Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1894-12-27

Inc Trans AlDerian Runway, ". 80
Is to be the longest in this wnrl |, has
now been orened as far rs Ouisl1, and
one may 20 there fro,l st. Petersburg,
2,eoO miles, in loss than five days The
difficulties encountered have bscn prodi-
gious; and in draining bo. OF sixty
miles wide engineers and men had to
live in huts built on piles and accessible
only in boats. -Four thousand masks
were bought to keep off The venomous
mosquitoes.
-Gossips on the eastern shore OF vir-
ginia still point out the spot where
Rachel Donaldson, the wife OF Andrew
jackson, was born, black-eyed girl Of
reputed Indian ancestry jackson mar
ried her two years before she was di.
vorced from her first husband Lewis
Robardo A loutsh fellow who was
presented to Jackson at Cumberland,
Md, asked him question about his
marriage, and was almost transfxed
with the gaze that jackson turned
upon him as the old soldier said: "You
are very brave man, sir; a very
brave man"
Down in eastern Long Island tho
people rarely fish with beef for crabs,
as Is done in other parts Of the country.
They spear them, as rule, and when
they want an evenings profitable sport
they "jack' for them. after the fashion
of deer hunters, With a bright light
over the bow Of q rowboat they can
see the crabs clearly and approach -
near to them as may be wished, tho
crabs giving no heed, although in the
daytime it Is difficult to get within
striking distance Of them. A hundred
were recently taken in Peconic bay by
jacking party in one evening.
The sacred cattle Of India take
more readily TO American ways thr- do
the people Of that land, according to
thc carelakcrs & the national quaran-
tine t1r cattle at Garfield, n. j., where
there Is a small herd OF the animals.
imported for Oliver H. p. Belmont,
sad one Of these men: "NIr. belmont
sent over for the cattle some of the ma.
I've feed. 1t is grain or berry which
when ground upresembles ground chic.
DRY. The cattle ate it all right, but
after a few days here they became
sickly The superintendent gave them
some Yankee feed, on which they i'm.
mediately began to thrive, and now
they won't touch the feed sent over
with them"
One OF the first military incidents
connected with the American flag oc.
Cured on August 2, l777, when Lieut..
Bird and Lieut.. Brant invested Fort
Stanwix Of Schuyler, commanded BY
Col. Peter Gansevoort. There was no
flag in the garrison when the enemy
appeared, but pride, patriotism and in
genuity soon overcame the matter.
The design for the flag just adopted by
congress was known, and . flag was
quickly made. Sheets were cut up for
the stars and the white stripes the rcd
was supplied from bits Of scarlet cloth
collected from the soldiers, while the
blue was obtained from a Dutch cloak
belonging to Col. Abraham Swartout,
Of Duchess county. The siege was
raised August %, but what became Of
the improvised flag is not known.
The advance Of wave Of cold
weather has set the commercial travel
Ing men to searching for their monkey
wrenches, with which they overcome
the efforts Of country landlords Ut ex-
cessive economy in the matter Of steam.
Hotel keepers in the smaller cities set
the valves Of the steam radiators ct Z
point which they think will allow sui.
iicient steam in the rooms let to tran
sient guests, and remove the wheels or
handles Of the valves. To circumvent
the landlord and secure greater warmth
many drummcrs carry small adjustable
wrenches with which they can turn
the valves at will. Some Of the drum
mers also carry an extra lava tip for
the gas burner, one which will supply
Six feet Of gas an hour with which
to replace temporarily the landlords
tip.