DENNY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XII, Issue 2452, 1 September 1906, Page 7

DENNY

By LANDIS MILLS

(OopvrttfOh . »v the Short Story Pub. Ootp—r All Hi«bt* Bnerved.)

THE Incident waa told to me year* back, when I waa seoond assistant engineer with the Golden Crown Mining company, at Red Dog. At the time It raised by several notches, in my opinion. those rough miners with whom 1 was so constantly associated; and In later years 1 have often recalled it when the course of events has brought me face to face with the hypocrisy of a large city. It was told me the eve before St Patrick’s day, for I remember having started for a ball given by the Irish element. The night was clear and cold, but the wind was so sharp that I was chilled through, and stopped at the Traveler's Rest for a warming glass of stimulant I pushed open the door —the old bul-let-scarred door, with its heavy hinges—and entered the bar-room. The usual crowd was not in evidence, and of the five occupants, four were in the Act of taking their departure. They carried their shovels with them and as they passed me and went out on the windy street they wished me a good evening. The door closed behind them, and I was left alone with Parson Sam. I walked to the big stove, and while warming my hands asked if the boy* were going to work that night Sam pulled at his pipe, and replied; “No.” I remarked the fact that they had their shovels with them, and asked for what use they were Intended. Ram took the pipe from his mouth, expectorated In the direction of the base of the bar, and replied: “Gotn’ to give Denny an airin’.” “And what is the matter with Denny, and where is he?" I asked-. “Nothin’ at present,” he replied; "he’s in the cemetery on the hill." “Dead?” I askom “Yes.” he replied. “And who was Denny?” A look of surprise came over hie face as he asked: “You haven’t heard of Denny , Mr. Hopkins?” and then, after a moment's pause, he added: "Well, maybe that ain’t so strange, after all. You’ve only been in Red Dog some six or eight months, and Denny died just five years ago. cornin’ to-morrow." “And why do they remember him so well now?” I asked. Sam removed his arm from the back of his chair, rested his elbows on his knees, and. gazing through the open door of the stove at the flickering flames, told me the story of Denny. "You see, Denny was sorter mild llke, awfully gentle and quiet spoken, you know, so the boys didn’t pay much attention to him. ’cept when they were In bad humor, and wanted some one to take It out on. He took it nil in a quiet, good-natured sort of way, never thinkln' of hittin’ back, so we all thought he didn't have no sand. At least that's what we thought, until that St. Patrick’s day about which I’m fellin’ you. "There was a good deal of drlnkln’ goin’ on the night before, and four patriotic Irishmen kept It up until they were regular blind. They were a sorry lot when they sFTowed up for wort the next day. and the hoes gave them a regular raking down. “That mornln' wns the first time I ever saw Denny show any temper. He was mad clear through at the thought of workln’ on St. Patrick’s day. and refused to take his pick out of the tool shed. When the boss comes up to him. and asks what’s the matter. Denny Just points to the green ribbon pinned on the front of hi* shirt, and says: ’lt's Rt. Patrick’s day, and I don’t work.’ "Any other man would have beer, given his walkin' paper* as quick ns shootln’ but somehow or other, the boss always made an allowance for Denny. " ’Rut we can't stop work. Denny.’ he says. "Denny stood sort of stuhborn-llko, and replied: 'Well, you oughter have some sort, of celebration, or, at. least, run up a green flag over the office.’ "Tho boss was for humorin' him, and says: ’And we are goin’ to celebrate. At ten o'clock we be a-roln’ to Are off a blast. In honor of old St. Pnt, that will h'ow all the snakes out If Ireland.’ •' 'At. ten?* says Denny. “’Yes, at ter.,’ replies the bo— “That sort tf him. Qyttb-

oat another word he grriMMS M* pfcfc, and went after the boja, a ringin' some Irish song. "The bo— wasn't jokin', tor fast about the time ha said, he called all hands to quit work, and the engineer came In, and placed the dynamite cartridge and the machine lor eetUn’ It oil. "We all got at a safe dtotan—, and stood there awaitin' the explosion. Denny was almost beside himself with delight, and, steppln' out a little distance in advance, he called out for his pal, Jim, to join him and see the snakes come wrigglin' out of the shaft. But Jim didn’t answer, for he wasn't there. "The englner, who waa a-boldin' hi* watch, seein’ that things went off on time, turned round when he heard this, and got awful white. It didn't take no time for us to find we were four shy, ana them four the ones that had been so drunk the night before. Not a man spoke, ’cept the engineer, and he said: ’My God!’ We all knew them fellers were still in the mine. "Then it was that Denny made the 60 of us out to be cowards, and him a hero. Without a word, he ducked his head a’tween his shoulders and set off for the shaft as fast aa his legs could carry him, the green ribbon a-tlutterin' over hi* shoulder. “One or two of us made a move at if to foller him, but the engineer threw out his arm to stop us, and bis voice Sounded mighty strange when he yelled: ’lt’s death —40 seconds.' "We all knew then that the cartridge would go off in 40 seconds, and that we had seen the last of Denny. It sort of paralyzed the boya, and they just stood round like so many statues. To me it seemed somethin’ closin’ in on all sides of me —a sort of interferin’ with my breathin’—and for the life of ms 1 couldn’t take my eyes off the engineer, he stood there holdln' his watch. He was white as a piece of paper, and the sweat was rnnnin' down his face just like it was midsummer. "Forty seconds ain’t much, Mr. Hopkins, but it seemed like a year to me. I was just beglnnln’ to think that maybe Denny had got there .n lime, after all, when the engineer i«t go his watch, and sort o’ slipped down prayin’ like. The time waa up, and the cartridge exploded. "They say that drunken men ha* luck, and I reckon rt’e so, for them four drunken Irishmen Keren t hurt at all. They were lylu fiat In the side tunnel when the cartridge went off, and aside from bein’ nearly summered, got off without a scratch. But It wasn’t that way witn Denny. He must have been right Oj the macaine wfien the explosion loos place, for he was all sort o’ caved in, ana his green ribbon was black a piece of coal. "Men had been killed fn the mines afore, but never like this, and for the first time there was a complete snutdowu —all In the honor of Denny. Ho had the biggest ruiieral that ever took place In Red Dog. "We all felt as though we should like to do somethin for him, for. you see. we hadn’t treated him just right when he was with us; but we didn’t know Just what to do, until tne engineer proposed that we plant grass on his grave. There wasn't no grass in the graveyard, you know, and we thought it would please him to have somethin' green grow in' over him. You see. it was green he waa a-wear:n’ when he died tryin' to save the boys. "So we had the engineer send to Chicago for the best grass seed that could be had, and when spring arrived we hauled dirt from the valley, and planted It. "Ever since then, on thq night before St. Patrick's day, a committee — one man from each workin' gang—goes up and shovels away the snow, and makes things ship-shape. So when the sun comes a-peepln' and a-smllin’ over Balden's ridge, a-Ughtln’ up St Patrick's day, there'll be one little spot or green In that big white wilderness, and the rlbbnus will be a-flut-terin’ from the stakes as mark out Denny a claim. "That's whaX the boy* be a-doln' now." Chin—e Lady’* Dress. "The Chinese iady dresses better than the American, but her styles have been much the same for thousands of years.” said a Chinaman to a magnificently clad American woman, as quoted hy the author of "As a Chluamau Saw Its.” He makes other Interesting criticisms as well. He says that it is supposed to add to the charm of the Chinese woman to cripple herself with bandaged feet and then goes on to remark about the evil effects of the corset habit. He also draws some parallels between the varying standards used by the American women on the bathing beach and In society.— Chicago Dally News. Insulting the Kaiser. A Berlin special says n curious ease of lose majeste is reported from Colmar, where an Impoverished bookbinder named Decker, a cripple, was sentenced to two months’ Imprisonment for this crime. He entered tho police office, ashed for a piece of paper and wrote some remarks on it which were regarded as an insult to the kaiser. Decker has been already charged with nine different offenses of a simitar character, for four of whtrh he had suffered long periods of Imprisonment. His object in nearly evory case was to secure hoard and lodging.—London Telegraph. Montreal’s Famous Church. The great landmark in Montreal lathe Cathedral of Notre Dame, which, next to the famous cathedral of the City of Mexico, is tho largest church building In America, and has a seating capacity of 12,000. The church was built In 1820. and la noted for its magnifleont.chimes, one of the ttolls of which, called ”Lo Gros Bourdon.” Is one of the largest suspended bell# in the world, and weighs 24,780 pound*.

TO CAPTURE RATTLESNAKES. Sot Such a Difficult Feat When One Goes About It the Bight Way. It isn't everybody who knows how to catch a rattlesnake, even should he have sudden occasion to put such knowledge in practice, says the Chicago Chronicle. The first indication of the presence of a rattler is the sharp, uninistaka ble rattle. The reptile is tin* fairest tighter of all living creatures, never failing to give due warning of its hostile intent. Bending low and gazing among the ahrubs, the dangerous one may be espied. Ho is curled on himself like a spiral spring, his head flat and triangu lar, and a fourth of his body raised out of the circles of coils and bent into the shape of a horizontal H, ready to strike with lightning rapidity. The eyes glare black ajod cold as the viper is poised like s tanse spring, alert and ready to bury its long, needlelike poison fangs and to inject the frightful poison. if the intruder is without strik ing distance and remains where he is, he is in little danger, as only in the rarest cases have the* snakes been known to attack and assume the initiative. If the hunter with draws, gradually the viper assumes a position of repose, which it maintains until again threat ened. But to the snake catcher the threat of the rattler is not a serious deterrent. He knows the creature can strike only within a radius of about one-half its length. Having struck it must recoil and aim a second time before it can send out its hideous head. A sixfoot stick is all that is necessary to catch the formidable snake. Pushing the end of the stick to ward the reptile, the hunter watches his chance. The rattler is motionless, as if carved out of stone, only its beady, icy eyes fastened upon the end of the stick to await the proper moment to bite. When that comes there is a movement too quick for the eye to follow, and the long fangs are sunk into the stick, while the reptile, realizing its mistake at once, is al ready coiled up and again in a fighting attitude. Before it can strike down comes the pole, pinning the long, squirm ing body to the ground, and the hunter walks boldly toward the helpless one, takes it up close be hind the head, where the poison fangs cannot reach him, and puts his captive into a bag. There are other methods of catching the rattler—for in stance, when the reptile is in its winter quarters and lethargic and lazy. But the manner described is the way the professional snake catcher secures his specimen*.

Punishment for Detectives. Two Washington ‘'detectives” were returning from Ohio with a horse thief iu custody and permitted their man to escape hy jumping through a car window. They wired a report to the sheriff and promptly received instructions not to return unless they brought their prisoner with them. That is the way to talk. If two men. well armed and having the an thority to shackle a prisoner, can not bring him across the continent in a railway train it is time for them to seek some other occupation and forfeit the amount of tin*ir official bonds. The trouble is that we hold such official delinquencies too lightly. To per mit a criminal to escape is as great a wrong against the public as to abscond with public funds, and punishment for the offense should be as certain in one case as it is in the other.—Portland Ore gouian.

Trained Horse’s Tricks. IlauG, the performing horse, which made a sensation in Berlin for a few days because it -a as thought he could count, sjh-11, etc., has been proved a fraud, or l’is owner has. Ills groom lias con ft-ssed. As to the counting, as long as the groom kept his (-yes on the ground llans continued stamping with a hoof. As soon as tie- groom looked tip the horse ceased to stamp. All hi* tricks were done hy signal. Germ Destroyer#. A French bacteriologist de elarea that lemonade, eider, seltz er and similar drinks will kill ty plioid germs, while alcohol at L's pereent.destroysmierohes, and at per cent, prevents their develop went. .