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CHIARMELD -W fTJFl EDER.
O.ti of the pecul rl? upeirsitions of the
hunters of Pike coiunty is' that te kil
ling. of a white deer will inevitably hbe
fbtlttted by evil .rsults tdo the- dnu, who
firds this fatdl sliot. It is ssiridlar lioit
tlcdil t!l bblle't ini thia diiperstitiori tH
:roted, not duly in toe minds Ot-thll8 lltl
deucated backwoodsmnni, -buittamong the
residents of the highest_ intelligence.
Thlie. ?,Indian tribes that ,on ce.-inhabited.
the' Delawae'? Vlley:belie;d that =the'
iliil:e dder, ifhilih 'ei- 4ei:y ratej. were.
prdtccted by: a dharm, .iand ttiit their
lives weie sacred 't'here is a legend
t(at ia yotingitndanu ldved the, ,lught?it
if' his hief,and sdtight lidr as tlitiadeenh
of his wigwatn. _ The Indian maiden re
turned .hislo?l . by .
IHer lover was one of -the bravest of
the brave, and:tlie: hero of many a` battle'
HIe wis a leadier amon~ig-tie y?? 'eog ven of
the tribe, and more popular than the chief.
The latter was'jealous of the warrior, and
though hating_ him bitterly feared the
consequences of having. him ..removed
from his .path. .. ý'ihe great love of the
,young:brave "fott. the daughter of the chief,
was seied .upon by the latter as ,pro-.
tiable means of destroyiug his rival in.the
affections- of the tribe. eJ:The.chief gave
his ednsedt:tb fthe :wedding "of the pair,
on oe, condition. .This"was,' that .the
young warriori shouild bring to the wig
wamrn of..his :chief,i the dead, body- of:a
~white deer las an, offer ing.' ---= The lover,
balieviiig:this'to be 'a'delicatet:buit 'ern
hliatic rejection 'oif' is' suiit, `returned
without hopeto his.wigvwiai--for w's, it
niot:as easy to pierce thehuniter's moon
with an arrow, as, to send a fatal shot
within a whliite dleIr's heart'?
Buiit; onedlay,the chief suimmoried the
warrior .to .his presence..; The sorcerer of
the tribe,' an,'agedsInidian,, to whom all
the mysteries of naturie were deemed by
tlhe tribe to be as, an open bookrl was with
the chief. The sorcerer handed the
young :brave an .arrow.tipped with a sil
vaer head, and,told. him that if; he was
couratge8e s i??.ei h glito slay a: white deer
the silver arrow would break the charm
and lay_ itTdead at:his feet.' : lThe ,war
rior grasped' the arrow?, and declired that
lie was eagerii:o show his love for the
Indian maiden by firing the charmed' ar
iowdaud offering . the :dead white deer at
the wigwam of his chief. :
High on the hills overlooking thevalley
of the Lacawadien is a liae ais clear as
crystal. In the Indians days, as now,;it
was a fauoorite i?sort .for deer..: The
young Indian launched his birch canoe
ounth'e 'vter' of'the I;ske; and'asn'xioisly
awaiting the coming;of deer at nightfall,
lioping that amongst them there might be
one of the'charinedminemibers of the herdl.
HI- i'hopesirere rdalized, just as the last
rays,of,the ,sun were ,glinting :the sur,
faceof the lake;,~five deer stole from. the
woods and stobd knee-deep :in the cold:
wariteir. :Amongst them was a·pure white
der., Quick, lns a hlilhtiing flash .the
silver-tipped arrow?? leaped' from hiis
bow?. It ,leatiied for an instant in the
air, and then sank into the white deer's
heart. AVith-'a cry1,that resounded far
among the lills tlie'vhitedeerifell dead,'
and its companions fled in terror to the
' oods. ?While the aeatb-cry of-the white
deer was echoing about the lake the young
brave's arms fell: powerless to his sides.
His tongue refused to give voice.
For dayvshe driftel upon the lake: No
succour' care. ' He-was powverless to end
his sufferings by throwing himself in the
lake.tl. 'sHi. !dead 'and wasted body' was'
found upright in the canoe by members
of his tribe, after two ' moons" passed..
Buti other misforitines followed -the white
deer 'sdeath. At sunset on the'day' the
,young bravei fired the fatal ?arrow, 'the
chief w'as'foiind dead in his wigwam. An
arrow projected fronm his ':reast. It was
taken from hi. heart. It's" tip was silver.
The oorcerer -was never seen agai:ii Tlfe
mnaiden, when-her dead lover was found,
leaped into the' lake' and found a grave
berieath?' :its i waters" , The l tribe' wasi
i-leer'haftedi;bl tO 'copew with its cue
Nies'iitnLiatle,. anfi . Wri r?d arb lly! des:2
troycd. -- The !lake is. known to, this ydav
as-Whilte'Deer- Lake.-- -- .
,The sipersti'tion as, to the' whitedeer;?:
no dofubt;;,was received from thel-Inu
dians -by--the 'early 'white settlers of
the valley, and has been preserved by
these descendants. Among those who
believe in-the fatality --that attedls tlhe
killing of a white deer is the hon. William
WVestfall of Lackawaven.- .He- was" for
merly associate judge ol Pike coiSty, iinll
isthe present representative ofthe oounty~
in the- Legislature. . ""
Mr. Westfall disclaims beiig ainy' way
superstitious, but relates several instances
that have come under his personal obser
vation. He says hlie never knew of more
than three:white 'deei being in the vi
cinity of:this place, and two of them were
kiilled. White deer arce always does.
What fireak of.anture makes.them. white
hie does nodt kinow. U'The first'whitedeer
was; killed in .Lackawazen 'many 'yeatsl
ago ilby"i a hunteri namniedl; dames Van
T(iordeu. i n u oeer ninu roaumeu ue
ridges fdo y vear4Sland 'the 'superstition
had ji 'tected her. She was often seeu,
anal was " as white as the driven snow.?'
Va'n I Gordon 'did'? not ! believe that 'so.
valuable a lot of- venson should be al.
lowed to waste,; and,+not sharing. in .the
popular feeliungfor white deer, determined
to bring her down. , ; He hunted the deer
season after season. .He obtained many
'shuts at her,' but without effect. Then
he made up his mind to try the charm.
alle-ed tobe in'the'firitig of a silver bul
let.;': He:moulded a bullet out of silver,
and with his rifsa loaded with it, started.
on the white deer's trail.: He came upon
her as she was' feediiig, anid sent the
silver crashing intoher,heart.- Hekilled
the white deer, but, says: Judge'WVestfall,
it was his last shot. A.-A wastirg disease
attacked him, and niot -long afterwards
he' died.
S h'ie second white deerremembered by
Judge .Weatfall was killed by a hunter
named ~iloses Brink. ;' ',He was hntinug'
in companoy with Alamranior Griswold,
a well-known resident of the valley, and
a Commissioner of the county, and with
Judge Westfall. Brink ,washeard to
fire. The other hunters Joined..'him.
He said he had shot at a deeras' it ran
by him. The- party walked-on in the
direction indicated; andoa few steps away
found a white deer dead. Birch declared
it wasnot' the deer he fired at, but it !ias
evident that he must have-done so.- A
few.steps further on another deer of a.
grayish 'olour was fou'ud. , `It .had been'
killed with the same bullet that had
killed Iheiihite deer, ing directly in
range. The judge say Ithat not one of
the; party,; was able to' ill ia dear after-i
Swards,although each had ecnu successful
Ihunter hefure, Brrink, at 'that time,
was one of the most hila ly atidrrl'tilthy
of men, but lie died consump.ion
di feii:.rionths afterwar s, and COm
tiliesitlndr Silissfdld vtas\ st1bserliciltly
killed by a load: of ston?fl lfaiitg ilpdd
him.
" The third .white d r," says the
Judge, was never killed to my know)
ledge. Ilfound the deer nemorning on
a f'avourite feeding Broil d,'in oumpany
with'ti foturpronged buck She was as
ltirge is a tito-ycariald c tj and her cars
were is long its it midle'.' 'ile deer was
not: ten rods away, the knek being the
nedrerbf the two, I ai d at the buck,
but'changed: my mind 'an fired at the
white deer. 'She 'threi: -up her head,
gave me a sorrowful look, and thenl went
to eating the grass : among the. leaves, '
The hock; of course, was aimile away by.
this time. I fired a dozen shots at the
beautiful creature;' butt not one had any:
effect; iud I left' the woodls.:i i disnust.
The deer was well known to all thell
hunters along the Lackawixeu, ;and she;
finilly, disappeared. After'my experience.
with her,. I sold .;my, favourite i rifle, the
companion ef. years;, and purchased .a
mo.e costly one. But luck was !against
me. -I .had scores of the finest shots a
hunter. could wish for, but I .could never
kill another,deer. I. I gave my.gun away,
and ihave -not:: beei in: the woods foir
years. I, know'I am not superstitious,
but =I" would not. fire 'a fatal shot at a
white deer, for the entire gold:ifields ,of
California., .
The dweite deer whic was proof against
Judge ;Westfall's' bullets may have been
the'oiie:whic lihad no charm agaiiist tliel
aim of '[ionbeck Shimer and his com
panions,' Bevrans and Frank;' in';1872.
Shimer was a native of the Lackawaxen"
Valley. He 'made a foitune 'duriig the
war. -He had, for' some time been pro.
prietor of,, in the Exeliange 'Ho'tel in
Wilkesbarre ?Pa., and was a.~well-known
politiean and sportsman. In the above'
yeair Lyman' A L.3evans was a prosperous!
merchant of Port Jeivis, N.Y. Henry'
Frank .was a leading business man'of'the
coal regions' In?A the fall of 1872 the
three were camped in' tlie inoiuntins a
few miles. back of, Ldckawaxen, deer
hu'ting. They started d white deer, anid
all threed scceeded in getting:a sbot at, it
and killed it. -'ill luck attended every one
ofthe 'p'ity' afterwards.''
Shimer became an invalid, and died "
mliseralhle death two .:or .,three yeari
afterwards. LHis'ffairs were `badly in
volvod, and .his pioperty ,dissipated.
HIenry Frank"lailed'in business in 1875,
and died of small-pox.' Bevans became
a bankrupt in '1878, antd hlast .fall com
mi;ted suicide in ani o-ut .house tof his
residence in Port Jervis? by' oblowing his
brains out. ,' Tlese misfortunes :would
have, no. doubt, overtaken the men if
they had not florn in the. face of super
stition, but it would be impossible to make
the old-time Pike county hunter believe
that they were not. directly due to the
killing of. the White deer on the Shohola
hills.--Lackazoaxen.. Pennh,. Corr., New.
York Times.
A MhaVEL or SUaOiaR .- r. ERose
well Park; writes from Prague to the
British Medical' Journal:-" I have
had the pleasure *of a rather extended
interview with a man whose larynx and
epiglottis Professor Gussenbaur removed
over a year ago. Six weeks after the
bperation he began to wear part of the
artificial larynz, and after accustoming
himself to this, he gradually learnt how
to introduce and use the reed which
takes the place of the vocal cords. This
apparatus was made for him by Rothe,
who has also done some work for the
leece Hospital. The patient is a riding
teacher, is reputed the best rider in
Prague;-is-busy from morning to night,
talking all day, . and' .suffers not the
slightest inconvenience or pain.. His
voice is,=of course, very monotonous;buto
his ''enuncidtion is excellent,' his speech
is perfectly intelligible, and 'hlie eats and
irinks' with 'perfect , facility. Three
utra:laryngeal operations had beeli :pre="
viously made, before Gusseubaner it
:erupted his feat. This :case is said to
be the best living example of what the
art .f the surgeon and- thie.mechanician
can aecomplishTfor such a-terrible disease
as canceron-the lairynx.? ` .'.;
THE '-MOTHER' O GAIMBET;TA. Tle
mother of Leoon Gambetta, lhosice ' deith,
ivaserecently aannounced, has been i desI
cribed ,as a Cornelia, reduced to the
comionplace proportions of the ith
century.. To her (says the N. Y.:ribiune)
the world' owes not only the birth" o"
the French statesmain but hlso'all :hiiisli
8ubsequent career.: She was the first to
perceive in him the rudimenits of great
iess, and was the miost ready to make
every sacrifice that his:ibudding genius
/night have scople,to:d~elop,; and wtith
out ner energy. a? ambionon Leon pro
bablywwould, not have. risen ,'above ?the.
raik .,of anprovincial tradesman.i,. :llle.
Orosie 'Easabie-such wass, heri maiden
name-belonged 'to 'a family. of, iuhilcl
higher rarik than that of Giuseppe Gam
betta whom she. married, - and: conse
jluently she' asserted her right: to? rule:
the 'ihousehold 'with a sovereign ,'sway.
Whlen Giuseppe wanted to put young?
Leon at work in his grocery. she demuir
'd, and some lively doimiestic .scenes.,en-.
sued, in which she was!ultimately victor
ious. :Leon Gambetta' has ,remembered
this with gratitude, and amid all- the ups
and downs of his,. stormy cateer has
been most careful to render his mother's
dleclining years happy'and-free from an
xiety." 'Until lately she lived at Nice
vith her liusbanud?:fii a`hlouse bought' for
them:by Leon; but early in the present:
mnonths she..insisted on going to Paris,
to wiitiiess the national fete. '-The result
bf the journey waas=the illnes which tur=
minated in her death.?
'?Excellent sermon this morning,' said
Deacon Goodwill tao..his neighbour, as
they lingered in the" 'estibiule to shake
hans'' with the brethren.- -' Well.purty.
hood. Aint up to old Parson Slocum.
He used to give it 'em straight. He
preached again wickedness in the land.'
'To be sure, but this man preaches right
to us personally.' 'That's just the
trouble. I go to church to hear other,
folks pitched into. I don't want to he
iankled up myself' Just thenou the min
ister passed along, and with a dubious
`shnke of the head he cut short his remark.
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