Willmar tribune. [volume], April 19, 1911, Image 7

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
-K',
4
ML
tf^VJr
/w^y cmmacr TO mr wre/tr arr/cs
ONGRESS Is Just now being urged
to provide for the erection of a
new building for the use of the
United States patent office, and
this plea for better facilities for
taking care of the business of the
inventors of the country has
brought out some interesting facts
in connection with this unique
branch of our national government
And, it may be added, for all that
the people of the republic take a
keen interest in invention as be-
comes the greatest inventive nation on the globe,
very few of our citizens have any intimate knowl
edge of the machinery which the federal govern
ment maintains for examining inventions and
granting patents.
This comparative ignorance of the facilities
and methods of the government institution that
devotes itself to inventions extends even to a
majority of inventors themselves—the hundreds
of thousands of men and women who are either
engaged in inventive work today or have, at some
time in the past, exercised their nimble brains
in an effort to devise something that would be
an improvement upon the existing state of
things. That even Interested parties are thus in
the dark is due to the fact that the patent busi
ness of the country is largely in the hands of
attorneys—special lawyers who devote them
selves exclusively to this line of practice. Nine
men out of ten who evolve an invention and desire
to have it patented soon come to realize that the
operation is an intricate one, requiring special
knowledge, and so they turn the work over to
some one of these go-betweens and have nothing
more to do with the matter until they get the
coveted parchment a year or two years henco and
pay the bill, which may be $75 or $100, if circum
stances warrant, for you know getting a patent
is not exactly a cheap operation.
But to get back to the proposal for a new build-
111!
lng for the patent office. This institution has for
tnany years past occupied a portion of the build
ing of the department of the interior at Washing
ton and since the volume of Inventions pouring
fn to be considered as candidates for patents has
steadily increased year by year it has naturally
followed that the present quarters are hopelessly
inadequate. In order to make room the authori
ties a few years ago arranged to get rid of the
thousands of original models of old inventions
which had accummulated in the days when it
was necessary to send a working model as well
as drawings with an application for a patent. But
this was by no means a complete solution for
the problems. The patent office must needs file
and keep on permanent record the papers in every
patent case, and these have been piling up at
such a rate In recent years that it is a grave prob
Jem how and where to store them in such fashion
that they can readily be brought to light when
needed for reference— as in the case of the law
suits that are always growing out of patents on
inventions.
However, there are other branches of our na
tional government that need new buildings just as
much as does the patent office, and this brings us
to the novel argument that is being advanced in
behalf of the patent office being granted a new
home in advance of all others. It Is being pointed
out to congress that the patent office is one gov
ernment institution, and almost the only one, that
is self-sustaining. For other activities Uncle Sam
has to go down in his pocket, or rather the people
do through the medium of taxes. In maintaining
the patent office, however, the Inventors and they
alone "pay the freight." What Is more, not only
Is this bureau for inventors self-supporting, but
It actually returns a profit, or in other words, It
has on hand a surplus at the end of each year
after all expenses have been paid. This net sur
plus has been piling up In the United States treas
ury until It now amounts to about $7,000,000, and
It is this money, or such part of It as may be nec
essary, that it 1B desired to have expended for a
new building for the patent office.
As Is well known, we Americans are the great
est nation of Inventors in the world. About a
million United States patents have been granted,
whereas the aggregate number of foreign patents
granted by all foreign countries combined has
amounted to date to only about two million pat
ents. The fever of Invention in the United States
has waned temporarily in "panic year," and it
slumped at one tit- during the Civil war, but
otherwise there has been a steady Increase in the
number of patents issued, and from 35,000 to
40,000 new patents are now issued each year. In
proportion to population, more patents are issued
to citizens of Connecticut than to residents of any
a
W
Hunting in modern England occa
sionally has some strange complica
tions, as witness this from the London
Chronicle: "The meet of the Surrey
rtaghounds at Crowhurst had a sen
sational finish at Upper Warlingham
railway station. The stag took
course across country until it reach
ed Marden Park, the Warlingham resi
dence of Sir Walpole Greenwell, and
here it ran on the main railway line
A ^scr/o/y or TM /wrr/tr a,?r/cjr
Hunting" in England
1
The work of the patent office is carried on
through the medium of some half hundred differ
ent divisions, each devoted to some one class of
inventions, such as carriage and wagons, or fire
arms, or harvesters, or typewriters. At the head
of each of these divisions is a principal examiner
who Is a specialist in his particular field, and he
is assisted by one or more experts who have
made a life study of the particular section of the
inventive field to which they are assigned. Many
of these men have been In their present positions
for twenty or thirty years and have at their
finger tips everything connected with the history
and development of invention In their espectlve
spheres, and yet Uncle Sam gets the services of
these experienced authorities for salaries that in
most cases do not exceed $1,800 to $2,000 per year.
In each division there is a force of clerical
workers whb file the drawings which must be
presented with every patent application in lieu
of the small working models which were once
required. These clerical workers also have to
stamp the date and hour of the receipt of every
toward London, it continued along
the track until It arrived at Upper
Warlingham and then It mounted the
platform and entered the booking hall
and the waiting room adjoining, where
It dropped to the floor completely ex
hausted. One of the hounds was close
upon It and also reached the platform,
but dropped before it could enter the
doorway, being as exhausted as the
stag. The station officials promptl/
"'•aswsss,.^,
fr&>
other state, thua holding up the long-established
reputation of the "Connecticut Yankees." Next
comes the District of Columbia and then Cali
fornia, Washington, Nevada, Colorado and other
western states.
The present commissioner of patents, Mr. Ed
ward B. Moore, Is one of the ablest administrators
who has ever been at the head of this branch of
the government. It has been his aim and ambi
tion to expedite in every manner possible the ex
aminations of all applications for patents pre
sented—thereby enabling the quick issuance of
patents whose novelty if not validity can In time
be guaranteed by the government. This will do
away with the criticisms of the patent office for
its "slowness" In passing upon patents, and it will
also do away with a large amount of the litigation
which now devolves upon inventors by being
drawn into suits for infringments, etc. In line
with these improved methods there is now In
progress a "classification" of all the material in
the patent office. This means the systematic
classification of all the material through which the
patent office's expert examiners have to search
when they are passing upon the applications of
inventors. When this vast accummulatlon of
data Is arranged for ready reference it will enable
the issuing of patents more quickly after applica
tions are received than has ever heretofore been
possible and, more important yet, it will give to
every patent issued a greater guarantee of validity
than is possible now when such a document is
issued following what may eventually he proven
to have been an Incomplete "search," In which the
examiner Inadvertantly overlooked or failed to
find an earlier patent on a similar Invention.
closed the doors and thus kept out the
remainder of the pack that came up
several minutes later, and removed
the stag in a panting condition to the
cloak room for safety. The hunting
party did not arrive till twenty min
utes later, having had a stiff chase of
three and a half hours across coun
try. The stag was eventually con
veyed to a stable nad lodged there till
It was fit to be removed."
The Vanishing Pigtail.
LE SAM'S
ENTOFF
iTSWOItK
m&
I~A
Atre/yr amor
A large number of Shanghai offl-J^hai
TXPJC/ll D/y/sS/OW/t£ADQ///l/?r£/?S /N THE*
patent application, and this little detail often
becomes a matter of the greatest importance
when two or more men discover the same inven
tion at about the same time. Indeed, in the case
of certain of our most valuable inventions, such
as the telephone, more than one mas hit on the
idea simultaneously, but the wealth that lay in
wait for the lucky Inventor went to the man who
won in the race to the patent office. It is because
of this keen rivalry that inventors all over the
country are welcoming the present movement
to issue patents more quickly. In days gone by
inventors have in some instances had to "mark
time" for years before they could get their pat
ents, and this not only did an injustice to the
inventor and to the workmen who might have
been employed meanwhile In manufacturing the
new product, but it ajso deprived the public at
large-of the benefit of new discoveries designed to
benefit it in one way or another.
In an average year there are upward of twice
as many applications for patents as are granted.
Some of the things upon which patents are sought
are not patentable, and in many instances it is a
case of "another fellow found it first." The patent
office officials tell many retȣj pathetic stories of
men In isolated localities who Jnwe ievoted years
of hard work to working out some Invention—
ignorant all the while that some other person had
gone over the same* ground, worked out the in*
ventlon and secured a patent, pe.'haps many yean
before. The number of new patents keeps well
ahead of the number of patents that expire, the
latter totaling in the ordinary year not more than
two-thirds as many as there are new patents
issued. One hundred to two hundred patents are
also reissued each year.
Each applicant for a patent must pay to the
government a fixed fee of $35, but if his applica
tion is made through an attorney—as is the case
In most Instances as above explained—the total
expense ere an inventor secures his coveted pro
tection on his brain-child is likely to be at least
double the amount of the fee. It is sometimes
said that our American patent system is not so
effective as is that in vogue In Germany, but cer
tain it is that Uncle Sam's patent machinery has
been the indirect means of returning greater
wealth to inventors than has been attained by
the patrons of any foreign patent establishment.
Incidently it may be noted that there is a dlsposi*
tion on the part of all the leading nations of the
world to get together en patent matters and to
work in harmony in the issuance of patents. In
deed, in late years, one of the most important
duties of the United States commissioner of pat*
ents has been that represented by negotiations In
connection with International treaties on this
subject, and seldom a year goes by that he does
not visit one or more foreign countries in the
effort to bring about a better understanding be
tween nations on this score.
liit t-iitii 111 jj-iii i»»+.
Mendelssohn in a Rage
I I 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mendelssohn in a rage was a fine sight fcjr
then his eyes simply blazed out from under the
long lashes. This was not rare with him. The
orchestra at Dusseldorf was responsible for m«A
of his Irritation. He gives a humorous deacrlptiosj
of their lack of time and tune: "Every allegro
leaves off twice as fast as it began, and tho obo
plays E-natural in C-minor, and they carry their
fiddles under their coats when it rains, sad when
it is fine they do not cover them at all and it
you once heard me conduct this orchestra, ntt
even four horses could bring you there a second
time."—Dole, "Famous Composers."
ciais, merchants and others have no«
cut off their queues, and every Jnyths
new fashion is coming S
Time was, and that within the last
two years, when any reference to this
subject among representative people
.in this country was taboo, while today
it is a subject of comprehensive dis
cussion, and similarly to the vicious
practices of opium smoking and fool
binding, the wearing of a "pigtail" tl
rapidly becoming bad form."—AM*
National
^|£W V-ss,-^ 1 *%$%
NORWAY.
Miss Rogstad, the first woman to oc
cupy a seat in the Norwegian storting,
made her first speech in that body
during the discussion of the military
budget. She spoke as follows: "Mr.
President: I wish to make a remark
about my attitude as to the military
budget. I am a friend of peace, and
insist on arbitration, and I hope that
war and military affairs will once pass
out of the world, just as 'club law'
has given place to statutory law and
justice. Nevertheless, I cannot note
against an ordinary army budget based
on self defense. So long as the peace
movement has made no greater pro
gress we cannot give up our defences.
This is self evident. And, depending
upon the reliability of the government
and the committee on military affairs,
I trust that the budget before us is
mainly what is required in order to
make our defences of any use.
NewsP of Scandinavia
Bishop Bang has gone to Paris to
try to organize a Norwegian church In
that city. A church started some time
ago in Berlin succeeded so well that
the church people of Norway were in
duced to try the same plan in Paris.
At Lauvho a snowslide killed a lot
of reindeer last winter. Hunters pass
ing that way saw the carcasses of
about twenty animals, which had been
partly eaten up by beasts and birds.
Only those animals that happened to
be on top of the snow could be seen,
but many more are supposed to be un
der the snow.
"But I wish to emphasize that I sup
port particularly that part of the bill
which has for its aim the protection of
the northern parts of the country,
namely, Nordland and Finmarken. 1
am afraid that our defences are some
what defective in those quarters. At
the same time I wish to be permitted
to say that I differ with those who
think Norway is such a small country
that it cannot be at the front of the
movement for peace and arbitration.
I trust that our country will be among
the pioneers of this great cause bnt
in the main I am going to vote for the
proposed bill." The speech was given*
with warmth and energy, but without
any nervousness whatever, and it evi
dently made a most favorable impres
sion upon the audience.
A resident of Hammerfest, the north
ernmost city in the world, writes as
follows from his place: "This city has
2,500 inhabitants. On one side we
have the harbor and the Arctic
ocean, on the other a mountain with
overhanging snowdrifts, which threat
en to overwhelm the town. Occasion
ally, huge masses of snow rush down,
breaking the walls of the houses and
throwing the inmates out of their
sheepsgin bedclothes into the snow
drifts. The people make a living
mainly by whaling, Arctic hunting, and
fishing—why, fish may be seen sprawl
ing in the streets, having been dropped
from a tub or a "string." The wages
range from $1.35 to $2.70 a day. The
city has one electric power station,
which supplies light, and power for a
number of factories. We have wood
works, and last year a shipyard was
started. There are two churches, one
Lutheran state church and one Method
ist church. The pope of Rome also has a
branch here. In summer no less than
ten regular steamship lines make con
nections at this seaport, and there is
a whale fleet of irregular boats. As to
the fishing fleet, the old open boats
have been replaced by closed motor
boats, which are puffing and rattling
incessantly, day and night. In sum
mer we are also visited by many large
Atlantic tourist steamers, which carry
tourists from all parts of the world,
including kings and kaisers, as well
as American millionaires—who don't
bring their millions with them! The
president of America has not been
here yet, but we expect him. Not even
Roosevelt came up this way when he
visited Norway. He has a good stand
ing in Norway. Just at present two
English ladies are visiting us. They
have started in reindeer sleds for Kar
asjok, a Lappish settlement, and I bet
you that they will have plenty of fresh
air in the mountains."
SWEDEN.
Principal Happening! of the Week
in the Scandinavian Countries.
Valter Kaudern, Ph. D., has started
on a scientific expedition to Madagas
car.
Consul Hugo Lindgren, of Malmo,
has donated $2,700 to the home for in
valids at Lund.
A silver fox was caught at Hogen,
Idala, Halland. The skin of the animal
was worth over $250.
The number of small rooms for rent
in Stockholm is larger than it has been
at this season for many years past.
The law faculty of the university of
Budapest proposes that this lyear's
Nobel peace prize be given to Prince
Apponyi.
The city elections in Stockholm
failed to shake up things. The only
change in the city council was the
shifting of one seat from the Social
Democrats to the moderates. The
representation is as follows: Conser
vatives, 45 Social -Democrats, 31
Liberals, 24.
The newspapers of Sweden are seri
ously discussing a proposition to abol
ish the military music bands. Those
who are in favor of the change make
the most of the fact that it would lave
over $500,000 a year. The leading
military authorities think the change
would be a fatal mistake.
The clergymen's association of
Sweden has memorialized the King in
favor of reducing Sunday work on the
railroads to a minimum. The station
agents are free every other Sunday,
but the trainmen do not even ge^t one
Sunday a month off.
The poor board of Juckasjarvl, a
Socialistic community in the far North,
paid P. A. Lans, a working man, $60.75
for taking care of a pauper child. Gun
hild Irene Brusk. Now Mr. Lans is
going to emigrate to Brazil with his
little protege, and the anti-Socialistic
press of the country is trying to make
the matter look ratter bad.
The London Truth claims that the
crown princes of Sweden and Denmark
will be made knights of the order of
the garter at the coronation of King
George.
The Swedish tourist association has
published a new pamphlet in German,
and whoever reads it will surely be
strongly tempted to go to Sweden next
summer.
The Swedes have commenced to ex«
port punch to China. A practical joker
suggests that the bonvivants of Stock
holm return the compliment by smok
ing opium.
At the close of 1910 there were
2,263 rifle clubs in Sweden, and 68 of
them were new ones. The total mem
bership was 152,165, the increase for
the year being 5,618.
The agricultural school of the Fred
rika Bremer society, at RimforsA, Os*
tergotland, which was burnt down last
year, has been rebuilt, and classes
were organized April first
The committee which was organized
for taking up a national subscription
for the benefit of August Strindberg,
the poet, has finished its preliminary
work, and will soon begin the distribu
tion of subscription lists.
The government has asked for an
appropriation of $2,500,000 for building
a power station at Elfkarleby Falls.
There is great demand for electric
power in the community, and the en
terprise will no doubt prove profitable.
Anders Zorn, the most noted of the
Swedish painters of our day, who is in
America at the present time, was inter«
viewed on the subject of woman's suf
frage, and he expressed himself as fol
lows: "Anything that is opposed to
the natural order of things, that does
not take into consideration the funda
mental object of the Creator, would
prove disastrous and- not be perma
nent. Woman was created for a dif
ferent field of activity than man she
was meant to be the mother of chil
dren and the home keeper. When she
wants to get outside of the home and
believes she is bettering her con
dition, she makes a grave mistake,
which will lead her nowhere and make
for ineffective discontent to all—man
and woman."
A farmer in Smaland tried to sell
his home by means of a real estate
man in Holmstad. A Swedish-Amer
ican found out about the chance, and
after taking a square look at the prop
erty he decided to buy it. But when
he met the farmer himself the latter
explained that the prospective buyer
would have to marry one of the farm
er's daughters. Having taken a scrut
inizing view of the girls, the man
picked out one to his liking. But the
select one balked, while the other four
were more friendly disposed toward
the American. He, however, said:
"The one of my first choice, or.none
at all," and in spite of the diplomacy
of the farmer and some of his daugh
ters neither real estate deal nor betro
thal came out of the negotiations.
DENMARK.
The art and industrial museum of
Copenhagen bought new objects for
more than $27,000 in 1910.
The fishermen along the west coast
of Jyllacd are doing well. Those who
are after codfish generally fetch from
15 to 20 big fish for each boat, and
the boats fitted out for catching plaice
bring from 3,000 to 5,030 pounds for
each trip.
A copy of the Jellinge baretasten is
to be made and sent as a gift to the
city of Rouen, France, on the occasion
of the celebration of the millennium
of the establishment of the duchy of
Normandie. The Jellinge stone was
erected by King Harald Blaatand of
Denmark. It is 10 feet high and 25
feet in circumference, and has the fol
lowing Inscription: "Harald, King,
had this monument raised after Gorm.
his father, and Tyre, his mother the
Harald that conquered all of Denmark
and Norway, and made the Danes
Christians."
Grave fears are entertained for Cap.
tain Elmer Mikkelsen and Engineer
Iversen, who, after having been res
cued on the coast of east Green
land last year, left their party to
search for traces of the lost explorer
Erichsen. An expedition will be sent
to Shannon Island, where provisions
were deposited, in the hope of finding
them there. Five members of the
Mikkelsen expedition which was
wrecked in the winter of 1909 on th«
coast of east Greenland, were brought
back to Norway last August. This
expedition left Copenhagen on the
Danish Arctic ship Alabama to search
for the bodies of the members of the
Mylius Erichsen Greenland expedi
tion, who perished in November, 1907,
while trying to return from the north
coast of Greenland by way of th«
inland ice.
Alberti, the man that managed to
use up $4,000,000 belonging to other
people, has been transferred to a new
section in the penitentiary. He is to
remain in that section for six months
and during that time he will be per*
mitted, under certain limitations, to
write, receive and read letters.
The premier has handed the rigstag
a bill relating to the government of
Greenland. The bill provides that ths
king shall appoint a royal commis
sioner over Greenland. The term ol
office is to be four years, and the new
official is to be controlled by the home
and church departments.
Prof. Collet of the University of Nor
way was lecturing on the structure of
birds one forenoon when the attention
of the students was suddenly turned
in another direction. The professor
soon noticed that the center of attrac
tion was a wooden case -in a corner
of the room, and when he came close
enough he saw a rat looking out from
a hole in the case. He shouted to
scare the animal, but of no use, for the
rat seemed to be even more interested
than the other students in the profes
eor's demonstrations. The professo*
literally boxed the ear of the rodent
before the latter disappeared
FORT
*MiJ
SAM HOUSTON, in San
Antonio, Tex., to which 20,000
troops were hurriedly dis
patched, is located close to the
historic spot where the battle of
the Alamo was fought. There a small
force of American pioneers of the
southwest fought against overwhelm
ing odds until death gave the Mexican
army a temporary victory. The strong
hold whither they are bound bears
the name of the general who brought
Independence to the Lone Star state.
"Thermopylae had its messenger of
lefeat Alamo had none."
This inscription, ascribed to Lord
Macauly, is engraved on a monument
In the grounds of the Texas capitol
at Austin in commemoration of the
garrison, all of which died fighting
against overwhelming odds in the
battle of the Alamo, which ended
March 6, 1836.
Americans in Texas rose in rebel
lion against the government of Mex
ico in 1835. Early in 1836 the rebel
lion grew into warfare. The Texans
were under the leadership of the bluff
Gen. Sam Houston as president of the
new republic of Texas and as com
mander-in-chief of their little army of
volunteers. It was a daring undertak
ing for a scant 2,000 men to attempt
to wrest the state from Mexico with
Its 15,000 drilled troops. But the Tex
ans, headed by San Houston, Davy
Crockett, William Travis and John
Haydon, feared no failure. The Mex
ican general, Santa Ana, set out from
the Rio Grande northward to quickly
conquer and punish rebellious Texans.
His army of 6,000 men, after a march
of nearly 600 miles across a desolate
country, reached San Antonio, confi
dent of capturing that town and mov
ing on to the new capitol at Washing
ton, Tex.
Unprepared for Battle.
The garrison at San Antonio was
unprepared for Santa Ana's coming.
The first tidings of his approach were
given by the sentinels posted on the
roof of the Alamo, which was an aban
doned Franciscan mission, built in
1723. It numbered about 185 men un
der contm^dHSfTJoirwiIliani' Travis.
jKfhen the news of Santa Ana's ap
proach reached Travis he determined
to make good its defense until re
enforcements could arrive. With him
was Col. James Bowie, whose name
was always associated with his famous
knife, and Davy Crockett, the fron
tiersman and hunter of history and
romance. They bad a few pieces of
artillery, little ammunition, 90 bushels
of corn and 30 beef cattle, which were
hurried within the inclosure.
Santa Ana demanded Immediate sur
render. Travis returned a defiant re
fusal, emphasized by a cannon shot. A
blood red flag, signifying no quarter,
Immediately was raised above the
Mexican camp and their batteries
opened upon the garrison. Meanwhile
Travis had dispatched messengers to
Houston and Washington, Tex., 95
miles away, appealing for assistance.
The Mexican batteries attempted a
breach in the stone walls of the mis
sion at dawn February 26. For hours
every day the Mexicans continued the
siege. In a hot fire which was opened
upon the garrison on the last morn
ing in February some of the bombs
fell close to the spot where Davy
Crockett lay. He sprang up and made
his way to the ramparts Just as the
~.w ...», tuv lauipariH JUBl aB me —e^
comrade caugh-t up the•*
match and'uran
sault. The bond struck up "Duguelo"
(assassin) and amid a boom of can*
non ladders were brought, the walls
of the building were scaled by 2,000
cavalrymen, while battering rams
beat in the doors. The Texans ran to
the roof, where several cannon had
been stationed. As fast as the Mexi
cans mounted they were stabbed and
the ladders overturned. Meanwhile
the Mexican riflemen on the ground
shot down the Texans on the roof and
the battle raged with the few Texans
who stayed on guard behind the bar
ricade.
After an hour the Mexicans had
overpowered the Texans and were
swarming to the roof. The defenders
retreated down the stairs, fighting ev
ery inch of the way. Then the doors
below were beaten down with huge
timbers and with a yell the frenzied
soldiers poured in the opening. The
little band of Texans was pitifully in
significant against the horde of Mexi
cans. There were yells and gunshots:
and groans in one long, hideous cho*
rus. Not one of the Texans sank tc
death till he had exhausted all hie
strength. Coloned Crockett stood in
the corner of the main room end with
a cutlass slashed aw who attacked
him. His shirt WM soaked with
blood and a bullet Kad pierced his
cheek. Shot by a man in front of
him, he lunged forward, selling his
life as dearly as possible. Colonel
Travis was shot through the head
while defending the stairs.
No one was spared, and every one
of the Texans sank to the floor fight
ing. So ended the Alamo.
Nearly all the information that his,
torians have concerning the events in*
side the Alamo during the siege has
come from Senora Dona Andrea Cas
tarion de Dillanueda, the nurse of
Colonel Bowie and the sole survivor.
The state of Texas pensioned her for,
40 years.
They Remember the Alamo.
From that day the words, "Remem
ber the Alamo!" were the slogan of
the campaign throughout Texas. Iq
less than two weeks more than 600
frontiersmen, maddened by the mas*
sacre, joined Sam Houston's army.
A month later Houston, with a force
of 700 Texans, faced*Santa Ana, with
2,000 soldiers, on the banks of the San
Jacinto. The battle was only an hour
long. The Texas force, with a mighty,
and exultant yell, "Remember the
Alamo!" routed the enemy and cap
tured Santa Ana, who barely escaped
death. Texas independence then was
established.
Laughing Eyes.
That Wilkesbarre woman who
caused the arrest of a girl on the
charge that the latter used "laughing
eyes" to "beguile" plaintiff's young
son experienced no sympathy at the
hands of the court. The judge saw no
legal or moral ground for the arrest.
He not only set the girl free at once,
but complimented her on the posses*
sion of those "laughing- eyes."
So far as may be judged by the pub*
lished report of the case, the court
was eminently sound and wise. If
anybody should be arrested and placed
in confinement in connection with
such a matter it Is the young man
himself. The young woman to whom
Providence has accorded the gift of
laughing eyes is a blessing to the
Mexican gunner was reloading and be- community. There is too much sor*
fore he could fire again shot him. A
Colonel Travis called the garrlsen
about him March 8. He made a brief
talk, telling his comrades that longer
hope for assistance was useless. Be
said that the Alamo should be surren
dered or it should be defended until
the last man was dead. He drew a
line with his sword on the adobe floor
and said:
"I propose to stay here until I son
killed. All who will" be with me will
come to this side of the line all who
wish to surrender remain on that
side."
Davy Crockett leaped across with a
triumphant wave of his cap. Every
man in the file joined him. It was a
grim decision the garrison lessening
in number every day, the food supply
was almost exhausted and only a few
rounds of ammunition was left for the
survivors. Bowie, almost from the be
ginning of the siege, was ill with ty.
phoid. In a little adjoining room he
lay on a rude bed attended by a Mex
ican woman. Hearing the speech of
Colonel Travis, he feebly called to his
companions and begged them to pick
np bis cot and carry him over the line.
A few hours later he became delirious
and never recovered consciousness.
Dawn of the Morning of Death.
The morning of the final attack was
a warm, bright Sunday. Colonel Bowie
died about three o'clock/ Death had
become so common that no one paid
any attention to the dying pioneer.
They were blackened with gunpow
der they looked wild from lack of
sleep and food: they seldom spoke
and all their words and acts were
those of men terribly in earnest. The
•oto Idem of each was to sell his life
aa dearly as possible. Santa Ana de
to tafea U« AJWO b/ al-
row«
to
«=,— MT —+an.\,u. a a
to the touchhole. But already a fresh
rifle had been handed the Tennesseean
and he picked off the second gunner
as he had the first Three more Mex
icans made the attempt and met a
like fate and for a time the gun was
silenced.
TS»-" jfeflfliAS^'SiVUI**%
.-, «^»*.s
A
occasion for tears, in
ad old worW
any
low is in danger- of beingyoung
"beguiled"*elf
unduly by that Wilkesbarre style of
optics, he should be placed in safe, if
not solitary, confinement
The Scream of Ennui.
A dog howls when he is lonely, a
cat wauls (the word must be right, for
it comes from "caterwaul") because of
some combative or amative impulse
but a parot screams through sheer
boredom. I sometimes think it is the
only creature that shares with us that
secondary curse which followed our
ejection from Eden—ennui. And I
know hat if Noah fed his animals
well, and if they had plenty of room
for exercise, the only creatures whe
rebelled vocally against the dire ted
ium of the voyage, and the creatures
who made the most noise, bar none,
were the two little papingoes (as out
forefathers used to call them).—-Frank*
lin James, in the Atlantic.
Less Popular Word.
Rev. D. J. H. Jowett New York's
second importation of English minis
terial talent, has a short way with
skeptics. "Once in Jowett's under
graduate days at Oxford," said a mem
ber of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
church, "he rose in a debate and said:
'We young Oxonians are very proud
of calling ourselves agnostics. It's a
Greek word. I don't think we're equal
ly fond of its Latin equivalent—ig
noramuses.'
The Cause.
"What was the cause of the quav
rel between the two tramps?"
"One found some money, the othet
tried to make him fork it over, ant
when he refused, knifed him."
A Real Curiosity.
•Has your dolly got real hair, Httl4
girl?" s»
"Tea. but that's nothing Iknow r/v
little girl whose •**«mn»w has oat MM,'
hair" ,_ -*'-^Ff^V/J^Pa&^feA-^
"1r-S
*%.
r- ~~4"
,'