, 1874-01-02
RALPH KELLER.


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RALPH KELLER.
The Story Of - yagabond Adventures"
From, tic Boston ddrcrtase7.
Tho arrival OF the United States steamer Ju-
niuta from Santiago de Cuba, loaves Little room
for doubt but that Mr. Ralph heeler, the speclaI
correspondent Of the. New YORK aFWune, nae het
his death by falling overheard from tue steamer
which left that place ehont ehe l7ln I1e.. ~. ~
MonzaniIlo. az be was seen to 90 on board IN the
morning, and WIS reported missing by Inc mp
tain the next morning What little 10 known
about Ralph kceler's early llfo has been 1utnls
ed by himrelf in his ''yaeabond Adse1tmresfi 1na
Is evident that his early home was not pleasant
one Hn was born In Ohio. and, at the mature
ayo Of II wears. took solemn VOW that he Wouio
have nothing 1uora to do with tile people o1 MS
home circle in Buffalo or lth any IanaS b;n
there, aud ho ran away. leaving ae nighI, VIII
notbing save what he had upon Ills back. tle
soon got job as stewards nss.itant, on tne
steamer Diamond, which le had to give up oe-
cauee his relatives tracked him. lie then
ehippcd as cabin boy in the Baltic. Ut $lo
montb. which he neyor got. After. dodg1ng
about tho lake cities, and twlce narrowly escap-
ing falling into tic hands OF his relatives. ho
got place as key boy op tue NGrsaern M aud
made enough to ALLOW him to SO to school Thls'
however, he left within month or two, III
order to have more time to devote to negro
minstrelsy. His talents in this direction got
him place q. trait,-boy On the Michigan South
crn l. Northern Iadiana Railroad, and in the
following summer m engagement with Johnny
I,ooker'e negro 1ainstrels as jig-dancer at 50
week, and all e1ponses paid. Tie company
burstcd at Pittsburgh week after 1t 1e1t 70
| Iedo. hu: soon after reoryanizoa, with kccler Us
cnd-1nan with the tamborine. He subsequently
nIled at engagoneut with 3fike Mitchell, aud
afterward with Dr. Sraldiug US Jig and wench-
dancer with his t1oating-paaeo show, where the
work was 80 seyero thnt he became dis
gusted with negro miusrselsy,4 and made
up his mind to so back to his books'
St. Vincent's College, at Capo Girardeau,
| charmed him with its beautiful exterior, and
boldly going to the President, he stated his wish
ea. and six months later started back thore from
| Galveston. The river was frozen, and the Jour
noy by land 50 expesire That he had but $50 left
wien he reached there. The good President,
| Father S. Y. Ryan, since made Homan Catholic
/ there he spent sixteen happy months. alter
| which he went to Toledo, and got situation III
the post-Oftice- Ho had been there but fow
| mouths when the idea OF going to Europe seized
him, and he started with sl8l IN bis pocket. lie
| went from Toledo to New York III cat:le-drover.
bought c STORAGE ticket to London. End Ioacned
| the English capital during tho Worlds
| Fai-. ia 1862. Ho went thence to
| Paris. and almost Immediately left tho
! French capital fer Heidelberg,-hls capital OF
| $50 would not stand long soJourn in Paris.
| Hero he became student Of the famous Kari
! Rupert University, aud while there made pedes-
trian tours through Italy, the Tyrol, Sutherland,
Belgium, and France: always III 1no inc aress q! :
| berg at Christmas, he had reached the end OF
| Ills $751; He ahad written to iEnunlesaole Amorl-
| eau newspapers, but heard nothing ct al until
| that Christmas when he received s.. from an
| American newspaper, to which he said LIE had
| written twenty letters OF news and twenty
| 1iyo OF duns. Il subsequent letter con-
| taining $50 made Heidelberg too small 20
| hold linn, aud Le starred uowa tho Khlue
Ho went through Belgium mud Hol~
land, aud few months later turacd up in an Oh
scure gayret iii the. Quarter Latin. In Paris he
| met Gro.go Alfred Townsend, who suggested
that ho try some English masszIne Ills CASH
| capital then consisted Of 70 francs anu
/ SOUS. His a:ticie was accepiet. and Ao
! wen: to Florence. whore l,o lived all wintor Oh
! the proceeds. He thcn sent another article,
which WIS respectfully declined Lie sent the
/ rejected manuscript to less lkatentlous perlod-
| ical in Edinburgh. aud started TOT Loshofn'
sented to take him homo and let him owe hum
80. Luckily enough, when he reached
| Boston without cent in his pocket, he fotlnd d
| letter which lal been forwarded, containing a
drift on London for the aluncas forgotten article
| which hc haa scnt to Edinburgh in sheer des-
| pcra.ion. ii This enabled him to pay for ls pas
sage and reach Toledo, his starting place. after
an absence OF little over two years, ana an ex.
penso of 4 little over $500 hcsicr vas then z;
| wears OF age. He seems TO have disappeared
from the notice of the public for soma t1uo until
the early part OF 1860, when ho sent to the al
lan:ic his sketch, .'Three Years Negro Atln-
! er.el.' This was published in July. SIX mouths
later he sent IA Tour OF Europe for One Hun
| drel and Eighty One Dollara,' nnd recc.Sed for
| the article mora than half much rs tue whole
trip cost him. This was Ellnted III July, al
he presented himself at the Office for employ
nlont about that timo. For tue rest Of the
I year lie wrote reviews for the 41ftGntlc AMI re-
;ised the proofs. In January, 1870, E-ery Sat,
4.,yIay became an illustrated periodical: aud
iIr, Ieelor started on o tour III search Of the
picturesque on the Mississippi. He was accom-
| panied by alr. Il. r. Naud, aad tho enterprise
| was unpTece dented in tho annals OF periodicals..
Tho frat Of the series appeared III the Issue Tor
| Nav 20, ard they were published. wi:h hardly Il
| single hiatus until Nor. o5. during Which every
priSclr:: city on the Mississippi was visited, and
two or three brilliant articles prepared on tue
Chicago fire. With tho next change IN the style
of Ersry Saturday. Keelers SERVICES could no
Europe On his return he cent another article
to the 4tla7tic- This, like all his other conss'-
buttons was published in July. Its title IS - An
Amateu1 Supe's STORY He. keelcf also haa . :.
novel. "G!oyerson and 1lia Silent Partner,
published by Lee J. Shepard, two or three
years cSo.
A Tough old Couple.
asota5uoycs (d.} Corrsspondence NJ The Vac YORK. Snn
The toughest man in Arnerica lives Two mules ne
below this place. His name is 7. 4. Rose. Ho
is over Is years old. Within the last ten years
ho has had both legs broben, his ssu1 smashed,
his hin lislocated, i shouldor-biade aud three
rims Fractured an arm broken, and lis teeth
knocked out, al by runaway accidents. Ho
alvayB drives young and spirited house before
wagon over 40 years old His harness is
pstched up and tied together with ropes aud
strings After every one Of his accidents hc