Corvallis gazette., December 02, 1904, Page 2, Image 2

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TOILERS OP the COLUMBIA
By Paul De Laney
Author of "Lord of the Desert.- "Oregon Sketches."
and other Pacific Coast Stories
CHAPTER XVI Continued.
The island was soon reached and
the man taaen ashore, ihe morning
was criep and cold and a fire of drift
wood wax kindled for the comfort of
the wounded man and his companions.
As the day lagged away the man grew
worse. Dan was bis most attentive
nurse. In the afternoon he persuaded
his companions that it would be better
to take the wounded man to his home.
They agreed upon this but they did
not know what to do with their pris
oner. On the southside they could not
hold him, and if they left him on the
island he might be compelled to re
main for several days without assist
ance. They wanted him to accompany
them to thier homes, but Dan bad mat
ters of more importance demanding his
attention on tne norm siae. tie 101a
them to leave him on the island and he
would take his chances on reaching
shore.
The fishermen pulled out with theii
wounded companion, reluctantly leav
- ing Dan be'aind.
Throughout the day Lapbam walked
up and down the island viewing his
friends and enemies as they lay on
their oars in threatening attitudes.
He managed, however, to keep con
cealed behind the driftwood from his
enemies, while he was too far away to
be distinguished by his friends.
He had searched the Island from one
end to the other for a boat, but the
southsiders had intended making this a
Bort of prison had they carried out their
original plans and had removed every
semblance of craft from the place.
Besides the island had always been
a sort of neutral ground and since the
quariel had begun, neither side at
tempted to occupy it and all fishing ap
paratus and supplies had been taken
away by the respective owners.
As night came on, Dan became more
anxious to reach the north shore. He
wondered how many of his friends had
fallen under the fire of the southsiders,
and wondered more how Sankala was
faring.
Old Seadog was too much absorbed in
the trouble at hand to carry out his
plan of taking Sankala and Ringwold
to the county poor farm, but he knew
the girl was worrying her young life
away over the outlook for the future
and possibly by this time, so far as he
knew, she was grieving by the bedside
of the deceased Ring wold.
The impatient'young fisherman could
remain an exile no longer. He con
structed a raft from planks and timbers
which had lodged on the shores of the
island and with pieces of planks used
as po.es and paddles be started for the
main shore.
- Before his work had been completed,
however, night had long since fallen
ovei the waters and a storm was brew
ing. The same sound from the clash of
the wave and current on the bar greet
ed his ears at that moment that made
the frail Sankala tremble with fear as
she left the north shore to search for
him that she might give him the food
she had prepareo for him and of which
she thought he must by this time be in
such dire need.
"CHAPTER XVII.
" Where Is Sankala ? "
"Hello, lookout!"
"Hello, captain!"
"How does it look to the southwest?"
"Black and foreboding, captain."
"I feared so. Watch close tie river
and bay. . They are covered with those
fool fishermen tonight. The light of
morning will find plenty of work for us
to do.
Thus spoke the captain of the life
saving station to the man on the look
out. Night had already closed in and the
captain of the life saving station knew
a storm was coming. He was at the
station b low the rocks and could not
see out on the ocean : ut had called to
the man stationed on the hill to verify
tbe evidence of the storm. The instru
ments at the station indicated a storm,
but the rising, surging, slashing, crack
ing bieakers on the rocks gave a more
formidable warning to the experienced
life saver.
It is the same old story at the mouth
of the Columbia. From fall until
spring, throughout the long wintet
months, the storms rage w?th unceas
ing fury. Three days of stoma and one
of dim sunshine is a liberal statement
in favor of the king of day. At this
point Neptune rules unchallenged
through the winter, but when summer
comes he is superseded by old Sol, who
wields his sceptie with a more charita
ble hand and makes this little Btietch
of coast the most attractive spot in the
great Pacific Northwest. Thousands of
pleasure seekers visit this coast each
summer to view the grandeurs and
beauties of nature, but flee before ad
vancing winter, when gloom and dark
ness settle over the place like the pall
of death.
Men inuied to hardships and disast
ers Jearn to scorn them. It is this class
that suffers most from them. They be
come emboldened to stand in the teeth
of death, yea, even to enter its - Jaws,
while the more timid fly for safety, and
escape its fangs. Day after day the
courageous go down, while the cowards
live to tell of the chivalrous deeds of
the brave.
A terrific storm was rising to sweep
the river and bay. The black horizon
to the southwest told this. The loai
ing clash of waters on the bar spoke it
in so many sounds. The moaning
winds in the boughs of the tall trees
on the hills sung it in dismal notes
The angry surges on the beach hissed
out like the warning of an adder. The
gloomy mist which surrounded old
Cape Disappointment lighthouse hun
like a pall over the river and bay.
Yet the water was dotted with the
boats of the heedless fishermen. They
had seen the signs a thousand times
and had never known them to fail
Ihey knew that no frail ciaft could be
reasonably expected to survive such a
storm as was indi sated tonight. It
was the night after the battle between
the fishermen. It was the night upon
which Sankala had started out to sea
to find Dan Lapham. It was the
night upon which Dan Lapham left
Sand island upon a ratt of driftwood
for the north shore.
This was a typical night storm at the
mouth of the Columbia. The people
of the village had been on the alert,
kindling beacon fires and walking the
beach to render aid to their friends on
the bay.
The morning broke forth with many
stories of hardships, dieaster and death.
Ibe fishermen on either side had been
slow to yield their position. In spite
of tne fact that they were warned in
many ways of the approaching storm,
they stood in the teeth of danger from
force of habit. The southsiders were
determined to destroy the objection
able traps and the northsiders were
firm in standing by the defense of their
property.
But all had eventually been com
pelled to yield to the elements. The
northsiders had been driven one by one
to the north shore, while the south
siders had been compelled to take ref
uge on the island. They had not the
time to make it to the south shore.
Fishermen on both sides, it is true,
had remained too long. Thev had
been caught in the angry sea and
dragged like captives toward the bar.
The dawn had found the life savers
active. It was the same old story.
They succeeded in rescuing some of the
men from a watery grave. A few had
gone over the bar never to return.
Some of these had been swept away
long before the life savers could see
their way to go to the rescue.
The wind did not lull until well up in
the day. The southsiders nestled
along the shores of Sand island, like
so many water bound animals. The
northsiders rushed up and down the
bank looking for missing ones and pre
paring to return to the defense of their
traps so Boon as the waves should sub
side. Women were wringing their hands
over the loss of their dear ones and
children were crying for fathers they
would never see again. The loss of
life was so common among the fisher
men that only those actually bereaved
bore sad hearts on such occasions.
The sadden making of widows and or
phans had been going on for years, foi
every storm claimed its victims. A
heavy wave, a swamped boat, a lost
fisherman, told a common story. ' It
was expected. Those who battled with
death knew that they must eventually
lose.
' "Where is Sankala?" was asked of
the fishermen as they arrived ashore
throughout the night.
"Where is Sankala?" asked Dan
Lapham when he had visited her cabin
and found it vacant.
'Where is Sankala?" was the ques
tion passed irom lip to lip throughout
the day.
Pan Lapham had steered his crude
raft straight i r the north shore. He
had been buffeted by the waves, it is
true, and had been carried far. to the
south, but fortune favored him and he
had butted into the boats of . his
friends who had taken him ashore. But
not one of all the men returning had;
eeen Sankala. They were indignant
that she should have been permitted j
to leave the village,.
"We have no time for grieving over!
the lost," said old Seadog, walking up
and d.vvn the beach like an angry
lion. "See, the men on the island
are in action and will soon be upon our
traps. To your hoats, men, to vcur
boats! We must protect those traps'
with our live.-!" j
It was late in the afternoon. The!
stem had ag iin subsided. The nirn !
on the island derided to take advjiit- i
age of the northsnters while th?y. wore
ashore and destroy their traps.
The northsiders were quick to see
this and hustling their arms and am
munition aboard they leaped into the
boats along the beach and towed with
all their might to the defense of their
cause.
The southsiders -also -started out
briskly to Deat them to the traps. The
latter had a slight advantage in dis
tance but their opponents were refresh
ed by a warm meal and many of them
had secured a few hours sleep.
The email fleet on either side was di
vided into squadrons as if by common
arrangement, and while one squad made
for the defense of a group of traps along
the line which stretched up and down
the river channel on the bay side, a
squad from the other side started for
the same point to destroy them.
In the meantime reintorcerrents were
gathei ing on the south shore, for the
southsiders outnumbered the men on
the north, and war to a finish was now
more imminent than ever.
"Will those soldiers never arrive?'
was the question old Seadog asked
himself as he directed his men to bat
tle for the traps. -
CHAPTER XVin.
Sankala Listens to the Plotters.
Sankala bad a hard battle with the
surf but she reached the traps former lj
tended by Dan Lapham before the
storm was at its heighth. Dan, of
course, was not near the place. The
wind was already raging and the white
caps were multiplying at a rapid rate
and leaping higher and higher.
At her back the sea was boiling like
a caldron while to the south it was
not so much disturbed. Her home lay
across the raging sea while Sand Island
lay to the south. It was this great up
heave! of sand and the driftwood upon
its surface that broke the storm to
some extent and yet left a means of es
cape for Sankala.
But she would not have returned to
her home at this time had the sea been
as calm as an inland lake. She had
started out on a mission and this would
she complete with a woman's deter
mination. She was looking for Dan
Lapham. Her strong and handsome
young friend had aided her in fishing
the traps when her aged companion
was unable to assist. He had also, on
that very morning, left her money
with which to buy necessary supplies;
he had promised her that Ringwold
should not go to the poor house; and
above all there was an undefined feel
ing in her heart for the young man
which only comes to a woman once in
a lifetime.
Sankala did not understand this and
would have blushed had it been ex
plained. It was the same old story
which has caused the joys, Borrows,
disappointments and happiness since
the days of Adam and Eve.
While clinging to the piling which
held the netting of Lapham 's fishtrap,
to steady her ooat, bankala could Bee
that the water was rapidly rising and
that each flood dashed higher above the
mark made by the former wave. The
billows grew darker and more sullen
while the whitecaps looked like great
animals leaping at random in the di
rection of the bar.
Before it was too late she turned her
boat toward the island, where she
landed without accident. But she was
just in time, for old Neptune's work
fanner out at sea was telling and
great waves from the mighty deep came
rolling over the bay, converting it into
a mad, seething thing of destruction.
The rain began to fall in torrents.
Tne wind blew with such force as to
send the cold drops like heavy shots
in a slanting course through the air.
These struck the thinly clad girl with
a force that "made her shiver with pain
and cold.
vvnen cast upon ner own resources
in time of danger, woman is said to be
superior to man in courage and endur
ance. Before she resigns herself to
fate, she employs every means in her
power to thwart its disasters. If she
cannot turn its coutse, she goes with
it as a companion. Death is thus
made less bitter and an example is
given to the world.
Sankala dragged her boat as fai as
she could and then tied the long line
attached to its prow to a limb of a tree
which had been cast far upon the
sands. She began to look about her for
shelter. She remembered " an old
fisherman's camp farther up the is
land, and' taking the provisions which
she had prepared for Dan, she made
her way to the shack. , '
(To be continued)
Effect of Army Routine.
Visitors to army headquarters on
Governor's Island often notice that of
ficers have a habit of referring to the
written or printed record for the most
trifling questions of fact. They never
rely upon memory for even unimpor
tant matters of routine which civilians
would no more think of forgetting than
a hardened commuter would think of
forgetting the time of his morning
train to the city. Ask an officer in
the adjutant general's or quartermas
ter's department, for instance, where
the First Battalion of the Sixteenth In
fantry is and he will consult his rec
ords before answering, even when a
letter to the commanding officer of the
battalion is lying addressed on his
desk.
The other day a visitor to the island
asked an officer high in command what
time the parade of troops took place
next morning. The man in khaki look
ed at his printed copy of the general
orders before answering: "Ten
o'clock." Yet the parade had been go
ing on every day for mcsths right un
der his office windows.
"It is a habit that grows upon us
with the routine of garrison work," he
said. "If I tried to remember where
one company in the department of the
east is quartered I might as well try
to remember them all. If I carried in
my memory the time for parade I
might as well try to learn the genera
orders by heart Experience teaches
army men never to burden their memo
ries with facts and figures that they
know they, can find on the instant by
turning to the record." New York
Press.
Black Snakes.
It la true that the rattlesnake and
the black snake are mortal enemies,
and the black snake is the victor in
their battles, breaking the neck of his
adversary before the rattler has time
to strike. The black snakes of this
country are as harmless as frogs. On
many of the large plantations in the
South they are tamed and kept as a
protection from their enemy, as the
warm climate prevents keeping the
houses closed so as to keep them ouL
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, said to be
the greatest living botanist, has passed
his eighty-seventh birthday.
JUDICIAL DECISIONa
Mental anguish and suffering are
held, in Cowan vs. Western Union Tel-
egraph Company (Iowa), 64 L. R, A.
546, to be sufficient to sustain an ac-
tion for breach of contract promptly
to transmit and deliver a telegram.
The fact that a municipality takes
Its water supply from a lake is held,
in People vs. Hulbert (Mich.), MLR.
A. 265," not to Justify the denial,
through the police power, of the right
of an upper riparian owner to bathe in
the lake.
A watch Is held, in Rains vs. Max
well "House Co. (Tenn.), 64 L. R. A.
470, to be within the operation of a
statute providing that, If a guest at a
hotel neglects to deposit jewels in the
safe or other place provided by the
hotelkeeper for their custody, . they
shall be at his own risk.
Prohibiting the use of a room in a
tenement or dwelling house for the
manufacture of men's clothing, except
by the Immediate members of the fam
ily living there, and then only under
permit from a public official, is held, in
State ts. Hyman (Md.), 64 L. R. A.
637, to be within the police power.
The act of the officers of a municipal
corporation, who, in attempting to
guard the public health, remove a
smallpox patient to a pesthouse so
overcrowded and illy 'adapted to its
purpose that he dies from the conse
quent exposure, is held, In Twyman
vs. Frankfort (Ky.), 64 L. R. A. 572,
not to render the municipality liable.
Employment for a year is held, in
Sullivan vs. Detroit Y. & A. A. Rail
way Company (Mich.), 64 L. R. A.
673, to be a fulfillment of a contract
to give an attorney permanent em
ployment in consideration of service
rendered in the formation of a corpo
ration, since the contract Is Indefinite
and determinable at the will of either
party.
The use of land for the erection and
maintenance by railway companies of
hotels and eating stations along their
roads for the accommodation of their
employes and passengers, Is held, in
Abraham vs. Oregon & C. R. Company
(Ore.), 64 L. R. A. 391, to be a legiti
mate railroad purpose only when they
are reasonably necessary for the con
venience of such persons.
Employes of a mining partnership,
who are charged with the care and
management of its property, are held,
in Markley vs. Show (Pa.), 64 L. R. A.
685, not to act within the scope of
their employment in causing, long af
ter the commission of the crime, the
arrest for the purpose of vindicating
the law, of one who is suspected of
having set fire to a building belonging
to the partnership, so as to render the
partnership liable for malicious prose
cution in case the arrest proves to
have been without jurisdiction.
BOY A SIGHTLESS WONDER.
Does His Share of Farm Work and
Bikes at Full Speed.
Stephen Mellinger, of Denver, Pa.,
does things remarkable In one who
moves, as he does, In continual dark
ness, vvnen Meiiinger, now 18 years
of age, was 2 years old he blinded
himself Incurably with a hatchet. He
has so adapted himself to his condi
tion that he acts virtually as if in the
possession of his eyesight. His mis
fortune has not been allowed to Inter
fere In the least with his usefulness.
His senses of touch and hearing are
very keen. He works In the field. He
sows, uses the rake and spade, helps
harvest-the crops, milks, climbs trees
and, what is still more remarkable,
drives spirited horses and rides a bi
cycle. The-boy is as bright and cheerful as
any of his associates. He is able to
harness a horse unaided and to drive
several miles to the village where the
household supplies are obtained. Every
morning it is his duty to hitch a horse
to a milk wagon and drive a mile to
Denver village. In this drive he la
compelled to cross railroad tracks at
two points. Spirited horses are his de
light and two belonging to his father
which are too wild for the average
man to handle with safety are used
by him without a thought of clanger.
It is unwise for other persons than he
to approach these animals.
The young man does not work, ride
or walk In a hesitating manner, after
the usual fashion of the blind. He
takes a fast horse out on the road and
gallops at full speed, turning out for
vehicles and other horses and rounding
sharp corners without pulling up. On
his wheel he rides as If possessed of
full sight and can be seen alone miles
from his home. Leslie's Weekly.
Men Were Posted.
The bridegroom of a newly married
pair journeying to thei;lty by train,
one day recently, was a railroad man.
Congratulations -were whistled to him
from every locomotive passed in the
fifty mile run. Those on the sidings
made the most din, but the engineers
on the trains in motion were also post
ed, and whistled as they sped by.
: One of the party who gave the new
ly wedded pair a send-off by pouring
rice over them told the other passen
gers In the car what to expect. Every
one seemed to enjoy the tooting from
the locomotives more than the blush
ing bride and groom. ,
' It All Depends.
"Your children seem to be very well
behaved," remarked the friend. ,
"They're not my children, then,' re
plied Henpeck. "My wife only ad
mits . they're 'our , children' when
they're bad; when they're good they're
her children.'" Philadelphia Press.
Many a man is honest because he
never had a good chance to prove him
self otherwise
HtHH'lllHmIIUIIMI
J
X
Hymn for a Child.
God gave me a little light i
To carry as I go; .
Bade me keep it clear and bright
Shining high and low.
Bear it steadfast, without fear,
Shed its radiance far and near J
Make the path before me clear
With its friendly glow.
God gave me a little song
To sing upon my way; "
Rough may be the road and long,
Dark may be the day;
Yet a little bird can wing,
Yet a little flower can spring,
Yet a little child can sing,
Make the world gay.
God gave me a little heart,
"to love whate'er he made;
Gave me strength to bear my part,
Glad and unafraid.
Through thy world so fair, so bright,
Father, guide my steps aright!
Thou my song and thou my light!
So my trust is stayed.
A -r
avs lommy
slid grcejufly
d own "th e. B&cK
Why This is bcVj
sliding-
-SWid he I declare!
Child King's Amusements.
An extraordinary piece of mechan
ism was constructed for the amuse
ment.of Louis XIV. of France when a
child. It consisted of a small coach
drawn by two horses, in which was
the figure of a lady, with a footman
and page behind. According to the ac
count given by M. Camus, the con
structor, this coach being placed at the
extremity of a table of a determinate
size, the coachman smacked his whip,
and the horses immediately set out,
moving their legs in a natural manner.
When the carriage reached the edge of
the table it turned on a rfght angle,
and proceeded along that edge till it
arrived opposite to the place where the
king was seated. It then stopped, and
the page, getting down, opened the
door, upon which the lady alighted.
ONE MULE'S DISCOVERY.
Animal Showed Where There "Was a
Deposit of Rotten Stone.
"Mark me down on the side of the
mule," said Frederick M. Ware, of the
American Horse Exchange the other
day when a lot of horsemen were dis
cussing the remarks of Colonel Jen
kins, of the Nebraska national guard
to the effect that the mule never kick
ed anybody and that all the stories of
the peverslties of his heels were fic
tion, says the New York Times.
"When I was out in Kentucky and
Indiana looking up some horses l ran
across an acquaintance in the parlor
car who was something or other in the
hardware line, I believe. At all events
he knew all about things you polish
with like emery and tripolLand cor
undum, and those things. Well, he had
a yarn that he swore was a true one
and that scored one for the mule,
whose friend I have always been. He
vouches for the story. I don't; but I
do vouch for him. He knew a man
named Blatchley, who used to be the
State geologist of Indiana, and got the
story from him. It runs this way:
"In Jackson County in that State
was a farmer named Harbaugh who
owned a pair of mules that were good
enough to be used as a carriage pair.
He used them that way, at all events.
Harbaugh lived at a place called Free
town and one day he drove over to the
pasture and fastened his team of mules
to a tree near a little- stream they call
ed Salt Creek.
"While Farmer Harbaugh was away
looking after his men the flies attacked
his mules, and in their frantic efforts
to drive the pests away they pawed
the earth up so terrifically that he
found them covered with a fine dust,
while all around them were little piles
of this bluish powder as line as flour.
Harbaugh didn't know what the dust
was, but he knew it was out of the
ordinary, for there was a gritty feeling
to it, and he thought he had found a
new kind of polishing material that
might have some value. At all events,
he scooped up a lot of It, sent It up to
Blatchley at Indianapolis for examina
1 1 1 H 1 M I K 1 1 1 1 1 !
I LITTLE STORIES
AND INCIDENTS
That Win Interest
Entertain Young
Readers,
and
having in her hand a petition, which
she presented with a curtsey. After
waiting some time she aain curtsied,
and re-entered the carirage; the page
then resumed his place, the coachman
whipped up his horses, which began
to move, and the footman, running af
ter the carriage, jumped up behind it.
Louis XIV. had an automaton opera
In five acts, with fresh scenes for each.
It measured 16 inches in breadth, 13
inches 4 lines iu height and 1 inch 3
lines in thickness for the working of
the machinery.
Be Thoughtful.
"How is your mother?" The ques
tion was asked of a young lady who
had come to spend the day with
friends. She looked so sweet and cool
in her dainty dimity it was an op
pressively warm day that her friends
were almost inclined to be envious.
"Mamma is not at all well lately.
No, thank you; I don't need a fan, I am
very comfortable. I feel quite worried
about mamma."
"Why didn't you bring herwith you?
This country air would do her a world
of good."
"She is ironing to-day. Mamma has
such big ironings, especially in the
summer. Then, as you know, I am
going to the seashore soon, and mam
ma is busy sewing for me. I have
several dresses to be made, besides
numerous other frills and furbelows."
While she proceeded to enthusiasti
cally describe the fashions, her friends
were busy with their thoughts. And
there is no need to point a moral to
this true little tale; but, girls, listen:
Some day those worn, needle-pricked
hands that have so willingly worked
for you will be crossed quietly upon
her breast perhaps sooner than they
should have been. You cannot help
her then. Tears, heartaches and re
grets will be of no avail.
Lighten mother's cares and burdens
to-day, daughters; it may be too late
to-morrow, and she may have passed
beyond your reach. Epworth Herald.
A Poetry Party.
When the fall and winter make It
seem delightful to be again indoors,
girls often like to have suggestions for
methods of making their meetings at
tractive something besides the usual
"talk ana refreshments what some
eminent man of letters in a waggish
way described as "giggle, gabble, gob
ble and git."
A series of little meetings, each in
celebration of some poet's birthday or
other anniversary, would be an excuse
for making some interesting additions
to . the usual program. Thus there
would be no great difficulty in arrang
ing a Shakespeare party or a Milton
party, in which quotations from the
works of either poet were used in in
vitations, dinner cards, bills of fare,
and so on. Or an American poet might
be chosen. Oliver .Wendell Holmes
would "furnish lines of a cheering na
ture fit for mild festivities, or yon
might Introduce your guests to some
of tne beautiful poems of Celia Thax
ter, or of Jean Ingelow, if you do not
mind going outside of our own land.-
St. Nicholas.
tion, and when he got a report from
him found that his mules had uncover
ed a deposit of trlpoll or 'rotten stone'
that was worth about $5 a ton. The
deposit on Harbaugh's farm was some
three feet thick, and turned out to
be one of the largest and best in the
country.
"I don't think that Harbaugh's trl
poll mine made him a rich man, but
the incident proves that mule is worth
while in more ways than one, and that
he isn't the worthless cuss so many
newspaper "humorists try to make him
out to be. Me for the mule every
time." .
Size of the British Km pi re.
The British Empire occupies about
one-fifth of the surface of the habit
able globe, and consists of the United
Kingdom, with its attendant islands,
and about forty-three dependencies
under separate and independent gov
ernments, varying in size from Can
ada, which is thirty times the size of
the United Kingdom, to Gibraltar, tha
area of which is two square miles.
Thus the area of the British Empire
is ninety-eight times that of the Uni
ted Kingdom, while the area of the
self-governing colonies alone Is nearly
sixty times as large as that of the
mother country.
Not Up to the Mark.
Bragg No man can call me a liar
with impunity. I'd fight him - if he
was 7 feet high. ;
Quarles I said you were a liar.
What are you going to do about it?
- Bragg Huh! You're not 7 feet
high. Philadelphia Ledger, ins,, i.uj
One Way.
"I want to get some advice." -
"Yes?" : -, -
"I want to know how . to float a
loan." ;
"Well?" ( :
"Take an airship trip by yourself."
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
When a woman bakes a cake for a
church social, she Is pretty apt to see
that it Is "pushed" when refreshment
time comes.