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| Klondike Gold Rush: The Scales-Stairs. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Saturday, October 21, 1899.
SETTLED AND SIGNED.
Alaskan Boundary Line Temporarily Agreed Upon.
MODUS VIVENDI JUST ISSUED.
The State Department Confident That It Has Conserved Every American Interest in the Agreement Without Unjustly Treating Canada—Text of the Modus Vivendi.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21.—At last the long expected modus vivendi relative to the vexed Alaskan boundary question has been exchanged and made public.
This result has been brought about through the direct negotiations of Secretary Hay and Mr. Tower, after several failures in the past through commissioners and ambassadors. The state department is confident that it has conserved every American interest in the arrangement without unjustly treating Canada.
The divisional line on the west pass by which the Dalton trail is reached is placed 22 1/4 miles above Pyramid harbor, which is regarded under the treaty as tide water mark, so the Canadians are not allowed to reach any point on the Lynn canal. Moreover, there is no permission given for a free port or even for the free transfer across American territory of Canadian goods except of miners' belongings. These matters may figure later on when it comes to a permanent boundary line, but they are not touched upon in this modus.
The modus vivendi follows the precedent established in 1878 in agreeing upon a temporary boundary on the Stikine river in Alaska by an exchange of notes.
The line on the Chilkat river is 22 1/2 statute miles from the head of navigation on Chilkat inlet of Lynn canal and on the Klenini river 12 statute miles further inland, and the whole valley of Porcupine creek is included within the American line. On White and Chilkoot passes the line is fixed at the summit or watershed, being the point which have for some time past been observed by the customs authorities of the two countries.
The text of the modus vivendi, as finally agreed to is as follows:
"It is hereby agreed between the governments of the United States and of Great Britain that the boundary line between Canada and the territory of Alaska in the region about the head of Lynn canal shall be provisionally fixed without prejudice to the claims of either party in the permanent adjustment of the international boundary, as follows:
"In the region of the Dalton trail, a line beginning at the peak west of Porcupine creek, marked on the map number 10 of the United States commission, Dec. 31, 1895, and on sheet number 18 of the British commission, Dec. 31, 1895, with the number 6,500; thence running to the Klehini (or Klaheela) river in the direction of the peak north of that river marked 5,020 on the aforesaid United States map and 5,025 on the aforesaid British map; thence, following the high or right bank of the said Klehini river to the junction thereof with the Chilkat river, a mile and a half more or less, north of Khukwan; provided that persons proceeding to or from Porcupine creek shall be freely permitted to follow the trail between the said creek and the said junction of the rivers, into and across the territory in the Canadian side of the temporary line wherever the trail crosses to such side, and, subject to such reasonable regulations for the protection of the revenue as the Canadian government may prescribe, to carry with them over such part or parts of the trail between the said points as may lie on the Canadian side of the temporary line, such goods and articles as they desire, without being required to pay any customs duties on such goods and articles and from said junction to the summit of the peak east of the Chilkat river, marked on the aforesaid map number 10 of the United States commission, the number 5,410 and on the map number 17 of the aforesaid British commission with the number 5,490.
"On the Dyea and Skagway trails the summits of the Chilokot and White Passes:
"It is understood, as formerly set forth in communications of the department of state of the United States, that the citizens are subjects of either power, found by this arrangement within the temporary jurisdiction of the other, shall suffer no diminution of the rights and privileges which they now enjoy.
"The government of the United States will at once appoint an officer or officers in conjunction with the officer or officers to be named by the government of her Britannic majesty to mark the temporary line agreed upon by the erection of posts, stakes, or other appropriate temporary mark."
Some of the more important advantages that accrue to the American side through this settlement would escape observation save through a study of the map which is attached to the notes. Thus it appears that instead of placing the line directly at the town of Klukwan, which marks the head of canoe navigation, as the British sought to do, it has been located several miles above that town directly at the junction with the Chilkat river of the important tributary Klehini. This maintains the Indians at Klukwan under American jurisdiction without question and also provides a natural and unmistakable boundary line such as is always sought by topographers in the shape of a considerable river. Then when it comes to the point of departure from the river, the Klehini, the line has been prolonged toward its source so as to include in American territory the mining town of Porcupine, the head of mining operations in the Porcupine section.
Nothing has yet been decided as to a resumption of the sessions of the joint Canadian commission, but with the boundary question removed from the field for a time a meeting is likely to follow before congress meets.
BURNED AT THE STAKE.
A Horrible Tragedy and Sequel in a Little Town in Mississippi.
CANTON, Miss., Oct. 21.—The little town of Stanne, 20 miles east of Canton in Peake county, was the scene of a horrible tragedy, a sequel to the burning of the Gambrel family the night before. Joe Leflore, a negro who was captured by a posse confessed that he, in company with other negroes, had tied Mrs. Gambel and her four children to the floor of the house, saturated the surroundings with kerosene and burned the unfortunate people alive. The negro after the confession of the crime was promptly roped to a stake and burned to a crisp while the citizens looked on in silence.
Another negro, Bob Smith, was saved just in the nick of time as some doubt existed as to his guilt.
The Gambrel tragedy occurred early Thursday morning and it was first thought that the fire was the result of an accident.
A casual investigation revealed circumstances so suspicious that a more searching investigation was made, and it was soon established beyond doubt that the family had been murdered and the house fired.
Posses were immediately formed to scour the country and followed every possible clew. Before the posse left St. Anne it was discovered that Joe Leflore, a negro who lived in the neighborhood and who had heretofore borne a good reputation, had disappeared. Early in the evening Leflore was captured several miles from the scene of the murder. At first the negro denied any knowledge of the crime but he finally broke down completely and confessed that he and Bob and Andrew Smith, two other negroes, were guilty. He asked for no mercy and told with brutal frankness all the details of the crime. In the yard where the Gambrel family residence had stood, Leflore was tied to a stake and burned alive. No one sent a merciful bullet into his body to kill him.
Andrew Smith escaped from the mob while Leflore was being burned and has not yet been captured. Bob Smith was tied to another stake and a fire started, though he was finally released as there was a possibility of his proving his innocence.
Andrew Smith will be re-captured and if it is proven that he and his brother Bob are guilty it is thought that no power can save them from a similar fate to that meted out to Leflore.
PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.
The Line Wholly Obliterated.
Mason and Dixon's line may now be said to be completely obliterated. The war with Spain, it is true, almost wiped out the imaginary dividing line, which was a heritage of our civil war, but it was not completely effaced until the state of Indiana, with great chivalry and magnanimity, returned to Texas the battle flag of Terry's Texas rangers, which was captured by the Seventeenth Indiana regiment. The flag has hung for 36 or more years on the walls of the Hoosier statehouse and was a few days ago returned to its vanquished owners with appropriate and pleasing ceremonies.
It does not matter how the flag was captured; its return is a graceful act, which strengthens the brotherly feeling between the sections once divided by the Mason and Dixon's line. The reason the Seventeenth Indiana happened to take the flag was because it was the first regiment that came along near the fence where the Terry rangers had hung out the banner to dry. It is true that the rangers had been compelled to move on before they had time to gather up their belongings. It is also true that the banner was not snatched red handed in the fury of the fray from the soldier who bore it while leaden missiles were riddling its blood stained folds. But all this has nothing to do with the main facts, nor does it lessen the courtesy and good fellowship of the Hoosiers in returning the flag.
"THE SPINSTERS."
Fortnightly Club Scores Another Success in Amateur Dramatics.
The [Cortland] Fortnightly club long ago made for itself an enviable reputation in the production of amateur dramatics. Each year as the season comes round it presents a new play so unique, so bright and sparkling and so well rendered in every detail that the audience involuntarily pronounces it the best of the series and wonders what next, and whether this one can ever be surpassed. The friends of the members of the club look forward with eagerness to the coming entertainment and almost with a feeling of anxiety as to whether or not they will be favored with invitations, for only a limited number can be issued owing to the seating capacity of the rooms used.
The play chosen for this year was "The Spinsters, or the Old Maids Made Over," and it was given last night in Vesta lodge rooms in the presence of a highly appreciative audience of several hundred people.
It had to do with eighteen maiden ladies who had surely reached years of discretion and who were banded together into a society which seemed to have as its center of attraction man, as its chief object matrimony, and as its motto "While there is life there is hope." The play represented a single session of the society.
Shortly after 8 o'clock the president, Josephine Jane Green, in the person of Miss Ella Van Hoesen, entered elegantly attired in the costume of by-gone days and deliberately lighted three candles placed upon the table of the meeting room and in other ways prepared for the session of the society. She was followed a few moments later by the vice-president, Matilda Jerusha Spriggins (Mrs. A. M. Jewett). Others dropped in one after another till all were present but the secretary, Ravilla Abigail Hobbs, (Miss C. A. White) who one of the members said was chasing after a widower, and she didn't wonder at it either.
But at length the secretary returned from her fruitless pursuit and the president called the meeting to order and explained in substance, that the object of the society was the good of humanity secured through marriage. The roll was then called, each member answering to her name with a quotation which, beginning with "The proper study of mankind is man," ran through a succession of commentaries on the masculine sex. Then the routine business of the club was taken up and included a petition to congress to help the unmarried women; a report of the vigilance committee whose duty it was to keep track of all marriageable men, young or old, see that they were properly presented to the young women and insure an alliance in as brief a time as possible; also a report on the marriage market which was taken from a telegraph instrument in operation on the stage and which was in verse and abounded in good hits upon some of the masculine friends of the club who were in the audience, notably perhaps a party of a dozen young men who had been seated by the ushers, by chance so far as they themselves knew, upon a raised platform at the rear of the room, but who found the bolts of lightning striking with uncommon frequency in their vicinity, as the instrument ticked off their names, much to the enjoyment of the audience.
Finally some one reported a place in Oklahoma where there were men in abundance and no women and where the former were not only to be had for the asking but were anxious to be asked. It was voted unanimously to go there without delay and a transportation committee was appointed to secure reduced rates. But the question of costume arose and there was an advocate of dress reform in the club, Portia Olivia Bennett (Miss M. H. White) who was sure they would travel easier in up-to-date dress and be more acceptable to the men if they wore it. This was doubted and a discussion followed, Portia Olivia Bennett supporting her claims in the affirmative while Penelope Gertrude Doolittle (Miss Harriet Allen) asserted that woman was a delicate clinging vine and men liked to be clung to. Three of the spinsters acted as judges and they decided without hesitation that this one argument of Penelope's was a clincher and unanswerable, and upon this point alone they reported in favor of the style of dress which the fair Penelope not only advocated, but wore.
At this point Prof. Makeover (Miss Elizabeth Turner) was announced and he stated that his regular business and the object of his coming was to make over any ancient maidens who desired to accept of his services so that youth, beauty, charms and accomplishments might be restored. All were anxious to be experimented upon at once, and different ones were selected by the president for the operation.
The first one chosen was Jessica Juliette Smith, (Mrs. F. L. MacDowell) who expressed her desire for youth and beauty. The professor readily assented and sent her into an enclosure upon which she stood on a platform with head just appearing in view. Various chemicals were mixed in the presence of the audience and were poured into a spout leading within the enclosure. The assistant (Mrs. F. I. Graham) turned the crank and the aspirant gradually disappeared from view. The crank process was continued with horrible squeaks and groans and in a few moments there arose to view what was supposed to be the rejuvenated Jessica and who surely fulfilled the promise of the professor but who looked suspiciously like Mrs. W. M. Booth, and who then stepped forth to receive the congratulations of her delighted sister spinsters.
The experiment was so successful that all were eager to be next, but the president selected the treasurer, Cynthia Priscilla Jones (Miss C. D. Halbert) whose request was "Make me a child once more just for to-night."
"It can be done" responded the professor, "step inside.''
The chemicals were compounded, the crank turned, Cynthia disappeared, and out came little Eugenia Walsh, the 5 year old daughter of Mrs. James Walsh.
Matilda Jerusha Spriggins (Mrs. A. M. Jewett) desired to be tall, dark complexioned, and to have her yellow hair exchanged for that of raven hue. It was done and Mrs. Head emerged with the appearance and costume of a colored girl and sang a pretty song which had the sound of colored dialect and a sentiment of that nature.
Violet Ann Ruggles (Mrs. O. A. Kinney) thought it her ambition to be able to play with skill, and in the person of Miss Martha McGraw it was soon shown how possible was that desire under the treatment of Prof. Makeover.
Betsey Bobbett (Mrs. H. L. Smith) longed to be able to recite with fine effect, and Mrs. G. H. Ames soon appeared in her place and recited in most pleasing manner a selection which admirably followed out the sentiment of the club and its object.
Then Nerissa Ethel Bodkins (Miss Edith Turner) wished that she might be plump and sing divinely, and Prof. Makeover showed how easily this could be accomplished when he produced Mrs. James Walsh.
Florence Arabella Large (Mrs. Clara H. Benedict) who in her make up was magnified several diameters, next sought the aid of the wonderful magician. She desired to be petite. The president said she might be next and if he succeeded with her she would try it herself. The professor gazed at her and despaired, but said he would do his best. They used a double portion of chemicals, the machine was newly oiled and double help was put upon the crank, but alas it wouldn't go. There was a direful collapse and a terrible noise. Florence Arabella Large was too much for it. It suddenly flew all to pieces and the curtain was drawn and the play was over.
During the course of the evening there was introduced a song, "No One to Love Me," by the aged spinsters whose quavering tones and questionable harmonies convulsed the audience and nearly had a like effect upon the singers themselves. There were also other specialties as parts of the play in the form of vocal and instrumental solos and recitations all of which were of high character.
The costumes formed one of the most attractive features of the entertainment. The styles of a half century or more ago were adopted. Many of the gowns were of richest silk in bright colors and the bonnets were marvels of feathers and flowers which together with the arrangement of the hair corresponded to the early date. Miss Stone wore a bonnet which was borrowed from the Schermerhorn family in Homer, which was genuinely Paris made and was worn by an early member of that family at a reception given for Gen. Lafayette upon his visit to this country In 1824. Other articles of apparel worn by different ones also had historic interest connected with them in one way or another. In fact, the ladies were most charming in their manner and appearance and many compliments were showered upon them for their personal attractiveness as well as for the dramatic excellence of the play, which taken altogether was one of the best they have ever given.
The cast of characters was as follows:
The following is the report of the matrimonial stock market prepared by Mrs. J. G. Jarvis, the president of the Fortnightly club which was last night received from the ticker by Patience Desire Mann.
Here is an Opportunity.
The anxious Spinsters of the Fortnightly club who in their play last night at Vesta lodgerooms were so filled with lamentations that men would not propose will find something to interest them to-day in our want column, but we do not recommend it. In fact, we know nothing about it except that it came to us through the mail properly signed with a name and address and with cash enough enclosed to pay the cost of the publication which was requested. But they may gaze upon it and have their minds eased by the thought that all men are not like those against whom they stated their grievances in such touching terms.
DIED VERY SUDDENLY.
Adelbert Fuller Expired Last Night from Heart Failure.
One of the most sudden deaths that has been noted in Cortland in a long time occurred at 2 o'clock this morning, when Adelbert Fuller suddenly died at his residence at 25 Groton-ave.
Mr. Fuller, who for the last eleven years has been traveling selling men's clothing for the Babcock & Shannon Co. of Albany, returned from a trip at 8:02 last night over the Lehigh Valley feeling as well as usual. He spent the evening conversing with his family and with a neighbor. He retired between 10 and 11 o'clock apparently in perfect health, but had not been in bed long before be complained of feeling a pain in his back, though apparently nothing very serious. Some simple remedies were applied, but he could not sleep, and soon after midnight got up, saying to Mrs. Fuller that he would go into the kitchen and warm his feet and read the papers, that she need not get up as he would be all right after a little.
Before 1 o'clock Mrs. Fuller heard a peculiar gurgling sound in the kitchen and hastening in there found her husband in a dying condition. Dr. Edson was quickly summoned, but Mr. Fuller was beyond relief, and died at 1:45. The physician pronounced it a case of heart failure.
Mr. Fuller moved to Cortland from Cuyler five years ago, at which latter place he conducted a general store for a number of years. He is survived by a wife, by two daughters, Mrs. Adelbert Holmes of Cuyler, and Miss Mae Fuller, who is teaching in the Tully Union school, and by one son, Mr. Fred Fuller, telegraph operator and station agent at South Bay on the Lehigh Valley railroad. He has one brother, Mr. Burdette Fuller of Union Valley. Had he lived until Nov. 4 he would have been 68 years of age. He was a member of Cortlandville lodge, No. 470, F. & A.M.
The funeral will be held at the house Monday at 11 o'clock, and burial will be made in the [Cortland] Rural cemetery.
BREVITIES.
—The east end juniors defeated the south end juniors by the score 42 to 0 at football this morning.
—New display advertisements to-day are—W. W. Bennett, Sunburst, page 7; Opera House, ''My Son Ben," page 5.
—About twenty-five couples enjoyed the Avalon club's dancing party in Empire hall last evening. McDermott's orchestra furnished the music.
—Cortlandville lodge, No. 470, F. & A. M., will meet at the lodgerooms Monday morning at 10 o'clock to attend in a body the funeral at 11 o'clock of the late Adelbert Fuller.
—At the fourth annual convention of the New York State association of school boards held in the city of Poughkeepsie this week, Mr. G. J. Mager of Cortland was made a member of the executive committee.
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