Newspaper Page Text
V/ X\ "*T ft' tfflL*IU l! :i Ofsf^ I^S, O N THE IfiON RANGES: MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE MAKE A TRIP TO THE MINES. What They law on the Iron Kanscn How Iron Ore la Mined and ,Ship- pedThe State Receive* $1UU,SU2.2!0 From One Mine, Alone. From the Pioneer PTQSS, March 18. The legislative party has returned from the trip to the wonderland of Minnesota. After spending two days on the Vermillion and Mesaba Iron ranges they returned to luluth where they were banqueted on Saturday evening, and left at midnight for home, arriving in St. Paul early jesterday morning. On the Iron ranges they saw for them- seJvea something of what had so often been told of the mineral wealth of the state. They also saw a large amount of pine timber. One thing they did not understand and could not until they saw it, that is the character of the country In which the mines are located. It was a great surprise to many of the visitors when they looked out of the windows of the sleeper early on Friday morning and saw the covering of snow which still mantled the earth. They noted the scarcity of trees and that the snow had boon blown away, the cause of which ^\as that the country was nearly all rocks, ami boulders, with only here and there patches of earth to sustain vegeta tion. It was several degrees colder than zero when the party alighted at Ely and, after a most excellent breakfast at the Exchange and Oliver hotels, visited the celebrated Chandler mine. This Is said to be the most wonderful iron mine of its size in the world. It produces two grades of Itessemer ore, "Chandler," guaranteed at t^{ per cent of iron and .05 of phosphorus, and "Long Lake," at 60 per cent of iron and 05 of phosphorus. In 18SS, when the Duluth & Iron Range road was ex tended to Ely, the Chandler mine shipped f6,71 tons of ore. During the next three years the shipments aggregated Over a Million Tons. Tho banner year was 1892, when there were shipped from this mine alone over 050,000 tons of Bessemer ore. The ship ments for 1&93 and 1894 increased the out put by nearly a million tons, making the aggregate product of the mine since it be came a producer 2,724,525 tons. Capt. Pen gilly, who has direction of the Chandler and is also mayor of Ely, escorted such of the party as wished to go underground, and ex plained to them the method pursued In this mine. There are four shafts to this mine, the lowest level being 476 feet below the sur face. From the shafts galleries eitend at different levels, and the visitors were af forded glimpses of shadowy forms carrying candles as the different levels were passed until the bottom was reached. Here the candles, which had been extinguished in the descent, were relighted. Miners' lamps are not used in these mines, and, although candles are more expensive, the air is purer in consequence. Capt. Pengilly's lead was then fo lowed through a portion of the low er level and into several of the headings, where the nuners were at work with dr.ll, pick and shovel. Few of the visitors under stood how the timbers are placed in the mines, but in the headings they saw the men at work placing the bents, in the form of an inverted TJ, which are planked above, form'ug the ceiling. The headings are blasted out, and the visitors wltressed the preparations for blast ing and the removal of the ore and rock after the blasts had been made. The power dri Is employed are operated by compressed air forced through pipes from the com pressors above ground. At frequent inter vals in the galleries were chutes, through which the ore is loaded to the tram oars from the next highest level. Tracks run through all the galleries, and all lead to the fchafta, where the ears are hoisted on the cages, which are simple platform elevators. The loaded tram cars, when they reach the surface, are run out on the trestles above the stock piles and their contents auto matically dumped to the stock pile, or, in the shipping season, directly into the cars which convey the ore to the docks at the la&e. The Chandler is a hard ore, which has been crushed Into small pieces by natural forces, and consequently the expense of production Is less than at the (Minnesota mine, where the ore Is taken out in large lumps, which must be crushed before it passes to the stock pile. At the present time there are over 400 men employed in and about the Chandler mine, and ore is be ing hoisted from two of the four shafts and over a quarter of a million tons are now on the stock pile awaiting shipment. 'ihe party returned to the train, which consisted of four sleepers, a day coach and the business cars of President Greatstnger of the Duluth & Iron Ranee, and the di rectors of the Duluth, Mesaba & Northern At the station the Ely band was blowin" music ana a number of the ladies and gentlemen of the party joined in a dance on the depot platform, enjoying the exercise in a zero temperature. Ely is situated at the end of the Duluth & Iron Ilange -oad and tho train was headed towards Tower. The section of country be tween these clti'es is rocky and desolate, the road mnnlng along the crest of the Vermil lion range. A magnificent view of the country is had on this part of the trip, and the air is so clear'that one can see a' lon distance. Soudan, two miles northeast of Tower, was reached at 10 30 a. m., and the train was backed up close to the 'Minne sota" mine. Nearly all of the members of the party went below at the Minnesota, and a kodak fiend could have made a fortune shooting the ladles and gentlemen as they appeared in costume. They were clothed in overalls, jumpers, mackintosh coats and their hends covered with tarpaulins and looked like a comic opera company or a crew of freebooters under the leadership of "Sam the Pirate." Underground they found the mine well supplied with arc electric Mghts and the nUning of a somewhat different nature, as the ore Is not broken up, as in the Shandler, and the rock Is also less broken, avoiding, In part, the necessity for heavy timbering. In 1 ae Mflnnesota there Is less trouble from water than In the Chandler, where it Is necessary to operate the pwnps continu ously. Theie was much of interest above ground, and the visitors watched the im mense Corliss engines as they slorvly colled the cables which hoisted the cages In the shafts. They visited the crusher, where the lumps are broken up as easily as sand stone under a hammer. At tho foot of the hill, where the shafts are located, lay the town of Soudan, where the 700 men now employed in the Minnesota live. Nearly all of them own their own houses, but they are on leased land, and tho leases of ore ex tend under the town. The ore Is all hard, and "Minnesota No 1 Bessemer" Is a standard grade with all fur nace operators. While the percentage of Iron Is high, less than half of the ore from the Minnesota mine comes wdthin the Bes semer limit as to phosphorus. The power house, where the air for operating the drills, etc., Is compressed, is located on the shores of Vermillion lake, some distance north of the mine. The Minnesota was the first shipping mine in the state, beginning in 1884, with 62,124 tons, and gradually in creasing until 18S9, when 535,538 tons of ore were shipped from this property. In '90 and '91, 532,272 and 517,570 tons were shipped respectively. The grand total of the output of this mine, including '94, has been 4,291,355 tons. From Soudan the train was run back to Tower, where an excellent dinner was served at the Hotel Vermillion, and at 2.30 p. m. the p.irty left for the Mesabi range. Here the visitors saw an entirely different system of mining. They had seen the mines where the ore i3 taken from the bowels of the earth, and at the celebrated Blwabik mine, where the first stop was made, they 7 jff^if^^^^H^^il^tl saw the open-pit system. That some other method must be employed was apparent, for the top of the body of ore, which has been uncovered, lies thirty feet below the sur face of the ground nnd is about seventy flve feet thick. The ore is of the first qual ity of soft Bessemer, and during the past two years 241,548 tons have been shipped. It Is estimated that there are over 20,000,- 000 tons of ore on the three forties em braced In this mine. The output of the Canton miine, which was also visited, dur ing the same period, has been 238,209 tons. No -work is now toeing done at the BiSwablk, but at the Canton, widen is an under ground mine, about 400 men are now at work. There are nearly 800,000 tons of ore In the stock piles of tho Canton, 75,000 of which were carried over from last season, because of the lighter demand for ore. At Virginia. The party then proceeded to Virginia, whjre the largest group of mines on the range is located. This is a thriving city, and, although it was wiped out by flro in July last, is now tho second city In size in St. Louis county. It now has a population of 3,600, and they are wide-awake, go ahead people. The city has well graded streets, which are lighted by electricity, and there is no danger of another conflagra tion, as the city is now provided with a system of water works and an efficient fire department. It was 7 p. m. when the legis lative party arrived, and under the escort of citizens marched to the Hotel Virginia. At 8 p. m. all sat down to a banquet which was by all odds the best meal served dur ing the trip. Dr. William Alden presided as toastmas ter, and the address of welcome was made by Dr. Stuart Bates, mayor of Virginia, who spoke briefly of the wealth of minerals and timber on the Mesaba range, and said over 3,500 men were employed within a radius of three miles of the city. Senator A. T. Stebbins responded on behalf of the visitors, and Lieut. Gov. Day, who was the next speaker, suggested that Virginia was the proper place to locate a school of miner alogy. Neil Mclnnis responded to the toast, "Our Guests." and was given an ovation. Messrs. Dahl and Grondnhl a'so spoke on behalf of the visitors. J. C. Palmer spoke to the toast, "The Phoenix City," and M. C. Palmer told of "Virginia's Needs." Senator Howard followed, and said that "anything Virginia wants goes Miss Courtenay sang two selections, and was followed by J. C. Morehead, who spoke of the "Mining Interests of the Mesaba Range" and the legislators' duty in con nection therewith. Speaker Van Sant spoke on behalf of the house and paid a high compliment to the ladies. Mrs. Ozmun spoke on behalf of the ladies, and told of her pleasure at meeting the "F. F. Vs." Mrs. Stebbins, who was one of the ladies who went below at Soudan, told of her ex perience in mining. The gem of the even ing was the response to the toast, "The Ladies," by W. R. McGarry. The banquet was an unqualified success, and the social session which followed af forded the gentlemen of the party to be come hotter acquainted with the Virginians, and all who participated in the two affairs will long remember the trip to Virginia as the pleasantest feature of the junket to the iron ranges. On Saturday morning the train was run to the Auburn mine, two miles distant from "Virginia, and here the visitors were break fasted in the mining camp. The party re turned to Virginia during the morning, and visited the Missabe Mountain mine, gener ally known as The Oliver Mine. It is in the city of Virginia and the state has received a royalty of 157,242.50 on the 628,970 tons of ore which have been sh-pped during the two yeaas it has been in operation. The one cent per ton mining tax on the output of this property increases the state's income from this property for the seasons of '94 and '95 to $163,532.20. This mine is located on indemnity school land and the diamond drill shows the de posit of ore to be 320 feet in thickness After visiting the Lone Jack mine the party returned to the train and started for Two Harbors, the lake port of the Duluth & Iron Range road. Lunch was served on the .train and few of the passengers knew when they arrived at Two Harbors that they bad just descended the longest and steepest grade In the state. In the first thirteen miles out from the lake the track rises over 1,300 feet, a grade of nearly 2 per cent. At Two Harbors the shops and round house of the road were first visited, and the legislators gazed upon the monster locomotives In the round house stalls. Several of the newest engines are 100 ton consolidations, and their hauling ca pacity is twenty-five empty ore cais up the grade out of Two Harbors. The ore docks, four in number, were next visited, and the legislators were afforded an op portunity to see how the ore is trans ferred from the cars to the vessels. The cars axe run up on the docks and the ore dumped through the hopper bottoms o* the cars to the pockets of the docks. When a vessel is loading the long steel chutes are lowered.the gates of the pockets opened and the ore pours down into the hold of the vessel. The cargo is then trimmed and the vessel, within four houis after reaching the dock, clears for the Eastern lake ports, where the cargo is transferred and reshipped to the furnaces. One of the most interesting points at Two Harbors is the chemical laboratory presided over by Mr. Greene, chemist of the Minnesota Iron company. Here sam ples from every cargo of ore are tested and the price paid for the ore Is based on the determination of the chemist. From each cargo samples are taken from different parts, aggregating about 500 pounds. This sample is put through a crusher, then thoroughly mixed and quartered. One fourth of the sample is then put through the next crusher, and after being mixed another fourth is taken, and so on until there remains but a few pounds, which Is reduced to a pulp. Of this one pound is retained and about one-half of an ounce used for the chemical analysis. The pulp Is first baked In crucibles, them treated with chemicals, everything being carefully weighed and measured.When the determina tion is reached, the result Is recorded and telegraphed to the consignee. The ore being Sold on a Sliding: Scale based upon the guarantee for metallic iron, phosphorus, etc., the chemical determina tion from this small sample fixes the price to be paid for the cargo, -which averages upwards of 2,500 tons. The party reached Duluth at about 4:30 p. m., and after viewing the city from the top of the incline returned to the Spald ing hotel, where a banquet was served at 8 p. m. At midnight the visitors again boarded the train and returned to St. Pnul arriving at 7 a. m. yesterday. It would be impossible to mention all who contributed to the success of the trip, but to Nell Mclnnis, chairman of the honse committee on mines and mining, belongs the Hon/'s share of the credit. He was ably assisted by W. A. Cant and J. M. Smith, the other two representatives from the Fifty-fourth district, who were untiring In their efforts to make the trip a success. Senator Spencer, who represents the dis trict In the upper house, was also busy. At Carlton the party was- met by the ir repressible Jim Boggs, who did not rest a minute until after the party left Duluth on Saturday night. Mayor Lewis of Duluth, Dan. H. Moon of Virginia trsd Mr. Will cuts of Duluth also met the train at Carl ton. Joseph Sellwood was with the party when it left St. Paul and no one -would have supposed he was vice president of the Duluth & Iron. Range road. He was quiet and unassuming, yet he was the power be hind the scene that directed the move ments of the expedition, and his ability to carry out a plan was ih troughly demon strated on this occasion. He was at home on the train and at the mines, where for many years he was in full charge of the Chandler, which was visited on Friday. At Duluth President Greatsinger of the Du luth & Iron Range met *ho"party, but did not make the trip, but remained at home to forward supplies to the expedition. Mr, Windom, of the Duluth, Mlssabe & North ern, also accompanied the party from St. Paul, and he was constantly occupied in helping to make things run smoothly. At Duluth Thomas Owens, superintendent of the Duluth & Iron Range Monroe Nichols, Robert Fitzgerald, "Billy" Craig and several other Zenith City gentlemen joined the party and accompanied them on the trip to both ranges. They are .the princes of entertainers and every desire of the junk eters was anticipated by them. Of'course Dan Moon "didn't do a thing." Anyway he did not respond to the toast at the Virginia banquet, but ihds jolly face was as welcome as sunshine whenever he appeared upon the scene. Another Virginian who was indis pensable was John Owens, the "first mayor of that town. If he left anything undone it was not known to any of the visitors, as he must have discharged every duty fully. On every hand the visitors received a cordial reception, and it seemed that every one was attempting to excel his neighbor in extending courtesies to the legislators and those who accompanied them. The only unpleasant Incident of the trip was that some of the visitors witnessed the unfortunate accident at Duluth, but thos^e who were in charge of the party were in no way responsible and knew nothing of the exhibition until it was under way. Washington Favored Diversified FarmtitR. One ol the firmest believers in diver sified farming in the South was no less a personage than George Washington, who is acknowledged to have been very successful in his agricultural enter prises. When he inherited Mount Ver non in 1759 he was twenty-seven years old. The estate comprised less than three thousand acres, but soon after he came into possession he added to it 5,500 acres by purchase, which gave him ten miles of river front. Then began the system of improve ments and cultivation, which subse quently made Mount Vernon the most valuable landed property in Virginia. He drained the land wherever needed, he rotated the crops, got the best farm implements then in existence, built and repaired fences, had his own grist mill, had his own smith for repairing tools, his own carpenter shop, looms, and he built scores of houses and cabins for his slaves. His five farms ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 acres each, and each farm had its overseer and its allotment of negroes and stock. About the beginning of the revolution he had one year 580 acres in grass, 400 acres in oats, 700 acres in wheat, 800 acres in corn, with several hundred acres in beans, buckwheat, potatoes and tobacco. His live stock consisted of 140 horses, 112 cows, 226 working oxen, steers and heifers, 500 sheep and over 500 hogs running in woods and marshes. He constantly employed 250 negro slaves, and kept a gang of plow3 going the entire year when the state of weather and ground would permit. One year he killed 150 hogs ror the use of his family and the negroes de pendent upon him. All these operations we're carried on with perfect method, and his abundance of food crops ren dered him practically independent. In those days Southern farmers could not secure corn and meat from the West, even if they would, and were forced to depend on the productions of their own lands, just as the low price of cotton will force their descendents to do. Pittsburg Dispatch. A Long Swim, When the conversation fell upon the Elbe and the Gascogne and the narrow chance of escaping alive from a wreck in the wintry sea the man from a far northern British province was moved to tell the story of his piano tunei\ The piano tuner ears his bread by traveling from point to point in the far northern province and tuning the few pianos owned in thos parts. Some thing in his hearty manner and strong figure led one of his patrons to ask a .few questions concerning his life, and the piano tuner answered In effect thus: "I am a Manxman, and I have in herited a rugged constitution. I sel dom wear gloves, even in your winters, and much of the time I go without an overcoat. For many years I followed the sea, and I had one adventure that few would have lived to tell of. It was a midnight of a December when I was ordered aloft to stow the main royal, and before I knew what I was about I fell from the yardarm into the sea. "No one on deck had noticed my fall, and apparently no one had heard my cry, for the ship kept right on. There I was. with heavy boots and a heavy coat, aloue amid the waves of the At lantic. You may not believe me, but I did not feel greatly alarmed. 1 man aged to get out of my boots and coat, and then I began to swim to keep my self afloat. Somehow I felt that I should be saved. We had passed a ves sel about sunset, and I thought she'd come along and pick me up. 1 had been a good swimmer all my life, and I kept afloat till daybreak, when that other vessel did cfm along and fish me out, four hours after I fell in. We got in New York three days after my ship arrived, and when I came aboard, as she lay at her wharf, my mates took me for a ghost."New York Sun. Abraham Lincoln's Grandfather. R. T. Durrett of Louisville, at one time an editorial writer on the Courier Journal, in a letter to City Controller Sturgeon, makes the following refer ence to the grandfather of Abraham Lincoln: "The grandfather of President Lin coln settled in Jefferson county, Ken tucky, in 1780 on a tract 400 of acres of land, where the old Long Run Bap tist meeting house now stands. The land warrant which was issued to him for this land bears date of March 4, 1780, and his name appears in it as 'Abraham Linkhorn.' He was killed on this land by the Indians in 1786. Morgan Hughes also owned a tract of 500 acres of land, adjoining the Lin coln tract, and, like Lincoln, was one of the earliest settlers of Jefferson county. On this land of Hughes' an old station, known as Hughes' Station, was built at an early date, and Lincoln was residing in this station when he was killed by the Indians." An Economical Doctor. FriendI can't think why you don't attend to yourself instead of having that young Dr. Gravely? Eminent PhysicianI can't afford it, my boy. My charges are two guineas a visit, while Dr. Gravely only charges five shillings.Gcod Company. BOBBED THE BOBBERS HOW A PROMINENT IDAHO MAN GOT HIS START. WltnenHed. a Stage Robbery, Frisrht ned the Bandits Out of Their Wit* and Got a Share of the Bullion Could Never Find Out to Whom the Gold Belonged. "There are some mighty queer peo ple up in Idaho," said the cattleman, as he gently rested his high-heeled boots on the radiator in front of thG hotel jerk's desk, "mighty queer. There are some of the big bugs up there who would hate awful bad to see their pedi grees in print. Why, say, I know a man in Boisey, business man, has a fine house, big ranch, in Southern Idaho, wife prominent in society, been a member of the legislature, talked of congress, and all that, and you would not guess in a month of Sundays how he got his start". "Salting a mine! I should say not. That's too risky. No stage robbery. Yes, sir. Oh, I don't suppose that peo ple generally know it, but it's a fact, just the same. Bobthat ain't his name-^he told me one night when I was stopping at his ranch and he got confidentialtold me all about it. Of course, I don't mention any names, 'cause it might make trouble, even yet, and Bobthat ain't his name, mind youalways treated me particularly white. "You. see. Bob came out to Colorado In the 70s from some little town in Ioway and went to punching cattle at $20 a month and board he -hadn't been there long enough to get over being a tenderfoot till one day he got into a row with the boss and was fired. Bob demanded his pay. The boss said be didn't have any money with him that he could spare, and started to make out a check on a Denver bank. t^ find his way down a steep hillside or go back. So he started down. About half-way down he came to a wide ledge and stopped to rest the pony, which, by tho way, had gone lame from climb ing around ami the rocks. The pony kept looking down the canyon and finally whinnied. Bob looked that way, too, and there, away down where the canyon joined on to a big valley, there was a stage robbery In full blast. It must have been a mile away, but Bob declared that it didn't seem more than 100 yards, he could see things so plain. There was the old-styled Concord coach and four mules, one of the lead ers shot dead In his tracks. The pas sengers were standing up in a row, hold!tig up their hands, while a man was holding a Winchester on 'em. An other road agent was taking care of the driver, while a third one was doing the business. Bob had read about such things, and it all looked as natural as life. He led his pony around behind a rock and tied him, and then came back and stood behind a pine tree and watched the show. "Pretty soon they cut the dead mule's harness, the passengers gDt back into the coach, the road agents commenced? fo shoot to liven up the mules, and away they went down the valley road around a bend, and that was the last Bob ever saw of the stage. When the stage was gone, Bob noticed that the robbers gathered around a little iron box and commence-1 breaking it open with a miner's pick. When they got it open they seemed to divide tJie con tents amongst them. They led the'r horses from a clump of trees and put their plunder in the blankets fastened in rolls behind the saddles. Next they mounted and rode right up the canyon toward Bob. Then he was scared again. *'As the stage robbers drew nearer he kept shifting around to keep behind the little pine tree, and prayed that the pony would have sen&e enough to keep still. And he did. Robert supposed the robbers would follow on up the canyon past him, but no just as they reached a point right below him they w^ftSt** "He Stood Behind a Pine Tree and Watched the Snow." Bob was a little warm under the collar and intimated that he considered that greenbacks or most any kind of money might be safer than the old man's check, which I guess was the case but this was a round-up, and there was a whole lot of cowboys standing around grinning and the old man could not stand to be sassed by a tenderfoot, so he whipped out a six-shooter and threatened to shoot the lad if he didn't apologize. A Branding-Iron Apology. "Bob thought his time had come, sure and grabbed up a branding-iron outen the fire to defend himself. The old man was a little surprised to see him spunk up so and neglected to shoot, and the first thing he knew Bob had hit him with that branding-iron just back of the left ear, and then he didn't know anything for about an hour. "They carried the old man into the shanty and worked with him until finally they brought him to, and the first thing he said was to arrest Bob for assault with intent to commit mur rlcsr. Pretty soon the foreman of the round-up took Bob to one side and says: 'Got any friends around here?' 'No,' says Bob. 'Why?' 'Tenderfoot, ain't you? xes, I suppose I am.' 'In that case,' says the foreman, 'you had better clear out of here. Don't wait for your money. The old man is right after your scalp. He has sent a man to bring the sheriff. The old man runs the court house gang, and you will be railroaded straight to the pen. I have talked to the boys, and they say that you were nofbo be blamed, but that won't cut any figure with the jury the sheriff will fix you. You'd better ,not Ipse any time.' .D "Of course it was only a play to scare Bob out of the country and get his wages. There'd be a warrant sworn out, and then he would be a fugitive from justice. That's the way so many outlaws get started. Bob fell right into tne scheme, and as soon as it was dark saddled up his pony and hit the trail. It was about the time the Gunnison country was being opened up, and Bob struck off west through the moun tains, intending to go there. When morning came he found that he was off the road, traveling a trail in the mountains in fact, he was lost in the mountains three days without see ing a living soul. There was plenty of grass for the pony, he shot rabbits for himself, and slept comfortably at night, rolled up in his blankets, but he couldn't find his way out of the mountains. Day after day he and his little broncho limped along the ftcan yons and climbed over the ridges. Be ing a tenderfoot, he persisted in climb ing up instead of following "down some water course. Watching? a Stnare Robbe j-. "Well, anyway, on the third day, just a little before sundown, he came to a Jumptng-off-place. He had either to stopped, dismounted and commenced leading their horses up the hill toward him, and then, for the first time, he noticed a trail that zig-zagged up the hillside to the very ledge where he stood, and then it wound around the rocks up to Ihe messa he had just left. He was fairly caught. His *)ony was too lame to travel fast, and, besides, the path was in easy rifl shot all the way up. He was afraid to surrender to the outlaws, and there was no pos sible chance to hide. Something had to be done, and he determined to fight. Frighten ed Robbers. "The robbers kept coming up the hill, stopping occasionally to rest. When the foremost one was about 100 feet away Bob took aim at the white spot in the forehead of the horse he was leading and fireck When the little puff of smoke blew away Bob saw a dead horse rolling down the hillsLle until it landed in the trail at the bot tom, while the other horses and the outlaws were falling over one another trying to see which could get down first. Bob had the magazine of his Winchester well filled, and he just pumped lead into them robbers so fast that they must have thought that there was a dozen of him. They didn't fire a "Convinced that He Could not Es cape Detection." single shot. There was no shelter for them in the canyon, so they just flew down the trail, taking up the dismount ed robber on one of the other horees. Bob kept popping away, but he didn't hit anything, and the robbers never stopped until they disappeared up the valley. After Bob had recovered from his scare he climbed down the hill to the dead horse, and finding a good blanket tied to the saddle, he appro priated it as one of the spoils of war. J&* When he opened it up there was about $3,000 in gold bullion. Theftage rob bed was carrying gold bullion from some mining camp to the mint at Den ver. "Bob had no idea where It came from, because he didn't know what p*art of the country he was in. But he took the bullion along with the blanket and added them both to the roll behind his own saddle, and started to make himself scarce, thinking that the rob bers might come back. In half an hour it was dark. He lost his way and wan dered around in the mountains for "They Carried the Old Man In.* three days. He had intended to tell the first people he met and restore the gold, but when he fell in with two prospectors he was afraid to tell for fear they would murder him for the money. Next day he reached a cattle ranch, but still he kept his secret, as he feared that he was not far from the scene of his first trouble. Wealthy, But Poor. "Two days afterwards he reached a little railroad town, where he saw a cowboy selling his pony and saddle by auction. He sold his own and bought a ticket for Denver. Then he got pan icky again. He thought that every man on the train was an officer or a detec tive looking for stage-robbers and run away cowboys. He was now atraid *f being accused of complicity in the stage robbery. He longed to be back on the old Iowa farm. He determined to go home and negotiate the return of the bullion at a safe distance. He took, a small piece of the bullion up town to a jeweler and offered it for sale. The man asked him where he got it. He told him that he got it' in the moun tains, which was true. The jeweler gave him about one-third the value of the bullion in greenbacks, showing he believed the bullion had been stolen. Bob learned that a poor man with his blankets loaded down with gold was an object of suspicion. He began to scheme to get rid of the gold. He walked down to the river and was going to throw it in, but some one seemed to be always happening along at the wrong time. He became satis fied that he was watched. He went to a lodging house, engaged a room, left his blankets and the accursed gold be hind in the room, and, dodging out the back way. hurried to the depot. No train out for twelve hours. He hustled back to his room for fear some one mightexamine his blankets and notify the police. But the roll was all right. He was new convinced that he could not escape detection. He had regis tered under an assumed name, and he determined to stick to it and avoid dis gracing his family. He went to the depot at train time, boldly carrying his blankets and the gold concealed in them, and was surprised when he was not arrested at the ticket window. i left Denver at last and, after dodging from one place to another, reachad Carson, Nev., where he exchanged the bullion for currency. He by this time felt that he had delayed his confession too long, and with the fear of the pen itentiary on him he struck off into Idaho. He bought a small herd of cat tle and soon had a fine ranch. Then he married a girl whose dad owned a store in Boisey. The old man died and left him the store. Bob got richer every day, went to the legislature,, built a fine house in town, sent his children East to school and was gen erally prosperous, but he never made any inquiries about that stage robbery. He only knows tint it took place some where in Colorado, and that he got one-third of the boodle. And hi* is now continually tormented with the fear ttuit the story will come out on him. He has been putting off a visit to his people in Ioway because he hxtes to tell it. He asked m.3 what to do. I told him to say nothing, but siw wood, What do you think?" Second Growth on Pine L-tnds. Large areas of pine land in Lower Michigan, from which the timber has been cut, have passed back to the con trol of the state on account of the non payment of taxes. The purchasers have thought that this sandy soil, es pecially where it has been burned ov.r will not produce a second growth of pine, for a long time, and it is, there fore, abandoned as a perpetual wilder ness of deciduous coppice-wood, value less for timber. The elitor of the Northwestern Lumberman quotes the opinion of Mr. Carey, special ag^at of the forestry division of the de^ai-tm^nt of agriculture, who his been making investigations throughout the sttte, and has arrived at the conclusion that tms land can again produce as fine a growth of white and red pine as ever grew on this continent All that is nec essary, he says, is to kesp out fires, browsing sheep and cattle, and in forty years the second growth of pine will make profitable cuttings, as it has done in Maine, New Hampshire and other parts of New England. It wijl be a. fortunate thing for Michigan if this hopeful view proves correct. In any case it is worth while for the state to take these lands in hand, and begin at once not only to pass laws for protect ing their young timber growth, but to enforce these laws with vigor. We should expect to find that lands which have been burned over and over again have lost much of their original timber producing power. But this is a g^od reason for husbanding all the fertility that remains.Garden and Forest. Right in It. HayrickHow is your son getting on at college? TreetopVery good, indeed he stoocl ninety-eighth out of a class of 100. ^s i 1 i i