DUELS INMISSOURI
The Field of Honor Was a Com
I mon Resort a Century Ago.
BATTLES ON BLOODY ISLAND.
This Notorious Fighting Ground Wa
the Seen of the Two Duels Between
Benton and Lucas Rules of the
Gayer-Kennerly Meeting.
The iM'ograplik's used In tlie schools
today (1j not show Bloo ly isinnd. a
one time notorious dueling resort lu
the Mississippi river near St. Louis.
The spot remains, but it is no longer
an Island. It now Is a part of East
St Louis.
The opprobrious title was derived
from the many sanguinary encoun
ters which took place ou the island.
Here It was that the fatal affaire
d'honneur between Thomas H. Ben
ton and Charles U. Lucas took place.
One day In 1810 these two men en
gaged In trying a lawsuit, one repre
senting the plaintiff and the other the
defendant Lucas was twenty-live
(years old, son of a Judge and the dis
trict attorney of the territory. Benton,
too, was well known and later became
United States senator. Lucas won the
case. His opponent accused him of
juggling with the evidence. The ac
cusation was resented, and it was re
sponsible for a challenge Issued by
Benton. Lucas refused to fight, say
ing that be could not be held account
able for defending his client
Bad blood ensued, and from time to
time the two men the next year often
engaged In harsh words. Finally on
an election day Benton questioned
Lucas' right to vote, saying that the
other had not paid his taxes, it Irked
Lucas, who later referred to his enemy
as a "puppy." This appellation was
too much for Benton, who again chal
lenged Lucas to a duel. This time the
'Challenge was accepted.
The two men, met on Bloody Island
Ang- 12. 1817. The encounter took
place at a distance of thirty feet. Lu
cas fell with a bullet in his neck upon
the exchange of shots. Upon the ad
vice of seconds Lucas declared himself
satisfied. The men shook hands and
went to their homes. The wound was
not dangerous. A few days later the
two men met on the street again, and.
like two schoolboys, another fight was
planned. This time It was to be at a
distance of only ten feet Lucas was
mortally wounded. Benton was unin
jured. He approached the dying man,
according to custom, and expressed his
sorrow. Lucas flashed forth an accu
sation of murder, but a few minutes
later before dying he recanted and ex
pressed his forgiveness.
But the first duel that ever took
place on Bloody Island was fought In
1810 between Dr. Farrar and James A.
Graham. One of Dr. Farrar's friends
challenged Graham, but the challenge
(was refused on the ground that Far
rar's friend was not a gentleman. Dr.
Farrar was then under obligation to
defend the honor of his friend. This
challenge was accepted, and as a re
sult Graham was severely Injured and
died after months of suffering.
A second duel on Bloody island oc
curred In 1810 between Captain Henry
S. Geyer and Captain George H. Ken
nedy, both veterans of the war of
1812. Captain Geyer was for many
years a leader in Missouri politics and
one of the state's most able lawyers.
Kennerly was wounded at the second
fire and remained a cripple for life.
There were many other duels fought
here between some of Missouri's early
statesmen and pioueers. A few of the
encounters were the Thomas Hemp-stead-Joshua
Barton duel In 1816. the
Martin-Ramsey affair in 1818. the
Reynolds-Brown. Walker-Marmaduke
and Fettus-Blddle.
While duels would not be counte
nanced under any consideration today.
It must be remembered that at this time
they were almost as common among
men as fights among schoolboys. If a
man felt that his honor had been im
peached in any way the popular thing
to do was to settle it by a duel, pistols
being used in nearly every Instance.
There was a certain unwritten "code
observed. For instance, in the duel
between Geyer and Kennerly the fol
lowing were the rules:
The ground shall be measured off
to six paces.
The gentlemen shall stand back to
back at the distance of six yards from
each other.
At the word "March" the gentlemen
shall Immediately step off three paces
and turn and fire without further or
der. If either party reserves his fire and
continues to take aim after the other
has fired he shall be shot Instantly by
the dverse second.
The seconds shall decide by lot which
gives the word.
The only words shall be. "Are yon
ready?" and. being answered in the af
firmative, the word "March" shall be
the order for stepping off and turning
and firing as above stated.
. The weapons smoothbore pistols.
The pistols to be delivered cocked to
the gentlemen after they have taken
their places and to be held hanging
down by the side until after the word
March."
One can readily see why Blody Is
land shonld become a popular spot for
duels. First it was near St. Louis, the
largpst town la the state. The t1nd.
ting in the middle of the r1vr. was
more or less winded, and also the
ground was neutral, as neither MVoa
rl nor Illinois ha Jurisdiction over K.
fcloody island pawd out of existence
ebout 1S00. when d!te were built d4
was linked with I1l5oois or East fit
Jvouts. Kar.gas City TUae.
COLD ONABIB SHIP
How Bullion In Transit Is Guard
ed on an Ocean Liner. ,
LOCKED IN ROOMS OF STEEL.
After the Treasure Is Safely Stowed
Away There Is Little Danger of Its
Being Stolen During the Voyage.
Shipping and Checking the Kegs.
The natural assumption would be
that in the safeguarding of the treas
ure which the various countries are
constantly sending one another by the
big ocean liners there would be re
quired the vtgllauce of uiany men.
This, however, is not generally the
case, since.' once the gold Is stored
away In the rooms set apart for that
purpose on the big ships and the ves
sel Is well out at sea, no armed guards
are necessary.
Taking the specific case of one liner
sailing under the British flag, we find
that It has two strong rooms, the
smaller of the two being In close prox
imity to the captain's office. This one
compartment has no doubt sheltered
gold enough to pay the cost of the liner
many times over. The walls, the roof
and the celling are lined with two inch
steel plate, and the room contains noth
ing in the way of fixtures save shelv
ing. The locks, which are of the dou
ble variety, are rendered still more se
cure by steel hasps coveriug the key
holes, and they are provided with mas
sive padlocks. The strong rooms, be
ing in the most frequented portion of
the vessel, where persons are passing
them at all hours of the day and night,
thus receive the best protection, after
all. There are two sets of keys, one
of which is retained by the agent in
charge of the consignment of gold and
the other of which remains with the
captain.
In the case of the British vessel men
tioned there is another and larger spe
cie room, situated next to the provi
sion department This is about twelve
feet in length by four in width. It
frequently happens that both strong
rooms are filled to their utmost capaci
ty, and on one occasion this liner car
ried some $50,000,000 in gold bullion
packed in small kegs bound with steel
hoops.
fiold nsnallv is brought to the vessel
on which it is to be shipped the day
before the date of sailing, ana it is
stored hwhv carefully before passen
gers embark. It arrives at the pier in
ordinary, trucks under the guard or
armed men. The customary method
of getting the gold on board is to haul
the kegs up an Inclined chute to me
deck by means of a bolstlng engine,
but this method is not followed In
variably. Sometimes each keg Is
placed in a sling and carried on board
by men detailed for this service.
The receipt given by the steamship
company sets forth that so many kegs
have been received, for shipment, not
for any stated amount of gold to the
value of so much. .The kegs bear the
government seal in many Instances,
and In such enses. when they have
been safely put in the strong room, the
Iron doors thereof are sealed with gov
ernment wax. the impression being
broken only when the official on the
other side oomes to receive the gold.
The kegs are checked thrice when
they are taken from the trucks, when
tbey reach the gangway, and when
they are placed In the strong room.
Although no armed guard stands by
the strong room, two men watch the
room constantly so long as the ship is
In sight of land. As a matter of fact,
there Is little danger of any one steal
ing gold in transit on a ship. It would
be necessary that he should shoulder
a keg weighing some 200 pounds and
vanish with it without being seea
Masters of vessels declare gold is the
safest cargo of any to handle.
The total weight of one consignment
of gold shipped by the British vessel
In question amounted to something
like 36.000 pounds, or sixteen tons, and
the freight charges amounted to $12.
nnn nr ronuhlv sneaking, one-eighth
of 1 per cent Specie thns shipped is
insured" at its full value. rew xors
Press.
Mark Twain's Profanity.
Wltltnm Dean Howells read the "Tom
Sawyer" manuscript and thought it
tni host storv be had ever read. Siem
ens consulted him regarding the nse
of a certain vigorous expieave. bow
ells advised that It be cut out Clem
ens wrote back:
Mrs. Clemens received the mall this
morning, and the next minute she lit
intn the studv with danger In her eyes
and this demand on her tongue: "Where
l thA nrofnnltv Mr. Howells s pea us
of?" Then I had to miserably confess
that I had left It out when reading tne
MS. to her. Nothing but almost In
spired lying got me out of this scrape
with my scalp. Does your wife give
you rats like that when you go a little
one sided? Harper's.
Odorless.
"Now, children." said the teacher,
"who can tell me what the word 'odor
less means?"
Willie Jones was sure be knew.
"WelL Willie, what does it mean?"
"Odorless means without a scent,"
te piped.
"Eight Now who can give a sen
tence using the word correctly?" con
tinued the teacher. "You may answer.
Jlmmie."
"Flease. ma'am, when yoo are odor
less you mn not ride In the trolley
cars." Youth's Companion.
Ability doth hit the mark where pre
emption overshooteth and diffidence
tiiielh short Cuss.
BUSY CELL TOILERS.
The Marvelous Work They Constantly
Perform In the Blood.
The blood tells are linportunt mem
bers of the cell community and are ex
ceedingly numerous, there being over
W.OOO.OOO.OOO of the red blood cells
alone. These red ulood cells move in
the blood currents, carrying through
the arteries each Its little load of ox
ygen, which It transports to the dis
tant tissues that they may be Invlg
orated and vitalized anew. and. re
turning, carrying through the veins the
debris and waste products of the sys
tem to the great crematory of the
lungs, where the waste is burned and
thrown off from the body.
Like the ships that sail the sea. each
cell carries Its outgoing cargo uud re
turns with another one. Some of these
cells perform the office of special re
pairers, forcing their way through the
walls of the blood vessels and pene
trating the tissues in order to perform
their special tasks.
There are several other kinds of cells
in the blood besides the carriersV Just
meutloned. There are the wonderful
soldier and police cells, which maintain
order and fight battles when necessary.
The police cells Hre on the constant
lookout for germs, bacteria and other
microscopic disturbers of the oeace of
the body.
When these tiny policemen discover
vagrant germs or criminal bacteria
they rush upon the intruder and. ty
ing him up In a mesh, proceed to de
vour him. If the intruder be too large
or vigorous a call for assistance Is
sent out, and the reserve police rush
to the assistance of their brothers and
overpower the disturber of the peace
Sometimes when the vagrants are too
numerous the policemen throw them
out from the body by means of pim
ples, bolls and similar eruption, in
case of Infectious diseases an army
corps is ordered out in full strength,
and a royal fight is waged between the
invading aitny and the defenders of
home and country. William Walker
Atkinson In Nautilus.
CHINESE SIGNBOARDS.
Poetie Gems to Attract Business to
Shops In Peking.
W. Simpson In "Meeting the Sun"
writes: "I saw In Peking a list of
signboards, and a few samples of them
will illustrate their general character:
Shop of Heaven Sent Luck,' "Shop of
Celestial Principles.' The Nine Felici
ties Prolonged,' 'Mutton Shop of Morn
ing Twilight' The Ten Virtues All
Complete,' 'Flowers Rise to the Milky
Way.'
"In these signs we can see that the
Chinese can combine the soul of a poet
with the pocket of a shopman. Con
trast such efforts with The Noted
Eelple House' of the London streets,
and one must feel that we are outer
barbarians. Carlyle quotes a Chinese
signboard, 'No Cheating Here.' but I
could not find anything like It In the
list "Good and Just According to Hear
en' ought to satisfy the ideal notions
of the author of 'Sartor Resartus.' "
"The Honest Pen Shop of U" Implies
that other pen shops are not honest
The "Steel Shop of the Pockmarked
Wang" suggests that any peculiarity
of a 'shopman may be used to Impress
the memory of customers, snub noses,
squint eyes, lame legs and hump backs
might all be used in this way.
A charcoal shop calls Itself the
"Fountain of Beanty," and a place for
the sale of coal Indulges In the title of
"Heavenly Embroidery." An oil and
wine establishment is the "Neighbor
hood of Chief Beauty." a description
the realization of which It Is hard to
conceive anywhere in Peking. "The
Thrice Righteous" one would scarcely
expect from an opium shop. London
Globe.
Blocked by an Iceberg.
Discussing the Iceberg question. Pro
fessor John Mllne of London writes
that the year he visited Newfoundland
one of these ice mountains had stuck
in the Narrows, which is the entrance
to St John's harbor. The capital of
Newfoundland was bottled op. "A
fort pounded at the Intruder for a
time, but It might as well have
pounded at the Karakoram mountains
The monster stopped alt traffic either
in or out On the third day. however,
it heeled over and sailed away."
Awful Ignorance.
Young Man With Lavender Tie. Pink
Shirt and Bright Purple Socks Say.
Jim Lawrence is a queer duck. He
pronounces his words so queerl The
other day be was telling some girls
about going to the Blank inn for a
"tahbledote" dinner. As soon as we
left the girls I asked him what he
meant and come to And out be meant
table de hoteyl Ha, ba, hal-Chicago
Tribune.
Her Discourse.
"My dear," mildly expostulated her
husband, "1 said only half a dozen
words and yon have talked about there
for forty-five minutes."
"Well." snapped Mrs. Vtck-Seno, "the
preacher does that sort of thing every
Sunday morning and you never kick
about It" Chicago Tribune.
At Sixes and Sevens,
"I married my first husband for mon
ey and my second for love."
Then you are very happy now. 1
suppose?"'
"No. Alas, no! Ton see. my first
husband married me for love and my
second for money."
A Special Favor.
Customer I want a ton of cost
Dealer Yes. sir. What site? Cus
tomerWell. If Ifs not asking too
much. I'd like to bare a 2,000 pound
ton. Brooklyn Life.
MA&IC WATER TOYS.
Wonderful Play Toys That Amuse the
Children of the Orient.
Europe and America turn out for the
edification of their children ninny In
genious toys, but the occidental young
sters have nothing to compare with the
strange expanding water toys with
which the children of the far east
have for centuries amused themselves.
These are placed in small wooden
boxes similar to the little paint boxes
so often seen In our own country. They
have the appearance of soiled shavings,
broken matches and dilapidated tooth
picks, but when thrown into the water
the ingenious toys at once exhibit prop
erties that show them to be considera
bly more than mere bits of stick.
The wood of these toys hus been kiln
dried, and Immediately It touches the
wnter' it begins to absorb the water
and to expand almost indefinitely. As
)t lncrenses In size It separates and
suddenly opens, becoming a very pret
ty toy. One stick will, change into a
flowerpot containing, it may be. a rose
bush in full bloom. Another becomes
an obese mandarin carrying an um
brella. Still another will take the form
of a sea serpent, very ferocious In Its
tiny dimensions.
Then, too, there are toys which show
as whales, tigers, crocodiles, etc. The
figures are colored and present a be
wildering variety in design and treat
ment Their manufacture is a trade
secret kept inviolate by the guild that
turns them out by the thousands.
For older children there are provid
ed larger and even more artistic fig
ures, consisting of historical charac
tersrulers, poets and soldiers and
dwarfed trees and tiny houses, whose
doors and windows are full of inmates,
are also among this class. The more
ordinary kind cost a mere song, but
the finer toys are quite expensive.
New York Press.
FAR DISTANT URANUS.
Oddities a Visit to This Gigantlo
Planet Would Disclose.
If Uranus, which Is a star of about
the sixth magnitude, were a planet
like those little ones called asteroids,
which are being discovered by the
dozen every year, it could not have
much claim npon popular attention,
but Uranus is really a gigantic world,
more than sixty times as large as ours.
Its vast distance, about 1.700.000,000
miles from the earth. Is what causes
It to look so small.
Uranus has four moons, which re
volve backward In their orbits thnt is
to say. they revolve from east to west
around Uranus. , while Uranus goes,
like all the other planets, from west to
east around the sun. It Is believed
that Uranus rotates backward on its
axis also. Moreover, the axis of that
great, strange globe lies In such a di
rection that in the course of Its year,
which is equal to eighty-four of our
years, the sun shlneB almost perpen
dicularly first upon one pole and then
upon the other.
Measured by our time standard,
there are forty years of constant day
light followed by forty years of un
broken night, around the poles of
Uranus, and the sun rises In the west
and sets in the east there, but the sun
looks very small when viewed from
Uranus only one four-hundredth as
large as it appears to us. Still it sheds
upon that planet IfiOO times as much
light as the full moon sends to the
earth, so that daylight upon Uranus,
while faint compared with the blaze of
a terrestrial noonday. Is nevertheless
a very respectable kind of illumina
tion. k
The Game of Life.
The game we are all playing is a
losing game at best Tet we must
play. We cannot get up and leave the
table knowing the dice are cogged and
the cards marked against us. We
must play on. losing our principal
stake little by little or In splendid
rouleaux, as chance or our disposition
may urge, but knowing well that in
the end. soon or late, whatever re
mains of it will be swept from the
board. Lucky the man who is tempt
ed to play but the one staka Happy
the man who In death loses only his
life. F. P. Dunne in American Maga
zine. '
Bluejacket's Black Neckerchief.
It Is not generally known that the
bluejacket's black neckerchief, a sur
vival of the service mourning for Nel
son, is the best British silk obtainable
and that the admiralty is a very fas
tidious customer. Two to each man
are issued annually, and many thou
sands of these discarded scarfs bare
been subsequently worn by Jack's fem
ininity. A pair of them make an ex
cellent blouse. Pall Mall Gazette.
Spoiled Her Enthusiasm.
"Harry proposed lasj; nlghtl I was
o"-
"I knew he would. I played a Joke
on him."
"What?"
"I told him yon would Inherit a for
tune when you came of age." Houston
Post
Matrimonial.
Three Germans were sitting at lunch
eon recently and were overheard dis
cussing the second marriage of a tnu
tual friend when one of tbem remark
ed: "I'll tell yon what A man what
marries de second time don't deserve
to hat lost bis first vlfe."-Llfe.
Small Blaze.
Mr. Dubb My brain is on fire I Miss
Keen I hardly think we need call out
the fire department Boston Tran
script A lazy man is es useless as a dead
man and takes op more room. Hubbard.
MR. WHEAT MAN:
The PALACE HOTEL wants to
serve you and your men hauling
wheat to Ileppner. Twenty-one
meals for five dollars and seventy-five
cents. We guarantee sat
isfaction. Come Once You Will.
Come Again. : : : : : :
OE
2E
0
O A ma WrviB IDafrcfi"Brsiraf Mab O
row Cnsily ? '
Are You Patronizing
DHome Industry ?
ffw
E ARE MANUFACTURING Flour and Feed
superior to any imported article. If you
are not using our products call at our
office on Main Street and get a testing sample.
Our flour is made exclusively from selected
Morrow County Bluestem Wheat.
Seed Grain, Rolled Feed,
Alfalfa Seed.
We Solicit the Storage of your Wool
MORROW WAREHOUSE
MiiiiNn rn
g I v I ft-1-1 1 VV-fe
Isoesi
oE
o
iy
M. S. CORRIGALL. President
J. B. NATTER, Vice Prei.
J. H. McHALEY,
Vice Pre.
T. J. MAHONEY, Chier
CLYDE BROCK, A.it. Cuhier
FMST NATIONAL BANK
OF HEPPNGiS
We offer to the Public the services
of a strong and well equipped Bank,
with the experience of twenty-five
years in this community.
Accommodations extended to cus
tomers consistent with safety, and
balances carried with us.
Licensed Erabalmor Lady Assistant
J. L. YEAGER
FUNERAL DIRECTOR
Heppner - Oregon
BUCKS FOR SALE
Pure Bred Lincolns, Cotswold and Shrop Rams from the best
flocks in the country. All orders promptly filled and delivered
at Heppner. If you have anything to sell in the Sheep line
send your list to me; I will find a buyer.
T. F. BOYLEN, Pendleton, Or.