Evening star. [volume], August 21, 1909, Page 8, Image 8

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Will BE BAN HER YEAR
t
i
Largest Number of Visitors to
Famous Yellowstone.
RECORD TO JULY 31, 1909
Public Informed of Park's Comforts
and Attractions.
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION
Conveniences Afforded by Railways
and Private Enterprise?Popular
Form of Outdoor Life.
BY WILLIAM E. Ct'RTIS.
^portal r?>rr<-?r,?,n<len<*p of Tho Star and the
Chicago Record-Hera Id.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS. Wyo.,
August 1*2. 11HWT.
This will probably be the banner year
for visitors In the Yellowstone Park. Up
to July 31 there had been 14.721 visitors,
the largest number for any half season
on record. In 1005. the year of the Port
land exposition, LV..1S8 people visited the
park during the season from June 5 to
September 25, and if the present inflow
continues the total for this year should
be nearly :50.80n. or 4.000 more than the
highest record, and nearly twice as many
as the average.
The followinp statement shows the
number of visitors annually for the last
five years:
ions 2?.iss
17.1*2
1907 10.414
18.749
ll'Ort. up to July .".1 14.721
The largest day this season was the
last Sunday in July, when 1.20* persons
slept at the several hotels. There is no
way of telling how many people slept in
camps, but they probably numbered as
many more.
l*p to the 31st of July the Yellowstone
Transportation Company, whose stages
run in connection with the trains on the
Northern Pacific railroad, had carried
5.100 passengers, which is exactly the
number they carried during the entire
season of 1!#?8. and more than iralf as
many at were carried by the stages In
1805. That was their banner year, when
the total of passengers transported was
10,881.
More people are stopping over the regu
lar time in the park this year than ever
before.
People Becoming Informed.
The public is gradually learning of the
attractions and the comforts of this
greatest museum of natural history in the
universe. A few pioneers have discov
ered that the hotels are just as good and
the natural advantages Infinitely greater
than they can And in the White moun
tains, the Adirondacks or any other
mountain resort. The regular tour of the
park is Ave and a half days, which gives
an average of half a day of traveling and
half a day of sightseeing, and a glimpse
of all the principal wonders; but at least
two weeks is necessary to see them prop
erly. and a third week might be profitably
employed in sightseeing without reference
to Ashing excursions and other pleasures
which the park affords. As people com
prehend these facts larger numbers will
appreciate the value of this national play
ground.
Before many years, when the planB for
new hotels are carried out. I expect to
see thousands of people coming in here
to spend the entire summer. These same
thousands would be here now if they
knew what was waiting for them.
In looking over the hotel registers I
have been struck by the small number
of visitors from the eastern states, and
particularly from the larger cities of the
country. I have noticed very few from
New York, Philadelphia or Chicago.
Most of the visitors are from the middle
west; very few from the other side of
the Allegheny mountains, which seems
very strange. But I suppose the people
there go to the seashore and to Europe
without knowing of the comforts and
pleasures they might And here.
Labor Under Delusion.
Another reason that keeps them away,
perhaps, is a mistaken impression that
they would have to "rough it" If they
came to the Yellowstone Park. This de
lusion was illustrated in an amusing man
ner by a gentleman who organized an
excursion from Brooklyn. He engaged
accommodations for a party of ninety
three persons by correspondence with the
manager of the Yellowstone Transporta
tion Company as early as last January,
and wrote three or four times for assur
ances that the hotels in the park were
capable of accommodating so many
people.
He was not satisAed with the answers
to liis letters and wrote Maj. Benson, the
military commandant at Fort Yellow
stone. Benson replied that the company
was in the habit of handling very much
larger parties, and that the transporta
tion arrangements and the hotel accom
modations were not only ample, but were
as good as could be found anywhere in
the world.
But even military authority could not
convince the Brooklyn gentleman, and he
has asked a friend in Washington to
make inquiries at the Interior Depart
ment and of the senators from Montana.
And then he felt a little uneasy in ven
touring out into this wilderness with his
ninety-three people. He came last week
and he found 450 guests at the Arst hotel.
He noticed that his party made a very
slight impression and that the park as
well as its accommodations are very large
In comparison.
But people are learning gradually about
the character of the accommodations here,
and when they see how the great crowds
?are handled and how they are passed
along the route without the slightest con
fusion, from hotel to hotel, they cannot
but admire the genius which has devel
oped the methods and the courage and*
confidence of the men who have provided
the accommodations.
Ways of Beaching the Park.
, There are several ways of getting into
the park. The original way is via the
Northern Pacific railway to Livingston,
where a branch line runs down to Gardi
ner, a little town on the very edge of the
park. It is not an attractive place, but
you will And there a grand gateway, an
arch of stone with an inscription. "For
the Benefit and Enjoyment of the
People." which was composed by Theo
dore Roosevelt. The gateway was dedi
cated by him several years ago.
Gardiner has the prettiest rustic ra!l
way station you ever saw. It was de
signed and built by Robert C. Raemer, the
architect of the Yellowstone National
Park Transportation Company, entirely
of natural woods. The building is 05
by K? feet in.size, entirely of logs. The
platform is 9110 feet long, with a train
shed 330 feet long and 12 feet high, sup
ported by natural tree trunks, each of
them two feet In d ameter. The interior
of the building is of unfinished lumber
In harmony with the log walls. The
stables and other buildings of the stage
company are of the same type and pre
sent as appropriate and artistic a group
as you can imagine.
Trasportation Facilities.
Tu give you an idea of the transporta
tion facilities In the park, the Yellowstone
Transportation Company has between 9U0
and 1.090 horses employed in hauling its
401 stages, surrles, baggage and freight
wagons and other vehicles, not forgetting
an ambulance that is always rt%dy for
the sick or disabled.
The company can accommodate 2,231 pas
senger* with six six-horse coaches, 125
four-liorse coaches and various other ve
hicles carrying from three to eleven pas
sengers each. The stages start every
morning from the Mammoth Hot 8prings
Hotel, which is five miles from the rail
way station at Gardiner, and make a tour
of the park In five anu a half days, stop
ping over night at Ave different hotels
and lunching at two different eating sta
tions e.i route. These coaches have been
making this tour daily for nearly twenty
vmxju ao that one naturally expects
that the managers have reduced things to
a system.
Another way to enter the park is by
the Union Pacific railway and Oregon
8hort Line via Salt Lake City to a lit
tle station at the western gateway called
Yellowstone. There the trains are met
by the stages of the "M-Y", which means
the Monida and Yellowstone Transporta
tion Company. The Oregon Short I-ine
tracks were extended to the park in 190i
and during the last two seasons that com
pany has been running up long train* of
Pullman cars which land one set of pas
sengers at the gateway every morning
and take another set away every night.
During the last few weeks the cars have
been so crowded that the ticket agents
at Salt Lake City nave been compelled
to suspend business on several occasions,
but the facilities have been increased so
that there is no limit to the number of
passengers that csn now be handled.
Successful in Two Lines.
The M-Y stages are managed by Mr.
F. Jay Haynes of St. Paul, who is bet
ter known as a photographer than a
transportation man. although he has been
equally successful in both ^ines of bus -
ness. Mr. Haynes came into the park
to make views soon after its wonders
were discovered, awl has been the, offi
cial government photographer tor many
vears. Nobody knows the park as well
as he. for he has photographed every
object of interest in its winter as well
as its summer garb. He spent two win
ters going about on snowshoes w.th nis
camera on his back, and all of the north
ern half of the Rocky mountains Is quite
as familiar to him.'
When the Oregon Short Line built its
track northward from Salt Lake City tc
Butte In 1XW its officials arranged with
Mr. Haynes to start a stage line from
Monida. the nearest station, sixty miles
west of the western entrance of the
park. The town received its Spanish
sounding name because it stands 011 the
border line, half in Montana and half
in Idaho. The names of the two states
were abbreviated and united in one?
Mon-Ida.
Mr. Haynes started with twelve coaches
and. by relays of horses every fifteen
miles, was able t<i make the sixty-mile
journey In eight hours. As business in
creased he added to his equipment, until
he now has W8 stages and other pas
senger vehicles and 400 horses. The first
year he carried passengers. Last
year he carried This year he had
already carried 2.831 up to the 1st of
August, and will handle between 5,000
and H.000 before the end of the season.
He has hauled as many as 218 passen
gers in a day.
The Cody Route.
The third way of entering the park is
from the town of Cody, Wyo., on the
Burlington railway, a distance of ninety
four miles t" the Yellowstone lake,
where connection is made with the regu
lar stage lines. Very few people come
that way, however, because the northern
and western entrances are so much more
convenient; but for campers it has many
attractions, and hunting parties who
have been down through the forest re
serve can get into the park more easily
by that route.
There is also a southern entrance from
Jackson's hole through the Yellowstone
forest reserve, which offers some of the
most sublime mountain scenery in the
world. That route Is used by camping
parties, which are becoming more and
more numerous every year. Several gen
tlemen make a business of organizing
them in the east and conducting them
from a central rendezvous for an ex
cursion of five or six weeks, furnishing
horses, camp equipment and every neces
sary for a stated price.
I wrote you about a party of boys that
was going out from Fort Washakie with
Mr. F. L. Moore, a Michigan University
man. Mr a. Moore takes out parties of
young women and girls in a similar man
ner. There is a party of boys from
Culver Military Academy. Indiana, in
the nark this season, and several un
tamed herds df students are-going about
dressed like cowboys, shrieking their col
lege yells and singing college songs.
They are having a glorious time, but
the outlandish costumes they wear are
enough to frighten all the catamounts
out of the reserve.
Most Popular Form.
The most popular form of outdoor life
In* the park seems to be found in the
Wylie permanent camps, which are sit
uated, six of them, near the greatest
places of interest and are conducted upon
an elaborate plan. They are villages of
large tents with canvas dining rooms,
sitting rooms and ail of the equipment
of a hotel. The Wylie Company has an
outfit of ninety-five stages and 300 horses
to handle Its own passengers, meets
them at the railway station at Gardiner
and conducts them through the park
precisely like * the other transportation
companies. Up to the 31st of July this
year it had handled 3,877 passengers, and
will probably handle as many more be
fore the season is over.
This system is intended for people of
limited means, who are willing to sleep
under canvas and put up with a few
inconveniences as a matter of economy,
although the difference in price is com
paratively small. By the Northern Pa
cific route you can spend five and a half
days In the park, with the very best of
hotel accommodations, transportation in
cluded. under the care of the Yellow
stone Transportation Company, for ?>2.50.
You can have the same thing for five
days by the Oregon Short Line route
in the care of the Monida-Yellowstone
Stage Company for $40; and by the
Wylie permanent camp outfit for $40.
That Is the cost of the round trip, but a
passenger can stop over at any point on
the route as long as he pleases and re
sume his journey by the same line when
ever lie is ready by paying $,"> a day
extra at the regular hotels and !H2.."iO a
day extra at the Wylie ('amps. Through
tickets are sold at all of the principal
railway stations in the I'nited States
over both of the regular stage lines.
System of Movable Camps.
Next there are "movable camps," con
ducted by persons licensed to do the busi
ness. 8haw & Powell have thirty wag
ons. and a dozen other people have five
wagons each. Their business is con
ducted similar to that of the Wylie com
pany, except that they take down their
tents every morning and put them up
every night, and travel usually with two
or three wagons, conveying seven or
eight passengers each, followed by a
freight wagon loaded with camp equip
age and a "chuck wagon" with the food
supplies and cooking utensils. The cost
of making a journey throUch the park
with one of these outfits is $.'10, and their
patrops get a good deal of experience as
well as a good deal of fun for the money.
Then come the "sage-brushers," as
they are called?private camping parties
who hire their outfits at Livingston, Gar
diner and other places, or bring their
own and camp as long as they please
wherever it is permitted. At intervals
along the roadways are sisns reading,
"Good camping here" or "No camping
here." Camping places have been se
lected by the military guard in the park
where the water is pure and fuel is
plenty and no harm is likely to occur
from the fires or other causes of dam
age. It is said that there is more fun in
"sage-brush" camping than in any other
way of seeing the park: but when a man
reaches the years of discretion he usu
ally prefers a room with a ba.h and a
rocking-chair on the porch of a well kept
hotel to a blanket on the soft side of the
ground, with a saddle or a pair of boots
for a pillow.
You can keep out of th? crowd .?nd go
your own way, practically independent,
by making up a party of three, five or
seven people and getting a surrey from
el'.her of the transportation companies.
This will cost you )1.~> a day if you stop i
over at any point on the route, for the
regular ticket entitles you to a ride of
five days. ,
Record to July 31.
Up to the 31st of July, as I have al
ready explained, there have been 14,721
visitors to the park, and :hey w?re di
vided as follows:
Yello?*t.n?? Transportation I'oiupnny ,YP>ll
Monida-Yellowstone fttucc Company
Wylie permanent camp* 3.877
Mren.-ed movable ramp* 1.H43
I'rlate enrap* (Mge-brtisherai 1.2*11
Total 14,721
Thie Is the record for the first half of
the season of 19tl?.
Returning to the first proposition, which
Is the ability of the several transpor a
t'on companies to handle visitors to the
park, there are now over 700 vehicles, ac
commodating from 3 to 31 passengers
each; about 1,900 horses to haul them
and, without counting the sane-nrusiiers
or private camping parties or tfce mova
ble camps, there are sleeping accommo
dations fur about 2,0!i0 people in the per
manent camps and regular hotels.
The discovery of a food, medicine or subs'ance of some sort which should lend
to enhance ami perpetuate IiIV* appears to liuve been an objec of search not only
anions certain of the ancients and the alchemists of the middle ages, but still to
be pursued by various classes of investigators.
The ancien;s sought such a substance in their "first matter.** called later by
the Arabians the alkahest; the alchemists thought they had found it in certain
preparations of mercury, sulphur, antimony, etc.: as shown in the previous article.
Bishop Berkeley very probably thought he had located it in tar water; Dr.
Beverocius wrote a treatise to prove that our common beverage, tea, is the very
thing sought, which was published and circulated by the East India Company,
and noted scientists of later times have given their assent to the theory that such
| a substance probably exists.
It has been an unsolved puzzle to many"why the terms "philosopher's stone"
and "elixir of life" should always be quoted together. This is due to the fact that
the alchemists really used both terms with reference to the same substance, or
substaucts, which could produce precious metals from the baser sort or cure
disease and prolong life?or. perform both functions.
The celebrated Dutch physician Boerhaave, speaking of the "elixir of life" in
his chemistry as "one of the chief thin.s which the alchemists promise," defines
their aim and purpose "to discover an artificial body of such virtu? and efficacy as
that being applied to any body of any of the three kingdoms it shall improve Its
natural inherent virtues, so as to make it the most perfect thing of its kind. Thus,
for instance, if applied to the human body, it will become a universal medicine,
and make such a change, both in the solid and fluid parts thereof as shall render
it perfectly sound, and even maintain it in that state."
Faith in Paracelsus.
0
Boerhaave seems to put considerable faith in a formula of Paracelsus. He
says: "Paracelsus declared that an elixir made of aloes, saffron and myrrh would
prove a vivifying and preserving balsam, able to continue health and long life to
the utmost limits; and hence he calls it by I he lofty title 'the elixir of propriety*
to man, but concealed the preparation, in which Helmont asserts the alkahest
is required."
It is commonly supposed that the search for the elixir vitae nearly, if not
fully, ceased with the overthrow of alchemy: whereas as a matter of fact, with
the establishment of chenv >try there were more searchers for the philosopher's
s.one and the elixir of life than ever before.
Sir Isaac Newton put considerable faith in the dcctrlnes of alchemy and spent
long periods in the laboratory searching for the elixir of life. Leibnitz in h?s
younger days was secretary of a society of Rosicruclans at Nuremberg who prac
ticed the principles of alchemy. In France De Lisle died in the Bastile from
wounds inflicted upon him by fanatical investigators endeavoring to extort his
secretu and the French chemist Dumas thought that a solution for making gold
might be found, as it seemed to be warranted by the doctrine of isomerism. In,
England Dr. Price, who was believed to have solved the problem, commit ed
suicide rather than stand cross-examination: studies in the direction of the
"elixir" were encouraged by Boyfo and Locke, arfd the gr%at chemist Sir
Humphrey Davy refused to declare that the alchemists were wrong in their aim.
Now, though the problem has shifted, it has neither been solved nor discarded
as unworthy of pursuit. That there is a fundamental element or substance out
i f winch ou.fr suostanccs may i>e derived si iciuims quite generally believe. The
facts of allotrophy, where the same element i? found in several unlike forms, as
carbon in the diamond, graphite and common coal, and of Isomerism, where
different substances are found to have the same chemical proportions, yet possess
unlike properties, as acetic acid and grape sugar, paran and alcohol, point to
such a conclusion.
The more recent discoveries of Roentgen. Mendeleef, Bequerel, Pierre Cure and
?bis talented wife also point that. way. in i;Ui froi. Boitwood discovered from
Mendeleef's formula an intermediate element between uranium and radium, and
the same year Prof. Ramsay announced that he had actually succeeded in
changing copper into lithium and sodium.
Believes Alchemists Were Right.
Says Prof. Robert K. Duncan: "We believe that the alchemists were right,
that matter is not only transmutable, but transmuting, and this without the aid
of any philosopher's stone, diabolic influences, or even the modern appliances of
a scientific laboratory. Nay, in spite of them; for apparently no human effort
can aid or hinder this process. It seems to,be the very symbol of inevitability."
That such a substance if disaovered could be utilized to the improvement of
the hflman body and mind, as the alchemists thought, does not necessarily follow.
That it would have an important bearing upon the subject no one can doubt: and.
besides, there is another class of investigators along the lines of organic chem
:str> and pnysioloj-y whose work, if it u not p-snit m ill ? same decree to a
unified substance, is practical and suggestive; so there is real ground for sup
posing that out of some system of diet?where there is an adaptation of the food
to the needs and capabilities of the organism?or out of some method of training,
exercise or other influence, there will sooner or later bs devised means for such
improvement.
(Cop.u.gtit. 1*J09, liy Hyland C. Kiik.>
OBJECTS TO FORM OF ECONOMY
VALUE OF DAILY CONSULAR
AND TBADE REPORTS.
National Provisioner Criticises Dis
continuance of Government
Publication..
* ?
Fronp thp National Provisions (New Tork).
Readers of the daily consular and trade
reports of tiie bureau of manufactures,
Department of Commerce and Labor,
have wondered what has happened to
this valuable and Interesting government
news service in recent weeks. Inquiries
have been received by the National Pro
visioner from those in the various indus
tries it represents, particularly the cot
ton seed oil trade, as to what v.as the
meaning of the sudden "petering out" of
this daily government publication.
Containing reports from special agents.'
consular officials and other authentic
sources concerning foreign conditions and
opportunities for our trade abroad, these
publications have been studied daily by a
wide circle of business men. Of late this
daily bulletin has dwindled to small pro
portions, with resultant disappointment
to those who luoked to it for information
in their fields. Inquiry at Washington
develops I lie fact that this sudden stop
page of a valuable service is due lo the
general desire for economy which has
prevailed in official circles under the new
administration.
Now, economy is a good thing and its
practice should lie encouraged. # But
when it coines to trying to save a" few
paltry dollars on the government's print
ing bill by reducing this dally trade bulle
tin service to such an extent as to large
ly destroy its value it would seem that
the administration economizers might
have gone a step too far.
Losses Suffered by Trade.,
The cotton seed oil trade has suffered
losses in its export trade through recent
ly enlarged competition of cheaper and
inferior oils and fats. Till# has been par
ticularly true of the lately developed men
ace of the soya bean. Oil of the soya
bean has met with favor abroad, in ter
ritory where cotton seed oil formerly held
the market, and as it is cheaper and has
received a inpre favorable tariff rate in
various countries, ft has given our cotton
oil trade a severe jolt. At the urgent so
licitation of the cotton seed oil industry
in this country the government took up
an investigation o* this question, and it
* understood that a number of valuable
ports have been received.
The trade has anxiously awaited publi
cation of this information, but thus far
it has not been forthcoming. Whether
its failure to appear is due to the same
policy of economy which has emasculated
the Daily Consular and Trade Reports is
not known.
policy which has emasculated the Daily
Consular and Trade Reports is 'not
known.
The cotton oil trad* would like to see
the authorities make public this informa
tion at t lie earliest practicable time.
What is the object of putting trained
and expert special agents in the field,
and of urging our consular service to
pursue practical tradf* investigations, if
the reports of tiiese nvii are to molder
in the departmental archives at Wash
ington, or are to be held for publication
later, when their timeliness has passed
and they are nothing more than ancient
history Be ter call in the investigators
if we are too poor to print their reports
when they would do us some good.
Baltimorean Stricken on Honey
moon.
BALTIMORE. August 21.?William H.'
Carr of 121 North Pine street died last
Wednesday evening of typho'd fever,
which he is believed to have ton racted
on his honeymoon. June 5) he was mar
ried to Miss Louisa Arnreich, daughter !
of.Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Arnreich, by Rev.
James A. Boyd, at St. Peter's Catholic
Church. The bridal couple went on a
honeymoon and visited New York, N'a*
ara Falls and Thousand Islands. While
on the trip Mr. Carr was taken sick, and
the trip had to be cut short. After his
re urn home typhoid fever developed. He
wu* twenty-three years old, and an elec
trician at the Mount Clare shops. Be
sides his w.dow, Mr. t'arr is survived by
lis parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Carr.
and three brothers?Messrs. Alexander,
Frank and Char lee Carr.
NATIONAL RIFLE CONTESTS AT
CAMP PERRY BEGIN MONDAY.
Assistants to Statistical Officer An
nounced?Gen. Grant Life Mem
ber of Association.
Special Dispatch to Tho Star.
CAMP PERRY, PORT CLINTON.
Ohio. August 21.?The long preparation
which the service and National Guard
rifle teams have been making for the
seventh annual contest for the national
trophy came to an end this afternoon,
when the work of the two days set aside
for preliminary firing on the Camp Perry
range was done, and the red flags went
up and the 236 targets on Ohio's mam
moth range came down. The District
team and the long line of its competitors
are now out for a hard loaf until hos
tilities open, Monday morning.
The battle line this year?forty-nine?
is one team shorter than it was a y?*r
ago. and one longer than it was in lw?i.
Idaho and Montana did not appear last
veflr. and New Hampshire. Vermont and
Oklahoma did not return this time. But
Montana is here. When the match was
first shot at Sea Girt, in 11HM, there were
fifteen competitors. The next year, at
Fort Riley, the entry list went to nine
teen and at Sea Girt, in HHK? and 11KM
there were thirty-seven and forty-one,
respectively.
List of Competitors.
The four service teams?the Infantrj,
cavalry, Navy and Marine Corps?the Na
val Academy and the District of Colum
bia and the following states and ter
ritories comprise the field this year: Ala
bama. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Col
orado. Connecticut, Delaware. Florida,
Georgia. Hawaii. Idaho. Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jer
aev New Mexico. New York, North Da
kota, Ohio, Oregon, i ennsylvania. Rhode
Island, South Carolina, South Dakota.
Tennessee. Texas, Utah. Virginia. West
Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Will Assist Statistical Officer.
Heut. Col. Kvans has appointed the
following as assistants to the statistical
officer, Maj. FolU: Maj. William M.
Morrow of the Porto Rlcan Regiment.
Capt. George C. SafTarans of the 2d in
fantry and Second Lieut. Roger C. Alex
ander, Corps of Engineers.
Capt. J. T. Haines of the 11th Cavalry
and Capt. George H. Jenerson of the 29th
Infantrv have been assigned to the pit
as assistants to the chief range officer.
Gen Fred D. Grant, immediately after
his arrival Thursday, stepped into the
National Rille Association's tent, which
adjoins his, and wrote ills check for
lite membership in the association.
Conditions More Favorable.
Under more favorable conditions than
yesterday the District riflemen took the
one-thousand-yard and skirmish targets
this morning at 7 o'clock, the pairs pass
ing from one range to the other as fast
as they finished their strings. The team
will get in one or two, and perhaps three,
skirmish runs this afternoon.
Lieut. J. E. 8tedje. 2d United States
Cavalry, won the Ohio all-comers long
range "military revolver- match with a
score of 140. A. B. Hale. Marine Corps,
took the all-comers' six-hundred-yard
match.
York's Oldest Doctor 111.
YORK, Pa., August 21.?Dr. M. J. Mc
Kinnon, York's oldest physician, is criti
cally ill at the home of hia daughter,
Mrs. William T. Ellis, at Swarthmore.
near Philadelphia. His children?City En
gineer R. B. McKinnon and Dr. J. W.
McKlnnon?have been summoned to his
bedside. Dr. McKinnon left about ten
days ago to v alt his daughter and to
ake a rest. There he waa ?el*ed with
stomach trouble. Dr. McKinnon is one
of the leading physicians in York, and
has served In a number of important posi
tions. H* t* physician to the county
almshouse, physician for the Pennsylva
nia Rallro id Company and pn the staff of
the York Hospital, and has served several
terms In the state legislature.
PERU CAUSES PUNIC
Illinois River Steamer Totally
Destroyed by Fire.
PASSENGERS ALL RESCUED
Burning Vessel Beached at Avery
ville, Suburb of Peoria.
SWIMMERS SAVE CHILDREN
Fire Discovered in Stateroom by
Cabin Girl?Rapid Work
of the Flames.
PEORIA. II!.. August 21.?The steamer
Fred Swain, Capt. Verne Sv.ain, of the
Peoria and I^a Salle Packet Company,
with twenty-five passengers and fifteen
sailors aboard, burned to the last deck
yesterday after the flaming rraft had
been piloted into four feet of water and
the occupants had escaped to the bank of
the Illinois river, up which the steamer
was bound when it caught fire.
No lives were lost, but Joseph Casrlder,
the engineer, was burned about the face
and body, and Charles Reicheberger of
Peoria suffered a broken arm. The loss
Is $35,000. Several* of the passengers
lost their belongings.
The escape from the burning vessel of
the passengers, most of whom were wom
en and children, was exciting. At one
time, when flames were discovered issuing
from a stateroonf on the second deck,
panic reigned. Pears were partly calmed
as the burning steamer drew nearer to
the shore and scores of rowboats were
seen hurriedly putting out to the rescue.
The gangplank was lowered to the
water's edge when the steamer had been
beached and one rowboat after another
took off a load of passengers and sailors.
After two boats had loaded and started
i lor shore the gangplank caught tire and
fell away from the steamer, letting fifteen
persons, including several women and
children, iijto the water.
Thomas Powers of Peoria, and E. A.
Caron of Worcester, Mass., who were on
the plank when it fell, each saved the
lives of two children, half carrying and
half swimming with the tots on their
back and shoulders to old tree stumps to
await the arrival of rescuers.
In Perilous Position.
The others who were thrown into the
water by the collapse of the gangplank
were taken in boats to safety. Those
still aboard the steamer managed to get
out a new gangway at a place farther
from the flames which were rapidly creep
ing over the boat.
The fire was discovered in a stateroom
by Miss Furbish, a cabin girl. She spread
the alarm, but all efforts to subdue the
flames proved fruitless, the fire spreading
rapidly. Capt. Swain, realizing that the
vessel was doomed, ordered Pilot Martin
Hustpn to beach the boat and instructed
his crew to deal out life preservers.
Engineer Casrider, after attending to
the boilers to guard against an explosion,
w'ent to the pumps, remaining tnere until
the flames licked his face. Severely burn
ed and almost blind, he turned to escape
only to find that a rowboat which had
been left for him had caught afire. He
got into the boat, however, and,, beating
the flames from him and rowing hard,
reached shore. He was taken to a hos
pital.
Passenger's Statement.
William Bittle, a hardware merchant of
Peoria, who, with his young son, Harold,
was rescued by a motor boat, said:
"I, with my son, was sitting on the
front end of the second deck when I
heard a little girl remark to her mother:
'Mamma, look at the fire.' The woman
turned 41 her chair and on sighting the
flames shrieked: 'The boat's afire.' In
stantly a panic ensued, all making a
rush to the lower deck. The gang planK
was lowered after the bow was sent Into
the willow trees and stumps near the
bank, and all scrambled on it and all
were plunged into the water when the
cables were parted by the flames. 1
grabbed my boy and for a while thought
surely we would both be lost, but I man
aged to cling to a small willow tree with
the boy until rescued.'.
Miss Furbish, who discovered the flre,
said:
"I was at work dusting and cleaning a
stateroom in which the fire started. The
whole room was in flames, the smoke
blinding me. I gave the alarm and
rushed to inform Capt. Swain. I do not
know how the flre started unless it origi
nated through sharks from the engine
room."
Captain Last to Seek Safety.
D. M. Swain of Stillwater, Minn., owner
of the burned steamer, was in the Avery
Manufacturing Company plant at Avery
ville, a suburb of Peoria, near which the
steamer caught fire, and he aided in res
cuing the passengers and crew. His son,
Verne, captain of the vessel, was the last
to leave for the shore.
Futile efforts were made by the Peoria
and Averyville fire departments to save
the hull of the boat.
The steamer Fred Swain was built at
Clearwater, Wis., nine years ago, and
was one of the finest packets plying on
the Illinois river.
BIG TIME In'wAB CANOE.
Mrs. Frank H. Larned Gives Boys
Annual Treat.
Forty-flve poor and ragged boys be
tween the ages of ten and seventeen veArs
are having the time of their lives on the
river this afternoon, thanks to the efforts
of Mrs. Frank H. learned, wife of the
assistant commissioner general of immi
gration, and Capt. D. S. Edmonds and
Fred Watts, of the Analostan Boat Club.
Four years ago Mrs. Larned, who. Is an
active charity worker along lines of her
own, was endeavoring to find some way
to give an outing to poor boys who were
too old to enjoy the benefits of Camp
Good Will, too big to get In on. the free
ciilldrens' excursions given yearly 011 tne
river, and too poor and too shabby to
share In the benefits of other river out
ings. Fred Watts, a clerk in Mr. Larned's
office, then as now a member of the Ana
lostan Boat Club, suggested a trip up
the river in the club's war canoe, a swim
and a game of base ball. It did not take
long to raise a fund for sandwiches and
ginger ale for reireshments. and Capt.
Edmonds soon provided the war canoe.
Under the chaperonage of Mr. and Mrs.
Larned the party had a fifteen-mile ride
on the river; the boys were treated to a
swim and aquatic sports on the beach just
below the old Dixie landing on the upper
Potomac, and on their return, a i^jeball
game on the lawn in front of the boat
house. This program has been repeated
each year, but each year finds the party
larger than the year before.
This year it has grown to {orty-five,
exclusive of those in charg? of the excur
sion. Shortly after 2 o'clock this after
noon the great war canoe of the boat club
and Capt. Edmonds* private launch left
the boailiouse lor a spin down -the river
first, after whicb the boats1 turned their
heads upstream to the scene of the an
nual festivities.
The boys are gathered from various
parts of the city through the instrumen
tality of the Associated Chanties and
Mrs. Larned and her iriends do the rest.
Baltimore German Singers Elect.
BALTIMORE, August 21.?The new or
ganization of German singers, the United
Sinking Societies of Baltimore County,
was put on a firm bas's when :he four
subordinate societies met last night and
elected officers. Henry Gieseking, for
merly president of the United Singers of
Baltimore, was unanimously chosen presi
dent. The other officers are: First vice
president, Wilhelm Ullrich; second vice
president. Charles Kurtz: treasurer, John
Sause; secretary, August Ehoff. The
riiu&ie coniml.tee is as follows: Messrs.
George Billing. Harry Winkler, Charles
Vogtman and George Wachter. ft was
decided that the new society shall meet
every third Sunday of the month.
LOSES LIFE TRYING TO SAVE
YOUNG LAWYER.
Couple Perish in View of Helpless
Crowd on the Beach at
Wildwood, N. J.
Special Dispatch to Thp Star.
WILDWOOD, N. J., August 21.?The peo
ple of this place began to realls? tnls
morning the full import of the tragedy In
the surf at Wildwood Crest Beach yes
terday afternoon. The victims were Miss
Virginia Paul of Swarthmore. Pa., and
W. Brooks Let-rig. a lawyer of Philadel
phia. It was the case of a woman giv
ing up her life in an effort to save that
of a man.
The pair entered the water late In the
afternoon at a point well below the regu
lar bathing beach. The life guards who !
usually patrol the beach were off duty. A i
heavy surf was running and Miss Paul
and Lessig decided to swim out beyond !
the breakers. They were both expert j
swimmers, and a big crowd on the beach
watched them as they *wani out further
and 'urther. Suddenly l^essig. who was
a little distance behind Miss Paul, was I
seen to throw up his hands and sink, i
The girl hurried to his assistance and
started to drag him to shore.
Persons on the beach, however, could
see that'although she was churning the
water hard in her efforts, she was being
gradually beaten back by the tide. A
faint cry of help came to the beach from
the struggling girl, but tliere was no boat
at hand.
One girl started to swim out to the
rescue, but the heavy surf beat her back.
Finally some one telephoned to the
United States life-saving crew at Holly
Bea6n, but a few minutes after the mes
sage was sent Lessig was seen to sink
and a moment afterward Miss Paul had
also disappeared. ?
A boat trom the life-saving station in
charge of Capt. Downs arrived a few
minutes later. They searched lor over
an hour, but could find no trace of the
bodies.
Miss Paul, who was twenty-one years
old^ was the stepdaughter of Clarence
Jeffries of Philadelphia. Lessig was
thirt?flve years old and was the son of
the Jate George B. lessig, the banker and
ironmaster of Pottstown, Pa.
MATINEE AT GENTRY SHOWS.
Crowd Entertained With Varied
Program This Afternoon.
Gentry Bros.' shows arrived here this
morning over the Pennsylvania railroad
from ( hester. Pa., and the tents were
quickly erected at Pennsylvania avenue
and 13th street southeast, and by the
time the youngster* were all up the dogs
and ponies had eaten breakfast and were
being harnessed up ready for the parade,
which wa3 given shortly after 10 o'clock.
The little cages and other wagons drawn
by the ponies were resplendent in thftir
coats of origin paint. Two bands chaper
oned the procession, which concluded
with the camels, elephants and calliope.
I The matinee is in progress this after
nooN. the little folks being much in evl
I dence. as the Gentry Bros.' shows cater
especially to their comfort and amus?>
mertf. Several troupes of performers
have been added to the program. The
herd of performing elephants.'the special
[ ties of the dogs and ponies and the antics
]of the comical monkeys made up a pro
gram that contained many acts of merit.
A troupe of clowns furnished comical
incidents throughout the program, and
?he performance concluded with a Are In
the monkey hotel, when the flames were
extinguished by the anhnal firemen. The
performance will be repeated this even
ing at 8 o'clock, at the conclusion of
which the show will depart for Warren
ton, Va.
Depositors Sue Bank Directors.
NORFOLK. Va., August 21.?John T.
Griffin, receiver of the wrecked People's
Bank of Portsmouth, has brought suit on
behalf of the depositors to recover from
the directors of the failed institution all
losses in so far as the personal wealth
of these officials will go. The suit is
brought collectively against all surviving
directors and against the executors and
personal representatives of deceased direc
tors. The suit followed refusal by de
positors to accept a compromise, in which
the directors offered to pay in $50,00t).
afterward supplementing this by agreeing
to wipe out $15,000 in deposits carried by
them. Among the defendants to tiie suit
is Alexander Butt, cashier, now serving
two years in the penitentiary at Rich
mond for wrecking the bank, the deposits
of which amounted to over $400.00(1.
AUTO AT PUBLIC COST
Privilege to School Officials
While Making Inspections.
CONTROLLER SO DECIOES
To Disallow Claim Penalises Of
ficials Serving Without Pay.
AUDITOR FOR STATE REVERSED
Decision Given on Bill Presented bjr
President and Vice Presi
dent of Board.
At public expense members of the hoard,
of education can use an automobile for
tours of inspection of the public vchoolg.
Tills Is, In effect. ? derision of the con
troller of the Treasury Department ie
celved by the District Commissioners to
day. To disallow such expens?. the con
troller indicates, would b* to penalise
' public ofile ala serving without salary for
performing their public duties.
A bill for $47 for the h're of a taxicab
for the use of the president and the vice
president of ilie board of education and
the superintendent of public schools was
allowed by District Auditor T weed ale and
paid by Disbursing Officer Louis Wilson.
The item was disallowed by the auditor
for the State and other departments, and
in his decision allowing the payment the
controller of the Treasury Department
has reversed the decision of the auditor
for the State and other departments.
Specific Duties.
"The board of education," sitys Con
troller Tracewell, "advised the disbursing
officer that the taxicab in question was
hired for purposes stated, briefly, as fol
lows:
"I. For the ins|>ection of new school
buildings.
"2. For traveling throughout the Dis
trict to determine the character and
amount of repays made during the vaca
tion period, the condition of school build
ings, etc.
"3. The procurement of data for de
termining the amounts of annual esti
mates of appropriations required for the
maintenance and improvement of schools.
"The auditor ffor the State and other
departments) disallowed the payment a*
coming within the reasons of the deci
sion of thjs office, reported in V. Con
troller's Decisions. 300.
Scope of Decision Quoted.
"Said decision held that travel within
the District of Columbia by the first as
sistant postmaster general, whose office
is located at the seat of government, is
not travel within the meaning of the law
authorising reimbursement of traveling
expenses, although the travel was on offi
cial business.
"The facts and law applicable to thH
case are easily distinguishable from those
In the case cited by the auditor. That
case turned upon the proposition, namely,
the law that there should be at the seat
of government an executive department
known as the Post Office Department, of
which the first assistant postmaster gen
eral is a part, and that all that part of
the territory of the United States in
cluded within, the limits of the District of
Columbia shall be the permanent seat of
government of the United States.
Difference Pointed Out.
"The first assistant postmaster general
is a salaried officer. The school board of
the District of Columbia is not located by
law, in the sense of locating It in the t>ls
trict of Columbia as a whole. It per
forms its ordinary functions In the Dis
trict of Columbia, but is not located op
stationed in the District In the sense that
the entire District, a territory six miles
wide by ten in length. Is its official sta
tion.
"The board serves without compensa
tion and in the absence of similar statutes
to, those governing In the case In Wh Con
troller, referred to by the auditor, 1 do
not see my way clear to penalise these
officers for the performance of a public
duty by holding that they were not trav
eling when they incurred the expense in
question.
"The action of the auditor (of the State
and other departments) is reversed and
a certificate of difference will issue in ac
cordance herewith."
Copyright, 1900, by Metropolitan Syndicate. Inr., N. Y.
Somebody Has Money He
Wants to Hand to You
You have something that somebody wants, and that somebody is
advertising today in The Star classified columns, to reach YOU.
There is hardly a successful business man or woman alive who
doe^ not owe at least one forward step?(and perhaps the oue
step that turned the whole course of fortune)?to a little classified
advertisement. The market place of the Munnimakers is no fanci
ful name for it. It is fact. No matter how far you've traveled
on the road to success?or no ma tter how far you have to travel?
there is no book you can read, no page in this paper that will
freshen your spirit of enterprise and g ve you such accurate knowl
edge of the opportunities that actually exist, and that are actually
open to you now, as the offers you will find in the classified ads
in The Star.
Dear Mr. Munnimaker. care The Star Classified Columns:
Through a little Munnimaker Class'fied Ad in The
Star I beat the auctioneer and got a* better price on my
machinery and tools.
Yours truly, MACHINIST.
1
W rite Mr. Munnimaker. care of The Star, or phone him, Main
2440, whenever you need anytfrng. ?