davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

British West Indian possessions, where
there are soldiers galore, forts capable
of good defense and the famous naval
and reftting station of Port Royal. ia
maica is l, 450 miles distant from New
York and not much more than half
that from the Bernudas.
One thousand miles from the Berru-
das and about l, 700 miles from New
York is the island of st. Lucia, where
the British have commenced system
of Notifications which they intend shall
be second to none, save perhaps those of
Gibraltar. The island is already alluded
to by them as their West Indian Glib
raltar, and the term is by no means
misapplied.
Now, there is no cause for furry in
this condition which have pointed out.
These posts have been i'll British posses
sion for many years. and some Of the
Notifications We're begun over century
ago. But twill not come amiss to point
out the sagacity and provision of Great
Britain as contrasted with the short
sightedness of your American policy,
which allows your coast to be henlmed
in by line of fortified posts, mainly
insuIar, and at which hostile fleet can
be concentrated at short notice.
o. A. FURBER.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

Right beneath your very noses, less
than 600 miles distant from the Halter
as, lie these Bermudas, where every
hill is topped by garrisoned fort, ev'
cry channel soyvn with torpedoes, every
town swarming with British redcoats.
On Ireland island is that great floating
dock which was towed out here il
1869 by two men -of-war and which,
until your new Brooklyn dock was fin
ished, was the largest in Atlantic wa
tiers.
Strike out circle, with the Bermu-
das as the center, and you take in your
whole Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia
to the gulf of Mexico. Within the IA
dius of that circle we may find not on
ly all the important ports of the east
coast of the United States, but also al
least four fortified posts owned by Great
Britain, any one of which is immensely
stronger than any port of yours opposed
to it.
Scanning a sea chart of our At
lantic coast, we may find that the dis
lance between the Bermudas and New
York and between these islands and
Halifax is about the same-that is, the
three places form a triangle, with its
hypotenuse lying between the two
English possessions, its perpendicular
between Halifax and New York and its
base between New York and the Ber-
mudas. And these latter lie also in the
center Of the great ocean system of cur
rents that makes the circuit of the At
lantic, and of which the gulf stream is
the most important.
This fact and their advantageous po-
sition, combined with the impregnable
character of their defenses, make them
an ideal spot for base of operations
against the open ports of confding I'm
Gle Sam.
With the Bermudas, then, as a CEN
ter, we should strike on the north the
immense Notifications Of Halifax, not
much farther away than New York,
which is 700 miles distant. Boston and
Portland also would be vulnerable
points within that line, and Philadel-
phia and Port Royal. Halifax is almost
due north from the Bermudas; New
York is northwest; Port Royal, Charles
ton and Savannah from west to little
south, but all within easy reach.
Swinging around to south of west, we
have Jacksonville and ST. Augustine
only little farther away than the Brit
ish island of New Providence in the
Bahamas, the port of which, Nassau
(the haunt of blockade runners in late
war times), has old forts and some SOL
diers. South by west of the Bermudas
lies Jamaica, the brightest jewel in the
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

circle of admirers who thought that
their favorite was the life OF the aggre-
cation; but, i'll my opinion, neither was
any better than ally other. They were
like well built piece of machinery,
where the smallest part was as essential
to the proper working of the whole as
the largest
The Vokes family had already estab-
lished themselves as prime favorites in
London when they came to this coun-
try i'll 1869. They made a great success
from the start The novelty of the en-
tertainment which they gave was what
caught the New York public Think of
the same people being pro-eminent i'll
singing, dancing, acting and many
forms of grotesquorie Their plays were
all good, too, and it has often been a
source of wonder to me how they ever
managed to get together so many pieces
without striking one or two bad ones.
The Versatile Fred Vokes.
Fred was queer sort of genius. He
was the stage manager for the family,
and mighty strict one he was too.
The only person to whom he was in the
least lenient was-Fred. He ordered
the talented members of the family
about at rohearsalS as though they were
under salary TO him. He was spare III
frame and Of exceedingly nervous tenn
pcra11 ont. Ills curly locks and peculiar
eXpg sion gave him rather pictur-
esQuo appearance. He seemed to be
bui.J Oh wires, so fdgcty was he. He
was Tire most aNfal Kicker l have
ever met, though he was at heart a
mighty good fellow. But nothing ever
seemed to please him, no matter who
might have done it. He objected to ev-
erything and everybody ON principle.
He used to excuse this apparent petu-
lance with the statement that if he SIM
ply made suggestion now and again
the work of the people would speedily
degenerate into mediocrity.
1t is not necessary to elaborate the
achievements of this wonderful family.
They are familiar to almost every one.
All Of them are dead, / think. except
perhaps Victoria and possibly Fawdon.
who as l have already stated, was not
a Vokes at all, although well worthy of
being one. L. JOHN VINCENT.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

light of after events. George soon gave
them a further shock by announcing
that not only was he going into panto-
mime, but that he was going over to
Broadway. Then they knew that he was
doomed to become pauper i'll short Or
der. They cited the case of the Ravels
and argued that his efforts would appear
so tame by comparison that ridicule and
disaster were inevitable.
George was obdurate, however, and
he opened at the Olympic as Humpty
Dumpty. He scored an instantaneous
success, and within week his produc-
tion and performance were the talk of
the town. Seats were at premium, and
at the matinees strings Of men and wom-
en-, accompanied by children, could al
ways be seen crowded about within a
block or two of the theator. The piece
beat by four performances the run Of its
rival, 1.-THE Black Crook" though it, of
course, did not equal the latter in the
matter of monetary returns. Following
this phenomenal success, Fox made sew
eral tours of this country and always
was one of the most potent attractions
ON the road.
A Pathetic End.
Fox's retirement was pathetic in the
extreme. He was man of exceptionally
quick perception, and his inirmity
therefore excited more than the usual
sympathy. AS things turned out and
looking backward l can see now that
the seeds of insanity must have begun
to sprout just prior to his last engage
ment at Booths theater. Actions which
were then inexplicable became perfectly
clear in the light of subsequent events
On the stage at Booths one night while
playing Humpty Dumpty George mys-
titled us all by his strange conduct and
finally chased Maffitt, Fraser and others
of the performers all over the place. A
little later he jumped into private box
and began to bang away with property
loaf of bread at lady who was sitting
there. Her terror almost precipitated a
panic.
All Of sudden George returned to
the stage, the blank look left him, and
he seemed to realize that he had been
doing something wrong. He set to work
to.right matters by making few alb
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

| they should in some way secure the
needed moisture. The majority of the
farmers had not the money to buy wind
mills, and for a long time there was
disposition to look upon the case as
hopeless. The farmers realized that ir-
rigation was the only way out of the
difficulty, but how should they secure
the lifting power to bring the water
that lay under the surface to the crops
that they had sown? The problem has
been solved by the erection of the queer
est and most hideous contrivances that
could we'll be imagined, but which
seem to serve the purpose and are max
ing the settlers happier than they have
been In long time. These are the Jum-
DO windmills. They are constructed by
the settlers themselves and are at once
the cheapest and most satisfactory ma
chimes for handling the ceaseless prairie
winds that have been invented The
settler takes a lot of lumber, a saw and
hammer and goes to work Oh his mill
Two posts are erected about ten feet
apart. A boxlike structure without top
or bottom is then built around them
On the posts is laid the axle of fan
with four wide surfaces to present to
the wind. The lower half is protected
from the wind by the box, but the up
per receives the breezes that are forever
blowing. The winds from two direc-
lions can only, of course, be utilized,
but it is entirely safe to consider that
the winds of the plains will come from
the north or south. Very seldom do
they come from any other direction
The farmer waits the gale" and sees
the water lifted to his farm and the
garden, and perhaps the crops are made
to grow rs tGey could not have been in
duced to by any ether means at his
command. The Jumbo has proved one
OF the saviors CT the plains and is worthy
OF being commemorated In the latest
report OF the state authorities Kansas is
shown to have about 8, 900 irrigation
plants. Each of these is supporting
family, which means that there are 15,-
600 people who are independent Of the
rainfall IN this state alone. The same
proportion may be found in Nebraska,
and 1t means a new era for the plains.
The big bitches that We're to wSter miles
OF plain are not the suceessNthat they
were expected to be, but there are, on
the other hand, enough small plants
with their Jumbo mills to make up for
the detection. Thousands of claims in
western Kansas and Nebraska have been
deserted. 1t is estimated that in one
month IS, 900 wagons went east over
the Missouri river bridge leaving Ne
braska. G.. NJ HARGER.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
RIGHT AT OUR DOORS.
JOHN BULL STRONGLY INTRENCHEp
I'LL ABOUT US.

AT the Bermudas Every Hill Is Topped
by GarrisOned Fort and Every Chan
mel Sown With TorpedOes-British For
tiflcations at Halifax and Elsewhere.
Especial Correspondence
ST. GEORGE, Bermuda, March 49,
Recent dispatches from New York in
form US that the British admiralty has
ordered two of it's third class battleships
to this station, whereat the Bermudians
are as rejoiced as you Yankees seem to
be excited. The matter is treated and
laid before the public as if it were some
thing new in the annals Of British ma
val maneuvers to send out some of its
,ironclads to patrol the American coasts
Why, bless your innocent souls, this
has been going on for the last 20 years,
ever since Great Britain had any iron
clads to send and which she could risk
in heavy sea.
But did it ever occur to the patriotic
American Of the lingo" type how real
ly dangerous, actually menacing, from
their proximity and foreign ownership,
these otherwise insignificant coral is
lands are to the peace and prosperity of
the United States?
They are, and you Americans cannot
blink the fact. Right at your very doors,
within two days steaming of your
largest port, the most powerful nation
of modern times has established a naval
and reftting station capable of shell
tering and repairing all the warships of
the greatest navy in the world.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

surd grimaces, and so marvellous was
the power of the man in that respect
that within few seconds he had the
audience convulsed with laughter by
means of something which was really
not i'll the play as all.
remember on another occasion find
ing George made up to go on the stage
with one side of his face white and the
other coal black. We were genuinely
frightened then, as he seemed to think
there was nothing wrong or peculiar
about his make up, and his manager,
George Tyler, went out into the audi
ence and brought DR.. Hammond back
upon the stage. He introduced him as
Mr.. Smith. Fox informed the doctor
that he was the great Grimaldi, and
that he was not fool, but that he was
the only real clown alive. The doctor,
after testing him thoroughly, pronounc-
ed the trouble softening of the brain,
and so, after playing five weeks instead
of nine at Booths theater, George Fox
was taken to private sanitarium near
Boston, where he died soon afterward.
took place Nov 81, 1875, and when his
death occurred, not long after, remem-
Der that the newspapers teemed with
statements to the effect that the insani-
ty of SO many pantomimists was due to
the white preparation which they use
for whitening their faces. AS the Or
binary circus clown does the same
thing, cannot see why the reasoning
should not apply also to him. I know,
however, that the stuff which Fox used
to make up his face was not in the
slightest degree dangerous. He had a
recipe of his own, as, in fact, does every
clown in the business, and he would
have been the first to ridicule the idea
that it was in any way harmful to him.
knew what its ingredients were, and
it was about as innocent mixture as
could well be imagined
The voltes Family.
The most remarkable family that the
American stage has ever known was the
Vokes aggregation. There were five of
them, or, to be more accurate, four, for
Fawdon was not V0l1cs, simply tax
ing the name when he became mem
Der Of the troop. There has been a good
deal Of discussion as to who was the
most talented member of the famous
quintet. Most persons seem to incline
to the belief that it was Rosina, but
without wishing to make any invidious
comparisons | do not hesitate to say
that it was the peculiar Fred who made
their phenomenal success a possibility.
Perhaps from strictly histrionic stand
point Rosina was the greatest Of the
lot. At any rate, Americans are apt to
so regard her because of the fact that
she made several tours of this country
as star and without the assistance Of
any of the others of her family.
Fred, Victoria, Jessie, Rosina and
Fawdon each had his or her own little
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
Especial Correspondence


NEW YORK, March 23.-Is there any
body in the United States who has not
laughed at the grotesque antics and ir-
resistibly funny facial contortions Of
George L. Fox, whose fame will always
live as Humpty Dumpty in connection
with that Of his brother, the almost
equally celebrated Pantaloon Of his pro-
duotion?
In the strictest sense of the word Fox
was not really a great pantomimist.
Like the lady of whom we have all read
or heard, his face was his fortune. He
had greater control over the muscles of
his face than any man or woman have
ever met He could screw his counte-
nance up into the most ridiculous gri-
maces, and whenever performance
seemed to be tagging by reason Of either
a small or rather cold audience, he would
at once begin to mug" and it was
pretty safe to assume that there would
be no apathy after that.
The Pantomime Fever.
It may not be known that George did
some really clever work as an actor, and
afterward as a clown, before he took to
pantomime, but it is the case neverthe-
less He was one of the cast in the orig
inal production of Uncle Tom s Cabin"
at Purdy's National theater on the
Bowery, in this city, playing Simon
Legare. He made no very great impress
sion, however, and he was about the
last man in the world that / should have
picked out to win national repute. He
drifted around the country, playing all
sorts of roles, and then came back to
New York, where he in turn managed
the Old and New Bowery theaters. He
also acted at this time, which was in
the sixties, and he soon became a great
favorite with the gallery gods and the
boys who used to run wild de machine :"
His popularity waxed apace, and he was
getting speedily to be ga man of sub
stance" as we used to say.
Fox got the pantomime fever at about
this time, and his friends efforts to dis
suade him from embarking upon a VEN
ture which they felt sure would result
disastrously were really ludicrous i'll the
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28

null. The pointed girdle was of white
ribbed silk. The veil was of fine white
net hemmed two inches wide all around.
There was a close little null cap with
ruching of silk muslin. ard this tied
under the chin. The veil was tackled to
the cap. White lid button boots went
with this. Any of the white materials
is suitable for these little dresses. Com
mon sense suggests that the gowns
should be such that they can be worn
all summer ly the addition of other rib
bons and trimming. Good taste sug-
gests that too expensive dresses for such
an occasion would SAVIOR Of vulgarity.
OLIVE HARPER.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
HARNESS PRAIRIE WINDS.
Western Farmers Have Unique and
Cheap Method.
Especial Correspondence. ]

ABILENE, Kan, March 22.-Necessi-
ty has made of the farmers of the plains
of Kansas and Nebraska inventors in a
direction that has not been expected Of
them. With the lack of water staring
them in the face and preventing them
from getting crops, it was essential that
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
THE COMING STYLES.
Model Designs In Skirts and Waists-Ntw
AccessOries.
Especial Correspondence. ]

NEW YORK, March 80. - Though
skirts are more often trimmed than
plain for this coming season, the waists
are about as fancifully decorated as be-
fore, and some OF the new ones are ex-
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
BEHIND THE
FOOTLIGHTS.
George l.. Fox and the Vokes
Family.
POPULAR NATIONAL FUNMAKERs.

A Remarkable Occurrence at Booths The
ater-The GrOtesque Singing and Dane
ing Vokeses-The Genius of Fred Vokes.
Wonderful Achievements.
The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-28
USED TO STICK TYPE.
THE NEW FIRST ASSISTANT POST
MASTER GENERAL.

No Frills on Perry Heath-Men Who Have
Filled the Position of Secretary to the
President-The Salary and the Require
ments.
Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-01-05
is cousin of Col. j. Franco Chavez, oil
Valencia county.
"El Sidelo" clear Havana igar, SC
at Scheurich's.
BLACK JACK AND HIS GANG.
The u. =. Marshal Offers $4,000 Re-
ward for Their Capture ID escrip-
ton OF the Men Wanted.

U. s. Marshal Il. l.. Hall to-day mailed
to various points in the southwest q
printed circular offering in the name of
the postmaster. general, reward of &c.
600 "for the arrest and conviction, or
for causing the arrest and conviction" of
the persons who on October 7 and 20 last
on four occasions held up and robbed the
White OaksSan Antonio mail coach.
The sum of $500 for each of the three
persons supposed to have been impli-
Gated in these four robberies is the
offer, making In the aggregate $4,000.
The circular states that these Grim es
we're undoubtedly committed by the
band of outlaws generally known as "Black
Jack" and his gang. Following is their
description:
Black Jack, about SO years of age,
black hair, black thin mustsche, and gem
orally has short, thin, black beard, very
heavy thick jaws, weight about 1870 or
200 pounds and is about six feet tall,
very muscular and strong, broad should.
ers, very dark complexioned.
Geo. Musgrave, alias Jeff Davis, alias
Jessie Williams, alias Johnson; about six
feet, one inch tall, weighs about 200
pounds, age about % years, light COM
plexioned, smooth face, round full face,
brown hair, has one leg broken, think it
left leg, causing it to bend In at the knee
little.
Tom Anderson, sandy complexioned,
sandy mustache, about five feet, nine
inches tell, weight about $50 pounds, age
about 80 years.
Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-01-05
U. s. DISTRICT COURT.
Grand and Petit Juries Impaneled
by Judge Lauehlin This
Forenoon.

The United States district court, Judge
Laughlin presiding, met at 10 O'Clock
this morning. The following grand jury
was impaneled and ordered to begin
work:
j. E. Lacome, foreman; J. D. Hughes,
Antonio Ma. Borrego, Marcus Casaus,
Alejo Garcia, Diego Garcia, Antonio Jose
Gallegos, Herman Hamio, H. B. Knicker-
booker, Juan Jose Lujan, Gregorio
Leyba, Jose Antonio Martinez, Preciliano
Martinez, Jose Dolores Medina, Jose An
tonic Quintana, Santana Roibsl, H. D..
Roberts, Manuel s. Salazar, Vidal Sis
neros, Camilo Viela, Pedro Salazar y
Garcia.
Following is list of the United States
petit jury impaneled this morning: Dan
lei Archuleta, Antonio j. Gomez, Luis
Trujillo, Antonio Ma. Salazar, R. H. Mo
Junkins, j. G. Carson, M. I. Hubbard, j.
H. Heather, David Romero, Miguel Ma
estas, Encarnacion Tafoya, Ramon Girl
ego y Lopez, Dionicio Bustos, Manuel
Naranjo, A. F. Koehler, Pedro A, Bernal,
Pedro Valdez, Agustinano Candelario,
Malquides Martinez, Filogonio Sanchez,
Juan Ignacio Maestas, Feliz Quintana,
Seferino Baca, M. j. Nagel.
Juan B. Sandoval has been appointed
interpreter to the United States grand
jury.
On the territorial side of the court a
Judgment was entered up against Santa
Fe county in favor of James Cory for
$501.7S for feeding prisoners at the peni-
Tertiary.
This afternoon the Denver g. Rio
Grande timber trespass cases will be
taken up in the United States court. A.
A. Jones represents the government and
Joel F. Vail, of Denver, and Gen. Bartlett,
of Santa Fe, appear for the railway COM
pany.
Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-01-05
COL. SHELBY'S WILL.
Alleged Tennessee Cousins Open u
C0ntest-Several Natural Heirs
Disclose Themseiyes-AnH
teresting story Pending.

Judge relesforo Rivera opened his
first term Of court in Santa Fe yesterday
rs probate judge of this county.
The will of the late Valentine s. Shell
by was promptly presented for action by
Gen. L. L. Bartlett, representing the
heirs and administrators named therein.
Clifton Young and W. B. Medley, of
Olarksville, Tenn, protesting to be
nephews of the deceased, appeared as
contestants of the will. They were rep
resented by Hon. E. A. Fiske, who easily
showed by the testimony of Major r. j.
Palen, president of the First National
bank of Santa Fe, that the will presented
had not been properly authenticated and
was probably not worth the paper upon
which it was written.
Thereupon Fernando Nolan entered an
appearance as attorney for Valentine
Shelby, of San Miguel county, young
man 81 years old, and Leopoldo Shelby,
son of Carlota Gomez, of Santa Fe,
boy about 16 years old and member of
Prof. Perez local band, representing
that they were natural heirs of the late
wi oueloy, hdu peeu cnristenou III bne
Catholic chur N as such and offering
proof that the deceased had formally ac-
knowledged them as his children. It is
also understood that there is still another
natural heir to the estate, young mar
ried woman OF this city.
Further consideration of the will WAS
deferred until 10 O'Clock tomorrow
morning. Interesting disclosures are
likely to be made at that hour.