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ing -- - her DYIN6 MAN N AVE-IN WLLg AND;EW J. HEDGER OF GAR. inc DEN ITY, KAN., WON A CAR- he NEGIE MEDAL. ran mowe air 1GOT SELF FOR FELLOW MAN wh *lily Made His Will and Arranged pie for Handling of Property in Event the of Death and Then Rescued wo Victim. re sase of her.rism reported to the len the best illustration of Individual thE bravery on rc:ritld with this commis don which has krowledlge of thou- top pands of case: falJy one of which is euficient to ca!l nrr commendation. str le; This hero ofs heuroes is Andrew J. th tedger, agwhc 45, now of Garden City,o o od., supcriantendente of schools in Sere 1out of Kiu i f s Mr the ~ '~ ' bod Kit dea tiee dea / dedar the ten hal of in al Effort Was Made to Draw Him wa Gut, But This Failed. sid ilke kell county, who, while visiting a cat Ool in an adjoining county as a thi vor to t friend, also a superintend- He t of schools, learned of an accident the a well that was being repaired two aw es distant and without a moment of cliT itation left the school and, run g the entire distance, succeeded, after every other man there had re lomed even to assist him, in saving the life of one man and recovering the liody of another which had been buried -an two tons of sand 32 feet below the aurface of the ground. The scene of the accident and heroic ~etue is on the farm of William H. lrunn, who was killed, about six lies southwest of the village of Pierceville, Kan., through which the hat Arkansas river winds its way. in On the southern side of the Arkan- sid as river is a chain of sand hills about hid , miles long, and it was in this forma. we tion the accident happened. The do Nunn farm is located in about the cei tar of these hills. A well 72 feet deep had been drilled on this property bout a year previous and had be " ome clogged, although cased up with :4wo-lnch pipe. S The sand point or screen had ailed to work properly for several days, and an excavation about four feet square Swas made with the well casing in one eorner of the hole. There was no Splatform at the top of the well, but a derrick about 20 feet high had been built over the opening. The excava tion was not walled up and there was , o water at the 32-foot depth, where the trouble was located. The weather i Was fair, with moderate temperature, and the sun was shining brightly. &ains during a few previous days had caused the sand to be very wet. When William Nunn decided to re pair his well he asked the assistance ,. of Joseph H. King and W. R. Taylor, y neighboring farmers. The sadd point used in clearing out the well had been : drawn to a point at the bottom of the excavation where it stuck. Nunn and King had been working in the excavation the day previous, Hi and when the sand point stuck they were also in the hole, while Taylor was at the top operating a rope to the to end of which was attached a small do sand box. On the afternoon of the wa day of the accident Mr. King said he mw would go ton the top and get a file, and pu after separating a section of the cas- lie ing rwould file the sand point loose so re that it would work properly. at Nunn and ling were standing to. dt gether at the bottom of the excavation, when King caugiht hold of the rope we and gave the signal to Taylor above hi to draw him up. Suddenly and with- st out the slightest warning about two tons of sand caved in on the men. gi The fall of sand struck Nunn fairly on and buried him completely, and King bh was buried up to his armpits, with his he arms held against his body by the be Weight of the sand. There was no ladder, and, as there gi was no one at the mouth of the well th to lower him, Taylor, who was at the ne ttop, was powerless to give assistance, he although King, who could talk, was be begging for help. Taylor jumped on se bin horse and rode rapidly away in R. h of assistance, and soon the th tryside was aroused and was hur- am C to the scene of the accident, but S' ite King's cries and pleas for help was no one who weQld vueture th to the r'ecue. a As Taylor rode past the Webb school n his trip to notify the farmers of ae accident, and ask for assistance, ae children were having their recess nd, hearing the news, reported it to weir teacher. At this time Mr. Hedger was 4-isit ig Webb school. He is a man of erculean build, standing five feet ten aches and weighing 207 pounds, and s soon as he learned of the accident AU e rushed from the schoolhouse and an all the two miles to the site of the tell and found a large number of men Iready gathered there, but none of hom was making any effort at res- BO uing the imprisoned men. lie looked into the well, heard King leading for his life and, turning to Rol he crowd, asked for sonie one who could volunteer to go with hin. to the escue of the men. There was a silence of several min tes, not one of the men offering to end any assistance, and Hedger said: "fe "Never mind; I will go alone, and lod helping me will bring the men to te top, and, for my children's sake, ne hope I also will get back to the )pt" With one of the most noted demon trations of coolness in the face of ex reme danger on record he stopped w nly long enough to make his will andl the D arrange for the handling of his int mall property in the event of his se. eath while in the well or as a result as f his lescent into it. As soon as he reached the bottom he: Ad a shovel was lowered to him he an ommenced work to release King, and me then part of his body had been uncov- rh( red an effort was made to draw him an ut, but this failed because the body f Nunn had fallen across the legs of wa :ing and pinioned him. Then all of lie he sand was removed and Nunn's fes ody was uncovered, hut he was dead. no The body was laid to one side and tal ;ing was raised to the surface more bei ead than alive. The rope was again mt: >wered into the well, and then Hedger she led the rope about the body of the the ead man and, losing sight of the pel anger in which he was, insisted that an, he body be raised before he at- litt empted to make his own escape. It It required from two to two and one- to alf hours to get the two men and sec ,e rescuer from the well. No .pre- bu ;. vas made to wall the sides tht f the well to prevent a further cave- to a before Hedger made his sensation- sui 1 descent, and the only care taken ras that one man was to watch the Gil ide of the well where it looked more lov !kely that there would be a further ave-in, and if such a thing occurred his man was to shout a warning to ledger, and he from the bottom of he well was to make an effort to get way from the deluge of sand by lmbing up the two-inch pipe. IANGS DOWN A WELL FOR SIXTEEN HOURS -ARMER ATTEMPTS TO RESCUE DOG BUT NEARLY MEETS DEATH. Williston, N. D.-J. Woodford Ray lad a remarkable escape from death , a well on his farm on the South ide. He was alone on the farm when is pet dog fell into the well and he vent to the rescue. He let himself oWon in the well by the rope fastened rec no ca ,d ao n eth be ci ut his footngs and this helped to re t gr ieve the strain. He was compelleelf to :o the welinquish hidass grasp fcaught the litdog.tle li animal fell into the water and was st drowned. hi For 16 hours Ray remained in the p( well. He sang songs, told stories to to himself and laughed to keep hi In strength and courage. m Thrdlgh all the long night the man ti grapsed the rope, hoping that some tl ,one would come in time to save him, tc but as the time passed, as hour after hour followed and no one came, he fr began to lose hope. at Finally, just as he thought he must t give up, he saw a man looking into si the well. It was A. P. Solberg, a w neighbor, who came after a team of tc horses, and knowing that Ray mustp be at home somewhere, started to h search for him. He quickly pulled al Rsay out of the well. Upon reaching sc the top, Ray, exhausted, lost his grip tl and would have fallen back had not Solberg grasped him. t "Solberg looked like an angel with T the blue sky as a blackgroafli" Ray Sad after his recue -WO LIVES SAVED BY WIFE'S HAIR HUSBAND BURNED HELPMEET'S TRESSES TO FRIGHTEN PACK Das OF VICIOUS WOLVES all !ta )11( BOTH FORCED TO CLIMB TREE vot out Sec Romantic Story Is Told of Marriep or Couple of Ignace, Ontario, Who so Recently Celebrated Their Gorden Wedding. ter Ign ace, O)nt ario.-M r. and Mrs. ah flenry ';ilnin re, trapeii!' , celebrated an) a few (lays a t 'heir golden wt-dding. Of the 50 ye(,rs they have ,een ma!r tied. 49 have bee, n slnt in th,' forests north of hero aintI one--the first--in sa the then se jicticilized district 'est of tak Quebec. the G(ilnore is now 7 ycars old and his wife (U;, but lhey scout the idea that of their days of usofl',ll stis r a 'e ('" ' iiilt intend to trapl and ýell I t s for several d seasons yet. They refer to fitlnuselv(es as middle-age,,," and their general Oan pear-,l'ce Ihears them unt. ,othl are 1 hearty, strong and robust, but seared Co and weather-bheat e. anl the only ail ment they coimplain of is a touch ofl rheumatism, which attacks them now Cei and then. When Gilmore and his wife, wo no was born Mar;, lludson, were mar- ta ried in Quebec, the man was a pro- lin fessional trapper, but his bride knew nothing of the woods. It did not bei take her long to learn forest lore and les become an expert with a smooth-bore, muzzle-loading rifle. She learned to y shoot, trap and prepare skins, and at liv the end of the first season when the l pelts were taken to market husband so and wife found that they had a neat ths little sum to either spend or lay away. It was laid away, and from that day the to this it has not been touched. The second season was not so profitable, but the third was, and since then there has always been a little money mt to go into the bank when the ssjring to suns had melted the snow. The stories told by Mr. and Mrs. jar Gilmore are exceedingly interesting to lovers of nature. Their information pri ral bu tot ot ero os aer av an read Torsedrito. mthre pce , tn oerngn malsband sbed the o aic oet al or it Was Tossed Into the Dry Spruce he of his wife, and on two she returned pe the compliment. Little is made fel of these "incidents," as they are con- s sidered simply as part of a day's se work. During the early part of sil their woodland existence encounters en with wild beasts were of common o q currence, but in late years life has th been more or less humdrum. ga The most desperate encounter the couple had was in 1861 when they were beset by wolves. They were returning to camp early in the even- b ing when a pack of the vicious c animals forced them to climb a tree. Unfortunately this was of small girth and soon the wolves were gnawing it down. Something had th to be done and done immediately. . Gilmore took note of a dry, tinder- ar like spruce top lying ten feet from the base of the tree in which he was p perched. Near it were others. It gave him an idea. Cutting a branch he cleared It of s twigs. Then he cut off his wife's lux inrtant hair and bound It to the c stick. Around this was wrapped ta his own shirt and his wife's cotton w petticoat. VWhen the impromptu iL torch had been ignited it was tossed ei into the dry spruce top. In a few s! moments smoke poured forth. Then flames shot up, and in almost less ip time than it takes to tell it the tree c top was a roaring furnace. tl The wind blew the flames away @ from Gilmore's perch and caught h; among the other tops, transforming -, them into raging furnaces. As the smoke and fire belched forth the U wolves retreated in a howling circle u to windward and eventually became pIanic stricken and fled. Gilmore and his wife remained in the tree all night, *'I and in the morning, climbing down the h scorched and blistered trunk, made I their way home. o' The Gilmores now and then come I eto town, but they don't stay long. t They say that they are too fond of g the woods to remain in civilization t 'permanaently. . d dr g';)i.:·..L·i: An American in Politics --t-4 DRIFTING INTO THE GAME 13Y 1"lNF'ST U'GAiEY. T' Politics is the great Amneric'n game. hat aseball no twithstanding. It requires Lot ]I capital and no capital, as rircuin- vat tances mTay shape themselv'is, and for (ie0 a mlan has acquired thi t right to titi oto. he is a factor in the ;game. With- bat At his vote he is a cil1h''r of the el,.-st dye. I. t him h,1 under age, cli r not naturalized, andl there is none of 0 poor, t, do hill) revel'nce. Count shi 'ichy de lizz fuin1 thiri out one (lay chi 'hen he atteniptid to talke a "cen- sib er-rush" into a certain lnayoris otlice it, head of a long li e of uliv ashed but tha ,nxiouis cOin iteiin citizens. The vig- lea lant ohficer at the or collared hit sel Without relolirs'' or awe. in "l'ass bark thr mty good man," a( aid the gla;ria;lt of the door, "and in ake .\ tir l i e e in the line there with ' f he r-est of the boys." fc Count Vichy, de.sed ii the height wli ,f fashion, with .an imposing spt'lr d If whiskers and loadedcl down with the lecorationts, a foreign c(o11su1 in his hal wn -i;ht, and proud of it, was pp- wit rly indi-nant. wh I)rawing himself to nis full height to f six fe,,t two he said: "But I am we ,ount Vichy Fizz, the Agrarian con- agi tul." bo "Count or no count," retorted the wa Terbcrus of the iimay ors office, "you're the o10 'count if you haven't got a vote in ma his country; pla.., back there, and pul ake your place at the end of the m0 ine." ent With the political disadvantage of hot ,eing born in this country, I neverthe- bet ess began to dabble In politics short- sa) y after leaving the twenty-first dut iurdle behind me in the race to ob- me ivion. I say "political disadvantage" WO advisedly, for Americans as a rule are en 1o prejudiced against political life tlo hat they do not enter it until some age iweeping reform is imperative, and hit hen they usually get worsted. thE There is nothing in politics to inter tst the average American business int nan, unless he may inappen to desire na .o evade the strict interpretation of tul tn ordinance, or have a franchise lea ammed through a city council. coi The Jacksonian and Jeffersonian mC rinciples with which I started out rat -apidly faded from sight in the burly- bu )urly of "practical" politics. "Equal on, bunk' for all, and special privileges an tor me," is the real animus of the las overage ward politician; "bunk" I neaning "hot air," flattery, soft solder, tht Atc. In looking back over my tem- I pestuous career as a politician, I am of mpelled to believe that the true mot- "st :o of all parties is the frank and na Jacksonian one, "to the victors be- er song the spoils." It is perhaps re grettable that such is the case, and bu possibly I am wrong, but that is the sci way it strikes me. m In drifting into the game I saw kn that one of the requisites for getting wi along was the ability to be a good me 'mixer," that is to say, to possess the lat ability to meet and mingle freely with ou all classes of white, black, green, pe pink, yellow, any and all nationalities, thi to matter what their age, sex, race le: Dr previous condition of servitude. lat This, of course, applies to the begin- sir Ing stage in politics. There comes a us time to the particularly successful of- I ,lce holder when he can freeze up If .nd look sideways at former asso- toi tiates, but this obtains only when be has "put away" enough of "the ex stuff" in government bonds so as not the Scare whether political school eens tel Dr not, and when he has been bitten po with a wild desire to "break through be the crust of society." "p As a "mixer" I "made good," In the ne parlance of the slangy. A long ex- di perience in the way of the legal pro- of Cession had made me a fairly good speaker, especially if I prepared my- w( self, and I always did that when pos- to sible. This legal training, of course, D enabled me to take any side of any I question, and show up the fallacies of wi the opposition. It also was a help in se gauging the average helplessness of ne most men as to telling the truth in against their own interest, an Lawyers also have a good deal to be bump up against in the way of spe- in cilous argument from brother counsel, th and the practice of the law is not cal- nc culated to make a man over-credu- til ous. This helps some, in politics, as I11 the amount of ground and lofty a "bunk" that is dealt out by the rank Is and file of political workers is some thing sanguinary to the last de- at gree. d: SParticularly Is this the case if a at man halppens to be nominated for ax some office. Then indeed are the Sc lood-gates of "bull-con," or highly n colored mendacity opened, and the th tales he hears, and the assertions ti which are made would cause the t shade of Baron Munchausen to shed pi envious tears, while Ananias would p simply have to "pass." tl It wias a source of constant and de- nt lightful amusement to me to hear the it candidates of our party "hand me le the bunk" when I first started out to h make speeches. As Hans Breitman has it: be "Who takes your hand when you it would shtart ir Und told you, you vas mightysmart, at Und how he loved you mit his heart- ti Der candidate." p These raw-head and bloody-boned I "selling-platers" had no scruples in d hurling flattery at me by the barrel. I I had no scruples, conscientious or 1 otherwise, in hurling it back at them. e I had one genuine aim in the mat- a ter, and that was to help the ward r go Democratic, so as to strengthen a the chances of the Democratie ca* didat for mayor, a man tor whom I ,. " .:: · . ,"" ; . ,-·. . '. 9 ' ,' '-% :.. .;:. - tad and have the highest rslpectL. .ong before I was accidentally ele ,ted to an official ip sit;on I had rmned a high o;inion of his charac ,tr, and 1 was gla~d to help tight his nlttIles. What is known as the 'arty ma hine is simply the d,!illed strength o f a part:, in rank, file and lea " ;hip, and all pille in regard to "ma Rhine politics" is as absurd as pos ible. If a re'for M no venrelt starts, ,t, too, iust iave its "m'achine," 'hat is to say. its ra'nk and file and eadTership. Th-. very government it- 1k elf is a machine. 'lThe only trouble ye n tie whoie rlmatter is that the aver- "si .ge man is too bllsy and too selfish in n chasing the alminhiety dollar to care m ko runs the niac'hine. It is not the (iI fact that hur..-, but the conditions V' which lace th, fact. ha Now, the Iniveratic r acrhine in lic those days, and not far distant, either, an had a fairly well o i.ered agreelenllt with the IRepullican machine by lig which the county ollices were given GI to the repulblicanst and the city offices fo were handed to the IJnmocrats. This un agreement was not recorded on the ce books of the county recorder, htut it po vas a tolerably se( ire "cinch," never- we theless. L-,t at times the reformers, de naddened by being kept from the tu public crib, or really actuated by high so motives-or both--and the independ- th ents, tiring of both parties, would gr hook up and uplset things. So "it to became and was necessary," as they to say in a personal injury suit, to "take au due and careful precaution." That meant, to hustle in all ca1,paigns, and in work between campaigns to strength- ol en the party by argument, combina- th tion and patron. ;e; es"ecially patron- , age. Talk is cheap, but the man be- dr hind the influence is the man behind St the job. fi Now, a man with the ambition to go Pi: into rlities with a good end in view, lic namely, furthering the political for tunes, even ir a slight way, of a leader in whom he had the highest confidence, was actuated by a good motive. It may seem rather elabo rate to make this statement so plain, but it must be remembered that no one is supposed to enter politics with an honest motive. I had an enthus iasm for the tenets of my party, but I had much greater enthusiasm for the man whose cause I espoused, for I knew tha' if any particular maxim of the party did not make for a "square deal" for the people of hi. native city, he would apply some oth er maxim that would. To go Into ward politics with a bunch of seasoned adepts at the science was to invite comparison, en mity, suspicion and treachery. I knew all this perfectly well, and whether or not I was trusted by the members of the party in my particu lar district, I can at least say, with out the slightest bitterness, and in perfect truth, that I trusted none of them. For the exigencies of number less occasions I assumed friendly re lations with dozens of men; they were simply pawns in the game. If I could use them to the advantage of the man In I was trying to help, well and good. st If not, I could at best make the ef- hi fort. T I had the advantage of knowing al exactly what the-v were in politics for si they were in It for what were the ma- tit terial advantages, for the little ap- tk pointments, the influence that was to be gained in the distribution of ward s "patronage," and the aim, sometimes si near, sometimes remote, of being can- be didates fo, any office within the gift bi of the party. n4 Selfish motives? Of course. And so p were my motives selfish. I wanted t to see a man I liked win; wanted the t Democratic party to win. The man gi I worked for always won when he fl was nominated; the party that pre- Sc sented him as its standard bearer never lost. When they went stray nlug after strange gods-but that is ti another story. I was handicapped by bl being a professional man, a lawyer, ti in a ward composed quite strongly of f the laboring classes. A man who does not work with his hands is some times suspected of "grafting" his T living by the more passionate of t a certain class of reformers, but there it is room for argument a's to that. b My first active work was going out T and making speeches for the candi- I dates. I went at this systematically t and thoroughly. I tried to think up 0 arguments, and even where I made several speeches in a night, I would i not repeat myself. I studied upon f the questions of the day, and found T that few people knew less about il thent than I did. There was an ap- I parently fathonmless unrest on the t' part of a good many citizens, and there was a strong and apparently t1 numerically superior opposition force u in the world, and so there was at t least the delight of a hard fight to be had in each campaign. This, then, was the first plunge. To be out at all hours of the night, mak :ng speeches and meeting people. Go ing down to headquarters and getting assignments to the various halls. Get- a ting in "live" fellows from other t parts of the city occasionally to make little talks. Consulting with candi- I dates and advising as to campaign iterature. Studying up primary laws and election laws. Working in every straight and honorable way peao sible to hold the Democratic vote al r~ady in the ward, and striving to add tolt. I ERNEST McGAITEIT, I .Caprdast. by Joseph &JIwlak) ·- ~ ~ tj. ~ ·· IOED O SEA RBY OCEAN MONSTER WO ITALIAN FISHERMEN HAVE THRILLING EXPERIENCE OFF SAN FRANCISCO. :ATCH BIG SEA LION IN NET >owerful Creature Makes 03r Opes Water, Struggling to Free It. self-Finally Turns with Yide and Takes Men Back. San Fra:wis'co.- 'l ; tIalian fishcr tnCi of San ll -'ran is( , otilti.1is have'. ic hs t l hl'iii . t'icli,'tli Salotl.e/o (l0 op'sr s ra tr' t. il l to 111n c ' s of ih d anp I nkfoln o ; their o\e tmtiot l lre poer t hty'l il the l t 't o'( Ill nt i lo t , rtin" 'iltlly, \Vh l,-es. shalt h + andl t a lions. 1,'y recently two thalian1 lislwm.t'lU adere a boXlu to gi' e '' with a l lste' tlo ion, which rt ats ml! r't' like ., "blood ndli th almeie" st Vly than ctull I fact. ights to sea. Ni h ai Stotz<o and .uisel jai ,.isw n U li fi'u l; t dtlt,+t rately ur sevrl hours i the cluthes. and of an o Inknown torror while out fis.hing re tently. )rslaiing of overcoh ntg a power they felt ut coulraggi not see, they were about to give utp w\\hen a st'rangO leliverance came to th'Ill. Tl'he tide turned from t+h ~t Il'w, and obeying some unknown law, or freak of fancy, the terrifying thing which had been .ripping their ndt and dragging them to destruction, turned with it and owed thee' straight hack through the shifting sea mist to shore and safety. The early morning's sun was yellow Ing the fisherman's big bight near the ,1d Meiggs wharf when a monster that was not a mp'h by any means was slowly and with great efforts drawn in with the net. Cassonelli, Stotezo and the amazed knot of Italian ishermen they had sumnioned to as Bist them suddenly saw a large sea lion, which measured nearly 15 feet At the Rate of Ten Miles an Hour. In length, snorting, growling and struggling desperately, enmeshed in hundreds of feet of the strong netting, The only way to secure such a sav age and powerful creature was to shoot it, and this was done. When finally drawn ashore it was found that the lion weighed about 800 pounds. It was about midnight when Cau sonelli and Stotezo put out in their sail launch bound for Lime Point to begin fishing for rock cod and sea bass. At the point they let down their net and had just begun to fill theft' pipes when suddenly their boat began to rock violently. Both thought that they had caught a shark, and they be gan with all haste to pull in the long net, shaking it vigorously as they did 8O. Then the unseen creature in the net began straining until the lines tore through their hands. The prow of the boat was almost submerged, and for a time Cassonelli .. .--n feared they would water. Suddenly the lines became slack. The thing enmeshed was coming ! toward the surface. T'hey prayed th't it would free itself and so escape; but they were sorely disappointed. The lines remained slack for only a few seconds, and then they fou that they were beIng towed rapid out toward the open sea. At first the boat moved slowly, but in the course of a few mtlnutes It was moving at a rate of ten miles an hour. The kdIge anchor was as good as use less. Old Fort Point was lpassed(, and later the liglht on d1ile Rock was twinkling astern. Vainly they endeavored to row in : the opposite dlirec.ion, but found that useless. They nuld not even slacken the speed of their craft. Out at the Heads they thought that the wind might aid them, and so set the sails so that they might turn around as they moved forward; but that did them no good whatever. Finally; when they thought they would never again reach the shore, the tide came to their relief. The as yet unseen monster evldeat ly concluded that dragging the heavy boat against the strong tide was nO easy task, so it gradually worke around and started back, to the ine. pressible joy of the two fishermen. They managed to steer the craft up to the "Fisherman's Wharf," where the sea lion revealed itself and met 1t fit *.