The Sunday Oregonian., October 07, 1900, PART THREE, Page 32, Image 32

32
THE SUNDAY OBEGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER . 7, 1900.
LLEGE LEARNING FOR WORKERS
Interesting Experiments In Progress In Massachusetts, Under
Harvard University Auspices, Intended to Increase
Opportunities for Men Toilers.
One hears a good deal about university
extension, nowadays, as carried on espe
cially 4n England, and to some extent In
this country, to bring, in part, at lease,
the advantages of a college education to
those whose opportunities tor culture
'would otherwise toe all too scanty.
It is Interesting, therefore, to learn ot
sua experiment which has been carried on
or some eight or ten. years in Cam
bridge, Mass., with the idea of .utilizing
the waste energy, so to speak, of Harvard
University, not exactly in a plan of uni
versity extension, as it is usually under
stood, but for the direct advantage of
the university's immediate neighbors
among the working classes.
One thinks of Cambridge as typically
the 'classic" American city, but to any
One crossing over one of the bridges from
Boston on his way out to Harvard and
the homes of Longfellow and Lowell, the
large manufacturing interests of the dry
will be evident at once.
Some 10 years ago a young man, Mr.
Robert E. Ely, was attending the lectures
of the Harvard Divinity School, and at
the same time carrying on meetings In
the "Port," as this manufacturing part
of Cambridge is called. Naturally enougft
the idea occurred to him from this double
experience of life in Cambridge, that
something might be done systematically
to Ibrlng the cultivation and Instruction
of the university directly to bear upon
those 'whose lives were passed more or
less hopelessly in the toll and struggle of
the factories and shops. He thought that
In this way the workingman might be
alble to get not only what would vb use
ful to him -as knowledge, but, far better,
the realization of higher ideals in life;
"while the young undergraduate coming
down to teach in his new classes would
gain equally as much, both in sympatny
and in power, iby being taken out of hlm
eelf and brought into contact with an
other side of life.
The Prospect "Union.
This -was the germ of what is now
called the Prospect Union, an organiza
tion of working men, comfortably housed
in commodious, well-appointed buildings,
"with regular instruction in classes taught
by Harvard's undergraduates. The Union
Teas no official connection with the univer
sity Itself, but unofficially the ties that
bind the two together are very close In
deed. The volunteer undergraduate faculty
numbers some 75 Harvard students and
teachers, and the Union has never lacked
help and encouragement from the otn
,cers and professors of the university.
Professor Francis G. Peabody and Presi
dent Eliot are the trustees, under -which
the property of the Union is held for
the benefit of the pufbHo. For that mat
ter. Indeed, the Union has never lacked
Influential friends, both in and out of the
university and Cambridge Itself. Among
its "warmest belpers have been Colonel
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Dr. Ed
ward Everett Hale, Professor Charles
Eliot Norton, ex-Governor "William JS.
Russell, Oliver "Wendell Holmes and
James RusseU Lowell.
The principal features of the Union
ore its evening classes and lectures. At
first workingmen simply said what they
wished to study, and classes were formed
accordingly. Subsequently, on the basis
of its experience, the Union began to
announce in the Autumn, as it does now
every year, a list of courses of study to
be given, if pupils applied for them.
The classes are small, averaging an en
rollment or seven or eight; sometimes
& class consists of but two teacher and
puplL
The subjects taught cover a wide range,
from the most elementary instruction in
English branches to high school and col
lege studies. Men who cannot read or
write are provided with teCchers "who
give them patient and tactful instruc
tion, with much more attention to the
Individual pupil than Is possible in the
evening public schools.
Foreigners "Welcome.
Foreigners who have no knowledge, or
scarcely any, of English are welcomed,
end Initiated Into the mysteries of the
language. Having as yet but plrlmitive
laboratory facilities, only theoretical and
elementary Instruction can be offered in
most of the natural sciences. But in the
languages and in literature; in history
and economics; in mathematics, from the
lowest to the highest, and in studies which
eeem to have enore practical value, such
as mechanical and freerhand drawing,
penmanship, bookkeeping and stenog
raphy, what may be accomplished is lim
ited only by the time and ability of the
puplL
The classes In English are usually
Jftmong the largest and most satisfactory,
Crom reading, spelling and grammar to
rhetorlo and the writing of themes, and
elocution and debating. Arithmetic natur
gjy attracts a large number of pupils.
"The work in algebra and geometry Is al
ways encouraging, and there are small
classes in trigonometry, calculus and me
chanics. Latin is a much more popular"
irtudy at the beginning of the first term
cf the year than at the end of the last
term; many also, -who begin the Study or
I.3ad Gemaa ""& too sanguine
expectations drop out after the first few
Wrecks in the classes.
However, there are several members
who have in two, three or four years
acquired a reading knowledge of a for
eign language and some facility In writ
ing and speaking It; and some men con
ttnue to grapple with Ltln and even
Sfit? f000 rears -with fair re
f , FF" aot appreciated as it
ehould be, although the effort to stimu
late Interest In it has met with some suo-
-Jf, I tte "on Proposes to 'es
tablish two especially interesting courses
ieILam?,Cipt1 &ttaiTa Mi the second
to fit men for the lower civil service po
sitions In the city and state. The former
aas not been attempted elsewhere, it Is
believed. Instruction will be given In the
details of the Cambridge city charter,
showing the responsibilities of the varfl
ous departments and their Inter-relations.
The Union is not without hope that such
!wJ5?Urf,e V11' ln tlme' have lts ffec in
distinctly bettering the administration of
Che city as a whole.
System, of lecture.
Another method of instruction Is tile
lectures given each year. The lecture
cystem runs in the blood of the New
England Yankee, and Boston lBlts home
par excellence. Situated in a. Boston sub-'
rb, therefore, the Prospect Union has
Its full share of education by public
speech. The subjects have been suffi
ciently various, ranging from Scandina-
. ..ulluw uiu me civilization or an
cient Babylon to the realistic novel and
the battle off Santiago. Among the lec
turers besides more than 60 professors
and officers from Harvard itself, have
been sudh well-known persons as Prince
Kropotkin, Julia "Word Howe, Eugene
y. Debs, "Washington Gladden, Lyman
Abbott and Hamlin Garland.
Freedom of speech Is a watchword with
the Union, and addresses advocating or
opposing the various kinds of socialism
& single tax, anarchism, trade unionism!
woman's suffrage, etc., have been deliv
ered. Only religious subjects, on account
tt the great difficulty found in discuss
ing them with fairness and courtesy
have been excluded. '
That such an Institution has been In
creasingly successful for nearly 1Q years
is due, perhaps, not so much to what
work has been done, as to how it has
peen done. There has been no restriction
selculated in any way to hamper the J
most perfect freedom, whether In mem
bership, discussion or study. The Union
has no constitution, and there are not
even any house rules. There is never any
trouble about discipline, for that takes
care of Itself. There is a small mem
bership fee, but on payment of that any
one may Join. There is no election bf
members, and no investigation as to char
acter. If a man expresses his desire to
enter the Union, that fact ln itself is a
sufficient qualification.
The composition of the first executive
committee illustrates very well the dem
ocratic spirit which has always prevailed.
Three workingmen, two Harvard stu
dents, a Harvard professor and a clergy
man were elected. The Union is frank
in admitting that it is inconsistent in
limiting its privileges to men, but this Is
done for practical reasons. Most of the
teachers from Harvard, it states, prefer
to have men only ln their classes, and
the vrorklngmen themselves, it seems, feel
more of a sense of freedom and less
timidity in exposing their deficiencies in
education in the presence of other men
than if women also were present.
Benefits Derived.
It will readily be seen that, so far as
the student teachers from the university
are concerned, the experience which they
gain by regular, faithful work among
men, often of an equal degree of Intelli
gence with themselves, though along dif
ferent lines, can only be an advantage ln
every possible way. But the question has
been raised more than once -as to what
use the workingman himself gets from
studying an hour of two on one, two or
three evenings a week, for half a year.
The officers of the Union have answered
this question so well that It seems worth
while to quote a little of -what they have
to say:
"Why should a wage-earner be taught
French or Lratln, rather than something
which "Will be of direct practical value to
him in earning his dally bread? It is
Indeed often better that a man should
study what will be of immediate use to
him the English branches which consti
tute a common-school education, mathe
matics, the natural sciences, drawing, and
the like.
"But sometimes it Is better that a man
should enter a class ln a subject remote
from practical use, for the mental disci
pline and broadening effect to be thus
secured. Machine methods In manufac
turing, and the infinite division and sub
division of labor tend to make of manual
workers machine men. That tendency
should be counteracted. Experience has
proved that in some cases the studies
apparently of least practical value are
quite &b desirable as any others, and tREt
often the choice of a particular study
is not nearly so Important a matter as
it seems. Not what Is studied, but to
learn how to study. Is most Important.
"But are not wage-earners unfitted "lor
their work and made discontented with
their lot by being educated in some de
gree? Unwise Ambitions Dlscoursgred.
"It rarely happens that a Prospect
Union pupil imagines, for any length of
time, that he ought to be a lawyer, or a
doctor, instead of a carpenter or a black
smith. "When this does happen, the Union
tries to be a good adviser and to discour
age unwise ambitions. Occasionally men
who know what they are about aro aldfSJ,
at the Union ln fitting themselves for
college, but not often.
"There Is a kind of discontent, however,
to the propagation of whioh, in the minus
of wage-earners, the Union pleads guilty
a sensible dissatisfaction with things
with which it is stupid or immoral to bo
satisfied, when there Is a possibility of
betterment he discontent of the healthy,
growing human being the discontent of
a true manhood.
"The contentment of the poor earth
clod, the drudge, the incompetent hire
ling, the Union does what it can to re
move." SHOULD VISIT SUNDAY SCHOOL
Couldn't Kaxne the Twelve Apostles
to Save Themselves.
At a dinner party In Washington, com
posed of prominent men, one of them re
marked that he once sat ln the Union
League Club at New York with Roscoe
Conkllng, Chester A. Arthur and several
other distinguished gentlemen, who had
been carefully educated in religious fam
ilies, and that none of them was able to
name the twelve apostles.
"That's easy," said a Senator, brashly,
beginning, "Matthew, Mark, Luke and
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Ai ' ' -" - sgk .'ir JvVvJ ill ill 11
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ST WOOU Mlk XMaS
A study of statistics, by Charles- "W. Pilgrim, JL D., superintendent of the Hudson River Stato Hospital, at Pouffhkeepsle, N. T.,
which has been published In the American Journal of Insanity, has been reprinted ln pamphlet form, jind attracts some attention, par
ticularly by reason of Dr. Pilgrim's citations and deduotlons concernine the hour of death. Dr. Pilgrim's paper Is entitled "The Study
of a Tear's Statistics." At Its conclusion he says:
"An examination of the hour of death showed that 29 per cent died betwoen midnight and 0 A. M., 10 per cent between CAM. and V
noon, SI per cent between noon and 6 P. M., and 24 per cent between 6 P.M. and midnight. By addlns these percentages together, we
find the curious fact that the deaths were evenly distributed between the hours vof darkness and light. 11B patients having died between
0 P. ST. and CAM., and 118 between 6 A. 1L and 6 P. M. Desiring to pursue this question still further, I examined the deaths for the
10 preceding years, nearly 1C0O in all, and found this statement strikingly confirmed, as,a change of onehalf of V per cent would havo
made the deaths exactly even daring the hoars of day and night.
"A chart which I made of the deaths for the year-and I might also add that the statements which I am about to make were cor
roborated by a chart made of all the deaths during the preceding decade ahowed .when divided Into sections of three hours each that the
highest point of the curve was reached, both for men and women, between the hours of 3 and 6 P.M., nearly 20 per cent of all tha
deaths having occurred between those hours. The next hlgest point was between the hours of 3 and q A. M-., although there was a de
elded loll for both sexes for the single hour from 4 to 5, when the line went down to the lowest point reached ln any hour of tho 24.
There was also a decided fall, especially for women, between 11 and 12 ln the morning. ' '
"These figures, therefore, show that there is some reason for the popular belief that many deaths occur during the early morning hours,
but they show still more plainly that tha majority of those who suffer from long-continued mental disease give up their lives toward the
close of day."
John, bless the bed that I lie on, Paul
and the two Jameses, Jude, Barnabas"'
And there he stoped with, soma embar
rassment "Timothy," suggested a Major-General,
who is a vestryman in an Episcopal
church.
"Nonsense," answered a Senator. "Tim
othy was a disciple of Paul's. H wasn't,
one of the twelve apostles."
"NIcodemus," suggested one of th com
pany. "Jeremiah," suggested the third.
"judas was one of the apostles," meek
ly came from a voice In the corner.
'Til be blamed If he was. He was
disciple," came the curt reply.
""Weren't the disciples and' the apostle
the same thing?" Inquired the meek voice,
getting a shade bolder.
Bartholomew was suggested and accept
ed by several. i
"What's the matter with Peter?" ex
claimed a modest young member of the
diplomatic corps, who had hitherto been
silent.
"How many does that make?" some
body asked, and they counted up 10 for
sure, with as many more doubtful.
"Let's look in the Bible," somebody sug
gested, and the good book was overhauled
in vain. Then the encyclopedia was ap
pealed to,- but it was not entirely satis
factory, for it included Thomas and An
drew in the list, and the Justice of the
Supreme Court ana two of the Senators
were positive that Andrew was not an
apostle. All of which teaches the great
usefulness and need of Sunday schools.
TRAITS OF CAGED ANIMALS
None of the Cnrnivora to Be Trusted
or Unwatched.
'Personally I would rather undertake to
train Jungle-bred lions than lions that are
born ln captivity," said an animal trainer
to a reporter of the Chicago Record. "You
may -win the regard of he first class, but
the others are so accustomed to seeing,
everybody that they respect nobody. The
idea that lions desire to eat up their
trainers is preposterous. I feed these lions
12 pounds of fine meat every day at 5
o'clock. - If a lion was ravenously hungry
the case might be different. When a beast
gets mad and knocks you down with a
blow from his paw you must lie still."- It
would be useless to fight back, for if he
should close his Jaws no bone would' stand
the pressure. I do not fear the lion's jaw
an.d teeth the paws and claws are the
things that have left their marks all over
my body. Their claws are sharp as fish
hooks and take hold ln the same fashion.
"Yes, I have been nipped by lions a
number of times, generally in the fleshy
part of the hand and the leg; the teeth
have gone clean through with a snap.
Still the claws are the things that make
the life of the Hon tamer an 'unpreferred
risk' In life Insurance-writing.
"Tigers are much brighter than lions,
and can be taught many tricks, but they
can never be relied on, as treachery ap
pears to be their disposition and inherit
ance. They are tremendous fighters, and
if they cannot get up a row among them
selves they are ready to help others. The
closest call I ever had in my life was
when a jaguar got over the partition ln
the big den into the cage occupied by a
lion and undertook to take a bone away
from the latter. I went ln and undertook
to drive the jaguar back into her own
cage. The beast turned upon me and
clawed me horribly, while the lion took
a whack at my back. When I was finally
dragged out of the cage the new suit of
clothes that I wore was a mass of tatters,
and I was scarred and bloody from head
to heels. This famous fight occurred In
Washington with the W. C. Coup show.
"I had a number of encounters with
Wallace, who was set down on the bills
as 'the man-eater." He had chewed and
clawed many men, but never eaten one,
but he did occasionally feast on a horse.
So many stories have been told about
Wallace by trainers that never handled
him it would be idle for me to repeat
them, as I had him all the time he was
ln this country. That famous Hon died
two years ago ln an express car while on
his travels.
"Tigers have a fancy for sliding, on
their backs and getting you at a d'sad
vantage, as they He and claw upward.
The moment -you turn to leave a cage
they are liable to slide its whole length
and drag you down before you can raise
your whip.
"But, take my word for it, the most
dangerous animal you can encounter ln a
menagerie is a -'bad elephant.' I've been
with 'em for 40 years, and I know."
i
Served Him IUerht.
A modern maiden sat at home.
And wondered to herself.
"Why some young fellow didn't come
And take her "oft the shelf."
And when there came a chap who was
Resolved to learn his fate.
She wouldn't look at him because
His necktie wasn't straight.
Pick-Mo-Up.
HOUR
DEATH.
OF
HE DIDN'T PACK A GUN
BUT- HB BVERIiA5TOWGIiT LICKED A
MAN WHO OAJEUUBD TWO.
Incidents of tie "Seventies Is tfe.
BlaoSc Hills, la Which Grift
Held WlaniBff Hand.
Several of us old cronies had congre
gated at & favorite room which, for sev
eral months, we had been pleased to call
our "den," and wherein we ' had whllea
away many a rainy, Oregon Winter even
ing, and we had resorted once mora to
the telling of stories, and withal, of ex
periences -whioh had befallen us.
. A number of the boys had already wov-
--. f
en into interesting language incidents that
had come under their observation when,
during a' lull, "one of our chosen few, who
was not glven to helping out an evening's
entertainment other than by being pres
entgood natured and decidedly silent
meekly asked if he might be permitted,
for once, to help the evening on by "spin
ning a yarn." Curiosity was astir in us,
and permission was granted at once. In
a moment, everybody had hitched them
selves Into comfortable positions and we
were ready to hear what the "silent
member" had to say. Ha began thus:
"I see nearly all of you dote on blood-and-thunder
stories, and that you all, to
a man, draw upon the Pacific Coast for
your material. While I do not doubt the
truthfulness of that which I have listened
to, still I think It shows a spirit of
partiality to rely entirely npon the West
ern country for your cast, In which you
always bring to the surface a bully with
a gun, and whom you invariably picture.
WsMmm
''' , f rnOm . ' ".WfflMPh ' - '-"""i '' ' L'' A r
A tiiVrSA INKmH J?47?I it-it V A- mEUv ?" r v
ln the wind-nup, as having blown the top
of some other bully's head off. Then,
With oily language, you beguile one Into
the belief that It was the proper thing
I for, Bully No. 1 to do, and that he was
reauy a "nervy man.
"There Are Others."
"Now, I want to tell you that you can
go a little way, at least, East, and find
bullies and guns and men of nerve, and
the incident I have ln mind does not In
dicate to me that the bully always has
the nerve; neither does It convice me that
the nervy man always packs a gun.
"While traveUng through that portion
off ; the territory now known as South Da
kota, in the foothill country of the Black
Hills, in the early 70s,-1 was a witness
to the Uttlo affair which I am about to
relate.
"On the afternoon of the day of whioh
I speak, my uncle and I arrived at a
frontier town of several hundred Inhab
itants, whose population was, at inter
vals, swelled to the extent of sev-
THE NATIONAL CAKEWALK.
r. ' .r iWv H'T i-3vS Or?&i;.?s'v fR?v.
eral hundrqd more, owing to tho com
ing and going of miners, cowboys, sol
diers, scouts, cattle-buyers, horse-buyers,
and, no doubt, horse-thieves. My uncle
had long been associated with frontier
life, he being a horse-buyer and trader
by occupation, and, naturally, he was
in his element in just such a place, al
though I may say, as oughtn't t to say It,
he '.was a peaceful man and 'not given
to quarreling. As soon, therefore, as our
affairs ;would permit, my uncle started
out to visit the places about the town.
Being a stripling and somewhat In do3"Dt
ns to whether it was safe for me at
camp, I followed In his wake. We visited
several places without incident, although
I was of tho belief at the time that
one's life was not considered the most
valuable article in one's possession In any
of them, and It was not until Inte in tho
evening that we entered the establish
ment which furnished the subject for my
story.
"The structure was a large tent, I
should judge some SO feet wide by prob
ably 50 ln length. At the end opposite
the entrance was a rough counter or bar,
where whisky was being poured out with
as much freedom perhaps a little more
and 'guzzled down with as much relish,
as though the' bar, the building and the
fixtures were the finest in the land.
A Frontier Gathering.
"The , entertainment provided was
whisky drinking and card playing, with
artistic profanity thrown ln as a side at
traction. The place was filled with every
class of humanity characteristic of fron
tier towns. I was not so accustomed to
tobacco then as I am now, and the Sense
fumes of the weed nearly strangled me.
I was upon the point of imploring my
uncle to return to purer air when a
commotion was created by a new arrival.
"The new arrival wag in the person of
a 'bad man' and, judging from the sud
denly acquired meekness of some who, up
to that moment, had assumed a bulldoz
ing demeanor, he had, ln all probability,
got his man on more occasions than one.
He was a man, of pernaps six feet, broad
shouldered, red-headed and weighing
about 200 pounds. He wore a pair of
overalls, a blue shirt, a pair of high
boots, a broad-brimmed - hat and two
wicked-looking 'guns. He had a belt
around his waist in which his guns were
carefully deposited, between his overalls
and shirt, one in front of either hip, with
the butt-ends towards each other, ln
reaalne33 ior a quick draw. He was
evidently under the influence of Hqubr,
and everybody seemed to feel that he
would have to be handled rather tenderly;
otherwise that, ln an unguarded moment,
he might turn his arsenal loose and ex
terminate the population of that section
of the Wild West.
"About the first thing that happened
after this shining 'light of the border
had ejected a half pint of tobacco
extract on the ground floor of the
dive, was the extending of an Invi
tation by. him for all hands to come up
and take a drink. Everybody was will
ing, even the man who presided over the
bar, although it was a question in my
mind whether the man extending the
generous invitation had the 'dust' with
which to pay. Be that as it may, all
hands were powerful thirsty just then,
and in a moment the bar was packed,
those of us who couldn't get up close
and merely to show how willing we were,
standing as near as possible, waiting for
our turn.
"There was one man, or I might say
boy, sitting back on a rough bench, who
did not respond to the Invitation. He was
of slight build and was sitting with his
hat drawn over his eyes, his head bent
down and his elbows on his knees, think
ing of better days, no doubt, and per
haps of friends in spme other corner of
the earth.
"It was my pleasure, a few years later,
to see the famous puglUst, Jack Demp
sey, and his resemblance, in build, action
and fighting propensities, to the vounsr
Jjraliaw who nceunled the bench, now cau3e
me to refer to the "hero of 40 battles,'
as an illustration of mj4 man.
"As soon as the bad man observed the
young feUow, sitting, without notlqe or
fear of the "walking arsenal parading be
fore him, the man with the guns walked
over, slaped the smooth-faced chap on
the back, and yelled:
" Do yer har me murmur?
"The Uttlo feUow, without the least
show of indignation or surprise, raised his
head and, ln a quiet and respectful man
ner, Inquired what was wanted.
"The terror than condescended to ex
plain that he had just Issued a royal man
date that everybody was to come up and
drink, and that when ho extended an In
vitation of that kind, he didn't propose
that anyone should Insult him by refus
ing. He then went on to state that, "Beta'
as yer a kid an not uster our way o'
doln' biz, I'll stand on a pol'gy; but yer
must trot up right smart and swaller yer
stuff
"The kid, however, did not trot, but,
on tha contrary, told the man who stood
glaring at him so ugly, that he was not
a drinking man and did not care to In
dulge. "By this time every man in the crowd
had taken on a look of sympathy for the
lad. and it was evident that there was
hardly one under the canvas who did
not expect to see the rash young idiot
pumped full of holes. The man who was
creating so much disturbance was non
plussed at the cool, innocent way in which
the boy refused to drink, and then, after
another glare, roared out:
" 'D n you! If yer don't perambu
late now, and be mighty quick about it,
I'll kill yer! D' yer hear?' and he reached
for his gun. But he didn't get It he
didn't have time his attention was taken
up with more pressing business.
A Surprised Bally.
"The young fellow made a Jump that
would have -done credit to a mountain
lion, .and before you could bat yor eye,
landed both of hits feet in the big fellow's
stomach, sending him to the ground fiat
on his back. Then the little man jumped
on him, kicked him, smashed him ln
the face, and hammered him ln half a
minute so that his most intimate friends
would have had some difficulty In picking
him out of a small crowd. Before the
youngster finished his artistic job, he took
the bully's two big guns, tossed them
to one side, and then, after he was fully
convinced that he had knocked all the
fight out of the fellow, he quickly jumped
away, picked up the guns and went over
to a table, where he sat down to await
developments.
"The gang was paralyzed. They didn't
expect such a turn of affairs. However,
as soon as the cooler-headed ones gath
ered their wits again, they walked over to
their new-found hero who sat there just
as though nothing much had happened,
and, one after another, extended a hand
and gave the little cyclone a shake and
a few word3 of congratulation, showing
how pleased they were to see the big,
blustering bully whipped.
"By this time the "bad man had gath
ered himself up, and, after viewing tho
crowd and evidently determining that
public opinion was against him, walked
over, extended his big hand, and, ad
dressed the little champion:
" 'Pard, I'm glad er make yer
'qualntance. I'm naterly a man of
few words, and most of 'em has be'n
alfired rtlgh knocked outer me; but I'll
be everlastln'ly flabbergasted If I haint
glad ter hev met yor. The fac Is, stran
ger, I hail from Ole Kalntuck, and yer
seeMdown thar It's a mighty big Insult
ter Doit swallerln' a glass o' whisky with
a feller. Along with my breedln', I've
be'n a wanderln' wild like outer her fer
a few year, and I'd kinder got a notion
ln my head that I couldn't be did. Now
you has come along an everlastin'ly
knocked three kinds o' nonsense outer
me, and yer didn't need no gun nuther.
Boys, Just as many of yer as want3 ter,
go up an' have a drink I's proud ter
hav met yer, stranger!
"The little man arose to his feet,
stretched out his hand and politely
thanked the tamed Hon. Then he handed
him back his guns, bade everybody good
bye and walked out into the night.
"I never saw him afterwards," con
cluded the "silent member," "neither did
I again see the bad man, but I shall
always remember the occurrence, as the
thing striking me very forcibly at the
time, and of which I have often thought,
was the difference in the two men. not
physiclally, merely, but mentally, moral
ly, socially and, also, from a fighting
point of, view.
"The 'terror was a bully, thristlng for
blood and notoriety, yet a coward at
heart. When he wa3 decently licked,
his admiration for the man who whipped
him got the better of his brutish nature
and made him acknowledge his fault.
The hero of the game was a gentleman
by Instinct, as witness his acceptance of
the crude apology. Yet he had the cour
age and determination that would have
maoo a demon out of the other."
.fc". J. .HOWARD. JL
WHAT MONSTER IS THIS?
SOAB.Y TALE OF THB HAHHATZyOF
THE BITTER BOOTS.
Giant Cxeatnxe of the- aSocatmSntf
"Who. Inspire Wholesem Dread
Amonjr Indian Haatesa
(High among the craggy peaka and bush
tangled fastnesses of the Bitter Root
Mountains, forming the Idaho and Mon
tana boundary. Is the home of an njimal
of which natural history has no record.
In those lofty regions of almost perpetual
snow and dark primeval forests roams a
beast of prey compared, with whose gi
gantic form, ferocity and tenacity of life
even the dreaded, grizzly bear pales to
Insignificance an animal whose very
name strikes terror to the heart of the
Indian brave the mighty hah-hatz of tha
Bitter Boots.
The story of this monarch of all things
wild ln the Western country, whose track
alone causes the heart of the red hunter
to Quake and quail. Is handed down by
the Indians over whose hunting-grounds
it roams. But it is something more sub
stantial than a tribal legend or tradition
from remote aboriginal ages. It Is a plain
tale, as It has been told to me by living
members of several different Indian tribes
within a dozen years. Men of the Nez
Perces, the Coeur d'Alene3 and the Uma
tlllas, who ln their annual hunting expe
ditions to the game ranges or the Bitter
Boots have invaded the domain of this
great denizen of the mountain tops in
times gone by, have recited the prowess
and told of the mightiness of this king
of the wild3. Whlto men have no record
of the hah-hatz. So far as known, tho
occasional white hunters who may havo
visited its haunts have not met the beast
which Inspires the Indian with such genu
ine terror; for, if they have, have not
lived to teU o the adventure.
(Many times have I heard the story of
the nah-hatz from Indian lips from those
who claim to have seen the monster in It
stronghold. All fear It as they fear no
other living thing. Their descriptions of
the strange unknown animal, its habits
and characteristics are singularly coi
roboratlve, agreeing in detail in all essen
tial particulars.
Some Giant Creature.
Coupled with the earnestness and ap
parent truth with which the Indians have
invariably spoken, and the awe expressed
by them In word and look, this corrobo
ration has led to a belief that something
more than savage imagination Is the basis
for the reported existence of the terrible
hah-hatz; that at least within the mem
ory of living man. If not today a giant
creature of which the outer world has not
heard has roamed and held undisputed
sway among the lofty, seldom-visited re
gions of the Bitter Roots, only occasion
ally straying from Its Inaccessible haunts
to the Indian hunting-grounds of the low
er ranges.
A dozen years ago I first heard of tho
hah-hatz. Whllo crossing the Nez Perces
Indian reservation, in Idaho, I one day
fell In with Me-a-watka. a member of
that tribe, whose hair was whitened by
the snows of many winters, and who was
vain of his uniform of the mounted res
ervation police.
A dinner from my pack opened tho way
to the good graces of Me-a-watka ana
speedily placed us on friendly terms. Tha
natural Indian reserve and the antipathy
of the typical Nez Perces to friendly as
sociation with the white man once broken,
Me-a-watka related the story of the hah
hatz the name which he himself gave the
animal. I confess that I received his tnls
with Incredulity, and it was not until the
lapse of years and repeated verifications
from Indians of different tribes that I
believed It contained sufficient truth to
justify its repetition.
"Six days' journey from hero toward
the land of the rising sun. where the great
mountains reach high toward the home of
the Great Spirit and glisten white with tha
snows of Winter in the Summer sun, liven
the hah-hatz," said Me-a-watka, a curi
ous look of awe stealing over his hitherto
stolid countenance as he pointed toward
tha peaks of the Bitter Roots plainly out
lined against the distant sky.
"The great forests and mountain peaks,
from whence flow the bright waters of
tho Lolo, the Locksaw and the Kooskoos
kla. Is his home. The hah-hatz Is mighty
a3 the mountains of eternal snow among
which he dwells, and the Indian is much,
afraid when he chases the deer and tho
elk ln the dark forests.
Mighty as All the Bears.
"The Great Spirit gave to the hah-hatz
a life which his red children cannot take
away. One hundred rifle balls but maka
the hah-hatz angry. My white brother
thinks the baldface bear Is mighty, but
he is as the kitten of the little paleface
squaw when tho hah-hatz comes. The
white man calls the bull elk the king ot
the big woods, because he vanquishes tho
grizzly bear, but the bull elk Is as the
bleating calf when the hah-hatz roars on
his trail. The mountains tremble with
his voice. He Is mighty as all the bears,
as swift as the wind and more terrible
than the evil spirit.
"Two grizzly bears are not so great as
the hah-hatz. He Is as tall a3 the Indian'3
shoulder, and his length Is the length of
the big ox. His head Is broad and strong,
and his teeth are long and terrible. Kis
feet are not the feet of the bear, but like
those ox the dog, and hl3 claws are the
claws of the big cat.
"The eye of the hah-hatz Is the evil
eye of the night. It Is like the big, round
moon, and gleams as a torch ln the dark
ness. When the sun has set the hah-hatz
leaves his bed and seeks his pYey. roam
ing only in the darkest spots. of the for
est when the sun hangs in the sky. Ho
devours all in his path. With the nose
of the hound, he finds the footstetps of
the Indian hunter and trails him to his
death. Many braves have gone forth to
the hunting-grounds, and their w!gwam3
know them no more. The Indian brave
has a stout heart, but he is much afraid
in the land where the hah-hatz roams.
"The hah-hatz is not," continued Me-a-watka,
after a moment of reverie, "as
the sands of the river or trees of tho
forest. There are not many. Seventy
snows have fallen upon the head of Me-a-watka.
and many hunting-times has he
Journeyed to the haunts of tho deer, tha
elk and the bear in the big mountains
yonder. Yet but once has he met the
mighty king of the mountain beasts, which
he could not kill, but from which he es
caped to tha trees. But Me-a-watka has
been told by his brothers who have also
looked upon the great beast of the Bitter
Roots, and knows he did not dream, nei
ther did he look upon the bear, of whom
he Is not afraid.
Spolce the Truth.
"Nor does Me-a-watka speak to his
white brother with a forked or deceitful
tongue. Me-a-watkas heart Is good, and
his mouth Is clean. He speaks the truth
before the Great Spirit. The Hah-Hatz
lives ln the great mountains yonder,
from whence the sparkling waters of taa
beautiful Kooskooskla flow."
Thus ran the old Indian's tale. That it
bears truth In its poetic Imagery, I can
not, hearing what I have from other In
dians, doubt. Perhaps some day the Iden
tity of the Hah-Hatz, the monstrous
creature that roams and ha3 its being in
the fastnesses of the snow-capped Bitter
Root Mountains, will be revealed.
Cv R. MOOR12.
Colfax, Wash.
Too Much for Mr. Snake.
A youthful rhymster gets ln an old fam
ily grudge, in the following impromptu
stanza:
"It's curious about some men
That roam this world so wide
A rattlesnake bit dad, an' then
. She snake turned round an' died!
f-AUonta Constitution,