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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1900)
THE MOttNTNG OREGONIAN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1900. UNCLESAM'S GH0STSH1PS FLEET OP HAUXTED CRAFT "WITH frightened sailors. The Constitution, "Which. "Whipped the Guerxiere, Is Flagship Strange Caae of the Fern. Though steam and steel have displaced bellying sail and sturdy oak In the navies of the world. Jack Tar is still a supersti tious soul on every sea. And young and modern though he be. Uncle Sam himself possesses a fleet of haunted ships. Tho natural flagship of this squadron is the fa mous old Constitution, a relic of the days when the Flying Dutchman was as much a reality In the minds of many mariners as any craft that ever plowed the waves. It 1e 87 "years since the Constitution whipped tho British frigate Guerrlere, and the stanch old Yankee craft has long been used as a receiving-ship in the navy-yard et Portsmouth. Nevertheless, some of the seamen attached to her say she is still haunted by the ghost of Captain. Isaac Hull; every midnight the wraith of the gallant old sailor may be seen pacing tho quarter-deck, arrayed In a uniform coat, shining cocked hat and the famous white trousers that were split in the memorable engagement of August. 1812. He carries a long glass under his arm, now and then levelling it at tho horizon as If in search of an enemy's sail. The Frolic, an old-fashioned craft of about 700 tons that was used for years as a dispatch-boat and tender, was long de clared to be haunted, because of certain extraordinary noises heard In the ward room about the beginning of the mid watch every night. So persistent wero these sounds, says the Kansas City Star, that none of the wardroom boys could be persuaded to enter the apartment unless accompanied by a commissioned officer, after 10 o'clock, when lights were put out. Even the officers were annoyed, since the noises not only interrupted the slumber of men liable to be called for duty at any hour of the night, but also increased the natural superstition of the sailor. Mr. X., tho junior watch officer, professed to have been kept awake several hours one night and. on his motion, a party was formed the following evening with the in tention of surprising the ghostly visitant. The officers sat up to an unusual hour, maintaining perfect silence, but nothing happened by 1 o'clock and they turned in. About 40 minutes later the flrst lieuten ant was awakened by the sound of a heavy body moving stealthily around the ward room to the accompaniment of a muttering voice. The lieutenant arose and stepped out Into the light that came dimly from a single lamp over the center table. On the table Itself he beheld the figure of Mr. X., dressed only in pajamas and moving in a circle on hands and knees over the pol ished mahogany. Meanwhile he repeated over and over In sepulchral accents a mys tic phrase: "Little pieces of orange peel: little pieces of orange peel." Being roused, Mr. X explained that he had dreamed he was on the verge of an Im portant scientific discovery. The disclos ure that Mr. X was a sleep-walker was thought to solve the mystery: but, though he was carefully watched thereafter, the noises continued, and on the Frolic's ar rival in New York she was sold and broken up. The newest of our haunted ships is tho Fern, used throughout the Spanish war as a supply veefeel, but now turned over as a practice ship to the naval militia of the District of Columbia. After the Maine disaster the Fern was the first United States vessel to visit Ha vana: several of the injured sailors were taken aboard, and two of the victims died on her deck. Being an old wooden vessel, she never went to sea, before her visit to the Maine's wreck, without carrying a large cargo of rats. On her return from Havana it was noticed that the rats were deserting her, singly. In groups of three or four, or In multitudes. Little attention was paid to this until one night a water tender, who had been sent down Into the coal-bunkere, came up trembling and white as a sheet. This man, a Maine survivor, affirmed that while below he had distinctly heard the voice of one of his old ship mates groaning. Several officers started down toward the coal-bunkers, and, when nearlng them, plainly heard noises such as tho sailor had described. As the party progressed the unds grew fainter and finally ceased. They are said to have been heard since on several occasions. Another Fern ghost story Is based on tho alleged apparition of a strange beast that roams about tho coal-bunkers, and, when anyone approaches, takes refuge near the propeller shaft. It Is de scribed as a shadowy creature, somewhat resembling a wildcat, though larger, with two big yellow eyes that glare ferociously out of the darkness. Dogs have been taken down to attack this mysterious creature several times, but they have fled to the deck Invariably with howls of terror, after nosing around a few moments. Down to 1890. when "the wardroom coun try" of the old corvette Monongahela was overhauled and reconstructed, the second room on the port side of the vessel had been left vacant for three cruises. It was the Monongahela that was washed ashore In Peru in the '50s by a tidal wave and then washed to sea again without suf rer'ng serious injurs, and with the loes of only a single man: but this has nothing to do with the ghost story. Years after the tidal wave incident there was a one eyed paymaster with a red beard on the Monongahela. Ha was known throughout the Naw'as one of -the three or four best story-tellers In the entire rorvlco. He wai also famous for his love of whisky. When told that he was going to die. he sum moned his fellow officers to his bedside. "Dear boys," he 6ald, "you have liked me and I love you for it. I've often beard sou say the wardroom mess wouldn't be a mess at all without me, and so I'll tell you what I'm going to do; I'll be around as usual In my old room, No. 2 on the port side, so that jou can't say, old fellows, that I ever left the ship." Among the sailors of the ship talk about the paymaster's ghost began within a few weeks of his departure. Nearly every night they reported that he was seen pot tering around among the ship's stores and figuring up accounts on the desk by tho safe. One of the men. the pay yeo man, was sent to the sick bay. His Ill ness Wcis trifling, but he told the doctor one morning that his time had surely come, for the dead paymaster had stood by "his bedside at 2 bells in the middle watch and beckoned him away. As a mat ter of fact, he died In a day or two. About three months after this. Passed Assistant Paymaster S joined the ship. He was a lively young chap. He had no superstitions whatever, he said, and cheer fully installed blmself In room No. 2 on the port side. The evening of April 23, 1S85, was one of unusual merriment in the mess. The ship was homeward bound, with a fair wind, and the passed assistant paymaster was the jolllcst man on board. About two hours after everybody had turned in, the entire wardroom was awak ened by an unearthly yell, followed by a noise as of a man falling. The officers turned out, lights were struck and there was S , doubled over an upset chair and moaning unintelligibly. He had seen the dead paymaster's ghost in his berth! After that strange occurrence, the story of which is an established legend In the navy, room No. 2 on the port side of the Monongahela was unoccupied until the re construction. Few officers are alive today who served with the Monongahela on that memorable cruise, but the following story concerning strange happenings on the Ticonderoga has been told by an officer of high rank now in the Department of Naval Intelli gence and another, at present connected with the Bureau of Ordnance. The Ticon deroga was of the Monongahela class, a wooden steamer of 2000 tons' displacement, and she had seen good service during the Civil "War. Among her officers on a cruise in the South Atlantic during the early '70s was a young assistant surgeon named TV . He had a firm belief In the supernatural, and the ridicule that was heaped upon him by the other members of the mess made him very bitter. "Ail right," he would say. "You fellows can laugh at the truth as much as you please, but If I should die while any of you are attached to the Ticonderoga, I'll come back and haunt the blamed old lug ger until you'll all be glad to apply for other duty." "Well, the young officer died, suddenly, of heart disease, one night in a howling storm off the coast of Brazil. His body was committed to the deep next day, and that night the trouble began. Strange rap- plngs wero heard from TV 'a stateroom, and though the officers who went there to Investigate discovered nothing, they were 'seized by an overpowering feeling of dread. In the sick bay that night a sailor who was very 111 with consumption start ed from his sleep with a scream of terror. J He declared that a shadowy hand had felt his pulse with the familiar touch of the ' ship's dead doctor, who had attended him so long. The manifestations continued while the ship was at sea, and did not stop until after she reached New York. A day or two following ber arrival, a din ner party was given on board, in the course of which one of the officers related the story of the recent strange occur rences. As he concluded a hush fell over the company, and in the midst of the hush a succession of raps, followed "by a sharp crash, came suddenly from the haunted stateroom. The cause of the noise could not be dis covered by the most careful investiga tion, but there were no similar manifes tations on the vessel's subsequent cruises. INDIANS AT SILETZ. Mention of Robert De Poo Brings Ont Interesting Statements. ELK CITY. Or., March 5. To the Ed- Jtor.) I notice in The Morning Oregon- Ian of March 3 that Robert De Poe, a pupil of the United States Indian train ing school at Chemawa, has been ap pointed to a membership in the famous Carlisle Indian band, of Carlisle, Pa. The writer says that Mr. De Poe belongs to the Rogue River tribe of Indians. This Is a mistake. He is a Joshua, and be longs to that tribe of Indians, now living on the Slletz Reservation. His brother, Charlie De Poe. is now living oh the Siletz. He Is not a chief, but has always been a leading man among his people on the reservation, has always encouraged education and civilization among the In dians, and has always taken an active part in everything that would Improve and build up the condition of the people. Robert was a good boy, and always had the good wllland confidence of his teach ers. He attended school for some years at Slletz, and was noted for his studious habits and good deportment while there, and It is not surprising that he has been appointed to a position in that great band at Carlisle. Merit will always win, and Mr. De Poe deserves his promotion. The Joshua was a largo and powerful tribe of Indians that lived, before being brought to the reservation In 1S56, at the mouth of Rogue River. The next tribe above them on the same river was the Tutu-tunnies, and still above in the mountains came the Rogue Rivers, the most Important and strongest tribe in Southern Oregon. When all these South ern Oregon Indians were brought upon the Slletz In 1855-56, they numbered about 5000 persons, and consisted of 17 different tribes, but In trying to pass through the different grades of the white man's civ ilization upon the close confinement of a reservation, have all perished except about 500. F. M. CARTER. John L, "Wilson's Interests. Spokane Spokesman-Review. J. L. Wilson directs the policy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and boasts that he owns a controlling share in the prop erty. If he owns the control of the Seat tle paper, or even a tenth part of the pa per, his interests in Seattle outweigh his holdings In Spokane, because the judicial records show that he Is insolvent here. Whatever Industrial or business interest, therefore, he may have In this state. Is lodged at Seattle. He Is camping here only as a part of his political game. a Soldier's Remains Unidentified. SAN FRANCISCO. March 7. Of the hundreds of bodies of dead soldiers re ceived at the Presidio from the Philip pines, one remains unidentified. It Is sup posed to be that of Private Thomas Bry ant. Of Com-Danv HL First California "Rir iment. and if his mother ran be found It . is believed sfae can make this surmise a I certainty. V. S. S. TICONDEROGA, WITH A SURGEON'S GHOST ABOARD. THE OLD COSTITCTIOX, FLAGSHIP OF THE HAUNTED FLEET. THE INTER-STATE LAW STATESIEXTS OF JUDGE KNAPP BE FORE SENATE COMMITTEE, BUI Amending Present Law May Not Be Paused t Present Session The Trust Question. The Senate committee on Interstate commerce has not yet begun the consid eration in executive session of the bill Introduced by Chairman CuIIom to amend the Interstate commerce act, says a Wash ington letter. They will probably begin such sessions soon, but it is doubtful If any serious effort is made to pass a bill at the present session of Congress. The reasons for this, growing out of the lack of agreement between the railways, the shippers and the Interstate Commerce Commission, have been frequently set forth In these dispatches. There la one element which may cause a change in the situation, but which has not yet fully de veloped. This is the desire of the Re publican majority in Congress to do some thing to prove their sincerity in restrain ing the improper exercise of monopoly powers by trusts and combinations. If the Industrial Commission recommends that authority be conferred upon the Inter state Commerce Commission- to fix maxi mum freight rates, and this seems to be the most feasible method of striking at the so-called "trusts," It may be adopted at the present session of Congress. There will bo stubborn opposition by the railway Interests, however, to such action as this without any provision of law modifying the anti-trust act of 1800 so as to permit proper and reasonable agreements between the roads for uniformity of rates. The exact status of railway administration by tho Federal Government was set forth clearly by Judge Marin A. Knapp, chair man of the Interstate Commerce Commis sion, when he appeared before the Senate committee on February 15. His summing up of the manner In which the commis sion exercised Its powers or supposed powers, prior to the decision of the Su preme Court, was as follows: "The substantive features of this present law are found In Its first three sections. Those are its fundamental principles. All the rest is nothing but machinery, de signed to enable the administrative body to give effect to those declarations. For nearly 10 years after the commission was organized It assumed and proceeded upon the theory that if in any case which was investigated upon complaint, and after notice and due hearing- it found that the law was violated, as that law is declared In either of the first three sections, it could not only determine that there was that violation of the law, but could decide In what respect the conduct of the car Tiers complained of should be changed, so as to bring that conduct within the re quirements of the law. It acted upon that theory, and, therefore. If In any case where it was Investigating rates com plained of, it was satisfied upon all the proofs that such complaints were well founded and that there should be some change In the amount of adjustment or railroad charges. It was accustomed to make an order directing the carriers for the future to make a certain reduction or certain chance In the relation of ntoi n believed by tho commission to be neces- sary. In order to bring those Tates Into conformity with the principles of the law. It exercised that jurisdiction, apparently without objection, apparently with the ac quiescence of all the Interests which were affected by Its administration, until In the very case from which I have Just quoted, decided less than three years ago, the Supreme Court held that that power had not been given, stating distinctly, as I have Tcad, that It could be given, but that, In the Judgment of the Supreme Court, the language employed In the act was not sufficiently explicit to warrant the Infer ence that that power was Intended as matter of law to be conferred upon the commission. "That was the case where, without going into details, the relation of rates from Cincinnati on the one hand and other points or origin on the other, to common destinations In the Socthern territory was complained of as being against the inter ests, and to a large degree prohibitive, of the business of the Cincinnati dealer. Tho order of the commission was that the rates from Cincinnati should be reduced, and di rected the extent of that reduction, and prescribed the maximum rates which. In the judgment of the commission, ought to obtain on shipments of freight articles THE A MIGHTY MARK- Prices right GREAT ALTERATION SALE Of Clothing And Furnishings Everything in the store included in this sale. The object is to make as clean a sweep as possible and make it doubly quick. If you will look at the excellent values we are offering, you'll marvel. Suits and Overcoats The alteration sale brings you the big gest saving we have ever known on well made Men's Suits 400 thoroughly good suits are to be grouped in one lot at one small price $8.25 The suits are of plain cloths, of mixed cloths, of fancy cloths and nobby patterns, in round cut, square cut and double breasted. Even though you live out of town it will pay you to look at this line. The Sale of Trousers The alterations compel a quick sale of several hundred pairs of trousers. Every one who reads these lines owes it to him self to see the great values we are offering. These several hundred pairs range in value from $3 to $4, but during our alteration sale THREE MIGHTY GROUPS have been made. $2.10, $2.60, $3.35 The A. J. PRAQER & fTom Cincinnati to Southern destinations. It was the exercise of that power in that case which tho Supreme Court declined to uphold." The case to which Judge Knapp referred was that of the Interstate Commerce Com mission against tho CincInnaU, New Or leans & Texas Pacific Railroad Company (1G7 U. S., p. 479), decided May 24. 1S37. Judge Knapp declared o the committee that speaking in general terms and hav ing reference to Its general purpose, the bill "is designed to give the commission substantially the same power that It as sumed to exercise for about 10 years, and unUl the Supreme Court said that it did not possess that power." He added that the main purpose of the bill "Is to give to the commission in these cases where complaints are Investigated, upon notice and opportunity to be heard, and with all the formality of a judicial Inquiry, sub statially the same authority to prescribe what shall be done in the future as was exercised by the commission for nearly 10 years." Judge Knapp was called upon by Senator Elkins to state whether the bill Introduced by Senator Cullom was "a complete bill to meet the decisions of the Supreme Court and the public Interests, and all concerned." In replying to this inquiry. Judge Knapp gave the following explanation of the origin' of the bill: Well. Senator, I cannot anmver that question, in Jmtlce to myself, without a word of ex planation. I think It Is fair to Indicate to the committee very briefly the history which Im mediately preceded the formulation and intro duction of this bill. During the last year the commlwlon had occasion to Investigate Tery especially, and with great thoroughness, the whole question of export rates, and particu larly the relation of export to domestic rates on the same article, and also the relation of the rates on "wheat for export to the rates on flour for export. That Investigation was Instituted upon the demand of a iery large number of millers In different parts of the country, ho ?ald that their business was sjrlouely hampered and threatened almost with ruin because the rates on wheat for export had dropped tn much below the rates on flour that they could not make any flour for export, and found that the competition in the foreign market for flour, which they could not meet, was the competition of foreign millers who made their flour out of American wheat. "We Investigated that subject ery fully and made a report. Thereupon the millers, through their various organizations, seem to have taken this matter up, and later a conference of some sort was held in Chi RED ALTERAT Tomorrow we commence improvements and alterations on the interior of our store, and while same are in progress we are going to inaugurate in every department will be slashed and left, as we intend making this A Banner CUT PRICES WILL REIGN SUPREME ON Men's Clothing Boys' Clothing Men's Hats and Overshirts and Underwear Boots and Shoes Red SONS cago, which was attended by representatives of a large number of business organizations, In cluding millers' associations and others, for the purpose of preparing some bill to be intro duced at this session of Congress. As a result of that conference they took, as I understand, as the basis of the measure which was pre- j pared by them, the specific recommendations of the commission, which appears as an appendix In Its report for 189", made some additions to them and some alterations In them, and cent the bill themselves to Senator Cullom, who In- troduced It. That la the origin of the bill. DRUMMER IS MISSING. Fears That He lias Been Killed, in Grant County. Baker City Republican. A. TV. Markell, a solicitor and salesman of harness, saddles and farm Implements for a St. Louis firm, started on a business trip to Grant County about 10 days ago. Tho last heard of him he was In Canyon City last Thursday evening at about j dusk. Since then he has never been Eeen nor heard from. The supposition is that he has been murdered and dropped into a prospect hole in that neighborhood, as he was known, to have haa a considerable amount of money on his person at that time. The Sheriff and others have been searching for him for several days, but can get no trace of him. His father, a wholesale harness dealer of St. Louis, has ' teen notified. Mr. Markell had formerly been .In the employ of J. B. Grlswold, of Baker City. e A NATURAL ICE-HOUSE. Immense Store, From Wnlcli Supply 2Iay Be Had In Summer. Lakevlew Examiner. ! Some 20 miles away, and on the border 1 of a lake, Is a region of country known as the lava beds, a romantic locality much , frequented by tourists and curiosity-hunters, and which, not many years ago, was I the scene of much hard fighting, consider able fighting and some killing. In that region, where, by the laws of nature and the spouting of the big volcano, every thing had been turned upside down, there 1 were, and probably now are, innumerable , rocky labyrinths and caverns, one of which I FRONT V ON DOWN Furnishin gs lhe new Men's Cap: our So come Is of especial importance in a season like this, when the lakes refuse to freeze and no Ice can be obtained for next summer. It is a cavern, from which great quan tities of ice can be taken during the hottest weather. In this, one of the most notable of nature's Ice-houses, an Immense store of ice has been kept from genera tion to generation for probably 1000 years or more, and one may get a load of that cool and refreshing commodity any day at any time of the year. So it Is said, and we hope with truth and without exag geration. But if only half true, there Is still plenty of Ice, and we hear that often on melUng summer days the settlers living near by go there and carry away wagon loads of It. Therefore, If our ice-housjs are not filled by Ice from the Jakes, let us fill them by making Ice-gathering pll glimages to the lava beds. Thus ne may unite "business with pleasure, and romance with reality, by visiting and exploring the lava beds, and at the same time bring homo the wherewith to cool our drinks and make life tolerable. WORLD'S MONEY CENTER. Xcw York to Leave Other Financial Headquarters In the Rear. Bankers here have long predicted that New York will In due time become the money center of the world, leaving Lon don, Paris and Berlin far In the rear, says a New York special to the Pittsburg Dispatch. The placing of 525,000,000 of Rus sian Government bonds, to pay for the construction of the Russian Trans-Contln-ental Railway, which Is on foot In this country. Is taken as the first Indication that financial supremacy will come to New York In a short time. It has been known for nearly a month that $10,000,000 of the bonds had been taken up In this city, and today tho details of the deal were made public by TV. C. Van Antwerp, of Sellg man & "Van Antwerp, the bankers, who arranged the matter in St. Petersburg. Tho New York Life Insurance Company, the New York Security & Trust Company and J. P. Morgan & Co. have taken the first $10,000,000, and It is said the other $15, 000.000 will be taken In "Wall street within a few das. The securities yield 4 per cent per annum, and. besides being guaranteed by the Russian Government, arc also a Front SALE SALE IN NISH1NQS The alteration prices on Men's Furnishings are by far the lowest ever quoted on these lines. Men's 50c neckwear, sale price 25c Men's 50c suspenders, sale price 25c Men's fancy shirts, sale price 5501 Newest effects in percales, sale price. . .90c Men's 25c band bows, sale price, 2 for. 25c Men's white shirts, sale price 50c Men's new golf shirts, sale price 75c Men's fancy handkerchiefs, sale price. . 5c Men's 25c hosiery, sale price 15c Men's 25c suspenders, sale price 10c All other lines in proportion. Our Hat Department swell crush hat, sale price.. 90c pearl Fedoras, sale price $1-3: Men's new block stiff hats, sale price. $1.35 All the newest shapes in J. B. Stetson spring block, sale price $3-50 Our Shoe Department Get our alteration prices in this depart ment; it will pay you. Painters and paper-hangers have been instructed to rush all work, so bear in mind Sale Won't Last Long at your earliest opportunity 269-271 MORRISON ST. first lien on the railway property Itself, so that they are doubly secured. One of the features of the transaction which Is a matter of congratulation Is that not a. dol lar of this money will go out of the United States, since all the funds are to be ap plied to the payment of obligations In curred by the Russian Government for American iron and coal. This sale of bonds Is an experiment, and Mr. "Van Antwerp said today that if it proves sue Icessful other Russian "bonds are sure to find a market In this city. It is the first time such a large block of Russian Gov I ernment securities has been taken up here, J although in smaller quantities such trans- actions are by no means a new thing la ew xork. a Not Settled Until Settled Right. Hartford Courant. "No question is settled until It is set tled right." This question of fair play to tho Puerto Ricans has mot been settled. It bas been evaded and postponed. "Wo were bound we are still bound In honor and decency and conscience to seo to it that the people are no worse off but bet ter off for coming under the sovereignty of tho United States. A Political Item. Eugene Guard. F. M. Mulkey and Charles E. Lockwood, well known In Eugene, are said to be Re publican candidates for the office of Mu nicipal Judge In Portland. Judge E. B. TVatson Is said to be a Republican candi date for "Judge, In TVolverton's place, on the supreme bench. Mr. TVolverton would not object to a renomlnatlon, either. Likely to Be nn Acquisition. Chicago Tribune. "TVho are these new people that are moving into the house next door?" "I don't know, but I am sure we shall get along splendidly with them. They have Just unloaded a wheelbarrow and a lawnmower." e p Shalce Into Tonr Shoes Allen's Foot-Zs bo, a jxrrder. It cnr pabrf oL narSi in. nernma feet and lnrowinnall, and Ujtatlr take the ettnx era: of com and bunion. It' tha rteatett comfort dlaoorerr of tha age. Alloa's FooB Zaie makes tlxkt or new ahoea feel easy. It Is if certain cnxo for Treating, eallooa and hot, tired, oehlna feet. Try it irc-tUT- Sold by all drng-rists Mid ho2 5S.rw By, mall far J5o. in utampa. Trll paekaaat 1TREE. Addrm, Allta 9. oSgud. ft B LL