OCR Text |
Show THE RICH COUNTY NEWS, RANDOLPH, UTAH i I . By H. IRVING KING $ ... X lJ2, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) That very attractive widow, Mrs. Pemberton Jones, had brought her two (laughters to Midway Beach for strictly matrimonial purposes. Of the daughters, Geraldine familiarly called Jerry was twenty, and Margaret MarWhile gie for short was twenty-threnot raving beauties, they were more than ordinarily girls, up, with enough education for their daily needs. Geraldine was tall and dark; Margaret was petite and blonde. That was because she was of the submissive, clinging variety, while Geraldine was decidedly of the sort. In nonsubinissive,. town whence they came the they had not wanted suitors, but among them had been no one whom they especially cared about and no one whom Mrs. Pemberton Jones cared But the about at ail as a good mother planned a war of conquest from which she determined to bring back captives if it took her last cent and at any sacrifice of health and comfort. She hated hotel life; but Midway Beach appeared a good strategic position and, like a skillful general, she occupied it. She did not, of course, explicitly state to her daughters the object of the expedition ; but they suspected it. The season at Midway Beach was a crowded and brilliant one. At night the great hotel blazed with incandescent bulbs, the band blared from the pagoda-likbandstand in front of the hostelry and the fiddles sang in the ballroom to time the dancers feet. On the broad piazza young couples flirted and old couples gossiped, while the sullen and disapproving ocean pounded on the shore and announced to the shivering sands its intention of sweeping the whole frivolous place to destruction with the first winter storm. Mrs. Pemberton Jones had calculated upon some opposition to her plans from Cerekoivc, tut upon none from Margaret But as the season progressed the usually pliant Margie developed an unexpected obstinacy quite equal to ber sisters, and as the season began to draw toward its close the girls were, apparently, no nearer catching rich husbands than they were at its beginning. It must not be thought that the sisters made no conquests they did. In fact, Geraldine had the honor of rejecting a mature millionaire and Margaret rejected a gilded youth of the best Wall street standing, after each of which events Mrs. Pemberton Jones kept to her bed for a whole day. The good woman was in despair and indulged in remonstrances and tears at the manner in which her daughters If ma neglected their opportunities. is so set on marriage, said Jerry to Margie, after one of these family squabbles, why doesnt she get marand ried herself? Shes only forty-fiv- e looks ten years younger. But had Geraldine and Margaret come through the frivolous and fiery and fancy free? furnace heart-whol- e Not sol In a little fishing shack four miles away along the shore of the bay, two young men were roughing it for the summer. They had a catboat, and they had an aged negro to cook fpr them. They sailed and fished and wore old clothes, smoked and loafed. It was a life good for the health, and the young men showed it. Most . gentlemanly and attractive young fellows, said Jerry to Margie, after their first meeting with the herlie). e. good-lookin- g it self-relia- Mid-We- . son-in-la- e , fiishermen. mit havent Thpy money, though, apparently which is too had, or we might be able to soothe mother's feelings. How shocking you are! replied Of course, we shall never Margaret. see t;cro again. "Of course not, said Jerry. This first meeting referred to had come about in this way. The girls took early morning gallops, attended only by a groom. Geraldine's horse attempted to bolt near tile fishing shack, and one of the young men sprang into the load and caught it, while the oilier soothed the sister's fears. When the groom came up, he found the young ladies, who had dismounted to recover from their fright, seated on the porch of the shack, in animated conversation with the stranger youths. After that, somehow, the morning rides of the sisters generally took the direction of tiie bay shore road, end- generally bui always quite l;y accident, of eou,sc they met the two young men, so that it was inevitable that a most friendly acquaintance should grow up between them. Cue Can t snub a man who has saved one s life, said Geraldine. Why, Jerry, you declared you were not in, the least danger when that young man grabbed the horse, exclaimed Margaret. reWell, Ive changed my mind, plied Jerry. The groom who accompanied the girls on their rides wasnondiscreet' person and a believer in intervention. The young men never came to the hotel, and tiie young ladies saw no reason why they should mention their humble and chance to their mother; bat somehow kept putting it off. Theres bound to be a row, said Jerry. '! I hate a row. said Margie. Before they realized it Dan Cupids shaft had lighted. When tiie season was waning the young men proposed., Whatever in the world will mother say? asked Jery as the sisters rode ' slowly back to tiie hotel one morning. As they came upon tiie great piazza they saw in a far corner their mother, sitting in earnest conversation with a man whose figure seemed familiar to them. As they approached tiie couple they saw that the newcomer was Doctor Thompson, the leading physician of their city! What in the world ! exclaimed Hes fifty alid a bachelor. Ill Jerry. bet ,, Whatever It was she was willing to bet she would have won, for that night Mrs. Pemberton Jones explained to her daughters that the doctor had come on to escort them home, and that she had entertained for him the warmest regard ever since he had cured Geraldine of the croup." Oh, you siy little mother! cried And are we to have a stepJerry. father? Terhaps, replied the widow, blushing like a girl. Geraldine fairly screamed with And you are laughter and then going to have two nice Geraldine Pemberton Jones ! What have you and Margie been up to? cried the astonished matron. Jerry told her the whole story, ending with : And we love each other and tliats all about it. But, out who are they? gasped Mrs. Pemberton Jones. Oh, thats all right, replied Jerry. My Harry is the son of Calthorpe, the railway king, and Margie's George is the son of that rich broker you read about, John Stimson. The boys have talked with their fathers and mothers and we are to step over in New York on our way West and meet them. By the way, Harry and George are coming over this afternoon to ask . your formal consent. In due time there was a stately double marriage in a certain city and a little later a very quiet single marriage. Jerry and Margie live in New York and are model wives and mothers. Mrs. Doctor Thompson is the social autocrat of her city, adores tifi doctor and looks back upon the great campaign of Midway Beach as an unqualified success. Mid-We- sons-irelaw- Mid-We- st Mid-We- st FLOATING ISLANDS OF AFRICA In Wet Seasons They Are a Menace to Navigation, Though Appreciated by Wild Animals. W A strange story of the floating islands of the Lualaba river comes from an explorer who has just returned to the Congo. According to the explorer the Lualaba, like so many of its kind g in central Africa, Is a deep, and broad river during the rainy season, but it periodically dries up till It Is no more than a huge and extensive swamp in which the papyrus grass fast-runnin- flourishes. This grass grows thickly and strongly, forming a matted bed for hundreds of miles, and is the happy hunting ground of all sorts of wild animals. When the flood season arrives huge beds of this vegetation are uprooted and float along with the cur rent forming the floating islands, and constituting a danger to navigation. A strange feature of the phenomenon is that the matted grass is sufficiently strong to bear heavy weights, and it is a common occurred) to see crocodiles and other animals marooned. Natives, too, have been known to be stranded. So long as they lie full length on these natural rafts they are perfectly safe provided there is not another passenger in the shape of a croc. V Fall of the Mighty. A man walked into a doctors surgery one day and said : Doctor, I want you just an instant, please. Ill see you shortly, sir, was the ' reply. But a second Is ail I want, persisted the caller. Ill see you directly, sir! (with sternness). The visitor took a seat, and after 30 minutes or more had passed the medicine man came out of his den, and, with an air of condescension, said to his visitor:. "Well, now, my man, I am at your service. Your turn lias come. What can I do for you? Oh,' nothing in particular," was the reply. I just dropped in to tell yon that Farmer Storks three cows have got through the fence from the field and are having a picnic In your - Morrison. Morrison is an old Scotch name which came Into being ns follows: Once when a clan was being pursued by Its enemies it came to a river in state or flood, and thinking it better to fall into Gods hands rather than mans the warriors plunged in, the chief crying out that if they crossed the river he would build a monument to the Virgin Mary on the other side. They did win through, the chief kept his word and built the monument, and ever afterwards the men of that elan were called Marys sons, which iater, through frequent use, became corrupted into Morys sons Morrison. I did ask the cierk once, said Good to Remember. I am glad the young married Jerry to her sister, who those two young men were who occupied the old couple are spending their honeymoon fishing shack across the bay, and he o- - a farm. If they are observant they said he didnt know some poor devils, will learn some useful lessons there. he supposed, who could not afford the ' Mention one. hotel. Well, for example, that a waggln Several times tiie girls agreed to tongue Is the thing that divides a newly acquired friends hitched team. speak of ENSIONS fighters! There is a bill (II. It. 211) pending in congress to extend the provisions of the pension act of May 11, 1912, to tiie officers and enlisted men of nil state militia and other state organizations that rendered service to the Union cause during the Civil war for a period of 90 days or more and providing pensions for their widows, minor children and dependent parents. While the bill was recently under consideration by tiie house sitting in committee of the whole, Representative Edward C. Little of Kansas made an interesting speech which opens up an almost forgotten bit of American history and the services of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Kansas cavalry. Said Mr. Little: Mr. Chairman, between the close of the Civil war and the beginning of the Spanish war in 1898 the United States government enlisted only two regiments of volunteer cavalry. The gentleman from Kentucky makes a point of order. He did not say what it was, but I presume he means that they do not belong to the Civil war troops nor to the Spanisli war troops, and so there is no way in Gods world to take care of them. Mr. Langley What I had in mind was that this is a bill dealing with the Civil war legislation, and these men came into the service after tiie Civil ' war was over. Mr. Little Here are two volunteer regiments, and the only ones in a generation that did not have a Civil war record or a Spanish war service. They do not belong to anything.. Nobody cares anything about what happens to them, and the gentleman makes the point of order. Now, Mr. Chairman, I will reply to the point of order by subpoenaing a witness, and let us find out whether It is right to do anything. I am reading from the official report of Gen. George A. Custer: The point at which we found the Cheyenne village was in Texas, on the Sweetwater, about ten miles west of the state fine. Before closing my report I desire to call the attention of the major general commanding to the unvarying good conduct of this command since It undertook tiie march. We started with all the rations and forage that could be obtained, neither sufficient for the, time 'for which we have already been out. First, it became necessary to reduce the amount of rations; afterwards a still greater reduction ' was necessary ; and tonight most of mjynen made their suppers from the flesh of mules that have . died on the march today from starvation. - When called upon to. move in light marching order they abandoned tents and blankets without a murmur, although much of the march has been made during the severest winter weather I have experienced In this latitude. , The horses and mules of this command have subsisted day after day upon nothing but green, cottonwood bark. During all these privations the officers and men maintained a most cheerful spirit, and I know not what I admire most, their gallantry in battle or the patient but unwavering persistence and energy with which they have withstood the. many disagreeable ordeals of this campaign. As the term of service of tiie Nineteenth Kansas cavalry is approaching its termination, and I may not again have the satisfaction of commanding them during active operations, I desire to recommend them officers and men to the favor-- . able notice of the commanding general. Serving . on foot, they have marched in a manner and at a rate that, would put some of the regular regiments of infantry to the blush. Instead of crying out for empty wagons to transport them, each morning every man marched with his troop, and what might be taken as an example by some of the line officers of the regular infantry company officers marched regularly on foot at the head of their respective companies, and new, when approaching the termination of a march of over three hundred miles, on greatly deficient rations. I have yet to see the first straggler. When Gen. George A. Custer semis the hemes of that great organization before you for decent treatment and recognition,--theare. met with a point of order. Is that a good argument against it? Which side do they belong to, the, Spanish war or the Civil war? Where are you going to put them? From 1869 down they have never had any recognition. They have been unwept, unhonored and unsung for fifty years. Gentlemen, here are two regiments. For the first time they come here and really get the opportunity to ask which you are going to give for decenl the- militiamen, and they are met with a point of order. I hope the gentleman will withdraw his point of order. I do not believe it is good ; but if it is, I suggest to him that lie do this honor to General Custer and the two splendid regiments end let them be treated as you are treating other militiamen. i ' , - Here are interesting excerpts from Mr. Littles ' address: Gen. Philip H.; Sheridan, ' the greatest cavalry chief the world ever saw, and one of tiie greatest Indian fighters we ever had on the border, said in his report of Novemher 1. 1SG9, that in the last six years the Indians along the border had murdered more than eight hundred men, women and children. The Seventh United States cavalry and the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Kansas regiments carried on the campaign against the souths western Indians tiie Cheyennes, Apaches, and the Comanches. The Eighteenth Kansas cavalry was organized under a circular of .Tune 21, 18G7, from military headquarters for the Division of Missouri, and was mustered in at Fort Marker, Kan., from July 13 to 15, 1S67, and mustered out lliere Novemher 15, 1SG7. An epidemic of cholera attacked the Eighteenth immediately at Fort Marker and twenty of them B and C fought the Cheyenne s on Prairie Dog creek on August 21 and 22. Major Arnies of the Tentli United States cavalry commended tiie officers and men in the highest-termThey preserved the state of Kansas from further Indian depredations at that time. On August 30 Maj. II. I.. Moore of tiie Eighteenth and his men fought tiie same Indians again. This gentleman was one of m.v predecessors in the congress, of the United States, having served in the Fifty-thircongress, and lie afterwards served as commanding officer of tiie Nineteenth Kansas, The lieutenbeing lieutenant colonel, I believe. ant colonels of both the Nineteenth and Twentieth Kansas have. served in these halls. The campaign made by the. Eighteenth Kansas in 1867, drove the Indians, to winter quarters and left the frontier settlements of Kansas in comparative peace. The following year the Nineteenth Kansas was mustered in by companies from October 20 to 29, 18G8, at Topeka, and mustered out at Fort Hays, Kaus., April 18, 18G9 organized under authority of a telegram from the secretary of war to Lieut. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, dated October On November 5, 1808, the regiment-moveC, 186S. from Topeka toward the Arkansas river, crossing at Wichita, marched southwest, and joined the Seventh United Stages cavalry near the junction of Beaver creek and North Canadian, 112 miles south of Fort Dodge, at the Camp Supply cantonment. Owing to severe snowstorms and the entanglements of the Cimarron canyons, the regiment reached Canip Supply at the end of the month. General Sheridan says: The regiment lost its way, and,; Incoming entangled in the canyons of the Cimarron ahd in the deep snow, it could not make its way out and was in a bad fix. : . . It had been subsisting on bullalo for eight or nine days. . . . Officers and men behaved admirably in the trying condit. tion in which they were placed. ... General Sheridan tells of their march down the Washita, and says: ; Tiie snow was still on the ground and tiie weather very cold, but tiie officers and inen were very cheerful, although the men had only shelter tents. We moved due south until we struck the Washita, near Custer's fight of November 27, having crossed the main Canadian, with the thermometer about 18 degrees below zero. On tiie next day we started down the Washita, following the Indian trail; hut finding so many deep ravines and canyons I thought we would move out on the divide, lint a blinding snowstorm coming on,' and fearing to gef.Jost with a large command and and trains of wagons on a treeless prairie without wnteg, we were forced back to the banks of the and Wqshita, where we at least could get wood . water. Tiie result of this campaign was- - that Santanta and Lone Wolf, chiefs of the Kiowus. were taken Kio-wa- , s Jn-dian- d ... -- prisoners, and by & threat of execution that triba was forced to report at Fort Cobb, together with the Comanches and Apaches, and finally induced to go on their reservation.. From Fort Cobb the command marched to the base of the Washita mountains and established Fort Sill, near Medicine Bluff. On the 2d of .March following the Nineteenth Kansas cavalry and the Seventh United States cavalry, under the command of General Custer, went in pursuit of the Cheyennes. The Cheyenne trail was struck on Salt Fork on the Gtli of March, 18G9, and followed to the north along tiie eastern edge of the Llano Estacado until the 20th of March, when tiie Cheyennes were caught camped on Sweetwater creek, about ten miles west of the eastern line of Texas. This march was made practically without transportation or adequate supplies, and for the last few days tiie men subsisted on mule meat without bread or salt. General Sherdian, General Custer and Colonel Moore, with the soldiers of the Eighteenth Kan-- ; ' sas, the Nineteenth Kansas and the Seventh United States and Tenth United States cavalry, res-- . cued the women prisoners from the Indians in the Texas Panhandle and drove the Indians far into the Llano Estacado and preserved southwestern Kansas for all time, practically, from Indian as-saults. They followed and fought the Indians in driving storms, at times with no resources but the buffalo they killed, and the obligations the Southwest is tinder to them Lave never really been acknowledged by the government of the United States.. The most romantic feature of the campaign was the rescue of the women from Logan' county, Kansas, whom they found in the Panhandle among the Indians, whom they beat after a fierce fight. Capt. John. Q. A. Norton of Lawrence, Kan., who is credited with marching alone in front of a Con federate battery, told me personally the particulars of that episode, a tale that would do credit to the pen of a Dumas. As General Custer j say- - in his report: In obtaining the release of the captive white women, and that, too, without ransom, the men of my command, and particularly those of the Nineteenth Kansas, who were called into service owing to the murders and depredations of which the capture of these women formed a part, feel more fully repaid for the hardships they have endured than if they had survived an overwhelming ' victory over the Indians." KanCol. H. C. Lindsey of the Twenty-secon- d sas, In the Spanish war, was a- - sergeant major of the Nineteenth Kansas under Colonel Moore. Captain Norton, a soldier of the Civil war, then In 18G9 a young lawyer at Lawrence, and an officer of exceptional courage and capacity and rnent, stijl lives at Lawrence, one of the foremost citizens of our great state, a soldiei' and a gentleman of the highest and best type, always gentle, capable courageous and chivalrlc. The .Eighteenth and Nineteenth Kansas were the only volunteer soldiers that the American government raised In a third of a century from 1865 to '1898. They performed a service that had as many, difficulties as any of our veterans. They made a campaign, as romantic and remarkable rs a novelist could depict. They rescued from the horrors of Indian captivity the wives and, daughters of the frontiersmen who made for us the great West and brought it into civilization. They bavA lived In. patience for half a century without any fair or just expression of appreciation by this republic for their excellent services. All that I ask now is that you give to them the same financial consideration that you give to other soldiers of similar accomplishments an) similar heroism. . . - |