere, slew and brought In 7,000
whales, yielding 200,000 barrels, of
oil, or 26,000 tons of this much-deslrea
substance. This was nearly fifty
per cent more whales than the total
number caught the year in the northern
hemisphere.
It must, however, be remembered
that this record Is only for South
ueorgia. In the South Shetlands I,60u
whales were killed In the same
period, yielding 100,000 barrels, and
around the coasts of south Africa SO
whalers caught 4,000 whales, yielding
120,000 barrels. Altogether the total
catch of whales by the southern whaling
companies for the season of 1911
mtm ahnnt 17.Roo. reoresentlng a gross
value of 11,750,000. The total yield of
oil from the whole ocean, excluding
the trivial amounts returnable from
the old fashioned ships still working
from Dundee, New Bedford, and San
Francisco, amounts to between two
and one half and two and three quarter
millions sterling. The total number
of whales killed and utilised was
about 21,000, which is nearly twice as
large as the season preceding.
In the old days of the whaling Industry
only three kinds of whales
were catchable, the right or Greenland
whale, the sperm whale and the
humpback whale, the latter only under
certain well understood conditions.
By the new system any and
every whale that comes within shot
Is prey. It is equally easy to kill and
tow in a sulphur bottom u nil t
right whale for ita disability of sinking
when dead, its agility and speed
and paucity of blubber avail nothing
against the irresistible attack of the
new whaler. The latter difficulty,
which was once the greatest of all?
for why should one risk the loss of
boats and gear over a creature whose
yield was trivial?is entirely pushed
away by the practice of utilising every
detail of the whale's make-up
commercially. Oil, meat, meat-Juice,
cattle food, fertilizer, whalebone?all
is commercially valuable, whereas in
the old days the whaler could only
count upon oil and whalebone, and
?" >?? Ita Map In f AW UJld re- I
umjr u^/vr** wi?v .... ?
strlcted cases.
Now, It will be noticed that I have
so far, remembering the limitations
of space, carefully confined myself to
the statement of salient facts, and
have not Indicated wherein lies the
great difference between the old and
the 'new methods. As briefly as can
be it Is this: By the old method, except
that sometimes the harpoon was
fired from a small gun In the bow of
a boat, all the hunting was done by
hand weapons, and.the sinking of a
whale meant the loss of that whale.
Now a huge sum Is used to fire a harpoon
weighing 110 pounds, and also
carrying a bomb. Attached to It Is a
rope stout enough to haul a dead
whale to the surface from whatever
depth he dies. Means to Inflate him
for the purpose of keeping him afloat
are carried, and by the scientific arrangements
of springs and buffers all
shocks to the sturdy little steamers
are minimized.?London Mall.
niM'.e AC TUC AIM B
KM I HIU I rinnic vr I III. V>?>.
French Privateer Who Had Commie ion
to Plunder 8panisH Ship*.
Brief news dispatches told the
day of the sailing of the steamer
laden with $5,000,000 In gold for a
port on the Caribbean Sea?and not
a pirate to fear! What a prize that
vessel would have been In the brave
days of old, when Jean Lafltte, the
patriot pirate of the Gulf, ruled over
a little outlaw kingdom of his own
within a few miles of the city of New
Orleans.
A picturesque figure was Jean Lafit
te, with a graceful, courtly deviltry
about him which made him popular
with many of the most estimable dwellers
In New Orleans. Handsome,
able, averse to the shedding of blood,
and even possessed of loyalty to the
government whose excise laws he
made It his business to break.
I Lafltte, as you may guess, was
French. He drifted to Louisiana In
the early years of the nineteenth century,
and set up In piracy In the Bay
of Bartarla, a sheltered harbor on the
Gulf of Mexico, protected by a long
island called Grand Terre, where Jean
Lafltte dwelt In a house of bricK, wun
broad and comfortable verandas,
where one might loll at ease In a
hammock, smoking and drinking
lazily, while pirate chiefs filed in to
bring reports of plunder taken and
prospects ahead.
No crude or common pirate was this
Jean Lafltte. He held a privateer's
commission from the republic of
Carthagena, which has been recently
established In South America and has
long since been forgotteen, and this
commission gave him the right to
plunder Spanish ships. Perhaps he
plundered other ships, too; but the
Spanish were his principal victims.
Lafltte's followers were a motely collection?black,
white, yellow and red
?restless and reckless rovers of the
sea. One must admire the ability of
the man in keeping them as well under
control as he did, for there was no
looting of the nearby coast?no disorder
in Louisiana. Lafltte trafficked
In silk and gold and negroes; fulfilled
his contract promptly, sold his
goods openly at auction even In the
city or wew urieans ana naa many
friends among the planters.
He waa popular, too; nhere Is no
doubt of that Had It been other*
wise, he would not have been permitted
to rem ,Un live years in Baratarla.
As early as 1809, we find governors of
Louisiana thundering against him,
but Lafltte went calmly about his business.
Occasionally a revenue officer
was killed n a brush with the pirates.
Invariably Lafltte expressed his sorrow
that bloodshed had become necessary.
A case was brought against him
in the Federal court; the dlstrlot attorney
was a man named Grym.es.
Lafltte went to see Grymes, and the
result of the visit was taat the district
attorney resigned his office and
undertook Laflltte's defense. He and
tne lawyer wno aaaisieu mm were
promised $10,000 apiece for their services
and trot it After the case was
dismissed, Qrymea went hack to Barataria
to receive his fee and spent a
week feasting with the pirates, who
treated hici with princely hospitality
and escorted him back tc the Mississippi
in a landsome yawl, laden with
caskets of fold and stiver.
Repeated attempts had been made
to organise a military expedition to destroy
LAfltte's pirate colony, bat up to
the year 1114 they had always come
to nothing. In September of that
year a British brig anchored six miles
from Bare aria Pass, and its captain
came ashore and offered Lafltte a
captain's commission in the British
navy fuid $$0,000 if he would join the
British in in attack agaiust New Orleans.
Lafltte pretended to consider the
offer, sending word meantime to a
member oi the legislature of the
British cajitain's offer aud declaring
that ha a r.,i IA navar aiv>?n t It. Ha
sent another letter to Governor Claiborne,
who had offered |l>,000 for Lafltte'a
head, and for whoee head Lafltte
in ret-'irn, In a spirit of gay bravado,
had offered a rewarl of $80,000.
Lafltte suggested that the governor extend
clemency to his plrttta, who in
return would aid in the defense of the
state against the British. The offer
was rejected, and an expedition under
Commodore Patterson, of the United
States navy, tore down the brick
houso, confiscated much plunder and
drove out the plratea who at first
formed their ships in a line of battle,
but afterward changed their minds
and fled tc> hide among the numberless
waterv ayi and bayous.
Jean Lailtte and his brother Pierre,
escaped an 1 established themselves on
the lower Mississippi. Meanwhile
Andrew Jackson had arrived to undertake
the ciefense of New Orleans.
Jean LAfitts went boldly into Mew Orleans
to et? him, although the fiery
general had declared he would have
nothing to do With "theeo pirates and
hellish banditti." There must have
been a peculiar,charm and persuasiveness
about Jeap Lafitte, for after the
Interview, Jpcftp -dWhsed his mind,
accepted the aid of the pirates and
showed the utmost trust In them,
and throughout the siege of New Orleans
the followers of Lafitte showed
themselves worthy of confidence. They
were excellent gunners, and two of
Lafltte's captains, Dominique Tou and
a man named Beluche, were put In
charge of shlpa When the British
had been driven away, Jackson recommended
that Lafitte and his men
be granted pardon for all previous
mlsdemeaj ors, and the thing was
done. , *
The city of New Orleans even
erected a statue In honor of Domln
lque Tou when he dletf may yean
later. Nobody seems to know exactly
what became of Jean Lafitte and
his brother. They evidently could
not bear to settle down end become
prosaic burglars; inl81? we find Jean
In Galveston, Texas, whence he was
chased by the Spanish government in
1820. Later there came stories of
cruises in the Caribbean; the call of
the sea was too strong for the onetime
Baratrlan. Today, red, black
and yellow fishermen dry shrimps
where swarthy pirate folk once swaggered,
gorgeous In scarlet sashes, but
you may still hear whispered tales of
Jean Lafitte and of Iron-bound obests
of gold burled under the roots of the
tall pampas grass.?Kansas City Star.
Highsst Mountain In United 8tat*s.
?The highest mountain In Oregon la
Mount Ho<>d, 11,228 feet above sea level.
Comptxed with Mount Whitney, to
the south, in California, and Mount
Ranter, to the nofOrtir Washington,
each rising well above 14,000 feet,
Mount Hood does not appear as a sky
scraper. However, according to the
geologists of the United States geological
survey and other authorities, Oregon
had at one time, probably before
the dawr of life upon the earth, a
great volcano which towered as tax
above Mount Hood as does, Mount
Rainier, possibly even tieveral thousand
feet higher. This was the great
Mount Mazama. But thousands of
years ago this mountain disappeared
into the towels of the earth, and all
that Is left today Is the huge rim
around crater caxe.
Crater I^ake Is the caldera of thla
extinct and collapsed volcano and la
nearly six miles in diameter. The lnside
walls of the rim of the ancient
mountain are in places nearly 4,0i/0
feet high and almost perpendicular.
The lake Itself, is in places 2,000 feet
deep and parts of the wall rise above
its water another 2,000 feet A restoration
of the mountain in fancy, using
as a base the angles of the lower
slopes, which still remain, shows that
the apex could not have been far from
15,000 feet in height, so that Mount
Mazama was one of the most lofty and
majestic peaks in the United States.?
San Francisco Chronicle.
>
Ocean 8ix Miles Deep.?A surveying
ship of the German navy has recently
discovered the deepest spot In
the ocean. It is near the Philippines,
about foriy miles off the north coast
of Mindanao.
Great depths were found to be numerous
in this region, but the record
sounding showed the amazing result
of 9,780 meters, or 406 feet more than
six miles.
The greatest ocean depth hitherto
known was found by the United
States cable steamer Nero In 1901.
This spot was to the south of the Island
of Guam, and the deep sea lead
indicated 9,635 meters?Just a little
less than six miles.?New York Press.