The Saint Paul globe., January 31, 1898, Page 8, Image 8

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

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

                
8
TO SETTLE BANDITS
LATEST DEVICES PATENTED BY
AMERICAN INVENTIVE GENIUSES
TO DISCOURAGE HOLD-UPS.
ONE BLOWS A MAN TO BITS.
tPHKN HE TOUCHES THE DOOR OF
AN EXPRESS CAR FIFTY RE
VOLVERS DISCHARGE.
*HE SCALDING STEAM REMEDY.
Safe defended by a row of
pipes that parboil the
desperado.
( 5 HI AVENGER trains held up in O
X fVI im - 12 : 1891 - 16 : 1892 - w ! 1893,31; 0
V ■■ *• 1894, 34 ; 1895, 49 ; 1896 (to Dec. O
X 10), 18. Total number of train "hold- \f
X ups" in six year, 178. Total number S?
<\ of persons kiled, 43. Total number of x
(\ people injured (shot), 56. X
(< From Jan. 1. 1596. to Dec. 10, 1896. X
l\ 18 irains were held up; 6 people (4 )(
cS robbers) were killed; 7 people (2 rob- (\
ft bersi were injured (shot). Q
0 The record for 1897 is not yet officially (S
compiled. It is known, however, to be o
a very startling one, and demonstrates A
th > imperative necessity for radical Q I
measures and inventions which will Q I
effectually discourage such crime. Q
Within the past few days there have Q
been exciting fatal hold-ups in Call- O i
fornia, Kansas and Texas. 0 I
Special Correspondence of the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.— Tlie con
test between honest inventive genius
and the inroads of the train robber on
peaceful commerce is reaching a cli
max. The patent office is to be the
Bcene of the fiercest phase of the war.
Patent office records disclose many odd
and interesting inventions, but none
have reached the sensational ingenu
ity of the numerous infernal machines
whose object "it is to capture, maim
for life or kill Instantly the man who
has the temerity to seek ill-gotten
gains in the strong box of a messenger
car. The device that is the most
startling of three just pateneed is guar
anteed to perforate a train robber's
tody with bullets, riddling him through
and through like a sieve and leaving
bo little of him untouched by lead as
to make it a matter of impossibility to
Identify him.
The mechanism is simply fiendish in
Its ingenuity and allows the train rob
ber no chance of escape. He would be
better off were he to stand in front of
the business end of a gatl'ing gun and
bid the artilleryman turn the crank.
This train robber trap consists of a
battery of revolvers placed inside of
the car, with the barrels pointing
through the door towards the platform
which the robber must climb to seek
an entrance to the car. According to
the drawings on file in the patent of
fice, the design is to so mask the bat
tery that the robber will see nothing
between him and the supposed treasure
but an innocent looking door of wood.
No sooner, however, will he step onto
the platform of the car and seize the
handle of the door to force an entrance
than there will burst forth a deafening
roar, followed by a cloud of smoke,
and — the rest will be no earthly con
cern of the train robber's, for the bul
lets from half a hundred heavy caliber
revolvers will have sped in his direc
tion, and if he is not blown complete
ly from the platform, his remains will
be so torn and mangled as to hardly
leave enough of him for the coroner to
hold an inquest upon.
A simple contrivance places the ter
rible battery at the instant disposal of
the train hands, or, on the other hand,
prevents the possibility of it being
fired. This latter precaution is a very
necessary one, for, if some sort of
safety device were not provided, the re
volvers would claim more victims from
among the Innocent train crews than
from the ranks of the robbers. A
switch mounts or dismounts the bat
tery. The triggers of all the revolvers
are connected by a movable steel
frame, which when switched in one di
rection by the releasing of a bolt cocks
the guns and leaves them where the
slightest movement on the door from
the outside will release a catch. The
instant this catch is released down
come the triggers and bang goes every
one of the fifty guns in the battery. It
Is all done in a fraction of a second.
The bolt controlling the battery is
placed beyond the reach of meddlesome
fingers by being encased in a box with
in the door, the key to which is intend
ed to be in the possession of the chief
nvessenger. When warned that an at
tack on the train is impending, he un
locks the box, the action withdrawing
the circular sections of wood that hide
from view the muzzles of the revolvers,
leaving them with their barrels ready
to vomit the contents at the critical
pion:ent. A turn of the bolt, and the
run; are ready for action. The train
bands need give themselves no further
concern about the robber. The revol
vers will look after him.
Why the inventor should have chosen
to place such a tremendous battery in
his infernal machine does not appear.
Probably he intended that the mere sus
picion that such a machine existed and
might be used as a means of defence on
the cars, should act as a deterring force
In the interests of honest men. If that
was his reason for multiplying to such
a startling extent the number of wea
pons used in the contrivance, he certain
ly argued well, for it must be a robber
who knows not the meaning of fear and
Is brave to the verge of insanity who
ventures to proceed in the face of such
a terrible means of defence as that pro
vided by the newly patented "train rob
ber annihilator."
The second contrivance consists of a
" SOLID-not Liquid!"
Do not confuse "Cola this" and
"Kola that" with j)r.
» Charcot's
prescription of
the greatest doctor the world has
ever known, Jean Martin Charcot
(Paris). These tablets positively
banish Nervousness and make the
user " all nerve" with "no nerves."
50^ cents and $1.00 a Box. If you
cannot secure them of your druggist,
we will send them to you direct.
Write for PROOFS OF CURES.
Eureka Chemical and Manufacturing Co.
La Crosic, Wit.
car furnished with steel turrets. The
patentee of this machine has apparent
ly borrowed his idea from a close study
of the armored cars in Cuba. At each
end of the car, over the trucks, he has
arranged for two capacious forts con
nected by a passageway, and having
Iron doors which lock on the inside.
Each of these forts is provided with
Fteel shutters, perforated with loop
holes, through which the s guns of the
defending force can be fired in all direc
tions on the invadors.
The inventor does not Intend to make
any attempt at defence of the wooden
car. All the fighting is to be done from
the turrets. In his drawings he has
allowed room in the armored cage for
the safe and any other valued posses
sions of the company, and has placed
racks for the reception of rifles. When
attacked the train hands retire to their
armored fort, and then fire right or
left, or if the robbers succeed in effect-
Ing an entrance to the car, they can
Bhoot through loop holes in the steel
floor. Even if one turret is captured
the game is not up, for the train
hands can retreat along the passage
to the other turret, and locking the
iron door behind them, begin the flght
all over again, and blaze away as long
as ammunition lasts.
But this last device is a merciful
one, in that it gives a man a fighting
chance for his life, and does not slay
him without warning as does the first
invention described.
Another is intensely cruel, but is not
Intended to kill the train robber. It is
\ J^S*^" © * * ° ° ° *
SUDDENLY THE KOBUEK IS ENVELOPED 1\ A CLOID OK SCALDING
STEAM.
merely destined to parboil him half to
death and leave him contorted with
agony until the train hands pounce
upon him and make him an easy pris
oner. In this case the inventor as
sumes that the robbers have gained
possession of the car and have ter
rorized the messenger so that he has
consented to unlock the safe. It is
part of the scheme of this invention
that the safe be placed in one pai
ticular part of the car. The artful mes
senger, under the gentle stimulant of
a levelled revolver in the hands of the
train robber, assumes frightened com
pliance with his wishes, and, pulling
out his keys, offers to lead the robber
to where the treasure is secured.
The Invention provides for a sliding
door immediately in front of the safe,
and inclosing that corner of the car
In which the messenger would stand
to unlock the door of the strong box.
As the messenger presses his foot on a
spring in the floor of the car, the pre
cise position of which is known only
to himself, the sliding door shoots into
its place, shutting him off from the
robber and inclosing the messenger
within a newly made compartment
through which the robber could dis
charge his firearms without the least
possibility of any bullet penetrating
to where the messenger stands.
But the robber would have by this time
turned his attention to himself, for, with the
closing of the sliding door there will appear
before his startled eyes a row of pipes. Be
fore he will have had time to hazard a guess
as to the meaning of this remarkable change
■in 'the aspect of affairs he will be enveloped
in a burning, blinding, agonizing cloud of
steam, which will burst from the row of
pipes and strike him with fearful force. It
will be an enemy from which escape will be
impossible. If the train robber is not so
completely boiled as to be fit only for a hos
pital ward, he will endeavor to crawl away
from this hissing, burning, scalding demon,
whose fiery breath is scorching him to the
very bones. But whither will he turn to get
away from the steam which, in a few seconds,
will fill the car.
The answer to this question is left to the
hapless victim. The inventor has left no way
of escape. He v. r as not racking his brains
i to make the torture easier for the train rob
| ber. Having parboiled him, he leaves him
I to crawl out of the scrape the best way he
j can. His invention is for the benefit of the
train hands, not for the robber. He has shown
this by allowing a means of escape for the
messenger, in case the confinement within the
sealed corner in which he has secluded him
self becomes too Irksome. In the roof imme
diately over the corner where the strong box
Is to be placed, the patentee's robber-proof
car is provided with a trap door that is se
curely bolted on the inside. By climbing on
the safe, the messenger is able to reach the
roof of the car, and so scramble along to
where he can secure help, not so much for
himself as for the unfortunate crook who Is
being steamed to death in the car that he
had hoped to rob.
The steam battery is always ready for ac
tion. Pipes run along the inside walls of the
car, and thence are connected with the boiler
on the neglne. Ammunition in unlimited
quantities is always on tap. With such a
terrible reception awaiting him as this bath
of pteam, the train-robbing craft may be
forgiven if they retire from the business of
raiding trains, and take up the less danger
ous one of attacking police stations.
Another invention is intended to transfer
the steam torture to the locomotive of the
train. It frequently happens that train rob
bing begins with an attack on the engineer,
with the object of bringing the train to a
standstill. A hot reception awaits the system
atic train robber who begins his nefarious
scheme in this manner.
The invention consists of a battery of
steam pipes all around the top and sides of
the locomotive. The engineer opens a valve,
and Instantly the hot steam is blown in every
direction, while sliding steel plates which can
be let down all over the windows in the
cab, place the engineer and fireman inside
an impregnable barrier, from whence they
can defy the bullets of the attacking force,
while holding them off with the storm of
stenm.
Should the robbers be persistent, and at
tempt to circumvent the locomotive steam de
fence by climbing up on the pilot and passing
along the running board at the side of the
engine, the engineer, by means of a lever in
side the cab, can tilt the running board in
wardly, and as this board is armed with
sharp spikes along its edge, the robber will
find himself wedged in between the penetrat
ing points of the spikes, and the uncomfort
ably warm side of the boiler, and here he
will be firmly held, until the next station is
reached, when what la left of him may be
taken to the lockup or the hospital, accord
ing to the amount of life left in him.
In another sensational invention for de
fending the traveling treasure cliset, the In
ventor has been more merciful than either of
the other two, but even with this device the
train robber had better insure his life before
THE SAINT PAUIr GLOBE: MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1898.
starting on his thieving enterprise. It will
give him a shock that he will remember to
his last days.
A powerful electric battery is connected
with a battery concealed in the roof of the
car. In front of the safe is a steel mat, which
is attached to the battery by wires. The
thief will imagine that he has a clear field
before him, for it is intended that the safe
shall be placed within easy reach of his hand
and In a spot that can be conveniently
reached. On he will come, with a contented
smile on his face, and a this-is-dead-easy
feeling in his mind. When he comes in prox
imity to the steel mat, a change will come
over the spirit of his dream, akin to that
which was experienced by the savage who
seized hold of Capt. Nemo's electric hand
rail w"hen hoarding the Nautilus In Jules
Verne's wonderful romance.
"When the robber's hand touches the handle
of the safe, and he begins to triumphantly
turn the knob, he will be paralyzed, twisted
in a knot, and his thieving ambition smashed
into trembling penitence by the most tre
mendous shock that mortal can experience
and survive. It will all have come about
through the nails in his shoes coming in
contact with the electric mat, and thus com
pleting the circuit. There will be no letting
go. So long as his hand is on the knob
and his metal-clad feet on the mat the tor
ture will continue.
Some slight gleam of mercy is shown in the
awful torture devised by the inventor of
this thief trap. Immediately over the elec
trically protected safe, the inventor has placed
an incandescent lamp which bursts into light
as soon as the robber completes the circuit
and steps into the torture chamber. It is
the intention of the inventor that this light
shall disclose the presence of the robber, so
that help can come before he is tortured to
death. He has apparently overlooked the
fact that the cries of the tortured man will
be quite sufficient in themselves to b?tray his
presence.
The robber is to be released by means of
a switch which turns off the current. Pre
sumably he will c-nly be free w'i a ;hose who
bourd the car have covered him wii.fi Win
chesters, and made sure that there is no
flght left in him.
The patent office officials have passed these
three sensational de\k'<. s. so that, in the
opinion of those who are competent to judge,
they are not so freakish and impossible of
adoption as may seem at first sight. Whether
or not the railroads will reward the inventors
by equipping their roads with the contriv
ances remains to be seen. It is certain that
the train robbing fraternity may begin to
view the situation with apprehension. Fot
the mere thought of such tor:uring weapons
is enough to frighten the beidest desperado
into forsaking the crooked ways.
OKteupatliic Lecture.
Rev. Mason Pressley, D. D., Ph. D.,
of the faculty of the "Northern Insti
tute of Osteopathy," will deliver a lec
ture on this science at Conover Music
hall Monday evening, January 31st,
commencing at 8:15.
Friends and all interested are cor
dially invited to be present.
The Euterpe Ladies' Quartette will
be in attendance.
DISCOVERING THE UNSEEN.
Wonderful Calculation by Which an
Unknown Planet Was Found.
The most remarkable bit of calculation ever
done by human being is that attributed to
the famous British astronomer, Prof. Adams,
says the Pittsburg Dispatch. The scientist
had observed certain peculiar perturbations of
the planet Uranus. He could explain the phe
nomenon only by the presence of another
great planet, unknown to science, somewhere
in the heavens. Then began the "figuring"
referred to. When the calculation had been
• * f^^^fcaLy -» ■ »C- ca.<" dual 1 -J
WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST WARNING A MITTRAILLEI7SE OPENS FIRE.
completed Dr. Galle, of Berlin, pointed his
big telescope at the place In the heavens In
dicated, and there was the gigantic planet—
Neptune— sixty times as large as the earth
and 2,500, 000,000 miles away from it. Scientific
achievement like this seems to border on the
supernatural.
{SERVE Of GfIjKBkERS
ONE REASON FOR KEEPING VERY
COOL AT CRITICAL. MO
MENTS.
TOM NASEBY BREAKS BANKS.
REPUTATIONS MADE BY STAKING
THE MONEY OF OTHER
PEOPLE.
GREAT GAME AT PORTLAND.
How Bnrbrldge Beat a Wild "West
ern Capitalist Oat of Some
$60,000.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.— "1 happen
to know that a considerable number
of the most famous professional gam
blers in this country made their repu
tation with other men's money," said
a Rocky mountain man of large exper
ience. "These men have had their
names heralded far and wide as the
stakers of thousands, and even hun
dreds of thousands upon the turn of a
card, and innumerable yarns have been
spun as to their cool, John Oakhurst
like manner of scooping in a table full
of money upon the smashing of a
bank, or of calmly lighting their ci
gars and strolling out when fortune
went against them. So far as the
stories are concerned, some of them
are undoubtedly right; but all of them
leave out the very essential fact that
the men were simply players of other
men's money — 'table outs," we call
'em out West. I suppose it is a rea
sonable proposition that it is a whole
lot easier to risk another man's money
at the table than it is to endanger
your own. Of all the men I am telling
you about hardly a one had enough
luck at the tables to keep himself warm
when putting up his own coin; perhaps
it was owing to the extreme caution
of their play under these conditions
and the far greater strain involved in
the hazarding of their own money.
They could take another man's money
— the money of a man who probably
did not know the difference between 00
and 33 in a wheel layout, but who
could afford to venture almost an un
limited amount of money on a game —
and in at least eight cases out of ten
they could run the initial stake up into
a pile that would mean for themselves
a rake-off or percentage of thousands
or tens of thousands; but in venturing
their own money 1 have seen few of
them who were any good in the matter
of keeping their nerve under rein.
"Back in the sixties Tom Naseby was j
generally considered the most danger- '•
ous man at a faro table on the Pacific i
siope. Bink after bank, from Port
land to San Diego, went to the wall i
under his system of play— or lack of i
system, I ought to Bay— and at the end '
the Snn Francisco banks shut him our
altogether, so that he was compelled ]
to start a lay out of his own. Among
Naseby's smashes that were famous
on the coast was that of breaking
Byron McGregor's Kearny street in
stitution to the tune of $150,000; of hit
ting up TillottFon's $10,000 limit game
in San Francisco for $100,000 and clos
ing the doors, and of banging Ned Jor
din's bank in Portland for $125,000, all
within th; space of three months. Yet
Naseby told me him re If that on none
of these plays was he venturing a sou
marque of his own money— that it had
all been handed over to him, the initial
stakes for each big play, that is, by
Ralston, the mil!i naire San Francisco
banker who committed suicide. Out of
each winning Naseby- of course got a
big cut of the money, for Ralston went
into the thing for the sport of it and
was a very generous man. Naseby,
who belonged to the trilip of savers for
a rainy day, hung onto these rolls.
Naseby played faro with just about .is
much skill a? a Zulu wields a war club,
and he frankly confessed that his coups
were simply the result of unlimited
confidence nnd unlimited backing allied
to bullhead luck.
"Frank Burbridge. the most famous
poker player that Portland has evL-r
brought out, was another man who
made his big reputation as a gambler
upon the strength of the vast winnings
he hauled out upon stakes furnished
by wealthy men. Some of these rich
backers of Burbridge remained behind
the screen and only received Frank's
rr-ports as to how he made out in the
games for which they staked him, but
others came out into the open and sat
alongside Burbridge when he was play
ing with their money — not for the pur
pose of watching him, for he was
strictly on the level, but just for the
fun of watching the game. One of the
big contractors for the building of the
Oregon Short Line, a man worth many
millions of dollars, was one of Bm
bridge's clients who liked to watch the
expert poker player play the hands. He
was constantly staking Burbridge for
big games with dangerous opponents.
If Frank won, all right; he got most
of the money himself. If he lost, all
right, too; the contractor simply went
Into the thing for the mental distrac
tion it afforded him.
"I was a witness of one of those big
games in which Burbridge engaged
with a stake furnished by the con
tractor. It was played at the old
Willamette house In Portland, and it
was a two-handed game. The other
player was a very wealthy Portland
man, who was said to have made a
big pot of money by simply making the
suggestion that he intended to parallel
the Oregon Short Line. This rich man
thought he knew how to play poker
until his friend, the contractor of the
Short Line, who was Burbridge's stak
er, put him up against the latter —
partly for the interest of watching the
game, and partly, perhaps, for other
reasons. Anyhow, the Portland man
had a whole heap of an opinion of what
he knew about poker, and played the
game incessantly for pastime. He had
never happened to sit in a game with
Burbridge, and Burbridge's backer
finally suggested to the Portland man
that he have a try at what he could
do with the man who was known to
be the most expert player of poker in
the Northwest.
" 'Oh, he's a professional,' said the
Portland man, 'and I don't play cards
with professionals in a contest of skill
such as I see you want to make this.
I play with 'em once in a while just
to study their games, but not for big
money. I wouldn't trust them under
such circumstances.'
" 'Well, you trust me, I suppose,
don't you?" said the contractor.
" 'Certainly,' was the reply.
" 'All right, my friend,' said the con
tractor, 'I'd just like to find out to sat
isfy my own curiosity how good you
can play poker. I don't amount to
much at it myself, and I don't think
you're any better than I am. Very
well. You sit into a game with Bur
bridge, and I'll deal all the hands my
self under the same circumstances.
Does that proposition suit you?'
' 'Yes.' said the Portland man, 'I'd
I just like to give Burbridge a whirl un
der those circumstances.'
"So the game was arranged. Four
or five of us were invited around to the
■ old Willamette house to look on while
the game progressed. The two men sat
j down to the game about 8 o'clock at
• night. The Portland man— l will call
! him Tunwell, which is pretty close to
j his right name — had occasionally met
I Burbridge, who was a very smooth ur-
I bane sort of chap of thirty, and so they
j nodded good-naturedly to each other
when Tunwell came into the room.
The contractor was on hand with his
check book. The conditions were sim
ply that the contractor was to deal
each of the hands, and then retire from
the table with the remainder of the
deck until the call for cards. Then he
was to dish out what cards were called
for, and get away from the table again
until the hand was played. The rest
| of us were to sit around, with the priv
ilege of having peeps at the hands.
Tunwell was to have the privilege of
asking the advice of any of us as to
i proper plays, as Burbridge was to be
j permitted to refer hands that heavily
| involved the contractor's purse to the
! latter— not to seek advice, but simply
; to inform him what he intended to do
In the play. The game was to be with
i out limit, and the chips were worth $5
| $25 and $50.
''So the game began. Tunwell soon
proved himself a pretty cool man. He
I didn't put up a stingy game, but he
j simply had the proper sort of regard
; fur the worth of the cards the contrac
! tor d'shed out to him, and he played
'■ tlic-m right, as we who were watching
' the game and had a chance of seeing
, both hands soon discovered. Two or
i three times in the early part of the
game I, for one, thought he was a bit
, overcautious, but in general his line
; of play was away above the average.
! Tunwell was a big, gray-eyed man of
the type that is jammed full of well
controlled nerve, and he held himself
on this night in additional check be
i cause he knew that he was up against
I a hard proposition. The play at first
didn't amount to much— fifty o»- hundred
I dollar bets occasionally— and both men
] seemed to be sparring for information
; on the style of each other's play. Tun
' wpII finally decided upon a bluff. He
had a nine hi.erh, and he went up to $500
j on* It. Burbridge laid down. This was
I pretty good for Tunwell, but he had
I the sense to show no exultation. Now,
I afier making a thing like that go
\ through, most men would keep on bluf
j fing until called when on Fteep and
craggy ground, but Tunwell didn't. He
resumed the system of playing for what
his hands were worth. This he stuck
, to for half an hour or so, when he was
i $800 ahead" of the game, and then he
made another bluff on a pair of queens.
Burbridge, who had three aces, laid
down, and Tunwell's pile was amplified
by $1,000.
" 'That was a cold bluff, Burbridge,'
said Tunwel!.
" 'Oh, I don't think so,' said Bur
bridge. 'There was too much confidence
in your eye for that.' Which shows that
even a great poker player is as likely
as anybody to get mixed when it comes
to studying eyes in a game.
"After awhile Burbridge caught a
pat full house, and Tunwell. filled a still
better full hand. It was Tunwell's bet,
and he went $1,000 on It. Burbridge
laid down— wherein it was plain to be
seen that he was a man who possessed
that indefinable thing, the poker play
er's 'hunch.'
"Now, all these plays I'm telling you
about were simply part of the warming
up. The two men were simply studying
each other. They didn't really begin
to play peker until two hours after they
&at down.
"Then the contractor dealt Burbridge
a promising set of threes, and gave
Tunwell a neat two pairs, with aces on
tcp. Tunwell filled with another ace,
and Burbridge got nothing worth men
tioning in the draw, so that his three
nines didn't look very big to us against
an ace full. It was Burbridge's bet.
He was one of those men who lay their
cards down on the table and look up
at the ceiling before making a bet.
" 'Five thousand dollars,' said he
finally, still locking- up at the celling
reflectively, and the contractor, who
had seen Tunwell's draw, winced a bit.
"Tunwell looked at him pretty hard
and scanned his hand. He raised him
$5,000.
" 'And $5,000,' said Burbridge, quiet
ly Now, the contractor was a pretty
game sort of man. but we could see
that he felt badly over this.
"Then Tunwell laid down. Bur
bridge's bluff worked. Of course, not
until after the game did we tell him
■what Tunwell held that time, and when
we did he said:
" 'I felt from the first, before I made
a bet, that he had me beat — but the big
ger a man's hand, the easier it is to
bluff him out of the money.' Queer
remark, wasn't it?
"TunweJl kept his nerve like a major
after this heavy fall, and we couldn't
see the slightest sign of faltering in
his style of play. The game went back
to the $100 bet basis, and was compara
tively uninteresting for an hour or so.
In the course of the play during this
time Tunwell caught four queens pat — ■
a very remarkable thing — and got $50
only out of the hand. But unlike what
most poker players would do under
such circumstances, he didn't throw
down the hand face upward on the
table with an oath. He wasn't that
kind of poker player.
"Just about midnight both men si
multaneously decided upon a bluff — and
It's not often that men happen to do
this in a two-handed poker game; when
they do, something always drops. Both
men stood pat. There wasn't a pair in
either hand. It was a choice ex
perience to note the offhand way with
which Burbridge made the first bet on
this pat hand of his.
" "Ten thousand dollars,' said he, and
his backer, the contractor, went to the
window, raised it, and poked his head
out for air.
" 'Same, more than you,' said Tun
well, scanning his hand as if it was the
real thing.
"Burbridge raised him another $10,000
and flicked a bit of ashes off his collar.
Now Tunwell felt thai his man was
bluffing.
" 'I call you,' said he.
" 'Ace high,' said Burbridge.
" 'Ace high here,' said Tunwell.
CASTOR IAI
Castoria is Dr. Samuel Pitcher's prescription for Infants
and Children. It contains neither Opium, Morphine nor
other Xarcotic substance. It is a harmless substitute
for Paregoric, Drops, Soothing- Syrups and Castor Oil.
It is Pleasant. Its guarantee is thirty years' use by
Millions of Mothers. Castoria Is the Children's Panacea
—the Mother's Friend.
THE FAC-SIMILE SIGNATURE OF
APPEARS ON EVERY WRAPPER.
" 'Queen next.'
" 'Queen next here.'
" 'Nine next.'
" 'Nine next here.'
" 'Six next.'
"Tunwell tossed his four that was
next on to the table face upward with
out the movement of an eyebrow.
" 'Six wins the $60,000,' said he, and
the contractor strolled back from the
window.
" 'Better luck next time, Tunwell,'
said he, smiling 1 , while Burbridge
drank a glass of water.
" 'There isn't going to be any next
time, my boy,' returned Tunwell. 'I'm
no hog.' "
BAZAIXE IX MEXICO.
His VlKorons Policy Did Mnuli to Re
store tlie French Prestige.
Mrs. Sarah Y. Stevenson contributes to the
January Century an article on "Maximilian's
Empire," one of a series of papers on the
French intervention. Mrs. Stevenson says:
In October, 1863, the reins of power so
loosely held by Gen. Forey at last passed
Into firmer hands. Gen. Bazaine took com
mand of affairs. It was high tim<\ The
Juarists, profiting by the long respite afford
ed them, were reorganizing in the Interior,
and were threatening. The dally stago was
attacked on its way to the coast as often
as not. Highwaymen tore up the rails of
the Paso del Macho railroad, attacked the
train and killed passengers. Detachments of
banditti, called by courtesy guerillas, every
where* infested the roads, even at the very
gates of the capital. A picnic was given to
us at this time by some officers of Gen. Ba
zaine's staff at a wild, beautiful spot, where
the ruins of a graceful aqueduct, built by
the Spaniards, formed the principal attrac
tion. It was less than a twenty-mile ride,
yet it was deerm'd unsafe to go without a
strong escort, although we and the officers
who gave the affair formed, with their or
derlies, a large cavalcade.
Gen. Forey's policy in letting the regency
have its way and in countenancing reac
tionary legislation of an aggressive character
had discouraged the honest partisans of or
der.
Bazain handled all these complications with
firmness and skill. He compelled the regency
to repeal the decrees most objectionable to
the thinking portion of the community. He
enforced the maintaining of all bona fide
transactions in clergy property, but advo
cated the revision of such contracts as might
be proved fraudulent and urged a concordat
proposing that the state provide for the
support of the clergy. His old. rs were to rally
around him the liberal chiefs, and he strove
by a wise, tactful policy to conciliate men of
all shades of opinion. His vigorous military
action soon established order in the terri
tory surrounding Mexico. With the concur
rence of Gen. Almonte, who earnestly wished
the welfare of his country, he reduced Arch
bishop la Bastida to terms, if not to silence.
Having done this, he took the field, concen
trated his army from the various distant
pcints where the different corps had been or
dered in view of the campaign which he was
preparing, and within six weeks defeated, by
rapid and well-concerted blows, Gens. Do
blado. Nagrete, Comonfort and Uraga, who
at that time, thanks to Gen. Forey's procras
tination, were holding the country with the
rallied forces of the Liberal party.
m
SALT WKM.S IN CHINA.
Unique Industries FurnlMliliijj; Both
Brine and Nut nrnl UaN,
The salt wells of China are one of the most
unique industries of that country, having
been worked for over 2,000 years with the
same apparatus and methods now in use.
The wells are drilled to a depth of from 2,0')0
to 3.000 feet, and supply not only brine, from
which the Rait is obtained by boiling, but
also a natural gas, which is burned under
the pans.
Over the mouth of each well stands a great
derrick, carrying a pulley from which de
scends the bamboo rope which supports the
bucket. The bucket Is a huge piece of bam
boo, almost as high as the derrick, strength
ened by having hempen cords wound around
the outside and iron rings nt the two ends.
The valve is a strong piece of skin opening
inward. This bucket, which is not larger
than two or thee Inches In diameter, will
bring up 250 pounds of water. The end of
the bucket, when brought to the surface, ia
veered over the tub in the ground near by.
where it is filtered and stored In reservoirs
for sale to the various boilers. Buffaloes are
employed instead of horses or steam engines
to lift the bucket, winding the lifting rope on
a drum. This rope is made of bamboo lines
twisted like hempen ropes and spliced with
strong hide thongs.
The brine is boiled In large iron pans sev
eral Inches thick, long rows of them being
supplied with gas from bamboo conduits
the gas being derived from the salt wells!
either those exhausted or sometimes from
wells which have never produced brine but
merely gas. Some of the brine produces 2. r >
per cent of its weight of salt. The pan salt
is evaporated until it becomes as hard as
stone. Each pan turns out a cake weighing
666 pounds, which is split Into four quarters
in which form It is sold. It. takes a little
over twenty-four hours to boil a panful of
Bait. The government buys all the salt and
sells it again at an advance of several hun
dred per cent. These salt wells occur in but
two districts, about 200 miles apart, and are
family heirlooms, being handed down from
generation to generation, the names of LI
and Wang being the most prominent associat
ed with them.— Philadelphia Press.
WHAT IS TRIPLE EXTRACT?
The Process by Which the Odor of
Flowers Is Obtained.
Flowers that are to be used in the man
ufacture of perfumes are always gathered at
nightfall or quite early in the morning, when
the dew is upon them, says the Philadelphia
Times. Before they are gathered, however,
receptacles are prepared for them in the
shape of large frames, over which are
stretched cotton cloths well saturated with
olive oil or almond oil. The cut flowers are
brought in and are thickly spread on a
frame, then another frame is lifted over It,
and that in turn is well spread with flowers;
then a third frame is lifted over the second
spread of flowers, and thus the work goes
on until a huge pile of flowers is prepared.
This flower heap is left for two days, at the
end of which time the flowers are removed
from the frames and replaced by fresh ones.
The frames are filled and emptied every two
days until two weeks have passed. Then the
cloths are detached from the frames and
placed under great pressure, and all the oil
is pressed out of them. The oil thus obtained
is heavily charged with the fragrance of the
flowers, and it is mixed with double its weight
of very pure rectified spirit and put in a ves
sel called a "digester," which is simply a
porcelain or block-tin kettle that fits in an
other kettle. When in use the outer vessel
Is filled with boiling water.
In this vessel the mixture of oil and spirits
"digests" for three or four days; then, after
having cooled, the spirit is decanted into an
other vessel holding the same quantity of
fragrant oil, and the digesting process is re-
What is
peated. After being thus digested three times
the spirit ia found to have taken up enough
of the perfume, and it is then decanted friar
the oil for the third and last time through
tube, one end of which is filled with cotto.
wool to serve as a filter. The fluid thus pre
pared is called "triple extract."
—^
Not Sustained by Souls.
A minister with a beggarly salary went to
his deacon, asking for an increase. "Salary!"
cried the deacon in pious horror; "salary!
why I thought you worked for souls!" "And
so. I do," replied the minister, "but I cannot
eat souls. And if I could it would take a
good many souls the size of yours to make a
dish."
— -^^-
Are Worse Than Hottentotti.
The Bosjesmans,ln South Central Africa, ar«
exceedingly ugly, and exist almost in a stats
of animalism. They dwell in holes, live on
roots and reptiles and have very much the
appeararce of the ape. The Calmucks, of
the great Tartar family, are, although more
civilized, extremely ugly. They have short,
fat noses, small eyeH, high cheek bones and
a protruding chin.
m
Notice to Depositor*.
The next interest term of the Sav
ings Bank of St. Paul commences
Tuesday, Feb. 1. Money in sums of $5
and upwards deposited before Feb. 3
will draw five months' Interest July 1,
1898. 44 East Sixth street.
.Fur I <-m in Germany,
In Germany when the vote of the jury
stands six against six, a prisoner Is acqultti <l.
A vote of seven against, five- leaves the de
cision to the court, and in a vote of eight
against four the prisoner is convicted.
DIED.
PARKER— Entered into life eternal, Satnrdaj
afternoon, Jan. 29, Isabel Josephine Willard,
beloved wife of Elam D. Parker. Funeral
services will be held at the residence, 2011
Terrace Park avenue, Merriam Park, Tuts,
day, Feb. 1, at 2:30 p. m. Friends are in
vited. Interment at Milwaukee.
WILLIAMS— In St. Paul, Jan. 30. at 1:50 p.
m., Mrs. Barbara Williams, aged 54 years,
at residence, 160 West Ninth street. Funeral
from residence at 9:;!0, Tuesday morning
and from St. Peter Claver's church at 10.
Chippewa Palls, Wis., and Buffalo N. Y.
papers please copy.
FOR FUNERALS— Hearses, $4; carriages $2"
at Schroeder's Livery, 20 West Fourth' st.,'
and at Moreliead & Horrigan'e, 370 East
Ninth and 488 Selby ay.
AMUSEMENTS. #
HICInUrIILIIAIii Manager.
TONIGHT ftllcl all wee*. Matinees
lUlilUni WedandSat,
Wilson Barrett'3 sjreat play,
THE SIGN OF THE GROSS.
Presented by Wm. Greets London Co.. Inclnfr
ing Charles Dalton. Triers r-.n 7-31— Wed.
Mat. 25 and s?c. Next week— The Geisha.
S^ Jher-y
Appeal s to ah Pack© i*s
Humanity. MAT. WED.
Next Week— "Tim* Little Vajranta."
People's Church.
eHEIRO!
TONIGHT
GREAT LECTURE ON HANDS.
Slides and treatment different from
last Monday — Entirely new.
Tickets now on sale at HOWARD, FARWELL
& CO 'S., Prices 50 cts. and Tri cts.
GUILMANT.
The Great French Organist.
KEXT SATURDAY NIGHT.
Seats now selling at Howard, Farwt.U &
Co.'s. 50e, 75c and $1.00.
CAMBRIDGE HALL,
Seventh >t.. bet. Robert and Jackson sts.
Unrivaled Accommodations for
Social Entertainments,
LECTURES AND CJNCHRTS.
FOX TERMS AI'I-I.Y To
J. Jj WATSON Bsrmanla Ufa B!dg
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.
ST. AGATHA'S CONSERVATORY
Of Munlc and Art,
26 East Exchange St.. St. Paul.
Piano, violin, guitar, mandolin and vocal
music taught. Lessons given in drawing and
painting. Call or send for prospectus.
Official State Buttorieal Photozrapbar.
STUDIO
00 AND 101 EAST SIXTH STREET.
(Opposite Metropolitan Opera House.)
PHOTOGRAPHS g . the ;*•■; ■»;«
liembruiult, Van Dyke, ite.jnuUlt, Ho in tie j
Ami Other Htutmrm.
Mr. Zimmerman's peraoaaJ attention to
appointment* I'JSJ^b.i'uo^iJS to, i.