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|g?p8& >v.. '/ - ; ..- .- - - -'. -.: : - :! ? . ^ggggggggg lewis >1. grist, Proprietor. J gin Ji?Icj)fiidijiit Jiimils Ifeaspaptr: <j#ot[ the promotion of the folitical, Soqial, giprpcultiiral and (^otmnei'tial Jntcrcste of the jsiouth. | TERMS?$2.00 A TEAR IN ADVANCE. VOL. 38~ YORKVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1892. 2STO. 49. THE GOLD \ 1 ^ BY CHARLES B. I Copyright, 1892, by Amer CHAPTER XXVI The ocean has its thrilling mysteries and awful tragedies, and the plains and prairies have theirs as well One of the outlaws walked off in th? darkness to stand sentry for the next two hours, and the other four men laid down to sleep again, each taking his place as before. In two minutes the oamp was as silent as the grave, and the specter of murder which came out of the gloom and hovered over the recumbent forms was seen by no mortal eye. At the end of five minutes a wolfs long drawn, faraway howl was heard, and a shiver passed over the listening sentinel as the lonesome sounds reached his ears. There was a warning in that UUWI tt UlOUtKtl, D noil ntuvu * pered of tragedy. Taylor heard it as well, and he grow pale and held his breath. He had braced himself to carry oat a part, bat he jns fearful that his nerve might give way before the end was reached. Ten minntee passed?twelve?fifteentwenty. It was time the powerful poison should begin to aot Taylor was watching and listening One of the men moved and groaned. "Say! Are any of yon awake?" called Taylor as he sat up. 'Tve got terrible pains, and I cant keep still any longer." "So have 1," replied one of the men as he sat up. Three minutes later the others were aroused, groaning and cursing, and the sentinel came staggering in to gasp out: "Do something for me or I'm a dead man!" From the way he acted one would have thought Taylor the worst off of alL He groaned, gasped, writhed, twisted, but he had company. The outlaws rolled about on the earth like wounded dogs, and, curiously enough, none of them suspected the cause of their illness. The jug was brought and each drank again, hoping the fiery whisky would ease the pains of what they believed to be colic. It was only after one of the men had fallen in spasms, foaming at the mouth and tearing at the earth with his fingers, that Bob suddenly shouted: "By heavens, men! but 1 believe we have all been poisoned." "How?who by?" shrieked one of his companions. "By?by this infernal cur, if anybody, and Fll have his lifer Bob pointed at Taylor, who was apparently in convulsions, and then stooped for one of the rifles. As he did so he fell forward npon the earth with a terrible curse, and Taylor sprang up and ran away into the darkness. He did not dare go far, and yet it was horrible for him to linger within hearing. Strong men who die by poison die hard. It is an awful end. The crouching, hiding, trembling murderer heard them rise and stagger and fall; they raved and wept; they prayed and cursed; in their awful agonies they attacked each other and struggled in death. The night bird was driven away by the cries and shrieks, and the wolf who sat listening and wondering was finally forced to flight by the wails and curses. . t t * ? The Big Cheyenne, winding its way through prairie and plain, has seen the sun riseon many 'scenes of horror, but on none worse than that portrayed in the camp of the outlaws. Four men lay dead and stiff beside the little heap of ashes and blackened brands marking the site of the campfire. Some lay on their backs, their open eyes gazing into the blue vaults of heaven; others were face down, their limbs drawn up and their fingers dug into the soil w* Ji MM Taylor leaned against a tree tor support And as the first beam of the golden sun touched the dead, Taylor crept down to gaze upon his work. He came trembling and afraid. His face was ghastly pale, his teeth clicked together and his limbs could hardly support him as he walked. His own brother could not have identified him, so great was the ; facial change. He did not want to approach?he dreaded the sight which would meet his gaze, but some mys-1 terious power forced him along. "Bevenge is mine and 1 will repay, saith the Lord." The fate which the outlaws meted out j to the poor gold seekers had recoiled on i their own heads, but there was yet an? * l-t. m i i jj I Otner lO DO puumueu. ?uyiur tvauvu against a tree for support and surveyed the bodies lying before him. He had planned this. There was the wagonthere was the gold?there the horses. He had bnt to drag the corpses to the bank of the stream and roll them in, and then harness np and move o2. The Big Cheyenne would not yield np the corpses . for days, and if found who could tell how they died or discover their identity? The route was clear of i Indians, and he could tell a plausible story to account for his possession of so much treasure. He had invented a story and gone over it in detail fifty times. Cornel All are dead! Dispose of the corpses. The treasure is yours. But the man clung to the tree in a dazed sort of a way. A look of terror crept into his eyes, never to leave them again, and he moaned in distress as he looked over the camp. The horses whinnied for water and a change to new feeding ground, but he heeded them not. j xne sun cumoea mgaer auu mgner, \ but he did not move. A full hour ht?d passed when he suddenly broke forth in a mocking laugh, and this seemed to give him physical strength. He threw : up his hands, shouted meaningless words, and turned and fled as if pursued by demons. Half a mile away he hid beneath the bushes, but not for long. Terror roused him up, and he faced the sun and dashed away over the earth as men fly for their lives. ? * j Night has come again on the great ex- I pause. A dozen miles to the east of the pot where the dead still lie in their j stiffness the figure of a man rises rrom the earth as the dews of heaven fall. It Is hard to tell whether it is the face of a man or some wild beast The eyes are sunken, the lips drawn, the cheeks like thoee of one who has hungered for n week. He peers this way and that?be skulks and crouches?he indulges in strange and mysterious gestures. "All dead I All deadt The gold Is mine?ha! ha! ha!" "Revenge is mine and 1 will repay, saith the Lord." It is Taylor, and he is a raving lunatio?a madman whose very soul is being shriveled by the awful fire within. Let us leave him to God, himself and the dark- j ness. When the sun comes up again its rays will not soften the pallor of another dead face. There are gaunt, fierce j wplvee here?great wild eyed beasts EN CAVES. .EWIS (M. QUAD.) lean Press Association, who tire following; at his heels and urging each other to make the first attack. CHAPTER XXVIL The vultures numbered hundreds. It was not a coincidence that Captain Burton's party, when ready to leave the valley, should head in the same direcKw fka nnflflwft It UUU OO tUa% piuouou *jj THj^'.T* - was simply the same line of reasoning. The influx of gold seekers would naturually mass the Indians on the western border to oppose them, and it was reasoned that the route to Fort Sully would be unopposed. In going out of the valley, however, each party took a different route, and it -was not until the gold; seekers arrived at the forts of the Cheyenne and the soldiers' encampment that they knew the outlaws had passed on before and only two days ahead. "I had rather have them ahead than behind," said the captain when he heard the news. "If they can get through we ought to be able to." "I don't like it," answered Joe with a 3hake of the head. "They were a desperate lot before Taylor joined them, and you know how he feels toward us. I believe they have come this way to ambush us, and from this on we can't keep our eyes open too wide." "That's true," added Harkins. "Taylor knew what we were after, and through him all the others know; 1 think they played 6py on us and discovered that we had 8track the treasure. They dared not attack us in the valley, as we would be on our guard, but 1 shall be greatly disappointed if they do not show their hands before our second day down the river is over." 3?he party remained in camp with the soldiers only one night, and as in the case of the outlaws the contents of the wagons were not suspected. They were locked upon as one of the hundred unsuccessful expeditions already returning disgusted from the diggings. They were given three cheers by the soldiers as they moved out, and camp had been placed only a few miles behind when a vigilant outlook was maintained for the outlaws. Tliree times during the day, when tfce party was obliged to pass locations where a foe could lie in ambush, scouts were seat ahead to make sure that no trap had been set for them. Their pace was net so rapid as that of the outlaws, and it was noon of the second day before they approached the scene of the tragedy brought about by Taylor. While yet two or three miles away the scout, who was riding in advance, halted and waited for the others to come up. * "What is it?" asked the captain as all had closed up. "Lookl" Hovering over the grove straight ahead was a cloud of buzzards. What their presence signified every mao knew. "They are low down," whispered the captain. "Which means death," replied Joe. "While they are waiting for a wounded man or horse to die they sail high." "The other party has been attached and wiped out, 1 fear." "Can't be otherwise. There's certain to be a sight there which the women should not be permitted to gaze upon. Siome of us had best ride ahead and see T7hat can be done." Joe, Harkins and a third man were dispatched on the errand, and they f ound it one to try their nerves. When they had approached close enough to get a view of the camp they knew it to be the camp of the outlaws, for there were the horses and wagon. The vultures numbered hundreds, and while a part of them were running about on the ground, others sailed slowly about in short circles and hesitated to alight "Look at the horses!" exclaimed J ex.-). The animals had been staked out on ground furnishing scant pasturage at best For three days they had had neither food nor water, and as Joe spoke they were making tremendous efforts to break their lariats or pull the iron pins from the ground. "There are dead men there!" whispered Harkins, with pale face, "but the buzzards are afraid of the horses." The trio moved forward. They were greeted with whinnies of welcome from the suffering horses, but for two or three minutes they had eyes only for the bodies of the dead But for the clothing on them it would have been hard to identify them as human beings. "There are only four, and neither of them is Taylor," said Joe as he rode around the bodies. "There are no arrows here, no empty shells, no signs of a fight with the Indians. Let us ride through the grove and see if we can find the key to this mystery." They scattered and hunted for further evidence, but they found none. Taylor, living or dead, could not be traced. "Here's his rifle," said Harkins as he dismounted and picked up a gun lying by itself on the ground. "And it has not been discharged," added Joe as he inspected it. "These dead men ure his work, and the fact that he did not drive away with the A i.L.i team proves mat tsumciuiug ua^u-ucu him. Let us relieve the horses and then get these horrible objects out of sight." When the remainder of the party came up not an evidence of the tragedy existed, but the story told them by those who had drawn the corpses to the river and floated them off was shc<king enough without the presence of the dead. The horses had been reduced to skeletons, and it was a full hour before their thirst was sufficiently satisfied to permit them to enjoy the fresh green grass at the other side of the grove. The next surprise came when one of the men investigated the contents of the outlaws' wagon and found the treasure which had been responsible for so many crimes. While it was known that the men were hunting for the cave of gold, the idea that they had found it had not been entertained. Whom did it belong to? The wreckage of the sea belongs to the finder. So with the wreckage of the plains. The wagons were moved to the other side of the grove and the gold hunters ntnnf nomn IP fVirx nnnrlv n/l/ln/l ncuw tutv vaui^/i ti uiu uv/ n ij nuuvu treasure was to be taken away it must be drawn by the horses which had hauled it thus far and were now hardly able to keep their feet. It would take a week to recruit them for the long pull to the fort. The camp was therefore made as comfortable as possible, the treasure examined piece by piece and its value estimated, and when this task had been accomplished even the sweet, sad face of the orphaned Lizzie carried a smile. # *? I have written much of adven.ure and very little of love. Some of my -eaders may have been disappointed on that score. There is love among the castaways floating on a raft in midocean. There is love beneath the white topped wagon of the immigrant Blowly trailing across plain and prairie?in the gold hunters' camp, surrounded by perils and alarms. But it is a silent love, born of heroism, self sacrifice ana true merit, I ind it is not demonstrative. It waits for ] safety and civilization to betray itself. A month after Joe and hiscompan- j ions rode into that death camp I met ! most of them in Denver. They had come safely through all perils, their j treasure had reached the mint to be valaed and paid for in coin gold, and there had been one marriage?Joe and Bess. | A month later there was to be another equally satisfactory to all parties? Harkins and Lizzie. From their own lips I learned the story and have given it to you. If there was not enough love in it to satisfy the sentimentalists, blame i them for concealing the fact from your 1 most obedient servant. THE END. (The Jtotg idle*, j I'HMH NATIVES OF PIKt By DAN DE QUIILE. | 1 {Copyright, 1602, by American Press Assocl- , ] ation.] i PROLOGUE. ^ j i A very credits piece of paiUomime. j ^ Last summer I made one of a party c j , 'millionaire Comstockers" who wei i ? jver to Washoe lake on a piscatorial ex- j e pedition. The fish there to be caught j ? are principally that species of catfish j known in the Atlantic states as horned G pouts or bullheads. j e "Knights of the angle" of tho present j j day are apt to turn up their noses when t mention is made of bullhead fishing. t Generally, however, when a man goes c out after catfish he sinks all artistic j feeling?he goes io for "meat." It in an eosv matter to catch catfish. ? You have only to procure tackle Btrong g enough to draw them out of the water, s using a hook according to the expected size of your game. The size of the catfish appears to be a good deal regulated by the size of the stream or lake in which it is found. The larger the body of water the bigger the fish. As already stated, we were a small party of Comstockers, and were at Washoe lake more for "meat" than sport Of course all fishing is to some extent satisfying to man's inherent instinct for the capture and slaughter of all wild creatures of land, water and air. We had strewed the shore with several score of bullheads when we saw approaching us through the tules bordering the lake three men, who by their dress and lack of both coat and .vest appeared to be ranch hands employed in the neighborhood. The men seemed to be merely strolling about in the enjoyment of a half holiday, as they carried neither guns nor fishing tackle. The trio had probably sighted our tent and wagon from afar, and knowing t from previous pleasant experiences that all true fishermen fail not to go forth well' provided with the wherewithal to 5 counteract the bad effects of an accidental wetting had resolved to pay us a friendly visit, in full confidence that the ? rights of camp hospitality would not be * neglected by our party. At all events, the trio, moving in Indian file, marched ? up to our temporary camp pitched on 11 the margin of the lake, and greeted us * ? -i. ? i?? ? uu.n .in 0 wim inree stentorian "uenueBi Their greeting having been duly answered in kind, it was next in order to bear in mind the social amenities and ? uncork the "hospitalities" of the camp. ? It soon became evident that no one of the trio had ever been whipped when n young for holding his breath. They c showed themselves to be willing and capable men. ? All were Btalwart fellows of six feet to six feet four inches in height, and all ^ were big jointed and rawboned?not an ounce of superfluous flesh from bead to r heels. All wore beards of the billy- ' goat style, all were shaded by huge J sombreros, and all were somowhat ' above middle age; also were as much : alike as three candles cast in the same i f1 mold. : ? At first our visitors were somewhat | backward in speech and manner, but by I the time they had made some progress j E in the congenial task of testing the sev- j 0 eral kinds of liquid provender with j ^ which tent and wagon were stocked j 0 their tongues were loosened; they felt | c quite at home. j 13 Presently the tallest and apparently j v ! the oldest of the trio said the sight of I * ! catfish made him feel young again, i P "But, fellers," said he, "I don't much j c I keer to fool with sich ornery, wuthless ! | little tadpoles as you've been ketchin. I'm from ole Missouri, I am. Down j ! thar, when yer ketch a catfish, you're I a-layin in pervisions. When you've ! a hooked yer cat you jist take yer line over yer shoulder, hump yer back, march 6 inland and haul your meat ashore. It's 1 jist as easy to ketch big catfish as little ! C ones if thar's any big ones about; it all 8 depends on the size of the hook and the ^ bigness of the bait. Why, back thar on c the old Massissippi I could gauge the ^ size of the cat I wanted to an ounce jist I y by the proper regerlation of the hook & and bait. Now, fellers, jist you watch me. Ef thar's a catfish in this lake as is v wuth a cuss 111 ketch him." 8' "Yaas, fellers," said the other Pikes, b "Buck, he's a cuss at fishin; you just E watch his motion. He'll show yer how h to ketch cats." a With a face as 6ober as that of a New e fTrirrlan^ WPTlt 11T? the hill t! I ?~o ? x- I a few paces above our tent and got hold p of about sixty feet of heavy fencing f< wire. This he dragged down to the o edge of the lake, and turning up one end of it made a hook about two feet across, b Going down the shore a few rods he re- o turned with about half of an old red flannel shirt, which he fastened upon his '1 hook for bait. Next he got a piece of t plank about six feet long and fastened it b upon his wire line for a float. This done, v he took up the plank and launched hook t and all* out some two rods from shore v I with a tremendous plash. ! t "Never mind me skeerin away yer j t little minners," said Buck to our party; j j "you've treated us like full grown white | a j men and now I'll soon ketch you suthin j 0 wuth while?that is, s'posin thar's airy ; a i rale old Massissippi cat in this 'ere frog [ ? i pond." j E Buck then seated himself upon a little E hillock of tules and gazed out at his I 6 i float with a comically serious look of ex- j * ! pectation. ^ The other Pikes?for all three of our j <1 visiting brethren hailed from the land j * of "Joe Bowers"?gazed approvingly at j what had been done, saying over and j 8 over: "That's the racket! Buck's got , d the true old Massissippi business!" ! Presently Buck began to show signs ^ of nervousness. His eyes rolled, his | * face twitched and his arms shook. His j ^ two pards crept near him and with their ^ hands upon their knees stood gazing in- v tently at the float. Buck laid a finger r on his lips waruingly. Then handing his line fo one of the" men he extended both hands as far as he could reach, showing that he had got a nibble from a fish at least 6ix feet in length. This done he again laid a warning finger on his lips and resumed his line. Not a word was spoken and the faces of all three showed signs of intense excitement. Soon Buck's eyes again began to expand, the muscles of his face worked and at last his whole body was convulsed. Turning to his companions he held up his hand and waved them back toward the end of the line. The men understood the signal, and moving back some twenty feet they ?-rLr>lr nn fVio wirft And. nlacincr it over their shoulders, braced themselves and stood awaiting further orders. Soon Buck gave a wicked twitch at his line, uttered a wild whoop and, springing to his feet, ran to where his pards, bent nearly double, were scratching gravel in a vain endeavor to climb the sloping bank and haul in the lino. On reaching his men Buck gave several bull teamster yells, bestowed a few vigorous kicks on each and then, seeing that no progress was made, he himself fell in and took the line over his shoulder. After much hauling and whooping \ the line began to move, but a moment ifter something gave way and the three Pikes fell flat upon their faces. Soon they arose and stood gazing at one another, their faces the picture of disappointment and mortification. At last Buck's face brightened somewhat, and signing to his men to hold onto the line ie went to the edge of the lake to investigate. He hauled in' his plank float; ;hen getting into the edge of the water ae pulled in the remainder of the line, folding it aloft he showed the hook i straightened out and the bait gone. The other Pikes went down to the water's edge and each in turn examined what had been on the hook. One of ;hem then made a mark on the beach with his foot, stepped off about 6ix paces and made another mark. All ;hreg stood looking at the marks fo'r a ;ime, when the second of Buck's pards narked about two feet farther. With i sneering expression on his face Buck ook up two cobblestones, and placing hem some twenty-five feet apart turned o his companions, who gazed first at he two stones and then at Buck in the greatest astonishment. Buck gave an iffirmative nod, and apparently "that lettled it; the faces of his companions :1 eared ud at once. The Pikes came up to where we were j eated, when Buck broke the silence by laying: "Gents, I own that I'm astonshed. Thare air a catfish in that Lake hat it would be wuth uny man's while o ketch. He's almost like one of the >le Massissippi cats. He's got a wagon oad of meat in him." Altogether it was a very creditable >iece of pantomime, and there was no aying that the actors had not earned mother treat. Meantime I sauntered down to where Buck had been seated and saw the piece >f flannel shirt that had been on the 100k lying just under the water. In tauling in the wire Buck had cunningly ilanted his foot on it, thus etraightenii: ? iut his hook and stripping off the bait. 11 CHAPTER I. THE STORY OF THE FIRST PIKE. [he wild Missourlans live by catching catfish. This bit of impromptu pantomime nded, we expected to see the Pikes take heir leave. But no such thing. All three seated themselves comfortbly before our tent, and "borrowing" a ittle tobacco they filled their pipes, liter smoking for a time Buck opened nt on a new lay. "Gents," said he, "you see it don't ake me long to size up the cats of any lace that I throw my hook into. I wur orn on the bayous of the Massissippi, own to the south end of ole Missouri, igh to the Arkausaw line. I've been a atfish ketchur all my born days. "Down thar whar I wur born every econd son was turned loose in the woods o shift for himself 'bout as soon as he irar weaned. They had so many chil.ren down thar that they didn't keer to aise more'n 'bout half of 'em. What ?as done with the extra gals I never ound out. When the extra boy was tig enough to run alone they put a new ireechclout on him, hung a bunch of losshar round his neck, tuck him down o the river bottoms and turned him Dose to root, hog or die. "The woods along up the river for fifty j ailes above the Arkansaw line wur full f wild Missourians of all ages and sizes. Lfter the first breechclout wur worn ut all went naked, and soon they wur nvered with a coat of liar as long as the eard of a goat. If the people ever | ranted any of the wild woods breed | hey sot a trap for 'em, ketched 'em, j icked 'em clean of the extra har, put i lothes on 'em and set 'em to work." "Why," asked I, "did they give each ! oy a bunch of horsehair when they ! urned him loose?" "Waal, because the people down thar I re tender hearted like, an not one of j im would turn a child loose 'thout : iven him the means of makin a linn. I 'he hosshar were for makin snares, j )ut'n the hosshar they tuck and made \ nares to ketch catfish. As soon as a 1 lissourian is weaned he begins to snare ! atfish, and so pervides most of his livin. I le strikes out for the river jist as a J oung duck makes for the nearest pud- | le. "When they are turned loose to run I nth the woods breed they take up with i ome drove of the hairy ones that is led ; y an old buck and so git good trainin. I lach drove makes its nest in a big hoi- ! 2T sycamore tree or log; then turns to ; nd lives on the fat o' the land. They at the roots of the yearth, the fruits of he trees, sich as roots, berries, pawaws, persimmons and the like, while or meat they have the fat cats of the le Massissippi." "Do parents often take their children ! ack to the settlements?" asked one of i ur party. "Parents don't trouble theirselves ! x>ut whose children they git. When i hey want any they go out into the river lottoms, set a trap and ketch 'em. I ; rar ketched time o' the war. Then ; hey 'bout made a clean sweep of the poods tribes. They wanted all the men hey could get, so sot traps all round he bottoms. "I'll never forgit the time when me nd two others wur trapped. We wur ut in the woods diggin roots when all t once we smelt a new smell. It wur ich a good smell that all our mouths egan to water. We slobbered like so aany hounds. What it could bo that melt so fine wo did not know. Wo nek the scent and fullered it up on the :een run. In 'bout a mile we come to a [ueer lookin little house. In thar was j he stuff that smelt so good. We dived i n and began fillin ourselves with the ; ;ood smellin stuff, when down fell a ; ioor and wo wur caged. "Yer see, gents, when they wanted to ! :etch up any uv us wild Missourians, ' hey made a pen just like a bar trap, i aited it with corn bread and sot,it. i iVhen the wind wur right one of the I voods breed could smell corn dodger ligh 011 to three miles. "Waal, when the trap fell wo tore round like mad, but couldn't escape, i Long tout sundown some soldiers come { and tuck us out'n the trap. They tuck us and put us inter the upper story of a ! blockhouse 'bout fifty feet high. Thar i they left us in the dark. "Waal, we soon seed that ef we had a rope we could git away. So then wo began pickin ourselves?pulling out the long har that covered our bodies?to make a rope. It wur an awful sore job. After all of us had been clean picked we tried the rope and found it 'bout ten feet too short. Then I told my two pards that they might take har enough out'n the top of my head to finish the rope. They tuck the har, and in less'n ten minutes we wur all at liberty. "Now, gents," said Buck, "as some of yez may think I'm lyin 'bout this business, I'll jist show yez whar my mates got the har to splice out that rope." Then taking off his sombrero Buck showed that the whole top of his head was as smooth as a peeled onion. HTT7am1 )) n/\r?r?nRti/tlr "offnit tnn ' VT Wuviuuwu ?wwii| IUWA nv got out'n that thar blockhouse we cut and run for 'bout five hours acrostn stretch of country we knowed nothin about, for we wur lost when we struck inter fields and fenced ground; besides, we thought all the bouses we seed wur blockhouses. f lj# "Bain now u&ked we had to keep movin to keep warm, so we traveled as fast as we could all that night. When the sun got up wo sot on a bluff bank above the blessed old Massissippi, that seemed a mother to us. Thar we enjoyed the sun like so many turtles on a log. "As we sot on the bluff we looked down upon the river and thar on the side next to us we seed a goodish sized catfish laying a-sunnin itself near to shore. The cat wur 'bout twenty-five feet long?too big fur to snare?so we looked about fur some other way of ketchin him. "A few hundred yard above we saw a big rope stretched across the river. It wur a ferry rope, but then in our wild state we didn't know as it belonged to anybody. We went up thar and tuck the rope, no one bein 'bout thar. One of us had to swim the river to cast the rope loose from a tree on the opposite side. We'<^ got'r have the rope because it had on it at one end a big iron hook. i "Next we wanted some kind of good live bait. While lookin 'bout for bait 'long comes a little nigger boy drivin a cow. We ketched him, and lashin him on to the hook floated him down, swimmin like a frog, to whar the big catfish wur. The cat snapped the little nig up like a 1 flash and swallered him down. < "All hands of us tuck the rope over * 'J A ?o A.*aY> 1 OUT bllUUlUeiB, UUU man.ILL u ucuu minm* hauled the big cat high and dry. We cut 1 the fish open at once and tuck out the little nigger all alive and kickin. When i we unlashed and turned him loose he i went off as limber as an eel, an the fust thing he did was to hunt up his ole cow ] and drive her along jist as gentle as if i we hadn't had the loan of him and used i him for a few minutes. He had but one i little tooth mark on his back." i "Was that the biggest catfish you ever caught?" asked one of our party. Buck eyed the man for a moment, i and then asked where he was from. I i "From Tennessee, just across the river and a little below where you got i your big fish," said our man. j "Waal, as for catfish," said Buck, "you ] can ketch 'em in the Massissippi of any , size you want. It depends altogether on the size of the hook and the bait. With a full grown nigger?but, stranger, it wouldn't look well for me to take up all the time with my own explites, so | I'll fust let you tell of any catfish you ketched on your side of the river." "So that was not your biggest cat- , fish?" "I'm not sayin beauty afore age, young ( man." , It being evident that Buck was determined to have the closing speech, the | boss of the commissary department was instructed to bring out the redeye for j another round. The fishing rods were then stuck into the bank and left to catch or not, as luck went, while all j hands stretched out upon the blankets spread in front of the tent to hear. CHAPTER II. I THE STORY OF THE SECOND PIKE. "The turtles left off boxln and went to buttin heads." This Pike was called Bud. He opened by saying: "Gents, I can't tell i you a fish story, for I never keered a lurn 'bout fishin. I might tell you some i stories of 'gator shootin in Florida, cock < fightin in Cuba, rattlesnake and porker- i pine fights in Mobile and sich like things, ! for I was allers a dry land sport and < better at gittin up dog and peccary fights and them kind of games than anything elst. I made mighty well for a good while travelin with two fightin ] peccaries that I picked up in Texas. I i had a fightin coon to ketch the colored i brother, a fightin armadiller from Hon- I ( duras and other sich rackets, but my j greatest show ventur was made down in | | Orleans. i "Gents all, though I don't look it now, j I was onct in a fair way to be a bigger t man in the show business than old Bar- f num. My great exerbition was the j edercated turtles. For nigh onto six ! weeks my show drawed powerful?was J all the rage. All over New Orleans was i , seen in big letters, 'The Edercated Tur- , ties; the Greatest Livin Wonder of the , Age.' "I had my hall crammed every day and every night. Lamed perfessors wrote long articles 'bout 'the almost 1 human intelligence of the giant soft shelled turtle.' I was making money i hand over fist when an accident happened that busted my business?but of that you'll soon hear. "My show was a beautiful one and 1 'highly instructive,' as it said on my , bills. It was my pride to give an exer- I bition. With a light rattan cane in my ! hand I'd appear on the stage, take my J place near the footlights and relate how ; I'd led the life of a hermit six years on j Florida Keys and at Tortugas, ederca- | ! tin my four turtles, which I'd hatched j out in my bosom from the eggs, and j which, as would he seen, had now at- i tained a length of nearly five feet. I i ' had a long speech that a newspaper fel- 1 ler wrote out for mo for six bits. "At last, When I'd worked up the ( audjenco to 6ich a pitch that theories of j 'Trot out yer turtles' and the whistlin 1 < and stampin drownded my voice, I'd < face about, flourish my rattan and at | i the word of command two of the turtles | 1 would como marchin in from opposite j sides of the stage. Then they'd lumber ! along down to the footlights, run out | 1 their heads and make a bow. Then the j i other pair would march in and take their places between the first, likewise i i bo win. "Music then strikin up, the turtles | | would get up on their hind legs, take i their places and dance a French four. ! ( They'd also do double shuffles and pat j juba, which fetched all the nigs. They , played leapfrog, made pyramids and j , wrastled; also their drill with wooden guns was very pleasin. The big thing ! ( after all was the boxin match at the ; ( wind up. That allers brought down the house, but it was that which at bust 1 | busted the whole business. ] "One Sunday night, when two of the j turtles was boxin and tho other two j actin as seconds, tho glovo contest all at | 1 once turned into a reg'lar fight. To tho astonishment of all tho whites, and to the delight of all tho mercers, the tur ties on a sudden left off boxin and went ! to buttin heads. "Only a few dashes was made afore off went the head of one of the turtles, I and the other was butted clean out of j his shell, exposin to view two little naked darky boys. "A howl went up from the audjence, , and seein that a rush was likely to be j made for the stage, I gave the word to my turtles and we all skipped by a back door, rippin the little nigs out'n their shells with my jackknife. "Next day the papers gave the whole thing away. They told that to the back shells of turtles had been added artificial heads and necks, that the belly part was too flaps of cotton cloth sewed to the edges of the shells, and painted to imitate shell, and fastening up in front with small, well concealed hooks and ? eyes. They had it about right. "But for the papers blowin the thing I would have taken my show up the river as far as St. Louis, and likely clean on to New York. "In gittin up this show the worst of the job was findin little darkies of jist the right build. They had to have long necks and small heads to play the part of turtles. The masks were all the skins of turtles' heads greatly stretched and fitted with glass eyes, and the boys wore turtle slippers tanned till as soft us kid glove. The animal stufferwho got up the rig charged two hundred dollars for it, and warranted that no deception could be detected from the front, nor would there have been any trouble but for the light between tne two ntcie nigs. The buttin busted out the show. "A curious thing was that in gittin up the show, when I first stripped one of the little nigs to fit him into his shell 1 noticed a peculiar scar on his back. I asked him how he got it, and he told me by bein put onto a big hook and used for catfish bait. Then he ups and tells me the whole story of his bein swallerc 1 by a catfish twenty-five feet long; how he was taken out alive and with but one little scratch, all jist as Buck here has told us. I then thought him a awful little liar, but I now see that the poor child was simply tellin me a God's truth." [to he concluded next week.] pisccUancous grading. AN UNEXPECTED RACE. In one of the larger towns of Worcester county, Mass., used to live a clergymau, whom we will call Ridewell. He was of the Baptist persuasion, and very rigid in his ideas of moral propriety. He had iu his employ un old negro, named Pompey, and if this latter individual was not so strict in his morals as his master, he was, at least, a very cunning dog, and passed in the reverend household for a pattern of propriety. Pomp was a useful servant, and the old clergyman never hestitated to trust him with the most important business. Now, it so happened that there were, dwelling in and about the town, sundry individuals who had not the fear of the dreadful penalties which Mr. Ridewell preached about before their eyes, for it was the wont of these people to congregate on Sabbath evenings upon a level piece of land on the outskirts of the town, and there race horses. This spot was hidden from view by a dense piece of woods, and for a long while the Sunday evening races were carried on there without detecbv tbo officers or others who might have stopped them. It also happened that the good old clergyman owned one of the best horses in the county. This horse was : of the old Morgan stock, with a mixture of the Arabian blood in his veins, and it was generally known that few beasts could pass him on the road. < Mr. Ridewell, with a dignity becoming his calling, stoutly declared that the fleetness of his horse never afforded him any gratification, and that, for his own part, he would as lief have any , other. Yet money could not buy his Morgan, nor could any amount of argument persuade him to swap. The church was so near to the good clergyman's dwelling that he always walked to meeting, and his horse was consequently allowed to remain in the pasture. Pompey discovered that these races j were on the tapis, and he resolved to j enter his master's horse on his own j account, for he felt sure that old Mor- | gan could beat anything in the shape of horseflesh that could be produced in i that quarter. So on the very next j Sunday evening, he hid the bridle un- j der his jacket, went out into the pas- j ture and caught the horse, and then 1 rode off towards the spot where the ! wicked ones were congregated. Here | * ' - Ll-.l! he found some dozen norses assemuieu , and the racing was about to commence. Pomp mounted his beast, and at the j signal he started. Old Morgan enter- j ed into the spirit of the thing, and came out two rods ahead of everything. So Pomp won quite a pile, and before j dark he was well initiated in horseracing. Pomp succeeded in getting home j without exciting any suspicions, and he now longed for the Sabbath after- j noon to come, for he was determined to ' try it again. He did go again, and again he won; and this course of wickedness he followed up for over two months, making his appearance upon the racing-ground every Sunday afternoon, as soon as he could after "meeting was out." And during this j time Pompey was not the only one who had learned to love the racing. No, for old Morgan himself had come to love the excitement of the thing, too, and his every motion when upon the track showed how zealously he entered into the spirit of the game. But these things were not always to remain a secret. One Sunday a pious deacon beheld this racing from a distance, and straightway weut to the parson with the alarming intelligence. The Kev. Mr. Kidewell was utterly shocked. His moral feelings were outraged, and he resolved to at once put a stop to the wickedness. During the j sveek he made many inquiries, and lie learned that this thing had been practiced all summer on every Sabbath af- i ternoon. He bade his parishioners keep quiet, and he told them on the next Sunday he would make his appearance on the very spot and euteh J 1 them in their deeds of iniquity. On the following Sabbath, after dinner, Mr. Ridewell ordered l'omp to bring up old Morgan and put him in the stable. The order was obeyed, though not without many misgivings dii the part of the faithful negro. As, soon as the afternoon services were closed, the two deacons and some others of the members of the church accompanied the minister home with their horses. "It is the most flagrant piece of abomination that ever came to my knowledge," said the indignant elergy ? *1.. man, as im-\ iuuu uu. ' It is, most assuredly," answered one of the deacons. "Horse-racing on the Sabbath!" uttered the minister. "Dreadful," uttered the second den- . con. And so the conversation went on until they reached a gentle eminence which overlooked the plain where the racing was carried on, and where some dozen horsemen, with a score of lookers-on, were assembled. The sight waS one which chilled the good parson to his soul, lie remained motionless until he had made out the whole alarming truth, then turning to his companions: i "Now, my brothers,"said he, "let us ! i ride down and confront the wicked wretches, and if they will get down on j their knees and implore God's mercy and promise to do so no more, we will not take legal action against them. O, that my own land, should be desecrated thus!" for it was indeed a seclion of his own farm. As the good clergyman thus spoke, he started on towards the scene. The horses of the wicked men were just drawing up for a start as the minister approached, and some of the riders who at once recognized "old Morgan," did not recognize the reverend individual who rode him. "Wicked men!" commenced the parson, as he came near enough for his voice to be heard, "children of shame and sin ??" "Come on, old hoss," cried one of the jockeys, turning towards the minister. "If you are in for the first race, you must stir your stumps. Now we go." "Alas ! 0, my wicked "All ready!" shouted he who led in the affair, cutting the minister short. "And off it is J" And the word for starting was given. Old Morgan knew that word too well, lor no sooner aia it ian upon ma eura than he stuck out his nose, and with one wild snort he started, and the rest of the racers, twelve in number, kept him company. ' "Who-a! who-oa*oa!" cried the parson, at the top of his voice. "By the powers, old fellow, you're a keen one 1" shouted one of the wicked men, who had thus far managed to keep close to the side of the parson. "You ride well." "Who-ho-ho-o ! who-a-o !" yelled the clergyman, tugging at the reins with all his might. But it was all of no avail. Old Morgan had now reached ahead of all competitors, and he came up to the judge's stand, three rods ahead, where the petrified deacons were standing, with eyes and mouths wide open. "Don't stop," cried the judge, who had now recognized Parson Ridewell, and suspected his business, and who also saw at once into the secret of old Morgan joining the race. "Don't stop," he shouted again ; "It is a two mile heat this time. Keep right on, parson. You are good for another, mile. Now you go?and off it is I" These last words were of course known to the horse, and no sooner did Morgan hear them, than he stuck out his nose again, and again started off. The poor parson did his best to stop the bewitched animal, but it could.not be done. The more he struggled and yelled, the faster the animal went, and ere many moments he was again at the starting point, where Morgan now stopped of his own accord. There was hurried whispering among the wicked one, and a succession of very curious winks and knowing nods seemed to indicate that they understood. "Upon my soul, parson," said the leader of the abomination, approaching the spot where the minister still sat in his saddle, he having not yet ?. ft - Kid npoQan/tn nf ! SUlllt'lCUllJf JUIUYCICU lilO pivovtivv W4 mind to dismount, "you ride well. "We had not looked for this honor." "Honor, sir!" gasped Kidewell, looking blankly into the speaker's face. "Ay?for 'tis an honor. You are the first clergyman who has ever joined us in our Sabbath evening entertainments." "I?T, sir! I joined you!" "llu, ha, ha! 0, you did it well. Your good deacons really think you tried to stop your horse; but, I saw through it; I saw how slyly you put your horse up. But you need not fear; I will tell all who may ask me about it, that you did your best to stop your beast; for I would rather stretch the truth a little than to have such a good jockey us you are suffer." This had been spoken so loudly that the deacons had heard every word, and the poor parson was bewildered; but he soon came to himself, and with u Hashing eye, he cried : "Vidians, what mean you ? Why do ye thus " "Hold on," interrupted one of the party, and as he spoke, the rest of the racing men had all mounted their horses, "hold on a moment, parson. We are willing to allow you to carry off the palm, but we won't stand your abuse. When we heard that you had determined to try if your horse woufd not beat us all, we agreed among ourselves that if you came we would let you in. We have done so, and you have won the race in a two-mile heat. Now let that satisfy you. By the hokey, you did it well. When you want to try it again, just send us word, and we'll be ready for you. Good-by !" As the wretch thus spoke, he turned his horse's head, and before the as- J founded preacher could utter a word, I the whole party had ridden away out j n ' ' ? ? ------ UaIVVWA I oi neariug. n was suniuuuic uuiutc I one of tlie church men Could speak. ! They knew not what to say. Why ; should their minister's horse have joined in the race without some per- | mission from his master? They know ' how much he set by the animal, and at last they shook their heads with ; doubt. ' It's very strange," said one. "Very," answered the second. "Remarkable," suggested a third. "On my soul, brethren," spoke I Kidewell, "I can't make it out." The brethren looked at each other, ! and the deacons shook their heads in a very solemn and impressive manner. So the party rode pack to the clergy- j man's house, but none of the brethren ! would enter, nor would they stop at I all. Before Monday had drawn to a close, it was generally known that Parson Kidewell raced his horse on the Sabbath, and a meeting of the church was appointed for Thursday. Poor Kidewell was almost crazy with vexation ; but before Thursday came, | Pompey found out how matters stood, and he assured his master that he ! could clear the matter up ; and after a J day's search, he discovered the as- [ tounding fact that some of those wicked men had been in the habit of stealing old Morgan from the pasture, and racing him on Sabbath afternoon! Pomp found out this much?but he could not find out who did it!" As soon as this became known to the ! church, the members conferred together, and they concluded that under , such circumstances a high mettled horses would be very apt to ruu away with his rider when he found himself directly upon the track. So l'arson ltidewell was cleared ; but it was a long while before he got over the blow, for many were the wicked wags who delighted to pester him by oll'ering to "ride a race" with him, to "bet on his head," or to "put him again the world on a race." But 1 ltidewell grew older, his heart grew warmer, and finally lie could laugh J with right good will when he spoke of i his "unexpected race." Be sure there j was no more Sabbath racing in that town. flS"1 A faithful teacher in one of the Boston public schools was greatly troubled by the use of tobacco among his pupils, lie said he tried every form of moral suasion in vain. The boys persisted in using the objection- i able weed until the hygienic method was introduced. In connection with their physiology lessons they learned j the evil nature and effects of tobacco and other narcotics on the human sys- ! tern. This dispassionate presentation of truth appealing to their reason, had , its ell'ect, and the teacher had the satisfaction of seeing his pupils one after another abandon its use until the i school as a whole is free from this j habit that was injuring both the minds i and bodies of many of the hoys. APPLIED ELECTRICITY. Interesting and useful information about the force that is worth remembering. Q. How many telephones are in use in the United States ? A. About three hundred thousand. Q. What is the average cost, per mile, of a trans-Atlantic submarine cable ? A. About one thousand dollars. Q. What war vessel has the most complete electric plant? A. The United States man of war Chicago. Q. How strong a current is used to send a message over an Atlantic cable ? A. Thirty cells of battery only. Equal thirty volts. Q. What is the longest distance over which conversation by telephone is daily maintained ? A. About seven hundred and fifty miles, from Portland, Me., to Buffalo, N. Y. Q. What is the fastest time made by au electric railway ? A. A mile a minute, by a small experimental car. Twenty miles an hour on street railway systems. Q. How many miles of submarine cables are there in operation ? A. Over one hundred thousand miles, or enough to girdle the earth four times. Q. What is the maximum power generated by an electric motor ? A. Seventy-five horse power. Experiments indicate that one hundred horse power will soon be reached. Q. How is a break in a submarine cable located ? A. By measuring the electricity needed to charge the remaining unbroken part. Q. How many miles of telegraph wire are in operation in the United States ? A. Over a million, or enough to encircle the globe forty times. Q. How many messages can be transmitted over a wire at one time? A. Four by the quadruple system in daily use. Q. How is telegraphing from a movinir frnin Arrnmnlishftd ? ' A. Through a circuit from the car roof introducing a current in the wire on poles along the track. Q. What are the most widely separated points between which it is possible to send a telegram ? A. British Columbia and New Zealand, via America and Europe. Q. How many miles of telephone wire are in operation in the United States ? A. More than one hundred and seventy thousand, over which one million fifly-five thousand messages are sent daily. Q. What is the greatest candle power of arc light used in a lighthouse ? A. Two million in the lighthouse at Housholm, Denmark. Q. How many persons in the United States are engaged in business depending solely on electricity ? A. Estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand. Q. How leng does it take to transmit a message from San Francisco to Hong Kong? A. About fifteen minutes, via New York, Canso, Penzance, Aden, Bombay, Mardas, Penang, and Singapore. Q. What is the fastest time made by an operator sending messages by Morse system ? A. About forty-two words per minute.?Scribner's Monthly. TROUBLE FOR TWO MEN. Tnere was a moment's silence after the introduction, says the Chicago Tribune. Womanlike, each was mentally "sizing the other up." Then one of them spoke. "My husband frequently speaks of you," she said. "Indeed!" returned the other. "My husband thinks you are wonderfully ftlnvnp " "Really ? Why, that's the way my husband talks about you. He told me how you reshaped and recovered that old parasol and so saved $8." "Parasol! Why, I never touched it until my husband had harped all one day on your cleverness in upholstering and relining a baby carriage at a saving of $6." "Nonsense ; the thing that made mc do that was the way my husband talked about that parasol. Then he got me to fixing over a last year's hat because you were working over an old dress." "But I never started to do that until my husband told me five times about the hat. I wasn't going to admit that you could be any more economical than I." "Well, really, my dear madam, I heard of that dress twenty-four hours before I touched the hat." "Impossible. I ?" Then she stopped and her eyes began to flash. "I believe our husbands ?" she began again. "I believe they have," chimed in the other, becoming excited also. "It's a wicked shame !" "An outrage ! They've just tricked us, that's all." "It was a regular plot! And to think how he's made mc work ! I'll get a new gown today." "And I a hat." Then two women went into a drygoods store and spent all the money they could scrape together. And two men got mighty little for supper that night, and when they complained they were promptly convinced that they ought to have said nothing. SHE SHOULD MARRY A MINISTER. "If I were minister's wife," said a lady in the car, who was talking too loud not to ne overnearu, reports u writer in The Tribune, "you may rest assured I should take an interest?an active interest?in my husband's work. I should say to him: Kichard, if you want to do well next Sunday preach short! If you want your congregations to grow larger and larger preach short! If you want to draw them to this church, that church and the other, preach short! Always preach short. But, Kichard, have something to say, always! Condense, condense and condense ! and then have an air about you as if time were something, and you could not afford to lose a minute of it. If, on a Sunday morning, he seemed to be in extra amiable mood I would venture to say : Kichard, dear, do not be all day in giving out your notices ! I)o not think over them and clear your throat, and go poking along through them as if you had ucver seen thein before, and were pondering them in your mind as you call attention to them ! Do not, I beg of you, ltiehard, read them straightforward, and then say them all backwards! There is nothing so tiresome ! I am not sure, but some Sunday I should say : Richard, if you get the least bit tedious I shall fuss with my bonnet strings as a warning! And when you say, 'In conclusion,' do not for pity's sake, go on until you reach a 'Finally,' and after that, 'One word more,' or, 'Just another thought!' I do think it is such a mistake to try to tell all one knows in one sermon." Just then the auditor was obliged to leave the car, but he could not help exclaiming to himself: "What a sensible woman !" It is to be hoped that some day this sensible one will marry a minister.?Christian Witness. What a "Ration" Is.?A ration is the established daily allowance of food for one person. For the United States army it is now composed of toe following: Twelve ounces of pork or bacon or canned beef (fresh or corned,) or one pound and four ounces of fresh beef, or twenty-two ounces of saltbeef ; eighteen ounces of soft bread or flour, or sixteen ounces of hard bread, or one pound and four ounces of corn meal. To every 100 rations, fifteen pounds of beans or peas, or ten pounds of rice or hominy; ten pounds of green coffee or eight pounds of roasted coffee, or two pounds of tea; fifteen pounds of sugar, four quarts of vinegar, one pound eight ounces of star candles., four pounds of soap, four pounds of salt, four ounces of pepper and four ounces of yeast-powder to each 100 rations of flour. , t THE MAKING OF SHOT. An English mechanic named Watts, early in the present century, invented the present process of making shot.' He was a shot maker by trade, his method being to take a sheet of the metal, cut from it small cubes, place them in a revolving barrel, which he turned until by friction the cubes had become spheres. One night he dreamed that it rained shot, and in the morning, remembering his dream, he began to wonder w hat would be the effect on - * * e. %t molten lead by allowing ic 10 laii through the air. He carried a ladleful to the the top of a church steeple in Kedcliflf and dropped it into the moat belcw. The result was satisfactory, and the first shot tower was soon after constructed. This method soon supplanted the former, and is now very generally employed. The height of shot towers varies with the kind of shot to be made, large shot requiring a longer fall than the smaller sizes. Ure says the highest shot tower in the world is 249 feet. The shot, after being taken from the water, are dried and sorted by sifting them in a copper cylinder perforated with different sized holes, and are then polished in a revolving cylinder with graphite. Several processes have been patented for making shot without the expense of the high tower. One substitutes a low tower, up the cylinder of which a very pov/erful current of air is sent, thus, in a short distance, producing the effect of a long fall. In another, the molten lead is poured on a revolving table on which is placed a cylinder of sheet brass, perforated with holes. 1 The table is revolved with a velocity of 1,000 feet a minute on the periphery, and the lead is thrown through the perforations in the sides, forming round, | brilliant shot. One Man's Way.?A miserely old j man one day went to a blacksmith's shop and asked the workman to weld the handle on the blade of an old fashioned brick oven shovel. "You jest mend it while I go down to the corner and I'll get it, when I come back," be said. The smith mended the shovel and left it standing near the anvil. Presently the old man returaed. "Wall, how much is there to pay on that 'ere job ?" he asked. "Six cents," was the reply. The old man stood tor a moment with his head bent forward and his eyes on the floor. Then he spoke: "I'm sorry I hed it done." "All right," said the blacksmith, "that's easily remedied." He raised his hammer, struck the iron a blow and unwelded it, saying, "There it is, all right now." This time the miser bent his head and looked at the floor for full five minutes. Then he said solemnly : "I'm sorry you done that." "Well, you were sorry it was done, and now it is just as it was when it was brought here," was the reply. "I can't kerry it home that way," said the man. The folks want to use it. I guess you will have to weld it again." "All right," said the smith, and in two minutes the work was finished. "Wall, what's to pay?" "Eighteeu cents." "Hey ?" "Eighteen cents. Six for mending it the first time, six for unwelding, six for mending it again." The bill was paid without more ado, and the shovel carried home to the women folks.?Selected. The Coldest and Hottest.?The coldest spot on the earth's surface is on the Eastern Slope, a shelving mountain that runs down to near the water's edge, on the eastern bank of the Lena river in Northern Siberia. The spot in question is nine and a fourth miles from Serkerchoof, about latitude 67 north, and longitude 134 east. Dr. 'WoikofF, director of the Russian meterological service, gives the mini J mum temperature of the place as i being 88 degrees below zero. It is a | place of almost perpetual cairn. In ; the mountains near by, where windy | weather is the rule, it is not nearly so cold. The hottest region on the earth's surface is on the southwestern coast of Persia, on the border of the Per. sian gulf. For forty consecutive days in the months of July and August the mercury has been known to stand I above 100 degs. in the shade, night j and day ; and to often run up as high as 180 degs. in the middle of the afternoon. Volume of the Gulf Stream.? The enormous volume of the Gulf Stream has long been a subject of cuj rious investigation. The latest calculations on the "great ocean river" informs us that at least 90,000,000,000 tons of water pass cape Florida every hour! | If this enormous amount of sea water ! could be evaporated the residue would be a quantity of impure salt so large that all the ocean vessels now afloat ; would only be equal to the task of carrying the one-hundredth part of it. And all this vast amount is held in j suspension and passes a given point in a single hour. It may seem strange, but it is nevertheless true, that alcohol, reguj larly applied to a thrifty farmer's stomach, will remove the boards from the I fence, let the cattle into his crops, kill his fruit trees, mortgage his farm and 1 sow his fields with wild oats and thistles. It will take the paint off his buildings, break glass out of his windows and fill them with rags. It will take the gloss from his clothes, and the polish from his manners, subdue his reason, arouse his passions, I bring sorrow and disgrace upon his family, and topple him into a drunkard's grave.?Farm Journal. fiiaT Unless their attention is especially directed to it, few people notice the I tiny letters stamped on the larger silver coins of our currency at a point just below the junction of the arrows and I olive branch held in the eagle's claws. The letters are "S," "O," and "C. C," j and stand respectively for San Francisco, New Orleans, or Carson City, where the pieces were cast in the , United States branch mints. Coins made in the mint at Philadelphia bear ? no snceial mark, and are indicated by . its absenne. BkiT Women govern us. Let us render them perfect. The more that women are enlightened, so much the more shall we men be. On the cultivation of the mind of women very largely depends the wisdom of men. It is by women that nature writes upon the J hearts of men.