Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-02-12
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDEVTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.

EVERYDAY LIFE
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven
lures Which Show that Truth is
Stranger than Fiction.
DICK BAssETT is. the solitary inhabi-
liant of ''No Mans Land" we'll known
as the 'Hermit of Traverse Bay,n in
Michigan. The land in question is in the
west arm of the bay, and is separated
from Marion Island by several hundred
feet of shoal water 1t contains about
one acre of land. Bassett has lived there
twelve years, and in all that time he has
not been allowed to pay taxes or cast a
vote. He has offered his ballot several
times, and always had it elected because
he did not live in the United States. He
makes a,good living catching fish, and
has tried to buy the island of the govern
ment, but the applications came back
from Washington marked "There il no
island as described" Mr.. Bassett is
full -chested man of about fifty, with
thick brown hair and beard, now
tinged with gray. He takes the situa-
tion philosophically, and says he means
to hold possession of the island ''even if
it does not exist" The first year he
lived there he locked his cabin during
his absences, but one day the door was
broken down and some of his property
taken. Since then he leaves money,
food and fuel in plain sight and the door
is never locked. A note of welcome is
always left, and Indians and white wan
deregs always make decent use of his
hospitality. He is located only about
mile from the Traverse Bay resort, and
IS on excellent terms with the leading
men of the association. lie is well edu-
Gated and intelligent and a great favorite
in the vicinity of his home.
THE carrier pigeon promises to be
valuable auxiliary to the weather bureau.
Already they are in use between the
Bermuda Islands and Washington and
between Havana and Key West. They
are specially valuable in bringing dis
patches from signal stations on islands
not accessible by cable, and even where
there is cable they bring fuller dis
dispatches, and where the distance is not
more than three or four hundred miles
they come in easily between suns. The
Bermudas are six or seven hundred miles
from Washington, and until quite re-
Gently, were not connected with this
country by cable. The only way to get
quick news was by the use of carrier
pigeons; aud as the weather bureau
= wished to follow the course of storms
across the Atlantic, the experiment was
made. The birds developed a speed of
fifty miles an hour From Havana to
Key West the distance is ninety miles,
and the news of an approaching storm
may be quickly brought The West
India hurricanes come up by the north
westerly course and reach the western
gulf before they take the northeastward
track. This gives a chance for the birds
to come in several days ahead of them,
with dispatches indicating the course of
the storm. The chief signal officer in
his report states that fifty-six pigeons are
kept at the Key West barracks and nine
have been trained to cover distance of
100 miles on sea or land. These birds,
at the time of the report, were not over
four months old.
THE Cripple oak, on Duel Island in
the Savannah river, was struck by light
ming recently and shattered. The tree
had history. At the time of the May
freshet in 1910 five men were farming on
this island. When the rain began they
had no idea of danger and made no effort
to leave the island. In short time the
water had risen to such height that
they could not escape. They found
tree with three trunks united at the bot
tom and forking few feet above the
ground, and made platform with boards
upon which they remained for five days
and nights before they were rescued 1t
was under this tree that Benjamin F.
Perry and Byrum fought duel in the
days OF notification in 1882. At the day
appointed they met on the island, each
with his pistol and confidant Byrum
was an expert shot and they fought at ten
PAGES. At the word Perry fired first
Byrum then fired, and the ball from his
pistol tore "a hole through Perry's coat,
exposing the red lining. Colonel Hugh,
who was near by, exclaimed, "He's got
it." and Byrum replied, 81 have, too. "
Perry's coat was loose and the bullet
grazed the skin, leaving blue streak
across the body. Byrum was hit IN the
thigh and the main artery cut. He bled
to death.
A MELBOURNE (Australia) letter says ::
The locust plague in some districts is as
suming large proportions. Great
swarms commenced to arrive at Kerang
to-day, covering paddocks, gardens aud
streets. The greater portion of the vege-
tables, flowers and herbage was devoured.
The locusts travel at the rate of several
miles per day, and in meeting with any
, distinctions, such as wall, they get
piled up several inches deep. The sur
face of the river Lodon in many places is
black with locusts. The people attempted
to prevent the advance of the pest by de-
stroyng immense numbers of them, but
without any appreciable effect the ad-
vance continuing. The doors of houses
were kept shut to keep the insects out
during the day, and men with brooms
were employed in driving them from the
doors OF the shops and public offices.
One hotel keeper had to keep his house
closed in the morning and afternoon to
exclude them. In the cattle pits on
the railway line the locusts were several
feet deep. The farmers have suffered
severe losses from the plague.
ONE of the Springfield (Mass) hotels
occasionally has queer lodger. He was
formerly an engineer, but is now a
United States boiler inspector. Whilt
an engineer he was severely scalded on
one side, and is unable to sleep comforta
bly, when lying on that part of his body
Whenever he happens to turn upon TIN
lender place he makes great disturb
ance in his sleep, but is difficult tt
arouse The other evening was one Of