Oregon City press., April 05, 1899, Image 6

IMPRESSIONS.
The touch of a hand, the glance of nn eye,
Or n word exchanged with n passer-by;
A glimpse of a face in a crowded street
And afterward life Is Incomplete;
A picture painted with honest zeal
And we lose the old for the new Ideal;
A chance remark or a gong's refrain,
And life is never the same agalu.
An angered word from our Hps is sped
Or a tender word is left unsaid,
And one there is who, his whole life long,
Khali cherish the brand of a burning
wrong;
A line that stares up from an open page,
A cynic Riuile from the lips of age,
A glimpse of loving seen in a play,
And the dreams of our youth are swept
away.
A friendly smile and love's emberlng
spark
Leaps into flame and illumines the dark;
A whispered "Be brave" to our fellow
men
And they pick up the thread of life
again.
Thus never an act or a word or thought
Hut that with unguessed importance Is
fraught,
For small things build np eternity
And blazon the ways for a destiny.
not now be a lone, trlste
home, chick, or child onlj
She Is trembling froii
head down to her tiny;
inn, wio-.u.
the money.
her dainty
silk-bowed
"EL CHATTO."
IN the bouse of "EI Chntto," ex-bull-flghter
of Madrid and present
"Torero before tbo Mexican pub-
He," there wag dire dismay, owing to
the low state tbo very low state of
the family exchequer.
"El Cbatto" (meaning "the snub
nose") had Just finished taking Ills
morning chocolate and "pan dulce," as
sisted by bis pretty wife, Donna Lollta,
Who also had been a member of the
noble army of bull-flgbtcrg In fact,
first female cspuda la the big ring at
Seville but this was a secret.
A career that might possibly have
been glorious had been cut short by the
selfishness of "El Chntto," who bad
loved her, married her, and taken her
awny from the old world to the new
the rich country of Mexico where a
bull-fighter was a prince.
Successful, feted, and honored In
Cuba and afterward !u Mexico,. "El
Chatto's" prosperity bad not lasted
long, for soon had come the edict that
bull lighting In Mexico must stop.
This morning, the day before the bull
fight honoring the fiesta of San Marcos,
Investigation revealed one big piece and
fourteen copper centaros. Not enough
to pay coach biro even!
Here was a pretty mess; no wonder
that "El Cbatto" lulsurely and calmly
spoke every nnughtly and lurid word
that came to his mlud during the next
half-hour. '
At last, out of breath, "El Chntto"
paused and glared about him, as
though In search of some one to fight
Dounn Lolltu smiled at hlni sweetly,
removing the clgnret from her pretty
Hps ns she murmured: "Have you fin
ished, little Snub Nose?"
A shrug of the shoulders was her hus
band's reply.
"Then listen, 0 most worthless hus
band, for I havo a phiu a plan most
magnificent, thereby we will mnke a
fortune sulllelent silver peso, one C0
cent piece, one l(-cent."
"This Is how It In," she pursued, blow
lug a ring of smoke Into her husband's
face; "the Impresalro pay you little
very little only n hundred silver dol
lars is. It not so?"
"Si, that Is all the pigs!" growled the
torero; "and nfter this there will be no
fight until 'holy week' no more
money!"
Tues, then we will make more out
cf them much more. Listen, marldo
mlo; this Is the plan.
The gloom clears away from the
bouse of the matador; there continues
rejoicing all that day. "El Chntto" and
his pretty wife have a most Joyous
comedn, and afterwards lay their heads
together on the subject of the morrow's
fight and a special Spanish costume
that Lollta Is to wear one of old Se
vllln all rose pink and Spanish man
tllln, with a pink rose In her blue black
hair, this latter being another of the
mysteries; In Mexico few ladles ever
wear the costume of old Spain It Is ns
much worn out, passe, here as the
patches and powder and hoops of the
revolutionary days aro In Anglo-Saxon
lands.
Hut why Is she wearing It to-nior-
row? Unless, Indeed, It Is be
cause fully fifteen enormously rich
Spanish families havo taken boxes nud
will bo there? Perhaps that Is It
IiOllita wishes to bo patriotic-that Is
what Is the matter!
She purposely took n sent Just' be
bind the first barrier of the bull ring
not seven feet above the ground where
her husband will kill his bull "so that
she can nee him better," as she lisps to
an admiring Mexican fighter, who
wishes her to go Into one of the boxes.
In her Sevilllau costume, the silk
mantilla exposing just enough of her
Spanish eyes and dimpled ehlu to make
people want to see more, Dona Lollta
Is by fur the most admired woman In
the plaza, distracting attention even
from the beautiful bauderllla work that
"El Largo" Is going through with lu
tho ring.
Many a rich Spanish lady up there
in the boxes envies the loyalty that
has Induced tho wearing of a passe
dress, and many a Spaniard feels his
heart grow warm and his eyes moist
ns, forgetting the little figure before bis
eyes, ho can see another one of the old
days In the old country almost Identic
al; many a mau forgets tho fat, richly
dressed Mexleau wile at his side nud
goes back lu heart to just" such a girl,
whether of Andalusia, of Seville, or of
Madrid,
And son ted alone In his box the pilneo
of bunkers, old Frnnuulllo, drops his
glass and sighs; perhaps If a girl llko
that one yonder had lived, Instead of
passing away from hlni during the first
poverty-stricken month of their mar
ried life there lu Barcelona, he would
Spanish slippers all the time that "EI
Largo" Is torturing the furious, paw
ing bull with his sharp banderillas.
She clasps her hands tightly together,
as, finally, tiring of the banderilla work
which, In fact, has been somewhat
long drawn out, "on account of tho
matador, 'El Chatto's,' sudden sickness
and falntness" the public of tho sunny
side begin to clamor for "EI matador!
Mute el toro! Que venga el matador!
El matador!"
Tho gate swings open nt Inst, and
"'El Lnrgo" still tenses the bull as "El
Chntto" moves forward slowly, and
bows first to the President and then to
the public. In spite of his magnificent
silver and violet costume, he looks t
deathly 111 his face Is white and i
drawn, and under his eyes great black
rings show, that extend almost half
way down his face.
But "El Cbatto" Is game, If he Is sick
perhaps the presence of his wife In
spires him with fresh courage, for he
unsheathes his bright, keen sword, nods
briefly to "El Lnrgo," who gets out of
the way, smiles once at Lollta, who is,
beneath her mantilla, far whiter than
he, then makes a tantalizing movement
at the bull.
After all, no one can fight a bull as
does the Spanish matador. At leust.
during "El Chatto's" splendid work of
the next seven minutes that Is what the
people think. All of them nre on their
feet shrieking, somo breathless with
delight! Silver dollars and hats and
flowers rain down Into the ring, but
"El Cbatto" has no time to bow his
thanks; he Is too busy.
On her feet, ns Is everybody else, for
that matter, Lollta Is watching every
motion, her heart beating In great
leaps, and so excited and wrought up
now that she has forgotten to feel
afraid. Bull and matador are just uu-
dernenth her, nnd twice her husband
has glanced at her significantly; she Is
watching with her heart In her eves.
, One pass if the sword backward over
the shoulder now, then, Dlos help
a-h-u!
lor all In a second It happens; the
matador, suddenly reeling after a fancy
pass at the bull, has cast one agonized
look up at his wife nnd fallen prone on
the ground The bull does not see, for
the furious Impetus of his last charge
has taken him several feet beyoud the
matador.
But before the people have, well seen
that, there Is a quick leap and a flash;
a Blight figure is in the ring, her man
tilla Is cast back, the pink rose hns
fallen luto the dust; her tiny, white
hands have caught up the sword. As
the bull swings madly forwnrd she
meets him.
He Is nn enormous benst, and to be
on a line even with his shoulder she
hns to rise on tiptoe. She does It. Her
face is white and calm as the brute
rushes at her, lowering his head. She
springs forward nnd upward; the
sword sinks out of sight In the bleeding
shoulder no fancy passes for her!
And the bull topples over on his knees.
the blood gushing out In torrents. He
Is dying dead!
The mnutllln is trampled Into the
dust, the pluk rose Is now a faded, red
dened scrap, but the woman, -her hands
blood-stnlued and her face white ns
denth, knows nothing about that. On
her knees, sobbing like a baby, from
overwrought passion .nud nervousness,
she Is holding her husband's uncon
scious bend In her trembling nrms.
As for the populnce, they hnve pnssed
froth horror-stricken silence aud terror
info hysterical shouts, screams, ap
plause, nnd even tears.
Out comes purses and dollars, and
even Jewels from tho rich ladles pres
ent aud masses of flowers. Amid
shouts of "bravo;" down It all pours
Into the ring. As for the great banker,
Frnnqnlllo, who Is so excited that ho
can hardly move down goes his foot
man with a message to "La Espnnola!"
Not waiting to bow or to thank the
people, so overcome Is sho with her
tremendous success, Dona Lollta flies
from tho ring. It Is nil she can do to
tremblingly thank the bearer of a
check from the Banker Frnnqnlllo, who
has filled It out for $10,000. Bravo!
So that Dona Lollta's little plan work
ed well nfter all so well that five days
later she and her husband left for
Spain, where, having nddod much more
money to the bnuker's $10,000, they
have uow retired and are great peo
ple. And "El Cbatto" says always that he
owes his success to his esposa which
Is not understood, naturally, by the
Spaniards of Spain. The Argonaut
-fftwyf-w-Mwori,
FQffTIfiGMAC1fyE.
A T the head of tho 5,000 regulars
L In the Philippine Islands Is
- modern fighting machine. Its
name Is Lawton Henry W. Lawton
and for nearly forty years It has worn
the uniform of the United States army.
It has risen from tb ranks, this fight
ing machine, leaving behind It other
machines as strong possibly, but less
fortunate.
Henry W. Lawton was born In Ohio
fifty-six years ago. He was a country
boy and got only a common school edu
cation not any too much of It. It Is to
be doubted if he would have learned a
great deal If kept steadily at college un-
til he attained his majority. Emphat
ically he is not a book man. Studying
the printed page has been to him al
ways a task and never a pleasure.' Men
are his books men nnd happenings.
His folk were plain farmer folk. From
them be derived his length and size of
bone. The tremendous muscles, the
tireless endurance which havo marked,
blm In later life bad the beginning of
the development In the open air of the
fields of his boyhood. It was said of
blm that it took him longer to learn
anything and longer to forget it than
any youth that ever tramped through
the snow to a log school house. His
memory, Indeed, has been one of bis
strong points since be. emerged from
childhood. He remembers well par
ticularly enemies. A better hater was
never born. It follows necessarily that
be Is true In friendship. He Is, In fact,
a man's man. Women who get to
know him like him well enough, but
not many of them get to know him. In
the age of gray hair he Is still a bach
elor, and If he has ever had an affair of
the heart It hns been kept to himself.
Lawton entered the volunteer service
of the United States In April, 18GJ, and
was given the chevrons of a sergeant In
company E of the Ninth Indiana In
fantry. In August, 1801, he wns made
first lieutenant of the Thirtieth Indi
ana. In May, 1802, he was mnde a cap
tain, wns a lleutennnt colonel In No
vember, 1804, was breveted a colonel
for gallant nnd meritorious services
In March, 18G5, and was . mus
tered out of the service In No
vember, 1805. He had had practically
four years of the most tremendous war
In the history of the nations. He had
been a participant In a dozen pitched
battles. He had led bis men In chnrge
nnd counter chnrge on the stricken
fields of Virginia. He had stepped up
on the dead upturned faces of his broth
ers. He bad been soaked with blood to
his knees.
On the 1st of July, 1800, he was ga
zetted a second lieutenant in the regu
lar army, being assigned to the Forty-
first Infantry. A year Inter he was
made a first lieutenant Ho was trans
ferred to the cavalry arm In January,
1871, had advanced to a captaincy in
March, 1870, was mnde a major In the
Inspector's general's department In
September, 1888, and Inspector general,
with the rank of lieutenant colonel, lu
1889. That Is his rauk In the regular
army to-day, although he wears the
epaulets of n major general of volun
teers. He Is slnted for appointment to
be a brigadier genernl uuder the reor
ganization act and when the two years
for which the new soldiers will be en
listed have expired there will be enough
retirements from the service to make
bis retention as a regular brigadier a
certainty.
He has come upward step by step
solely through personal courage and
personal strength. He has held that It
Is the first duty of the soldlftr to fight,
nd to fight as soon ns he gets the
chance. He hns been possessed by no
pnrtleulnr refinements of the art of
war. He has simply gone ahead and
fought like a fiend when opportunity
offered nud left to others the task of
explaining why and how such and such
a victory wns won or defent suffered
He hns devoted his life to the profes
sion of nrms aud he understands It. He
docs not pretend to be nn authority up
on anything else. He is a one-Idea mau,
live to bo 100 unless a bullet cuts short
his strange nnd sanguinary career,
Henry W. Lawton was a gallnnt.and
serviceable officer of Infantry during
four years of the civil war, but his
peculiar talents were properly envir
oned only when he was transferred to
the cavalry and stationed In the south
west. This was more than a quarter
oi a century ago, and for two decades
he was remote from the large cities of
the east. He found New Mexico and
Arizona overrun aud terrorized by hos
tile bauds of Indians nnd he set him
self, along with his comrades, to bold
them down. They were held down. The
work that the cavalrymen of the United
States did In those years will never be
appreciated until a circumstantial his
tory Is written and it Is not probable
that the history will ever be written.
It was a life of foray, long rides, des
perate battles In remote valleys, mid
night surprises, combat with a foe that
often was not seen, disheartening and
fruitless chases, danger and frequent
death. In fifteen years the officer saw
every friend he had made when he
went to the mountains taken from him
by removal, age dlsense or the bullet
The entire personnel of tho force
changed more than once the ' entire
personnel that is, except himself. He
was always left lonely, self-contained,
earnest, Indefatigable and silent, save
when giving commands or cheering on
bis men In fight. His name became a
household world le. all of the tepees In
that wild land. The Chlrlcahuas, the
Mescnleros, the Jlcnrlllns, Apaches, all
had for him the mixture of hate and
grudgea admiration compelled by a
dauntliss foe. They found In him,
after a little while, a mnn who was
taking a trail that at Its beginning was
broad nnd plainly marked. Then fol
lowed the most remarkable pursuit In
the history of Indian Warfare. Day of;
ter nay tlie ceaseless toll continued,
Tho men speedily found themselves In
a country where horses without claw
were of worse than no account. Thel
officer dismounted them. "We will
walk them down," he said grimly. The
walk began. It was white pluck and
endurance against Indian crnftlness
and endurance.
Hunting Geron'mo.
Over rocks that blistered the hands
when touched, In ravines so deep and
dark that through the narrow rift far
overhead the stars were visible at
noontide, up the sides of huge bills
down which trickled rivulets of dust,
threading paths along precipices which
frowned upon green valleys 6,000 feet
below, drinking of cold, clear springs
that gushed above the clouds, some
times In the sun-baked desert, again
clambering far beyond the timber line,
Lawton nnd his followers struggled
on. Frequently a wisp of blue smoke
Jutted from some Inaccessible crag
and a bullet wing Its wicked wny to Its
billet or spnttered upon a russet rock,
It Is a country that God Almighty
mnde In wrath and the Imprint of bis
angerls on It all. Week succeeded
week.' Men dropped, fainting, In the
giant hills and their comrades pnssed
on.' There was no time to stay. They
were left to find their way back to the
reservation as best they could. Indian
and white were foemen worthy of each
other's steel, and the Issue of the con
test was In doubt to the last day.
Finally, one night just as the sentries
were set, there wns a faint hall and an
Indian stood before them. He was
worn to the bone, but dauntless still.
He said that his chief would talk to the
white mau, but would talk to him nlone.
His camp was some miles further on,
but the messenger would guide Lawton
to it If he cared to come. The noncoms
endeavored to persuade the enptnin
against the venture, but he smiled sour
ly at them and told the Indian that he
I Coney, doing as much as any man eoutl ,
do to convince Toral that bis cause was
hopeless. In all of the fighting of that
terrific day ho was up to the filing line,
saylug little, but pacing slowly up and
down, his gaunt figure n mnrk for every
sharpshooter In the enemy's lines, the
Muuser's flicking up tho dust about him
or pulsing In the nlr, giving to his men
the constant example of how an Amer
ican soldier should act when uuder fire.
He was one of the three commissioners
nppolnted by Gen; Shnfter to nrrango -with
Toral the terms of capitulation,
and nfter tho falKof Snntlago policed
the city In a very thorough manner un
til the establishment of a stable form of
government was made possible. Law-
ton's idea of policing a place of the kind
Is very simple. "The regulations are so
and so," he would say, "and you have
your gun. If anybody violates the reg
ulations, use the gun." It required Just
one day to quiet the city.
Again It was the Geronlmo record or
rather the record of years In the west i
crowned by the Geronlmo Incident
which sent him to the Philippines to
command the American forces in the
field. The rainy season will have no
effect on him, whatever the effect may
be on those under him. He Is as cer
tain to go strong and fast, even If he
goes to his death, ns the sun is certain
to-rise and set, AH climates nnd nil "
seasons are alike to that Iron frame,
upon which war and peace and "the
rigors of the mountains and the sloth
of the Totomac Valley and asceticism
and dissipation have been effectless.
SNAKES AS DECORATIONS.
Snmoan Maiden Wreath Themeelvea
with Reptiles of Flaming; Red.
For the most part the Pacific Islands
are destitute of snakes. That Is abso
lutely the case In Hawaii. In New Zen
land, equally free of these reptiles, the
only knowledge which the Maoris had
of snakes may be found In a legend of
monster called the anlwbn, concern-
ng which authorities differ as to
whether It Is the ancestral and dim rec-
Fersonalltjr of the Man,
In person he Is a wonder. Standing
Remnrkable Cla'rvoyancy.
When people nre determined to find
evidence to convince them of a thing
they nre bound to believe, there Is never
any hick of It. A certain man who ac
cepted as true the pretensions of a
charlatan who claimed to be able to tell
tho past history, character aud future
of any person from his handwriting,
said one day to a friend:
"Why, look at the things he Is able to
tell you from a mere glimpse at your
handwriting! The first thing he said
to me was, 'I see you never took n prize
In orthography while you were at
school,' nnd It was true,"
"Did he give you any Idea how he
knew thnt?"
He said he could tell It merely from
the wny lu which I had made the curves
of tho letters g and h lu the word
'hnudwrltlug'!" Youth's Companion.
Quito Natural.
It is only tho Bouuderbys of tho
world who boast of being self-made.
Most mou, when they have attained
promluence In political life or In social
life, or as men of wealth, prefer not to
have it said that they were onco poor
aud had to work for a living, a fact the
Jourunllst who writes up celebrities
should not lose sight of.
0 feet 3 inches high, ns straight as a
rule, with long arms, wide shoulders,
deep chest nnd thin finnks, he weighed
195 pounds of bone and muscle when
25 years old nnd now weighs 210. His
bend is small and set on a massive
neck. His bauds and feet nre large.
He Is as nctlve ns a cat and as tireless
as a wolf. Under the sleeves of his
blue fatigue jacket the muscles bulge
like cables. His stomach goes like
clockwork. He has not an unsound
tooth. Headaches aro not known to
blm, except from hearsay. He can
travel for a week without food or sleep,
then make a boa constrictor ashamed
of Itself and sleep for two days without
turning over. Ho has never taken any
care of himself. The soldier's rough
and exposed life has been his since
youth, but he Is ns sound as a nut to
day nnd nble to tire out a dozeu young
er men. Apparently fatigue passes him
by when it lays Its heavy hand upon
those apparently as strong. He Is al
ways alert and always looking for a
chance to damage an opponent. One
of his many Indian uames is "Mau-Who-Gets-Up-ln-the-NIght
to Fight."
and he has earned It by years of prac
tically ceaseless toll. Ills forehead Is
blgh and somewhat narrow, his eyes a
keen gray, his nose and cheek bones
prominent bis chin square, his lips
thin. He wears a drooping mustache.
His hair Is cut pompadour, stands up
stiff and short like a reversed shoe
shoe brush, and he is not pretty. This
balr is now liberally sprinkled with
gray, and the white amid the brown Is
bout his only sign of age. Army sur
geons who know him say that he may
learned In every phase of their peculiar
warfare, and In ten yenrs they drended
blm as they have dreaded few white
men since the winning of the West be
gan. Lawton's method of handling
them was singularly his own. When he
struck a trail he kept to It with
dogged tenacity which knew no such
thing as quit Whether the pursuit
was maintained for a day or a week, It
was maintained with a steady, unre
lenting earnestness that did more to
strike terror into the hearts of the red
men than would have been possible to
all the rifles on earth. The man's phil
osophy wns wholly expressed once In
a chnnce remark to a newspaper ac
qunlntance.
"If a man is hunting for you, he
said, "get a gun nnd hunt him. Do it
right nwny. It discourages anyone to
be suddenly transferred from the posi
tion of hunter to huuted."
This rule hns guided him. He insists
upon being the nggressor. It Is sup
posed that he would stand a charge all
right, but hitherto he has always done
the chnrglng. He does not believe in
wniting for the other side to net. This
trait was signally demonstrated In his
conduct of the right wing of the Amer
ican nrmy at El Caney. He had men
that he thought could be depended
on. At any rate be proposed to see
what they could aud would do. So he
sent them at the blockhouses and
breastworks hour after hour with a
savage disregard of the chances of
battle and the liability to death that is
one of the marvels of thnt brief nnd
glorious campnlgn. It was of Lawton's
men and not of the rough riders that
the Spanish Infantryman said: "We do
not understand you American soldiers.
You tried to catch us with your hands."
It was Lnwton's reputation for dar
ing and tireless pertinacity that led to
his becoming Internationally famous.
His characteristics were known, of
course, to his superior officers as thor
oughly as they were known to the In
dians whom he had been flghtlug for
a dozen years. For the tenth time the
band of Chlrlcahua Apaches, .headed
by Chief Naches and directed by Ger
onlmo, had jumped the Snn Carlos res
ervation, leaving behind them the usu
al trail of blood and ruin. Ranchmen
were butchered on lonely ranges, chil
dren's brains were dashed out and the
smoke of burning dwellings rose day
and night to the brilliantly blue- sky,
General Miles, a trained soldier and an
Indian fighter himself, was In com
mand, and he selected Captain Lawton
for the task that was set before them.
He started with two troops of veterans,
was ready. They left the camp of the
soldiers the next morning. By 10 o'clock
Lawton stood In the Apache horde,
Cavernous eyes glenmed nt him. Lips
drawn back from discolored teeth
griunea at mm. wasted bands were
waved at him threateningly. Stern
dominant, the living, breathing person
iflcntlon of the great White Spirit thnt
hnd benten them back from the far
eastern verge of the land they had
owned, he walked straight to the medl
cine mnn nnd demnnded his surrender,
There was a brief parley. Lawton con
temptuously refused to promise any
thing or to guarantee anything, except
that he and his followers would be fed,
"Maybe you will be hanged after
ward," he said. "I don't know about
that. Anyhow, you ought to be. But
I'll feed you. I'd feed a dog In your
tlx."
In the Cnbnn Fight.
A month afterward Geronlmo,
Naches and their band of cutthroats
were prisoners In Florida. They are
still in confinement. Not only wnsthe
power for evil of this particular tribe
nullified, but the spirit of Apache re
sistance wns broken. It had been dem
onstrated that they' could be beaten at
their own game. Once again the white
man had shown them that he was their
master, mentally, morally and physical
ly. It was this service which called
Lawton from the west nnd lnnded him
In the Inspector general's office In
Washington, with much ofBcinl pres
tige, a fnir salary and little to do. The
Inaction chafed him, ns It chafes any
man of his kind. In five yenrs he rusted
more thnn he would hnve worn In ten.
The chnnce of hostilities with Spnln
found him eagerly preferring requests
for assignment to service. He did not
wish to inspect anything or to take the
conduct of nrmy trains. He wanted to
fight. It seemed to him, he snld, that
If he could smell the smoke once more
and know that there was a chance to do
good work, he would instantly become
youug again. The opportunity was of
fered him. It was recognized that In
the Snntlago enmpaign fighters and not
doctrlnnires wero wnnted. At Tampa
Lnwton was the first man named by
Shatter to assist him In the desperate
enterprise ahead. "Pecos Bill" had
been for many years on the frontlet
himself and he knew his officer thor
oughly. Nothing could have suited
Lawton so well. He was there to kill
Spaniards and he thought he saw his
way clear to doing it.
As a brigadier general of volunteers
he was given command of a division
and In that command stormed El
ollectlon of a snake or of an alligator.
All the eastern Islands of Polynesia be
tween these two outposts are suakeless.
Westward from Hawaii, down among
the Gilberts nnd the Mnrshnlls and the
Carolines, the square-bodied water
snake begins to make Its appearance In
the lagoons and harbors. By the time
the Philippines are reached the wnter
sunke becomes both common nnd dead
ly, nud the Jungles of those Islands nre
abundantly supplied with snukes. From
the Philippines as one follows down the
chains of Islands snakes are found both
abundant nnd venomous. In the wild
lands of the western Pacific the rep
tiles are frequently objects of worship,
and In some legends nre credited with
the crentlon of the world.
Samoa seems to lie Just on the bound
ary line of snakes In the Pacific. In
the eastern islands of the archipelago
no snakes are to be found; In Upolu a
few are seen at rare Intervals. In
Savall, only a few miles to the west
ward, they are common nnd attain
great size, In the case of some kinds at
least. None of them Is venomous, and
the Islanders neither fear them nor ex
hibit any of that repuguance to their
presence which Is commonly called Instinctive.
This Indifference to the reptiles Is
made most markedly manifest at the
hamlet of Iva, on the northeast coast
of Savall. Here are to be found small
snakes of a most brilliant red color.
They are so common that a basketful
may be easily picked up in any banana
patch. The dancing girls of this town
are In the habit of employing these
gaudy snakes for personal adornment
in tneir dances. They tie them about
their necks, their ankles, and their
wrists, festoon them In their head
dresses, and tuck a few extra ones In
the belt In readiness to replace such as
escape In the dance. At their best these
slvas danced by the Samoans are either
dull, or revolting shows of savagery.
It can easily be Imagined that they are
made no more attractive when the tau-
pou or village maid and her crew of at
tendant girls go careering about with
on assortment of writhing red snakes.
Still, the Samoans, who have no stock
of snake prejudices, look upon this as
one of the most successful and artistic
dances in their islands.
Lite of Big Guns.
The huge guns of modern navies can
be fired only about seventy-five times,
when they become worn out.
The alf 'round proverb Is a sort of clr-
culir saw. " - -' v