fl FLORIDA CANNIBALS. Interesting Discovery of a Phila- delphia Antiquarian. Mounds Which Contain Evidence of the Cannibalistic Practices of 'the Original Indians of the State. As a field for the scientific research of archaeologists and anthropologists FlOrida has been fruitful from the time of Le Moyne, who escaped the St. Johns river massacre .in the latter part of the 16th century, to the present date. Le Moyne was among the first, if not the first, explorer of Florida antiquities and he came under the many disad- Vantages of three centuries ago, and in a country full of hostile tribes and infested‘ with more hostile white men. The latest follower of this daring ex— plorer is a gentleman who is about to start from this port on a tour of in- Vestigation of Florida’s antiquities in a vessel built and equipped for the special purpose and accompanied on the voyage by a small coterie of con- genial friends. This gentleman is Prof. C. B. Moore, rep1esentative of the Phil- adelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and his vessel is the Gopher, which has been built specially to float in shal- _ low w aters. It also combines all the comforts of a winter home, a library, study rooms and laboratories, dark rooms for photography and all the paraphernalia necessary in the study of natural history, w herever the chance for such study may be found. The party will be made up of Prof. Moore, who is at the head of the work, and from whose pen will come the re- ports to the scientific world of the re- searches that are made here. His asso- ciates are Dr. M. G. Miller, Dr. B. Henry and Dr. C. S. Walker, each of whom will make a study of some par- ticular branch of the subjects that are to be investigated. Prof. Moore was called upon in his cemmodious quar- ters on the Gopher just as the boat was about to leave for a. trial trip up the river. 1 a “I have spent 21 winters in Flo.- -ida.” he said, “and I have made quite astudy of her extinct 1aces, as well as of her present inhabitants. I carry a crew of six men besides the engineer and cap tain, and all of these men I have had. VV ith me for em eral seasons before Thev are trained mound diggers, and they know what kind of VV01k is re— quired of them in that branch. I have made a special study of the men ads of Florida, and I have opened at least 100 shell mounds and nearly 200 sand mounds in this state. The collection of Florida anthropology and relies in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences is the best in the world, and is larger than all others combined. “The shell mounds of Florida are de- posits of the shells of fish that were eaten by the early inhabitants of this country, and are really refuse heaps. Above Palatka the shells are those of fish that could live in fresh waters and resemble what I should call a periv vinkle. From Palatka to Jacksonville there are a few of these mounds, and below here and nearer to the ocean the shells are those of the oyster. The extent of these mounds is sometimes marvelous, and shows that they must have been the accumulations of great spaces of time. That mound from which C. H. Curtis, of Blufi‘ton. has been send- ing some samples for paving your streets in Jacksonville covers about 35 acres, and I have dug into it to a maxi- mum depth of 25 feet. You will see that they are not mounds of conical shape, like the sand mounds, but were formed, as I think, by the throwing,r . aside of the shells as the fish were con- sumed by the Indians. At every depth of their formation I have found a fire- place in which fish were cooked. When the accumulation of shells left these fireplaces in a hollow these hollows were filled up and another fireplace was started above the old one, or in another place. “An interesting fact has been proven by the surroundings Of these fire- places, and that is the inevitable con- clusion that the original Florida In dlan was a cannibal. I have found to~ gcthcr about these feeding places the bones of the wild turkey, the bones of .a deer cracked open to get at the mar— row and the bones'of human beings, charred and showing the result of cooking. If I had seen but one instance of this I should not make the assertion, , but it has been proven by repeated dis- coveries, and the conclusion that I have reached is that the Indian of cen~ turies ago in this state was in the habit of eating his kind. “The sand mounds were formed in a different manner. They are conical in shape, and were evidently built with great care. They were used as the I ~uria1 places of the dead, and we have ' found evidences of their having also been used as places of residence. were formed in strata or layers, which They ? were built one above the other at wide- : ”separated periods of time. I am also . satisfied‘that they were constructed, at least many of them, in pre-Columbian periods, but how long before .the dis covery of America by Columbus I am not able to determine. We have been able to trace to a certain extent the re- lations of these Indians with the other "tribes in other parts of the country, We have found many pieces of copper of the kind called ‘lake’ copper, or that which is found in the northern pen- insula of Michigan and in the Lake Superior region', from which the Pe‘. Those In: culiar kind takes its name. dians did not have the knoweledge of the alloys of metals, andfihe lake cop- per is a pure metal, while that which was known in Europe was alloyed, or: was not taken from deposits ..of pure. metal. I have proven this fact by carc- ful analysis of the metal that I have .afound in these mounds, and my theories have been accepted by the scientific \‘World as bearing on the antiquity of 3:116 Indian in this state. ”—Florida Cit- zen. —E*\..._ ' found another card: - means a female farm servant. The THE EVENING GAZETTE HOW SHE REFORMED HIM. No Admittance in the Small Hours With- out the Password. _ “What is the matter?” asked one of Mr. Vivvles’ boon‘companions. “You haven’t taken the pledge, have you?" “No; but I’m not looking on the wine when it is red in the cup, just the same." “Reformed, have you?” “Yep. You’ve heard of a. woman’s marrying a man with the idea of getting him to stop drinking. It doesn’t always work,-but it did in my case. My VV;ife is a stu- pendously clever woman.’ Made you promise, did she?” “She didn’t haVc' to. VI hen I started downtown to-night she said: ‘I’ve lost the latch key, dea1, but it won’t make any difference. You ring the bell and I’ll let you in.’ I said: ‘All right.’ ‘Only,’ she said,‘ VV e’d better, agree on some password, so that VV hen you ling I can look out of the window z: nd make sure it isn’t a burglar! ‘Of course,’ said I; ‘what’ll the password be?’ ‘I have it,’ she ansvs ered; it mustn’t be too simple. You just say ‘Irrepressible repreflensibility,’ and- then I’ll come down and let you in.’ Gentlemen, if I can’t say irrepressible reprehensibility when I get home I don’t get in, and, moreover, I assume the chances of being taken for a house- breaker. I’ve simply gotto be careful.” And he went over~and resolutely seated himself next to the ice-water tank. INSANITY IS TABOOED. Prominent Wisconsin Lawyer Who Will Not; Enter That Defense. The following story is told of John Brennan, of Stevens Point, as a criminal ‘ lawyer: The story goes, says the Mil- waukee Journal, that a farmer who of the state sent for Mr. Brennan to de- fend him, offering to deed him his farm if he would take the case. Brennan; wanted his pay in advance, and so the ' farmer made over the prOperty to him. The murder was a most brutal and cold- blooded one, and Brennan kner that there was but one plea that might save his client from a life sentence, and that was insanity. The trial was one of the fiercest ever fought in a IVisconsin court. The attorney for the defense 0c.- cupied'a whole day in his closing ad- dress to the jury, and the effort was .1. masterly one. The jury found the man insane and he was sent to Oshkosh. Once there, he improved rapidly and in a few weeks was discharged. His first act was to sue Brennan for the recovery of his property, on the ground that he. was insane at the time of deeding it.: In the face of his own argument that. the man was insane, Brennan could do ' nothing and the farmer won his case. Brennabn has blacklisted insanity as a defense for murderers. THE TRAMP GOT A GOOD MEAL: He Also Proved That Restaurant Men Sometimes Make Grave Errors. “No, sir! Inever feed tramps,” said the boss of the lunch counter. “If you get started to feeding bums, they will never quit coming.” A tall man, shabbily. dressed, came - shufliing into the room, and walked to a seat in the rear as the proprietor was talking. He heard the conversation. lifted 23his eyebrows in a deprecating way and ordered a sirloin steak, with i mushrooms and French fried potatoes” The proprietor and his friend chatted l on and the tall man ate his steak and had coifee, Wheat cakes, cup custard, apple. pie and an order of cheese on the side.‘ Vi henvhe arose and VV ended his VV ay up the aisle he bore in his hand a check for an even dollar. He paused in front of the desk. ' l “I believe,” he said “that you said a few minutes ago that you neV er feed tramps. 9” “Exactly ” answered the proprietor. The tall man chuckled. “I am sor1y , sir,” he said, “but you do not always tell the truth.” And he escaped uninjured VV hile the ! p1 op1 ietor VV as realizing the truth and force of his observation. HIS‘ PRICES WERE HIGH The Quee‘r Revenge \Vhich Was Taken by 11 Traveler Upon a Turkish Hotelkeeper. Some time .ago an Englishman vis-_ ited Caifa, an out-of-the-way place in? the dominion of the sultan of Turkey. 1 On 'asking for his hotel bill before leaving he found himself charged out- rageous prices for the sorry accommo- dation he had received. He flew into a rage, but finally, on the advice of his wife, paid the whole amount. A few days afterwards the hotel keeper re- ceived a letter, saying: “Your prices are too high!” A few weeks later a package arrived. The inn keeper re- moved wrapper after wrapper, 100 of them, and then found a. card on which was written: “Your prices are too high!" A few months later, quite lately, a large box was sentbim, and he paid a goodly sum for freight charges. On opening it, and after doing a tre- mendous amount of unpacking, he “Your prices are too h: gh!” Since then the poor man has 1efuserl to accept any more letters, parcels or boxes. 1 . Slavery in Englahd. Slavery survived in England much later- thun’is generally suppoSed. The word bondage in Northumberland still '1 coolies and salters (i. e., salt miners) of East Lothian were actually slaves till 1775. If they deserted their service anyone harboring them was liable to a penalty of five pounds sterling if he did not restore them in 24 hours. The last slave in England was not freed completely until 1799 and in 1842 there was a coolie living who, as well as his father and grandfather, had worked as a slave in a pit at Musselburg. A Trapping Plant. The baited trap is an imitation of the dionea or Venus fly trap. This singular specimen of the plant world presents to unsuspicious insects a drop of honey— like jelly, and when the victim descends to sip he finds himself seized by ifihe t1 eacherous leaves of the insectivorous— plant which surround and strangle him on the Spot '— lie progiessed rapidly? "and was soon . rived in London penniless. - had killed his wife in the northern part i . comp] ishments. i amassed a fortune of about $100,000 l A FAMOUS-Tum. An English Pickpocket Who Was - King of His Kind. He Established a Thicves’ Trust in Eng- land, of Which He Was Presi- dent—Incidents of His Career. The ex-king of pickpockets in Lon- don, Mr’. Joseph Wailey, has just died of pneumonia at the age of 83 years, 40 of which he spent from time to time in jail. Like a grand old-time mon- arch, he had several wives; at least seven are known to have constituted his better half. His family, of course, was extremely numerous, but he didn’t bother himself much about looking after them. He was born at South- 'ampton, and commenced to. practice his profession at the age of. ten. He was then engaged almost exclusively in the handkerchief department, but promoted to the bunch of jeVV eer and pocket— —.books When he VV as abo ut 193 years old he was president of the first pickpocket trust ever formed in Eng land. Mrs. Wailey, his mother, was a good and religious woman, and when her bad son, Joe, was sent to jail for the first time she died of grief. Joe cried bit- terly over the loss of his mother. but soon dried his tears and resumed his old vocation, He became tired of Southampton and started for the-cap- ital. On his way to London he was at- tacked by footpads. He pitched into .them and killed one, but they finally succeeded in robbing him, and he or- Six months after his arrival there he found him- self, as he said. “‘in comfortable 'cir—' cumstances.” He had now the means of extending his operations. He found- ed and directed for several years a band of robbers in different lines, in- cluding burglars, footpads, pic'kpock- ets and sneak-thieves, that were the terror of the suburbs of London. Most of Wailey’s companions were captured and sent to jail, but he for a long time managed to hide himself from the police. On one occasion. he jumped into the Thames, and the morning papers came out the next day with an account of his suicide. But Wailey was an all-round athlete, and swimming was one of his notable ac- So he reappeared at Gravescnd, where he was the most suc- cessful blackmailei; on record. This new branch of his profession amused him most, because he did not know be- fore he took it up that there were so many fools in the world as there really are. “’hat he termed his very simplest tricks brought him large revenues. The trust was extended until it had members in all the. principal cities in England, and Wailey was mill king, excgpt during the interreg'num that follo'V'ived any one of his numerous con- Victions. At last, when he became rich, he began to think of retiring from business and living peaceably upon his hard-earned money. llis mind took a religious twist, prob— ably an inheritance from his mother. One Sunday morning, while wandering through Victoria park, he noticed a large crowd gathered around a stand f1 cm which a colored man was preach- ing. The c0101 ed man VV as Celestin Edwardy. “’ith the old- time instinct of a pickpocket, Wailey at first thought I , ' SHIP WREATHED IN ELECTRICITY Remarkable Storm Through Which an Ocean Vessel Recently Passed. One of the most remarkable electric storms at sea, which probably seemed intensified by reason of the fact that a cargo of Spanish iron ore passed through it, was experienced by theBrit- ish steamship Mercedes, which arrived at this port the other day from Bilbao, says the Philadelphia Record. On the Grand banks of Newfoundland during the nights of December 3 and 4 the ocean appeared like a mighty mass of flame or an endless stretch of prairie fires. Balls of electrical fines hissed and exploded in all directions and dart- ed amOng the vessel’s masts and rig- ging. The Mercedes’ escape from going down on December 1 seemed little short of a miracle. She was struck by a south- west gale, which was accompanied by seas rolling high. During the height of the storm'a huge deck derrick, weigh- ing many tons, was torn loose from its . i‘astenings find swept overboard, leav- ing a hole in the vessel’s deck, through which the water ran into the cargo. In its course it carried away the main top- 13mst,VVhicl1 was also of iron; part of the flying bridge, the after winch, and pant (of the deck fittings. Soon after- ward the storm partly subsided, when 1he electrical fire appeared in all direc- tions. It hung in big balls for two nights from the masts and fore and aft stays, and practically turned night into day. As the big fireballs came together they would burst with aloud report upon the Vessel and disappear. Under this light at night such temporary re- ‘pairs were made as were deemed neces- sary to reach port. DANGEROUS LIGHTS. Oculists Protest Against the Use of Elec- tricity with Plain Globes. An English paper states that London oculists are up in arms against the very serious danger to the community caused by the electric light. Several eminent eye doctors are agreed on the point that unless a stop is put to the exposure of uncovered electric lights in the streets and in shops and offices nearly all the population will become blind. Experts are so greatly exercised in the matter that. they even suggest that parlizunent should take it up and prohibit the use of plain glass globes for electric light unless they are prop- erly shaded. Commenting on this, a London electrical journal says: “It is not customary to look at the sun, and not even the most enthusiastic electri- cian would suggest that naked arcs and incandescent filament-s were ob~ jects to be gazed at without limit. But naked arc lights are not usually placed so )as to come within the line of sight, and when they do whatever may result, the injury to-the eye is quite perceptible. The filament of a glow lamp, on theothcr hand, is more likely to meet the me, but a frosted bulb IS an extremely sir-3 ple and common way of entirely getting even that difficulty. The whole trouble can easily be remedied by the use of prop- crl-y frosted or colored glass globes. In any case, however, the actual perma- nent injury to the eye by the glowing filament is no gieateI than that due to an ordina1 , gas flame.” . FISH THAT DRANK WINE. Some of Them Developed a. Taste for It and Got Hilarious. “Did you over see drunken fish?” in- he would work the crowd, but he ' simply VV orked his way near enough to ; the preache1 to be able to listen to his words; and he did listen with the i "re atest attention. He became moved, i and tears rolled down his 'cheeks. Then E _ and there he confessed his sins—moi . .. . . I small afiau‘. “lthout speaklng of h1s§ ephemeral transgressions, such as his! seven or eight marriages, Wailey had by active practice in all the various branches of his profession. .Upon the question of ' restitution linked to his repentance the records are silent. But at all events he got re- ligion, and got it bad, as his pals used to say. He turned preacher, and was considered one of the most eloquent among the lurid orators of the open- :1ir religious meetings in London. He became as great a favorite among the good and righteous as he had been among the bad and ungodly. A great throng attended his funeral, and in,I that throng, by way of honoring the. dead, the pickpockcts were present actively—London Letter. Friendly Insects. A party of Voung peoole sat on the I po1ch one eVening last summer and‘ z mus d themsehes by trying to kill a dragon-fly that was darting about in the air. Itmade frequent swoops in the i vicinity of their heads, when they all made a great ado. as though some ven- f muons creature were after them. The dragon-fly is in reality a most useful ’ creature, and where it abounds mos- quitoes and flies are relentlessly pui- sucd. It would be a good idea .f these f1iendly helpers could be domesticated. for when one can capture a dragon-fly and offer him a common house-fly he seizes it with the utmost greediness and devours it in an instant. The lady— bird is often killed by those who are not aware What a voracious devourer of in- sects it is. The lady-bird industriously hunts for the eggs and young of insects thatlive on the under side of leaves.— N. Y. Ledger. m Few visitors to the Metropolitan mu- seum of art in New York are aware, while admiring the iridescence of the glass bottles, plates and other ancient articles of ornament and use discovered in Cyprus, that the prismatic hues dis- played are a result of the decay of the glass. When disintegration sets in, the substance of the glasssplits‘into ex- ceedingly thin laminae which, as the sunlight traverses them, give rise to a. splendid play of colors. Like the leaves of the forest, these delicate glasses signalize their approaching dis- solution by bec0ming more beautiful.— ‘quired a Sonoma county wine grower. ‘No one would confess that he had seen intoxicated fish. says the San Francisco Post, and the silence indi- cated a predisposition to incredulty. “I suppose you are going to tel: us about a drunken catfish staggering down through the orchard and catch- ing a bird ‘3" suggested one. “Do you think I am a liar?” demand- ed the farmer, indignantly, but he was left in ignorance as to the belief of his hearers. “My winery is right on the bank of a little creek. This time of the year the water stands in pools and every pool is full of trout, suckers and pike. All of the waste from the winery is thrown into the creek, and that is enough to discolor the water, but the other day a big vat of sour claret burst. and nearly all of it ran down into the hole of Water just below the winery. In half an hour the pool was crowded with fish floating Lelly 11p. I thought they were dead, and pulled a big pike out, but he wiggled and flopped around just like an old drunk trying to get up without any- thing to hold onto. One by one they disappeared as theysobered up, and when the water cleared two days after- ward there wasn’t a dead fish in the pool. They had just been jagged.” CHARLEY HOYT'S SPEECH. = He Made One by Proxy in the Course of His Legislative Career. \ The scholar in politics has some odd experiences and is in a position to get lots of fun out of them. Charley Hoyt, the playwright, is a member of the New Hampshire legislature. Talking in Boston the other night, says the Troy Times, he related an incident that took place in his political career. He said that he never made, to his knowledge, more than one successful speech, and that was when he was endeavoring to get a certain measure, calling for a large appropriationthrough the house.- Actiun had been delayed as long as possible, but when the time came a bright young lawyer opposed the meas- ure, attacking Mr. Hoyt in a most sav- age manner and making many person- al allusions. Mr. Hoyt responded very briefly, but the attack had been so fierce as to arouse sympathy, and the measure was carried. Meeting one of his colleagues the next day Mr. Hoyt was asked what action he was going to take about the abusive speech. “Why, nothing,” responded Mr. Hoyt. “Are you going to stand calm- ly by and be insulted in this manner?” the gentleman asked. “I don‘ t exactly see what I can do,” returned Mr. Hoyt, with a little more than his usual drawl. Youth’s Companion.' ' > .9 \...A.. so a.ccidentally., “You see, I wrote that speech and paid . i the man $25 to deliver it. ” ' . ___.>_.,-.‘_._,“.__‘._____3 [Inly Eight-Page 01111 811111; Paper in Ilnnnecticul; Norwalk, South Norwalk, East Nor: walk, Westport, Saugatuck, New Canaan, Darlen. Rowayton, and Noroton. No other Paper in N orwalk compares with it for Local and General News. Its local news is bright, . reliable and well written. a "After once reading The Evening Gazette you be convinced that it is the best evening paper in Western COnncclicur'; and will .take no other. Having a special correspondent in each town, it is en- abled to furnish the latest and freshest news. VLYICENT. SUBSCRIBE r011 :11“. OFFICE OPEN DAY AND EVENING. at? Ask your newsdealer or newsboy to bring it a to you fora Week Eel) ‘ ,..
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