Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-22

ties OF II were presented to the kaiser, a
dozen to King Edward-then the Prince Of
Wales-and the balance, save three were
disposed of at fabulous prices to various
royal families of Europe. OF the remain
Ing three one was given to me-" Here Mr..
Maerkel took from a wooden box. carefully
packed in cotton batting, a roughly made,
| dark-colored bottle tightly sealed with a
primitive label and about four-fifths full
of a wine which when held to the light, de-
spite the color Of the bottle. showed a
beautiful purplish tint. 1t was port Of the
the label and the rude make of the bottle
that my statement as to Its age is author
itative. OF course, 1 shall not open the
bottle, although 1t would please me much
to let you taste the spirit OF the grape
which grew on German hillsides 200 years
ago. / shall have the bottle nicely in
closed in a glass cabinet and preserve 1t
for the curio which it certainly is
Il don't suppose one out of every thou
sand of the travelling public realize the
speed at which they drawn by the
everyday express trains said Henry X.
Schiller Of Cleveland at the Shoreham. Il
am certain 1 never did until few days
ago. when was eastward bound on one of
the big lines which land you in the capital
city. Being an habitual smoker. I was in
one of those combination smoking and bag
gage cars which. contrary to the usual rule
had the passenger end attached to the
locomotive. 1 was attracted to the glass
door in the front of the car by the swaying
of the engine. When L stood there / was
simply amazed at its lurching movement.
The road was crooked very crooked Curve
succeeded curve with only just enough
straightway between each to allow the To-
connective to right herself The change OF
direction in the line Of the rails was so
regular that the cab swayed like a pendu-
lum. In going through cuts, with solid
rock walls on each side towering twenty
feet above the train, 1t seemed TO me as IL
the cab must be dashed to pieces against
them. In rounding long, sharp curve the
successive lurches of the machine to the
right or left looked to me as If they would
result In jerking the entire train off the
line at a tangent. l don't see how the
gineer succeeded in keeping his seat. But
he did, and he was apparently no more con-
cerned for his safety than II he were rid
ing on a merry-go-round- When L went
back to my seat / had learned to realize
the intense peril every locomotive driver
goes through. especially on a road like
this every time he pulls out on his run L
concluded, also. that II there is any choice
of place on an express train, far
safety is concerned. it is certainly not close
to the front end"
I'm a mining Office In Socorro, n. NJ. is
the oldest bell in North America" said
Howard P. Graham, who was at the Metro
politan a few days ago. Not only is it the
oldest bell on the American continent but
it is of deep historical interest. for it has
witnessed some Of the most stirring scenes
connected with the early settlement Of this
country. The bell was made. according to
the records which have been preserved, in
1549 in Spain, and was brought over by
the Immediate followers of CorteZ.
From this date all trace of the bell
seems to have been lost, until the middle
Of the seventeenth century. In 1874 il was
dug out of the ruins of a church at Gran
Quivera, an old pueblo and Spanish city,
which is said by many authorities to have
had at that time population OF more than
20 600 souls. From Gran Quivera the bell
was brought to Socorro, where IL remained
in the old San Miguel Church until l1Sl.
when the church was destroyed during an
Indian uprising. The inhabitants of the
town fied into Texas and the bell was hid
den. In 1906 Socorro was resettled the bell
brought to light once more and hung in
the restored church. which is still stand
ing. The bell weighs nearly 500 pounds
and is worth more than $500 in gold and
silver. The precious metals which are COM
bined with the copper were obtained from
the jewelry Of the women who contributed
to it. This old bell was calling people to
worship on the banks Of the Rio Grande
nearly an hundred years before the May
flower sailed into Plymouth harbor. II Is
a fact not generally appreciated that New
Mexico now not even admitted into state
hood and considered a new country, was
settled long before the Pilgrims were
driven from England to the new world