University of South Carolina Libraries
^^^^ _ '''''' '"''^ BY E. B. MURRAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. 0? THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 10, 1879._VOL. XIV-NO. 52. FISH CULTURE. Hatching of E;rgs for the Restocking of Rivers. New York Herald. Havre de Grace, Md., June 27, 1879. The hatching of shad, which is carried on here under the joint auspices of the United States government and the State of Maryland, has just come to an end. The season, which began in Albemarle Sound about the 1st of April, has been prosperous. With the slight and inex Gnsive but very perfect machinery used r. Ferguson, to whose ingenuity the completeness of this machinery is large? ly owing, and who has been for some years at the head of the Maryland Fish Commission, as well as an assistaut of Professor Baird, of the United States Commission, has beeu a'de to hatch out over fifteen millions of shad eggs, of which a large quantity has been distributed to different nvers, the remain? der being used to stock the Susquehanna and also the North Carolina rivers emp? tying into the Albemarle Sound. The shad hatching operations have been carried on at Spesuite Island, near Havre de Grace, at the mouth of the Snsqnehannab River, for four or five years, and there is already evidence in the greater abundance of shad this year and of the great value of the artificial hatching. Fishermen know that there are years of abundance and years of scarcity in the fisheries, aijd they say here that herring and shad are usually abundant or scarce in the same year. Now the present year has been one of scarcity for herring, and should, in the I natural course of events, have been one I of scarcity for shad, but the catch of shad has been uncommonly large, so great, in fact, that the fishermen complain that the price of shad has ran dawn to a point where it is no longer nearly as profitable as formerly to take them. Moreover, it was noticed during thin season that the shad once more appeared in abundance in one or two of the minor tributaries of the Lower Snsquehanna, where for some years they had oeen so scarce that fish? ing stations established there had been given np; ^nd this is accounted for by the fact tLas Mr. Fergunoa several years ago took pains to scatter some of the young shad which had been hatched out in these streams, to which tbey are now for the first time returning in the shape of marketable fish? _ The shad requires fot r years from the time he is hatched to become a full grown fish. At three years he is large enough to eat; at four years the female shad be? gins to spawn, and dnring the present year the results of the Fish Commission era's operations have made themselves felt in the greater abundance of the fish through the return, of those hatched out in these waters to spawn. hatching out the eggs. Simple as the operation of hatching out the eggs of the shad seems to the vis? itor, it is the result of good many years of patient experiment. Formerly the eggs of the shad, after they had been mixed with the milt of the male fish, were placed in boxes, a long succession o f which, fastened together by cords, were anchored in the tideway, the object be? ing to keep the eggs in running water. The difficulty with this method was that the current of water running through the boxes' had a tendency to concentrate the eggs in the farther end of each box, where by the pressure many eggs perished, and only a comparatively small number were hatched out. More? over, a storm or a change in the current deranged the boxes and did still further damage. This plan worked sufficiently well for small operations, but something different was seen to be needed for the wholesale and extensive operations con? templated" by the United States Fish Com? mission under Professor Baird and his able assistants. Mr. Ferguson, a young Maryland man, being placed at the head of the Fish Commission of that State co-operating with Professor Baird, origi? nated aud, in 1877, perfected the plan which is now used and by which millions of shad are hatched out at small expense with but a trifling loss of eggs or fisb. the present system. As the system is perfected near this p'ace the hatching is carried on in a scow or flat bottomed vessel, which contains a small engine. The shad fishery, which is a-very large business here, is plied only after dark, the fishermen going out in their boats with their seines and gill nets, add taking their catch during the night. Mr. Ferguson has a steam launch and a number of small boats. These are out every night to gather the supply of eggs.. It is not every female shad taken that can be used to furnish eggs for artifi? cial hatching. The shad must be "ripe," as it is called?that is to say, she must be in that condition in which she is about to spawn, and is taken by the fisherman in the act, as it were, and. with the eggs running out of her. She is then called a ripe shad. By an arrangement with the Fish Commission, whenever one of the fishermen in the bay takes such a shad in bis nets he hoists a light or shouts, and immedi^ly one of the Commission's boats comes to him and strips the shad of her eggs, strips a male shad of the milt, puts these in a proper vessel, returns the fish to the fisherman and gives him a yel? low pasteboard ticket, which is afterward and at his leisure redeemed by the Com .mission with fifty cents. This is com? monly called a fiat shad, and it differs from Mr. Ewing's and Senator Jones'cel? ebrated fiat money iu this important par? ticular, that while it is not a legal tender it is redeemed on demand in money. At headquarters on the scow'a regular account is, of course, kept of the num? ber of ripe shad procured each night; and it strikes the visitor curiously that out of the thousands of shad caught ev? ery night not more than from fifteen to twenty are useful for the purposes of the Fish Commission. A female shad con? tains from 20,000 to 80,000 eggs. Fif? teen would at this rate yield from 300 000 to 400,000 eggs in a night, and under Mr. Ferguson's system the loss in; this number is but a very trifling proportion? less than ten per cent. process of hatching. The small boats carry the eggs collec? ted to the steam launc h, which in to/n takes them in to headquarter*at the scow where they are to be hatched. Here they are placed in large tin cans, which have a bottom of fine gauze, the openings in which aro large enouga to admit water, but so small that when the eggs are hatch? ed it is impossible for even the smallest the young-fish to escape. The cans are about three fcot high and eighteen inches in diameter. They are suspended outside of the vessel from wooden arms, which have a slow up and down motion given them by the engine. This motion is somewhat irregular, being slow up? ward and a little more rapid downward, the object of which arrangement is that the eggs shall not at any time sink to the bottom of the vessel, there to be crowded all together, to the detriment of the fish in them, but shall be kept suspended in the constantly changing water within the can. This motion of the cans goes on day and night, because it is necessary to the success of the hatching process that there shall be 8 constant current or sup ply of fresh;water around the eggs. In from four to six days, more or less, ac? cording to the temperature of the water, the young fish burst from their shells and appear in the waters almost imper? ceptibly small but very lively; their eyes and the little bag of food on their hacks being the most noticeable parts of them. They grow pretty rapidly, and in about ten days are ready to be si ipped. Those which are to he sent off are then placed in fresh water in large milk cans, and are transported to their destination under the care of experts, whose duty it is to strain off the water and replace it by fresh at certain intervals until they reach their place of destination, where they are im? mediately emptied into the stream and left to care for themselves. DETAILS OF THE BUSINESS. Since 1871 over forty-eight million of shad eggs have been hatched and the shad distributed to different rivers all over the country by the United States Fish Commission. They have been sent to California; the Western and Eastern rivers have been stocked and the tributa? ries of the Mississippi have also received large supplies. In fact, the United States Fish Commission, under the management of Professor Baird and his assistants, has supplied the young shad to the amount of nearly 50,000,000, of California sal? mon to the amount of over 16,000,000, of Maine salmon to amountof nearly 7,000, 000, and of lake whitefish to the amount of 10,000,000, to different States of the Union, the demand coming from almost every State, including such interior States even as Colorado, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi, and even Utah Territory. EFFOET TO RETARD HATCHING. This year Mr. Ferguson has begun at this place an attempt to retard the hatch? ing of shad eggs by the careful use of cold, with a view of trying to ship the eggs instead of the young fish. There is a great demand from European govern? ments, mainly from the German States, for American fish. It is difficult and costly and also risky to transport the young shad for so long a distance, because experience has shown that the water which they get on the way does not con? tain a proper supply of food for them. They can be shipped for a journey of seven or eight days without much diffi? culty or loss, but if the journey is pro? tracted for ten days or longer great num? bers of them die on the way, and they are supposed to die of starvation. If the plans now undergoing trial for retarding the batching of eggs by the use of cold should prove successful it will be possible to ship shad eggs to much longer dis? tances and without risk of loss. THE ROCK OB STEIPED BASS. Professor Baird has been anxious for some years to obtain the eggs of the rock fish for hatching. This is the fish known on the New England coast as the "strip? ed bass." Its spawning ground has been looked for five years, and in vain until this year, when, near the close of the shad-hatching operations in Albemarle Sound, Mr. Ferguson was so fortunate as to take from the seine of a shore fisher? man three ripe rockfisb. Each of these fish contained not less than 200,000 eggs. As their habits were not known, some loss was experienced in spite of great care. It was found that where the shad egg requires six days to hatch, the eggs of the rock or striped bass hatched out in the same temperature in from twenty four to thirty b'ix hours. The eggs are a third smaller than those of the shad, much lighter, aud more disposed to float. This made it necessary to reverse the mo? tion of the bucket so as to keep the eggs down instead of keeping them in suspen? sion, as is done with the shad eggs. The young striped bass when they were hatched out were so much smaller than the young shad that they escaped from the buckets in considerable numbers* Enough were saved, however, *to show that they are hardy and can be trans Eorted to even a greater distance than ad. It is believed that the striped bass, does not spawn north of Chesapeake Bay, and where this noble fish is found on the New England coast it is migratory. Pro? fessor Baird says that no ripe rockfish has ever been found there. Its time of spawning comes probably in the waters of Albemarle Sound toward the close uf the shad season, and is thus convenient lor the Fish Commission's operations there. The industrial importance of this dis? covery of the place where the striped bass spawns is very great, because this fish is in season, wherever it is caught, during at least ten months in the year, and is a favorite fish in the market at all times. .If it can be made more abundant by the operations of the Fish Commis? sion it will therefore supply employment to fishermen and food lor the markets during a great part of the year, whereas the shad season is very short, employ? the fishermen during but a few weeks in in the year, and during that time the market is often so glutted that the fish are sold at very low prices. They brought this year at this station no more than $6 or $7 per 100. Even now it is believed by experts that, large as is the product of the shad fisheries on this coast, the total value of the rock or striped bass product nearly equals that of the f.had. EXPERIMENTS WITH HERRING. During the last season, in Albemarle Sound, Professor Baird and Mr. Fergu? son experimented with the eggs of her? ring. They hatched out four or five hun? dred thousand eggs, and with such com? plete success that they established the fact that the herriug can be artificially batched in quantities for restocking rivers, whenever it shall become necessa? ry, with perfect ease. The herring eggs are much smaller than those ot the shad, bnt are treated in the hatching operation very much as shad eggs. During the last three years Mr. Ferguson, acting for the U. S. Fish Commission and the State of Maryland, has thus added the striped bass and the herring to the number of fish which can be successfully hatched by artificial means for the restocking of rivers, and also the smelt, of which he hatched out half a million on the Bari tan River, near New Brunswick, N. J., and scattered the young fish in Maryland waters. For all this his ingenious appa tus has proved completely successful. Professor Baird has also used it in his successful experiments in hatching out codfish at Gloucester, where 12,000,000 of this valuable fish have been produced. The artificial hatching of codfish and mackerel is now entirely practicable on a large scale, and Professor Baird, who bas devoted himself with great success, as is well known, to this work, believes it possible and easy to restock our waters with these fish in great quantities at any time. The fish hatched out by the United States Fish Commission are, of course, an absolute gain. The eggs are preserv? ed from the fish which prey upon them, and the young fish are not only sent to different parts of the country where they are applied for, to restock rivers, but when they are put into the water for an independent life arc in that stage of growth where they are much more able i to escape their enemies than they would I be under the natural condition of things. ENEMIES OF THE SPAWN. 1 At this fish-hatching station one sees a curious sight, showing how numerous and greedy are the enemies which prey upon the spawn of the shad and other marketable fish. No sooner is a tin can containing shad eggs lowered into the water alongside the boat than the whole surrounding water becomes alive with Sercb, catfish, eels and other fish who art at the can and about it, attracted probably by the odor of the eggs. good results attained. So evident to the shad fishermen at this point has been the good result of the hatching operations which have been carried on here for three years or more, that this year some of the gillers decliued to receive pay for the ripe fish furnished the Commission by them, saying that they saw very clearly that they were sufficiently benefited by the increase of fish. In 1854 one hundred black bass were brought from the Ohio River in the tank of a locomotive engine and cast into the Potomac, where the black bass was then unknown. Now this fish is so abundant 'that thousands of pounds are caught, every year. There is no doubt that the operations of the United States Fish Commission will in a few years rev? olutionize the fish business ou our coasts and rivers. The Commission has now hatched out in large quantities shad, California salmon, land-locked salmon, Maine salmon, salmon trout, codfish, whitcfish, smelts, halibut, and is engaged in the hatching of carp, which are being brought from Hungary. The Maryland Fish Commission, for whose support the State of Maryland appropriates ?10,000, co-operates at this and other points with the United States Fish Commission, but Mr. Ferguson, the Maryland Fish Com? missioner, has established a hatching house in Druid Hill Park at Baltimore, where trout and salmon are hatched out in large quantities. The Southern Exodus in its Political and Economic Aspects. * Washington, D. C, June 22. Representative Witthorne, of Tennes? see, has forwarded a communication to Chairman Goode, of Virginia, of the House Committee on Education and La? bor, touching the propriety of the pro? posed investigation into the cause of the recent colored exodus from the Southern States, After a general review of the re? lations which existed between slayehol ders and slaves, Mr. Whitthorne says: "Possibly in the whole history of the hu? man family there was never such a spec? tacle presented of goodly feeling at the close of a long, bitter and bloody strug? gle, involving the fortunes, rights and lives of twelve millions of people, as was exhibited, and which admittedly existed between the white and black races occu? pying the late slave States at the close of the late war. The civil war of four years had desolated those States and ruined all fortunes. The losses amounted to billions, and there was mourning in every household. At the same time that the 8,000,000 whites were in this state the 4,000,000 blacks, suddenly free, were left with scant defenses against starva? tion, disease and crime, and with no means of support but their own bands. "Here, then, is the place to test the innumerable charge made in every way and on all occasions, that the colored man in the South is denied legal and political rights and deprived of the just rewards of his labor and kept in danger of his life. These partisan statements can best be tried by the test of work done. Since 1S69, cattle and swine have increased 3,000,000 bead. For eight years before 1861, 27.142.2S5 balesof cot? ton were produced; in tbo last eight years the product has been 33,226,531 bales.^ In 1871 there were 7,500,000 acres in cotton; in 1878 there were more than 12,000,000 acres. More than $200, 000,000 annual product of Southern labor enter into the purchase of merchandise and manufactures in the Eastern and Middle States. Southern railroads have increased in earnings, Southern cities and towns in growth, while all Southern industries have largely and materially improved." Mr. Whitthorne shows that while the Northern farm laborer is paid at the rate of $7 per capita of population, the Southern farm laborer is paid at the rate of more than $10 per capita of pop? ulation. Nine million Southern people pay $97,607,174 for labor, while fifteen million Northern and Western people pay only $114,892,364. "Looking to these facts," he continues, "can it be said that the laborer of the South is not as well paid as the same class in other sections of our country? Can it be urged that the labor of the South has beeu so disturbed that its stal? wart men have been so interferred with as to compel one-third of them to aban? don bomeand birthplace, and that so out? rageous is the oppression and the danger that they should stand not upon the or? der of their going, but to iieo without thought of the present or provision for the future ? It is believed by many that, upon a thorough examination of the facts connected with this exodus movement, in it will be|shown to have its origin spec? ulation in Kansas railroad lands, to which a portion of the freedmen's money through the Freedman's Bank was first dedicated, and that the parties who aided in the robbery of that institution con? ceived that their were millions in temp? ting its depositors and their race to be? come occupants of the lands upon which they held mortgage bonds. * * * * I feel sure that when all the truth is known that it will be seen that both races have suffered from the madness and craft of politicians, and that it can be shown that the people of the South have a Christian civilization, that whilst it en? riches mankind is just and generous to all within its influence; that it only asks to be judged in that charity which speaks in love and asks only the obser? vance of that decree: 'That with what? soever judgment ye would .be judged, judge ye.' "If," says Mr. Whitthorne, "the investigation can be had in this spirit, let us nave it by all means, but, if it is to bo used for sectional purposes and to make the South once more the plaything of partisan hate, it should not be proceeded with. Both races have suffered too much in the past by this sort of thing to want more of it." Does Her Own Work.?Does she? What of it? Is it any disgrace? Is she any less a true woman, less worthy of re? spect than she who sits idle in fine clothes, vain of fingers that never labor? "Does her own work." We listened to this sneer a few days ago, and the tone in which it was uttered betokened a nar? row, ignoble mind, better fitted for any place than a country whose institutions rest on honorable labor as one of the chief corner stones. It evinced a false idea of true womanhood, of genuine nobility. It showed the spirit of caste, of rank, which a certain class try to es? tablish?a caste whose foundation is money. Position in their rank is bought with gold, and each dollar is another round in the ladder by which elevation is gained. A pleasant and cheerful room is essen? tial to the health of the baby, and the usual pains und ills of the young ones soon vanish after the use of Dr. Bull's Baby Syrup. Price 25 cents. CRUEL KEHHLER, Tho Massachusetts Father Who Shot His Three Children After Attempting to Tol son Thorn. Nothing since the holocaust at the French Catholic church, three or four years ago, has caused so much excite? ment in this section as a horrible tragedv at Holyoke this afternoon. John Kem mler, a German at South Holyoke, in tho absence of his wife this afternoon, shot his three little girls, aped respec? tively fifteen months, four and six years. The details of the crime are too sicken? ing to seem possible, and even compass in horror the recent Pocasset tragedy. All three were shot through the head? Ludmilla, the eldest, and Emma, the youngest, being apparntley killed instantly, while Anna, the little I four-year-old, was breathing at last ac [ counts though unconscious and with no possible chance of recovery, her brains protruded from both sides of the head. Every one who has not seen Kemmlcr says he must be insane, but, "If this be madness, then there's method in't." The murderer is an intelligent, well informed German, who has lived in Hol? yoke about seven years. During this time he has always been employed at some of the mills, and last worked at the Germania woollen mill. He has always been sober and industrious, and though he has at times acted very queerly, he was never considered otherwise than an "odd genius." Before he came: to Holy? oke he worked in Northampton at the Bay State cutlery works, and later at the Boy State paper mill, and, till within a few months, has had money in the sav? ings bauks, both at Northampton and Holyoke. He has at different times drawn out^his money and talked of buy :ng a farm, and then would afterward deposit it again. About the first of March he drew out all the money he had in both saving banks, and, after paying what debts he owed, had about $110 left, with which he started for the Black Hills. About three weeks ago he came back, and since that time has done noth? ing. Ho has not, so far as known, tried to obtain employment, and has been pos? sessed with the idea that he could not work any more, and was unable to sup? port his family, and he had had a con? stant impression that his little girls would grow up "and go to tho bad," as he expressed it. Acting on this thought, ho resolved some time ago, before he re? turned from the Black Hills, he says, to kill his three children as the only way to save their souls. His wife has been afraid of him, and has feared that be would carry out some of the threats he has made against her and the children, but seems to have been taken off her guard. He says that he had fixed upon to-day as the day when the children must die, and two or three days ago bought some cyanide of patassium to poison them. He apparently watched his op? portunity to have the children alone, and this afternoon sent his wife up town to buy a hat for the youngest. After she had gone he called the children in from the street, where they were playing, tell? ing them that they were to be washed and dressed, and then he would take them up street and get them some can? dy. After getting, them in the house he attempted to admister the poison to them, but as they would not take it he deliberately shot them in cold blood. He then wrote a letter in German to one of his neighbors, telling what he had done, and hinting at suicide, and closed by saying that his wife knew nothing about'it. Carrying the bleeding body of littlo Annia into the room where the oth? ers were murdered he laid it on the bed beside the baby, leaving the eldest on the floor in a pool of blood. He then went out, locking the door and entered Blaise Borlin's lager beer saloon, near by, where he told what ho had done and asked for a glass of beer. Deputy Sheriff Kingsbury happened to be in that part of the city, and followed Kemmlcr up the street, and found him in Martin Smith's saloon. Ho was at once taken to the station-house and put under guard. Meanwhile so great a crowd had gathered at the scene of the murder that the officers with difficulty effected an entrance to the house. When they had done so what a sight to be? hold ! The tenement was a small one of four rooms on the third floor. Every? thing spoke of poverty, but tho rooms were neat and clean, showing that the poor mother had done her best to make her home pleasant and cheerful. The first room entered was evidently used for a sort of a living room, and on a clothes? line hung the dresses and aprons of tho little victims, washed and ironed ready for tho Sabbath. Scattered here and there on the floor were the playthings they had last used. On the table stood the bottle of cyanide of potassium, and near it a tea cup, which smelled of tho poison, showing that the unnatural fa? ther had tried to feed it to the children be? fore shooting them. In the cupboard was half a loaf of bread and the rem? nants of the noonday meal. Opening out of this was the bedroom where lay the bodies of Anna and Emma, with a bullet-hole through the head of each. The former was just breathing, while the latter lay as if shot while asleep. Ono little hand was raised to its check, and all blackened, as was the face, with powder. Tho bullet that did the deadly work was found in the pillow, having passed completely through the head. Ludmilla, tho eldest, had evidently stood beside the bed when shot, and fell over on the floor, where her body was found in a pool of blood. All three bullets were found by Sheriff Kingsbury. They were .32 caliber, and the pistol, when taken from the murderer, had four cham? bers discharged, showing that one shot had been fired that did not Lake effect. Medical Examiner Dr. L. M. Tuttle made an examination of the bodies pre? paratory to an iuquest, after which they were handed over to the undertaker. At the statioii-house Kemmlcr was placed in a cell, where he is watched constantly lest he should devise some way to com? mit suicide INTERVIEW WITH THE MUKPEKER. The Herald reporter secured an inter? view with him there, and learned from his own lips the details of his crime. His utterances were strongly Teutonic, but this accent will not be attempted here. Reporter?They say you have shot your children. Is this possible? Prisoner (with emphasis)?Yes, of course I have. I shot them all, and they died right of! and went, to Heaven. II.?Why didn't you shoot yourself? P.?Why, that wouldn't be right. I should go to hell if I should shoot my? self. K.?But how could you shoot those lit? tle innocent children? P.?How could I! How could I see them grow up and come on the town, and byc-and-bye see them going into bad houses ? I thought that if I killed them now they would he all right; they would die and go straight to heaven. It.?But they would not need to come on the town; you arc not au old man, aud could support them well enough. P.?I am about forty-eight years old. I I um too old to work, and it makes no difference what becomes of me ; and now my wife won't have the children to take ! care of. She can do washing and other I work, and earn enough to live on. It is ; better for her than to have the chil? dren. '. K?Did you love your children? P.?Why, of course I did, and that j was why I shot them. They didn't feel it. I put the pistol up close to their j heads, and they died right off and went ! to heaven. R.?But Anna didn't; she is alive now, I and has suffered terribly. P.?Is that so? No, it can't be?you ' are fooling me. I can't understand. I thought I killed them all. I meant to, and, if I had supposed that Anna was not dead, I would have given her anoth? er shot. I had plenty more cartridges, and if you will let me out I will go right down there now and finish her. R.?Tell me just how you shot them. P.?Well, you see my little Emma was lying on the bed, and my eldest lit? tle girl was taking care of her. The lit? tle one "fell off the bed the other day and hurt her very much, and I felt sorry for her. I always loved my children, and could not bear to see them take any hurt, so I told the oldest to take care of her when she was on the bed, and see she didn't fall again. So she was stand? ing by the bed, and I called my little Anna into the other bed-room and told her I had got something to show her [with a fiendish laugh.] Then I pulled my revolver out of my coat pocket, and when she was looking at it she said, "Oh, how pretty 1" and I put it up to her tem? ple and shot her and she fell right down. Then I went into the bed-room where the others were, and my little one lay right there on the pillow, and I thought I could shoot ber, too, so she would die right off and never feel it. R.?And then you shot the eldest, nidn'tyou? P.?Yes; it was tbe day they had got to die, and I thought I might as well kill her then, and so I shot her, too, and she fell right down on the floor. R.?Did you bring Anna into the bed? room and lay her on the bed ? P.?Yes, I picked her up off the floor and carried her into where the others were, and laid her on the bed just as nice as I could. R.?But you left the eldest lying in the blood on the floor. Why didn't you pick up her body, too? P.?She bled so much that I thought the blood would get all over the bed, and it could be cleaned off from the floor much more easily than from the bed. R.?What do you suppose will be done with you? P.?I don't know. Perhaps they will shut me up in jail. It makes no differ? ence. I am just as well off there as any? where. R.?But they will hang you for this. P.?Well, I don't care. They may do what they please. I don't make the laws. I had got to do it; those children couldn't live to come on the town and go to bad houses. I wouldn't have it. If I wasn't a Christian, I might. R.?Then you are a Christian, are you ? P. Yes, I am a good Protestant Chris? tian. I never have bad lime to go to church in Holyoke, because I always had to work Sundays; but I used to go when I was in Northampton. Kemmler's account of the crime was so shocking that the officers could hardly bear to listen to his talk. He seemed throughout to think that he had done a meritorious action, and talked as free? ly of bis disposition of the children as though they had been simply treated for sickness. He never once speaks of it as a crime, and perhaps this of itself is sufficient evidence of his insanity. A man in his right mind could hardly talk as he does, unless he was indeed devoid of all semblance of a soul. His appear aucc is singular, but he has more of an expression of treacherous, cunning soul lessness than of viciousness. A later dispatch from Holyoke gives the following additional particulars of the tragedy ; When Kemmler arrived at Omaha on his return trip, he tried to ob? tain work of a farmer, but could not make a bargain. He made up his mind while West to kill his children when he got home. He said : "They are small now, and good as anybody's children. If I kill them, they will go to heaven and will never do anything bad, and will never be bad girls." Last Sunday he thought the matter over, and decided to kill his children this week. He was with the children down by the river Thursday night, and thought of their falling down on the'cold damp ground. He thought he would wait and kill them in the bouse. Last evening he went out and practiced with his pistol to sec if it was all right, aud this afternoon he sent his wife away and killed tbem. He had rather see them buried and in heaven than see them bad. He repeatedly said : "I'm growing old, and I can't make money to send them to school and dress them well, and I am afraid they will be bad." While he was narrating this sto? ry an officer came in and told him one of the children was alive. At this he jumped at the grated door like a caged ti? ger, and shouted: "Let me out! Let me go and kill her! I don't waut her in pain!" When the officer told him that the child would soon die, ho quieted down and said; "Oh, it is all right then!" He repeatedly asked the by? standers if they did not think he did right. He said he would not have come back from the Black Hills had be not determined to kill the children. He wanted to free his wife so that she could support herself while he was away.. He said that his wife had been obliged to lock the children in the house and go out washing to support them. He thought at first that he would poison them, and got the poison, but he thought that would be painful for them, and he did not want to hurt them. He said he loved his chil? dren very much, and could not think of their growing up without schooling and without good clothes to wear. At one time, when making this statement, he stopped, and, looking down to the floor, muttered, "It isn't right; it isn't right!" Tears came into his eyes, and he called for his handkerchief. This was all the emotion he exhibited during an interview of an hour. When.n gentleman answered him that it was not right, Kemmler said, "0, you are rich ; it would not be right for you to do it." About 7 o'clock Undertaker Flint went with an .assistant and cared for the re? mains. The agony of the mother was heartrending, and it is believed that the shock will drive her insane. At mid? night one of the children was still living, but it was thought she could not survive till morning. Kemmler says that, while he was working in Connecticut in 1S67, he was sun-struck, and his head has troubled him a great deal since. This will probably be the basis of a defense on the grouud of insanity when his case comes to trial. The popular indignation against him is intense, and, if opportu? nity offers, it would not be surprising if there should be an attempt to lynch him ; at least this has been openly threatened. ? There is no friend to man so true, so kind so real and so good as woman. A MILLIONAIRE PLANTER. Who Controls the New Orleans Cotton Market. Edward Richardson lives in Jackson, Mississippi, but he has property interests all over the State. He owns nineteen plantations in the marvellously rich river country above Vicksburg, including parts of Washington and Issaquena coun? ties, and the Yazoo district. He has 18, 000 acres under cultivation, 15,000 of them in cotton. He raises about 10,000 bales or 45,000,000 pounds of cotton an? nually. He has 3,0,00 acres in corn and oats for the support of his stock and his people. And yet he has not land enough. Whenever a planter is hard up and wants to sell his place for cash, he applies first to old Ned Richardson, knowing that from him he will get a cash offer, though a low one. I heard Mr. Richardson offer the owner of a planta? tion $8,000 cash for land which the lat? ter valued at $15,000; and though the offer was at first refused, I was under the impression that it would ultime'ely be accepted. Nor is Mr. Richardson's dis? tinction derived only or solely from his plantations. He controls the cotton market to a higher degree than any other living man. He is the "Old Hutch" of New Orleans. When he takes snuff all the other brokers sneeze. As mem? ber of the first firm, in point of the vol? ume of business, he receives and disposes of more than 100,000 bales of cotton an? nually. He is the heaviest exporter. He has constantly the largest supplies on hand. For instance, when cotton sold, soon after the crop was marketed for eight cents and a fraction, he kept back the bulk of his crop. He has sold most of it since February. Last week he a lot go for 11 and 12 cents. He has still 1,100 bales back, on which he expects to realize over 13 cents. "If I hadn't waited," said Mr. Richardson, "I would have quit loser on the year. Bub. I'll make a little something on lastf years,- crop, and, if the indications for this year don't fail, or this exodus don't break things, I ought to clear $50,000 to $100,000 on this year." Mr. Richardson was not boasting. These statements were pried out of him by questions on other points. His shrewdness asa cotton dealer is evident, moreover, by the fact that, while he is selling at the highest price he bought at the lowest. As chief owner of the cotton and woolen mills at Wesson, Miss., in which he now runs 10,000 spindles,- and is putting in 5,000 more, he has to buy 4,300 to 4,400 bales of cotton annually near the mills, when he docs not plant himself. All this was put in at S cents and a fraction per pound. If it could be sold now, the profit on it would be about $35,000. This would make it worth while to close the mills, but lor the throwing of the op? eratives out of employment. It is not a simple thing here, where new hands would be hard to obtain, to shut down work and let the operatives go; and on this account Mr. Richardson has not at? tempted to reduce wages during all the hard times. He snys, indeed, that these cotton mills arc profitable. And there is consequently, no reason why wages should be reduced. The mills return about 12J per cent, regularly on the cap? ital invested. The cotton they use is all bought at the door, and costs usually two and a fraction cents less per pound than that used in Massachusetts. At the or? dinary price of cotton last year this would be a difference of 25 per cent, in favor of the South. The labor hero is also cheaper; aud wherever the capital can be obtained at reasonable rates, such enterprises, in the opinion of Mr. Rich? ardson, are always bound to succeed. Their success would mean more, he be? lieves also, than the profit of a few fdr tunate individuals. If there were as many cotton mills in Mississippi, in pro? portion to population, as there are in Massachusetts the labor problem would be solved. There would be a place to use labor which cannot now be employed in the field. Poor whites and members of the negro family, who are now bur? dens on the community, would be bread-winners. Mr. Richardson cited a number of instances of absolute paupers, who had become self-sustaining iu his mills, and asserted that 435 out of the 530 employed therein would have done nothing lor their own livelihood if they had not been offered these situations. I asked why the mills were put at a dis? tance from the river, apparently at an out-of-the-way place. The answer was that they were then in the midst of a rich wool growing section. The mills use 1,300 to 1,400 bales of wool, or 000, 000 to 700,000 pounds; and all the wool as well as all the cotton, is brought to the door on wagons, from the neighboring country. Jeans, striped cottons and brown goods are the principal products of the mills. Mr. Richardson owns a cotton seed oil mill on the Mississippi, and has many other small irons in the fire; but these only do, as Col. Sellers says, "for side investments," to keep his money em ployrd. He is reputed to be worth from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000, and though he and his partner at New Orleans have $1,400,000 already advanced on the grow? ing crop, they have still left more money than they know how to employ. They are frightened away from government bonds by the prospect of only 4 percent., but they are after investments that will yield 10 to 12 per cent.? Correspondence Chicago Tribune. A Dinner Supplied ry an Eagle.? A veracious gentleman residing near Centre vi lie, Md., says that as his son and himself were standing near his house, they descried three dark objects about the size of small birds far up in the air, cir? cling and darting hither and thither. 'Wc watched closely, and after awhile, they approached more nearly the earth. Wo then discovered that they were two ducks and a bald eagle; the eagle en? deavoring to capture the ducks, and the ducks exerting themselves to elude their pursuer. Far away in the distance we could discern the maiu flock, from which the two ducks had been separated, Hying steadily to the cover of the forest. The eagle would pounce first upon one and then relinquish it, in order to capture the other. Dropping that, he would re? turn to his first capture, seemingly like the dog in the fable, greedy to secure both. This was kept up for some time, when the eagle, suddenly darting for? ward, struck one of the birds with his talons, then swooping upon the other struck that too. The first bird fell at our feet; we had hardly time to pick it up when the other fell, with the eagle following. We picked up the sec? ond one, and the eagle observing our presence flew screaming away. On ex? amination it was found that the eagle ; had struck the ducks on the head, nearly I severing the heads from their bodies. I They were fine-sized canvas-backs, and I wc had them cooked for dinner. Try Them.?Housewives who use Dr. : Price's Special Flavoring Extracts avoid ' disappointments often experienced by ' the use of the ordinary flavoring extracts. I The personal attention of Steel & Price i in superintending their laboratory, makes I Dr. Price's Extracts so reliable. KILLED BY LIGHTNING. Two Little Girls Struck Dead in Each Other's Ann?. Neu1 York Herald, Emily and Ada Wiswall, sisters, aged respectively seven and five years, while seated one afternoon last week in the garden that surrounds the residence of their parents, at 17?1 street and Fulton avenue, were struck hy lightning and in? stantly killed. The dwelling is situated on a rocky eminence and is imbedded in a forest of hickory, cedar and cherry trees. It is a two story frame structure, and is picturesquely situated. From its isolated position and the deep shade in which it is embowered, the place was lo? cally known by the name of "The Rob bin's Nest." Here Mr. and Mrs. Wiswall resided,with their three children. George, the. eldest, who is nine years of age, re? sides with his grandfather, Mr. Adam Kerr, who occupies a comfortable home? stead across the street. Mr. Kerr is a salesman at Arnold & Constable's. The boy had crossed over and was about open? ing the latticed gate which leads to his parent's residence when the fatal bolt descended about a dozen vards distant, causing the instant death of his two little sisters. The family had retired from the dining room to the parlor. When an overcast sky gave warning of an ap? proaching storm, Mr. and Mrs. Wiswall went to the side entrance where they re? mained for a moment talking. In the meantime the two children had hurried from the house and taken their position under the shade of two towering oaks. These were situated about three feet apart, the trunks at the base becoming intertwined in a knotty protuberance. The trees are close to the gravelled walk which leads to the house from the en? trance on 170th street, and are connected by a seat which forms an attractive re? treat from the fierce glare of the sun. Here the children, having left the dining room, hastened to enjoy a nursery book. Emily was a precocious child for her years, handsome and vivacious. They were very much attached to each other, and were inseparable companions in their studies and amusements. She was seated next the tree further removed from the street, jand held the open book in her lap while both children nestled closely together to read the book. The picture was so pleasant to the parents that they continued to watch the move? ments of their children, deeply interest? ed in what was taking place. THE LIGHTNING QTROKE. At this moment the gathering storm began to break in large drops of rain. Mr. Wiswall made a forward movement to interrupt the children in their studies, beut upon bringing them into the house before the threatened shower increased, but he hesitated to disturb their innocent enjoyment. Suddenly the increasing gloom deepened and a bright and blind? ing flash, followed almost simultaneously by a deafening crash, startled Mr. and Mrs. Wiswall. The next moment they realized their terrible calamity. The thunderbolt had descended and struck dead their children. Emily sat upright on the seat in a natural position, still retaining in her lap the ouu-pread book. Her features showed no indication that life was extinct. Her large, dark eyes were wide staring, and a pleaded expres? sion illuminated her countenance. Ada had fallen or was hurled from the seat. She was yet alive, but unconscious. A messenger was at once despatched for medical attendance, and Dr. Comfort, who resides in the neighborhood, prompt? ly responded. Before his arrival, how? ever, the little one had expired. The grief of He heart-broken parents over the sudden and untimely loss of their children, who but a moment before were in the enjoyment of health, was most aiTccting. The unhappy mother went into hysterics, and the anguish of Mr. Wiswall, although not so demonstrative, was equally intense. The latter is super? intendent of the car shops of the Har? lem River Railroad. He was devotedly attached to his children, and the sudden bereavement has nearly affected his rea? son. APPEARANCE OP THE CODIES. The lifeless forms of the little ones were at once placed in charge of an un? dertaker. Their clothing was burned in several parts by the electric fluid. Emi? ly's garments, in particular, were singed to a deep brown. Her stockings and underwear were damaged much more than her outer clothing. The children had not been dead an hour when their skin became discolored in parts. The right cheek, side and hand of Emily turned purplish, and similar marks made their appearance on the face and limbs of little Ada. Both children as they lay together in a single casket, dressed out in muslin wrappers, with their tiny fold? ed hands, looked as if asleep. The pa? rents, friends and other members of the household, to whom the children were endeared by association, crowded the dwelling and could not conceal their sorrow. The parents became so frantic 'that they had to be removed from the presence of their dead children and kept apart under friendly restraint. Miss Coyle rents the premises and oc? cupies them in part with the Wiswall family. She keeps a private school in the back part of the first floor and occu? pies sleeping apartments up stairs. She said in spcakiug of the death of the two little children: "I had gone to my room and was reclining on a lounge reading. Suddeuly the leaves of the book became lllumiuatcd and my eyes were dazzled with the glare. An awful noise shook the house and nearly fright? ened me to death. I thought the place had tumbled about our ears. I had not time to recover my presence of mind when I heard a prolonged cry of distress down stairs. Something told me at the time that a terrible catastrophe had taken place. I hurried down stairs as. fast as my fright would enable inc. When I reached the garden I was con fronted with two dead children. I was almost paral? yzed at the sight. The children were as dear to me as if they had been my own. Last Friday we held our commencement and little Emily distinguished herself among all the other cluldren for her smartness and goodness. She recited a piece called "The Merry Brown Thrush" with much feeling and taste, the burden of which was that the world was running over with joy, and none but good people could appreciate the advantages of this life. A fairy piece was alsoenacted_and both children took leading parts in the exercises. It is a terrible calamity, and one which I fear will break the poor mother's heart. The little girls were her pride and ambition. She has only one other left?little Georgie, the eldest? who also narrowly escaped falling a vic? tim to the thunderbolt. He had been across the street to his grandfather's, by whom he is adopted, and was in the act of opening the gate to join his sisters at the moment they were strii-kcn dead. 1 thought for a moment that no one would be left alive in the house, the flash was so blinding and the noise was so terrible." COURSE OF THE BOI.T. Mr. Panlield, who resides in the neigh? borhood, had hurried out of his house at the approach of the storm in search of his grandchild. The tetter was stand ing at the gate, close toGeorgie Wiswall, when the thunderbolt descended a few yards distant. Mr. Danfield says that he saw a ring of fire surround the tops of the two tall white oak trees beneath which the doomed children were seated. The flame played about the trees in a spiral shape and then disappeared toward the base. The bark was stripped where the lightning struck in its downward course. It travelled down the tree by which little Emily was rested, and pass? ed along the connecting seat to the base I of the trunk of the adjoining tree. The electric current discolored the heads of the nails on the seat on which the chil? dren were seated, and finally spent its force in the earth. It took a zigzag course around the trunk of the tree, leaving a reddish swathe on the bark, but not injuring the branches or limbs. The neighbors proclaim that the noise caused by the clap of thunder was ap? palling in the extreme. No indications were given of the approacliing thunder storm beyond a passing cloud and ? slight sprinkling of rain. During the afternoon and evening crowds of people continued to visit the scene of the disas? ter and curiously investigated the course of the thunderbolt. RIVERS OF DESTRUCTION! Tho T.:iv;i from Active Etna Flows Slowly but Surely. Rome, June 7. The full accounts of the destruction caused by the terrible eruption of Mount Etna are heartrending. Catania was one of the provinces of Italy where there was a promise of a good harvest, but now the green fields and vineyards are buried under a heavy weight of hard, gray lava. The possessions of the Sicilians living on the sides or at the foot of the mountains are destroyed, and many a proprietor whe in May was rich, in June is as poor va the humbtest of his servants. The story, only one of many, is told of a proprietor, the father of nine children, who yester? day saw everything he possessed, houses, barns, cabins, olive trees, corn and wheat fields and vineyards, all destroyed. The inhabitants of the towns and country houses near the course of the lava are discouraged at the extent of their mis? fortunes. They remove all the house? hold goods that can be transported, tho cattle, the wine in the cellars, and even the tiles on the roofs of the houses. The roads near the advancing lava are like a battlefield. Wagons laden with goods, herds of cattle, crowds of weeping women and children fleeing from their homes. Innumerable strangers from every nation, on the contrary, go forward on the road and advance so near the lava that the guards arc obliged to send them back. Although they can advance so near as to light a cigar at the stream of lava it is dangerous, as the lava, which at one mo? ment looks dark and dull, is liable at the next to burst open by its own weight and make a new path for itself where it is not expected. Regiments of soldiers arc stationed all along the roads to keep order, and lines of thenrguard tho edges of the stream. A correspondent from Randazzo describes how the inhabitants of that town and of Linguagrossa stood on the national road watching the lava slowly advance, and as it begau to cover the road they sadly shook hands and said farewell when the fiery stream separated them. There was a cry of despair from the people at this point when the bridge of Piciara was burned, and the lava fell from a Iktle height into lovely vipcyards and filled them up. ' The mountain has been disturbed for five months. On the 22d of May the crater threw out with a great noise a vast quantity of dense salt and smoking mud. This made an intermitting fountain rising sometimes twenty-four feet above the level of the soil. Occasionally great balls of mud filled with gas grew larger and larger until they burst. The river of mud constantly fed from the crater descended the sides of the mountain, and for a distance of four miles filled up the canals used for irrigation. The fright? ened country people, uncouscious of the worse ills that were coming upon them, sought to defend their fields from the entrance of the enemy by building walls of stones. On the afternoon of the.26th of May the eruption began, Avhich is said to be the most violent of this century. The people were startled by repeated shocks of earthquake, loud thunder, high wind and a heavy rain. Two new cra? ters were then seen on the northwest part of the mountain, which vomited lava, smoke and fine ashes. The next day three columns of smoke were seen on the back of the mountain, and the lava began to descend. The movement of this incandesceut stream was at first rapid, but as it increased in size and spread out over the lower part of the mountain and the plains it became slower. Its advance now is estimated at forty-five feet an hour, and the width of the three streams into which it is divided are variously estimated. That which threatens the town of Moio, with two hundred inhabitants, and the river Al? cantara is said to be fifteen hundred feet wide, and this width continually increas? es on account of the height of the stream. If the river Alcantara, which is one of the priucipal streams of Sicily, and sup? plies several large towns, gardens, and mills with water, is filled up the calamity will be incalculable. The lava is already within a few hundred feet of the shore, and slowly advancing; but it is hoped that it may turn and run along the bank, or not have strength to reach the water, the violence of the eruption having di? minished. One of the streams of lava has traveled a distance of thirteen miles from the crater; it i3 estimated that in less than four days more than two hun? dred and thirty million cubic yards of lava have been thrown out. The spectacle of this tremendous con? vulsion of nature is wonderfully and fearfully beautiful. It is especially im? pressive at night, when the fiery current often throws up in its progress great masses of molten stone. The column of smoke and fine black sand which follows the lava reflects the red tint of the fire, and looks like an aurora borealis. From the craters on the top of the mountain rise dense columns of smoke, uow very white and again densely black, and often pierced by sharp streaks of electricity. The travellers who have flocked thither view these wonders with ccstacy, but the poor and the rich man reduced to begga? ry weep over the ruin of their homes. In the daytime the cloud of smoke and sand is so dense that the sun is invisible, and the day seems to be almost like the night. Spectacles and umbrellas are ne? cessary protections for whoever walks out in the neighborhood of the moun? tain, for the fine sand covers everything with a heavy coating, and blows into the eyes. The eruption is accompanied by constant rumbling noises like the boom? ing of artillery; the earth trembles, the sky is leaden. The mass of lava is from fifteen to thirty feet high, and, according to its height or the time of day, varies in color from a bright, fiery red ton dull leaden shade. If it was not for the jets of smoke which issue now and then from this mass it might be thought dead lava of half a century ago, out when it moves its waves slide over each other and emit jets of fire.