Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-11-04
For the SPECTATOR.
LAWMAKERS in TEXAS.

NEGRO WITH THE SNAKE IN THE TREE,
JEALoUs--CHRIss, THE Scour, SKINNED
A CoMANCHE INDIAN-RArN FELL IN
Six HOURS AFTER THE BATTLE WITH
THE CLOUDS CoMMENcED.
SAN DIEGO, Duval Co., Tex Oct. 10, '91.
ED. SPEcTAToR:--The government rain
making corps in charge of Prof John T.
Ellis reached here about two weeks ago,
AID their first of two experiments coming
of Saturday night was success, rain fail
ing in less than six hours after the battle
| with the clouds began. Tue government
party under Lieut. Ellis are Mr.. Eugene
FaIrchild, Chemist; George E. Casler,
Aeronant; N. A. jennings, correspondent
of the New York Sun; L. c. Chriss, the
man who skinned the Comapche; Lieut.. s.
A. Dyer; Sergeant Nelson, Corporal Gerald
of the 23rd q. s. Regular Army with ten
privates. detailed by Gen. Stanley-18 in
all.
-=-- Fn0NzSB8-RAxKANDLE -ss=--.
of Texas to the Powderhorn, with bomb
and dynamite, and rack-a- rock, kites, bal
looms and cannon, this party came to seizs
the rain. maker in his home, and their
coming has been in the first experiment, a
SUCCESS. These cloud -compellers have
made the old negro with the snake up
tree, the rheumatic, with bones aching and
the tree-frog, bitter With jealousy.
1 PROF. ELLIS,
the man who made the balloon ascension
at Ell Paso the other day, and after being
located sometime in mid-air taking scien-
tific observations, reached current of air
which carried him about miles off into
the mountains, is young man, of gentle
manly bearing and understands his bust
ness.
| LAWRENCE CHRISTOPHER CHRIss
is middle-aged gentleman and has been
in Texas as scout these many years, is
better known as ssComanche" Chriss, hav-
ing gotten that name for literally skinning q
Comanche. He is modest, unassuming,
but firm and reliable. The story which is
true, goes thus: A few years ago he was
called upon by an old man, not far from
Fort Davis, who had had his boy killed,
sca'ped, and quartered by rowing band Of
| Comanche Indians. Chriss and his troop
ers and the o man followed the band of
Indian murderers for nearly two hundred
miles, attacked, routed, killed number,
and captured the balance. Among the
few captured, was found one. who had the
murdered boys scalp hanging to his belt.
Chriss turning to the father of the boy, said
-"What shall we do with him?" The fa-
| ther replied, "Skin him." when Chriss
proceeded at oucs with his bowie knife to
peel off the skin of the boy murderer with
! the coolness of a butcher skinning a calf
1t took number of the party to hold the
Indian, but
THE sKINNING
was done up iu style and the Indian left in
! 10 hau Ofc nj 10
a new skin grew upon the body and the
Indian lived some years after.
THE CAMP,
named Camp Edward Powers" after the
author of "War aud Weather." and who
did much to obtain tho small appropriation
By Congress, is situated about mile north
of San Diego in vale just over hill, but
can be seen from the city, and ia situated
in Hon. N. G.. Collius's pasture, near
we'll and windmill which supplies water,
with dozen or more white tents q hun
Cred yards off from the well, where the
balloons are filed. To the East and point
Jog East, are the batteries, with the right
resting on the road leading to San Diego,
and the left upon lake or tank of water,
forming crescent, the cannon being on the
left of the line and the Dynamo batteries
on the centre and right.
THE DYNAMO BATTERIES
are manned by three men, one to do the
firing and two to do the loading. A battery
consists of box about foot and half
long and half foot thick, and foot vide,
and is on the same principle as medical
battery, with a handle attached on top, st
the end of the cylinder, which drawn out
and upwards, is ready to fire; when press.
ed down, is fired. Two copper wires en-
closed in cloth, one of each being attached
to two different screws on top of the box.
This double wire, wrapped, being about
the sizs of an ole. fashioned bed cord, is
about three or four hundred feet long and |
runs on the ground off to the East, and |
there, by the loader, or man who loads, is
attached to two other wires connected with
the cap, placed inside the charge, forms
the Circuit aud the electricity from the
battery fires it off.
THE CHARGE
or load is three or four sticks of RACK a
rock, which sticks are about inches in cir
conference and about six inches long In
the center of these sticks OF rack-a-rock is
placed stick of dynamite, through the
middle of which is placed the cap, connect
ed with the wire from the battery. When
loader says, ''ready," after making the
pAVpol OObhoObiObcs tuO m0u WuO nEco lh0
battery says, ''ready one'' or "ready two"
as the case may be, the loader answers
''oue" or 1.-TWO" as the case may be, when
the man at the battery connects the wire
with the screws en- top of the battery, push-
es the cylinder on top down, and the ex-
plosion takes place. This all consumers
less time than to tell it. 1t takes about a
minute to fire one shot. The charges are
all prepared with caps and wires before
hand aud are kept at a safe distance, say 30
feet of, in box covered with oil-cloth.
Each of the batteries has two of these wires
to be fred alternately, and when the forcs
is not STRONG enough, the charges can be
doubled and one man can do the loading
for two wires.
THE BOMBS
are fired from mortars made of pressed pa.
pers and are Elk or eight inches long, and
placed in the ground SO as to throw the
bombs straight into the air, when they ex-
plode two or three hundred feet high in air.
These bombs are about the sizs of a pint
tin cap with fusee attached. The bombs
make a report when fred, and one when
thsy explode in the air.
THE BALLOONS.
Some twenty or more balloons were sent
up, being magnificent sight each time
soaring Thousand or two feet high, and
just before exploding look the size of an
orange The flash as they exploded was
binding and the report awful and wonder
full. Two that had defective fusees were
lost to sight without exploding, one soaring
| away to the north, when, striking differ
ent current of air, it passed over San Diego
| to the south. The other was found at
Sharpsburg some forty miles away. The
balloons contained the force of 800 pounds
of dynamite, ard when exploded near the
earth shook the houses in the city. Some
firing St intervals had been going ON all last
week, but last Saturday night, October 17th,
1891, the corps commenced their work 10
earnest and opened up their batteries in full
blast. Six double dynamo and rack-a rock
batteries, four or six bomb batteries, and
the cannon, all commenced at once with a
balloon ascending every few minutes. The
sight was grand and wonderful. The sky
u