The daily critic. (Washington City, D.C.) 1890-1890, 1890-11-07
THE RIVER on LOST S0ULS'--A
MARCH INTO OBLIVION.
TRAGIC STORY OE a SCRAP OF PAPER.
American Girls in Paris and the
Dangers That Surround Them.
FATE OF HSKARTS BEAUTIFUL MODEL.
The Lovely Diana Begging in the
Streets Of Vienna Scotch Middle
Class Thrift---A Drummus
Dispatch

over three centuries backward, and
before the inquisitlve De Soto had
lighted his camp fire on the banks Of
the Mississippi, the Spaniards had
achieved two settlements in this land
Of the Occident-Santa Re and St. Au-
gustine, says a writer in the Kansas
City Star. They had no knowledge Of
the country which lay between these
two points or its inhabitants. As to
what might be the dangers and dead
falls Of journey from one place to
another they were as blindly ignorant
as Of the history of the moon. But this
ignorance affected them not, and full
Of the uneasy spirit of the hour a mill
iary party in Santa Fe resolved on an
overland expedition to st. Augustine.
They knew the distance, for they could
figure the latitude and longitude, and
they could get the direction of the com
pass but this was the sum of their
knowledge.
The expedition, numbering some
hundreds Of men, left Santa Fe late ia
the summer, and, crossing the mOun-
tains at Ration pass, the present
route of the Santa Fe Railroad, they
camped that winter on the present site
Of Trinidad. The grass was long In
the valley. the game was plenty on the
hills, their own stores we're ample, and
sending back TO Santa Fe for minstrel
and glee maidens, these gentlemen of
the sword got in as gay a season as they
ever have since. These old dons were
lads Of spirit, and possessed high hearts.
as well as taste, for travel Before
them 10 the eastward, as far as the eve
could sweep, spread the desert uncon-
fined. What was TO be met there they
knew not, but their lack Of knowledge
was coincident with an equal lack Of
care.
With the melting Of the SHOWS in the
spring sunshine their women and camp
followers returned 10 Santa Fe. The
LAST hand was waved goodby, the last
Udios were uttered aud the explorers
turned their rCsolute faces to the work
In hand They marched down the val
ley Of the little muddy river, which
flows as you read this through the town
of Trinidad. The ones who were TO
uturn to Santa Fe watched them for
miles, assisted'by the light Of the sun on
steel cap and harness. At last they were
hidden In the willows far down the val.
ley, and this was the last that was ever
known OF them.
With the last flap Of the last banner
II was as If they bad marched out Of
existence, and whether they sunk IN
rivers. persisted Ia the drifting SHOWS,
OF were done TO death by Indians was
never told. No sign or trace of this
ExnaFfffap nv Ito FRapV,la yuao awats found
There was something so eerie and mys,
terious In the complete disappearance
of this band, something so dark In the
silence of their fate, that the supersti
tious Spaniard, made the sign of the
holy cross when he recalled II. With
that effort at cOmmemoratlon which
was the spirit Of that time the little
muddy torrent In whose valley the lost
explorers last were seen was called FL
Rio de Los Animas-"The River Of
Lost Souls.
This was the Spanish name when
Soublette. Chouteau. Bent. Carson, 81.
Nrain and other representatives of the
French Fur Company Of St. Louis first
saw H. Knowing nothing OF the story
and assisted only by their differences
drawn from the name, these translated
the appellation into Purgatoire. When
the jOeund bull-Whacker of the over
land trail got TO Il In his free and easy
French he called Il the Plcketwire.
Every brand Il ever had still sticks,
and to-day you will find the little va
grant of a stream pursuing its glistening
mission to the sea.
-
During the visit Of Major Reginald +.
Tracy of the Cape Mounted Rifle Vol
unteers. Cape of Good Hope to Mrs.
II. Byron Porter Of Sheldon stree,
Providence, there was told a story
which reads like fiction, says the Hart
ford EceHiHg Post: The central feature
Of the tale is a Boston newspaper. which
was found in The fleshless hand Of a
tbeleton in the heart Of the Wilds Of the
Dark Continent. While travelling across
the country. fully / 900 miles from the
coast, the Major aud his party Of natives
were attacked by a large body Of saw
ages and nearly an his followers were
slaughtered He and the other sur
yiyOrs were taken 90 the enemy camp
and kept without food six days. The
captlYes. one By one, were Drained, cut
up and cooked by the savages % satisfy
he hunger Of their brother eaptiyes
Al first they took the pieces and roasted
them over a FIRE, deyOuTing them with
apparent relish, and their hunger was
s0meWhat appeased. when they rebelled
against The unnatural food.
Seeing that the major would rather
starVe than eat human flesh, his captOrs
provided him with their food, which
proved not altogether unwb0lsome. Tie
was taken further into the interior and
brought before the chief. who ordered
one Of his ears % be cut OF, which was
thrown 20 a dog lying at the chiellain s
feeI, The animal deVOuTing the piece OF
tiesn Wiih great relish After a week
Of confinement the major was appointed
water carrier, and while making a trip
% the stream he came across the skele-
ton oil a human being In dense wood
Cluichiug a fragment Of a Boston news
paper It's presence in that region re-
mained a great mystery until after the
major had escaped, when he learned that
aparty of whites several years before had
gone on an exploring expedition aud
had never returned.
Nh Tom Karl IS So well known DO Tie
musical public of America as a man Of
conservative thought aud habit, says The
Boston Herald, that no one for au in
slant VIII credit him with Sensational.
intentions IN the following extracts
from a private letter from Paris, 10
which he touches upon tLe much dis
cussed subject Of lie Americas Cir.
Abroad Do He saws In the course of thg