davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09


and we give our agents full instructions as
10 lust what clans We want.
when the agents 10 among the Oraons
we AJAX for none but Young Mice and Fig
Leaves. IL thew are looking for labor in
the Sonthal section we instruct for Wild
Geese and Stars.
we cant tell bv loo king at them that
some of them are tigers or Grass Spiders
or Fishnets and if we did we couldn't
remember which ones are not allowed
by their religion and traditions TO affiliate
in the field or II is the inter-
marrying that causes most trouble"
Il don't understand what you mean ly
fshnets and grass spiders and stars" the
perplexed American interrupted.
His host wns highly amused at his iGno-
rance OF 80 elementary a condition.
Tho 80 are clan names" he replied.
I'VE have one clan that Is supposed to have
descended from the stomach Of a pig, an
other that originated in a fisherman's net,
a third that came from a falling star, and
so on. 81.
Certain Of these antilles dare not inter
marry on pain Of immediate d~eatb-death
not only to the contracting parties, put 10
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

the interesting sights to a traveller at
Oklahoma, now Oklahoma City, were the
Indian messengers and riders who met the
rains They could be followed with the
eye for miles as they rod at full speed on
their fleet little ponies along the level
Canadian Valley.
The opening of Oklahoma again gave
employment, and most active, too, to the
troops stationed at Reno. Scouting parties
were employed for months before the day
appointed for the opening in rounding up
and driving out the hundreds of "sooners"
who were hidden in the woods and draws
of this rich promised land waiting to snatch
the choicest prizes from the incoming
settlers. The old buglers from the cavalry
troops OF Reno at noon on April %, 1889.
sounded the signal that started thisr remark
able race for homes.
The development of the country has
brought thousands of people into the vicinity
OF the fort, and now a railroad passes almost
within the shadow OF its walls, while rich
farms surround il, and at the foot of the hill
on which it stands is one of the populous
towns of the Territory.
Other forts of the Territory that rave
had romantic histories and that were in
their day the stations for famous Indian
fighters, such as Arouckle. Gibson. Towson
and Washita, have all been abandoned.
Few forts Of the country had a more inter-
esting history than has old Fort Gibson.
1t was built in the Cherokee nation, about
seventy miles northwest Of Fort Smith
in the early part of the last century. Many
OF the men who played a prominent part in
the civil war were officers here, and from
thia fort too marCbed out MANY of ms
troops that did distinguished service in the
Mexican war.
Gen. Scott was often at Fort Gibson,
Gen. Robert e. Lee and Gen. Mcclellan
made frequent tours of inspection there,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

When he arrived and wa conducted by
his host over the fertile acres of the i'm
mense plantation, where everything seemed
to move by c~lockwork, he was impressed
with the patience, the faithfulness, the en-
durance of the coolies. His first thought
was that here was a solution of the Amer
lean labor troubles.
These men could be trained to perform
almost any kind Of manual labor. They
we're obedient and they toiled for hours with
out manifesting fatigue.
The third day of the Americans visit he
was sitting on the wide veranda Of the
rambling house, smoking a cheroot and
discussing the business, in which he was
strongly TEN pied to engage, when he heard
a commotion in the fields some distance
from the drying barns. At first it was a
low, rumbling, inarticulate growl OF anger,
full of threat and wrath. Gradually IL
mounted in volume and intensity until he
could no longer keep his seat.
Something dreadful must have hap
pened!" he exclaimed, ~astonished at the
seeming indifference of his host.
Stepping to the end OF the veranda, he
looked in the direction of the drying barns
and another exclamation escaped his lips.
What he saw caused him to change his
mind with regard to the disposition Of the
laborers.
A pitched battle was in progress, sticks
ana STONES OylnB LnTOuBn LHo air. tuo
villainous knives Of the Chota Nangpore
striking. The sight was such as TO strike
terror to the heart OF one not accustomed
10 it. The men fought like beasts, and
the sound, without the sight. was little
short OF b~loodcurdling. When IL was over
there were a score OF dead coolies in the
field and scarcely one Of the ~combatants
had escaped injury. 1t was several days
before order was restored.
What is itp" the American asked his
host, white with fear lest the Infatuated
men swoop down upon the HOUSE and de-
stroy it.
ITS nothing but a cheldn.' the planter
returned with maddening ~unconcern.
There is no cause for alarm 30 long as
we leave them to fight il out alone. AT first
l made the mistake Of trying to pacify
them. | had two managers killed out
right by the devils. and l shall carry this TO
my grave az a memento of the narrowest
escape 1 ever had. and he barred his breast.
displaying an ugly scar.
do they do it often2" the guest asked.
AS a rule it happens only when we have
a fresh importation OF coolies. We try not
! to get men Of hostile tribes OF Clads together
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

large bodies Of men at central points than
it is to maintain small scattered g~arrisons
which are often one or two hundred miles
from the railroad and where the supplies
must be transported by wagon.
Furthermore, discipline can be much
better preserved and an army raised 20 a
higher degree Of proficiency when the men
are held in large bodies. II is believed,
too, hat the soldiers, having more COM
partnership and more c~ommodious quarters
in a large fort, will be less likely to desert
than when stationed in lonely and remote
places.
Fort Ethan Allen, about six miles from
Burlington, VT, which was established
principally through the influence Of Senator
Redfeld Proctor, will probably be made
one Of the brigadier posts of the East.
The present reservation contains 9o2 acres,
and when the proposed additions are made
to enlarge the drill grounds it will cover
l, 800 acres. Since its establishment, about
ten years ago, the Government has spent
close on to 81 900 900 on this post.
Secretary Taft was very f~avorably
impressed, too, with Fort d. A. Russell,
Wyoming, which is the home Of Senator
Warren, chairman Of the Senate Committee
on Military Affairs. He also inspected
another important post, Fort Robinson,
in Nebraska. The selection of a large post
for that part Of the country will most prob
ably be made from these TWO. On the
Pacific Coast Vancouver Barracks, Washing
ton; the Preside at Monterey, Cal, and
some fort in southern California will likely
be retained. Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Fort
Douglas, Utah. and Fort H.. d. Wright.
Warrington, are also mentioned favorably
as candidates for ~brigadier honors.
THE Secretary a especially impressed
with Forts Lavenworth and Riley in Kansas,
Fort Sill in Oklahoma and Fort Sam Hous-
ton, near San Antonio, Tex.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

would leave one OF the phones with him until
he heard from me in a mill town five miles
away.
-Idrove out and told the telegraph opera
tor there what l wanted to do. called up
the manager in the city and told him by
Morse to get ready TO hook up his telephone
and / would call him.
sBv this time the news had spread through
the little mill town that a man with a tele-
phone was there, and the post Office, where
the telegraph ticker was, was crowded by
members OF the pr incipal families. After
a last word by Morse to the operator in the
city l connected the telephone and raised
the thing to my lips.
did any man ever feel like an ASST Nell
I was that man when l howled into the
telephone:
Hi, there, Tobin!
Il consoled myself with the thought that
IL the thing didn't work he might hear my
voice down the hills. ,
wonder of wondersl A thin, veal
voice, like the voice of a half -matertalized
ghost OF Tobin, came like u ventriloquial
response from the bowels OF the hills:
Hi, therep
"Then Tobin and I talked. II we had
met in s~hadowland a million years after
death our shapes would have looked al
natural to us as our voices then sounded 70
each other; but we talked. Then Deacon
Phillips and Mrs. Phillips talked with Tobir
over five miles of wire. and all the assembled
villagers had to hear his voice, AFTER wnlcL
| said so to him and went back to town.
Two or three weeks later my wholesome
young redheaded friend came along, took
his telephones, aid he was not yet in neec
Of a small loan and went away. That wa
the last time | saw him.
Several months later l saw in a LondoT
newspaper an announcement of the organi
cation Of the Gower-Bell Telephone Com
pany in England. The Cover end of 1t wa
my friend Frederick Allen Cover, the former
/ associate editor Of the Providence Press
| He got the Allen in his name from his
! relative, Camp Meeting john Allen Of
Maine, one OF whose forcible exhortationi
10 the ungodly is still remembered. It wa
| addressed particularly and solely to an In
dividual in the church gallery and was
Come down out of that, you i'll begot'
ten, slab sided, Coo forsaken s~tackpole Of
helI-come down and give your soul tC
Go1p
The next thing I heard Of Frederic Allen
Cover was that be had organized in Franct
La Compagnie' and whatever GOwer-BeL
Telephone Is in the French lingo. Later
/ heard OF him in 81. Petersburg, with his
Gower-Ben telephone business.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

Still later l received cards announcing
the marriage in Paris of Mr.. Frederic Allen
Cover and Miss Lillian Norton. Lillian
Norton was a Maine girl and a distant rela-
tive Of Cover. She is now Nine. Nordica,
the prima donna.
After a few years the life OF Fred Cover
and Lillian Norton was not happy. She fol-
lowed her profession as an operate singer,
and he, reputed then to be several times q
millionaire, amused himself first with yacht
ing
HE took the first Herreshoff built boat to
Europe-a little craft called, l think, the
Clean. He had offered at Cowes a valu-
able prize for boats of her class. She came
in first, but he surrendered the prize to the
second boat to finish. He got his love OF
sailing by heritage and fostered it by
pinching catboats into the wind on Maria
gansett Bay.
Later he took up ~ballooning. While
making some aeronautic experiments
under the cognizance OF the French Gov
eminent, with the view of demonstrating
their utility in war, Fred Cover made an
ascension from C~herbourg, France, and
was seen 10 drift out over the sea. 50 far
as is known he never came back.
"A fishing vessel brought in a report OF
a balloon seen scurrying. over the crests
Of the seas in a gale, and that is the last
heard of Fred Cover that seems 90 give
any clew to his fate. For years there
were occasional reports OF Frederic Allen
Cover, the multimillionaire, having been
seen living in magnificence in various parts
OF the world.
zone report had il that he was living in
all the splendor of a rajah in India. Fred
was the boy to do that stunt, but the chances
are that he is a rajah in Plysium.
what became OF the goods? Well, his
wife got something from his estate; his
brother H. supposed to have got a few,
hundred thousand dollars, and God and
! the French Government officials, perhaps
know what became OF the bulk Of his
wealth"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

Gen. Zachary Taylor, aeterward President,
and Jefferson Davis, were both officers
here. 1t was here that Jefferson Davis
met his first wife, the daughter of Gen.
Taylor. II cnry NJ. Stanley, the African
tx Explorer, once taught school at TINS post.
1t was to Fort Gibson that Gen. Sam
Houston followed his Indian love, Tahli-
hina, a Cherokee girl, and there he lived
with her for a long time, adopting the dress
and traditions of her tribe. Only a short
time ago the body of Tahlihina was re-
moved from its first resting place to the
national cemetery, into which the site OF
the old fort has been converted.
The fate of these abandoned forts ia
often as sordid as their history is romantic.
In many remote Western posts the build
ings, never very substantial, are left with
out even a caretaker, and they and the
reservation of which they were a part grad
ually go back to the prairie.
Where towns have prung up around
the posts the property is frequently sold
and is devoted to commercial purposes
Columbus, Ohio, has grown completely
around the fort, and the property has in
creased enormously in value
Baltimore just now is disturbed over tbs
destiny of Fort McHenry. The city wants
it converted into a public park, maintains
ing that when the War Department re-
linquishes the property as a military post
il will revert to the State OF Maryland.
The Governments proposal to turn it over
TO the Department of Agriculture as a cattle
quarantine station is heard with indigna-
ton.
-Such a dissertation of this noble old
fort, the inspiration of the Star Spangled
Banner is an outrage said a Baltimore
@ tizen. I'VE will no more submit to il
than Massachusetts would submit 70 a
hospital for diseased poultry on Plymouth
Rock
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
MIL ross or Dars on 4 FARM.
They Are ENnrcI cd 30 Gather All she sweet.
ness With'n in! &c mites.

EOCTH IAECHEsTLr, Coan.. DSc. s.-A
farm with a radius Of three :n.iNs and nav
ing J,OoO,OO0 hCneybD3S as wortcrs is being
laid OUT here and Will DO the largest bee
plantation in this part or New England. IL
was started with five hives, and there are
now twenty-th'ce CO. a. fact rs arrange
ments can be made for housing the little
creatures new colonies Will be started until
when the bee season opens next summer
the farm viii have probably $50 h YES, with
he jewellers therein gathering all the
swestness la this town.
Each hive will contain between 20,0 and
10000 bees, and these will gather all the
available honey within "A radius of three
miles. When the $50 hives are in working
order the propriet)IS expect - gather be-
tween 100, 900 and 200, 900 pounds Of honey
more than enough to supply all New Eng
lands buckwheat cakes for a winter Each
hive, il is estimated, should yield between
81 and 100 pounds Of honey for each genera
ton Of bees
To economic time. strength and sweet
ness the plan followed - to have the comb
for the honey partly built and put into the
/ hives, and not leavO the comb building TO
the bees alone. By this method the comb
Is filed more evenly with the honey and
each box contains just one pound, In the
centre Of the box is placed a beeswax
partition andAthe bees build on either side
! OF this
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

the buildings that sheltered the troopers
are in many instances converted into schools
for their children.
With the capture Of Geronimo and the
removal Of many Of the Southwest tribes
to other reservations the usefulness Of the
forts in Arizona and New Mexico was ended.
Fort Grant. one Of the most important in the
Southwest, was several years ago aban-
doned. and Fort Apache. Ariz.. will soon be
evacuated.
Reno is perhaps the best known OF the
Indian Territory forts. 1t was built years
ago in the heart of the Cheyenne and Arap-
aho country, and from it troops were sent
against the many hostile tribes Of northern
Texas and the Territory. Old army regis
tiers describe its situation as 1854 miles south
Of Wichita. Kansas" The route OF the
wagon trains southwark from a railway
station to Reno was one Of great peril. and
many trains were captured by m%arauding
bands Of Indians.
A tragic incident in the history OF the fort
was the Hennessey massacre. Pat Hen
Messy. an old frontiersman. was the driver
in charge of a train of supplies from Kansas.
When about half the distance to Reno he
was set upon by ~Cheyennes.
He and his comrades parked their wagons
and for three days held their enemy at a
distance. When troops finally arrived from
Reno for their relief all the men were dead
and scalped. but that they had sold their
lives dearly was attested by the number Of
dead savages.
By the side OF each man's body was a
pile Of empty cartridge shells. Not a single
loaded one was found. Only when the last
shot was fired had the Indians succeeded
in closing in on them.
With the building of the first railroad into
the Territory Reno was brought into closer
touch with the rest Of the world, though
still twenty miles from a station. One Of
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
to Denver and the mountain country.

to Denver and the mountain country.
Here some Of the men VIII did dis
tinguished service during the civil war
had their first training in actual field duty.
Gen. Lee was one of the commandments
of the post. Gen. Grant served here az a
young officer. and part of the old wall Of
the reservation was built under his super
vision.
In the army at the present time there
are few officers but have had experience
at Leavenworth, either on duty there or as
students at one OF the officers schools. The
town OF ~Leavenworth. adjoining the post,
is jocularly known as the mother-in-law
Of the army for it il a fact that Leaven-
worth has married more of her girls TO
officers than any other town in the country.
Land forming pert of this reservation,
which was in the beginning very extensive,
has in some cases been sold, and in Others
appropriated for various other purposes.
The largest Of United States prisons, which
houses a famous collection Of bankers,
as well as Of Western desperadoes, is stu
ated here.
This has made necessary the purchase
OF additional land to carry out the plans
Of the Department, and authorization will
ne dSkeu LOT the puTcndse Oh nOJ HoTe
than 5000 acres. The land that is desired
lies across the Missouri River and is reached
by an old bridge, one of the first built in
the Missouri Valley.
or all the Kansas forts these two are
the only ones that remain. The names
Of others well known in frontier history
are preserved in the names of the towns
which grew up under their protection,
as Fort Dodge, Fort Scott n Hayes,
Larned and Harker.
Many Of the old forts in the Indian coun-
try. in the neighborhood Of Little Big Horn
have been abandoned. foS Clusters red
skinned foes are now peaceful farmers, anc
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

-Of course these brigadier posts will not
be the only army posts that the country
will maintain. Smaller garrisons will be
continued a, such forts as Smelling, near
81. Paul, and important points in the interior
and along the coasts. But leaving these
out there still remain nearly $50 posts that
can be dispensed with without injury to the
service"
Fort Sill has for a number OF years been
considered one OF the most important posts
of the Indian Territory. The reservation
contains $1,000 acres, and adjoining this is
40, 600 acres more which may De used for
military purposes. The department plans
to make this especially a post for the in
struction and training Of field artillery
Both Riley and Leavenworth, the two
Kansas forts, nave figured not only in the
history Of the st ate, but also in the de-
velopment of the West. Riley, near juno
ton City, has for the last few years been the
scene OF extensive Of regulars, as
well as of the militia of Kansas and neigh
boring States. The reservation is extern
sive and is considered by army officers as
especially adapted to the drilling of large
bodies of men. The department has kept
up here for several years a school Of in
struction in army cooking.
The best known of all these forts is Leaven-
worth. 1t was established in lSf7 on a bluff
overlooking the Missouri River, and during
the years of the settlement Of the great
West that lies between the Missouri and the
Rocky Mountains it was the principal
depot OF supplies for the posts that sprang
up on the plains for the protection of the
settlers.
From here also were sent out the military
escorts for the wagon trains that crossed
to the gold fields of California and Colorado
and to the silver mines Of Mexico, that
guarded the wagon trains along the old
Santa Fe trail and the pony express riders
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
NNTHERE THEY 90
w HAVE LABOR VARS
Troubles CT Tigers, Grass Spiders,
Eels and Potatoes in the
Hima1ayas.

Employers of labor may ave their
troubles in America, but the worst strike
here is pronounced a tame proposition as
compared with a typical gang OF coolies on
a Bhutan tea plantation in the Himalayas
when they have a grievance.
In America when there is disaffection
among workmen there is usually a definite
reason for it. IL is at the worst not a mat
ter OF life and death not a quarrel involving
the deepest and most sacred principles in
stilIed in the minds OF the combatants from
their infancy.
In that important particular the coolies
from the Nagpore region are different.
They are excellent workmen, enduring the
heat and humidity Of the tea plantations
much better than the coolies from other
parts Of southern Asia.
They are obedient to the orders Of the
manager and o~bsequious to the last degree.
Indeed they are ideal servant so long as
they have no cause for quarrel among
themselves. A cheLdH on the plantation
transforms them from docile, respectful
workers to bloodthirsty savages, recog-
nizing no authority but their own mad
passion.
This cheLdn is a fractional fight which in
wolves every member OF the offended and
offending clans. In its ramifcations and
far reaching consequences the cheLan throws
the Kentucky feud into insignifcance.
An American tourist whose wanderings
led him to the interior OF that strange coun-
try went to pay a social call upon another
American who had made a fortune in the
tea business. The social call lasted several
weeks, a. calls usually do where trans
portation facilities are the worst in the
world and where guests are scarcer than
wild roses in January.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
Early ROMANCE
l. OF THE PHONE.
Il Concerns F. A. Cover, Husband
Of Nine. Nordica, the
Opera Singer.

In the early seventies, y said a man whose
came is not Smith, Il was working on a
small daily newspaper in Massachusetts,
The staff was known as the youngest daily
newspaper staff in the country.
Il, the kingpin Of the editorial outfit, was
twenty-three years old, and the man next
to me in seniority OF years was Charlie
Russell, then barely old enough to vote,
aHterwa ard a Representative of a Connec-
ticut district in Congress, a friend OF
Speaker Tom Reed, and the successor OF
Gen. Hawley in the United States Senate
ii his life had been spared for a few months.
The paper died younger than 1t would II
it had lived longer.
"One night" continued Mr.. Notsmith,
the door OF the room in which l worked
and felt reasonably safe from any NOT
that might congregate demanding The life
Of the fool no wrote the editorials didn't
know then that nobody but myself and the
proofreader read ~them-opeaed and a big
redheaded youngster blew in ahead Of his
card. He dropped a small grip on the
floor, exclaimed, My God, l hope haven't
busted emf got hold Of both my hands
and said:
Behold in me the former associate
editor of the Providence Press
What is the matter, Fred" l asked,
Hbounced?'
mo. but I have given up living wages OF
sa week to sell the Bell telephone
sThereupon he took two telephone con-
trivances OF the vintage OF that year--trans-
mitters and receivers combined-told me to
get a chance to try them somewhere and
said he would come in again by and by.
The next forenoon l took the two tele-
phones over to the old A. and p. telegraph
Office, showed them to the manager, told
him that 1 had sent word around to the
stable to nave my pony hitched up and