USEFULNESS OF MICROBES
Billions of Them Working in Be
half of the Human Race
The ev Science of Industrial 111
oIokj IIUvlj to IlcMolutloulzc
Methods experiments
111 MnilchuvttM Luljornliirlp
BOSTON Jul 20 A paper recently
read before the Boston Society of Na
tural History by Samuel C Prescott
of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology deals with a subject of
unusuil interest what may popularly
be called perhaps a v indication of the
microbe as a useful factor in society
From this paper which is founded on
a long- scries of experiments under
take Itrthe biological laboratories of
the Institute it appears that not onl
as is comparatively well Known are
certain sorts of bacteria now used as
scavengers to fight their disease-producing
kindred and not onlj is it gen
erall recognized that all life depends
upon bacterial actiity but that in
a long list of important industries suc
cess is quite impossible without their
assistance Knowingly or not the
brewer uses microbes to secure certain
definite qualities in his product and
the farmers wife in ripening her cream
for churning gives the bacteria -which
it contains an opportunit to improve
the taste and aroma of her butter In
the case of scores of products often
the best known and most generall
used people have for centuries con
stantly profited by bacterial processes
without suspecting that the were do
ing so and consequently with uncar
tain success in the lesults obtained
But within a few jears experiments
of which Mr Prescotts are among the
most recent hae resulted in what
may fairh be called a new science
that of industrial biology the piac
tical benefit of which can even now
liardl be calculated
Investigations into the processes of
baking brewing and wine making the
preparation of skins for tanning the
dairy and sugar Industries and a great
number of changes and reactions for
merly believed to be purely chemical
in character have shown that the real
work is done by living organisms It
Js all a question of fermentation the
meaning of the word having extended
to cover a multitude of changes which
are alike In having a living cell as
their first cause so that industrial bi
ology broadly speaking becomes the
science of fermentation the bacteria
being studied in connection with -various
kinds of mold and jeast A mold
Is a colorless branching organism that
grows like a plant and when sub
merged in sugar solutions without ac
cess to air gives rise to a -vigorous al
coholic fermentation The various
j easts are small oval or rounded or
ganisms which rapidly increase in
number under favorable conditions by
a process of budding and have an in
dustrial value dependent upon their ac
tivity as producers of alcohol and car
bon dioxide The bacteria which are
smaller and presumably simpler than
either molds or least have a great
er diversity of fermenting power and
are found nearly everywhere in enor
mous number in air in water in earth
and in food They may be rod shaped
like a bit of slate pencil spherical
like a pea or twisted like a corkscrew
Theyappear to vary in size although
the average diameter Is roughly given
as one twenty five thousandth of an
inch which would mean that some
where near a billion could be contained
in the space of a single grain of gran
ulated sugar When these micro-organisms
find themselves in any suit
able nutriment they grow active and
multiply by fission as the bacteriol
ogists call it that they are constantly
being cut in two so that a single mi
crobe may become a million in the
course of a few hours And this enor
mous multiplication continues until
further growth Is chokedoff 17y lack of
space or by the exhaustion of the food
supply
It is comforting and a little surpris
ing perhaps to learn that organisms
so numerous and ubiquitous are in the
main the friends ahd allies of human
ity Most persons too will probably
have a kinder feeling toward the bac
terium and its various functions when
they learn that it has a vegetable
rather than an animal character For
a time it was maintained that it was
animal because it often had hairlike
tentacles by means of which it seemed
to be capable of moving from place to
place The authorities have at last
definitely decided however that bac
teria constitute the lowest order of
plant life and may be sown to produce
certain results Just as the seeds of
larger vegetables are sown
Perhaps one of the best Illustrations
of the application of industrial biology
is in butter making Milk as is well
known is a particularly good medium
for the growth of bacteria They be
gin to appear In it from the time It
leaves the cow and are the cause of
the souring which Is so universal that
for a long time it was supposed to be
a purely natural change When
milk is to be used as such it Is better
without bacteria Cream which is to
be used in butter making on the
other hand produces the best results
when it has undergone a ripening
process fermentation In other words
caused by certain kinds of micro-organisms
Jugt as distilled vvjter is
tasteless and insipid so butter made
from perfectly fresh cream Is simple
fat and lacks the distinguishing fla
vor and aroma which makes it pala
table When cream is allowed to stand
in the dairy enough of the light sort
of bacteria usually get into It to start
the proper fermentation although in
receiving these it may also receive
others lesc -desirable which cause the
butter to become rancid
With the idea of reducing uncertain
ty to certainty the bacteriologist has
uccceded in cclonlzlng the pecular
bacteria which have been found to pto
duce the finest quality of butter so
that by the use of such butter cul
tures vas they lire called when the
manufacture Is undertaken on a arge
scale a high grade uniform product
may be obtained which will keep lung
er thnn butter less systematically
seeded Moreover in the same way
that a farmer removes the weeds from
a field before he plants his corn or oats
so In order to rid It of undesirable bac
teria the modern butter maker heats
his cream to perhaps 170 decrees pas
teurizes it in tho language of indus
trial biology before he seeds it with
the pure butter culture ThiB butter
seed a- it may be called has origi
nally come from the best cream and
has been cultivated in a laboratory
under conditions which ensure abso
lute purity It maj have been prepared
In powdered form mixed with sugar of
milk or It may be contained In some
liquid medium In some of the larger
butter making establishmntstheprac
tlce Is to mix a few ounces of the cul
ture with a considerable amount of
milk which is then allowed to stand
until a sulllcient number of bacteria
have been developed This milk is used
as a startor so called for a quanti
ty of cream large enough to make per
haps a ton of butter In other words
the milk starter is a soit of a nurs
ery from which the microscopic bac
teria may be tiansplantcd to the cream
without contamination so that the
qualltj of the product may be definlte
Ij predicted Afterward if sufficient
care is taken a portion of one lot of
properlj seeded cream may oe usd to
sed the next and this process be con
tinued fcr some time without the need
of special prepared cultures
The action of the microbes in bread
making and brewing in the fermenta
tion of the mash for the distillation of
spirits is somewhat more complicated
In the lipenlng of butter the bacterial
nction results directly in producing the
desired ethers and salts but in alco
holic fermentation for example there
are several successive stages before
the required results are obtained
In sugar making tanning vinegar
making and more especially cheese
making bacteria might naturallv lie
ing 2443 guns Four fcre ign squadrons
the European the Brazilian the East In
dian and the Pacific squadrons were In
operation though of course but a small
force of Hhlps could be maintained at
these distant nolnts
Trom the beginning to the end of the
war there wire about thirty vessels of
all descriptions fitted out by the South
to proy upon the commerce of the North
and although but sev en of them the Sum
ter K shvllIe Alabama riorida Geor
gia Tallahassee and Shenandoah were
nt all formidable the operations of the
kt of prvaUers were very disastrous
Their capture of the merchant marine ves
sels of the North comprised 4 steamers
S ships 43 brigs S2 barks and 08 schoon
ers 275 vessels In all with an aggregate
of perhaps 100000 tons On the other hand
the number of vessels captured and sent
to the United States admiralty courts for
adjudication from May 1 1SC1 to the close
of the war was 1140
The number of vessels burned wrecked
sunk and otherwise dectrojed during tho
war by the Federal Navy was 255 Nearly
all the captures of value were vessels
built In so called neutral ports ond fitted
out and freighted for the express purposo
of running the blockade The gross pro
ceeds of property captured by the United
States Navy during the blockade and con
demned as prizes amounted to about 4 -000000
to which add J7000000 as the esti
mated value of the 255 vessels destrojed
and we have a total of 131500000 of prop
erty taken by our blockading squadron
a very largo proportion of which was
property belonging to British subjects
Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph
TIIE TIMES WASHITGTONpUKDAY JULY 21 1901
THE GENUINE BULLFIGHT
A Ileal Contest Graphically Des
cribed by an Eyewitness
The Sport Indulged In It Itojnlt
Since tlie Time of IlerenleM ftrent
ri ln In Set tile mid Mndrlil
j ItonnnnilH - ld Cheer the Victor
As the bullfight or rather a modifi
cation of that sport seems creeping
Into favor in this countrj the real
Spanish contest as described by an
eye witness to a thrilling encounter is
both interesting and enlightening The
narrator of the story given below pre
faced his story with a brief account of
the history of the bullfight From
the fabulous time said he when
Hercules was lured to the Peninsula
bj the lowing of the cattle of Geryon
the bull has been the national em
blem of Spain There is ev idence that
bullfights were a favorite amusement
in HIspanola or Spain long before
Caesar fought his famous Battle of
Munda 45 B C Representations of
them appear upon Spanish coins
which antedate the Roman occupation
That essentially Spanish hero of
chivalry Rodrigo surnamed the Cid
105 iuJ himself descended with
lance into the arena and killed the
bull with his own hands -For a time
after this young noblemen dedicated
looked for as the agents of nroductlvn t themselves to the snort and only to
industry but it Is more surprising that nobility was conceded the honor of
even in the textile manufaetures ml
eiobes have been found to have their
utilitv In the separation of the fibres
of hemp Jlax and Jute they have long
been employed though of cours
without its being known that such was
the fact riax for example Is the
bast fibre of the llax plant and in or
der to separate it for the manufacture
of linen it is necessan to dissolve a
gummy resinous substance which
binds the Hexible fibres to those which
are brittle and useless This is done
by a process known as retting the
stems being gathered in bundles and
then set in tanks or rivers or ponds
where they are allowed to stay for ten
cr twelve dajs During this process
the gum insoluble in water alone is
attacked bv the bacteria which the
water contains and decomposed or fer
mented leaving the fibres easily sep
arable The waters of certain streams
have become tamous for their peculiar
effect on llax as for instance the
water of the River Ljs in Belgium
which had evidently become thorough
ly planted with the proper bacteria for
retting Since the fermentation of the
gum In this process probably also af
fects the strength of the fibres many
attempts have been made to accom
plish the separation by mechanical
means but up to the present it has
been found Impossible to get along
without the assistance of the bacteria
Examples of the productive import
ance of microbes might be multiplied
Indefinitely It is even suggested that
the aroma of the finest tobacco may
be secured in lower grades by the
proper cultures But Interesting as
the prospect of such discoveries may
be It has always been found necessary
at the institute to protect the good mi
crobes at every step from tlie danger
of disastrous competition with those
whose characer is mischievous Milk
xor instance is subject not only to the
bacteria which sour it but to others
which make it bue or ropy or bit
ter In the samo way beer whisky
bread and other products have their
peculiar bacterial diseases All food
stuffs -which spoil indeed do so as a
result of fermentation produced by
bacteria and it is largely to delay
their action that foods are cooked
smoked preserved or kept on ice The
further one goes in fact the more one
is impressed by the uses to which in
dustrial biology can beput It is clear
ly its province to determine the char
acter of the enormous number of
harmful microbes which attack every
variety of food and to present a rem
edy for their action the enormous
growth of the tanning Industry being
only one example of the commercial
value of any new discovery in the bi
ologists laboratory
THE WAVY IN THE SIXTIES
Some Interextlne nKure on the
IVorfc of the hlx A quatlroni
Early la the war six squadr jns mere es
tablished which were maintained until
the summer cf 1S5 These were the North
Atlantic South Atlantic East Gulf and
West Gulf squadrons and the Mississippi
and Poumic flotillas When the Admin
istration of Mr Lincoln began thorp
were according to the Naval Secretarys
report ninety vessels belonging to tho
navy These vessels carried or were de
signed to carry 2415 guns Excluding v ea
sels on the stocks those used as station
ary storeshlps and receiving ships and
those regarded as not north repairing
the available force Included Blxtj nlnc
v essels
During the four jears of the war 210
vessels were built by the Government
carrying a total of 1675 guns Of these
67 were Ironclad vessels with 209 guns
Besides these 418 vessels were purchased
bj the Government at an aggregate cost
of tl636GC18 S3 From 7C00 men In the
service of the navy in lf61 the number
wos increased to 61500 In 1EG5 and the
nun at work In the Government navy
jards were Increased from 3E44 to 1CSS0
In January lsG5 there were In the six
squadrons enumerated 471 vessels carry
fighting with bulls In the arena EV
erjone Is doubtless acquainted with the
story of the Admirable Crichtons
exploit in theSpanish arena when the
infuriated bull after goring his an
tagonist threatened the box of the
rojal party The redoubtable Scottish
adventurer leaped into the ring and
literally seizing the bull by the horns
forced It back upon Its haunches and
broke Its neck
KINCS AS rltlNOTAL ACTORS
During medieval times kings were
frequently the principal actors in the
game The sport was introduced into
Italy in the time of Pope Borgia him
self a Spaniard whose son Caesar
once took the bulls head completely
off with one sweep of his two handed
sword Charles V killed the largest
bull in the arena at Valladolid Plzar
ro the conqueror of Peru was a cele
brated torrero and kings down to
Philip V protected It as a royal game
While the honor of acting- as tor
rero was confined to the nobility no
blood was shed save that of the bull
and the actors were all mounted on the
finest horses whose lives were as care
fully guarded as their owners It was
not until the middle of the eighteenth
century that the sport was converted
into its present form and that actors
on foot entered the arena The rules
regulating the game as it now stands
were formulated by Francisco Romero
de Ronda The animals that figure in
the Spanish arena are specially raised
for the purpose
The best bullfights perhaps are to
be Been in Seville and the next best
at Madrid Tlie season begins on the
fipst Sunday after Lent and a bull
flsht takes place on every Sunday
weather permitting until the heat of
summer becomes excessive They are
resumed about the last of August and
continue until the first of October At
Madrid winter exhibitions are given
A TltACEDV IN THItEE ACTS
A bullfight may be described as a
tragedy in three acts which ordinarily
lasts about twenty minutes In the
Plaa de Toro Is an Immense amphi
theatre open to the sky with an
arena in the centre The seats rise
tier above tier in circles and will ac
commodate many thousands of spec
tators that at Seville 11000 at Ma
drid 12500 at Valencia 17000 The
seats are filled to their utmost capaci
ty before the hour for commencement
A double barrier encloses the arena
so that if a bull leaps over the first
there still remains a second between
him and the spectators
At 4 oclock promptly the band be
gins to play and a procession enters
the arena headed by mounted alg
nazils police dressed in quaint me
dieval costumes followed by the pica
dors mounted spearmen the ban
derillos or matadoras bull-decorators
the chulos attendants on foot
with red mantles all quaintly dressed
tne espadors or bull slayers dressed
like Figaro in the Barber of Seville
and lastly the el tiro the grandly
equipped mule team destined to carry
off the body of the fated bull
Having marched around the arena to
the music of the band and saluted the
King whose box is opposite the torll
or cell of the bull the various actors
take their places like the players In a
game of baseball
A trumpet sounds the King tosses
the key of the toril to the policeman
who catches it in his plumed hat un
locks the door and steps aside There
is a perfect silence of a few seconds
but when the noble animal rushes Into
the arena and with head erect stands
looking proudly around the spectators
greet him with prolonged shouts rnd
waving of hats and fans Tlun the
first act of the tragedy begins The
bull catching sight of the red mantle
of the chulo makes a rush for him
he waves his mantle to blind the Lull
and spiings aside the bull then ruch
es on another and another with the
same result This part of the fiesta
Is very beautiful The brilliant diess
es and agile movements of the men
sometimes leaping over the bull to es
cape him sometimes over the barrier
disporting around the arena like
moths around a candle the noble
bearing of the bull with his sleek hide
and large excited eyes form a dazzling
spectacle to a stranger But to the
Spaniards this is mere childs play
they soon begin to clamor for more
exciting sport
the TOUTunE of the amsiau
Then the second act begins The
mounted picadors come forward and
command the attention of the bull
The horses they ride are blindfolded
to make them stand the charge with
out llinching Each picador Is armed
with a long heavy spear with from
one to two Inches of the blade exposed
He Is protected from Injury by thick
pnddlng over his body nnd greaves
of Iron and leather upon his legs He
receives the charge of the bull upon
the end of his spear and is supposed
to repel his asFallant but more cften
the bull Infuriated by the wound
presses on until his horns are deeply
embedded In the body of the horse
which ho gores again and again
I am very glad to see that this hor
ribly brutal feature da left out of the
Omaha exhibitions The chulos come
forward and attract the attention of
the bull to draw him oft from the pi
cador who sometimes experiences dif
ficulty In escaping from the prostrate
body of the horse Another picador
then comes forward and If he is able
to repel the attack the audience goes
simply wild with applause After the
arena is strewn with from four to six
mangled carcasses of horses the audi
ence clamors for fresh sport and the
third and last act of the tragedy be
gins
If the bull exhausted by his fre
quent charges and loss of blood be
gins to Hag he must be stimulated to
fresh exertion Banderillos enter on
foot armed with long barbed darts In
each hand and If the bull Is very
lethargic explosive material Is added
Here brute courage comes In and the
audience Is wrought to the highest
pitch The banderlllo goe3 forward
to meet the bull face to face and as
the exhausted and tortured animal
stoops to toss him he fixes his darts
Into either shoulder and then springs
over to one side The second
rlllo comes forward the danger is
greater and the excitement more In
tense the suffering bull is bounding
Into the air roaring and tearing up
the sand but this banderlllo too
must fix his darts which is done amid
the wildest excitement and the blare of
trumpets which call for the climax
THE HWL AND FATAL STRUGGLE
rinnlly the matador or espada
comes forward and now it Is death
either to man or buIL The matador
who is the hero of the occasion if he
acquit himself well bears himself us
the chier actor in a stage drama the
rest respectfully falling back at his
approach If he is a famous man such
as Mazzatlni of Seville he Is received
with acclamation by the audience
Mazzatlni who is an Italian and per
haps the most famous matador in
Spain is a beautiful Blnger by the
way His manner of dealing with the
bull Is a poem of grace and daring
Disdaining to take advantage of num
erous opportunities afforded by the
bull for giving the coup de grace he
plays with the maddened beast until the
audience is on its feet with- enthus
iasm At last before am one can tell
how it Is done bo quick Is the fatal
thrust the bull stops suddenly in a
mad rush totters falls upon Its knees
sinks to the ground his proud head
droops gradually and all Is over
The applause breaks forth like
thunder drowning the band which
strikes up the men shower hats full
of cigarettes the ladles their fans tied
with bouquets of How era upon the
hero who staads bowing- in front of
the royal box Then the gorgeously ar
rayed mule teams drag out the dead
horses and the bull the arena Is quick
ly spread with sand the men again
take their places and the sport recom
mences At a first class fiesta from
six to eight bulls and from twenty to
forty horses are killed
SOME COSTLY INTRODUCTIONS
Lnrge Suinn Paid in England foe a
Social Handshake
According to an artfete on costly Intro
ductions which appeared in a London
weekly J15000 Is the record sum paid for
the privilege of shaking somebodys hand
This was the price paid on one occasion
for a hankshake with the late Colonel
North and that bluff old financier was so
enraged when he heard of the transaction
that he cut his friendship with the intro
ducer then and there and paid the money
back to the man who had sought the in
troductionpaid it out of his own pocket
But If all the tales one hears In the
city are true and Colonel Ncrth had un
dertaken to reimburse all the sums which
had been taken to obtain his handshake
he would not have died so rich as he did
Twenty thirty and fifty pourds were fre
quently paid for Introductions to tho ni
trate king by persons who expected him
to help them mike their fortunes Need
less to say the money was practlcally
thrown away in most cases
When T E Hooley was In the zenith
of his meteoric success there was hardly
a pushing min of Inventions or business
who did not seek the famous financier
and the consequence was that Mr Hooley
hid to draw a cordon around himself to
keep the wildcap schemers away or he
would never have had time to do busi
ness
Mr Hooleys Intimate friends might
have amassed fortunes In fees for Intro
ductions for all sorts of sums were of
fered for such service In one case 10000
was offered and declined while a fee of
Ji000 was paid for a hindshake with Mr
Hooley by a Midland county merchant
who wanted his business floated only a
week or two before the crasft came
Of course Mr Hooley was no party to
these bribes of which he tray be totally
Ignorant to this day If half the bribes
that were offered for Introduction to the
meteoric financier were accepted Mr
Hoolos friends made more out of him
than he mide out of himself
It has been hinted that another fa
mous financier who was madly sought
after by hundreds of people who want
ed him to finance their schemes em
ploved a friend to accept all bribes of
fered In this manner and that the two
shared the amounts which were not in
frequently very considerable
The truth Is tho financier discovered
that a certain friend vvas making a very
handsome thing by introducing to him
people with schemes and concerns and
that he threatened the friend with ex
posure unless the friend supplied him
with a complete list of the names of per
sons from whom he had accepted bribes
for Introductions and fully repaid all
such sums The friend laughed at tho
threat refused to comply with either
of the demands and declared that he
would give out that tho amounts had all
been shared with the financier himself If
the lutter mentioned the m itter to nnj
onc
The financier dared pot Imperii his rep
utation by being slandered In this way
nnd was therefore compelled to keep si
lent But after his death when It be
came known that his frlend had
duced persons to him at sb much a time
the Introducer declared that It h id al
was been done with the knowledge of
the flnacler who had hid half of all the
sums obtained In ths way Hence the
rumor which Is absolutely without found
ation
The Introducer admitted that he hid
made 10000 by Introducing people to the
financier which shows tho bald Improba
bility of his assertion that he only took
half the proffered bribes since It was
hardly likely that JSOOOO was forthcom
ing for mere Introductions to the finan
cier
A millionaire money lender once offtred
one of the aristocratic clients tho return
of all the lattcrs promissory notes
amounting to nearly 20000 If he would
Introduce him socially to three titled gen
tlemen and he faithfully redeemed his
promise On another occasion the same
millionaire offered to knock off 1500 of
a debt owed him by a client If the latter
gave a dinner to some of the smarter of
his friends und Invited the money lender
The monej lender vvas so pleased with
the success of the dinner that he Increas
ed the deduction to 2000 Tit Bits
ALWAYS AN OMEN OF LUCK
The lioneshoc Long Regarded as a
Safeguard Against Evil
Deen itooted Snncmtltlon Which
Mn lie Trncrtl to n Ilemote AKe
MruiiKc Cnntonm In KnKlnnil Onk
linms Collection of lloofrlntea
Virtue In horseshoes Ions has been re
garded as of material potency against
evil All Europe has accepted the tradi
tion to greater or less degree Finding a
horseshoe Is significant of luck and from
the finding of horseshoes It has come
that picking up a piece of iron of any
shape is luck
But aside from mere tradition and su
perstition England has some of the
strangest of the deep rooted customs
clinging to the Iron hoof plate
Queerest of these perhaps Is that con
cerning the collection that gradually has
filled the walls of Oakham Castle built
by Walkelin de Ferrers Somewhere in
the dim past the high born residents of
the castle adopted the custom ofdemand
Ing a shoe from the foot of a horse when
ever a peer of the realm passed the castle
gates If he had no horse he left money
wlth which to buy a shoe If the peer re
sists giving shoe or the price of It he may
be fined
Oakham Castle Is now used for the
town council for the assizes and for the
general headquarters of municipal busi
ness but at the same time the old custom
holds good In the famous collection that
has been nailed to the wails of the castle
are shots of silver and of gold Four of
the most noted were given by Queen
Elizabeth the Prince Regent George IV
and the Princess Victoria
The shoes vary in size and deslsn For
when a nobleman or sprig of royalty cor
trlbuted money for the shoes tho custom
was established that the size of the shoe
should be In proportion to the amount of
the gift Those given by the Duke of
Connaught and by the present Prince of
Wales arc small by comparison with their
neighbors on tho walk Each shoe In the
collection bears the name and title of
the donor and one of the latest of these
additions was about two years ago whin
the constable of the castle stopped he
Earl of Onslow and exacted the shoe The
earl was allowed to send a shoe Instead
of having it stripped from the foot of one
of his horses and the piece of iron bears
tho inscription William lfilller Tourth
Earl of Onslow
Aside from the historic collection In the
castle W G Ncwbery of London has
one of the most Interesting of cabinets
showing the evolution of the horseshoe
of today One of the earliest of horse
shoes in this cabinet Is a bar shoe eight
Inches in diameter and welgnlng five
pounds Another Is a ralkss shoe de
signed to fasten to the hoof with a strap
Another Is a heart shaped piece of Iron
having three nail holes on each side and
two blunt projections In the centre such
as are worn by horses of the Arabs
There Is a shoe worn by Gen Philip Sher
idans charger and shoes from the fam
ous trotting marcs Lena M and Maud
S
Another freakish form of the horse
shoe superstition is shown In the fact
that the municipality of London today is
receiving six horseshoes a year In pay
ment of rent for a certain property on the
Strand The story is that in 1251 Walter
le Brun a farrier was allowed forge room
In consideration of six horseshoes with
nails for them paid annually Subse
quently the property passed to the city
with the terms of the lease binding upon
It The city receives the horseshoes and
nails but It is said no account of them
is ever taken in the report of the Chan
cellor of the Exchequer
According to legend the mvstic proper
ties of the horseshoe date from the time
of St Dunstan who vvas asked to shoe
the single hoot at the Evil One When
the customer was harnessed up fast and
tight the good saint so tortured him as
to onake the Evil One promise never to
enter a doorway over which a horseshoe
might be hung
Lord Nelson is said to hav e had a shoe
nailed to the mast of the Victory In the
last centurj it was common to find door
wavs with several shoes over each one
as If the occupants were not satisfied to
trust to the virtues of only one
But If picking up a horseshoe of Iron Is
luck finders of other shoes have been
doubly lucky In times past For instance
the white stallions with pink noses kept
at the imperial Spanish manege in Vienna
are said to wear only silver shoes fasten
ed by nails of the same metal Emperor
Charles VI at his death left large sums
the Interest of which vvas to go to the
keeping up of this stud
The second Earl of Air once aide-decamp
to the great Duke of Marlborough
went to Paris as Ambassador in 1715 and
to Impress the citizens he was driven in
a six horse coach each animal being shod
with silver These shoes kept dropping
off too to the delight of those who fol
lowed In tho streets
John of Gaunt did a great deal for Lan
caster England and that v Hinge com
memorates him in rather an odd manner
On one occasion his horse cast a shoe at
a place now known as Horseshoa Corner
Since that time a horseshoe has been em
Didded In the stone ddewalk at the spot
and every seven jears the municipality
renews it In memory of the man
A LOST MISSOURI ISLAND
Strangle HlHiiiipcnrfiitt e of u Inml
mnrk DIhcov ered it Centtirj Ako
One of the most noted localities on the
Missouri River In tho palmy davs of
steamboating on that stream was Cow
Island an Island located in the river
about seven miles above Weston and op
posite the old town of Iatan It then con
tained nbout 1000 acres and was densely
covered with a primeval forest of cotton
wood It acquired its peculiar name from
the fact that at an early day some time
In the last centur a French trader In
ascending the river found here a solitary
cow the first ever seen so high up and
the only one then within hundreds of
the Mississippi near St Charles driven
up the river and placed on the Island to
prevent her escape The French gave to
the Island the name Isle de Vuche the
English meaning of which was Cw Is
land
The Island was In former dajs a place
of historic Interest and was a noted land-
I mark not onlv among the early voyagers
nnd steamboat men but the early ex
plorers ns well Iwis and Clarke landed
here and replenished their larder with
several deer on Jul 3 ISO They found
nt the head of the island alarge lake now
called Bean Lake containing beaver
and many water fowl It - the first
beaver the had seen Captalr Mnrtln
another explorer wintered here with a
detichment of troops In 1S1S 19 An 1 here
Major Iojig on his famous expedition to
the Yellowstone held a counell with the
Kansas Indians on August 24 1S19 In
fact tho principal village of that tribe
was located on the Island and the had
been seated there from time Immemorial
They had heir councils there with the
Pawnees low as Sacs and Foxes ami
other tribes from tho north side of the
river
The Island was first opened by Major
John Dougherty of Liberty Mo the
father of the present Congressman from
that district who in his da was a fa
mous trapper and a member of the
Aroercan Tur Company and spent man
ears among the Indians NThe fur com
pany had a number of trading posts on
the upper Missouri where they kept
merchandise which- they exchanged with
the Indians for furs Major Dougherty
laid off the town of latan named for an
Indian chief It then had bright pros
pects and was located on tho banks of
the river but It is not as large now as It
was forty jears agoIt died with the
navigation of the Missouri Cow Island
too Is gone
Like many smaller islands In the river
It has been swept away by the rapacious
current of that stream until now not an
acre Is left and the fact that such an Isl
and ever existed is unknown
to the pres
ent generation The old Missouri has cut
some high capers within the last half
century and the channel Is not where It
once was At the foot of the bluff at
Weston where stood Warners warehouse
from which the bales of hemp were row
ed dlrcctlj onto the bows of the boats is
now an Immense willow sand bar and the
river Is a half mile away Iatan the
once promising city Is now an Inland
village two miles from the river bank
Such have been the changes In this part
of the iiver in the last fifty vears that
should one of the old river pilots return
today he would not recognize a single
landmark Boston Transcript
THE INVISIBLE INDIAN
Wonderful Trick Ilunl Xnttve
Thleiex In Ilomlin
A very interesting and valuable report
was issued several years ago by the in
spector of prisons of the Indian Empire
In which almost Incredible accounts are
given of the practice of this extraordinary
art by the thieves of lower Bombay
The thieves themselves with better rea
son feel doubly secure for If In spite of
his invisibility by some unlooked for and
unlucky chance one Is seized his oily
body slips away like an eels and In the
still more unlikely contingency of his be
ing held with an unbreakable grip he
has slung by a slender cord about his
neck a little knife with an edge as sharp
as that of the keenest razor with which
he cuts the tendons of the Intruding
wrist This however he considers a last
resort for he prides himself upon doing
his work without Inflicting bodily harm
upon his victims
To enter a zenana or the womens
apartment In a native house where all
the family treasures are kept Is the am
bition of every native thief This Is no
easy matter for the zenana Is the centre
of the house surrounded by other apart
ment occupied by ever wakeful sentinels
In order to reach It the thief burrows un
der the house until his tunnel reaches a
point beneath the floor of the room to
which access Is soueht But the cauti
ous native does not at oce enter Full
well he knows that the Inmates of the
house sometimes detect the miner at work
and stand ov er the hole armed with dead
ly weapons silently awaiting his appear
ance He has with him a niece of bam
practiced by the thieves of lower Bom
bay Is that used by the Mooches In throw
ing pursuers off their track Thejdooches
come down In gangs from the back court
try and raid the settlements Their spe
cialty is poisoning cattle- They smear
plantain leaves with their own particular
brand of cattle exterminator and scatter
them about among the herds at night
In the morning as man of the cattle as
in parxanen are ueau and have been
abandontd by their owners The Mooches
llay the dead animals and sell their hides
Pursued these honest creatures make at
full speed for the jungle If they reach it
all hope of capturing them Is at an end
but even when they discover that they
must be overtaken before they reach it
they bv no means lose heart and are
measurably sure of escaping especially
if as is often the case in India the sur
face is burned over and the trees and
bushes that have not been consumed are
eharred and blackened and bereft of their
foliage and many perhaps reduced to lit
tle more than blackened stumps by the
ch tne fleIds are annually
burned
J J1 Pressed In such a countrv as
this they cease to fly and Immediately
disappear For a long time the English
troops which policed the districts where
they made their raids were completely
nonplussed again and again on the very
point of being captured the Mooches es
caped by miraculous vanishing and the
of icers as well
as soldiers became super
stitious With the power of maintaining
fixed immovable postures in which their
race seems to excel these Indians grasp
ing In their hands such blackened
branches as thev nick nr in thBip ficrit
can Instantly assume and retain for a
long time an almost perfect mimlcr of
the groups of blackened stumrs and half
burned stunted trees with which the
country abounds in Abvsalnia the Ba
reas tribe have the same trick of becom
ing invisible added to which they place
their rounded shields that disposed In
the grass look ea tly like boulders be
fore them for screens while lie flat
watching Unseen for travelers to rob or
enemies to kill Penny Magazine
ALLOTTING PUBLIC LAND
Method Cneil hj Ancient Compnreil
With TIirhc of Tmlii
Reference has been made to the rush
which will take place next month in
Oklahoma for the new lands opened to
settlement there And nothing could
more clearly point out the difference be-
Of all old time measures used in the di
vision common then none seems to have a
more curious origin tha l the Anglo-Saxon
ox hlde or preferabl hide though
both terms are used lnterch ingeabl It
is different given as ranging in dimen
sions from SO to 120 acres and would ap
pear to go back not onl to early Greek
hlstor but even to the half fabulous pe
riod that preceded It
V Inn Dido the hapless heroine of Vir
gil s Aenid first tame to Africa the na
tives would not allow her to settle there
She said however she only wanted as
much grountl as ceud be covercel by an
ox hide nnd they seeing no harm In this
request granted It Thereupon Dido cut
th skin Into the tlilnst possible strips
and stretching them from end to end
claimed all of the soli they enclosed This
encloseel ground became the Bourse from
the Greek word meaning ox hide of the
suLsequcnt cltv of Carthage and from It
the hide ns a Laid measure ma have aft
erward through the ages made Its wa
to England
A stor something akin to the Dido In
cldcnt and possibly growing out of it Is
told of the first coming of the Dutch to
Manhattan lhe Indians refuseel to give
or sell them am of their soil Ilnall
they were askeil for Just as much lantl
as might be cov creel b the leather
breeches worn the most portly of the
visitors This the sivnges acceded to
and by dint of tareful catting Into thin
sections the generously constructed gar
ment vvas made to tae In a conIderabb
portion of the Island Oie of the strong
est confirm itions of the truth of this lat
ter tale Is that a prett little plant known
locally ns Dutchman s Breeches or
squirrel corn still visits early the unlm
proveel puts of the Island Philadelphia
Times
QUAINT MEDICAL RECIPES
Heroic Treatment for Ills Admia
istered In 1847
An Odd Collection of Remedies Coat
plied hjr John Wenlrjr Honey m
Care or Ilaldnea Apple Jale
Solid to Be Good f o - AVenk Erea
In these days of hygienic reform nd
methods of treating disease without
medicine at all it is interesting to read of
the heroic treatment of 150 years ago A
volume printed by Parry Hall Chestnut
Street Philadelphia in 177 and compiled
by John Wesley Is a curious mixture of
material remedies and religious exhorta
tion There are few copies of the book in
existence but one unearthed recently was
the occasion of much amusement at a con
vention of phjslclans The book la sub
stantially bound In leather and the few
Illustration are as primitive as the rem
edies
The preface deals with the reason detre
of the work Incidentally recalling how
Man was sent from the hands of Ood
perfect needing no physic but rebelling
against the sovereignty of all the seeds of
pain and sickness were lodced In the
body and a thousand disorders Increased
by ever thing around us The sun and
moon shed unwholesome Influences from
above the earth exhales poisonous damps
irom dciow the air Itself that surrounds
us Is replete with the shafts of death yea
thefooel we eat dally saps the founda
tions of life
The preface further states
As to the manner of uslmr the reme
dies here set down I should advise as
soon as you know your disorder which
Is easy unless In a case of complication of
disorders and then you would do well to
apply to a phjsician who fears God
First use the medicines first advised for
that disease the second If that is of none
effect the third and so on To perse
vere in the course is often more than half
the cure Above all add to the rest for
It Is not labor lost that old fashioned
medicine praer and faith in God -
A postscript to the preface is addressed
to the members of the Methodist Episco
pal Church and signed by Thomas Coke
and Trances Asbury Introducing the
work to American brethren It begins
Friends anil Brethren The great Inter
est of jour souls will be ever near our
hearts but we cannot oe unmindful of
our bodies
The work nrooer Is entitle A
Ltlon of Receipts and recites In alphabet
ical oruer tne disorders of that time and
their remedies In the As are a list of
panaceas against ague To co Into a
cold bath Just before a fit Is added tho
boo at one end of which a bunch of wholesome advice
grass represents a human head and this
he thrusts up through the completed
breach If the vicarious head does not
come to grief the real one takes Its place
Land the thief entering the zenana se
cretes himself or finding ever thing al
ready favorable for this purpose pro
ceeds to attempt Vhat seems an Impos
sible undertaking
This indeed Is no less a task than to
remove from the ears and arms and noses
the earrings bracelets armlets bangles
and noso rings of the sleepers without
awaking them and to get safely away
with his plunder Who but a dacolt would
be equal to so delicate dangerous and
difficult a piece of work But the dacolt
seldom falls These adroit burglars
says mj authority commit the most dar
ing robbtrits In the midst of the English
army Knowing the position of the tents
they mark out one which is occupied by
an officer of high rank and creep silently
toward It Arrived at the tent their
sharp knife makes them a door in the
canjas and Ihey glide undiscovered into
the Interior Indeed so wonderfully
adroit are they that even the very watch
dogs do not discover them and a thief
has been known to actually step over a
dog without disturbing the animal
But the most marvelously clever device
rV T Z i the ancient methods of awarding
public soil those In vogue today
nothing tends more
to prolong an ague than Indulgence In
a lazy indolent disposition Another
remedy for ague is to apply to the stom
ach a large onion spilt Still another is
make six middling pills of cobwebs
take one before the cold fit two a little
before the next the other three if need
be before the other fit
Parenthetically -re introduced some
gentle hints for tender persons and the
studious Tender persons shoald con
stantly go to bed at 9 and rise at 1 or 5
Studious people should frequently bathe
andVrequently wash their feet
Tar water Is a standard remedy In the
great John Wesleys family medicine
book He gives the formula for making
It
Put a gallon of water cold on a quart
of Norway tar stir them together wlth a
flat stick for three days pour the water
off clear bottle cork For St Anthonys
fire take a wineglassful ever hour
There is no mention made of By time In
this pungent remedy for baldness Rub
the part night ond mornling with a raw
onioq until red rub afterward with hon
ey ur electrify daily
Children sas this wise book
should go bareheaded and barefooted un
til they are three years old at least A
child should be weaned at seven months
m oiiwuiu jie in a crauie at least a
year
The various beauty doctors who set
the women crazy trjing to follow their
directions should Include the following
heroic receipt in their collection Wash
the hands with flour of mustard for
chopt hands
There are various
remedies for con
sumption After recommending the cold
bath Mr Wesley sas
Take no food but new buttermilk
churned In a bottle and white bread
On every morning cut up a little turf of
fresh earth and lying down breathe Into
the hole for a quarter of an hour I have
known a deep consumptive cured this
way
He further states Mr Mathers of
Ev esham w as so far gone In consumption
that he could not stand alone Tr Do
ver of the celebrated Dovers powder
advised him to lose six ounces of blood
daily for a fortnight if he lived that long
and then every other day then every
third day and so on In three -months
he was welL
In these days of the grippe here is one
that might be tried I earnestly desire
every one who has any regard for his
health to chew immediately a cough ap
pears the quantity of a peppercorn of
Peruvian bark Swallow the Juice as long
as it tastes bitter then spit out the
wood It seldom fails to cure a dry
cough
For dull sight Drop in two or three
drops of the Juice of rotten apples often
This docs not sound unreasonable as
rosemary forms an Ingredient in many
hair restoratives To make the hair
grow wash ever- night In a strung de
coction of rosemary
For hoarseness Rub the soles of the
feet before the fire with garlic and lard
well beaten together
For the sting of a bee or a nettle thero
Is the homeopathic remedy of honey for
one and the juice of the nettle for tho
other
Here is a poultice that should stick
For a stitch in the side Apply treacle
on toast hot
After again recommending his collec
tion of recipes Mr Wesley forcibly adds
But I still advise In complicated cases
let ever one apply without delay to a
phsiclan that fears God Fer from ono
who does not be his fame ever so great
I should expect a curse rather than a
blessing Kansas City Star
American Locomotive Alrcnd
IVom the Worlds WorL
The English have been severely criti
cising American Iocomotl es because thev
consume more fuel nnd for other reasons
cost more to run than machines of Eng
lish manufacture Yet the total of our
export trade In locomotives continues to
grow Last ear 525 were exported val
ued at JStOilOS whereas ten jears before
only HI vere exported English statis
ticians record the value of their export
ed machines nnd not the number of them
The value Is still slightly In advance of
the value of American locomotive ex
ports but the American trade is fst
gaining on the English
Two of our consuls have recently sent
home notes that have some bearing on
this subjeet In V0 five English loco
motives were ordered for the Jamaica
Government Rallwa One of them was
tried over a gradeil route carl this spring
and after considerable b liking came to a
standstill i failure Thd interesting jwrt
of this la that American loeomotlves had
frequentl cllmbeel the grade without any
trouble whatever Again the harbor au
thorities of Calcutta advertised for bids
on loeomotlves The lowest English bid
was 573W for each locomotive to c de
livered within nine months th lowest
American hid was 55j delivery within
ix months Of course we received the
ontract An offset to tho greater quan
It of fuel required by the American ma
chine Is its greater hauling power