Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-07-11
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.
Queer Facts and Thrilling Ad-
ventures Which Show That Truth
is Stranger Than Fiction.

TEHA bullock from East Blan-
- dAMKt erne, and sent it with
SZEH WHIT others to the market
at Wakefield. 1t was
purchased for the Batley-Carr Co-opera-
tive Stores, and in due course the bull
lock was slaughtered. In cutting the
steak bone from the sirloin the knife
came in contact with hard substance.
This was sawed through, and common
tin whistle was found imbedded in the
undercut of the sirloin. There was no
appearance of irritation, and the meat
around the foreign substance was per-
fectly good. The whistle is ten inches
in length and slightly in excess of half
an inch broad at the mouth piece. The
most probable explanation Of the wills
tie getting into the muscles of the OK is
that it was dropped into straw or other
bedding, and. resting there in vertical
position, with the small end upward
when the bullock lay down, the small
end, with its sharpened edge of metal,
was forced into the body.
A cREDu1oUs Englishman named S.
G. Coombs, who has been in the cOun-
try only six months, has been made the
victim of q gold brick swindle at San
Francisco, by which he lost $4,000. The
trick was played on him by two adyen-
turers who successfully worked the same
device in Los Angeles in the early part
of the year. Coombs was approached by
. stranger who looked like farmer, and
delivered him letter from a man by
the name of Coombs in Illinois. The
letter said that the Illinois Coombs be-
heved the San Francisco man was his
brother, and he wanted to let him into
a secret worth big money. This secret
he could get from the bearer, who was
trustworthy. The bearer gave hints of
a fortune which could be gained by pur-
chasing a gold brick that an old Indian
chief had brought from Mexico. The
chief was then in the suburbs of the city
awaiting the strangers return. Coombs
cupidity was excited. He went with
the stranger, saw the old Indian, heard
a remarkable yarn Of the finding of the
gold, which was melted into brick for
convenient handling, and received some
drillings made from the brick in his
presence. These drillings, an assayer
declared, were rich gold. In the after
noon Coombs drew $50 in greenbacks
from his bank and accompanied the
stranger once more to the suburbs, where
the transfer was mede. Coombs carried
the brick home and took it to an assay
or, was declared it was good brass. Sui
phuric acid ate il up wherever applied.
Coombs was furiously angry when told
he had been swindled, and refused to
believe the proof of the worthlessness of
the brick. Later in the day, however,
he asked the police to aid him. Coombs
has given a full description OF the men,
but they were so well disguised that
this furnishes no clew The same men
played the same game in Los Angeles
last January, when they cleaned up
81, 800.
NEBRASKA has Kate Shelly, and she
is farmers daughter named Mabel
Peck, living near Blair, who risked her
life during storm to save from certain
destruction train No. 20on the Fremont,
Elkhorn and Missouri Valley line. Her
fathers farm lies near the railroad, be-
tween Blair and Hillsdale. During n
storm Mabel noticed that the water was
running down the track like a river.
Thinking something might be wrong
she threw her fathers coat over her
shoulders and went down to the cross
ing. There she found that 100 feet of
road bed had been washed under and
the track was buried in the debris. At
this moment, through the sound of the
storm, Mabel heard the whistle of the
east bound freighta as it ran into Hills
dale. There was no one at the farm but
her mother aud no one near who could
aid her. Determined to save the train
and the crew, the brave girl ran toward
the cut through the torrents of rain and
in the gloom of approaching night.
When the train was halfway down the
grade approaching the washout the en-
gineer saw the girl standing before iton
the track waving the coat as signal of
alarm. The train was stopped in time
and its crew thanked Mabel for saving
their lives. Miss Peck is eighteen years
old with slight girlish figure and dark
eyes and hair. Train No. 20 has adop-
ted the custom Of giving her grateful
salute of greeting each time 1t rolls past
her fathers farmhouse.
One of the largest of Boston's bank
ing houses makes a specially of deposit
accounts with the Chinese Of that city,
who all place their money in his es-
Adjustments hands. The aggregate OF
such deposits made by the gentry of
the Flowcry Land is at any one time
very large, while the personal accounts
of the fan-tan gamblers, who are the
rich mon of the celestial colony here,
run far up into the thousands of dol
lars. An important part OF the business
done with them consists in selling
drafts for money sent TO Asia. Much
trouble was found at first in keeping
accounts with these pig-tailed capital
lists, owing to the fact that each China
man, as a rule, has several names,
which are employed in such manner
as to bea trifing confusing. He always
has at least three, and sometimes more
He has one name as boy. When he
gets to be man he takes new one.
Upon going into business he adopts a
third. No one of these three seems to