Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-06-08
Been Everywhere, Has Seen Ev.
erything, and Cannot Tell a
Lie if he Tried,--And
Don't Want to Try.

erything, and Cannot Tell a
Lie if he Tried,--And
Don't Want to Try.
The following from the Allan
ia Herald tells of the wanderings
of Col. Jno. F. Hobbs, late of this
county. His friends will be glad
to. hear of him again, and hope
that he will visit Edgefeld and
show the boomerang and the scars
and tell of the dangers and the
wars he has passed through.
Made "a pile;" made a king of
two tribes of cannibals; run
through with a spear; writing five
books; rich IN experiences; but a
few weeks out FROM Australia to-
day.
How is that for record?
Yesterday, Col. John +. Hobbs,
who left Atlanta in 1890 for Aus
tralia, returned to the city. He
was heavier than when heleft, and
there was about him more of that
general air of self-satisfaction'
than characterized him three years
ago.
Col. Hobbs has been in journal
ism and has had great many un-
usual experien is a=rufing
chief of one Of the tribes of blacks
in the back country of Australia,
and a ruling chief or king of one
of the cannibal tribes on the New
Hebrides islands out from the
Australian coast. He bears on his
body the scars of a spear thrust
which he received in an encoun-
ter with the blacks when on a
raid with a squad of Australian
police.
Col. Hobbs showed represent
ot;,,o of tba Hera1d nhotopranh
of the fighting chief of his tribe,
Rahohouma. The fellow is dress
ed in a suit Of clothes given him
by the colonel, and around his
neck wears a necklace of poipoise
teeth. Each tooth represents a
man killed in battle, whose heart
had been eaters in whole or in part
by Rahouma. The fellow is thir-
ty-two years old and is very much
attached to Col. Hobbs.
He speaks broken English, and
one day said to the colonel:
"You eat um Chinaman one
time you no more eat um pig.
White fellow too much eat salt.
Chinaman very good"
1t is supposed the opium in the
Chinaman soothed the cannibal.
These fellows fight with spears,
clubs, and battle axes. Col. Hobbs
has a boomerang taken in battle
by himself.
The colonel was. asked for a
statement of the causes that pro-
duced the panic in Australia. He
said:
"First they had the mine boom
ers, and then the land boomers,
and with these last came the build
ing societies, that were organized
to build houses to be sold on the
instalment plan. A general depres-
sion first caused the failure of
these building societies, the col
lapse amounting to some $40,00O,-
600. Last year the sheep raiscrs
suffered great losses from the rab-
bits and drought, and three i'm
mense banks that had loaned
money on the sheep properties
were forced to suspend. This
caused runs on the, other banks,
and the bank failures in the last
two months foot up over $300,00o,-
600. Most of this is safe, however,
and the banks will pay out as
soon as they can realize on their
assets"
"You can have no idea of the
terrible losses the sheep raisers
suffered" continued Col. Hobbs.
son one ranch 25,000,000 rabbits
died or perished, and the sheep
were simply wiped from the face
of the earth, through the drought
and the damage done by the rab-
bits"
Col. Hobbs will be in Atlanta
until July, and will then 60 on to
Chicago to visit the Worlds Fair.
He is engaged in writing five
books, Soon to be issued from the
press.
Buckingham's Dye for the
rry, ,o,>,1o - ,,rapo ro tinn