Barbour County Index from Medicine Lodge, Kansas • Page 7

GOLD HID IN GUATAWTA'S' BUILDING UP SAN FRANCISCO Citizens Make Marvelous Progress in the Work of Restoration. city needs 20,000 ekllled men an6V could employ 30,000 unskilled laborers. Some of the "Shrewder unskilled men have clubbed together and formed little companies of their own. They take a contract to remove debris tor a price, and perform the work during the noon hour and In the night. As unskilled labor is getting $4 a day, these willing workers who put extra time are getting more money than they ever saw before.

In much of the burnt district work is carried on by electric light Will San Francisco ever be rebuilt? Is the question asked by. people in the east The answer is that San Francisco is now being rebuilt It is not, a question of the distant future. The process Is visible to the naked cated. Nearly one-half of all losses has been paid. Considering the fact' that insurance records, 'as well as everything else, went up in smoke; this is a fairly good showing for five months.

Payments are being made through the banks at the rate of nearly $1,000,000 a day. The money goes into circulation for the most part and the resulting activity overshadows the fact that hundreds of other policy holders are waiting for a settlement The people of San Francisco personally and through their commercial organizations, ane watching the insur-. ance companies with a jealous eye. Companies that come to the front with money are reaping a harvest of new business, while those which fought for time or actually repudiated their obligations in whole or in part will be made to smart for it The chamber of commerce is mak- New Buildings, Finer Than Those Destroyed by the Earthquake and Fire, Goin? Up on Every Side "City Beautiful" a Matter of Time. since the disaster.

The scene was TREASURE THAT LIES DEEP IN M.UD OF VOLCANIC LAKE. Story of the Efforts to "Recover Fab- ulous Riches Which Were Cast Into the Lake Centuries Ago. The story of the' hunt which the Contractors Company, Limited, of London, has made for golden treasure at Lake Guatavita. in where it is supposed that the native Chib- chas centuries ego cast millions of gold and precious stones In carrying out-the peculiar rites of their religion is an Interesting one. The company has spent thousands cf.

dollars in draining the lake that they miglt get' at the treasure sup posed to be buried there, and now they are praying for rain to fill it again, for when the water had all been drained off. It was found that the mud at the bottom was 25 feet deep and would have to be washed away to get at the treasure supposed to lie at the bottom. But with the water drained out and the clouds withholding their accustomed moisture, the equatorial sun soon baked the surface of the bottom as hard as a rock. This put a stop to the effort to get at the treasure and for two years now the company has been wajting for rain. Geld Idol Recovered from Lake.

The reason for the belief that this lake holds untold treasure Is due to a religious ceremony which the Chlb- chas observed. These natives regarded the Lake of Guatavita. a little pool in the crater of an extinct volcano, some 9,000 feet above the sea level, as sacred. They believed their protecting deity lived in it. This deity was known as El Dorado, which means, not as is generally believed, the golden city, but "The Golden.

One." To this "Golden One" the Chibchas offered up every six months a sacrifice which would make even the mouth of a South African millionaire water. They threw into the lake at each of these ceremonies an enormous amount of gold and precious stones. The following account of one of these offerings, given by one of the descendants of the Chibchas. reads more like a gorgeous romance than reality, but it must be remembered Mmm -JilMmm, muni fStt fit lit MY FIRST BALLOON ASCENT that the discoveries since made by. Europeans to some extent at least! confirm the truth of this strange legend.

"All the people, says the narrator, "marching In solemn procession, with music and banners flying, assembled from the various towns and villages round the shores of the lake. Presently, after a silence, they made a great outcry, for there, in a litter on the top of one of the surrounding hills, they saw a golden man glittering In the sunlight This was their king, who had first been bathed in a kind of turpentine and then covered with powdered gold. He came slowly Houses of Engineers Who Are Walt ing for Rain. down the hill, and embarked on a great barge. At his feet was a pile of gold and another of emeralds.

He was slowly rowed to the center of the lake, four barges bearing priests sur-v rounding the king's vessel. Then braziers were lighted on the barges, and a great bonfire on the shore. The assembled people cried out to their deity, while drums and pipes sounded, and the priests raised their hands to heaven. "At a sign the multitude turned their backs to the lake, for the common people might not witness the actual sacrifice. A moment later there w.i3 a great splash.

Gilded king, gold and jewels, were all plunged into tho sacred waters. The gilded monarch swam in the lake, leaving a glittering wake behind him, while the people, with renewed clamor, threw their personal offerings of gold over their heads into the pool. Then king and people, believing their sins for tho past six months had been expatiated, joined in a great festivity." you were rising above the earth. Only, in the twinkling of an eye, you were looking down on everything, with all the familiar landmarks, all the wonted standards of comparison, blotted out You may, for example, often have had a bird's-eye view from a comparatively considerable height-say from the top of the Great Wheel. You are then above your scene, and the splendid view is beneath you.

But there always remain other points the steeple of a church, the tower of tho Imperial Institute, or the dome of St Paul's that adjust, as It were, the eye to a certain focus. But from a balloon tlpre are, of course, no standards of comparison. The dome of St Paul's is a flat circular hump in the rrniiTif1 nlan nf it ct rnnf nnd tho Alhprt hall is a molehill. Through the haze on the horizon one saw the Thames like a silver streak apparently embossed above the miniature panorama. It is customary to describe one's first ascent as an experience of exhilaration and enjoyment So to a certain extent it may be, but I am not altogether sure of It I have not the smallest intention of attempting i psychological analysis of my emotiens as a novice, but I think I may say that a feeling of uneasiness was In this particular case not over due to "blue funk." One thing that kept me quiet was a sense of the unreality of it alL It was as unsubstantial as a dream picture.

Trailing, for beginners at any rate, is the prime sport of ballooning. It means that a rope 250 feet long Is let down and allowed to trail over the face of the country. If it diminishes the pace. It gives cne an idea of the rate one is traveling, and a sense of motion absent under other conditions. For example, you may be traveling at the rate of 20 or 40 miles an hour, but because you are traveling at the same velocity as the wind, you seem drifting absolutely becalmed.

Hence a straw hat for ballooning Is not such Inappropriate headgear as at first sight it may appear. But trailing gives you your direction and tells you that you are traveling. Over trees, houses, haystacks, everything, glides, twists and winds the rope. It causes consternation In the poultry yard and a sensation among grazing cattle. It Is as near an approach to the joys of flying as the neophyte Is likely to get In his present incarnation, unless the Aero club suceeds In its avowed ambition of bringing aeroplanes within the range of practical aeronautics.

TV TV SI A tr TT TWW Diplomatic Reporter Colonel, how do yoa stand on the question of the spelling reform? Political leader Any system of spelling that suits the plain peepul this country, sir, is good enough for me. Chicago Tribune. First English Work on Angling. The first English work on angling was The Book of St Al ben's," published In the fifteenth century. San of the world's great sights ia San Francisco.

Cities have been ruined and ashes have covered but never before under modern conditions. A city ruined by earthquake and fire in the old days meant that the time of recovery would equal the age of the city up to the hour of its destruction. In this age the very evidences of destruction Are turned into agencies of repair and Improvement. Fire has rarely failed to bring about better conditions in a city, and San Francisco is no exception to the rule. It is not the improvement of the city that will make them marvel, however, as much as the rapidity with which the work will be accomplished.

The earthquake of April 18 caused a few million dollars' damage possibly $10,000,000 would cover that loss. The fire, which had full play after the juake had broken the water mains, burned over 514 squares, or cres, or four square miles, the total los3 being estimated at $500,000,000. On this property there was insurance amounting to about $315,000,000. Of this insurance about $150,000,000 had been paid in cash to policyholders up to September 15. The fire, as everybody knows, destroyed the business district of San Francisco, but left the shipping and residence districts intact.

Commerce continued without interruption, except such incidental disturbances as the location of new storage places and the accumulation of freight Thousands of people left the city immediately after the disaster, but competent authorities estimate that 9S per cent, of these refugees have returned. Their homes being intact they find that San Francisco is the place for them, after all, and they aro turning to rebuild the city, either with their capital or their labor. Bringing Order from Chaos. When the fire died down on April 21, the people of San Francisco were confronted with mighty problems, some of them demanding instant solution. As this article deals with the Kan Francisco of the future and not of the past, it is not neecssary to go Into details regarding the remarkable ability shown by the committee of fifty ia providing for the wants of the hungry and shelterless, writes Ira E.

Bennett, in the New York Press. That a a story by itself, and a most Inter- ostlng and inspiring one. Another pressing problem, however, was that of clearing the streets in order that communication might be restored. Thirty-six miles of streets were piled thigh with debris. Within five months this enormous mass of material has 6en removed, trolley wires have been trung, street car traffic reestablished and a system of debris removal inaugurated which disposes of 100 carloads a day.

If more labor were to tee had the work would go much Admission day was celebrated this War on Uonday, September 10. I saw 5 ca that day for the first time 'w1' V. lift Tf-5fw eye. Every steel building that was under construction at the time of the disaster is being rushed to completion. Other buildings have been contracted for, and with the removal Of Van Aess AVENUE debris and the arrival of materials the work will proceed.

Nothing could be more absurd than to doubt the recovery of San Francisco from Its great misfortune, in the face of the work that is actually in progress. The contract for the reconstruction of the Palace hotel on its old site, on a grander scale than ever, has been let The St Francis is now completing Its great steel annex. Business houses are arranging to build newer and stronger structures than those which succumbed to the conflagration of April '18 to 21. The city will not be rebuilt In a day, or a year, but it will go up with a remarkable quickness. "City Beautiful" Must Vait.

There has been much talk of a "city beautiful," with winding avenues about the hills, broad boulevards, park extensions, and so on. It was thought that with the buildings leveled to the ground the opportunity was open for the construction of a model modern city, uniting utility and beauty to a degree never yet approached in America, A little study of the situation shows that this is nothing but a dream. San Francisco people have enough on their hands In the way of getting into business again, in any shape, without tackling the great task of forming a city on aesthetic lines. Here and there a street may be widened and a little park established, but in the main there will be no attempt to reform the plans upon which the city was built. The railroads terminating at San Francisco are among the most potent forces in rebuilding the city.

They saved San Francisco from panic and possible greater disaster during the time of stress by carrying away thousands of people, free of charge, and bringing in emergency supplies. After the crisis the railroads turned in and assisted in the removal of debris. Temporary tracks were laid and rehabilitation was. immensely assisted. Merchants ordered big stocks of goods from the east and the railroads rushed the stuff to San Francisco.

There was a time, indeed, when the stuff piled up to such an extent as to paralyze the operation of the roads. Five thousand cars of freight were congested at San Francisco and Oakland. By heroic efforts the lingering freight was disposed of and a serious situation relieved. Now that the railroads are able to look after their own business, they are expending great sums in permanent improvement, which will facilitate the reconstruction of the city. Insurance Situation Hurts.

The insurance situation at San Francisco Is exasperating to those who happened to hare policies In shaky or dishonest companies, but on the whole the lapses of these com panies bare not affected the city as variously aa early reports indl- hotel Er i JxCm IffiffPifffill? appalling. With the exception of a worker here and there, the destroyed district was destitute of laboring men. Ruins, ruins in every direction, as far as the eye could see; millions of tons of bricks and mortar piled up in half destroyed basements; a strong breeze blowing-dust and ashes everywhere; writhing steel beams and crumbling granite marking the sites of once imposing buildings, and the very thought of bringing order out of chaos sufficient to stagger the Imagination. On the next day a far different picture was preesnted. In every basement was a gang of workmen.

They struggled with girders, piled brick, sifted good material from refuse, handled pick and shovel, mixed mortar and loaded wagons with debris. Thousands of busy hands were to be seen down every street. Thousands of teams went about on the simultaneous task of removal and reconstruction. Little Loss of Population. To one familiar with the crowds that made Market street and the ferries famous, there does not appear to be any diminution of population.

The car system is wholly inadequate, although herculean efforts have been made to establish communication. The ferries are as crowded as ever. Theaters are filled to suffocation. The St. Francis hotel put up a temporary structure in Union square, and it is turning away a hundred guests daily.

Other hotels are filled and turning people away. It requires only a visit to San Francisco to disprove the report that the city has lost half its population. The quake shook the life out of some old firms and hastened the birth of many new ones. Dozens of stores bear the names of men who were clerks before April 18. Merchants from other cities have stepped in and established houses here.

Competition is keen, and money appears to be more plentiful than for many years. The scarcity of skilled and unskilled labor is the chief drawback to rapid construction. Wages are exorbitantly high, but this is the fault of contractors and proprietors rather than of the labor unions. The plumbers and stationary engineers thought they saw a chance to get rich quick, and raised their scale, but were not sustained by the labor council, which is an amalgamation of all the unions, and the old wages were restored. But the owners of buildings which were nearing completion at the time of the disaster are feverish In their anxiety to complete their buildings and obtain famine rentals, and their tactics in raising the wages of workingmen have caused labor prices to soar.

On this emergency work plasterers are getting $9 to $11 a day; bricklayers, $10 a day carpenters, $7 and $8 stonemasons, $8 to $10, and other skilled labor In proportion. San Francisco is a paradise for a workingman. Unskilled Labor In Demand. Unskilled labor is hard to The ing up a list of honest and dishonest HOTEL MAdESTIG companies. The Calilfornia delegation in congress will have something to say on the subject next winter.

The names of defaulting companies are to be sent broadcast through the world, and the opinion is universal In San Francisco that in the long run the defaulting companies will dis cover that they played a losing game when they defrauded policy holders of their rights. Insurance litigation promises to become great. Policy holders who have money enough to fight are not slow in invoking the aid of the courts. One or two important cases already have been decided, but the critical question is yet to be passed upon This question is as to the part played by the earthquake in causing fire losses. Policies are variously word ed, but In the main they provide that payment shall not be made if the loss is caused "directly or indirect ly by earthquake or other act of God.

Of course, if there had been no earthquake there would have been no fire, but the man whose house was consumed three days after the quake does not think the indirect cause is quite close, enough to the effect to justify the insurance com panles in repudiating all liability. Show True American Grit During the disaster the good humor and self-possession of San Francis cans astonished the world. Now, in the long tug of disposing of the ashes and rebuilding the city, this good humor never deserts them, and they are as confident as though they were beginning a city for the first time. There is Inspiration in num bers, comfort in common trouble, and a spirit of brotherhood that has not deserted them, although it is not as marked as it was during times of danger. The love of good cheer In the way of eating, drinking and lis tening to music is as strong as ever.

The climax Is a continual tonic, and invites to hard work. The very size of their disaster seems to nerve the San Franciscans to hasten the reconstruction of the new city. They come very near to boasting when they show their ruins, and some of them display a remarkably fresh memory of history by comparing their disaster with the fate of other cities that have perished by earthquake and fire, and risen again. According to these men, who cite history while making It the only bonfire that excelled San Francisco's was that which consumed Rome In Nero's time. The great fires of London, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore were mere hints of what a real conflagration can do.

So say these dusty, smiling, tireless San Franciscans, who revel in the advertising that their city has obtained. Their belief In the speedy reconstruction of the city is absolute, and they are backing their belief with money and- energy that balks a nothing. r. Everything was ready and at the psychological moment Mr Percival Spencer, the aeronaut, tilted a whole bag of ballast overboard, and the next moment we were above the elm trees. By that time the neophyte had sufficiently recovered a sense of his whereabouts to look over the side.

The crowd on the lawn was a procession of specks streaming over the bridge towards another part of the grounds. Snap Shots of the Balloon Taken from the Ground During Ascent. and the polo players. on the over side of the elm trees looked for all the world like little soldiers just taken from a child's box of toys and set out on a green tablecloth. The height was between 1.S00 and 2,000 feet The vast expanse of London lay like a huge map beneath every detail down to the infinitesimal specks of white that stood for the tea tables in one corner of the ground of the earl's court exhibition.

You could even see tiny specks crawling over a of match across a little ring of water to a miniature merry-go-round In the center. That was the Maxim "flying machine." The completeness of detail in the picture suddenly unrolled was perhaps the most amazing impression. For at first at any rate, it was difficult to realize that the scene was real. As the scenic effect of the ascent has often been described before, the earth seemed to be dropping away from you. It was certainly not as if 0 w1 it in 1 i 111 'Big i AL i i mJ fieOeOeOeOeOeOeOQOe0e0eQeQe0e0eQeCieOeOeOO0eOeDeO- Domestlo Science.

I may be old fashioned, said Uncle Jerry Peebles, "but I'm durned if I can 6ee any economy in buyin a 25 cent chunk of Ice to keep six cents' worth of blue milk from Chicago Tribune. Doesn't Always Work. -Money has wings and file away, I've heard." said the man with a scar; "But I've put lots of doush In a flying machine, Tet It never has flown very fx." Statesman. 1.