The Philipsburg mail. [volume], February 03, 1899, Image 2

About The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current

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HE IS A CHAMPION
Calvin S. Troupe a Wizard in Insurance Business-Sketch
of the Man Who Wrote the Larlcest Policy lEvcr
Recorded in the United States.
ALVIN S. TROUPE
of Baltimore bears
the distinction of
being the first man
to write an insur
ance policy amount
S ing to more than
$100,000 in any one
Scompany in the
world. Mr. Troupe
is also distinguish
* ed as being the on
ly American who ever had the privi
lege of Interviewing the Prince of
Wales on the subject of insurance. This
successful solicitor began his career in
the insurance field twenty years ago
and has since then written policies
which aggregate the grand sum of $21,
540,000. Twenty years ago Mr. Troupe
started out as an insurance solicitor
In Chicago.
Prior to three years ago it was im
possible to procure more than $100,000
insurance in any one company, but the
company represented by Mr. Troupe
took the initiative in granting larger
risks, and the first man insured under
the new rule was Col. Julian Carr of
Durham, N. C. Mr. Troupe succeeded
in writing a policy fdr this gentleman
to the amount of $500,000 and another
for his wife and brother amounting to
$100,000 each. The famous Vanderbilt
$1,000,000 policy was also solicited by
CALVIN S. TROUPE.
Mr. Troupe, but he failed to write th"
same, as Mr. Vanderbilt personally ap
plied for the policy at the office of the
company, and this policy stands today
as the highesl t p!;icy carried by one
man in a sii! conpany. Among oth
er lorge p,:i'; 2.i:,lred by Mr. Troup',
ere thl foull: i' .r : Mrs. B. N. Duke,
Durham, N. C., 5.U000; It. S. Craw
ford, liager..,:,,,,. Md., $300,000; 1. S.
Vaughn, Richnul. id, Va., $250,000; Gen.
John Gill, Dlulllore, Md., $400,000; ex
Postmaster J. M. Gary, $100,000; 13. N.
BRIGADE OF CHINESE.
CAPT. SEID 1ACK, .11..
Portland, Ore., claims a unique mill- Celestial empire. On July 4 the or
tary organization. It is a fully- ganization was sufficiently weoll drilled
equipped American-born Chinese brl- to give a public parade in honor of the
gade, whose members range in ages victory over the Spanish at Santiago
from 21 years down to 7 years. The The entire thirty-seven members
brigade is equipped the same as the turned out and the reception was such
Oregon National Guards. It was or- as to do honor to an organization ol
more pretentious character. In mill.
ganized last June by Capt. Seid Back, tary training and Instruction Capt,
Jr., with Capt. 13. F. Jones of the Ore- Jones found the boys characteristlcally
gon National Guards as drillmaster. It apt, and it was but a short time afte,
is the first and only Chinese military the organization before they were abl(
organization in the United States, or, to make a creditable public appear
In fact, in any country outside of the ance.
Baker, Baltimore, $250,000; F. E. Roe
selle, Washington. $250,000.
Mr. Troupe is a quiet and unassum
ing man and speaks of his success as
something that might be acquired by
any one with hard work and perseve
rance. He lives in Baltimore and has a
summer residence at Poplar Grove,
(Md., but spends much of his time in
traveling about the country in the in
terest of the company he represents.
Taebt Made Without Metal
C. S. HIusted of Sands Point, L. I.,
hA a sallboat that was built without
the use of metal. She is very like the
yachts of her class in model and gen
eral appearance, having a single mast
and covered cabin, but here the like
ness ceases. Her material is entirely
of selected and finely finished mahog
any, the numerous pieces of which are
held together without the use of nails
or screws, all of the fastenings being
of hard wood plugs, driven snugly
home and then thoroughly wedged. The
craft is twenty-seven and a half feet
long, with a six and a half foot beam,
and draws four feet of water. About
two years ago she was built at Abo,
where many boats of her class are con
structed.
HARVESTS OF BEAUTIFUL HAIR
(lathered from the Locks of European
Peasants.
Women with scanty locks ought to
like to know that there are hair har
vests, Just as there are wheat harvests!
The idea does not sound very nice, but
that it is useful we must all agree. The
hair harvest is a much surer crop than
the grain one. It does not depend on
the weather. To leave that side of the
subject, most of the hair women wear
comes from Switzerland, Germany and
France. There is a human hair market
in the lower Pyrenees held every Fri
day. Scores of hair buyers walk up
and down the village streets, their
shears dangling from their belts, and
examine the tresses which the peasant
girls let down fo: their inspection. It
a bargain i, struck the hair is cut and
the money paid on the spot. These
girls have fine hair. Strangely enough,
peasants often have much better locks
than highly educated women. Civill
zation does not seem to care for heavy
hair. That which is cut off by the
dealer himself is the best. Dealers can
easily tell whether the locks offered
them have been cut or combed out.
They do this by rubbing the hair
through their fingers. If the hair has
been cut from the head and has not
been misplaced It remains in the or
iginal position. If it has been pulled
or combed out and put together, re
gardless of Ihe direction in which it
grew, one portion will slip to the
right and another 10 the left. It does
this because the jagged edges catch
upon acnh other and pull in opposite
diirections.
Proof Beoyoud Compare.
Two convicts at the French penal
colony of Cayenne, employed as ser
vants by the governor, got leave tc
marry. They went to the maire, and
the lady was asked if she was a spin
ster or a widow. "Widow," she said.
"Well," said the officer, "but I have
not the certificate of your first hus
band's death." "Really," said the
bride, "I thought it was not needed."
"Why, it is an indispensable docu
ment." The lady smiled and referred
him to the record of her conviotion.
"You will perceive, sir, that I was sen
tenced for life for having poisoned my
husband."
CURES OF A MADSTONE
STRANGE POWER TAKEN PROM
A RUSSIAN ELK.
Applied to the lsite or a Reptile or
That of a Itabid Animal Itl Extracts
the Poison as Would a Leech of
Monster size.
(Special Letter.)
I. fEN thousand dol
lars could not pur
chase a bit of a
stone not larger
° than a hen's egg
i-.1b which Dr. H. L.
S Miller of Missouri
owns. It is only a
, bit of mottled
I grayish substance,
rough on the sur
face, porous and
light in weight. It is a mad
stone. The stone is the prop
erty of a syndicate, in which there are
496 shareholders. Dr. Miller's interest
in it is $500. "Our madstone came to
Vernon county twenty years ago," said
Dr. Miller. "A Russian physician who
had just come from his owe country
brought it. He also had papers con
taining a history of the stone as far
back as the year 1748. The stone was
found by its original owner in the body
of an elk. It came down through the
Russian physician's family from gen
eration to generation, and it was the
most highly prized of all the heir
looms. Like many another Russian
the physician lost his wealth through
political intrigue, and with the excep
tion of the madstone he had nothing of
value in the world. Dr. J. H. Fry ex
amined the stone and its history. In
the records which the Russian carried
there were hundreds of testimonials to
the virtues of the stone. Dr. Fry of
fered $500 for it. The Russian was in
DR. H. L. dILLEtR.
need, but he declined emphatically to
accept the offer.
Soon after this the stone was applied
to the wound on a child's arm caused
by a dog bite. In a very short time the
wound healed cleanly. a I
"Dr. Fry again offered $500 for the
stone, and that amount was again re
fused. Dr. Fry raised the offer and
finally purchased the madstone for
$1,300. Business reverses compelled
Dr. Fry to place the stone on the mar
ket shortly after he became possessed
of it. By that time the stone had be
come well and favorably known all
over Vernon county. It had been ap
plied in several cases of dog bite and
always with success. The residents of
the county did not want the stone to
get out of their reach. Accordingly,
when Dr. Fry announced that it was
for sale a mass meeting was held and
the citizens of Vernon county formed
a company and subscribed $1,000, the
price which Dr. Fry was willing to ac
cept for it. The method of treatment
Is to apply the stone to the wound
caused by the bite. The stone will
generally adhere to the flesh and cling
there for some minutes. The theory is
that it absorbs the poison. Our stone
will cure cattle and hogs of snake bites
also. In 1890 Mrs. Paul, living in
Cedar county, Missouri, near Eldorado
Springs, had two children, a cow and a
hog bitten by a mad dog. Our stone
AD PPYN T ADONE
APPLYING THE MADSTONE TO ARM OF A GIRL. WHO WAS BITTEN BY A RABID DOG.
was sent for and applied with the r@
suit that neither the children nor
either of the animals was seriously af
fected. In 1894 a man named J. F. Wil
son, who lived in Nebraska, traveled
from his home to have the stone ap
plied to a dog bite. He was in a
serious mental condition when he ar
rived. The stone quieted him imme
diately and the wound healed
promptly.
"These are only exceptional cases out
of the dozens in which the stone has
cured. It is so highly prized that
$10,000 could not buy it from the pres
ent owners. The articles of agreement
state explicitly that the stone shall
never leave Vernon county. The coun
ty makes no charges for the use of the
stone except in rare cases.
BLIND TOM.
Not a Repulsive Imbeelle--Has Made
Fortunes for Several Persons,
When Blind Tom talks to himself
he will repeat a word or phrase sev
eral times, either to emphasize it or
through pleasure in the sound, or else
because he is filling in time until some
other idea shall come to his mind, says
the Ladies' Home Journal. For in
stance, he went on in this way for some
time as he strolled up and down with
his rolling gait on the veranda: "Wag
ner. Yes, Wagner. Mr. Wagner.
Richard Wagner. Wagner. Mr. Wag
ner is dead. Yes, he is dead. Dead.
His last opera. Yes, his opera. His
last opera was 'Parsifal.' 'Parsifal.'
His last opera." Tom's head and face
are not wholly unattractive. He has
been often described as a repulsive
imbecile except during his moments at
the piano. This is not so. His head
is small but well shaped. His fea
ture8 are of a strong African type, with
low forehead, large eyes, nose and
mouth, and a general heaviness rather
than weakness. His skin is not per
fectly black. In his appearance and in
his manner of speaking when ad
dressed he shows intelligence and dig
nity, with quite a pride of his own at
times. There is a respectfulness in
his air and pose which recalls the fact
that he was a slave for nearly twenty
years. Tom is of a religious turn of
mind. He will play only sacred music
on Sunday. lie says the Lord's prayer
in his room aloud and is fond of recit
ing passages from the holy scripture,
being especially fond of St, Paul's
Epistle to the Corinthians. He has
made fortunes, first for Col. Bethune,
who bought his mother, Charity Wig
gins, when the blind baby was "thrown
in"; then for John S. Bethune, and
lastly for the widow of John Bethune,
who is now the wife of the lawyer,
Albert J. Lerche, at whose residence
he lives.
WAR WITH CHINA.
A Great As~Itli Uprialng Mibght He a
Tearful Mrenace.
A few years ago the favorite subject,
with the makers of prophetic fictions
was the dangers to be apprehended
from the immense dormant power of
China. The easy victory of the Japan
ese and the apparent conversion of
China into another "sick man of the
east" have now made these apprehen
sions seem absurd, but it is by no
means certain that the somber cloud
against which Europe was warned in
the famous picture inspired by Em
peror William is entirely harmless,
after all. The vast population of China
took no real part in the war with
Japan and has no incentive for action
in support of the Manchu imperial
government; but, at some time of Eu
ropean conflict or disorganization, a
great Asiatic uprising, electrified by
some common fanaticism, might be a
fearful menace to the Aryan race. "The
War of the Worlds," in which invaders
from Mars, projected through space in
cylindefs, show their ability to reduce
the human family to the condition of
domestic fowls, is the most fanciful of
all those fictions and has been a good
deal derided; yet it is not inconceiv
able that some swift and unlooked-for
terrestrial peril might be able to de
stroy our social system through its
utter unexpectedness and our undue
confidence.
A CHILD COMPOSER.
WONDERFUL TALENT OF A
WEE GEORGIA MISS.
Although Only Six Years of Age Eala
Vaughan Can Wrlfto Soth Instrumental
and Vocal Mustc-Lives In the Village
of Bowman.I
(Special Letter.)
USICAL prodigies
of tender years
have been reported
and commented
upon from many
places. But in most
P such cases the abil
- ities have lain in
the interpretation
of the works of
others. Composers
of music under 10
years of age have been very rare in the
world. Georgia now comes to the
front with the statement that her bor
ders holds one such. The prodigy in
question is a girl of 6 years, who, it Is
said, composes both instrumental and
vocal music of a high order. She is
little Eula Vaughan, and her parents,
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E\I\~LLA\ UIA
`y1 'All 1fn y r O.
·------------------
Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Vaughan, live in the
village of Bowman.
When Eula was only 2% years old
she was known to play on the organ,
while held in the lap of a nurse. Owing
to the fact that there is no piano in
her home, as the sole instrument her
parents possess is an organ, her play
ing has been confined almost entirely
to that. Still the youngster can play
on the piano very well indeed, for it
seems to be as natural to her to play
on either organ or piano as it is to
breathe. At the last commencement
of John Gibson institute she played
an accompaniment on the piano for the
orchestra without even practicing the
numbers. Her father says she can re
peat any composition she has ever
heard played.
From her earliest years she seemed
to have an idea of harmony. One day
her uncle, Prof. J. B. Vaughan, hap
pened to hear her play. He wrote the
musle down as he heard it, and so
clever was the composition that it has
found a ready sale at the music stores.
Eula's touch is remarkably sympa
thetic. She is very pretty and small
for her age. Her musical talent is not
confined to either the piano or organ,
for she has a pleasing childish voice,
which gives much promise for the fu
ture. Often when Eula is playing over
some music she has heard she adds
variations of her own.
As Eula plays her face brightens and
it seems to those who hear her strange
indeed that so much feeling and ex
pression should be seen in the little
face of so young a child.
TO PROMOTE PURITY.
St. Louis Reformer Proposes a Scheme
as Effeotive as Unique.
Mr. David J. Smyth of St. Louis, Mo.,
locally famous as a reformer, proposes,
on January 1 of each year, beginning
with the approaching New Year's day,
to hang the worst man in each ward
as a means of purifying the city. In
order that there may be no mistake
made, he proposes that the citizens of
each ward decide by vote just who the
worst citizen is. The man receiving
the highest number of votes shall then
be hanged at. noon January 1, by a
hangman appointed by the mayor. Can
didates for the noose will be those of
moral and personal wickedness, and
not only the men but the women
should be entitled to vote. Smyth is
perfectly honest and serious in his
proposition, and he says that it would
unquestionably result in purifying the
social conditions of the city quicker
than any other known means. He ad
vances the argument that there are
many wicked men in every ward, and
that the ward would be much better off
if they were dead, but that it would be
impracticable to hang them all. He
believes that one would be an example,
a martyr to the cause of social purity,
and the natural result would be that
other wicked men of the ward would
at once realize that another New Year's
day was approaching, and that unless
they reformed they might get the
largest vote at the polls. He states
that fear of this would drive the men,
perhaps, out of the city, and that the
law would have the same result. He
believes that such a law could be en
acted, and that it would be a just one.
lIe argues that every man would vir
tually be his own executioner, and the
only safety for the inhabitants of the
ward would be in good conduct. There
are twenty-nine wards in St. Louis, and
Smyth says that if twenty-nine thor
oughly bad men were hanged January
1 it would have the effect of bringing
those left behind to a realization of the
fact that another day of reckoning was
coming.
Negroes Who Speak Only Germak
There is a German negro colony in
Pennsylvania who speak nothing but
German. The place is in Lebanon
county, and the negroes went there
twenty, thirty and Sorty years ago and
settled among the quiet Pennsylvania
German farmers of the Blue mountain
districts. The colored children grew
up on the farms, where they worked,
and heard nothing but German spoken.
They soon forgot nearly all the English
they knew, and now they rarely speak
anything but German. Their children
go to English country schools in win
ter, but as quickly as they are out of
sight of their teachers they begin to
talk the German dialect, and nothi~g
else.
Six Made Three.
An unique series of weddings toot
place recently in the Catholic church
at Adelong, when the Misses Hoffman
(three) were married to three brothers
named Quinn. Two of the brothers
who were married were twins, and also
two of the sisters. One other brother
of the Quinn family is already married
to a sister of the Hoffmans.