Western Kansas world. [volume], August 30, 1890, Image 1

About Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
"STeeurly Svibsoriptiori 1
TWELFTH YEAR.
THE INDEPENDENT FARMEE.
How pleasant it seems to live on a farm,
Where nature's so gaudily dressed,
And sit "neath the shade of the old locust tree,
As the sun Is just sinking to rest;
But not half so pleasant to hoe in the field
Where the witch grass is six inches high.
With the hot scorching sun pouring down on
your book
Seems each moment as though you would die.
'lis pleasant to Bit in the cool porch door
While you smoke, half-reclfned at your ease,
Looking out o'er your beautiful meadow of
grass
That sways to and fro in the breeze ;
But not quite so pleasant to start with your
scythe
E'er the morning sun smiles o'er the land,
And work till your clothes are completely wet
through,
And blisters shall coyer your hands.
Tn keeping a dairy there's surely delight,
And it speaks of contentment and plenty,
To boo a large stable well filled with choice
cows.
Say numbering from fif toon to twenty ; !
And yet it seoms hard when you've worked from
the dawn
Till the sun disappears from your sight,
To think of the cows you have got to milk
Before you retire for the night.
But, the task fairly over, you cheer up once
more, J
And joyfully seGk your repose.i
To dream of the cream-pots with luxury filled
And milk-pans in numberless rows ;
But the sweet dream is broken when early
next day
You're politely requested to churn.
And for three weary hours, with strength ebbing
fast,
Tho crank you despondingly turn.
But in raising young piga thoro is truly a
charm
When thoy sell at the present high price :
And of all the young stock which a farmer can
raise
Thero's nothing that looks half so nice.
How cheerful one feels as he leaves them at
night,
The encouraging lot tf eloven.
But his joy slightly wanes when he goos out
noxt day
And of live, ones can count only seven.
But no one disputes that tho farmer is blessed
With true independence and labor.
Whoso food don't depend on the whims of man
kind. Like that of his mercantile neighbor.
For God in His mercy looks down from above
And paternally gives him his bread,
Provided he works eighteen hours every day
And devotes only six to his bed.
New England Homestead.
A TRAGIC ENDING.
A. II. MODIUCKER.
I happened to drop into the office one
morning, more by accident than any
thing else, for I had no particular call
just then, -when I was thus saluted by
my chief:
"I say, Herron, I've just received a
telegram which informs me that 'your
man,' Karl Krafton, has been 'spotted'
at Chicago. Of course you will go there
at once, I suppose?"
"Yes."
"Mind your eye if you go cruising
around M street by night," my
chief advised. "I was never there but
once, and though it may be the most
honest place in the universe, it struck
me as being the reverse. Don't let any
Chicago sharper got the best of you,
coming as you do from the rural dis
tricts of New York. Shake all the
hayseed out of your hair before you
land."
I smiled at his attempt at pleasantry,
and then made, my preparations for the
journey. I had. little to do, and in due
time I reached the depot, took the
train, and began my journey by rail.
The reader will here, perhaps, won
der why I did not notify the authorities
at Chicago. I could have done so had
I so desired, but I most desired to have
the satisfaction of arresting him myself
because, nearly five years ago, as I
stood beside the body of poor Burt Bal
four, as he laytold in the icy embrace
of death, while beside him knelt his
wife and a fair-haired little girl, whom
Karl Krafton had made a widow and an
orphan, I registered in my own mind a
solemn oath to avenge my comrade's
eath by bringing his slayer to the gal
lows, cost what it might
Burt Balfour was a brother detective
here in the city of New York, and years
of fellowship and association in the de
tective business had begot a firm
friendship between us.
Burt and I had been for some time
on the trail of Karl Krafton, a most
skillful counterfeiter, and at one time
confederate of the notorious firm of
"Dunfee & McGraw." the counterfeit
ers of United States bonds, of whom
everybody knows, before I finally ran
him down.
Burt Balfour in the year fQ had at
tempted, single-handed and alone, the
capture of Krafton, the counterfeiter, in
an all-night dive here in the city, but
Krafton, who was remarkably quick on
the "draw" and, getting the ""drop" on
Balfour, he sent a leaden messenger of
death through his heart, instantly kill
'jj&r' - --gjES3i r-friT TTVSiT"- tlWlEu sr js44iiiiMiBnLiW?iBclir!il fl m VvOBB'"jjJJLiy ""-vil ffKlJv rtfcsssrsf 'lr""T"""i'MMiiiiiiPM"MM'"TlTx' v""
. SO.
ing one of the bravest and truest men I
ever knew.
Karl Krafton made good his escape,
and, although I devoted every effort to
the task of tracing him, up to the time
of which I write he still baffled me and
his trail was a hidden one.
Firm in my purpose, and true to the
oath I had taken, I made it the one
grand and ever present object of my life
to strike Karl Kraf ton's track, and when
I received the information from my
chief that he had been spotted at Chi
cago, I eincerily hoped that I would
have him in custody ere long.
My task was perhaps less difficult
than it would have been, had I not
known my man I knew him to be un
usually sharp, and realized that he must
be in disguise, and under an assumed
name, however, and my task would
prove by no means an easy one.
I spent four weeks in a search of
Chicago, but without any apparent suc
cess, until one day, at noon, as I sat be
neath a large tree in the Avenue Park
one of those small oases in the desert
of the city watching the moving
throng on the street beyond, when two
men who were approaching from oppo
site directions, met at a little distance
from me, and as the trunk of the tree
concealed me from them, I obtained a
good view of their faces, while I was
unseen. I could scarcely repress a
cry of exultation, for one of the men
was the assassin, Karl Krafton.
Fate had thrown him in my way.
Our paths had crossed once more.
I could, perhaps have arrested him
then and there had I been so disposed,
but there would have been a certain
risk to run; I would undertake no
risk whatever.
Krafton, the assassin, and the man
whom he had met were both powerful
fellows. Had I rushed upon them,
their united efforts might have defeated
me.
I determined to track "my man,"
and capture him in a quiet way, when
he could be taken by surprise.
The men were evidently acquainted.
A strange conversation followed be
tween them :
"Did you place the 'fly cop?' " asked
my man.
"Yes."
"Is the coast clear for to-morrow
night, Hank?"
"Yes, everything is 0. K."
"Did he 'twig?'"
"No."
"Anything new?"
"No."
"With the exchange of these remarks,
they entered an underground den on
S street, where the crooked classes
of both sexes congregated, and when
near the hour of midnight, they left the
den accompanied by another man.
Finally they stopped before a mag
nificent residence, and after the ex
change of a few remarks they separ
ated, and Krafton entered the house.
Anxious not to lose sight of him, I
quickly passed up the steps and tried
the door. To my joy it opened to my
touch, revealing a wide stairway, up
which I heard the sound of steps.
I moved on in pursuit, one hand ly
ing against the butt of a revolver, for I
resolved not to be caught napping. Up
one flight of stairs, down a wide hall
for a long distance, then he halted, and
I heard a key grate in a lock. Then a
door was opened and closed. Again
the grating of a key, and then I leaned
against a locked door, shut out effectu
ally from Krafton, the assassin, whom I
had so long and persistently followed.
Was I to be baffled now? Quietly I
knelt down and applied my eye to the
key-hole.
A light gleamed within, but the open
ing partially filled by the key was ?o
small I was unable to distinguish ob
jects only as they passed directly in
front of the spot
The murmur of voices at once ar
rested my attention, and, piecing my
ear to the key-hole, I was able to hear
every word uttered in the room, al
though the occupants were invisible.
"No whining, Cora! I tell you once
for all, that I will have nothing further
to do with you. If that cursed de
tective is on my track again it is you
you jade, who has put him there!"
It was the man's voice tuned, to a
harsh key that first met my hearing.
"Oh, my God!"
It was a pitiful wail, but it failed to
touch the heart of the base deceiver.
At length the woman's voice spoke
again, and with an evident last appeal
to the murderer.
"Karl Krafton, I remind you ol the
STOCK PVAJRAffTNCr THE BASIS OB1 OtJR, rNDTJSTE&IHS.
WA-KEENEY, KANSAS, SATUBD AY, AUGUST 30,1890.
fact that you would have been behind
the bars, but for me, long ago. Tve as
sisted you in various ways, and in the
eyes of the law I'm your partner in
guilt"
"'Sdeath!"
A thud followed.
"Take that, you jade!"
My blood was on fire then, for I knew
that the villain had laid his hand in
violence on the poor girl.
"Oh, Karl!"
An oath that was fiendish in its
mockery of a woman's suffering followed
the wail of despair.
"Come near me again, jade, and I
will hand you over to the police. If
you haven't any money, go to the alms
house or hospital. I wash my hands of
you from this time forth!"
Then a key grated in a lock.
As the door swung open, I rose to my
feet.
"Mr. Krafton, I've got you now," I
muttered, grimly.
But I was mistaken.
Even as the door opened a lurid flash
filled my eyes, followed by a stunning
report, and Karl Krafton, the slayer of
Burt Balfour, fell to the floor with a
bullet in his brain.
I stood there, in the glow of the
lamp, confronting the murderess.
"Back!" she screamed, as I advanced
a step into the room. "Don't attempt
to arrest me, as it won't avail you. He
is dead I shot him. He was a villian,
but I loved him, neverthe "
"Madam"
"Back! Don't touch me, I shall join
him on the other side. Good-bye, vain,
unfeeling world, good-bye, forever!"
I sprang quickly forward, bnt I was
too late. A bullet went crashing
through the breast of the girl, and she
sank to the floor. No use for me to
follow the trail further, it had come to
a most tragic ending.
Will We Bo Waterless?
To the inundate residents of tho
States of the lower Mississippi valley it
will, no doubt, seem like rankest folly
to attempt to prove that our water sup
ply is becoming less and less year by
year. There is, however, evidence that
the amount of water on the surface of
the earth has been steadily diminishing
for many thousands of years. No one
doubts that there was a time when the
Caspian Sea communicated with the
Black Sea and when the Mediterranean
covered the greater part of the Desert
of Sahara. In fact, geologists tell us
that at one time the whole of the earth
was covered by water many fathoms
in depth.
It is noticeable that rivers and brooks
are visibly smaller now than twenty-five
years ago. Country brooks in which
men now living were accustomed to fish
and bathe in their boyhood have in
many cases totally disappeared in con
sequence of the failure of springs and
rains which once fed them. The level
of the great lakes is falling year by
year. There are many piers on the
shores of lakeside cities which vessels
could once approach with ease, but
which now reach the water's edge. Har
bor surveyors will tell you that other
harbors are shallower than they were
even a decade ago. This is not due to
the gradual deposit of earth brought
down by rivers, as some may suppose,
nor to the refuse from city sewers. The
harbor of Toronto has almost ceased to
be of use, despite the fact that it has
been dredged out to the permanent bot
tom rock.
All the dredging that can be done in
New York harbor has failed perma
nently to deepen it The growing shal
lowness of the Hudson River is notice
able, and, like the outlet of Lake
Champlain, which was once navigated
by Indian canoes at all seasons, the up
per Hudson is now al
most bear of water during
the summer. TheDes Moines Biver,
in Iowa, once navigated to the mouth
of the Kaccoon Fork, the present site
of the city of Des Moine3, will now
hardly float a fisherman's rowboat; the
steamboat has not pro wed its bosom for
over a quarter of' a century. In all
parts of the world there is the same de
crease in the waters of rivers and lakes.
If this state of affairs continues a few
hundred centuries, the water question
will be of more interest than that of
prohibition.
Povebty is no disgrace to the in
dustrious, but it is hardly a gilt-edge
testimonial of ability. Puck.
The word "its" only occurs once in
the whole of the Bible.
T
I
CARRIED
OUT HIS
TIONS.
INSTRUC-
ITow a Philosopher Came to Grief Down
in Tennosoo.
A philosopher has just come to grief
down in Tennessee. Old man Stevens,
of Sumner County, argued that wear
ing thin clothes in the summer was
wrong, declaring that what would keep
out cold would keep out heat. This
belief took so strong a hold upon him
that he had a heavy, closely-fitting
blanket overcoat made for himself, and
put it on early last spring just as he be
gan to break up corn land. The neigh
bors laughed at him as he passed along
the road, but he shook his head sagely,
and answered that all great reformers
had brought ridicule upon themselves.
""Well, Stevens, how are you getting
along?" a friend asked, stopping his
horse at the fence and addressing the
reformer.
"First rate couldn't be doing better
than I am."
"Don't you find your blanket coat a
trifle heavy as the spring comes on ?"
'!Not a bit of it; getting lighter and
lighter every day. Wait till about the
middle of June and all you fellers will
wisli you had followed var example.
Why, rd be uncomfortably warm, now,
if I had on a thin white shirt"
"I think vour idea is wrong, Stevens.
In trying to keep the heat out, you
keep the heat in."
"All right, old man. You come along
here the first real hot day and you will
then see who's off."
"Yes, and 1 reckon I'll see that thick
coat oft."
"All right, have your own way, but
you'll see when the time comes."
Every one that understoood Stevens'
stubborn nature knew that he would
roost rather than acknowledge that he
was wrong, and bets were made as to
the length of time he could wear the in
cubator. One day in June, when the
sun was so hot that a turkey egg
hatched in the corner of the fence, a
number of the neighbors stopped in the
shade near the field where Stevens was
plowing. The old fellow was snorting
and cursing his horse, and sometimes
would stop and seem to contemplate
taking off the coat, but then appearing
to fear that some of the neighbors
might be watching him, he would snort
out an oath and cro ahead. Just as he
was turning round at the end of a corn
row, one of the neighbors yelled at
him:
"How's the weather, Stevens?"
"Ain't you fellers got nothing to do
but set around in the shade?" he
yelled.
"Yes, but we thought we'd come over
and see how you and that coat were get
ting along."
"We are getting along all right"
"Don't you find it putty hot ?"
"ii it s not aon't Know it I'm as
cool as a cowcumber."
"So you think you can stand that coat
all summer, do you?"
"I bhould think so, for the hotter it
gits the cooler I am."
He clucked to his horse and started
back across the field. The neighbors
looked at one another in astonishment
They had begun to think that the old
fellow was right; but when they had
waited nearly an hour for him to come
back, so they could make an acknowl
edgment, some one suggested that
they'd better go down to the other end
of the field and see what had become of
him. They found him lying in the edge
of tho woods.
"What's the matter, Stevens?"
"Is that yon, Bill?" the old man
asked.
"Yes, what's the matter? Are you
sick?"
"Bill, go right "down the turn row
about thirty yards and you'll find an
axe."
"But what do you want with an axe?"
"Wall, you go down there and get
it"
-What must I do with it after I do
get it?"
"Fetch it back here and knock me in
the head, thatf s what Go on, now, or
I'll make you pay that note when it falls
due."
Bill got the exe, and although the
neighbors protested, he "knocked" the
old man "in the head" as directed. It
is thought that the case may be investi
gated by the courts.
Tee thoughtful cook puts granulated
sugar on the berries when she hasn't
time to wash the sand of them. Ash
land Fress,
J JtUTlhatct J'utc
OOWIOK 8c
Fun Had by Practical Jokers at a Deer
Shooting Camp.
"I think the most laughable thing
that I ever saw in my life happened
once about two years ago, while I was
up on the peninsula deer shooting. You
have heard me speak of Arthur F ,
who lives in Chicago? Well, when
there is a practical joke on tap Art is
the biggest fish to bite that ever lived.
I do believe he would bite if you told
him two hours beforehand that you
were going to play a joke on him. Jack
and Bob Hutchings were with the party,
and they are the greatest men to play
jokes that I ever met They are natural
actors, to begin with, and can take in a
situation at a moment's glance, so that
sooner or later one i3 bound to suffer
if thrown in with them for any length of
time.
"It was our first night in camp and
we had a rousing fire burning, while the
boys were sitting around in all sorts of
attitudes, chatting, singing, and telling
stories. Arthur, being a new member
of the crowd and nerer having been
deer shooting before, rather held aloof
in a peculiar modest wav characteristic
of him. He was sitting on a log, over
and around which was a dense growth
of some sort of creeping vines, and as
he listened to the boys he would nerv
ously draw his fingers through the
leaves. Jack H was sitting at a
little distance plunking a banjo and
humming softly to himself when he
chanced to look over at Arthur, who was
contentedly playing with those leaves.
"To see the expression change on
Jack's face was better than a circus,
and we who knew him bettter saw that
something was coming. His face took
on a look of horror, and dropping the
banjo he rushed over to Arthur, grabbed
him by the neck and jerked him
away from the log exclaiming the
while, 'My God, man ! do you know
what you have done?'
"Poor Arthur was thunderstruck and
turning as white as a sheet stammered:
No.'
" 'Why, that is poison ivy you have
been handling and your life is in dan
ger.' " 'What s-s-shall I do? what shall
I do?' and the boy went charging back
and forth wringing his hands, appealing
first to one and then to another. 'To
think,' he continued, 'that I should be
poisoned 400 miles from hose and no
help for it! Oh! boys, must I die?
Can't you do something for me?'
" 'There is only one hope for you,'
said Bob H , 'you must grease your
self.' " 'Grease myself ! Oh ! thanks, Bob ;
where is the grease?
" 'On the wagon wheel,' suggested
George Washington, the colored serv
ant, and in less time than it takes to tell
a wheel was taken off the wagon, while
Arthur stripped off his shirt and com
menced rubbing wagon grease on his
face and hands. Then Jack remem
bered a bottle of neatsfoot oil in the
ammunition chest and inside of five
minutes Arthur was standing before
the fire one mass of grease, and while
the filthy stuff trickled off his finger
ends the boys began telling the most
harrowing tales that their imagination
could conceive about different unfortu
nate people who had been poisoned by
the ivy.
"We kept Arthur standing before that
hot fire till 2 o'clock, expecting eTery
moment to begin swelling up, but tbfe
swelling failed to make its appearance
and finally Jack told such a horrible
and improbable story that it dawned
upon him all of a sudden that he had
been sold. He was so glad to escape
the poison that he forgot to get mad
until he attempted to wash the wagon
grease off his face and hands and then
the air began to smoke scandalously."
Feck's Sun.
The Use or Arsenic
The woman of ordinary intelligence
ought to know without being told that
arsenical toilet preparations are dan
gerous to the health, and yet not a
.week passes that I am not in receipt of
letters, most of them showing thought
and ability, asking me to recommend
some cosmetic for the elimination at
pimples, andfrequesting to be told if
arsenic is as safe for an internal medi
cine as it is for a complexion wash.
These correspondents know that arsenic
is a deadly poison, and yet they talk
about ita use as if it were the simplest
and safest drug in the world. Arsenical
doses will put an end to pimples, an4
what is more, an end to the life of th
person using them. Eleanor Kirk,
COSBY, Eds 3s IFrops.
NUMBER 28.
STUFF AND NONSENSE
An early settler A cocktail.
Fbee of Charge An empty shot
gun. "Love Laughsjat Locksmiths!" Yes;
not at wedlock though.
The expenses of an electric company
may be summed up as current ex
penses. "Is your sweetheart a tailor-made-girl?"
"No, she's quite domestic; in
short, home maid."
"A blasted life," as the laborer re
marked when he struck the dynamita
cartridge in mistake.
There are some things a woman can
do as well as & man, but scratching a
match isn't one of them.
What a vast difference it makes with
the average man whether he picks up
a carpet tack with his fingers or his
heel.
Habry (with his arm around her
waist) What a dear, kind girl you are.
Maud A fellow feeling makes us won
drous kind.
Miss Willing of New York denies
that she is going to marry young John
Jaoob Astor. She may bti Willing, but
the inference is that he never Astor.
Hotel Guest Now you are sure this
bed is quite clean? Bell Boy Yes sir,
the sheets were only washed this morn
ing. Just feel 'em; they ain't dry yet
Judge As you have been convicted
of the crime with which you were
charged, I now proceed to pass sen
tence. Criminal Cut it short Judge,
if you please.
"So Jones took water in his address
last night !" "Aha ! I thought he'd back
down!" "Yes, the papers state that
'large portions of his speech were
drovyned in cheers,'"
Little Girl (during a thunder-storm)
.-Mamma, do they have music in
Heaven? "Yes, mv dear." Little
Girl Well, I guess Wagner must be
leading the orchestra.
. "Pa, what is accident insurance?
Accident insurance ? A technical termt
my son, signifying that when you meet
with a mishap it will be an accident if
you get any insurance.
De Smith Don't you think Mis3
Jinks has a very bright expression on
her face? Jones I can't say that her
face is very bright,but there is no doubt
about her being lantern jawed.
Anxious Mother Don't you know
that George Washington never, never
told a lie? Sinful Boy Maybe his
mamma didn't care how much cakes
and jam ho took, and he wasn't 'fraid to
tell her.
A little boy carrying some eggs
home from the shop dropped them.
"Did you break any?" asked his
mother, when he told her of it. "No,"
said the little fellow; "but I gue3S the
shells came off some of 'em."
Lady de Pbimbose What do you
think of the new duchess? Mrs. Nor
mandy Oh, she's a perfect phonograph!
Lady de Primrose I don't understand.
What do you mean? Mrs. Normandy
Well, you see, she speaks without
thinking.
"I wonder if Mr. Goodkatch will
come this evening?" said Susie to her
father. "I hope not," replied her
father. "Why, father, what can you
mean? "I am not prepared to return
that money I borrowed of him yet I
want a few days more."
Miss DePuyseb Did you hear of my
maid Mary's fall? Yan Dump In
love? Miss DePuyser No; she fell
down stairs and broke the chandelier in
the fall, a pot of flowers and the hor
rid thing! the handle of my new
parasol. Van Dump Anything else?
Miss De Puyser Let me see Oh, yes,
her neck.
Mb. Johnsing Fse feeling mighty
bad. I reckon you had better make me
some aassyfrass tea." Mrs. Johnsing
If vou feels so bad maybe I had better
run quick for de doctor. Mr. Johnsing
What yer want ter run for de doctor
for? What yer want ter hurry me inter
me grabe datter way for? Kaint yer
let me die slow?
Aocobding to naturalists, a scorpion
will produce 65 young, a common fly
will lay 144 eggs, a leech 150, a spider
170, a frog 1,100. A female moth will
produce 1,100 egg, and a tortoise 1,000;
a gall insect has laid 50,000 eggs, a
shrimp 6,000. One naturalist found
over 12,000 eggs in a lobster, another,
21,009. Leuwenhceck compute 4,000,
000 as the crab's sharer .
"i