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 ' ' :^ â- I li-' t- N ii^ Ej :u THE BLACKFEET BSATES. X Baacc aitd Huit wlih Crowfoat Tea Year* A CO. In the winter of 1875 76, Crowfoot, bead chief of the BUckfeet, camped -with 100 lodges near Fort Hamilton, a trading post on the plains, some thirty-fire miles from Fort Macleod. The North- West Moonted Police had not long enter- ed the vast North-West. A year ox. two before their attenoated cavalcade had wonnd Its-thin way westwards from Dofler- n. In Manitoba, and had brought ap at the foot of the Rockies, and made its final little mark on the spot afterwards known as Fort Mscleod. Bat the best relations had existed between police and Indiana since the appearance of the whites. It was cheerf aUy, therefore, that half a dozen or more of as at Fort Macleod took the opportunity to go to Fort Hamilton soon after Crowfoot's arrival there. "Fort Hamilton," as a mere dot of a place inth« wilderness was pretentiously enough call- ed, belonged to a warm hear£)ed Irkhman, a Mr. J. Mealy, and it was in response to his invitation that we went. It was an in- vitation given with a view to sharing in a hont with Crowfoot and his braves. Leav- ing Fort Macleod early on a fine Winter morning, we aimed for Healy's hospitable hearth, and by nightfall we were there. Expec»nt of onr coming, oar host had arranged for a treat for us of the most ap- proved Blackfoot kind â€" a dance in our honor in the Medicine Lodge,. and accord- ingly after doing jastice iu the fort to a hearty supper, we repaired to the " ball- room " of the evening, there to meet our NOVEL EXPEKIENCE. The Medicine Lodge was a large wlg- irana, ugly and dirty like all its kind. En- tering we seated ourselves amid a circle of â- warthy braves. For .a time Eilence reign- ed supreme and the calumet, the pipe of peace, was handed round and from it war- riors snd whitemen in turn solemnly took each a puff tUl all had^tasted of its peace- ful inilaence. Then on a given signal all rose to their feet, warriors, whitemen and squaws. These latter were apart by them- selves. Standing stock still around the fire of the wigwam, there we all remained, the Blackfeet braves and squaws shouting words which sounded like " hi ya, hi ya, hi ya, hoT, how, ho^v," to the accompani- ment of frightful music, or what seemed a lot of old drums, bobbing th?ir heads aad bodies up and down in the most fantastic manner, and windins; up the whole with oae grand general yell, which must have savored of Pandemonium. I yon nan im- agine this, dear readers, you know ohiivM as much of an Indian dance as the writer. There was one pleasing feature, howerer, which I had almost neglected to mention. If one of the eqaaws happened tc take a particular fancy to a white visitor, and she happened to be near him during one of the grand promenades which followed each dance (tte dances have no variety), one of her friends would throw a shawl over their heads, and the happy swain had then the privilege, or rather was ex- pected to ive the duaky maiden a kiss. Imagine his happiness also when, on the following day, the dear creature came round to the post to get a present of a shawl or blanket, as proved to be the cus- tom We never afterwards felt at all in- clined for a renewal of the privilege. As the horses required a rest in view of work cut out for them in the way of buf- falo hunt, the following day was spent in shooting prairie chickens and rabbita, and getting arms and saddlery In good order for the coming hunt, or run, as it is more properly call^ in buffalo country. The next morning our party, accompanied by Crowfoot and some thirty of his braves, left Fort Hamilton at an early hour, hav- ing to proceed some ten or twelve miles before reaching the hunting grounds ac a place called the " Seven Miles Butte." Accompanying us was a party of squaws, whose duty it would be to skin and cut up the expected game. Riding qtdetly along. In order to keep horses fresh, at about 9 o'clock VAST HERDS WEKE .SIGHTED, and excitement became keen. All dis- mounted, and alter girths had been tight- ened, weapons loaded, etc, proceeded leisurely towards a large herd. The buf- falo did not trouble themselves much till the party was quite near, merely lifting tbeir heads now anJ then, but on our get- ting too close they moved away, slowly at first, but gradually increasing their pace till only Siose who were well mounted could get alongside, the pace showing to my astonishment the marvellous speed of these large and unwieldy animals In thousands the great herds lumbered away. Crowfoot and his braves following In their picturesque costumes with piercing yells' varied by the whip -like cracks of their rifles, all heard amid the bellowing of woimded buffalo. The weapon of offance nsed on this occasion was the American Henry, a sixteen shooter, the magazine containing cartridge running parallel with the barrel, and with this weapon nearly aU the Indians, Blackfoot and Sioux, were at that time armed. Over 100 animals were killed in the run, which was followed ap the next day by another. In which aboat 60 fell. The Indiana retained all the robes, also meat, with the exception of some tongues and choice parts, which fell to the share of Mr. Healy and his guests. Oar party returned to Macleod ruminat- ing over our initiation into the tremend- ous sport, whichis now a thing ef the past. But during the march of the Mounted Police across the North- West plains in 1?74 the commissioner and assistant oom- missioner computed that from a certain point on one occasion there were no leas than 80,000 buffilo visible. Now one ia cot to be seen in the same locality. They build London. one hoase every hoar In THE PHANTOM SI|VIVE* A ** BalT^UftlBc** Ckoit Mwy. There is on old bimhoose, anciently • gendemui'i mansion, dtiuited at no great distaaoe from Wendover, in Bnek- inghanuhire, which I liaTe recently learn- ed had hadtherepatation of being hannted foraconaidetable period. Hanyyean ago it waa tenanted by its owners, a family of the name of Theed,and several later mem- bers of this race were not only confident of the fact of its being haunted, bat were sometimes incanvenienced by the night noises, sighs, and sonnds wliich were oc- casionally heard in its northern wing. Here were tiie kitchen and scallery, over them being two attic bedrooms. Bat both of these latter rooms were disused â€" the windows in one being boarded ap, and the other being only used as a store-place for seeds and apples. I went to stay at the honse in the year 1 854,"in )rdsr tcjbe near some friends who rented a considerable tract in the country for partridge shooting in the antumn. At the time I knew nothing of the reported ghostly visitant, and very little of the lo- cality, except that a baronet (Sir F. Ber- nard-Morland) who lived near was a friend of mineâ€" oar friendship having been first formed at school â€" and I had no other friends thereaboats. I am quite certain, however, that he had never mentioned anything about the ghost, or anything likely to arouse cariosity with regard to the house. On returning thither late at night from a hard day's shooting, in the month of November, a friend who h»A. driv- en me in his gig, and was driving to his own home, put me down â€" not at the chief gate of the place, which lay in another di- rection, but at a spot from which, as he directed me, if I walked through a narrow fir plantation and then over a stile into an- other banked-ap walk, hedged in on both sides with filbert-trees, I should reach the kitchen and fruit garden of the house by a near cat, and save myself and him a considerable detour. It waa a fine night. The moon was up bat there were some heavy clouds in the sky towards the eastern horizon. On reaching the stile I vaulted over it, hold- ing my gun in my lef u hand. No s loner had I reached the nutwalk, the trees of which had been arched together and made to grow so as to form a kind of continaoaa bower, than I distinctly saw what I thought was an old man, with his back towards me, stooping in his gait, about eight or ten feet before me. He did not seem to walk, but to glide, with a curious smooth motion and to be about a foot off the ground. I palled out " Holloa I who's there X' but he took no notice, and glided on. I my- self promptly followed. In an instant I seemed to realise the undoubted fact that the form was shadowy, straiige, and sup^tr- nataral. I then stopped for a fewmoments. The weird form, which emitted a curious kind of light, as I then noticed, stopped too. I went on it went on. Then it sighed several times, with a deep, long- drawn, unearthly sigb, which terrified me considerably and at once turning round â€" its features being vague and Indistinct â€" it gave a piercing shriek, and suddenly vanished close before my eyes. At that moment a sound as of mocking, jeering voices, with laughter, rose on every side. This seemed to come from a large multiude of invisible persons quite near. Thelaugh- ter waa then repeated, as by voices up in the air, but fainter and fainter and I must say I was exceedingly terrified. I listened for some minntes, expecting to see the form again, or to hear the voices and laughter but all was at once still. Perfect silence reigned not a soond was heard. Eren the wind seemed to have sunk and there was no repetition of this remarkable occurrence. I reached the old house shortly and rfter having refreshed myself with a plain bat substantial meal, and being resolved to say nothing about what I had seen and heard to the tenants of the honse, went to bed. Afterwards I fonnd, on Inquiry, that " o d Squire Thee d used to besean o'nights in the nut- walk " bub not by every one, only by some, it was a part of the grounds of the house always avoided by servants. Two females, coming home from Wendov- er Fair, as I was told, had recently seen the old Squire, " wafting himself along" â€" as the phrase used had it â€" and heard the ghostly mockings, though they themselves crossed towards the house by a pathway through Cow-leas Mead. The account of the apparition and of the weird laughter, given by other independent persons, who either alone or together had witnessed the same, tallied almost exactly with that here recorded. The current tradition, explanatory of all this, was that a young woman and her infant child had been mordered in the house and buried in the walk by the squire, who subsequently made away with himself, being liaunted by his victim. This tradition certainly has truth for its foundation, and is generally accepted. A theory new and novel is that the vast depressions of the ocean beds are to be accounted for by supposing that the moon broke away from the earth more than 60,- 000,000 yeus ago. The basku are the sears then made. A Syracose woman boiled, scrabbed, and ironed. In the pocket of an apron, a $5 bill of the issue bearing the protrait of President Grarfield, and discovered it, upon taking the apron from the drawer, in as clean and perfect condition as a new bill. William Osborne, in Summit, Pa., is the oirner of a calf that is covered with wool, and, although like a calf, it bleats like a lamb. It is five weeks old and is growing nicely. The wool which covers its body is about ihxee-fourtlis of an inch long and very, bla^. EPITAPHS. The â- â- Morew Utcmtare •« the «raveyar Though to select a subject of g»»*J*f solemnity than that of death would be impoadble, the student of the literature of the churchyard cannot fail to be "teuck with the important part played therein by humorâ€" often of the broadest description. To do the writers jastice, it is in many cases of the unconscious kind. There was DO intentional disrespect to the mem- oir of " J.^hn Ross Kicked by a toss." And it may have been in de^ dejection that the friends of the nnfortunate youth killed during a pyrotechnic display, wrote upon his tombstone " Here I lie. Killed b7 a sky- Rccket in my eye." While its Caledonian origin must be borne in mind (it halls from Edinburgh there was probably no premeditated levity in the memory of " John Macpherson-that wonderful person Sx foot two â€" withont Ms SLoe And Blew â€"a: Waterloo. The humor of the following Is merely due to peculiar panctuation ".Krocted to tha memory of Joh' Phillips Accidentally shot as a mark ol affection by his brother." â- t is difficult to say whether in jest or monition the following was inscribed to the memory of an Earle of Kildare •Who killed Kidare»-Who dared Kildare to kill? Death killed Kildara.â€" Who dtire kill whom wiU Sepulchral reference to the former pur- salts of the departed have been very com- mon. Lawyers whose familiarity with "ways that are dark" have called for censure and doctors whose professional ministrations " have filled the half of this churchyard " have formed the principal subjects. Exception is made In favor, of a legal ornament, one Mr. Strange, but at the expense of his brother practitioners â€" " Here lies an honest lawyerâ€" Strange 1" The proposed epitaph to the eminent cook, Alexis Soyer " Peace to hlB hashes " Is well known. Less known but more admirable is that upon a deceased dyer â€" " Here lies a man who dye:; of woU a great stor » One day he ho didd himielf â€" and dyed no more' The conjugal relation, sad to say, has suffered sharply at the hands of the epi- taph writer â€" and sadder still to record, the weaker vessel has called forth the severest animadversion. Epitaphs of this class have usually been coarse and vulgar In the strain of the following • Here li us my poor wifeâ€" i sal slattarn aid bhrew If I said 1 regretted herâ€" I should lie too." It is a gallant Frenchman who, at Pera le Chaise, thus apostrophizes the defunct partner of his joys and cares " Ci-git, ma femme. Oh qi'elle est bien I Pour so a repos. et pour ie mien." Which, however, has its counterpart in an Entrllsh churchyard " Here lies my poor wife Janeâ€" here let her lie' She finds re at at last- and so do I." The unmarried fair have received gen- tler treatment, though a talkative spinster is awarded these lines "Under this stone the body lies of Arabella Young, Wno on the twenty-fourth of May, began to hold her tongae." Independent of its Interest as a record cf longevity, there is a sporting flavor sbont the following reference to one Stephen Rumblood, of Brightwell, quite unique " He livsd to 108, hearty and stronz 100 to 5 yon don't live as long." A request for burial in a particular spot is not uncommon, though seldom express- ed with the naivete of the following ••Under this yew tree, borled he would be." Because his father he, planterf this rew t'en. t-IGnilBfleld. 1769. The three following, dedicated to the memory of the departed matrons, are worth rescuing from oblivion •â-  Some have children, some have none Here lies the mother of tweniv-one [Woolstanton, A severe blow is dealt to tha sanitary reputation of the medicinal springs of Cheltenham in the lines below VPT®,-'!*®',.*" ^y ^^^^ dauffhfrs. All k lied through drinking Cheltenham WATOrB* Had we but stuck ta Epsom salts We shouldn't be lying m these cold vanlte. In fitting conclusion may be quoted the following rebuke administered to the morbid curiosity to satisfy which has been one of the missions of the epitaph Iq slightly varied forms it has been met with in divers comere of Enghmd, but waa last heard of in a churchyard In New Jersey W^^.f^^u"'""' "»;«^M^eyour precious time On bad biography or batter rhyme. For wnat I an* this orambllng clay assures. And what I was is no concern of yours." In his Arbor Day proclamation the (lovemor of Kansas says that the State which the pioneers found treeless and a desert has now more than 200,000 acres of forest trees, aU planted by settlers, and meteorologists assert that there has been a consequent great increase in the rain- fall. J^ 7^" *^ JJfedicai Tvma describes the island of Biadeira presenting the curious anomaly of a country which is destitute of any wheeled vehicle whatever a fact due to the almost complete absenca of roads. People travel in hammocks audi with three bearers only, they may ^umey all day with hardly a halt. The iiighest temperature of the island in 1885 was 90% and the lowest 46* the mean temperature of the months of the whole year varied but twelve degrees Thus for ths Winter months, ib was 61,60 60 • ypring,60,63.64; Summer, (58,71.72 wd Autumn, 70,69 64. " ' •" THE END ©F THE TRACK. gewe ef l»e Beaatles of the Cascade â- â€¢mmtalBS. Cascade mountain, which has just been paised, is a stupendous el«^»*^°^ °*.;;^*! deriving its name from a small stream that ooies high up from its eastern ride, and leaps down in P"«y.,?«^*!„^j; many ai abrupt ledge, tiU reachuMrthe level it loses its identity in the waters ot Devil's Head Creek. i.« Knn Seldom is its peak, which is about 4,500 feet above the valley, 8.900 jeet above the sea, free from veils of cloud and mist, â- ome hiding it out of sight, setting the mind wondering where its height Mid^ and some only dimly obsonring its darJc massive loftiness. Dense woods of arrow-straight ^spruce- pines, with here and there smooth lance- like pophu-s, color its esurth-surfaced parts with shades of green that darken as dis- tance lengthens untU ebon spots on the cold grey and white scene is all that teUs of mighty forests there. » i In the darkest density is the haunt of two black bears, that nightly visit and feed on the carcasses of three worn-out, old dead horses lying near a timber camp within 200 yards of the railroad. ' But their cunning and wariness Is more than a match for snares or attempts to discover and slay them, and though one, a huge beast, has been seen unex- pectedly several times, his majesty is al- ways miasing when purposely wanted. On Sunday Ust, the 2l8t, some men building a permanent tank at the 3rd sid- ing west of Calgary shot a fine young eagle, which measured 7 feet 10 inches from tip to tip of its outstretched wings. It was a grand bird, and would have been of much value as an ornithological speci- men if properly saved and preserved. Here, now, is a broader valley of the Bow river, very marshy in places, well wooded and thickly bashed in others. Ic is productive of prolific grass, a hundred tons of good hay having been cut here this antumn. And when the future urges settlement of this region, with clearance oi the useless vegetation, and fences en- close cnltivated fields and pastures that warmth and light have reclaimed to fer- tility and utility, pastoral scenes inciden- tal to mountain regions, with cczy little farmhouses â€" very diminutive contrasted with the gigantic propDrtions of the sur- ronnding country â€" gardens of miniature size with c jttage flowers of sweet simpli- city ana clearly defined hue will beautify this present wildernesa. Down the steep hills from many a winding path will come at even-tide the lowing cattle home, and daring the day, far up the heights, the pleasant tinkle, tinkk of bells will tell where they wandering jjraze. Where the mountain sheep crops the short, sweet herbage of ledges that hold a surface of soil from washing away through the re- peated rains and snows of a!;es, small flocks of hardy, tiny sheep will thrive and' grow fine wool and luscious mutton. A race of people, only ambitions of simple comforts and a peaceful existence undis- turbed by the ferment of political noise, unmoved by religious fanaticism, unlm- pelled to amass great wealth for the glori- fication of individual ability, prosperity and luxury, full of wisdom as to the des- tined fulfilment of mortality, and full of hope as to the certainty of a glorious hereafter, may arise and be the clearest shining jewel in the crown of Canada. Russian Women and ChUdren. The crying evil in Russia, be it remem- bered, is, and will be, heaven knows how long, its scanty population • and the main causes which prevent its growth are the fearful mortality among children of ten- der age (forty per cent die before the age of five) and forced oarrenness of the women. The woman, especially of the peasant class, usually marry late in life â€" not 'till they have hardened their bones for their husband's work" â€" as they are crashed by unconscious hard toil, both in their girl- hood and wifehood. Here as in Grermany a good helpmate is expected by her lord to be 'a8 strongas amule," and her mulish strength is not spared even while she should be entitled to the tenderest care. With respect to the children, those of the lower order, especially in the country, suffer from exposure to a cruel climate, partly owing to the boor's conceit that it is well the weakling should perish and only the hardy survive, but In a great measure from that dire necessity which bids pov- erty sink or swim. But even among the well-to- io people the children's constitu- tions are tampered with and vitiated from the cradle b; injadicious{coddling and cot- ting. For the nursery, as we all know, is an exclusively English institution, and the children throughout the continent, Ger- many, perhaps, excepted, are sacrificed to their parents' blind fondness, being made to share the meals, to keep the late hours and j iin in the talk of the grown-up peo- ple, as much detriment arising from the unsuitable di^t as from the unnatural pre- cocity of theirmental development. Hence nowhere does one see so many pale, thin and puny as well as knowing children of the upper classes as throughout the Czar's great dominions; nowhere do so many succumb to the treatment. But apart from the tndning of children in private families even in the foundling hospibds of St Pe- tersburg and Moscow (this latter harbor- ing as many as thirteen thousand inmates and the former {nrovlding for twenty-nine thousand) we learn from. Murray's hand- book, which lavishes the greatest praises on the vastness and munificence of these public charities that "the mortaUty among the children fs very great," and yeUhat "too many of these illegitimate Infants are saved as the lawful ofTipring of t^e nurses, left at that critical lie to R^tej^^?P«^^^^ *^*^« villages." So httUw the Ross fit to govern h^n THB CAITADUK H, WhatJandferdllemUKa.. Mr. Sandford Fleming «„„ anrnterviewwithaWinSiSsll" anenthistiipover theCanSl Montreal to ©ttawa, ^^H "IhavenoobjecaonS" the line, especially as it w« T^\ I ever passed over the ewte^' mean from Pembroke toMal? ' courselwasneverovertheW' Ottawa at noon ontheUthlnt"' ed Mattawa on the evenim, JlfiH We awoke the next moSi'^1 hours after passing SudbntvT^" "What did you think effi track so good between Sndba^ a distanca of perhaps 400 op ' seeing that it was to a large «« structed during the wbter of it perfectly new road." " " What are the grades " "The maximum grades! y, one foot to a hundred, and In 2^ the road iavery similar to i. Eastern Canada, such as theGiT ' rrsjQJ Ontario and Quebec, Northetnu,' Western; and indeed some o»tii j mentioned have heaviergradeitjl to the hundred." '" remiij " Dose mc eh work still done V "A good deal, but it la chiefly ejB, but with a sufficient number ofcL tion trains working, it will not to put this portion of the road infJ ning order. The country belweJ buryardPic, where the line first ittid lake shore, Lj somewhat forbiddJ places, and not well tuited foranW al purposes, but in some sectionTtiie, good timber for railway constncdiil an innumerable number of tieBca J out of that ion? stretch, suffijien'" ply traffic for many years to come' roadbed is on good material-pimi gravel. There are a very few bjij cuts, and these can easily be detl; 1 When this portion of tha lineijcotj ed in every respect, fast trains nuyJ over it with as muoh safety and to passengers as on any line in A.,^ There are only four or five sachclnl in the whole stretch betweeen pj Mattawa." •'West of Pic," continued Mr.FIa "the l:ne skirts Lake Superior, for a considerable distance, lay SJ miles, the work is very heavy. Ta much rock-cutting, a few tunnelii munber of large trestles. Thepen,. trestles appear to be firm and weil^ structed, quite equal to any worki| class of any American railway aifu] could judge." " Wliat about the temporary and while you are on the subjact i the question so as to meet ttie l made by the Hoose of Commons sltion last winter respecting tLarctcl " There are temporary treatleB i if used with care, will, I think, an!» '^rpose until more solid work iirabi ea There wi'l also be more or leil in using trestles, but not more bj ccI line than on many western Americaiii As to the charges that the road wu il on snowdrifts and roots, I miglit jiiJ that we passed over it at the ver; season of the year, when the frocj coming out of the ground in Bome; and others. Notwithstanding t'liil train passed overthe whole ex:eiit-fe six hundred miles â€" without tl mishap. Of coarse at certain had to exercise great care, bat ve surprised to find that we got ore:i^ out any difficulty. The re^ls a good a work still CO be done, ba:inafeTii if a sufficient force of men is enjB the line can be put in a very fair tion." " What about the scenery alotil route 1" f " When the portion whfch skirtiil Superior is completed it will be reil tractive to tourists. The sconeryiif nificent, and is sure to be greatljt ed by all who travel over it. ItM wild and romantic character." " What speed could be attained i| section ' " Trains will probably be run ovi a limited rate of speed. The ca pretty shary in some places, bat noil so than frequently occars on licwP through a country of that charst* When the entire Una is compW know of no reason why the whole (^ between Montreal and Wmaipe?' be traversed in 48 or 50 hoon^ would be an average ofabontthir^j an hour. Passenger trains couM" Montreal as at present, in theo^ and run along the banks of the' during the day, giving the ?«»*â- * opportunity to enjoy the sMn«|^l night would be spent, in travdM tween Lake Nipissing and Pic |* day would be spent joumeylagw*^ shore of LskD Superior where t^ I spoke of could be enjiyed. 1*' night couMbe spent travellinS j^j Port Arthur and Rat Portage, tfi peg would be reached early in"" noon.^' " Do you think whiter traffic' practicable 1' i " There would be no dlfficaUjt .Pic and Mattawa, but there " bably be difficulty along the Ia««/Jl the snow would drift in an"*. Tl track. Of course, if snoir oW" built, the apprehended diffijnl** be obviated." _â€" --' There is but one pla^ in J' States where gun cotton is ni»JJ^ six months ago the navy w*' j. A depend upon England for ^^ cotton used, but a manufaGl»7 jj J erected at the torpedo station, which now produces all tb**'!, for lea-going men-of-war »»"