Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-21

zen miles square we turned that county upside
down. We took bee-hives; rolled wagon
down the mountain side; tied sleighs up in tht
tops OF trees, and did all else you could thini
OF that was young deviltrv. After we had done
u all we hired negroes to go about and SCI
things straight, and paid three prices for every
lark, and we rounded up that part Of the
country"
Major Powell's Most Memorable Christ
| mas.
my most interesting Christmas" said Major
Powell of the geological survey to a STAR re-
porter, was spent in the depths Of the Kanab
canyon, $500 feet below the surface of the
earth. The Kanab canyon forms channel for
the Kanab river, which is a tributary Of the
Colorado and runs into the latter river at a
point where the rocky cliffs of the Colorado
canyon mount their highest above the channel
| at their base. Five days before. the Christmas
OF 1870 l started from the Paunsagunt plateau,
at point 80 miles from the junction of the
| kanab with the Colorado, to descend the
! hanab. At that time the plateau, which is
$500 feet above the level of the sea, was COW
cred with 20 inches Of snow. For the first II
miles Of my journey toward the Colorado fol-
| lowed the banks OF running stream in the
| canyon bed. Then the canyon widened out
/ and for 70 miles more the river was lost in dry
sand, reappearing beyond l was on horse
PACK and had six men with me, who with picks
came TO- The first 40 miles we passed in one day;
the remaining 40 miles took us four days to
traverse, three days Of which we're spent in
getting over the last 10 miles. We found our
selves on Christmas eve at the point where the
hanab canyon open into the Great Colorado
canyon, and pitched our camp by the Kanab,
surrounded on every side by PERCEPTIONS walls
OF rock from 1000 to {, 200 feet in height We
| spent the night encamped just within the open
| ing OF gigantic cave shaped like an amphi-
/ ~ - Nx fxafS
men. When we woke up Christmas morning
We found that the summit of the natural dome
over our heads was at least 1000 feet high.
| From the rear Of the cave, 80 or 40 feet above
the floor, issued an enormous spring, the
| stream from which fell into a lake below at the
| back OF the amphitheater, throwing volumes
| OF spray In every direction. Out toward the
sun light water issued from trucking springs
along the walls, where green moses, liver
/ wortS and other plants grew in brilliant pro-
fusion OF color. In fact. we found ourselves,
| at this point ., 800 feet down in the bowels OF
| the earth, IN summer climate, although on
| the piain above 1t was winter. All the yegeta-
| ton IN these depths was subtropical in char
acter; the grass was green, the flowers in bloom
and everything bloSSoming with sprngtime
| luxuriance. We spent our Christmas bathing
IN the waters, catching fish in the Colorado
river, at the bottom OF the stupendous cliffs,
| TOR our Christmas supper, and in wandering
about admlring nature in her most awesome
/ aspect Such was the most memorable Christ
mas in my hfe."
"A Christmas Adventure With Robbers.
/ The queerest and most unpleasant Christ
mas | remember" said retired merchant of
wealth, who spends his winters in Washington
twas passed in the Argentine Republic forty
years ago, when that country was by no means
so civilized as it is now. In fact, it was not
| place in those days that any one such as you or
1 A wOul1 Iva in, Co.
! traordinary opportunities it afforded for MAX
/ ing money. My partner and myself, being en-
gagged IN commerce by ship with North Ameri-
| can ports, lived in Buenos Ayres in a house
together, keeping bachelors hall. Our money
We kept IN strong safe as precaution
/ against robbers, who were very plentiful
/ The whole city, indeed as well as the country
| round about. was terroriZed by them to such
| an extent that people who suffered from their
| outrages did no. dare complain lest their own
lives should pay tine forfeit.
! lone day-It was ChriStmas-I was sitting
upstairs III my house alone reading, my part
ner having taken advantage of the holiday to
/ go out tor game of billiards at the hotel near
/ by, when heard the front door open below
and steps coming up the stairs 1 supposed it
/ was my partner returning with friends, until
/ three ferce-iOohing men, two of them of gil
/ gantic stature, entered the room with drawn
knives in their hands.
/ "'Senor, one OF them said you have money:
we want it
/ Il replied, truthfully, that there was large
| sum OF lnoney-S9,0 00-in the safe near
where SAT; bat tnat 1t belonged to my part
/ ner and he had the key with him. The ruff
/ fans replied that L must produce the kew or
open the safe some way, else they would GER
i talnly Kill me. Perceiving that they meant TO
| keep their word, my wits were set to work by
/ the desperate necessity of the case, and finally
I / said: Two of You are evidently strong men
and the safe Is a small one, why do YOU not
carry itaway with you bodily and break it open
! a.yolr le4sureF
! My suggestion was at once acted upon. and
my three visitors having conveyed the safe
down stairs, the two big ones shouldered il be-
| tween them and carried il off telling the third
| In Spanish TO go back and finish the fellow up-
stairs. / heard the order given and prepared
to make the best fight could for my lite. No
! weapon whatever could lay nv hands on my
! revolver being down IN the dining room and
my chance seemed small against a man as big
as l, armed with a snickersnee knife The rob.
Der came leisurely up the stairs and as he came
into the room jumped upon him from behind
the door, gra5ping the wrist OF the hand that
held the knife. 1t was a struggle for life
then. We wrestled out upon the landing.
rolled IN clinch down the stairs and along the
hallway to the yestibuie. had managed to
knock the knife out OF my adyersarys hand,
but my left leg had been broken In the fall
down the stairs, and / should probably have
been overcome and killed had not my partner
opened the front door at the moment and
rushed to the rescue. Between us we tied tho
man with ropes and he was afterward taken to
prison. My partner then told me that he had
met the two men carrying the safe, and thew
evidently knowing who he was, had dropped il
and taken to their heels, though If thew had
simply gone on, he would never have supposed
that II was his property that was being walked
OF with. So We got of pretty well, consider
ing, though my leg was badly set, and is even
yet i'll consequence a little shorter than tbs.
other, SO that have to wear q higher heel on
my left boot"
Mr.. Bache Has a Cinderella Story.
1.-The funniest Christmas ever spent" said
Mr.. Rene Bache, newspaper man, ''was in
the wilderness Of Florida. The Indian river
region along the east coast, whence come the
finest of ali oranges known to the world. was
in 1871! only beginning to be settled. Titus
vile, now flourishing little town, at the head
OF the great Indian lagoon--for such it really
Is and not a river-had then only about two
dozen houses and was ruled over by an abso-
lutte monarch known to every one in those
parts as Old Man Titus, who kept the liquor
shop OF the place and was regarded as a terror.
Gout had disabled him to such an extent thai
he could only go ont in wheel chair pushed
by coored man, but even in this CONVEYANCE
, he would make an excursion and pepper
a niger or two with q shotgun, lust to
keep things orderly as he expressed it.
When l reached Ttusville, on Christmas of
that year, Titusvlle was celebrating the
day. In other words, Titusville was
, drunk. / don't mean that all the inhabitants
| were intoxicated. Old Man Titus was SONAR