SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 171.
A Team of Fish.
The South Amerlcau .Railroad lUug.
Ad Kaston (Pa) correspondent of the
New York i'itiscn writes to that journal
us follows:
' Two of our distinguished citizens Mr.
Samuel Phillipi and Col. J. K. Sitgreaves,
have for many years entertained the
notion that sturgeons might be so man
aged as to draw a pleasure boat. For
the last three summers they have been
makiug experiments to solve the prob
lem, aud at last have succeeded. The
mode of procedure has been, every Spring
when the sturgeons have made their way
up the Delaware as high as Bristol, to
buy a pair, and towing them behind a
boat ou the Lehigh Canal to bring them
to i.clugh uaiii, wbere these gentlemen
have a boat-house and a pond enclosed
for their aquatic ponies., ' . V"'"'
The mode of harnessing the sturgeons
is peculiar. A broad , Indiarubber band
encircling each fish jost bcuiud the pee
tural fin has a brass ring attached ou tup.
Through these riiiiis a stout ashed polo
about eight feet long is inserted, and to
two staples in the pole the traces are
fastened. There is also a narrow r sun
elastic band around each sturgeon, ju.-t
behind the dorsal tin, with a loop in the
side holding the oppo.-ke ends of a much
slighter pwle to compel them to swim at
a regular distance from each other. Mr.
Phillipi, who acts as driver, has hi-s seat
iu the bow and directs their course with
a goad, which is a long pole, and thick
as one's wrist, with a sharp spike stick
ing out at right angles from the end, and
it is surprising with what alacrity they
obey. When they are to be turned to
the right or left, a sudden j.rick on the
opposite side of e.ch sturgeon causes the
pair to take the desired course. When
a greater speed is desired they aro pierced
near the tail ; when they are required to
alt the goad is reached forward, and
they aic pricked in front of the head.
There was much difficulty at first in
preventing the fish from eeekiug the
bottom and drawing the boat under.
They were consequently driven in water
not oer four feet deep. Dr. . Slack,
however, an eminent fish-eulturist in the
neighborhood, who hud traveled in Egypt
and had observed the mode of managing
sturguu on the Nile, overcoincnhti diffi
culty.' He had two large hollow floats
made iu the shape of swans, and painted
white to resemble theee birds. To each
of these floats a cord of three feet was
attached aud fastened into the rings on
the pole to which the traces are made
The last session of the Peruvian Con
gress vwtcd an appropriation of $75,000,
000 for internal improvements. A
though the new bonds have not yet been
negotiated, two more contracts have
been entered into with Sir. Meigga. and
under them work actively .commenced.
Oue contract .is for ' the building of a
railroad from Moquegua. in the southern
part of the Republic, at a cost of six
millions of Wts ; the other, for a rail
road which is projected to connect Pa
casinayo. on the coast, north of Lima,
with Cajarmarca in : the interior, " the
theater of the murder and capture of the
lnca, Atahualpa, by Pixjtarro. The en
tire cost of this work will be about tweu-ty-seven
million soles,- although the con
tract only provides for a sectiou to be
built at present. Under. the new appro
priation, work has also been commenced
on the continuation of the Puno road to
ward Cuzco. A road is prcjected to be
built from Uuaraz, in the ' mountains
north of Lima, through a rich mineral
district, ti Chitnbote, on the coast. One
bid fur the construction has been made
at thirty-six millions of sulfa. Probably,
if built at all, it will be done by Mr.
Meiggs.
We now s?e this remarkable man the
proprietor of large private interests iu
Chile ; dealing extensively iu lioliviau
guano; the owner of a bank in La Paz;
tlie lessee of the Arequtpa Uailroad ; the
contractor of four railroads, amounting
in va!u? to about one hundred millions of j tie reliability o: our informant, one
Quantrell Itf he ttll Alive ?
A sort of mystery srctnn to overhang
the fate of 1 the famous guerrilla chief,
Quantrell. It has several times been re- '
ported that be perished ear the close of
the war, but nothing definite and certain
has ever been stated. He has good reas-
ons for concealing his movements if liv
ing, and has heretofore done so. At dif-
! ferr-nt times, however, reports have arisi'ii
and spread abroad to the etiect that ;jb
was not dead, aud we have gi-od reasons
for believing tfieiu to he true. Qaantfell
was seeu in at the White Pincjjil-
ver mines in Nevada. A prominent ejti
zeu of this city, jibout two iiioi.tlts hiitj-e,
conversed with a'resideot of Fort LybM,
New Mexico, wlioitnteji that in lb'Gsfche
met Quantrell -at the While.. Pii e silver
niiucs. He was introduced .to hii&T a
Quantrell, aud talked to l.iifc of hisjtd
ventures during the war and about th
raid Our informant vouches for thoKre
liability of the gentleman residing at Fort
Lyon, from whom he received the state
ments given above. Its truth is confirm .
ed by aiiother party, who w t- in this citv
about six weeks ago, and wli also stated
that he met Quantrell at the aine place
sometime during tho same year... Theo"
reports coming from d.if'-ient -quarters
confirm each other. 'I hi inloriuaiion
comes from perfectly reliable Murccs. and
would seem to indicate that this noted
raider had survived the war and is even
now somewhere in one of our Western
Territories. We simply give these faet
as stated to us. voucniui; J r nomine out
of
"'- ; the wner ot larfxe estates near
Lima ; and the probable conductor of;
other important enterprises.
Besides the roads enumerated, being
buiit at tho expense of the Government,
private capital is enlisted in others. The
Lima aud liuacho road, which, passes
alonr the coast to the north of Lima, has
been completed as far as Chancay, a dis
tance ot forty miles. The Pir-co and Ici
road, iu the grape producing district, is
nearly completed. Two roads are under
way .-one nearly completed, from ports
on the coast, across the deserts, to the
vast deposits of saltpetre. A narrow
gauge read is also piojected from the
silver mines of Gerro de Pasco toward
the valley of Jauja. on the east of the
summits of the Amies, intersecting - the
line of the Oroya road now building, be
sides a short iocaLroad at the mines, al
ready beiuir constructed. Overland
Monthly Jus A.k'jh1.
Gekma.my. Still A'kkpakes. Prus
sia, it jares, is uot quite satisfied with
that iuiuV-y
wkoia touvt-r-cJ not long since with a
resident i f Fort Lyon, a we have fclatedV
For the present -we withold names, al
though they ea it be given it desired.
Jjttwrenve ( AVw.rx totultird. -
tast ; the wooden swans thus serving an
ornamental as well as useful purpose.
To create the delusion that the boat is
drawn by swans, a pair of gay reins reach
from the bird-like floats to the bow. The
boat is shaped like a shell, and Coi.
Sitgreaves, sitting, in the stern with his
trident whieh he frequently caries, is no
bad representatiou of Neptune. His
Palinurus, SaThmy Phiilippi, who keeps!
a fast team, is as skillful in
aoueous steeds as he is in driving hi
pair on the road.
It will thus be seen that pisciculture
will not only increase our supply of ani
mal food, but that we may eventually,
use the larger denizens of tho water for
purposes of loeotuotion.
Two illustrious men began life in the
same. useful calling Messrs. Bill Tweed
and Brigham Young starting out, the
one, to fortune, the other, to a family, as
chair-menders.
system which Las worked
so advantageously in the war with Aus
tria in 1866, and in It70-1 against the
French. It is positively stated that
Prince Bismarck and Count Moltke have
determined to introduce a new system of
arms for the German soldiers. In place
of the new Dreyse gun, to be discarded,
a new rifle,' called after General Werder,
is to take its place. There is also a new
cannon,' constructed ' by Barou Krupp,
which is 'exneeted to baft t down the
i, wnu iceiw i ,. ,
directing the I heaviest ramparts at a duJtauce of about
I nine miles: in oraer to rouua inese
monstrous pieces of ordnance extensive
changes have been wade in the forges of
Essen, and several colossal steam ham
mers have been set up, the cost of each
exceediug "$80y,000," which does appear
to be a vast, cost. Lastly, it is said that
German engineers , have contrived the
menus of safely and, swiftly transporting
this artillery. '-The., mere difficulty ,-ot'
eonstruction bids fair to be conquered,
so that, the range and power of the Ger
man guns will absolutely be unlimited.
The following passage p resents "ii pic
ture as comic, perhaps-, as. that of Mr.
Dickens, where two t-oniht-rners are rep
re ented as sitting opp"-i;e. eathotlier
at dinner, with weapuu.-. by the r.iJe .!
their plates : - -
"Arch," sea he, 'hi all the j-eoph'
ro ind here carry weapon.-" about u:n lr
them you got ..on?" "Oh. fu,' s z I,
''exceptin' that they tote a-jair cf navy
revolvers an-a knife to pop a i.igger with
occasionally, they all go unarmed. But
I've just bin to church will: .my h.mily,
an'. Deacon Ballbuter, !. -e-s in the .
next vw to Uie, guv me some s:i-s at
the last vestry meeting, an t went j-ts-pared
for him. Sure enuif. th.tr he m
with his wife an iVrnr dji irrs. V lien
the ciHigregation was 'bout, half through
MD!;iu' one of the finest sams. 1 everheru.
I sorter throwed my left . peeper over
whar Ball buster sat, au blast niy 4iide if
I didn't see hiui with a pistol in his ban"
an' hit cocked, icady to let fly if I made
the least sign of tackliu' hint. Whas
does I do but sneaks oat my barker too.
au' thar we sot with our lingers- on the
triggers, like two torn cats, till the uieet
in' was over. Durn the Sunday night
meetins. Thar's been five of the bretb-
ern killed at urn last year, aula young
preacher had all his teeth knocked out
at the last Love Feast."
Might hundred Assessors of Intcraal
Itevenue have been removed since last
October, under the law for the consoli
dation of districts. This is thirty-three
per cent, of the whole number of Asses
sors. .. :
A young Kentuckian, indignant, wn
about to thrash a barber . tor cutting off'
his moustache. The barber swore ha
didn't see it.
. v ,
l Wyoming women won't vote now they
have a chance. -