The silver star., 1898-03-10
Young HarrIson q said to have beGun

Young Harrison Il said to have begun
the study of chemistry in the hope Of
discovering some new Photographic
emulsion. He was one of the first am
ateurs in all Chicago to take up pho
Biography, and he still uses the, camera
good deal. but he has forsworn chem
istry.
He II not fond OF telling the story Of
his chemical exploits. but he does de-
light to tell fsh stories of which he IL
the sole hero. Hempstead Washburn
Of the famous family of that name, who
once defeated the elder Harrison for
mayor. and who has accompanied the
present mayor ON many fishing excur-
sions, says the stories told by the lat
ter are strictly true. and Chicago be-
lieves them all implicitly. His fishing
outflt includes almost too many rods,
reels. lines and hooks to be counted, be-
sides more varieties of dies probably
than any other American fy.fisherman
has In his possession. This is account
ed for by the fact that whenever he has
been abroad he has fished in all the
good waters he could find. and his gear
Is suitable to the Nile and the streams
Of the Alps, as well as those of northern
Michigan and southern Florida. They
say he cnce caught $50 trout in four
days In Michigan. while in Florida he
hooked rnd safely brought to land
five hundred pound jewish. He has
many pictures Of fish and anglers in his
house and whole section Of his library
Is devoted to books on Psychological
subjects. An enthusiastic Chicago writ
er not long ago declared that the
mayor could give cards and spades to
the man in charge Of the fish depart
ment at Lincoln Park, Chicago. and
then beat him out.
According to this writer. Mr.. Harri-
son Is as we'll posted about four-footcd
and feathered creatures as he is about
fish. and could undoubtedly care for
the animal house of Chicago's Zoo bet
ter than the men now in charge. He
is generally acknowledged to be one of
the mightiest of mighty hunters and
the stories Of his achievements as
Nimrod would fill big book. He has
had several narrow escapes from in
stant death, one of which occurred
while he was managing editor Of the
Times. He and his brother went fish,
ing for grayling in one of the streams
that drain the northern peninsula Of
Michigan. Just as they. were beginning
to have some mighty good luck they
heard the crackle and smelled the hot
breath of an approaching forest fire.
Hastily jumping into their wagon, they
started to drive away to safety, but
while crossing corduroy bridge on a
dead run their horses broke through.
The trees were on fire on both sides of
the shallow stream spanned by the
bridge and there was no time to lose.
but it would not do to abandon the
horses. So. working In the scorching
heat. they got planks under the ami
mails. prled them out. and. lifting the
wagon around, got away finally by an
other route. But the hair and beard of
both brothers were singed and their
clothes had holes burned In them. An
other time. when the brothers were
fishing. Carter H.. who was wading a
turbulent stream, stepped on bowlder
that turned under him, and was
thrown into the water. His big boots
acted like the air tanks Of a life boat.
and kept him afioat. but. unfortunate
ly. his feet were up and his head down.
and he was thus carried along at least
$50 feet down a sort Of rapids. Half
strangled as he was, however, lie
grasped the submerged roots Of q tree
and then climbed to safety. He was in
Florence. Italy. when the earthquake
that destroyed SO many houses and
killed not few occurred. When the
shock came he was asleep in the Hotel
de Vile. It was split asunder. and he
considered that he had a narrow escape
then. For two or three nights after
ward he and his family slept in an, open
square. but succeeded In escaping to
Switzerland without suffering any real
damage. Not long ago q palmist IS
sayed reading the lines in Mayor Har-
rison's hands and discovered therein
most of the qualities attributed to his
honor In this story. The palmist de-
clared the lines showed the mayor to be
q good Judge Of human nature and that
he had q strong will power. was quick
tempered and hated deceit. His friend
ships were strong. and his capacity for
hate made him many enemies. He was
fond Of his home and children and was
,-ansm;