Puget Sound weekly Argus. [volume], September 04, 1879, Image 6

About Puget Sound weekly Argus. [volume] (Port Townsend, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1882

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
Cl
A Message Through the Air.
it was :1 lo‘ccl} night in tlu mouth of
August that I sat on lllt' porch of old
Uncle Toby‘s house, llvt yet entirely rm
covered from the impression." manic lg. a
glorious sunset which even Lln'n left its
footprints upon theolouxls [hut ll'\\'('l‘="l
in the \wm-rn sky.
My horse stood .'t the gut-s already
saddled, awaiting me. but l mu deter
mined not to leme l'ncle Toby’s house
until I had carried my point, and living.
his nephew, I had enough of the same
old blood in my veins to make me as per
severing as he was obstinate.
“Uncle Toby, I must have that bird.”
“Wn‘al, nefi'y, ask me for anything
else in the house but that, and it is
yours."
“I (ltm't want anything else, Uncle
Toby, but that you must give me."
“Wn'al now, ncfi‘y, you know that ere
carrier pigeon took the first prize at the
county fair.”
“Which fact will only muke me prize.
it more. Come, now, Uncle 'l‘oby. be
generous.”
“Wa‘al, boy, the bird is yourn. You
always haul your own way with old
Uncle Toby." ‘
To say that l was delighted would ,
but faintly express my feelings. The
bird was a beauty as may easily be im
agined, and as I bid Uncle Toby good
night, snd mounted my pony, with the
cage in my hand containing the prize I
so dearly coveted, I rode home with my
heart light and a. brain filled to over
flowing with plans in which the bird’s
speed would be tested. Numerous val
uable prizes seemed already to be with
in my grasp as I reached home, and hav
ing stabled my horse, ascended to my
dark and lonely room.
I was but sixteen years of age at the
time, and on the night in question I was
the sole and only occupant of my father’s
mansion, the other members of the fam
ily having gone on a. Summer trip to the
mountains, leaving me in charge. My
room was on the second floor, overlook
ing the road, and thither I had taken
my bird, where, in my solitude, I could
quietly admire its beautiful proportions.
Extinguishing my lamp, I sat by the
open window, contentedly smoking my
pipe and enjoying the cool breezes that.
swept across the lawn laden with the
rich odors of the flowers, when my at
tention was attracted to some dark ob
jects that oppeaxed to be approaching by
the road that led past our house.
I listened intently, and above the
whispers of the Summer breeze I thought
I could detetxt the hum of whispered con
versation.
It was no unusual occurrence for
tramps to pass our place at that hour,
and the circumstance caused only a rip
ple of curiosity to'arise in my bosom,
until I heard the Intel: of our gstolifted
and distinctly the tread of many feet fell
upon my ear. '
I was so surprised and startled at this
unexpected intrusion that I was momen
tarily dazed, endfiefore I could decide
on I plan of action, they. had ascended
the door steps, and I knew from the
splinterings of wood that they had al
ready commenced operations to force
an entrance into the house.
By the light of a dark lantern, which
they carried, I discovered that they were
six in number, and all wore heavy black
masks, the more effectually to prevent
recognition in case of discovery. Then
my voice came back to me and thinking
to make up for my youthful years in the
volume of my vome, I yelled out, in
thundering tones :
:Hello! What are you doing there ‘1”
The dark lantern was closed like a.
flesh; but yet I could distinctly define
the dim outline of the robbers as they
stood like dark shadows in contrast with
the white balcony beyond. For a. moment
the stillness of death ensued, when I re
ceived a. reply, uttered in tones I shall
never forget, and with an emphasis that
clearly indicated a urpose to carry out
what was thresteneel) :
“I say, youngster, just you take in
that head of your’n and keep that baby
mouth closed or I'll blow the top of your
held 05 !"
The Ilm-p click of spinal followed,
3nd you an Manned that. I needed
no mom! warning. Whit shonlcl I do?
I VII st lent 1:01! nhmiliofrom the near
atn bar, tte men-am
Mild?“ nape I'll impmsihlo.
M W Main (In!!! in the very
map: itself.
The that gun. “1' mm. I‘M - good
a. I would m the gun and «Hand
the mto flu- biwer owl The that
all I bl lefl in da- palm-on to Illx‘v
within Ind: daring the long hour- a!
“Guy.“ "up wen a thick u
m and l lad {lrving to
flip lain m "=qu . y nix]
hi no Inch MA by my ru
dc I.“ an: I in! 'xunuu-mly mal
w I. “a 0' In, ml mm
b b M.
lwluflphlnflfim
“Mg—ll my balm. dun
filing-patina 'md .Inod
“HO.“ in” nu ..-. run a
, words could uttvr it, that the hull-door
‘ Inul ln-su-n successfully form], mnl that
lau- rnblu‘xw: \\"‘rt‘ tlwn actually in the
Imus".
I rc-rrmm! tn Illl' shelter of my littlu
room. Invkml and lmltud the (1001-, ll prey
tomy worst umn'ohenskms. I remem
bered the cruelty nf those masked mm,
and I' knew that if they nut numlvr me
outright tln-y would by binding and
gagging so torture me as to mukn even
death itself dcsn‘nblo.
0f onn thing 1 was satisfied, that the
snfetv of tho rohhors depended upon my
loving sm-urwl, and to achieve that result
would hethuir first object. If I had a
weapon so that I could have made an
clfort to preserve my life, I would then
have been contented. but the idea of an
unarmed boy heingthus left to the mvrcy
of theso unfi-eling rutfians almost drove
me to distraction.
I heard their footsteps ascending the
stairs, and I proceeded to barricade the
door, when a thought flashed among my
brain. How was it that. it escaped me
so long! The carrier pigeon that. I lnul
just received from Uncle 'l‘oby !—I
would release with n nwssnge; it would
return to Uncle Toby‘s, and I would he
saved, and the robbers foiled m tlwir
snarch for plunder.
I wrote a. message hurriedly, secured
it to the bird. which I placed upon the
window-sill, when, after a moment's
hesitation, it ascended Skyward, and when
it passed from my sight. was flying like
the wind in the direction of Uncle
Toby’s. The message read as follows:
“chu: Tom—The house has been
entered by six masked burglars. (‘ome
immediately. BOB."
Scarcely had the bird started on its
homeward flight when the robbers
reached my door and tried to force it;
but I had pushed my bedstead against
the door, and with my personal efforts
to prevent them from entering, Ihad im
provised a barricade that promised to re
sist all attacks made against it.
The prolonged defense I was making
incensed and exasperated the fellows to
such a degree that they poured forth
threats of vengenco upon me. Their
patience became exhausted at last, and a
pistol shot which grazed my cheek
warned me of the danger of my longer
remaining in that position. It had been
fired through the panel of the door.
I rushed to the window and gazed out
upon the lawn below. The distance
was great, and it seemed to me that,
while torture awaited me if captured by
the robbers, there was certain death in a
leap from the window.
\Vhat should I do? The distance to
Uncle Toby’s house was but five miles,
which the pigeon must have covered by
this time. But suppose the bird should
not be discovered? Suppose Uncle
Toby had gone to his room for the night,
and my message would not be seen and
read before morning? The very thought
was so agonizing to me that I refused to
entertain it.
All this time the fellows were working
at the door. The bolt was forced, and
slowly but surely the barricade was
yielding to the power outside. .1 saw a
masked face peer through the opening
thus made, and the glimmer of the dark
lantern from outside. I could remain
no longer. Death itself seemed prefer
able to the uncertainty of my fate at the
hands of these desperate fellows.
I rushed to the window, and, without
hesitation, I jumped. It seemed to me
to be a lifetime before I struck the
ground, and when I did, I rolled over
upon the grass, temporarily paralyzed
from the shock I had received. When
I attempted to rise, the grip of an iron
hand pressed my throat, and I felt the
cold steel of a pistolas it was pressed
against my temple.
To resist meant death. The house
was surrounded. I held my peace while
the robber proceeded to bind me; for
whenever I displayed any restlessness
that cold steel was pressed against my
head. The only struggle I made was
when he attempted to insert a gag in my
mouth ;but I had to submit, for I re
ceived a blow from the butt of the
fellow;- pistol that multiplied the stars
that I saw in the lumen a hundred
folil. ‘
Completely discouraged, I gave "I‘-
; self up in despair. I resisted no long» ,
1 closing my eyes to shut out. as it were,
I the gloomy prospect before me. Some
l what surprised at the prolonged delay of
the rohho-r in ln-rfm-ting my pinioning, l
’ opened my eyes.
‘ I’M-'4- Tully .xtrmal uw-r luv. Stretchml
l upon llu- gum by my hl'll' “an the fel
[ lmv who lmvl w-urml me. n gaping wound
i In Lu heal MT-vr ling an "\plimation of
4 din -ud~lo-n rudin: of his attempt upon
I "I" l'iiv-rl}
, .\ don-u dv-trrmilml and renamed
3 um: am» with him. Tlu- masked rob—
‘ lawn a! first showed a disposition to re
sin. but on refledion. swing the hope
lv-uu-sol any such attempt, they our
Mud Wimly. At the next
mdtbomnthwm each-en
touul to flu.» yun‘ imprisonment.
Uncle Toby VII linking his final
mood of his grounds on the night in
(-g-m: «m. then 0:0 mtliagol a bird's
l wings attracted his :Lttvntion. [t (-n
--} t(‘l‘('(l tho pigmn cotv. [Timlilo to con
trol his curinsitv. and anxious to ascor
tnin the mum of such a peculiar pro
ceeding, lm primurml :l ladder, ascended
to the coto, and tlu-ru, to his surpriso, ho
fountl that the cm'ric-r pigeon had already
returned, and with a message. He read
it, summoned his neighbors, and arrived
just in time to lung the follows.
l‘ho old bird is dead now, but while
it; lIVHI there was not. money enough in
our town to buy it from mo.
__ ”... _
A Dissatisfied Tramp.
A gentleman attired in clothes which
had seen better days called at the
Tribune office on Saturday with a slip
cut from the paper, and asked to see
the editor. When his request had been
complied with, in a measure, he said With
a withering sneer :
"\Vot are givin’ us, young feller, hey?
Don’t you see what you’re printing in the
paper 3 Look 9. here I” and he tendered
the reporter a printed scrap, which the
reporter took between the points of a
pair of scissors, and scrutinized at a re
respectful distance.
"This, my friend," said the reporter
to the representative of the Hendrick
B. \Vright interest, “this, my friend,
seems to be an interesting item about an
impccunious gentleman in \Vinona,
Minn, who weeded a cucumber bed for
his dinner and sawed a cord of wood for
his supper, and whose demeanor so im
pressed thc woman of the house that
she at once wrote an account of the af
fair to the \Vinona Republican. Are
you the industrious gentleman referred
to? Do you want to correct the re
port 2”
“N a-aw,” said the visitor, indignantly.
“Do I look like a. man who would weed
a bed of cucumbers of the ground for a
small plate of hash! Do you think I
could so far forget myself as to split
menial Wood for the cold buckwheat
cakes that {all trom the rich man’s
table l”
“Well, what do you want 2”
“Want? This is what I want, and I
speak as the representative of about
500,000 American citizens. I want you
to stop publishing items like that, which
are only calculated to increase the evil
of contraction and the sutl‘erings of the
poor. If the impression once gets
abroad that us fellows are in the habit
of weeding the cowcumbers upon a
thousand beds and making sawmills of
ourselves for the sake of our bread, we
willbe ruined. That’s what’s the mat
ter. If you want to find reading that
will interest your readers and benctitl
the struggling poor, just you give them
some stories about disguised Dukes and
Itailian Marquises and tramps, who
were given a square feed of roast chick—
en and ice cream, with 15-cent cigars
and a nip of good whisky as grace after
meat, and who, fifteen weeks afterward, 1
left their generous benefactors $250,-
000. That’s the sort of literature you
fellows want to print. Your renders
cry for it, and” the farmrrs sit on the ,
fence for hours waiting to get theirl
mail.”
The reporter thanked his visitor for
this communication of his views on
journalism, and the visitor left, having
inquired if the Congressional Labor
Committee, was still in session—Chica
go Tribune.
Lightning strikes a Temperance
Lecturer.
The Lake House, on the road ascen d
ing Pike’s Peak, was struck by lightning
lately, but was not seriously damaged.
Dr. W. C. Gibbons, who was descend
ing the Peak during the storm, had a
very narrow escape from death. His
wife, who was with him, describes the
incident to the Colorado Springs Ga
zette as follows: “As we were riding
along a place where the wire was about
two feet from our heads—my husband
about ten feet in advance—l suddenly
heard what I first supposed was a pistol
shot, then I saw a stream of fire run
from the wire‘ to his head; his horse
reared on his hind feet; my husband fell
to the trail, and the horse bounded off
down the mountain. All this occupied
but a second; then my horse bounded
from the ground and threw me back
‘ ward, so that my head struck the ground,
’my foot still in the stirrup. His second
lbound tore the stirrup loose from the
l saddle. his hind feet striking me in the
lfuri-ln-ud, while at the next hound his
{fer-t struck my husband, and then my
horse also left. For some time the
doctor ‘rcmaiued unconscious. I raised
him up, found the mark of the lightning
——just above his left ear—which fol
lowed a zigzag course back of his head,
down his back to his shoulder. I finally
got him to his feet, half carried him
down the trail for half a mile, where we
found our horses. I helped him on his
I horse. I mounted mine, and slowly we
I made our way to the Lake House, a mile
| lurther ou."-—Denver Tribune.
Poople coll you dear when they would
turn upon you.
____E\RTLE'I'I"S COLUMN.
C H AS. C.
I |
| I
PORT TOWNSEND, W. T.
Wholesale and Retail
-—DEALEB m
GROCERIES,
GROCERIES,
GROCERIPE,
DRY GOODS,
DRY GOODS,
DRY GOODS,
CLOTHING,
CLOTHING,
CLOTHING,
@‘BOOTS,“"“SIIOES,
MVBOOTI‘S,mSHOES,g
QFBOOTS, SHOESJfi
@‘HATS,
(Q‘FCAPS,
FANG Y GOODS,
Hardwarv,
Hardware, Hardware,
11 an] ware,
Ship Chandlery.
('wn'kvrxu
(Trucker); (l'roukr’rv,
“hula-r}; .
Tomas“algarsglmnnccu,
Doors and Windows,
Farming Implements,
Furniture,
Wall Paper,
Plows.
And a. Large assortment of ‘Goods not
enumerated, which we
will sell at
The Lowest Prices.
BARTLETT’S
Central Hotel building,
Head of Union Wharf,
Port Townsenm'WJ‘.
The Finest Stock of
G'SOLID GOLD AND SILVER
wee-ES
W ‘} ES
-—AND—
WERE}?
gEVV
0N PUGET SOUND.
Also u lino assortment of
Clocks, Solid and
Clocks, Plated
Sgectecles, Silver
pectncles, Ware,
@‘ Eye, Field and Murino Glues,”
Musical Instruments,
Em, Etc.
Goods Warranted as represented.
WATCHES AN D JEWELRY
(finned and lepaired by a. first clan
workman and warranted
for one year.
0. 0. BIHTLETT, Prop'r.
'fi n
wort Townscnn
Boot and '3; ‘ ‘;
rmm' ' -
ML =1! I_l Shag, Smye
Men's, linys’,
Ladios’, Missns',
:unl (‘rllill’rrn’g
Boots and Shoes
Of the very latest qualities and of (In:
Latest Patterns.
GENT’S AND LADIES’ ‘
Arctic Over-Shoes.
Gent’s, Ladies’, Misses’ and Children’-
Rubber Over-Shoes.
This is the Largest :me Host sch-em]
stock of Boots and Shops on
Puget Sound, cmnprising
Bruuze and Hall" Dressing.
Mmmu'n (‘lmlh-ngu "inching.
l‘runk Mllllor'a
“’lif-(‘r‘l'l'llof “lurking.
Machine Silk and Not-«Hm
.'s'IIOI‘ I’lmlhmu ol'ouwy cltmcrlpllon.
ltlgglng mul Harness Leather.
Etta, lite" l-Ilc.
A complete nssorluwnt of
@MISCELLA‘NEOUS STOUKHE}
And Repairing executed as usuu], and
satisfaction guaranteed.
A l‘nlr Share ofpntrmmzc- oflho l’uuuo
II nullcuoul.
@I have a GREAT III'IVERI‘INCE
for Cash Custunwrs.
3
H. l. TIBBALS & 00. S
S UPERI 01:, .’1 '15.! .11 S.
Wlmrflnmn's
IYH ' ‘
AND COMMISSION HEMIMN
Vessels I)iseh:n';.:wl,
lf‘l‘l‘iglllfi (,‘nHm'ttrxl.
'l‘vuming nf :IH kinds done,
At rrnsomhh- lawns and .\.tlinf‘ur‘ Iva
guurzmnwl.
Forum-«Hm.- nml ('ummluum "mix-«n
promptly nllumlwl 10.
Good Dry and firm“ \‘.-ml
always on hzuul. .\lso, 30ml Burk.
'I'IJIO'I'III' HAY. AIJVAYH 03’ "AND.
—AGENTS FOR—-
Steilacoom Beer,
Seattle Beer, and Levy Bro.’s
Soda. \Vntcrniul Root Beer.
All businels entrusted In our care will receive
prompt attention.
To the Merchnnul of Port ’l‘nwnwend we will
my that we receive n‘l your ennui: n mi mivunco
the coin for your ”(fight him. ior ui.ich wo
certainidr expect your pitliml;l:u. an wuimve
attendc ll)l‘l‘calviil-g,‘llllipliiu, ..mi m :lwrrinz
your anode ior runny your». pun.
We are still Prv‘pzuiul In (in nil your wurlt at
{Air and tenuoliubiu price».
11. 1.. Tritium .r (0..
Port Townsend. W. T.
__________.__.______________
U S M ' ' 1'
. . arme Hospita .
PORT TOWNSEND. W. 'l‘.
Any lick sailor who hm mild Ilnupitnl dueu {or
two month: preceding his uppiimuiun
ior udtnlssion, is entitled. to
Bospltul roller.
Port Townsend Hospital.
The obove institution having been placed on
n permanent footing. u the United Hlittel Hos
pltol tor Marlne Patients on Plural Hound. tho
proprietortskes pleasure in mnmnm-muiizst
nwnlnsor expense will be sperud in minin
to n: tothe comfort and convenience of pri
uteP'otlenie. .
Th in the largest Generol Hospital north 0.
Son Fronciscomnd by {or the must cmupleto
1n equlpment. it has been tnorunnhii' ri-llttotl
Ind returnlshed. lts uenerni wards mvo ao
oommodetions for about one hundred patients
nnd ore peculiarly adopted (or crises requiring
the mos careful treatment and coniilunteu-
Dervislon at limited expense. Thom who de
lire them will be furnished with private moms.
entlrely separate and distinct, at usilgllt midi
tlonel cost.
"The nttentlon of Mill ownermnuil thole
interested in uhiprlng. is celled to tam met that
leamen snil'erlng rom coninuiouu (“scum-n will
be irested outside the Hospital wmiout ex
pense to the vessel.
, Thomas 'l‘. Minor, ill, ii.,
264.! Managing Mm: Ull
,________________—~______,.. « -—-‘
“MIN 'l‘ Ntlltltl 1e
' 9
-——l)ll‘0llTl-th 01-‘—-
I
Stoves, Tlnware,
PUMPS, l IRON PIPE,
PUMPS, ~— IRON PIPE.
PUMPS, l IRON Pm».
—-AND GENERAL—-
House-Furnishing Hardwate.
PRIME QUA Ll'l‘Y,
um A run "Atrium Irma
Forevery article manic or no“