Newspaper Page Text
I A 't 1 1 -V i ^v, TOL. 21. NO. 11. The subject had turned ta occult ism, when the student who had been listening attentively said: "I was skeptical for a number of years in re gard to the stories I heard'.of occult manifestations until I came face to face with a practical demonstration right here in New Orleans which con vinced me that there are many strange laws of nature of which we are entire ly ignoraiyt. One__day I met^a- stran- ger on St. Charles street who spoke to me as familiarly as if he had known me for years. 'I arrived in New Orleans yester day from Europe/ he said, 'and I had a strange premonition that I would meet a man of your description and that he would aid me.' "I laughed, and replied that I would bo glad to do anything in my power. To make a long story short, we be came good friends, and were in the habit of seeing each other quite fre quently. He was greatly interested in occultism, but I, only laughed at his many stories and told him I was a poor subject for a convert to his theories. Finally one day he induced me to place myself under his 'influ ence' and become 'perfectly receptive.' To humor him I did what he suggest- Quite recently a famous novelist called in a great doetor and asked him what was the matter with him. All the various symptoms were thor oughly gone into, and an exhaustive verbal examination was made, and .the medical man then spoke as fol lows: "Yoti are selling your nerves you cannot sell them and keep them, too! You must either work with less in tensity or you must change your oc cupation. So long as you continue to work your imagination and your nervous system as you have been do ing lately, so long will you be subject to breakdown such as the. present one." First of all, there is the writer of romance, who puts on paper events and conversations and scenery such as has never had any foundation in fact. Where does he get lfls material from? It comes, so it is popularly &aid, from his "inner consciousness." I "There is no Italian town more pic turesque than this Sicilian capital, Palermo," writes a traveler.. "In its port lie crowded the queerest coast ing craft I.have ever set eyes on. Sail ing ships of all rigs, their hulls paint ed allithe .colors of the -rainbow, nose up against tno quay, where mule carts, whose drivers are shouting at the top of their voices, wait to take away the merchandise. The narrow street where the custom-house officers examine the goods brought ashore is a place /of terrific noise. When a driver, two clerks and two custom house officers are discussing the con tents of a bale or a cask, it seems as though murder must be committed somebody signs something, the cart moves on and everybody laughs. "Marionette theaters have an at traction for me and I hang about the doors like a small boy. The door wavs are not Inviting, generally lead- Mr. Brown had a very intelligent dog, of whom he was proud and to whom he was greatly attached. One day his son, a rather wild young man, came to him and told' him that there was a man in Boston who could teach dogs talk. The old man, easily deceived where his pet was concerned,^ told the boy to take him uj and let the profes sor look at him, and, if he thought it worth "while, to teach him, if it wouldn't eost more than $200. The son was in need of money about this time, so he told the old man that the first payment would be $100. His father handed it over, and Charles took the dog off and killed him. After spending the ntoney, he went home and told Mr. Brown that the professor told him i$ would take a month to teach the dog, and to* come up in two weeks with $50 and see how he was getting aldng. Sir Harry Johnston, who recently returned to England* from a visit to Liberia, during which he traversed the whole of/the coast line and made sev eral expeditions into the interior, is very hopeful of the future of that country, which, he says, has made great progress since he last saw it twenty years ago. United States Con sul General Evans at London, who has reported the matter to the state de partment, summarizes Si Harry Johnston's observations in regard to Ldberia as follows: The Liberian gov ernment has so encouraged the use of English among the natives that there is scarcely any important tribe or chief that has not several .individuals able to Bpeak intelligible English, and therefore act as interpreters. The na tives are well disposed toward the white man, and consequently^jtrft^eleTS have no difficulty in dealing with UNKNOWN LAW OF NATURE Queer Sights in Palermo within the iex few seconds. But ,is in its place. The theater is the after-dinner lounge of everybody newspapers are sold at the doors the audience knows all the members of the orchestra and chats to them, and each singer has his personal friends in front who applaud him vigorously." Dog Talked Too Much Native Wealth of Liberia &mM htyWfcwWtyUw/|fW*j ed. He% Drawing on Nerve Force placed a pencil in my hand and quite unconsciously I began to write rapidly in a strange hand. After completing nine pages I signed the last page with a name, I had never heard before. What grange force compelled me I know- not. It Just seemed that I must write. AH this time my friend was scanning the pages 'eagerly. When he saw the name at thfi .fiiid^e. oittereiL-an. exclamation of surprise. "'Did you ever know_that man?' he asked eagerly. "I told him I did not. 'Well, that man was my dearest friend. He was drowned 10 years ago in the China Sea!' "You can imagine my surprise. The letter I had written was an eerie af fair, describing life/in the spirit land, and you can imagine the interest with which I read -it. It took me several days to recover from the strange shock of it all, and since that day I have never tried another experiment or attempted to delve into the mys teries of occultism. However, I'm a firm believer in tne existence of na* tuial laws about which we know ab solutely nothing."New Orleans Times-Democrat. That is a good answer for the ord nary person, because it is easy. But what is this mysterious "inner con sciousness"? It is, roughly, a picture or an im pression manufactured by the brain and. the nerves of the writer, who draws, as his artistic sense dictates, happenings and talks and views which he creates by means of' brain and nerve cells which have never yet been fully and satisfactorily described to the unscientific mind. A novelist, or a poet, or a painter, or a great musician, or, in short, any body who acts upon inspiration, gives out his nerves when he prac tices his art. Were he not to go through the ef fort, or task, of giving out his very life-blood in this manner, he would have much more physical, vitality for ordinary purposes, such as the with standing of chills and shocks and at tacks of one sort and another to which we are all of us liable.Chica go American. ing to a flight of filthy stairs, and the glimpses I have had of the interiors have yielded views no better than the stairs. The pictures over the entrance are enthralling, however,. A knight in golden armor fights twenty or more men in steel heroes slaughter drag ons and fly away from towers upon cockatrices a gallant gentleman chained to a pillar pulls the whole ed ifice down upon the Saracen who is about to cut his throat devils and hobgoblins rollick round gibbets there must be an immense amount of variety in it "In Palermo the curtain at the op era house does not rise until nearly 9:30,. and then not half the audience So in a fortnight the old man gave him the $50 and he went off.. When he came home he told how the dog said "Hello," and asked after the folks, and the old man was so pleased that in another two weeks he gave the son another $50 and told him to go after the dog. Of course, he came home without him, and Mr. Brown' wanted to know where the dog was. N "Well, I'll tell you how it was, fath- er," the boy replied. "I got him all right, and we started home on'the train. He aat up on the seat with me, and we were talking. He asked after you and mother, and by and by he says: 'Does the old man make love to the servants, the same as he used to?' and I grabbed him and threw him out of the window." "Gosh!" the old man exclaimed, "I hope you killed him."Boston Herald. them. The country is one great rub ber-producing forest. Coffee grows there wild, and it is also being ex tensively cultivated' by the Americo Lfberians* The forests also contain many valuable timbers, dyewoods and drugs/ while the oil palm is exceeding ly abundant. In the interior of the country ivory is plentiful, for there are many^ eleliants v^Gaca6 iSiTbe ih& inxarelMfiiNgry plante^iandi, like cot ton, thrives .remarkably well. There are indications of the presence of gold in the country, and'a 10-carat diamond is alleged to have fceenp^discovered there. The existence of hematiteiron ore in much of the country along the seaboard is undoubted, and the na tives work it to a considerable ex tent The climate of Liberia xis much pleasanter than that of the regions north and south of it. It is muck healthier, and- ttefe* I*v tm$mt9\ absence of insect pests.|K?S\:^ ,f JPingrJTiiner. Professional gambling from a busi ness standpoint is, considering the outlay, perhaps th^ most profitable oc cupation in the w.orld. The initial ex expense, however, is great. The equipment of a first class house with fine paraphernalia means an expendi ture of thousands of dollars and a continual expense amounting to sev eral hundred dollars daily. The va rious items to be considered are' the expenses of rent, wages, light and supplies, besides the well stocked buf fet and the fine lunches served free to their patrons by the best houses. An intelligent business man who stops to consider the"" problem for a moment must realize that this outlay could not possibly be met with the percentage of play on an equal basis and that the only possible solution of the problem must be that the banker or operator must have complete con trol of the game at all times, thereby insuring protection and profit to the house. To accomplish this, expert mechanics' and electricians are em ployed to perfect and manufacture skilful devices that are noiseless and invisible in their operation and so constructed that they' are impossible o* detection. From years of careful study at home and abroad it has been proven conclusively. that no game of chance exists that cannot by? electri cal or mechanical power be made to answer the control Of the operator at will. --'I'-' Roulette, suppdsed to be a machine impossible to controlin connection with which, in fact, control is suppos ed to be unnecessary, as the percent age is largely in favor of the house is played heavily and in 'preference to any' other on account of this sup position. But such is not the case, as high grade wheels are equipped with electrical and mechanical de vices controlling the ball at any par ticular point. In games of chance using dice parv ticular attention is given to details, as these game are known to the aver age player to sometimes be fixed, and he has the privilege of inspection at any time or to call for new dice. Loaded dice are manufactured to any desired combination, and by boring, weighing and by filling in with heated composition appear natural in weight, roll and appearance, and even cellu loid dice, which are transparent, bear close scrutiny without detection. In "the hands of an experienced player they can be manipulated for any desired number, and the chances of an inexperienced player winning are very slight. In large dice games electric power is used this is created by batteries feeding magnets so pow erful that they act through any thick ness of cloth^ paper or wood. The cur rent is controlled by the operator by the use of a rubber bulb or push but ton placed under foot, andeby throw ing these metal loaded1 1 dic over the magnetized' surface .he can beat any throW his opponent might make. The batteries used are generally secreted under the table and weigh sometimes forty or fifty pounds. i Poker is a .game that offers'unlimit ed opportunity for the use of various devices and methods of manipulation in fact, they are too numerous to mention. By the following means the gambler artfully controls the. cards and is in a position to invariably win frosfrhis opponents: -_ ST. PAUL MD MINNEAPOLIS. MINN., SATUBDAY. MAECH 18,1905. How Professional Gamblers Win Mechanical and Electrical Devices for Robbing Players Jfiedeyzce oFtkeWofiZ? policedjcJter table. 'y^lei& Hft&I qpenxi^frJ^^ 0 ___^- 31 The sleeve holdout is made of a 1 produces a reflection,and he can thus 1 31 haircloth slideway about the same size as a deck of cards, with its narrow sides laid in fine pleated folds, so that it will lie flat or expand. This is sewed in the sleeve of the coat or shirt and reaches from the cuff to the elbow joint. One of the wide sides is sewn to the near end of the sleeve, the op posite wide side is sewn" or pasted to the cuff, both ends being open. At the elbow a strap fits around the arm, to which is attached a metal tube that reaches down to the near end of the sleeve, with a pulley attached to the end. A short, wide elastic is also fast ened to the strap and to the elastic is fastened a metal clamp that holds the cards. A cord is attached to this clamp, which, runs down and over the pulley, tueh.'back to the elbow through the metal tube, thence the shoulder, through the clothing to the. body and thence down the loop at the heel with a hook attached to the end.! The cord passes through a flexible tube from the elbow to the ankle. This tube will bend easily, but not flatten, and is at tached to the clothing with string ties to keep it in line with the body. Its use is to prevent the cord from bind ing or sticking. To work this holdout the hook at the end of the cord is fastened to the loop of the shoe on the opposite foot when the feet are spread.apart this causes the, cord to draw the clamp re ferred to down through the slideway and to near the end of the sleeve. Any cards that are in it will reach into the palm of the hand, where they can be taken out or placed back into the clamp. By drawing the feet close to gether again it, causes,the cord, to^re?. lax, and the elastic referred to will draw the clamp an* any cards it con tains back up the slideway to its place near the elbow. ^zi-',- 'shiners are various forms of reflec tors and are used to see the cards as they are dealt out by the dealer. They are made in many ways, the wet shin* er being the simplest, the gambler spilling a little wine from his glass upon the surface ef the polished table. The light shining from a certain angle Defective Page see what cards are being dealt his op ponents as he passes them over the spot .which reflects the faces. The poker chip shiner is a convex reflector set in a poker chip, over ^which he passes the cards in dealing, and when not in use or when in danger of ex posure he will stack other chips on top of it. The finger riDg' shiner is composed of a half inch or smaller convex reflec tor setting of a ring this is worn on the little finger of the left hand, and by turning the setting to the inside of the hand it is possible to read the in dex of the cards as they are dealt. The palm shiner is a small device with a reflector fitting on the ball of the little finger of the left hand, and is used in the same way as the ring shiner. Mica is sometimes used as a reflector, and being thin car: be bent or curled up easily without breaking.' It is alsc preferred/ as it makes no noise, as glass would if struck, by accident. It is used in many ways, by pasting to the hand, table or clothing. The table shiner is made by cpver ing the *top of a table with various chemicals such as are used in the manufacture' of mirrors. By the use of shellac, alcohol, silver solution and silicate of soda (liquid glass) it takes on a brilliant polish, but is invisible, except to a person wearing eye-glasses focused to a distance of one to three feet and of a lighter or clearer color than the atmosphere through whicb the person is looking., A gambler will fix the entire top of a table with this solution and readily and easily tell every card as it is dealt. Marked cards are made in various ways and are nearly always used by the professional gambler. Magnifying spectacles are sometimes used where the markings are so fine that they are invisible to the naked eye at a dis tance, and in some the lense^are so powerful that they bring a card three feet away close up to the vision of the eye. Cards are also sometimes marked in various ways on the edges by inks, and often by shaving or cutting down to a fraction that is barely perceptible this method especially for the higher cards, as the four aces, kings and queens. The advantages of playing with marked cards are numerous, and a skillful player, can tell immediately the cards his opponents discard, draw and finally hold, and at a favorable op portunity fill his own. hand with cards suitable to outplay any other against him. Ringing in or switching a marked or cold deck is easily accomplished. An accomplice secures a deck identical to that in use, stacks or sorts it for a winning hand, and at a favorable op portunity slips it into the hand of the gambler,-who secretes it in his lap, un der the table or in a holdout At his deal he will, drop a card to the floor, reach for a spittoon or something on th9 floor, and, while doing so will switch the decks. He will then false shuffle the take deck, throw, jog, crimp ox brief mark by bending, etc., into them, for a confederate to cut'to, or do likewise to an innocent player and then switch the cut to its original place, making It impossible tor him to loser-New Jork Herald^ r\ For some time prior to 1800 travel across ^Pennsylvania had been in canoes and in river barges propelled jy poles or along the shores* of riv rs by horse and foot and by inter vening portages on Indian trails, con ic-cting points on the different rivers. The Philadelphia-Pittsburg national ike was built upon such a substantial jasis that wherever undisturbed one till finds the gracefully modeled nches of solid masonry almost intact, ifter jnore than a century has passed. The completion of the Old Portage, railroad by the state of Pennsylvania 1834 put an end to the time-hon ored "coach and six," with the many picturesque and commodjous inns and caverns along the line of this bro.ad -p.acadamized toll road, which with its substantial construction was, in jjoint of endurance, second only to the Roman military roads of Great Britain. This Old Portage road was con structed from material brought from England. The British government sent over experienced engineers to in struct the Americans in the running of the .stationary steam engines used upon the inclined planes of the road in the Allegheny mountains. The rail road's highest point was about 2,700 Rudyard Kipling has seen his sec ond sea serpent, according to a story which comes with some seriousness from Cape Town. People who read Kipling's first sea-serpent story thought it was merely a brilliant piece of fiction.. This second sea serpent story is not told by Kipling, but by the skipper of the steamship Arma dale Castle. The sea serpent was seenin fact, it was struck by the ship and probably killedwhile the Armadale Castle was on her last voy age to Cape Town, in latitude 3 de grees south. Mr. Kipling was aboard the ship. Commander Robinson is not sure whether the creature struck was a real sea serpent, a queer whale or a greatly overgrown shark. Whatever it ivas, the thing was hit by the bow of the ship where, in all properly regulated fishes, the pectoral fin ex ists. The head was doubled across the port bow and the tail trailed away along the starboard side. The vio lent struggles of the creature to free itself from its painful and embarrass ing position led to its striking the soft brown paint of the "boot-topping" on He is the freeman whom the truth makes And ail are slaves beside. There's not a chain That hellish foes confederate for his harm Can wind aj-ound him, but he casts it off With as much ease as Samson his green withes. He-looks abroad into the varied field Of nature and though poor, perhaps, compared With those whose mansions glitter in his Calls the delightful scenery all bis own His are the mountains, and the valley And the resplendent rivers. His to enjoy With a pr tpriety that none can feel, But whoT with filial confidence inspired, Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous And smiling, say: "My father made them all'" Are they not by a peculiar right, And by an emphasis of interest his, Whose eyes they fill with tears cf holy joy, Whose heart with praise, and whose ex alted mind With worthy thoughts of that unwearied That planned and built, and still upholds, a world So clothed with beauty for rebellious man? The tipping evil has been abolished in the United States senate, says the ^Brooklyn Eagle. An edict has gone forth that none of the little pages who run about ministering to the wants of the members of this body shall accept gratuities of any kind from the hands of senators. The new order will put a big crimp in the pocket money of the young sters. The side earnings of the pages have ayeraged $10 or $15 a month, and occasionally they would run up to twice those figures. Senator Spooner has the reputation of being the most liberal tipper in the senate. His fee was always 25 cents, whether the er rand involved a tiip to his home, up at Arlington, or merely down to the restaurant for a cigar. Senator Aldrich is another man who A remarkable union of churches has just been effected in India, where for the first time religious bodies of both America and Europe have united in the organization of a national church, to the union just accomplished7 $2.40 ma YEAR. OLD PORTAGE RAILROAD LINE Report Real Sea-Serpent Truth and the Freeman Senate Pages Lose Tip^ Vnion of Religious Bodies the Presbyterian Church, in the Unite* States of America, which through" its board of foreign missions has had im portant work in India for .seventy years/takes a prominent place. Oth er American churches in the union are the Reformed (Dutch) Church and the Presbyterian Church of Can ada. Eurppean churches included are the Church of Scotland, the United fcree Church of Scotland, the Presby terian Church of" England -and the Presbyterian Cterch of Ireland feet above sea level being only 200 feet lower than the neighboring hill, which is the highest point of the Alle gheny mountains, in Pennsylvania. The road consisted of ten planes, five yof which were* on either side of the mountain, and intervening levels. In 1835 the canalboats were so construct ed that they could be taken in sections and hauled over the mountain on flat cars, without disturbing their cargoes. The rails were secured to stone sleep ers twenty inches square, which were sunk in the ground. On the Old Portage road the best time for the forty miles between Hol lidaysburg and Johnstown was twelve hours. Express trains on the Penn sylvania railroad now run a closely parallel distance over the Allegheny mountains in a trifle over one hour. The passenger traffic on the road in those days was usually limited to one car each way a day, with a capacity of thirty passengers. In 1854 the Pennsylvania Railroad company bought the Portage road from the state of Pennsylvania. Com mon rumor says that at this time the state legislature was "greased" and that not a cent of the $47,000,000 which was to have been paid for the road was ever received into the treas ury of Pennsylvania. the ship's side with the powerful fluke of its tail. This was observed by the boatswain and some of the men who were watch ing the affair through the side ports immediately over the tail of the fish. The marks enabled the commander af terward to make fairly accurate meas urements. From mark to stem it was forty-five feet, in girth it was appar ently* about the volume of one of the ship's lifeboats at the broadest part, say eight feet in diameter, very grace fully tapering away toward the tail. The body appeared to be of a green ish-brown color with large dark spots all over the back and sides, the lower parts being of a dull white. It was first observed by one of the seamen, who heard a knocking against the ship's side. When the news was passed along the decks all the pas sengers, young and old, performed a mad stampede into the forecastle to look at the unhappy prisoner. The engines were stopped as soon as pos sible and reversed, but fully a quar ter. of* an hour elapsed between the first discovery and the final clearance, by which time the creature was eithei1 dead or completely exhausted, for it sank slowly, tail first. Yes, ye may fill your garners, ye that reap The loaded soil and ye may waste much good In senseless rot but yet will not find In feast, or in the chase, in son^ 0 dance, A liberty like his. who, unimpeaclieil Of usurpation, and to no man's wrong. Appropriates nature as his --Father's work. And has a richer use of yours than you. He is indeed a freeman. Free by birth .Of no mean city, planned or e'er the hills Were built, the fountains opened, or the sea With all his Toaring multitude of waves.. His freedom is the same in every state And no condition of this changeful life. So manifold in cares, whose every day Brings its own evil with it, makes ft less1 For he has wings that neither sickness, pain, Nor penury can cripple or confine No nook so narrow but he spreads them there With ease, and is at large. The oppres sor holds His body bound: but. knows not what a range His spirit takes, unconscious of a chain And that to bind him is a vain attempt. Whom God delights in, and in whom He dwells. William Cowper:. used to remember the boys. The rich est "man in the senate, Clark of Mon* tana, is noted for the way he clings, to the dimes and nickels. Another source of revenue has been cut off by the new order. Hereaftert there will be no more collection of speeches, to be sold to senators at fancy prices. In the old days a col lection of all the tariff speeches de livered during a session when this subject was under discussion was worth $10*. When a senator offers a page $5 at. the end of the session for having kept his Record, bills and re ports in order, the boy must refuse it. The ban has also been placed on the old custom of'soliciting orders for fountain pehs, knives and little trink ets that are kept on tap for the use of senators. In all there are eleven different bodies of Presbyterians working In India, and they have 33 presbyteries, with 332 churches and nearly 25,000 communicants." There has for some time been a Presbyterian Alliance of India, and at the meeting recently held in Allahab there -was formed m. provisional general assembly. A con fession of faith, constitution and can ons were adopted, and the new' churcii definitely launched. Missionaries of the various countries have found great advantages from their associa tion with each other in the alliance, and .they confidently look for even larger benefits from the fuller onion now aecom1i8hA