University of South Carolina Libraries
PrrLsG ON LADIES' SHOES. A Dealer Discusses the Que tion of Male and Fenale Clerks. [From the New York Tribune.] The introduction of women as clerks in shoe stores began as an expenment a few years ago, and considerable interest in the success of the scheme has been manifested by the shoe trade. The ex periment may now be regarded as a suc eeas within certain limits, but it appears to be equally sure that the female clerks will never entirely drive out the men, even from the departments for women's and children's shoes. An' experienced clerk in a well known uptown establsihment said recently to a Tribune reporter that the tendency among large dealers now is to employ both men and women, and then let the customer choose for herself between the two.. "it is purely a matter of taste," said the clerk, "and I should say even that it depended on the customer's mere' whim. Some women profess to be shocked at the immodesty of having a *man put on their shoes for them; but on the other hand many of the most refined ladies in the city always insist on having a man serve them, and there will always be this same demand." And what is the cause of this prefer ence?" asked the reporter. -"Simply that a man can fit a shoe to the foot better than a woman can. The majority of women wear tight shoes, even those who have no claim to a place inthe world of fashion, and it takes a strong hand and arm to get a tight shoe on a customer's foot easily. Most women are too weak in the wrist for this sort of work, and they will toil and struggle so over the task that many customers be come completely disgusted, and learn t(. avoid a store where there are no mate clerks to wait on them. A man by su pedor strength and dexterity will forea a shoe two sizes too small on a woman's foot with comparative ease, and she will leave the store conscious of having se cured a small shoe that is a perfect fit " d-O-1Wv bout the question oi W4 shoe store is a good place t stadyskiiha'ganrs of prudes. Unduly uaentive women do find it an ordeal to have men wait on them, and for such .ems the female clerk isa business neces rasy. Most women, however, are not so sensitive, and as for the male clerks themseves, isy-' would always rather wa" o z nthan on a woman any JtumiuA very young clerk sometimes tels that he is pretty near heaven when heis directed to assist a handsome young W . - n ingftng satisfactory foot gear, ; the noverty soon wearsoff. Women so much more particular than men, < ally in matters of shoes, that it is ma~na a coveted privilege to wait z One annoyance to which ladies not-now subjected in the larger m'ae "is the impudent staring and other callow youth who ways to spend half an hour try shoes themselves, whenever they uto a shoe store, just to get a pretty ankle now and then. rooms are provided for z the male clerks will never banished from these sacred . e_ ess in south Carolina. oTt-ertfiizer Works-The BaIdwim Fertilizer Co. will enlarge their ae t smmaer. hs-Tramiway.-The Magnetic ' Painal Mining Co. will, it is said, andtber- tramway, to be 1* miles - acTooth-pick and Factory.-A. F. C. Eramer, ask week as contemplating a match factory, will start a for: mannfactnring matches.& ~~ka and shoe-pegs, if after azvatiga~ans he thinks such a willpy ' PhophateWorks.-The men1JO~ tione~d as formed ook sawmillat~ineopo 8 siea frore harleston, on the Railroad, and build a rail adwharf, have purchased the os.of Laurens N. Chis -There is talk of aoipany to build a canal to rthe Ashley and the Edisto Charlston-Underwear Factory been received for the reotdlast week as - min'-It is reported -thatj. 'y *will -erect 12 brick Ohfton-Cotton MilL-The Clifton - EnufctuingCo. are making some imn remnsto their No.l1mill, which will ineresse their capacity. -Columlba-Wine Factory.-W. A. Clark, W. J. Sloan, Jr., Wilie Jones Sand others will incorporate tbe Richiand YmWie Co. to purchase the farm and vine 1W toeber and manufacture cippernong grapes. Capital stocik will be about$12,000. Oo umoia-Straet' 4ailroad.-The Co lambia Street Riload~ Co. are thinking oet kemg--their road, but as yet have not'do tbytin'g definite. Columbi-Battig Miil-The Miller BtngCo.,. previously mentioned as oraie;havs ordered the machinery frtheir baisteg factory shipped. The oapeocpy w-4l be about 2,000 lbs pt .Fjurence-Foundry and Machine Shp.-Hodges & Newton will erect new buildings for theiir 'planing and grist mills, and wdlladd a f,>undry and ma chinophop.. Work wi be commenced Gergtown-DredgingThe con tract for dredging in M-.squito creek, in Georg.-town enunty, has been awarded to Ciharles C. Eay, of savainA Ga., at $l843t. *Greenville--Cotton Mill.--ThelHugue not M4l are chainglng some of their looms to manufacture cot onades and Tnrkisrn toweling in adauition to plaids. Moore-Cotton Mil.-R Miller Ot js negotiating the sale of his water-power pr~~erty to Boaton (Mate-) par ties, whq will probably bwld cotton mill I they Oangebtrg-Stret Railroad.-The Orangeburg btreet Railroad Co., lately mentineo. as chartered, contemplate -building about 1i miles of road at tirst. No plans perfected yet. Capital stock is $25,000. J. W. Lowman is interest ed. Bock Hill-Wood-working Factory, &c.-W. L Roddy, J. R. London and SA. H. White are interested in the Rock Hill Construction Co., previously men -tioned as formed to start a factory to manufacture sash, doors, blinds, spokes, handles, etc., and to build houses. They will also manufacture iron work. Capital -stock is $20,000. Seneca--Sash Factory, &c.-There is talk of establishing a sash, door and blind Seneca-Saw Mi.-A saw mill is to be built. Spartnaburtg-Bottling Works.- Bot tling works will be added to the ice fac tory of W. B. Hallett & Co.-Manufac tures Record. .Atea nincinevarr iesL POLITICS IN THE NEXT SEN -TE. But for the Result in Delaware Democrats Would Have Gained Control. WASHInGmoN, January 12 -The proba ble composition of the Senate at the be gining of the Fifty-first Congress ha: been widely discussed at the Capitol during the past week, and the talk on the subject has brought in present vie a striking illustration of the power of the unexpected in politics. The Senate at present consists of thirty-nine Repub lican and thirty-seven Democratic mem bers. Of these the terms of the following will expire on the 4th of March: Democrats-Messrs. Beck, of Ken tucky; Berry, of Arkansas; Butler, of South Carolina; Coke, of Texas; Col quitt, of Geogria; Gibson, of Lousiana; darris, of Tennessee; Kenny, of West Virginia; McPherson, of New Jersey; Morgan, of Alabama; Ransom, of North Carolina; Saulsbury, of Delaware, and Walthall of Mississippi-13. Republicans-Messrs. Bowen, of Col orada; Chase, of Rhode Island; Chand ler, of New Hampshire; Cullom, of Illi nois, Dolph, of Oregon; Frye, of Maine; Hoar, of Massachusetts; Manderson, of Nebraska; Palmer, of Michigan; Plumb, of Kansas; Riddleberger: of Virginia; Sabin, of Minnesota, and Wilson, of Iowa-13. Messrs. Beck, Butler, Chase, Morgan, Walthall, Wilson, Colquitt and Gibson have been re-elected. Messrs. Palmer and Bowe: will be succeeded by Messrs. James F. McMillen and E. O. Wolcot respectively; Messrs. Ferry, Cullom, Frye, Dolph, Coke, Hoar, Manderson and Plumb have been tither renominated or wi1 have no serious opposition. John S. Barbour, Democrat, has been elected to succeed Riddleberger. from Virginia, and Senator Saulsbury's successor from Delaware is expected to be a Rt-ptibli can. In the cases of remaining Senators the expectation is that whatever may be the result as t'ahem personally their suc cessors will be .f the same poht:cat faittn, "o that when the Senat 'r is called to order on March 4 it will be composed of thirty-eightelected R.pubiican Senators, thirty-eight elected De.m cratic Senators and one Repubhean Senator appointed by the Governor of New Hampshire to succeed Mr. Chandler, which appoint ment will be questioned. On.the question of admitting the New Hampshire Senator the vote will doubt less be on the lines of political division Republicans, 38; Democracts, 37, This is an excee'ingly close vote, and the con trol of the Senate, would have passed into the hands of the Democrats had the unexpected result of Delaware been different, for then the vote would have stood-Democrats, 38; Republicans, 37. Should the Republicans in Delaware get into trouble over the claims of rival can didates and fail to elect a successor to Senator Saulsbury, the Republicans will have control of the Senate only by the casting of Vice President Morton, and that control is liable to be lost by the acci dent of death. This condition of affairs, however, could last only until June 19, when New Hampshire's Legislature will elect a successor to Senator Chandler and Republican supremacy be restored. This is probably the last time such a contingency can possibly arise, for the New Hampshire Constitutional Conven tion, now in session, will, it is under stood, change the time of convening the Legislature from June to January. A Big Bet. A bet was made in the presidential election of 1832, rather an agreenweat, by which the sum of $200 was given out ight to one of the parties to the bet, the onditions being that he shouli pay the >ther man 1 cent for one electoral vote hat Jackson should get over Clay, 2 ents for three, 8 cents for four, 16 cents for five, 32 cents for six and so on. ac ording to the majority, if any, that ackson might get in the electoral ollege. The man to whom the offer was made uncautiously jumped at it and eagerly took the $-200, but soon found that he had obligated himself for more than he and all his friends could ever pay. Tghe simplest arithmetic will show that by a rule of this doubling up, even if the majority had been but twenty, it would have involved $5.242,83 to say nothing of a majority of ninety-five, which would bankrupt all the Goulds and Vanderbilts. Even a majority of only thirty would produce $5,868,707.12, while a majority of thirty-six would in volve $343,597,38S3. 68. If the majority only reached forty the man's obligations would already have amounted into bil lins and reached the astonishing sum of $5,397,588,138.88. Exceptions to the Rule. Two negroes that worked for Mr. L. L. Boozer, of No. 9 Township, last year de serve mention. One of those referred to is Foster Eichel--erger. H'- never lost a day ( f course Sundays excepted) from work during the year and asked for only four dollars of his wages until the end of the year. Also, Joht Boyd only lost two days from work during the y--ar, and asked fo r only fourteen dollars of his wa;;es until the end of the year. It is the rule wit Ii the majrit : of the negroes to draw and spend wages as fast as they eorn them. If the example of these colored raen was followed1 by more of their race, the colored people would be in a much more prosperous cou dition in a few ytars.--Prosperity R'ep)or Mrs. Whiitney's Scathing Rebuke. Mrs. Whitnevis arntipathy to, the biriiliant, sacatic S.<nt'or from Kansas thas long been an openi secret. A story is told that on the~ occasion of the last dinner a: tihe White House whbich Mr. Incalls attende'd, Mrs Whbitney remarked to' Mr. Intalis that te next time she inyited him to dinner she would iosi4t on his sitting beside her Mr. Inalls bowed. "Btcau:-e," added Mrs. Whitney, before he could say' a word. "then i. should feel safe that while you were bre'aing m* bread you couldn't break my character." For the Paris Exposition. The Special Agent of the D--partment of Agriculture at Washington has applied to Dr. Loughridge, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the South Carelina University, for the display of cotton ft:res that have been prepared by students under the guid. ace of the professor. J. is the desire os the department to place the display of tibre as. it now is in the ational '-xhibit at the Paris Exposition. It the disr:s y the seed of forty vaiieties, with the fibre attac:hed and combed out, ute shown. It is probable that D~r. Lughridge will allow it to be used. -Co~ltumbia Record, Jan. 17. A Chester Farmer's Heavy Loss. CRESTkR, Jan. b. -M.r. J. E. Cornwell, one of Chester's proeressive yotung farm ers, met with a severe loss night before las1 In the loss by fire of his barn and stables. The fire is supposed to have been of incent diary origin, the flames having been kin. died, it is said, at both ends of the build ing at the same time. Mr. Cornwell los1 several head of horses, among them being two colts.- His fodder was also destroyed, although his corn was not lost, being it an another bulding.-. l oNws and " STATISTICS OF BUSINESS. The annual clicular of R. G. Dunn & Co. presents some interesting figures and comparisons. According to the estimates of this agency, there were last year in the United States 1,046.662 business houses, of which number 10,679 failed during the year-these representing $123,829,973 of liabilities. In the Eastern States there were 1,194 failures. with $23,042,253 of liabilities: in the Middle States 2,602 fail ures, with $69,980,438 of liabilities; in the South 1,446 failures, with $21,422,120 of liabilities; the Western States had 3.228 failures, with $35.554,219 of liabilities; and the Pacific States and Territories 1,211 failures, with $14.191.303 of liabilities Compared with 1887, the last year showed a considerable increase in the number of failures, but a large failing off in the amount of liabilities. While the 9,6:34 failures of 1887 represent $167,56:.944 lia bilities, the 10,679 failures last year repre sented only $123,829,073 liabilities. an ex cess for last year over 1887 of 1,045 fail ures, but a decrea:e of nearly $44.000,000 in liabilities. The circular resorts that there were in Georgia last year13,117 busi ness houses and 213 failures, repiesenting $2,706,491 liabilities. The report contairs a statement of the failures for thirty years past, which is quite interesting. The greatest number of failures during that period occurred in 1885. when there were 10,268 failures, with $226.343,427 liahili ties; but the heaviest liabilities are recorded for the "panic" year 1857, when 4,932 fail ures represented the enormous sum of $291,750,000 liabilities. The lswest num ber of failures occurred in 1863, when only 496 houses went to the wall, with $7.S99, 9u0 liabilities. Thes" low figures are due to the fact that the husincas o. the whole country was then almost paralyzed by the civil war. DELA WARE'S NEW SENATOR. Some interest attaches to the recent elec tion of a Senator from Delaware. The Augusta Chronicle gives the following sketch of that gentleman: "The newly elected Republican Senator is Anthony Higgirs, of Wilmingt:n he is a sonu of the late Anthony 31. igigius, of lied Lion hundred. He was born in Red Lion hundred, New Castle county, October 1, 1840. He graduated from Yale College in 1861 with the degrea of A. 1., and was :admitted to the bar of New Caste county in May, 1864. He at once opened an office in Wilmington, in conjunction with the late Edward J. Bradford, after wards United States District Judge and the founder of the Republican party in Dela ware. Higgins was one of the original three hundred persons in Delaware who voted the Republican ticket. The- same year he was admitted to tne bar he was al pointed Deputy Attorney General of the State und.-r Attorney General Jacob Moore, serving two years, A pronounced and active Republican, he was made chairman of theS State Committee of 1868, and in 1860 was appointed by President Grant United States District Attorney for Dela ware, which office he held until June, 1876. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Con gress in 1884. He took a front rank as a lawyet from the very first. He has been the lender of that faction of the Republi cans of Delaware who have been favorable to Blaine. He has traveled extensively and knows personally probably more prom ment men in the country than any other Delawarean." The Philadelphia Times seems to enter tain very great respect for Mr. Higgins, expressing itself as follows: "He is an educated gentleman, in the very prime of life; an able lawyer, a bril liant speaker, an honest man. He is, moreover, a politician who believes in prin ciples and who, as a Republican in Dela ware from a time when Republcans there were scarce, has shown the courage of his convictions. He is not one of the Bour bons. He recognizes that the ideas and demands of 1889 are different from those of 1865. and his aim will be not only to complete the disenthrall ment of his State, but to bring his own party everywhere abreast of the progressive spirit of the times. Such men, by whatever party name they may be called or fmm whatever Coin' moiwealth they come, are doubly to be welcomed in pubie life at a time when th battle is every where to be fought against prejudice and chicanery and the brute power of money, and all patriotic people may join in congratulations to the Repub licans of Dehlavare en the worthy outcome of a contest that at one time seemed to threaten them and all cf us with shame and daager.' THE AUGrsTA CHRONIcLE tells that when Jay (Gould married the daughter of Danil G. Miller, twenty-five years ago, he was a struggling and ambitious stock opertor. His father-in.law 'was wealthy, and ~his wife brought him just $80,000. This amount the trusting lady lent him, and for awhile the chances of payment were poor. Mrs. Gould 'never lost confi dence in the restless, black-haired man. Finally Gould met Fisk. and they got con trol of "Erie." Then the thousands grew, and the wife's money. principal arnl inter est, was set aside. Three years ago, it is said, Mrs. Gould demanded a showing from her husband of her investments. She jokingly deciared that she would not trust him any longer, and desired to retire fromi Wall street, to set a good example, if nothing else. Mr. Gould ordered his book keepers to fleure out his wife's ioterest ex actly, and purchased all her stocks, bonds and other sekcurit.ies at their market value. Sne received over two million dollars The money was invested in governmrit bonds and other aecurities of undoubted solicity. I'. was Mrs. Gonld's intention. ,,reviouis to her death, to diivide this fortune among her daughtrs. AccoRI~N~G tm an Atlanta dispatch to the New York Tribune, Governor Gordon of Gergia purposes to retir; fr-in politics and become a "stock farmer." Ge-orgm~ Central? AMONG THE A ors passed at the late ses sion of the Legislature was one abolit-hirm the office of highway supervisor, and! ae volving~ its duties upon the County C-om missioners. THs PREstoENT of the United States receives an annual salary of $50,000i, wbile the Emperor William draws $1,000,$0ta year out of the Germaa treasury. But then royalty is not only expnnsive but grand. HON~E-r JOHN ParvransoN is inl trouble again. Mrs. alary R. Fleming of Phila delrula char-ges that he won her ffc~tions and declaredlili purpose to marry her. Patterson indignantly denies the c-harge, ad says that Mrs. Fleming has sought to blakmail hinm. He deciees to make terne with the widow- Patterson was mlar~ivu i)ut a vear: ago to a Miss Frank of Wau keesha, Wis., a lady of great beauty, and ot wealth in her own right. IHunest -John appears to have improved somewhat in character since his declaration, whilea Senator of the United States, that there were yet "five years of good stealing in South Carolina." George Meadows, a negro, was hng ba mob at Pratt Mines, near Birming ham, Ala., on Tuesday. He was accused] of an outrage on a white lady, but she would not be quite positive in identifying him. But it was shown that he had pre viouly assaulted a colored girl, and he was hnng. The proceeding was very nniet CHEWING GUM. SOMETHING ABOUT THE HABIT THAT HAS GROWN ON US. Some of the Girls Are Asked Why They Chew-Evolution in Gum Making-Opin ions of hIysicians on the EZects-Tons Are Maunfactured. In spite of the manifold warnings of physicians: in spite of the fact that the shape of Cupid's bow is changed; and i spin' of all the contemptuous and sarcas tic rcmark:; which are constantly appear in'g in the papers. gum chewing in this country is rapidly on the increase. Two-thirds of the girls, be they pretty or otherxwise, that one meets on the hih ways of this city are either working their jaws for all they are worth or have a :wll lu:np tucked away in some ob s:ure eer:ar of the mouth and give it a gen te :uter betwetven the teeth when they are sure of being unobserved. Gumn chewing ii less disgusting than tobacco chewing. And if it becomes a natural habit, as it seems likely to do, we may comfort ourselves that the gum chewing Ameri can is far preferable to the snufdipping Mexican. And gum chewing is not as exclusively confined to the female sex as is smoking to the male, for many men use gum to help still the craving for tobacco, thus juniping from the frying pan into the fire. perhap:,. True. gay young women are lately be coming somewhat addicted to the use of the weed, claiming that risen have the right to put their feet on the mantel and make a room blue with sm:ke why should they be denied the privilege, since it has such a soothing effect on the temper? And if women can find any thitg that has a salutary effect upon their tempers what folly to deprive them of it! UNSATISFACTORY REASONS. Why do women chew gum? You do not know, and even the chewers them selves do not seem to. -"O, I chew because I can, I guess," said one pert young miss upon being questioned. 'And I because my mother tells me not to," said another, with a mischievous laugh. "1 chew because I like the taste and because everybody else chews,". said a third indifferently, and likewise an swered they all; the truth is, they really did not know why they chewed and had never thought to ask themselves the quesio )n. The. history of chewing gum is like the growth of all animal and vegetable life one of evolution. Cnildrcn began to chew the exuda tions from different trees, from the peach, plum, pine, spruce and sweet gum, thus putting it into somebody's mind to make an artificial gum. It was first made of beeswax, gutta percha, and other rubbery and sticky substanxces, which were perfectly pure and harmless, and costly in preparation. But three years ago some inventive ge nius discovered that by boiling some of the baser elements of petroleum and mixing in a small aniount of beeswax a gum similar to the more expensive could be produced which was quite susceptible to flavors and trifling in cost. By the use of scents and large quanti ties of sugar, which is the principal article used in the composition of any gum, the disagreeable taste and odor of petroleum was entirely obliterated and a salable article was produced. About the same time a gum called "Balsam Tolu" was produced, which also found a ready sale, particularly among children, and then "Paratiin" in all of its flavors and mixtures had itsiday. Onie variety of white gum was for some time quite extensively manufac turcd in China. That country has a tree peculiar to itself which possesses an at traction for an insect with a queer Chinese name which one will neither at temp1t to write nor pronounce. Numbers of them collect upon the tree, and when ther have departed to pastures new bra'nches are found to be literally cot ered with a waxy deposit. By hoiling th rnhs the wax is separated from them, and when the water and twigs are drawn off the white deposit remains. MoETHAN $1,500,000 A YEAR. This is purified, sweetened, flavored, cooled in en:aes, and a little fancy picture pasted on top, and we have the old white gum which so many of us have chewed until our jaws ached. The salo of this variety wvas enormous, but it has now been supplanted by newer kinds, as has the old rubber u-ax. Physician.s diffTer considerably in their views on the sub.iect. An eminlent phy sician from Ohio declares that gum chewings seriously affects the eyesight, and that he never fails to detect the use of it hr an examination of the eye. Anothei- says that the muscleso~f the jaw and fac& naear the temple are enlarged and hardeed and the curve of the lipsis destrored. A.ld, on the other hand, doctors ~without number advise its use to eltesnz the teeth and aid digestion.~ lti:4 k the fad at the p resent time to ched. sp ruce gum. It. at least, is pure from' di tt adulteratious which are now So c,7i' . Del-l gum say that until withina a fwv:- it. use was :lciost exclusively cod l . cildrui, but at the present tie 4 -emand among adults is con it has een -~;cuputed .-a statistician tht heCg of tie *jnitctd States sp:;-i. m:ne than 81.500, 000 er ry year for ch es-:In~g puu. There is a mvanufac to-rv in Louiille, Ky., that alone turns ,,ut :,.d hoes of six dozen cakes each v:1 rv, which1 is distributedi all over the wvorld. Adt~ when we think~ of all thle other mamn:da.:tories of gumis of dhfferent varieties wh'ich are in full blast, stiling as maur or more thaumb~e (one mentioned abyove. w tre astounded'~ :r what man's jaws can tdo.-Chicago Tribuane. A succ.'a.i Mam. If I wer asked to define the meaning of a succssful man~l, I shlldl say a manl who has made a happy home forhi fe and childiren. No matter what he has not done in the way of achieving we-uth or honomrs. if he has done that he is a I r:U:d1 suiccess. If hte has not done that, $nd it in t hi'o n ut, though he be the highest in t he land, he is a most pitiable failu. -. -Ela Whe aeler Wilcox. A~ Knowing Dog. A ,. I~n o hvnehburg, Va., has a -wn ndl ud doge w hich is noted for hi.' i: : itee. He saw avyouth gather ha: n hi mase's orch~ard. :md. thais h wa anm intruder, took; him ';m: i he coat sleeve and led h;i~a to ILie nii:W-.s who told himi that she hiad hiLd: t>e boy to gather the apples, where upcon th-: d's i~nmedtiately released his captiee. l),.n't siart husiness andl fast living at the Two Bagdad Jews have bought the en tire site of Babylon, with the ruins of Ne buchadnezzar's and other palaces upon it. It is a good rule never to apologize for any accident at a dinner party. A bow to the hostess is all suflcient. Difficulties are overcome by diligence and assiduity. Silver can be kept bright for months by being plac'ed in an air-tight ease with a good-sized piece of camphor. Much pain and suffering may be avoid ed by child bearing womlan by the timely use of The Mother's Friend. Sold by all Druggist. BRIC-A-BKAU. Activity is not always energy. Southbridge has the largest spectacle fac tory in the world. - If the cover is removed from soap dishes the soap will not get soft. A Chicago hotel has introduced a smoke consumer. Cannot one be introduced into the cigarette fiend? Fate is the friend of the good, the guide of the wise, the tyrant of the foolish, the enemy of the bad. Fashionable iiaa.ity is exhibited now to a marked degree in what is called "home decoration." By the fruit you-shall know them, and therefore the almanac makers are known by their dates. The choir girls of New York are griev. ing because they are being supplanted by boys. The rage now is for boy choirs. Whether marriage is a failure or not is a question a good many old maids would be perfectly willing to investigate. The mariner is always glad to see a lighthouse, but this cannot be said of the actor. Seal-plush garments are said to retain their original appearance much longer than the genuine sealskin. Alphonse Dandet is credited with the creation of a happy synonyme for dotage. He characterizes it "anecdotage." "Are you ill?" asked the physician; "let me see your tongue, please." "It's no use, doctor; no tongue can tell how badly I feel." The number of streets in London is now upward of twen-y eight thousand, and new ones are added ut the rate of three hundred a year. Up in Finland they have a telephone line connecting four towns, of which the outside ones are one hundred and thirteen miles apart. An exchange says: -The new English powder for small arms is white and almost smokeless'" Seems as if long sleeves would be better for small arms. A citizen bought himself a book tie oth er (lay, and wrote this on the fly-leaf: 'Pre seated to John Jones by himself as a mark of esteem." They have new names for old things. A big thief is sometimes called a rehypothe cator, and gross plagiarism unconscious absorption. Some of the alleged black monkey fur looks as if it grew on a dog's back; in fact looks much more canine than any of the dogskin gloves. The ancient mariner says the modern sailor makes too much of the storms of the Atlantic for his own glorification in the newspapers. American wagons have the market in South America, and the American wheel barrow is to he met with in every portion of China and Japan. Among the various new red shades are Mephisto, bull's-eye and hell fire. Amo rous frog is a warm green tint, and spanked baby a delicate pink. "What's in a name?" Says a cynical old bachelor: Never marry a woman unless she is so rich that you would marry her if she were homely and so beautiful that you would marry her if she were poor. It must be a curious event, the proposal of a stuttering lover. He would have some difficulty in telling his fair one that she was the pup pup-pearl of his life, and the dud-dud-darling of his heart. The bang question will crop out again now and then. The Milwaukee Journal says that this kissing on the forehead is a hollow mockery, and the sex did well to make it impossible by inventing the bang. A new role for women in London city is tat of serving wrias. A pretty young wma-n there is said to find doors open to her which to nearly every other sheriff's of feer are shut fast. Mahogany and cherryfurniture oftLen gets dull for the want of a good cleaning with a moist cloth. Polish with the hand, rub bing well, and the result will be suprising. Windows can be cleaned in winter and the frost entirely removed by using a gill of alcohol to a pint of hot water. Clean quickly and rub dry with a warm chamois skin. A sixteen-year-old boy in Kansas City attempted to ste' and carry away a saw mill one day last week. He first stole a horse and wagon and was busily engaged n taking the mill to pieces preparatory to loading it upon the wagon, when the mill owner appeared on the scene and gathered him in. The new American navy, when com pleted, will consist of twenty-two vessels, ranging from the armored cruiser Maine, carrying 444 men. down to a firs-telass tor pedo boat, carry four officers and eighteen men. There will be .5,786 men on board the twenty-two vessels-500 officers and 5,286 sailors and marines. One of the smartest Western towns grow ing is Gladstone, Mich. Fourteen months ago it began. to be, and was named after the Grand Old Man. Today it has two thou sand inhabitants, the principal streets are paved with cedar blocks, there is a com plete fire apparatus, a four thousand dollar town hall. an electric light plant, five churches, three school buildings, two bank buildings, three hotels, six manufactories, one weekly newspaper, and fifty business housesq representing the various branches. of trade. For months past crows, to the number of from one million to three million, have swarmed in the eastern end of Douglass county, Illinois, feeding in the fields in daytime and collecting at night. About dusk these birds gather in from the sur rounding country in myriads, and the noise they make is deafening. Frequently they alight In such vast numbers on the trees that large limbs are broken under their weight. One day last weeek a black cloud of these birds was crossing the milread track, when the smoke from the endne blinded them. They flew against tb- .ide of the s.wiftly moving cars, and -'sons who watched the str'ange sight c.:.nted ne->.rly two hundred dead crows. A Trip to the Holy Land. An expedition, composed of Roman Catholics of America, Is shortly to begin a pirimage to the Holy Land. The start will be made from New York on February 22. Rome. Palestine and other points are to he visited, and at Jerusalem, where Holy Week will be spent, a memorial ban ner is to be placed upon the tomb of the Savour. On Easter Sunday the pilgrims expect to celebrate the resurrection at the tomb. On April 24 a portion of the com p:y will begin their homeward journey, while others will proceed into Galilee and then go on to Smyrna, Ephesus, Constan tinople and Athens. A Caae of Infanticide. GREESvILLE. Jan. 10.-Lizzie Gold smith, a negro woman of unsavory repu tation, took her infant, about four months old, and in broad daylight last Monday tossed it into Laurel Creek and drowned it. The body was recovered today and an inquest held, the jury finding the mother guilty of celiberate infanticide. When arrested and placed in jail she acknowl elged the act and said she did it "so as to have a better chance to get work." The Jamaica ginger habit, which pre vails in some prohibition localities, is said to be one of the most dangerous forms of inebriety known. The deleterious effects of the ginges when constantly taken Into the stomach are sufficient to render the abi fatal in a very short time. AN AMERICAN GIRL. Her Iteport of the French National Con servatory of Music. A reporter for The Chicago Tribune interviewed Miss Laura Moore. the opera singer, with the following result: "How many American girls enter the Conservatory'" -"lore every year. Many girls prefer a German course, and insist on going to Munich. But the National Conserva tory of France has an immense prestige. All the best singers in the country have passed through it. Its prizes are more sought after tha.1 the highest operatic positions. Its diplomas give you the en try of all musical bodies. Its president is Ambroise Thomas, composer of 'Mignon' and 'Hamlet.' Its jury com prises the names of Delibes, Massenet and (uiraud. who are all professors in the Conservatory. To have come vic toriously from its tuition is almost to in sure the success of your musical career." -is the opera bound to take a girl who wins the first prize?" "No; but the competition at which the prize is won is public. The managers of the Grand opera are among the audience. They get an excellent chance to hear what you can do." "And if they take you?" "You are bound to them at a yearly salary of $1,000. This is the rate fixed by the government. It is small, but then you have had all your schooling for nothing." "How did you win your first prize?" "M. Bartot, my teacher, made me sing the hardest thing lie could find." "What was that?" "Opl:elia's mad scene in 'Hamlet.' He said: -1i you c::n ing what is difficult the jury wiU know what you can do with s;t ags that are easy.' 0, the bitter tears I shed over the mad scene. But 1 mastered it. The prize was awarded to me unanimously." "Had it any pecuniary value?" "No, only the diploma. But how many girls would give their eyes for that diploma? Besides, the education, which costs many American parents so much, had come to me for nothing. I had merely gone to the Conservatory, had my voice tried, sung one song, and been admitted. Two years later I won myprize." "\ould you advise other American girls to try to follow your example?" "Why not? I am a western girl. My parents are dead. I had nobody to pay for my education. I settled down in Paris, knowing that I had to succeed: and when a western girl :.mows that she has to succeed ,4he generally succeeds." "Can anybody enter the Conserva tory?" "Any girl gifted with a good voice. It is a wonderful institution which opens its doors, not to its own people only, but to all the world. I, an American girl, owe everything to its fostering care. How can I feel otherwise than grateful?" At the Wrong Door. In Paris, several families often live under one roof, and each occupies its own "flat" or apartments. The duke and the laborer, saint and vagabond, the good and the bad may live in the same house, and yet neither of them know his neigh bor. The author of "Parisian Lights" says that two friends lived a year in the same house without being aware of the fact, until they accidentally met in the street, and inquired each others address. This author also relates the story of an amusing mistake: A gentleman called upon a lady with whom he was well acquainted. Onreach ing the house, he ascended the stairs, but, not having counted the flights, en tered the apartment in the story above that of the lady. He found the table set for a lunch. showing that company was expected. With a liberty which his relations with the family wva-ranted, he helped himsetf to bonbons and fruit. Hearing a lady's voice calling' from her chamber, and apologizing for not coming out immedi ately, he replied, "Do not disturb your self, madam; I will wait." The lady at once entered the room, and the gentleman found himself in the pres ence of a stranger, who seemed as amazed as he was. "Madame," said he, "is not this the apartment of M. --?" "No; that is on the floor below." "Then, madame, I have to throw my self at your feet for this intrusion. Thinking myself in the apartment of 3Me. -- I have been eating freely of your refreshments, and can now only offer the humblest of apologies. I am M. de -. His name was well known in Parisian society, but the lady was but half con vincea, and as she followed him to the door, kept one eye on her plate, and the other on him. He afterward met her in the apartment below, and they had a heaty aug ovr teirmutual surprise. Far' Above Beauty. In my life I have k-nown many women well. Among them is a fair majority of what the truly appreciative would call happy, for which fact I thank God, as it has helped me to take, on the whole, a hopeful view of life as well as of human nature. Now, are these women, blessed as many of them are with devoted hus bands, cheerful homes, cultivated so ciety, and leisure for the exercise of any special talent they may possess, beauti ful women? With one or two exceptions, no. Indeed, more than a few of them are positively 'plain, if feature only is considered, while from the rest I can single out but two or three whose faces and figures conform to any of the recog nied staudards of physical perfection. But they are loved, they are honored, they are~ deferred to. Whilo not elicit ing the admiration of every passer by, they have acquired through the force, sweetness or originality of their charac ter the appreciation of these whose ap pre;.atu eunters oxM.r and nojigew, and, conse'quently, their days pass in an amogpbere' of peace and good will which is as far :uAove the delirious adm iration accorded to thesi ~mply beautiful as the placid shining cf the sunbeam is to the phenomenal blaza of an evanescent flame. -Anna I.atharine Green in Philadelphia Times. ____ A Model Verdict. An Alabama man charged with steal-' ing a calf made the following statement: "I was always teached to be honest an' most always'have been, but wvhen I seed that calf I caved. I never wanted a calf so bad in all my life, an' you all know that when a man wants a calf he wants him." The jury returned the following ver dict: "We, this 'ury, air satisfied that Steve stold the cal, but as the feller that owned the animal is considerable ofa slouch, we agree to clear Steve an' make the slouch pay the costs."-Atlanta Con stiution. Mr. Trenholm's Good Fortune. Hion. Williiam L. Trenholm, of this city, the present comptroller of the currency, as been elected president of the American Surety Company, of N. Y. He will assume his ne~w duties as soon as the administra tion with which he is connected delivers the reins into the hands of General Harrison ad his party. Mr. Trenholm's family and friends in this State will be delighted to know that fortune has so tavored him. He as proved to the satisfaction of everyone that he knows how to "control" the cur rency to the very best advantage, and it was his success in this offie that won for im the new.-Char'leston World. During a hard winter the plumber and th coal daler usnally have a soft thing. The Women of Japan. The better class of Japanese women are by no means une ducated. They re ceive, I am told, a better training than the women of any other Oriental nation, and they are better treated than those of any other Asiatic nation. The Javanese girl can, as a rule. read and write Ja panese. She learns all about household matters, and she takes the whole charge of the household. This is her sphere, and she is known as the honorable mis tress of the household. Her husband has no right to be meddling with the cooking stove. She pays the servants and the market bills. In the case of the poorer merchants she often acts as one of the. clerks in the stores and takes the place of the husband when he is not present. In the country you will find her often working in the fields, and at Nikko I saw great numbers of women who acted as the leaders of pack horses carrying copper and goods up and down the mountains. Still, I think the women here have an easier time than those of the lower classes of Germany or Hol land, dnd you see fewer labor hardened faces among the other sex here than you do in many of the countries of Europe. The wife is, however, after all but little better than the servant of the husband, and the ties of marriage and divorce are here so loose that he c:nn dispense with her at pleasure. Marriage in Japan is not attended with the solemnity and re ligious cereiliony of the American wed ding. It is a civil contract, and the ne gotiations for it go on, as a rule, through the parents. The young man and woman have no preliminary courtship, and the seeing one another for one or two times is the only chance they have of deciding whether there is any compatibility of ti m peramIent.-Frank G. Carpenter. Thought It Was the Tariff. Old Uncle Peter Simonson was, in his day, one of the richest of ante-bellum pllnters. lie owned and worked more than 300 slaves, and nearly all of the river bottom lands along the Oemulgee river between Hawkinsville and Macon, Gn., were tended by his men. lie was quite a sportsman and spent the greater portion of his time hunting about his plantations or fishing up and down the river. He had been born and raised of poor parents right upon the Indian frontier, when the Creeks held the greater portion of Georgia, and had lived there all his life. He usually had a negro boy along with him when he hunted to carry home his game for him. One day in the latter part of the year 1836, while hunting in the swamps about six miles below Macon, his attention was attracted by a singular noise. He has tened to the river bank, when something, the like of which he had never seen m his life, cane slowly around the bend b low him with fire and smoke and much puffing. He lumped for his gun and climbed the nearest poplar tree. "Skin un that ar tree, Sambo," old Peter yelled to the little darkies. - ll right. massa; what is it?" "One of them ar tariffs I've hearn con gress ho been threatening to send down to destroy our craps and eat us up, feathers en all." He sat upon a limb with his rifle in his hand until the "thing" went out of sight around the next point above him. It was the first steamboat that came up the Oomulgee as far as Macon.-Detroit Free Press. She Swallowed the Car Fare. If there is any one thing that makes the horse car conductors mad it is the custom of some folks of using their mouths as purses for the car fares. It is a great nuisance in summer during travel on the open cars whero the conductor has a full complement of passengers. A Lewiston conductor says that children are the worst. Some of them disgorge a handful of clang, and he has toacce t it. One day a very pretty young iay who~ was a g&ues-t in.Anburn from a Mas sachusetts town, was coming down from the lake. She was one of a gay party of half a dozen, and they 'made merry on the down trip. When he was one seat from her in his tour of the car he looked over at her. She was so pretty he couldn't help it. Just as he looked he was pained to notice a fear'ful change in her coun tenance. Her check blanched and she seemed to choke. tier laugh died on her lips, too, and she joked no more. When he got along to the party the young lady's eyes were bedewed with tears. "I-I had some money"-- The conductor with infinite tact says that he just passed it along, saying: "I know alabout it. You've swallereel it. I see you do it." The young lady blushed and the car ~ rattled along. A child with five copir in its mouth is a fearful picture forthe conductor, but what do you think of one with 24 cents in its cheeks? Better buy the youngsters 10 cent purses.-Lewiston (Me.) Journal. Steel Bead Ornaments. As the swell girl goes down Broadway, fur trimmed andl soft as to visible sur face, a chink-chink of metal is sometimes heard. That4 noise is made by the im pact of her bead embroidered stockings. it is a new freak to have our hosiery heavily ornamented with steel beads on the ankles and calves. Now don't go to sugges~ng that we might wear circlets of something just above our hoofs like those put on horses to keep them from "interfering." We want to interfere with the heart of man. Many a time have you recad in novels how the frou fru of a dainty -:kirt or the swish of miveterious d raper.'es have set a chap to fttering sentimen'ally. Well do we inow that nice little assaults on the mas euline ear draw the masculine eye. Well, tat is the priaciple of the clinking stock ings. lt i:; as yet a genteel device. Of course, it w.ill be quickly vulgarized, as te metal hei led gaiters were, and there are women in News York naughty enough to put not only bells on their toes. but astinets on their ankles and cymbals on their knees, it' thereby they could com Ptaytng Cards. The first pack of playing cards of which any copy is preserved was in use in Ven"ice in 1125, and contained seventy ight cards in all, twenty-two of which were picture cards of very quaint char acter. One pictur'e card represented the deril, another death, a third the moon, a fourth the sun, while the fifth depicted: the judgment day. The Venetians called it the game of tarots, and it was no doubt the original parent of the modern crd pack, with its kings, queens knaves. etc. The French developed the. game greatly, and it became the stan ard pastime of all the royal courts of' the Sixteenth century. Cards became so prominent a feature of social life in France that when the revolution camer new card l~ucks were devised in which kings and queens were done away with, phlosophers and ppular heroes and heroines taking ten- places.-Bostoni Globe. Lost His Leg Getting on a Train. FLoaREcE, Jan. 17.-Isaac Williams, olored, in attemplting to board the south bound passenger train No. 23 while in mo ion, at Kingstree, last night, missed his footing and sustained serious injuries. He was brought here, where it was found ecessary to amputate his leg. Drs. James vans and J. W. King performed the ope aion successfully. Williams is doing well and admits carelessness on his part, ttaching no blame to the railroad com pany. -Special to News and Courier. Every man owes a debt to mankind. One of the few remaining lineal descen ats of Martha Custis Washington, living t the national capital, is a practicing phy sins of some lkal celebrity.