University of South Carolina Libraries
THOS. J. ADAMS, PROPRIETOR. EDGEFIELD, S.- C.. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1897. VOL. LXII. NO 33. THE HEARPS^ When fall tho wintry flakes of fro Violets ia the valleys-bird songs The chilly winds, they only blo^ lt's summ'-'r in the world,my deal "When gray the skies are gloomin? In the merry song of reapers, L The sweet s?uth-skies are bright But the sweetest season, dearest. Still, still the birds are singing ni And still the roses redden and tin Love fades not with tho season; i It's summer still, my dearest, in 1 How POLLY SAV: ANE CREEK was a ! railroad crossing on the S. and C. C. Kail- ; road about two miles 1 from the division ter-1 luinal at Mercer. It was in the midst of a scrubby pine forest, with a sandy road crooking out from the trees on one side and into the trees on the other. There were only two or three houses, a little general store with a porch like the visor of a military cap, and & schoolhouse, all arranged in a scraggy row along the railroad track. The dusty red depot was an oa^is in the midst of a cinder desert, with a great many telegraph wires singing overhead. A dozen trains whirled through Kane Creek every day with only a : shriek of greeting aud a whipping ! wake of liuo sand. Only two of them ! paid the slightest attention to the girl in a blue gingham dress who stood in the little observation window. One of them was the way freight which ' stopped at Kane's every time it came along while the conductor handed the girl a bundle of yellow papers and re ceived another like it in return. The other was the night express westward bound from St. Paul, and running at forty miles an hour. It was a splen did train-tea cars, with thc finest en gine on the road, big Xo. GO? As its glaring eye flashed around the bend iu the direction of Mercer thc girl in the : gingham dress often thought of the ? groat train us a powerful and ferocious beast snorting and roaring westward on a race with the sun. It was a beast, but it was well trained, and she knew the hand that trained it. When the train AVUS a mile away there were always two Mast-; on the whistle. Everyone else in Kane's thought they meant simply, "Wake ni?, look out!'' -for that is what all locomotives say at every crossing-hut the girl in the gingham dress heard "Helio, Polly,'" and darted out on the platform and waved her handkerchief. Asthegroat train thundered nearer a baud was thrust from the engineer's window, and although it was usually dark, she ~ ump UPM?LJWUIIIL white, and oftentimes as the engine darted pa<t the station she heard the blurred souud ol' n voice and caught the glimpse of a grimy face and a blue jean jacket. And then she went back to her place in the little station with a sigh of deep contentment. For it was a moment of great joy to Polly Marshall when her father's en giue went, through. Polly was the station agent at Kane Creek-any one could have told that a woman presided in the little depot, for was there not j always a bouquet ia the window and daiuty pictures surrounding the grimy time-tables on the walls, and a kitten curliug upon the door-step? At seven teen Polly had gone in asassistant to leam telegraphy and when Clark, the agent, was called to Mercer the com pany had left the independent girl in charge. She and her father lived in one of the wooden houses a stone's throw back from the depot, and since Polly's mother died they had been everything to each other. Engineer Marshall was a big. silent man, aud his companions, some of them, thought him gruff and ill temp ered, but to Polly he was always ten der as a kitten. Often when she was a little girl he took her down with him to Mercer on his engine, and while she sat on his black leather seat at the cab window, clinging on with both hands, he explained to her how the big black creature under them was started and stopped, what this brass crank was for, and how, when the eugine squeaked here or squealed there, a little oil was needed in this cup or in that crevice. And Polly had learned to know an en gine as well as she knew the neat little pantry in thc house at home. Indeed, she had more than once managed the levers and the throttle, although it was very heaAV work for a girl to do. It was one night late in tho fall that Polly Marshall had need of ail her knowledge of engines. She was sit ting at her desk in the little observa tion window, a shaded light throwing its rays down on her telegraph instru ments and the sounder clicking sleep ily. Suddenly she was startled by the sudden call of her number. Instantly her fingers sought the keys, and she gave the answer that signified that she was all attention. "Look out for-" clicked the sounder, and then it suddenly ceased, and try as she would Polly could get no further communication with the station next to the eastward. What could the trouble be? What was she to look out for? Polly sprang to her feet, remembering that the night ex press, of which her father was engineer, waR the next train duo. Could any thing be the matter? She ran ont on the dark platform to soe that her lights were all in place and that the switches were properly set. so that the express would slip past the station without an accident. Then she went back and called up Mercer. "Can you get Pinckney?" she asked. Pinckney was the station which had pent her the warning dispute':! so mysteriously interrupted. Sin* knew the operator at Pinckney weil-every night he told her of the approach of her father's train, and whether or not it left his station on time. "Pinckney quiet; can't get answer," was the report of the wires. "What's the trouble?" Polly answered as well a? she could. n:id Mercer made another attempt io arouse Pinckucy. Eor father's train was now due. It should be whistling cheerily at the lower bond. Polly stepped oui on thc platform and peered up thc track. Tes, there was th*j familiar headlight *-she would have known it among a ?UMMER TIME. st it's summer-time somewhere in the air; v the lily's lips apart; when it's summer in the heart. j it's summer in the dells. i thc tinkling of tho bell?; suing as with springtime's magic art, is thc summer in the heart. id still the proves are green, ? lovely lilies lean; rhen summer days depart, Lhe Eden of the llenrt. -Atlanta Constitution. | { 1 ED THE EXPRESS hundred. Then came the whistle "Hello, Polly," and Polly ran back into her office much relieved and sat down to warn Mercer. At that in stant she heard a peculiar cracking sound that sent her heart quivering deep in her bosom. Then there was the shrill scream of the locomotive whistle, suddenly interrupted, as if the hand that had drawn the lever had been struck from its place. Polly knew it was a cy of distress. It seemed to say "Help" in a long, tremulous Avail. Iustautly Polly darted outside and flew up the track. Already the express should have thun dered past the station, but ?he could see its headlight a hundred yards or more away. The train had stopped. With a hundred terrifying questions flashing through her mind Polly ran on through thc gloom.. When she was almost within range of the big head light she saw a half-dozen armed men swarming around the engine, she heard fierce oaths, and then the en gine started up again. She saw in au instant ?.hat it had been cut free from the train. In the cab window, where hor father usually stood, there was n big, unfamiliar figure, managing the lever and throttle. Terrified, Polly spraug to one side into a clump of bushes. Aa the locomotive passed her on its way up the track she saw that the man in the cab wore a black mask on his face, and then she knew what had happened. She understood why Pinckney had tried to warn her and then failed. Bobbers had held up the train and were preparing to rob the express car. For a moment Polly was torn with doubt and terror. Had they shot her father ? She knew that he never would submit to have his train caj) tured without a struggle. Should she go to him? Then she remembered her 1i station and the telegraph, aud without I ( a moment's delay she was flying down I i the track toward the dep?* 1 ' send for help to Mercer. i t. front of the little dept tive stopped and the b mau sprung from tilt; cab w darted across the platform. WfrilnTrg^WiTat she was doir ran up on the ofker side, the side of the engine, iiffftpcaisin up, peeved iuto the caTv*1* half expected to see her fath body lying ou thc floor, for heard much about tha terrible of train-robbers. Through the cab window she could see the robber sittiug at her own little desk in the depot sending a message. It flashed over her all?t once that he wo5? wiring Mercer that the express was delayed, thus preventing any alarm. The robber had pushed up his mask and she saw him plainly. What should she do? She dared not enter thc office, and sue, a mere girl, could be of no F rvice where the robbers were making their attack on the train. If only she had the little revolver that lay in thc drawer of her desk-she set her teeth as she thought what she would do with it. At that moment three shots rang out, clear and distiuct, from the de tached train. Thc mau at the tele graph instrument sprung to his feet and ran to a side v ndow in the wait ing-room and looked up the track. Now was her chance. Hardly think ing what she did, Polly sprung to the engineer's s'ide of the cab, threw back thc reverse lever and opened the throttle steadily. The big steel wheels began to tom, very slowly at first. Farther and farther the throttle opened I and faster and faster turned the j wheels, and yet they did not go half fast enough to suit Polly, who was I now glancing fearfully over her shoulder. Suddenly the depot door was i uro wu open and she saw the robber darting un the track. He had his pistol in his ha id. Ht as pointing it at hov and shouting for her to stop. But the engine vms now going at good speed, and, run as ho would, tho robber could not catch it. But he stopped and fired, the bullet ripping through tho cab cover above Polly's head. The engine was now tearing down the track at full speed. Polly knew that it must be fired or it would not go far, and so, leaving the throttle open j she spraug to the coal pit, flung open I the fire hole, and with the heavy shovel j in her small white hands threw in load ! after lead of coal. When she returned j to her place she could see the first j signal light of Mercer already blinking I into view. She pulled down on the : whistle cord and the engine shrieked j its distress. Five minutes later Polly strained at J the heavy reverse lever, turned hard ', on the air-brake and brought the I great iron horse to a sudden stand I still. How she ever managed to j stammer thc story she never knew, ! but in a few minutes thc engine was i headed back with ha:f a dozen armed men aboard of her. Behind them i came another load of men on a switch engine and two men were racing np the street of Mercer calling the alarm. They heard firing before they roached Kano Creek, but it ceased soon afterward. The lobbers had gone. They had taken with them much plunder from the passengers, but they had not been able to get into tho express safe, although they were at work drilling it open when relief carno. From tho time that the engine stopped Polly was missing. When the rescued and excited passengers and express messengers began to crowd around and inquire the Mercer men remembered her. A party ol them .vent out to lind the girl who had brought, help to the beleaguered train, j lu a little chun]) of bushes they heard a man moaning, and an instant J lalor Uicv saw Polly kneeling ?ii the j saud, with 1 father's head in her j ap, crying bitterly. And they gatbi ?red tip the brave engineer and bin laughter and carried them down to ;he train, cheering aj? the way. Engineer Marshall was not badlj au rt, and he was abl? to be in Mercer ivheu the general manager of tho road thanked the blushing Polly officially ind offered a new and better position in Mercer. And of course all the jjas jengers and express messengers heard ibout Polly's brave deed and said a jreat many pleasant things about her, ' jut Polly, being a sensible girl, only blushed and said that she had to do t, and that any other girl would have lone the same under like circum stances-which no ono believed, of sour se. Later, when the robbers were cap* rared, Polly was able to identify ono )f them positively-tho one who had .un the engine-and through him thc mtire party was convicted and sen- ; enced to the penitentiary. SCIENTIFIC _ANDJ_NDUSTRIAL. Some insects are in a state of ina urity thirty minutes after birth. Doctors say peoplo in Ireland who ive on the potato never have gout. .A man in South Dakota believes ; hat he has found uranium on his arm. A German doctor of reputation pre icrib/is aluminum as a cure for rheu natism. A means of renewing the filameutin deetric light burners has been dis covered. Sydney, Australia, has a flashlight own clock, so that the correct time nay be seen miles away. Crocodiles, ?ike ostriches, swallow >ebbles and small stones for the pur? )ose of grinding their food. Iron has for ages been a favorite nedicine. Nearly 100 different j>rep iratious of iron are now known to the nedical chemists. Tho rarest metal is didymium, aud ; ts present market price is $1G00 per sound. The next costliest metal is j barium; its value per pound is $2(50. Lord Kelvin says thc earth has been ?abitable for thirty millions of years, j rle does not believe that it is so in conceivably old as thc earlier seien ists declared. England is trying submerged can ion. Oaken hearns twenty-one inches hick and the hull of a ship protected 1 ry three inches of boiler plate were I rierced by a solid shot from one. The French lens which throws elec- j ric roys 100 miles to seaward, and vhich was a part of the French Gov ernment's exhibit *at the Chicago Fair, s to be placed in th*? Worn???* fV .T ^ :o uelievo mac IUO truo reason for ? heir barking was their endeavor to alk to man. Wild dogs howl and ivhine, but do not hark. In the wilds : if Egypt tho shepherd dogs make a ;oft, peculiar noise, but it does Cut j suggest barking. Russia's Growth. Many years may elapse before Russia eau become a leading manufac turing country, but her growth toward industrialism has recently been shown in a remarkable manner at the "All Russian" exhibition in Nijui Novgorod. Besides her extensive sulphuric arid industry, Russia is opening up im portant manufactures of chromate salts, vitriol, phosph&t lead, zinc, lin, strontium and copper salts aud mineral dyes, and platinum is almost n Russian monopoly. Tn medicinal plant growing the progress in Russia is very great. Six castor oil factories, nil working from native grown seed, were represented at the exhibition, aud oils of peppermint, wormwood, caraway, fennel, anise and pine needles were also shown. The output of Russian benzine has grown from :31,500 gallons in 1S82 to nearly 1,570, 000 gallons in 1894. The petroleum industry is the secon.'' largest in the world. One firm alone owns 188 miles of petroleum pipe lines. It has an enormous .fleet and owns 1157 tank wagons for the conveyance o? its prod ucts by rail. The industry of the dry distillation of wood in Russia is only just begin ning. In Northern Russia, away from the railways, there arc still many thou sands of square miles under wood, yet up to the present only one-half per cent, of all the rosin and but a slight ly larger proportion of tho turpentine used in Russia hasbeenof home manu, facture.-New York Herald. Insunu.es of DORR. A novel insurance company has been organized and is already doing a large business in this city insuring dogs against loss, stealing or inpounding. This is dono by registering tho dog with this company with its full de scription, and receiving a tag to be worn with the citv license tag. The company has a man at each pound to release any dog bearing such a tag andreturn it immediately to the owner. This is a great advantage, as dogs often contract diseases in ,i?ch a place. It also saves both dog and owner much misery, anxiety and trouble, to say nothing of the expense and tiresome traveling and red tape which are necessary to rescue a dog from the pound.-Chicago Tribune. llnilrinii's Wn.ll. Hadrian in A. D. 120. built a stone wall from Bowness, near Carlisle, on Solway frith, to the river Tyne, near Newcastle, England. It was eighty miles long and garrisoned by 10,000 troops, lt was from twelve to twenty feet high at various points, eight feet thick at the toji and was provided with a gallery in the rear, which enabled its defenders to take their stand with only head and .shoulder.0 visiblo fco thc enemy. At every quarter of a mile there was a castle with a garrison <M troops. Beacon lights and signals were used, ami on an attack, whether by day or by nigh!, tho nows was at once Hashed up and down tho wall from seato sta*-Atlanta Constitution; C?LT?BE OF BANANAS. . - > Tv A CENTRAL AMERICAN INDUSTRY OF CREAT PROPORTIONS. _" The Bnnana Has the Foremost Place-Jin tho Importation of Tropic Frulta-"to This Country-Easy of Cnltivatto? l?ijr Returns to the Banana Farmers. As a table delicacy and a fruitjLOW. universally sought and consumed ,by the Amener.:i people, says. Frppk Leslie's lopular Monthly, the ban trna readily and easily takes the foremost place of all the vast products of the tropics. It has been but a brief span of years since tliis dainty and toojth. sonie denizen of Central America be came generally known, especiallyj.to the vast interior cities of the Untied States. But the intimacy which stearn navigation has established between this country and the tropics, aswelf aa the rapid transit to points remote fitom the seaboard, has rendered possible a most stupendous traffic in the n^ost delicate and perishable .fruits. Under such favorable and en couraging conditions, .the bniivna trade, with almost incredible rapicuty, has increased from a few thoutjnd clusters, eighteen years ago; to-']khe enormous annual importation of Afrer live million bunches. If tradition is to be relied upon, he. banana has an ancient and royal lineage from the earliest and mythic epochs of human career. The frn|t is also known in the East as "Adam's Fig," which fortifies a claim mad?. of its having furnished, from its great broad leaves, the primeval costume's of our first parents. It is considered the musa paradisiea of the botanists, and its vast spreading foliage would have easily invited selection as 'ft covering for the nakedness of those /early dwellers in the Garden of Eden. Contrary to the prevailing ide.vthc banana is not indigenous to the Weatr ern hemisphere, as its first roots yere brought over to America by a nionk in 151G, and was first cultivat?tt^iu Honduras. It is natural, therefore, -u_ LOADING BANANAS AT TUERTO C that tho first country of its ad< should now be the foremost il _ U? would be unable to properly cultivate tho plant and reap the full benefit of its production, if required to use as much exertion as is demanded in other latitudes. But nature here, in her great and beneficent economies, comes to his re lief aud has provided against the necessity of any hard work and moder ated all demand for any severe mental or physical exercise. The farm work is "light, simple and easy, while it can all be confined to thc cool hours of morning and evening, leaving the laborer to enjoy his favorite siesta, in some inviting shade, during the heated tenn. There is a fallacy prevailing that the banana forms the principal and staple food of these natives. This is not only a mistake, but, strange as it may appear, they often warn foreigners, sojourning in the country, to beware of too free an indulgence in this species of fruit. The natives never eat the banana, except when it is cooked like the potato, and generally while it is preen. This precaution against eat ing the fruit is not so necessary in temperate climes, where disorders of the intestinal functions are not so dangerous and where the digestion is not weak and IOAV, as in hot countries. The banana grows luxuriantly throughout the lowlands of Brit ish and Spanish Honduras, Guate mala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A small supply also comes from Colombia, Jamaica and Cuba, but the bulk of our supply is harvested in Central America. The most suitable soil is the sandy, alluvial deposits, along the banks of rivers and streams not often subject to overflow, and the cultivation is con fined to weeding, thinning out and "molding up." Any deficiency in the "stand" of the crop planted is easily supplied by the purchase of slips at one dollar per hundred. Just eight JUNANA FABMEBS OF S months after this slip is put in the ground it will furnish its first bunch of bananas, and one only requires n machete and a forked stick to gathei tho fruit. When ready to cut, the bunch is taken four feet from the gronnd, in order to allow the moisture ti? drain back into thc stool of the ?hitit; tho forked stick receives thc bunch and lets it easily to the ground ..iud thc stalk is allowed to decay ami enrich the soil. Suckers soon shoot out from tho stump and all but two nco cut away and planted elsewhere. Ijne avuragu bunch v iii stand abonl four feet in height, weigh ninety .pounds, have twelve handles or clusters und contain 180 bananas. -An. ?ore will produce about 250 bunches during the second year after-planting, and ap average yield for the future of 300 bunches per annum. The price of the fruit fluctuates slight ly during 'the season, but averages at the steamer from twenty to thirty cents per bunch, and to the frugal and care ful farmer this represents a profit of thirty-five or forty per cent. This may A BAN AK ? SHE! sound extravagant, if not incredible, to our American farmers, but it ii nevertheless a fact, which can be sub stantiated by a number of our citizens, ;who have settled in this country aud -are making small fortunes. Land can be obtained very cheap, and to clear it up and prepare the first crop has been computed to cost nine dollars per acre. The natives caro but little for any more than their immediate neces sities, and consequently are mostly the laborers of numerous enterprising foreigners, who constitute the bulk of thc banana farmers. The opening of new markets and the greatly increased demand for the fruit has stimulated the clearing and opening of many new and extended farms during thc past three or four years. There is always a certain and sure sale for the product, as each fariner, at the very beginning of the planting season, eau contract for the sale of ?:a entire crop to any of the competing lines of steamers which regu larly visit the coast. If he chooses this course the only thing that should concern him is proper attention to make the yield as great as possible, having no uneasiness as to his market. The competition for thc busine?? has be ?.ovvsrrnno' mid many additional UAO.UM?VL. i bvMtiuvu vu VL?U ?\riilunt sido and to the ports of Livingston, Izabal and Port Barios. Although the trade has been comparatively small a new impetus will be given it by the completion of the railway to Port NATIVE MESTIZO LABORERS. Barios, as this will traverse the Mon tagua Valley, one of the richest sec tions of Central America. The trade of Honduras, confined also to the Atlantic side, is thc most extended of all the tropical countries. Her leading banana ports ave Puerto Cortez, Ceiba and the islands of Uti.l la and Ruatan, although some fruit is also taken from Tela, Truxillo, Irione and Gracios a Dios. The bulk of the imports, however, come through Puerto Cortez, the terminus of the Honduras Railroad, which traverses the great Sula and Ulina valleys for a distance of forty miles. This section ULA. VALLEY. HONDURAS. is exhibiting the greatest development of tho bnuaua industry to be observed in Central America, and with im proved railroad facilities is destined to becomo one of the greatest fruit de pots of the world. The business of Nicaragua is con fined to thc ports of Bluefields, Grey town aud Pearl Lagoon, and practi cally thc entire -product is shipped to New Orleans or Mobile. Renewed in terest in the industry is manifest throughout this seid ion, and frosh lands arc being opened to banana cul tivation along thc Raina aud Eacon dido Rivera* The banana trade of Costa Eica, confined exclusively to Port Limon, shows the most rapid growth of any other Central American country. Its product, raised mostly in the canton of Matina, has grown from an output of a few thousand clusters in 1882 to 1,500,000 bunches for the present year. According to the statement of Consul Delgado, at New York, that city alone has received about 700,000 bunches during 189G, while the re E>, NICARAGUA. ceipts at New Orleans from Costa Pica have been fully as much, if not in excess of that figure. From calcu lations made, on reliable statistics, the approximate banana production of Central America for thc present year is as follors: BUD ohos. British Honduras. 325.000 Spanish Honduras.1,750,000 Guatemnln. 450.000 Nicaragua. COO.O0O Costa Blca.1,600,000 Total.4,725,000 This is considered a very conserva tive estimate, and if the amount of local consumption, rejections and loss from over-mature fruit is considered, the product will easily aggregate over five million bunches. Add to this the amount of the fruit brought from .Ta maicn, Colombia, Cuba and other sources, and tho whole will a?iproxi mate very close to eight million wi* GOLD BRICK, ONE-THIRD At bunches. Engaged directly in this business are about thirty steamers and au equal number of sailing vessels, while double that number are engaged in the traffic in connection with other products of the tropics. Tho Latest In Woman's CoiflTure. This new movable strip fringe is a boon to wheelwomen and dwellers by the sea. It is an English idea not yet KEW "TRANSFORMED" COIFFURE. seen here. It is fixed to a single strand easily concealed among thc front locks and does not heat the head. How to Keep Flowers Iresh. Some people are not aware that flowers will keep fresh much longer if the stems are set in a dish of sand than if they are plunged simply into water. Put tho flowers into a vase as usual; then carefully sift into the vase by means of a funnel sufficient sand to fill it nearly to the top, shaking it so thai the sand will settle down among the items. Gradually mid water un til it stands a very little above the top of the sand, and replenish the water as often as needed. Tho I>?scov?Terf? of Ann-nthcsin. The credit for first, using amosthet ies, which has done so much to lessen human pain, must be shared by three men; "Wells, of Hartford, Conn., who employed nitrous oxide in 181-4; Mor ton, of Boston, who tried ether suc cessfully in 1846, and Sir J. Y. Simp son, of Edinburg, who introduced chloroform a year later. A company of mon aud officers of tho British ship Intrepid were taken from Vern Crnz to the City of Mexico by tho English irolouy of thc capital city, at an expense of $3000, and gave concerts there which captured the town. Tito men were entertained and aa well pleased as thc dtizcus, HEN KILLS A "RATTLER." 1 Fierce Duel in Which "Biddy" Whipped the Shake. Attorney Ben T. Hardin, of Kansas 3ity, Mo., is never happier than when ie has a gamecock under each arm. He is an enthusiastic breeder of fowls, and A ICEN" WHIPS A EATTLESJ?AKE. raises nothing but game chickens. Occasionally the chickens raise trou ble. They raised n rumpus about a week ago, ond as a result Mr. Hardin was treated to the novel sight of a fierce duel between a hen and a rattlesnake. The lawyer was proudly watching his pets wander towards the bushes at the further end of the yard, when sud denly one of tue hens gave a cry of alarm. It was too late. The seven rattles on the tail of a big snake sounded,' and an instant later the fowl was struck. A hen by her side, in stead of running away, got her fight ing blood up, saw a chance for a good battle and pitched in. She fought scientifically, find proved that she knew a good deal about the vital spots of a snake. She made a few passes, dodg ing for advantage, and before the rep tile realized its danger one fierce peck 1 at the back of its head ended its exist- j euee. The hen that was bitten by the snake died in agouy. COLD BRICK WORTH $72,000. A Solid Cone of the Precious Metal, One Third Actual Size, a* Pictured. A solid cone ci gold was received in New York recently by the agency of the Bank of Montreal, from the Caribou Hydraulic Mining Company, or British Columbia. The chunk was the result of about two months' work 3TCJAL SIZE, WORTH 872,000. at the mine, which is largely owned by officials of the Canadian Pacific Bail way Company. The precious mass was taken to the United States Assay Office. It weighed i .1149.90 ounces Troy. In appearance i it resembled a sugar cone, save that the sides were more rounded and the apes not so pronounced. It measured I nine inches at the base, was ten inches high, and is worth 872,000. A Remarkable Double Tree. The accompanying cut of a double ! ash is from a photograph taken by Professor William Werthner, of the Dayton High School. The tree, writes A. F. Foerste, in the Scientific Amer ican, stands nenr Waynesville, Ohio. It is a very symmetrical coalescence of two blue ash trees, five feet apart at the ground and at fifteen feet above joining to form a perfect trunk that extends to a height of some seventy feet. Each tree is from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, and each trunk, as well as the upper bole, is perfectly normal, nor does the fork show any signs of a dattening, ridge or one-sided coalescence. Hence, the union must have taked place when the ? "trees were sapliugs. Is this a "natural graft," or did some Indian possibly use the saplings as part of his wigwam support and ti? DOUBLE ASIT NEATt WAi'NESVIELE, OHIO. them so tightly as to induce a coales cence? The size of the trees (consider ing the slow rate of growth of thc blue ash) seems to make them antedate tho white settlors in Ohio. Au ordinance prohibiting screens in saloons has boon adopted in Cleveland, Ohio. Texas is to lax cigarette dealers to tho lune of $iUO0 a year. Quinine and other fe ver medicines take from 5 to IO days to cure fever. Johnson's Chill and Fever Tonic cures in ONE DAY. PREVENTION OF HAILSTORMS. Success of Aerial Explosions in Swiss Vineyards. The American rainmaking experi ments ore sufficiently fresh in the memory to lend a peculiar interest to a report recently submitted to the state department by the consul at Zurich regarding a curious practice that has grown up among the gvapo growers of certain sections of Austria which is, in effect, the exact reverse of the rain making theory. It is none other than the prevention of storms by aerial ex plosions. The owner of extensivo vineyards found that, hi3 profits were disappearing with the frequent de struction of his vines by hailstones. These storms'are common and severe in Austria, especially on the southern slopes of the Bacher Mountains, and as the soil is peculiarly adapted to the growth of the grape the'question arose whether some means of preventing the fall of hail could -not be devised. The explosion experiment waa tried, and to the date of the report it had met with unbroken success. The method is simple. On each of six of the most prominent summits surround ing the vineyards the owner erected a station, built of wood, for the shelter of a battery of heavy mortars, ten at each station. The neighboring peas antry, themselves small vineyard own ers, have been trained to the duties of manning the batteries, and at the slightest sign of the approach of a storm the men assemble and al. a given signal fire all the mortars simulta neously. Each mortar is loaded with about four and a half ounces of pow der; the report makes no mention of a projectile. The bombardment of tho clouds is continued until the moisture is scattered and the storm is prevented. At thc first trial of the system last summer after a few moments' firing the cloud wall opened up in the form of a funnel, the mouth rising in con secutive rings, gradually expanding until the clouds scattered . ul disap peared. This process was accompa nied by no hail or even rain. During thc summer the firing was undertaken six times, and always with the same result. Thus it appears that while man may not be able to force nature to work at his bidding he may at least compel her to remain idle for a time. ing reel whiehis highly successful from one point or view and very des tructive from another. As described in a dispatch to Tao Journal, there is incl >scd in the fishing line a small wire which is attached to a battery near the fisherman or executioner and connecting at the other end with the hook. When the machine is in action ! the moment the fish tontches the hook ? it'receives a shock that kills it. It is i said that eigkiy pounds of fish were killed with the machine in au experi mental trial of a few hours. The inventor seems to be ingenious ly diabolical. As a means merely of killing fish, it may have all the merrit claimed for it, but it is enough to make old Izaak Walton turn in his grave, if there is enough of him left to turn, or risc io indignantly protest. A machine that destroys every element of sport and gives the person who manipulates it every possible adrah over the fish has nothing to recomend it except its capicity for killing fish. In this respect it is quite as unsports manlike as dynamite, and only less barbarous in that it only kills one fish at a time instead of scores. It is some what remarkable that this infernal machine should have made it3 appear ance at th ? home of the State Fish Commissioner. Mr. Sweeney has been doing g.)od work in the way of putting a stop to the unlawful catching and killing of fish, and if tho law be made to cover this new machine he will doubtless apply it.-Indianapolis Journal. Johnson's Chill and Fe* ver Tonic ls a ONE-DAY Cure. It cures the most stubborn case of Fever in 24 Hours. Sacred Stone ot'the Oneidas. From time immemorial until the last warrior of the numerous Oneidas had passed away to the happy hunting grounds of his people, the various tribes of this famous race carried with them wherever they went a huge bowlder, which was used upon sacrifi cial altar. Around it was celebrated the feasts of tho dead, while ofteu tho very sight of it provoked the fearful war dance. The stone's last resting place was on the summit of one of the hills near Utica, N. Y., from whence it was removed to Forest Hill Ceme tery in the town named. Among the other Indians the Oneidas were al ways referred to as the people with the stone, and they called it oiuota, moaning a mun who had sprung from .a stone. Johnson's Chill and Fe ver Tonic is a ONE-DAY Cure, lt cures the most stubborn case of Fever In 24 Hours. CUI.T1VAT1S0 TUB WIDOW. "Somebody must he cultivating thc willow.'* ..Ye.?" '..'.tiywav, her weeds have disap .uieu."