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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1899)
For Blood o o 0 I T was rapidly growing dusk ou the wide prairie, and the stars were j Just beginning to show like glitter ing diamond points. Just the sugges tion of the autumn was in the cool night air. The stillness as Jim and Miss Waring drove along over the si lent plain was broken now and then by a sharp, startling rattle, a sound once heard never to be forgotten, the danger signal of the deadly rattle snake coiled up in the long, brown grass. "Hit appears to me," Jim was say ing, "that that air wind don't bode any good 1o the settlers 'round these parts." "Why so, Jim?" "Guess you hain't ever ben on one of our Dakoty peralrles afore, Miss Waring, or you wouldn't have asked Buch a question. There's two things out hyar that's more feared than the Old Nick himself one on 'em's a peral rle flri'nd another's a perarle with the wind a-blowln a forty-mlle-an-hour gale." They rode on again in silence, Agnes Waring hnd come from the far great city to visit her brother on his Western ranch. Jim, the man-of-all-work, was driving her out from the station, fifteen miles from the ranch. "By the long-horned spoons!" said Jim suddenly, rising In his seat and stopping the horses with a tremendous jerk, "look over there, will you? Thar's blzness for us, sure's you're a foot high! Git up there?" he yelled to the horses, and, giving one of them a sting ing blow with his whip, they sprang into a run. Across the level plain shone a light, the light at the ranch head quarters nearly a mile away. To the left of It a dull, reddish glow had come up and, now and then, at the horizon line, where the darker part of the sky was lost in the prairie, sharp flames were darting up. "Don't be skeered," Jim ejaculated, as he whipped the horses Into a yet more furious pace; "there ain't no dan gerleastwise for us." Alice was a self-possessed city girl With a generous stock of old-fashioned common sense; but she was startled at Jim's actions and her face had grown pale. "Everything's all right," said Jim, as reassuring as lie could under the cir cumstances; "don't you be skeered." He had seized the reins between his firm, strong teeth, and now with one hand, now with the other, now with both, he was whipping the horses into Btll greater speed. "Hate ter lick a team like this" as the wagon bounced and tumbled and rattled along; "hate ter do hit but hit can't be helped when there's life depends on it." A few moments more and the horses dashed up to the big ranch headquar ters house. Jim threw the lines to the ground and seizing Alice by the wulst, Jumped out with her. "Sorry to be so lmperlite, but there ain't any time to wait kin you ride bossbackV" Rarely waiting for an affirmative an swer from the girl, who was passion ately fond of riding, and who modestly owned the gold medal for superior liorsewomnnshlp In her city riding club. Jim ran to the barn, flung a mau's saddle on a beautiful horse, and before Alice had time to recover from her sur prise at this novel introduction to her brother's establishment, the horse was before her. "You say you kin ride; wa'al here's the best chance to show hit you ever bad in your life. Thar's the best boss In Mcleod County raclu' blood for five generations; there ain't nothlu' but a peralrle tire kin ketch him. Jump him, Miss Waring, ride straight toward the tire yonder; thar ain't no danger now till you git ter Mule Crick. Jest over the crick a quarter of a mile or so thar's a Uusstan woman an' her six weeks old baby. She's all alone, for I saw her husband in town when we left. They hain't back tired an Inch, and you've got to git the woman and her baby over the crick. Sec? I'd go myself, but the wind is shifted and this hull ranch'U be In danger nfore long. You'll pass your brother and a parcel o' men backtlrlu' along the line; uon t stop tor any explanations, but ride fer the crick an' ride as if Old Harry was on yer track! You beeu't nfeerd, be you?' The blood had come back to the pale cneeKR. "You say there's little danger of my losing my lire, Jim?" "ot a blt-of you only git that woman across the crick In time; but don't wait-Jump quick, fer the Lord's eako, or you 11 be too late." With a rude toss ho threw her Into saddle as It she had been a child, and hauded her the reins. As ho did so he thrust a short, cruel rawhide Into her oaiul. "Don't hit him with that unless von have to he's never been licked In his me; dui ne can outrun a cyclone. Kf you nave ter hit him give It to him red Lotl It U long, sometimes, before a horse m Will Tell. e w and its rider become acquainted with one another; but It seemed but a few seconds to Alice before she and the noble animal were old friends. Jim was right, Prince Hal could run; and after the first few tremendous Jumps and Alice had steadied herself in the saddle the Jthrllling excitement stirred her blood like an intoxicant, and she real ized that Jim had told the truth; it promised to be the race of her life. "Je-ho-sa-phat!" exclaimed a man who was plowing a fire furrow along the edge of the ranch where the men were at work. "Mr. Waring, look, will you! Look at Trince Hal!" Mr. Waring had not more than time to look up before he saw his choicest mount pass by him like the wind, a girl with hair flying behind her on his back, the horse going at a pace that not his fastest Kentucky ancester ever matched. On the horse went as if he, too, knew of the life-saving mission of the hour. The foam came from his teeth, and his flanks were white. Alice leaned for ward in the saddle, as she urged him on, and stroked his neck. A moment more and they were at the creek, a shallow stream. Beyond, Alice could see a low house silhouetted against a great red bank of flame. The lire was coming. Already she could feel the Intense heat. A leap and a bound; they were over the stream and on again with sail swifter flight. It was a matter of seconds now until the low sod house was reached. In front ON A LIFE-SAVINO MISSION. of it was the Russian peasant woman, frantically trying to save some of her household goods by dragging them with one hand further from the course of the Are, while in one arm she clutch ed the baby, around which Bhe had thrown a wet shawl to protect It from the heat. "Why didn't you run?" cried Alice, as she Jumped from the horse; "don't you see, the fire is almost on you? You can't save your things; run for the creek! Run, I say, or you'll be burned to death!" Alice caught the child from the woman's arms and sprang up Into the saddle as best she could. The woman stood as if stupefied, the red glow from the-comlng flames lighting up her stolid face. The fire was coming on faster now; they could hear the roar and crackle as it swept through the long, mau-hlgh grass of the swale beyond the fence. "Quick! quick, I say! no, you can't run fast enough now to get to the creek; Jump behind me, quick! quick! or we shall all be burned. I can't leave you here to die!" The woman's stolid nature was aroused at last by the animal fear of danger, and while tho heat grew more intense every miuute, she clambered up behind Alice. rrinee uals faco was toward the fire. Ho had not moved since he reached the spot; he seemed like some beautiful statue, his body motionless. Ms ears sharp erect, his nostrils dis tended; the awful fascination of the lire was upon him. Alice pulled at the bit to turn him no paia no attention. She spoke snnrpiy, but ho only moved uneasilv: ne wouia not stir from the spot Swift er than on electric shock came the thought to her mind that horses in burning buildings would stay and die In the flames before they would be led out. It would be impossible to reach tne creek on foot; in half a miuute more the flames would be on them Snatching the wet shawl from the baby with one hand, and swinging the child backward to Its mother with the other, she threw the shawl over the horse's head. With the sight of the fire shut out he quivered, turned as the bit cave him a sharp twist, and, Just as the llames were leaping over the sheds uard by the house, he sprang away. It was a race for life now for three lives; for the wind had Increased to a gale, and there Is nothing more terrible in tms world than such a relentless oceftn of flame as was rolling over the grass-grown plain. Alice thought of Jim's parting ad vice: "He's never been licked in his life; inn ir you nave ter, give it to him red hot!" With a sharp cry, urging the horse on uuder LU heavy burdeu, she struck Mm with all her strength on the qulr-l ering flank, not once, but many times.. He jumped as If stung by a rattlesnake, and seizing the bit In his teeth, sprang away as if shot from some mighty cata pult. Alice had lost all control of him now. She could neither guide nor check nor urge him. The blood of a noble ances try, the blood of a racer was on fire in his veins. Down the short hill, over the brook, up the further side, on over the plain like some wild spirit of the night he ran. A cheer that you could have heard a mile, and that, mayhap, was heard clear up to the stars of heaven, rang out as Frlnce Hal, white with foam, flew by the crowd of men. "Wa'al, ef you ain't the pluckiest gal!" said Jim, as he helped Alice from the saddle; "an you ain't agoin' ter faint, nuther; I kin tell it by your eye. Didn't I tell you he could outrun a cyclone? But there had ter be some body a-top o' him who knew how ter ride." Independent. LAW AS INTERPRETED. Preference of usurious debts Is held, In Hlller vs. Ellis ,(Miss.), 41 L. R. A. 707, to make an assignment for the benefit of creditors void. This is a subject on which there are not many authorities and these are not agreed, but their effect Is shown In a note to this case. A revocation of the license of a for eign Insurance company because of Its failure to puy the license feeo required for former years during which it had done business in the State Is sustained In Travelers' Ins. Co. vs. Fricke (Wis.), 41 L. R. A. 557, as the failure to com ply with tho law Is a present, existing failure. The constitutional right of minor children to the rents and profits of a homestead during minority and to an estate in fee after the widow's death Is held, in Merrill vs. Harris (Ark.), 41 L. R. A. 714. not to. be violated bv a w sale of the property under an order of the Probate court for the benefit of the children. A Bible containing names and dates of birth of members of the family is held, in Supreme council of the Golden Star Fraternity vs. Conklin (N. J.), 41 L. R. A. 449, to be inadmissible as evi dence of the age of a person, when there is no proof when or by whom the entries were made, or of the writer's knowledge of the facts, or that the per sons named therein had ever acknowl edged the authenticity of the record. The rule that a presumption of neg ligence does not arise from the fact of an injury Is applied in Benedick vs. Potts (Md.), 41 R. R. A. 478, where a person on a mimic railway was on a car when it entered a tunnel but was not on It when it emerged and was found unconscious In the tunnel, while other persons passed through safely, and there was no defect in or abnormal condition affecting the means of trans portation. An luzg Trlok. Mr. Wardner exhibited a paper In which was an article on the Klondiker and a portrait showing a Frenchy look ing man with a big diamond in his shirt front, swell cut of clothes and a stove pipe hat the Prince of Wales would have been proud to wear. Mr. Wardner laughed as he looked at the picture again and related some anecdotes of "Swiftwnter Bill." the man who had struck "$5,000 to the square foot on bed-rock." "Bill" had the second best claim on the Yukon, and was so self important on his return that he kept a private secretary through whom the reporters had to Interview him. He married the sister of Gussle La More, a vaudeville dancer who danced In a tent In Dawson. "Swlf twater Bill" paid her attention, but got mad at the dancer and married her sister. The dancer was very fond of eggs while in Dawson, and after their quarrel "Bill" bought up every egg there was in the place, pay ing $1 apiece for them to the number of about 400, and then ate his meals near her so as to enjoy her annoyance at not being able to have her egg orders filled. While he was eating his fill of eggs In a tantalizing way she had to be content with bacon at $25 an order. Milwaukee Sentinel. Humor of a Prince. The following anecdote illustrates the rrlnce of Wales' sense of humor as well ns his preference for short ser mons when at church. A Scotch par son went to Balmoral by special com mand to preach before her majesty. Naturally he was overcome with ner vousness. He was waiting for lunch eon after service, when, greatly to his surprise, he was informed the Trlnce wished to see him. Shaking hands with him warmly, his royal highness thank ed him heartily for his sermon, espe cially for the brevity of It, adding: "My dear sir, you can't think what a relief It was. I have known sermons so long here that the very collie dogs have gone up the pulpit stairs and yawned In the preacher's face." Nutrition In Oysters. A quart of oysters contain, on the average, about the same quantity of nutritive substance as a quart of milk or a pound of very lean beef. A certain amount of Iguorance Is nec essary to the enjoyment of our exUfr euce. MICHIGAN'S BEE WIZARD. "Uncle Bill" McMurphy, One of th Quaint Characters of the State. One of the quaint characters of Sagi naw, Mich., is "Uncle Bill" McMurphy, the bee wizard, who has netted a snug little fortune gathering wild honey from the woods of Saginaw County. For upward of forty years this strange old man has roamed the forests and wild lands of the valley, spending the golden autumn days in the solitude of the woods and wild flowers spying upon the secret hiding place of the bees' hard-earned treasure. The trade of a bee hunter seems a very peculiar one, almost an irksome task, but Mr. McMurphy has plied It until he has reduced it to a science, and each sea son's work generally averages him from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds of strained honey. Some years he has done even better than this and prepared for mar ket over a ton of the saccharine prod uct. By an actual record of each year's yield for the past forty years, which ended on Nov. 15 last, Mr. McMurphy had gathered a trifle over twenty-six tons of wild honey. When the bee-ihuntlng operations be gin In the fall it Is with great difficulty that the hunter succeeds in attracting the busy Insects from the rich wild flowers to the bee box, a small wooden structure arranged in compartments, with tiny glass windows which is In truth a snare or trap. This trap is baited with a sweet, highly scented mixture, which cOTrpi n rlmp that partially stupefies the bees and renders the labor of following them to the "bee tree" less difficult. After the insects have once tasted the alluring mixture In the box they lose all appetite for "uncle bill" m'murput. the sweets of the wild flowers, and after loading up on the mixture In the box fly sluggishly to their tree, where they discharge their load and return directly to the box, bringing other bees with them. Wrhen the hunter has the bees working on the box it takes but a short time to locate the tree where the honey Is being stored up. As a bee leaves the box he watches the direction of his flight. If the bee tree is a mile or so away upon leaving the box the bee rises perpendicularly to a height of forty feet, then heads directly for hl3 tree, but if the tree Is . but a few rods away from the box the bee leaves the snare leisurely, In a diagonal manner, but directly toward his tree, for inva riably the bees fly to the storehouse of their money "as the crow flies." The hunter watches their flight, then takes his box and follows upon their trail from forty to eighty rods. The box is again uncovered and the process Is re peated, and so on until the line takes him to the base of the honeybee tree. Legends of Falling Stars. In olden times It was thought that falling stars were the souls of the dead whose thread of life had been cut short by fate. This was in Europe, for the Arabs believed that they were flaming stones thrown by the angels at the heads of devils when the latter ap proached too near to heaven. The Koran reproduces this opinion, which Is found scattered through all the re gions lying .under the Influence of Is lamism, and consecrates It to a certain extent Savage tribes possess coarse conceptions of the phenomenon. Other peoples are more poetical. In Galicia there is a legend which sees In each falling star a sprite. If the star falls to earth It becomes a lady of the rarest beauty, with tresses long, blond and scintillating. This beautiful creature exercises a magical charm on all who behold her. In the silence of the night she embraces them, until she stifles them In her embrace. But a certain formula conjures the peril If murmur ed at the moment when the star blazes out Encouraging. "Do you think you have any chance with her, Reggy?" "Of course I do. She says herself that I'm one of her chance acquaint ances." A Social Outcast. Dempsey-Oi hear thot th' boys hov ostraycized young Clancy. Carol Ostraycized, Is it? Dempsey-Yls! They won't fight wid him! New York Evening Journal. Mrs. Murphy-The swate little ba bies! Mrs. Dugan They do be that an' ut's twins they are. Mrs. Murphy Yez don't say! An' are the both ar thlni yours? Judge, Waging to Take Bold. Yon know the misery of Sciatica is awful. Well, if you love misery bet. ter than oure, let it go on, but St. Jacobs Oil is waiting to take hold, aib'. dne the pain, and set you all right. lig Sewing Machine. The largest sewing machine in the world is said to be in operation in Leeds. It weighs 6,500 pounds, and sews cotton belting. "Durability is Better Than Show." The wealth of the multi millionaires is not equal to good health Riches without health are a curse, and yet the rich, the middle classes and the poor alike have, in Hood's Sarsaparilla, a valuable as sistant in getting and main taining perfect health It never disappoints Scrofula "Three years a?o our son now eleven, had a serious case of scrofula and erysipelas with dreadful sores, dis charging and itching constantly. He could not walk. Several physicians'did not help for sixteen mouths. Three months' treat ment with Hood's Sarsaparilla made him pprfpct.lv well. We are triad to tell others of it." Mas. David Laird, Ottawa, Kas. Nausea 'Vomiting spells, dizziness and prostration troubled me for years. Had neuralgia, grew weak and coul'd not sleep. My age was against nie, but Hood's Sarsaparilla cured me thoroughly. My weight increased from 125 to 143 pounds. I am the mother of nine children. Never felt so well and strong since I was married as I do now." Mrs. M. A Waters, 1529 33d street, Washington, D. C. Eczema "We had to tie the the hands of our two-year-old son on account of eczema on face and limbs. No medicine even helped until we used Hood's Sarsapa rilla, which soon cured." Mrs. A. van Wyck, 123 Montgomery St., Paterson, N. J. Hood's Pills cure liver liU, the non-Irritating and only cathartic to take with Hood's Sarsaparilla, Invented the Musical Scale. The musical scale is said to have been invented by Guy Aretino, a monk of Arezzo, about 1025. Ilia soale, with material differences in naming some of the notes, was substantially the same as now in use. Electrocution of Bed Buss. Bedbugs are electrocuted by a new attachment, the side rails of the bed being cut in half, with two plates in serted at the break, which form the poles of an electric circuit, lying out of connection, the pest closing the cir cuit as he eiawls from one plate to an other. Dogskin Dresses In China. In northern China many of the na tives are dressed in dogskins. There are many establishments where dogs ol a peculiar breed are raised in large numbers for theii shaggy pelts. They are killed when eight months old. Cincinnati Enquirer. Bare. Polite Shopman (showing goods) Here is something I would like to call your attention to, madam. It's the very latest thing out. Mrs. Roundtree (absently) If there's anything out later than my husband I'll take it, if onlv as a curiosity. Illustrated American. In an article on Pekin, Dr. Gold baum declares that a pawn-shop where he can put up his wardrobe, seems to be an indispensabje institution to the Chinese merchant. Two bottles of Piso's Cure for Consump tion cured nie of a bad lung tronble. Mrs. J. Nichols, Princeton, Ind., Mar. 26, 1895. Nine-tenths of all the sewing ma chines used, throughout the world are made in the United States. The Modern Method. "It's an awful thing not to know where one's next meal is coming from." "Yes, but a good many of us married men are experiencing it since the gro cery stores got advertising bargain sales." Indianapolis Journal. THEY ALL WANT THE '99 AORVOV TTAU $40, $30, $20, $22.50, $20. U you want a paying afrency write at once be. lore all territory la taken. FRED X. MERRILL CYCLE CO., PORTLAND, OB. SPOKANE. TACOMA. SEATTLE. CUIUS WHUil 111 l vc liTi o Best CouKh Sjrup. Tastes Good. Use num. roid ht nriiBs