The Medford mail., January 10, 1896, Page 3, Image 3

HOOFS AND WHEELS.
BY A. T. VANCE.
Tvro bicycles leaning together on an
arid, treeless, rolling plain; a few tutts
of scattered cacti; no human beiu,
beast or bird in sight; perfect stillness
and early afternoon under a sun that
blazed where never a cloud had flown
for weeks. Even insects had perished
from drought in that desolation o
anyone might have imagined had any
one been gazing about on that Califor
nia scene from a point within a hundred
yards of the apparently-deserted
wheels.
Had a native stood there he would not
have supposed the wheels deserted, but
guessed that the riders were concealed
in some crack of the sun-baked earth.
Indeed, Del Hall and I were almost
within springing distance of our biktf,
and much disinclined to remount thciu.
We had lunched fully if not comfort
ably on the provisions and drink wc
carried; the earth-crack in which we
Jay was deep and narrow enough to
shade us from the slightly westering
sun. and we shrank from more pedal
ing under its glare.
Del and I, college chums, had under
taken to wheel from San Francisco to
Los Angeles, nearly 400 miles as the
crow flies. Our guides were a pocket
compass and the "lay of the land." Our
interpreters were the natives and our
selre their much Mexican being
about as clear to us as our little Spanish
to them. But they were wonderfully
quick in understanding all deman-ls
made in the name of the white almighty
dollar of Uncle Sam.
nunout good letters 01 introduction
to Tanoua . owner of rancboe, who
passed us on with equally good letters
to other of their hospitable kind, we
could not have traversed the country.
Much, of it lacks inns and stores, and
even place of public resort. But for
hospitality we should have starved.
And on this blazing day we were mak
ing for the Bancho del Paso, an interest
ing old mission ranch established long
before gold-seeker rushed to Cali
fornia. ,'
We had not met a soul for ten miles
before lunching.
"Are you sure we're on the way 7" Del
asked, as the time came near when we
must remount.
"Certainly; the track is plain enough,'
I said. "The last man we met said wr
couldn't miss it as long as we kept
about this far from the foothills.
"But he said something else. I wish
we had stopped longer to make out
what he did mean. It was something
about Plaza de Toros. IVe been think
ing he was warning us against cattle
"Pooh! Are you afraid of cows?
Come along: we must move. There a
rise about half a mile ahead; perhaps
we shall see the rancho from there; it
cant be more than IS miles away ; may
be not half so far."
Again we sped over the vast plain.
eobwebbed with fissures and cracks hv
the long drought, which had made a
.eritable desert of the tract within
' Cigat.
' Five miles nearer the coast the cou
try smiled with grass and grain, vine
yards and olive groves, but here
we .were running through a waste
drearier than any we had traverser!.
the fissures and cracks mostly ran
southerly course, we seldom ner d-
to dismount, though frequently
to short detours. So we soon
Veliumbed the gradual rise, whose sti re
mit! extended on a level broad enough
M J to hlide the lower tract immediately oe
f yuaa3. Yet the more d istant ground was
M in viw. and there, as if it hurl smlHpn Iv
sprung from the earth, we saw the i ir
regular, broken line of the adobe vrai.s
vf Bancho del Paso, our resting place.
"Hurrah! It can't be more than four
miles away, Del!" I cried. "Come along;
let us drop into this dried-uparroyo and
get its shade till it runs out in the next
lowland, for we knew that such an
arroyo, or water course, cuts somewhat
deeply through the slow rises and but
little into the hollows of these plains-
While we dipped into the arroyo toe
tufts of cacti on the upland seemed
moving in the shimmering sunlight.
No more of the plain did we see until
we reached the lower level, when oui
heads. were higher than the-frayed
rides of the water course. Then Del and
I cried out together in amazement, for
counties cattle were near ua on the
plain.
A we ran up out of the water course
we saw groups scattered as far as the
eye could reach. They flanked us on
both sides; hundred were behind us;
a compact array, almost numerous
enough to be called a herd, stood on our
path to the ranch.
Toward this mass all the others
seemed lo be converging, as the slop
ing sides of a funnel trend toward it
hole, or rather as the horns of a cow
often curve inward at the tips.
Our course to the rancho lay almost
evenly between the sides of this living
funnel. But its opening was blocked.
Still, we believed we eoiild pass round
that small, massed herd.
It was not at all necessary for us to
make the attempt, and we would not
have tried it had we imagined it to b?
dangerous. Nothing but a little shade
and comfort could we gain by reach
ing the Bancho del Paso quickly. Time
was of no account just then, for we
meant to stay at the rancho until the
next morning. And yet we went
"scorching" along with never a thougnt
of prudence or delay.
None of the cattle that flanked us on
either side were within 200 yards when
we began the run. They were slowly
moving in groups, and those which
formed, as it were, the tips of the horns
were not within 150 yards of the herd
directly in our way. An opening lay
oj each side of these,antl we started for
the easterly gap at moderate speed, not
imagining how the strange sjectacle
ol bicyclers would hurry the cattle. - .v
Scarcely had we started when the
commotion began. Thousands of eyes
turned to us; a thousand snorts made
din; beasts near and far on our Hants
were leaping as if to catch a glimpse of
y over others; the sou rids of wonder
and alarm went to the massed herd in
front.
These leading cattle never seemed to
glance behind to see the cause of the sud
den tumult, but broke into a slow run,
heads down and tails in air. Within ten
seconds the whole multitude of cattle
went crazy, as if with desire to mass
with the leading herd.
The leaders seemed equally desirous
to maintain their distance. They ran
faster, they galloped, but they were
massed and could not go at the top
speed of the fastest among them.
The quicker galloper in the groups
that formed the side of the funnel
cculd set their own pace and force that
of their companions. So the groups
strung out; they soon became two con
tinuous but narrow columns on our
flanks, and these long columns were in
cessantly widened and solidified by the
inrushing of flanking cattle that made
short cuts to reach the stampeding
throng.
"We've got to get through quickly or
they'll be on top of us," cried Del, look
ing at me with great alarm.
"We'll get through they're not clos
ing the gap," I shouted, for we had to
shout if we would be heard above the
dull, strange din.
"They are!" he roared. "The cattle
in front are not running as fast as those
leading the sides. Don't you see the
sides slowly closing in?"
If it had been possible for u to stop
them we should have rejoiced to do so.
But masse of cattle behind u were
galloping furiously a dark, bellowiug
array under the cloud of their own
dust. We dared not risk a stop; we
cculd not turn aside; our only chance
of escape seemed to lie in outrunning
the flanks of the cattle impi, and o es
caping by the front.
We bad good hope to get through.
and pretty easily, though the course of
the leading flanking cattle seemed to
slant more than ever acroea our line,
and the front herd, perhaps because
they- instinctively wished the other to
mass with them, seemed to Brightly
slacken their speed.
As we hurried toward the narrowing
gap we came ever nearer to the thun
dering beasts of the side columns. We
were so near them that the heated,
nameless smell of their galloping bodies,
their breath, the very fumes of their hot
blood seemed enveloping us in a smoky
air. which became thick and blinding
as a light, transient wind blew from the
foot-hills, and bore around ua the fine
dust from frantic hoofs.
"Take more ground, screamed Del,
"spread out. We must keep further
apart. They'll keep back, maybe. Try
it. It's our last chance."
"Xo let us stop let us turn and run
back. There may be an opening be
hind us in spite of appearances."
"There's not." roared Del. "I looked
behind before the dust closed in. Don't
you hear the rush back there? I saw
a perfect horde right behind ua a reg
ular line. Cattle have run in from the
plain and caught up to the rear line.
Take more ground, 1 tll you!"
I was so close to the galloping column
on my right that 1 could see the beasts'
eyes. They had not given way a I
came nearer, but still did not seem in
clined to crowd me. I have since
thought that they did not see us at all
after the stampede began, but rihed
blindly on with the impulse to mass.
Well, I knew that those directly be
hind us were pouring on in a frenzy
that would, did we fall, carry them over
us as in perfect unconsciousness that
they trampled anything living.
I fe't my strength failing fast. It
seemed that the course was carrying us
up a slope. But now we were so closed
in that the dust was quite blinding, I
could no longer see Del. I yelled to
him, but heard no reply. With a hor
rible cowering realization of what a
formless mass be must be now, if he
were down among the hoofs, I pushed
my pedals der-erately.
Bight ahead v roe the dark places
that denoted cattle intermingled with
the dust seemed still unjoined. The gap
was not yet closed, I believed, and drove
for it. Could I but get through and a
little more than through I might
swerve off against the breeze, pas
round the front of the furious, wedge
like mass, and escape the wide, flanking
ends.
More choking, more acrid, more evil
smelling, more blinding the hideous
dust enveloped me. I was close on the
leaders now. 1 was so close that I
could dimly see the gaunt, ridgy backs,
the muscular hind parts, the crazy tails
these cattle, tried by drought and
lean with much wandering for water,
were in condition to run far even in
my despair, I noted that.
In condition to run! They seemed in
condition to leap as if for fun while run
ning! Up they sprang by ranks bow
etrange! Ah, I understood!
But I understood too late. The earth
crack which they had leaped was deep;
my wheel seemed to go from under me;
"Just then 1 heard what sounded like
rapid revolver firing; and down, down I
fell.
When my eyes opened I saw a swarthy
face close to mine. A peon from the
Bancho del Paso was holding a little tin
of wine to my lips. Others stood about.
And Del could it be possible? They
had lifted me tenderly out of the earth
crack, and now told me how Del and I
had been saved.
He had fallen into a crack, too, but
had escaped with fewer hurts than 1.
As for the peons, they had ridden from
the Bancho del I'aso in an attempt to
Ktop the stampede, and the sound of
their shooting into the leaders was that
which 1 hud heard at the moment of
my fall.
We were at the Bancho dePFaso four
days before I was fit to travel; and
when . next we crossed that dreary
stretch of plain it was with a wagon
train. Del and I had learned to appre
ciate the dangers of bicycling among
range cattle, and the value of a con
siderable acquaintance with the Mexi
can vernacular. When next we heard a
peoin warn us lo avoid Plaza de Toros we
knew' that he meant something more
dangerous than the bull fight circus
grojund. Youth's Companion.
WHERE BRAINS GO BEGGING.
College Bdneatlans at a Discount In New
York' Labor Market.
For the student of social science
there is food for reflection in the fact
that an advertisement for "a person of
good education to do some pen copying
for small compensation," inserted re
cently in the Sunday papers, says the
New York World, brought forth sev
eral hundred letters, largely from edu
cated men and women out of employ
ment. .
As showing that the old proverb
about knowledge being power is not
universally true, the following an
swers to the advertisement are especial
ly significant:
"I am a linguist, and can do the nec
essary copying not only in English, but
also in German, French, Italian, Latin
and Russian."
"1 am of good education, well quali
fied to do some pen copying for a small
compensation, either in ancient or mod
ern dialects and languages. Am a
teacher, bookkeeper, compiler, trans
lator, typewriter and stenographer in
English, French and Spunish."
"I matriculated at the London uni
versity, and took my degree of B. A.
(bacheller-es-lettres) in Sorbonne, in
Paris."
I am a graduate of St- John's col
lege, London. .England, and have had
great experience in educational work."
"I am a bachelor in science of the
University of Brussels, Belgium, a good
I'renco-English scholar and a rapid
vrorker."
" beg to apply for the copying
meuiioned in your advertisement. I
am an Englishman, and was educated
at Cheltenham college, in England."
"I am an Englishman, thirty-nine
years of age. and hare received a thor
ough education at an important public
school in the city of London. -1 am a
lawyer, but have given up practice. I
am energetic, careful and correct in
business, and can furnish references
as to character and ability."
A young woman seta forth her refer
ence from the Young Woman's Chris
tian association. Another has been a
government copyist.
"'I have been educated for the
church." writes an unfortunate young
man, in pale ink. "but was compelled
to seek other employment through not
having the necessary fund. I speak
English, hrench and Italian; am hon
est and reliable; am now five years in
my present place, where I have to work
hard: would like, if possible, to add to
the support of my two little motherless
children. My writing, for want of
practice, U nothing to be compared to
what it was some "am ago."
IN LITERATURE AND ART.
Heyals Hoping to rtod There rrwb
Worlds lo Conquer.
If the name of Emperor William does
not appear in the catalogue of the exhi
bition of the Berlin academy of arts
that opens shortly, the hanging com
mittee of that institution had better
look out for squalls. If they were to
reject the picture he ha.s sent in, the
kaiser would be quite capable of order
ing thera out to instant execution, or
of writing down the exhibition in the
columns of any newspaper that would
accept imperial art criticism. The
paintine represents, we are told, "a
maneuver at sea, black clouds of smoke,
torpedoes, guns and boats tossed upon
raging waves." The description is
rather incoherent. Probably the pic
ture is, too. But there is no fear that
the loyal Berliners will be deprived of
the chance of feasting their eyes upon
it. There is one magnificent feature
about the canvas that would secure its
acceptance in almost any exhibition in
the world. That is the signature.
"William I. R., 1895." which appears in
the right hand corner. The effect
which these simple words and figures
will produce upon the minds of humble
minded believers in the divine right of
kings could not be equaled by any
artist in Europe.
All the great ones of the earth seem
to be going in either for art or litera
ture nowadays. Prince Nicholas of
Montenegro has just completed a drama
in verse, which is shortly to be acted
and afterward published in St. Peters
burg. The prince ia said already to
have "achieved some local reputation
as a poet." The phrase is excellent.
One can imagine the following epitaph
being compiled for William II.: "He
was for many years king of Timbuctoo
and Bithynia, and he achieved some lo
cal reputation as a marine , painter and
drawing-room song writer." Then
there is another prince TroubeUkoy
to-wit who has just had an opera of
his own composition produced at Mos
cow. It will soon hardly pay anyone
who is not a crowned head to write or
paint or compose anything at all.
EVER Y- p A YETIQU ETT E. t
Tea Kolas of Politeness for Uttle Prlae
and Prlaeees Chawing-.
A" writer in the New York World
says:
Do not beat a tattoo with your feet
when in company with others; nor whis
tle; nor hum a tune; nor drum with youi
fingers upon convenient objects.
Complete your , toilet in the privacy
of your own room. If the nose, ears
and finger tips must be cleaned, per
form these operations elsewhere than in
public.
Try not to gape, hiccough or sneeze in
company.
Resist the desire to caress the face
with the hands. Either the face or the
hands is sure to suffer in appearance
by being brought together. Rubbing
the eyes, smoothing the forehead, and
patting Ihe mouth add nothing to per
sonal beauty.
Overcome the habit of nudging people,
or catching them by the arm or by the
clothing, when you wish to attract their
attention.
Do not bore strangers by discussing
family affairs with them.
Don't chew a toothpick,
When in company never open a book
and begin to read; never appear inatten
tive to the conversation; never tell long
stories; and, above all things, never talk
about yourself or your wonderful
achievements. . .. t
FOUGHT FOR THE HAIR.
A Barber and His Customer Stand I'p
for Individual Right.
"Now you have cut my hair," said
the shorn countryman to the barber,
"kindly collect the hair from the floor,
wrap it up in a paper and hand it to
me."
"I shall do no such thing," the bar
ber replied, firmly. "That hair belongs
to me. I cut it off, didn't I? That
makes it mine "
The customer got excited, says the
New York World.
"Don't you know," he exclaimed hot
ly, "that under the common law of the
land anything that grows upon my
head is as much mine as are the con
tents of the head? In every copyright
case it has been settled that the prod
uct of a man's brain is his. Don't you
know that?"
Now was the barber's turn to get
mad.
"If hair is the productof your brain,"
he shouted, "I guess it's about all it
does produce. What do you want the
blamed hair for? I don't need it my
self, but I'm fighting for a principle,
and I'd spend my last cent to do you
out of that hair."
"None of your business what I want
it for," howled the countryman. Per
haps I need it to stuff pillows with, and
perhaps I am a wholesale manufac
turer of wigs. That's none of your
business. I'll admit that I don't need
the hair. What then? I'm fighting for
principle, too. Gimme my hair."
They shook their fists in each other's
faces. It took a policeman to separate
them.
Such are the ills of life. For these
trifles do men wildly battle.
Something- ew In Windmill.
The old-time windmill that tower
ing skeleton of riba and fans with
which we are familiar has recently
been improved in a fashion that
promises much better results an in
creased rate of power and much greater
ease of management. Instead of fans
or arms turning over and over, wheel
fashion, the conditions are reversed,
the axle being perpendicular, and the
fans turning from side to side. This
arrangement has advantages, in that
the machinery ran be made stronger,
and by an ingeniously contrived set of
levers the fans open and close auto
matically. This is of great importance,
as a sudden gale is liable to wreck an
ordinary wiuuuiin on short notice.
With this new device, it is claimed that
no matter how rapidly the fans may re
volve, they will catch the wind only at
the proper time, the other side opening
to give free passage to the air; thus the
higher the gale, the higher the rate of
speed and the more effective the
machinery. It is said that in windy
countries enough power can be gener
ated to run a small dynamo. The
greatest value of a windmill is in coun
tries where continual pumping of
water is necessary for purposes of irri
gation. A windmill constructed on
this new principle costs no more than
the old style, is infinitely more effect
ive, less liable to get out of order, and
lias a greater variety of uses than any
heretofore made.
"I fot into a ducussion with a
friend the other day. said a man.
addressing an acquaintance, "concern
ing the exact reading of- a clause in
the constitution of the United States.
We argued awhile, and then agreed to
iubmit the question to a well-known
Congressman. We did so. but he
xiuldn't tell us any thing about iu"
But why did you not get a copy of
die constitution and settle the mat-
er?" "Couldn't find one. We were
.n Washington City at the time."
Arkansaw Traveler.
Military statistics show that more
than twenty per cent, of the young men
presenting themselves for service in the
army in the Governments on the
Vistula are rejected on account of feeble
health. The Medical Department of
the Ministry of the Interior has ap
appointed a special commission to in
quire into the causes of the defective
state of health in that part of the Em
pire. k Saved His Life
by a fortunate dis
covery in the nick of
time. Hundred of
fersoas suffering
ro m consumption
have had the pro
gress of the disease
stopped, and have
been brought back to
life and health by the
"Golden Medical
Discovery" of Dr.
Pierce.
Years ago Dr. K. V. Pierce, now chief
consulting physician to the Invalids Hotel
and Surgical Institute of Buffalo, N. Y.,
recognizing the fact that consumption was
essentially a fens disease, and that a rem
edy which would drive the germ and their
poisons from the blood would cure consump
tion, at last found a medicine which cured 98
per tent, of all cases, if taken in the earlier
stages of the disease.
The tissues of the lungs being irritated by
the germs and poisons in the blood circulat
ing through them, the germs find lodgment
there, and the lung begin to break 1 Sown.
Soon the general health begins to fail, and
the person feels languid, weak, faint, drowsy
and confused.
This is the time to take Dr. Pierce's Gold,
en Medical Discovery; it drives the germ
and poisons from the blood, and has a sooth
ing effect upon the dry cough. In cases of
bronchitis the "Discovery" is invaluable.
"Golden Medical Discovery" increases the
amount and quality of the blood, thus invig
orating and fortifying the system against dis
ease and builds up wholesome flesh and
strength after wasting diseases, as fever
pneumonia, grip and other debilitating af-
iccuons.
Jno. M. Hits, of Am
dubon, A udubon Co., Ia.,
says : " I took a severe
cold which settled on my
lungs and chest, and I
suffered intensely with
it. I tried several of
our best physicians here
and they gave up all
hopes or my recovery,
and thought I would
have to die.' I would
cough and spit blood
for hours, and 1 was pale
and weak. Iwaasmtlv
discouraged when I be- erv
coveryf.r.05 J. M. Hit. Esq.
better, It has beta Bre Tests since I took it a
kava Ism ao retsr etaal trouble sums.1'
ssW'a- eTtxs
r w 1 r a. v r 1 11 1 1 1 s
A- - -),VW,-. v E
for Infants
ML lasMIRTT year oTaserraHost
J millions of parson, permit
It 1 naqnamtlonahly tho best
the- world has tmr kssw. It ia TarmIo . CVIdrea like- It. It
givw them Tkoaltla. It will says their llv. 1st it Mathers Tay.
smotlaiii; which ia ahsolately safe and praetieally perfect as t.
child' medicine.
Caste rla destroy Worm.
Caatoria sJlays rerarlshaees.
Carter!) proeoavt Tomittng; Soar Card.
Cartorta ear Piarrkeaa amd 'Wind CoMe.
Caetoria o11oto T tkiag; Troooloa.
Cavatoria ewro Comstipati and lTatmlamey.
Caetoria ate-srtrsllaea tho esteem of earTsoai sveid gmm or psissmoas ate.
Cewtesrlav asstsaflatoo tfco food,
frfrfasw Taoaltky amd avatanral .loop.
Coatarla I psrt mp im oo-iao aottloa oJy. ItUattstUk
PassH allow aaty omo to n tow asrtsimT olao tho pi or
tko H fa "jtaet aa
1 tko yam pot CA - K
Tito tee-saWllo
Children Cry for
L.
QONTRACTOR and gUILDEIL
JOBBING OF YT.L KINDS.
All work guaranteed first-clasg. Plans and estimates furnished or
all kind of work either brick or wood.
Bills : LVMHEK of all kind Oiled cn short
kind acjr Ihin in the stspe of wood
edibitl,
JHCKS01IV ILLE T1PRBLE WORKS.
J. C. AVlrllPP, iPropr.
Does General Contracting in all lines. -----
GRANITE AND MARBLE WOKS.
- CEMETERY WORK A SPECIALTY-'
Jacksonville, - - Oregon.
VT. I. VAWTKR.
Pre?.
Wa. SUNGER
Vice Pre.
Jackson County Bank,
CAPITAL, - $50,000
Loan money on approved security, receive deoosits subject to check,
and transact a general banking business on ths most farorable. terms-.
?-Your Business Solicited.
Corresrondtents:
Ladd & Bush. Salem. Anglo-California Ban!;, San Francisco.
Ladd & Tilton, Portland. Corbin Banking Co., K Y.-
Union Lihety Stables,
C. HINQUS & SON, Proprietors,
Successor to ED. WORMAN. . .
Having lately purchased this popular stable and stocked it witb
new rigs, safe and fast teams I am now prepared to meet the wants of
the traveling public in a satisfactory manner.
CORNER SEVENTH AND B, MEDFORD, OREGON.
THE VERY BEST OF
BRICK AND MASON
S. CHILDERS,
T f
I manufacture a splendid artiele of Brick see sample
everywhere about the city. Yard one block north f
Brewery. Residence north C street, Medford, Oregon-
MEDFORD BRICK
Or. W. PEIDDY, irop'r.
MEDFORD, - OREGON.
1 . gpmmmmrsmmm - -. .
First-class quality of Brick always on hand. Large and small ttinr
promptly filled. . ,
BRICK WORK OF All KINDS PROMPTLY. EXECUTED.
s , jk GiYe me a call when in need of anything in my line
Legal Blanks at
and Children.
of Cas toriav with tho patroataco of
na to ayoafc of it wltlaoat 1
remedy for Iafsuata am Chfldrest
rosraloto tko
'win 1
- fI - A,
la em
Pitcher's Castorla.
9
noliee, Safc. Door acd Uiil work ot ai
work can be ti on abort notice.
OrepOB
J. E. BKTART.
Casals r
Medford Oregon
WORK.
YARD,
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