The free press., 1894-07-26

made a large bow. which he Uses with
ease and accuracy, showing what a
! dangerous weapon it must have been
in the hands of the savages OF OLD
Williams. so far as known, is the only
living being who can fuently speak
the language Of the Wyandottes.
Some of his "reminiscences are fully
corroborated in local and other histo-
rical works. Williams draws pen
sion on account Of the death Of his
son. who fell in the civil war.
WESTERN KANSAS is being steadily
drained of its population of farmers.
In 1888 twenty-five counties con-
tained 102. 669 people, and to-day the
total is only 81, 663. The exodus has
been caused by the settlers failure
to raise their crops on their arid
plains. The hope of those who have
remained is in irrigation. At the
present time they are investing in
windmills, and hundreds of these ma
chimes will be set to work this sum-
mer wherever there are signs of water
beneath the surface of the prairie.
The furnace-like winds which hith.
| erto have parched the farmer 9
wheat will then do him service as an
agency in irrigating his lands. The
agriculturist has not been the only
loser. however. All along the branch
lines of the Sante Fe, Missouri Pacific
and the Union Pacific railroads are
decayed towns that once were full of
promise and even aspired to great
ness. In the boom times many brick
buildings were put up and wide ave-
nues were laid out. Some of the
buildings have never had a tenant,
and others were soon abandoned. On
the wide streets there is no traffic
worth the name.
ELECTRICAL cars that run on rails ara
not at all novel in America; but we
have no cars in use that run on ordi-
nary roads, propelled by electricity.
Such carriages are getting to be quite
common in England, where they are
known as "Pickford vans" In out
ward appearance these vans look very
much like old style omnibusses, ex-
that there are no horses. Ihe drl-
vers are expert in managing them,
and even on crowded streets they can
wind in and out among >tangle OF
other vehicles as speedily and safely
as if drawn by quiet horses. The
storage batteries which furnish the
power for drawing the cars are sus-
pended beneath the body of the ve-
hicle, and when they are exhausted
new set may be substituted in few
minutes. The van is lighted by elec-
tricity, and in the winter season it
can be heated by the same means.
The speed is controlled by switch,
and when going at the rate of ten or
more miles an hour it can be brought
to a stop in less time and a shorter
distance than if drawn by horses,
The drivers left hand holds the
switch, and in his right hand is the
steering apparatus. the latter ena-
bling him to make short turns and go
in any direction he chooses. The cost
of running one of these electrical
vans, with power equal to two
and the batteries have sufficient pow
er to continue from thirty to forty
miles without recharging.
THE wild camel in the Arizona
desert, supposed to be the survival
of an army experiment, has been
written about good deal, and there
seems to be strong foundation for
the report that these beasts are occa-
sionally seen, like ghosts, on the
line of the horizon. The story that
small flock Of ostriches are run
ming wild in the Mojave desert, in
Southern California, has an air of
greater probability, for several ex-
periments in domesticating the South
African bird have been made on the
Pacific coast, and are still being
tried. The wild birds were origin
ally imported and placed in corral
by an enterprising breeder. who did
not take the precaution to build his
fences high enough. One morning
the ostriches stampeded, jumping
the fence, and We're never again
rounded up. Mexicans lassoed some
OF them, pursuing on horseback, but
to this day others are at large and
ranging the desert. Speaking of os-
trich farming in California, it is said
that it is not likely to prove profit
able. Only the wing and tail feath-
ers are of commercial value, the
best bringing about 500 per pound.
Each bird furnishes from half a
pound to a pound and half of
feothers YEARLY When the risk of
losing birds by sickness and acci-
dent is reckoned, the margin of
profit is found to be rather slender.
Two men, who had been out hunting
in the mountains of Southern Califor-
MIA, returned to their camp one even
ing, when they were attracted by
the fierce barking of their dog, who
had scared a panther into a tree.
Each hunter had four shots left.
One succeeded in breaking the pan
ther's leg, but failed to bring him to