Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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AN OSTRICH RANCH, / - ,■ •_ iJiSBING T.IR QUEER BIRD VT SOUTHERN' OALIEORNIA. Ho Eights lake a Wild Cat If HI* . Home is Invaded—Harmless With a Stocking Over His Head .—Plucking the Feathers. AYS a Santa Ana (Cal.) to the New Yoik World: , On the sloping side ijof a foothill in the 0V/ San Bernandino ft range of mountains, in Southern Califor nia, is the queerest little ranch in all the Golden State. A high fence of hem- ■ lock planking, with every crack stopped up, massive, iron bound gates, of the same heavy material, and a little frame house occupied by two sturdy and deter mined looking men, guard the secrets of that odd looking inclosurc on the side of the little meuntaiu. To the sightseer or casual visitor who passes the great plank inclosed fields, an array of moving heads, with bulging eyes and gaping mouths of immense size, convey very little idea of what sort of stock is being reared there. These heads, numbering dozens and even scores at times, seem to be lifted up out of nothingness, poked high into the air and lunged swiftly over the top of the plank fence in the direction of the visitor. A sharp hiss emitted just as the glaring syes and wide-open mouth come into tight might prove a very effective object lesson to a hard drinker. But the heads are not those of monster terpents. The eyes which glare and sever blink or move are not the eyes of tintediluvian reptiles, but belong to an inoffensive bird. The gaping mouth is the mouth of an ostrich, and within that planked inclosure are more than a bun- ilred of them fully grown. But the array #f heads and bare necks, twisting and writhing to and fro, cannot fail to con- lure up before the mind of a visitor a aest of gigantic serpents, wriggling and oissiug in their endeavors to get over the sixteen small squares within the main in- closure. These little squares are about forty feet each way and accommodate a male and female bird. In them the young are raised, and into them it is very dangerous for the keepers to go during tha breeding season. In one corner of the inclosurc was a triangular pen of boards, just largo enough to admit the body of an ostrich. A stout bar stand ing by tho fence could bo used to drop into place as soon as the bird had been driven into tho pen. Then a stocking slipped over his head shut off his sight and he was as effectually a prisoner as if he had been thrown upon tho ground and tied. When an ostrich is thus im prisoned one of the keepers reaches through the bars of the pen, lifts up his wings, and with a pair of keen-edged nippers clips off the plume quills just shove the skin, allowing the stumps to remain in the flesh. These are subse quently shed by the bird, and imme diately thereafter a new plume continues to grow. From six to tea plumes of the finest quality are obtained from each side of the bird twice a year, to say nothing of the smaller plumes and tips from the back and tail. The devotion of the male bird to the female amounts almost to adosation. He guards her nest day and night and will tight furiously to protect her from an imaginarv danger. He relieves her on tfio nest at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and remains there until 8 o'clock the next aigh fence to devour him. Once within these iron-bound gates the lightscer will witness sights which can not be seen elsewhere or. this continent md nowhere else on the globe save in die vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa. The ostrich industry was begun in this (ountry eight years, ago, but the birds !ben brought from Abyssinia did not thrive, and after a year or more, this at tempt to raise them for their plumes was (bamloncd. But other persons were ^uick to see that if birds of a suf- fieieutly hardy nature could be imported to stand the climate of Southern Cali fornia, there would be a large revenue of piofit iu the business. The gentlemen who own this farm determined to try the South African ostrich and young birds were imported under the skillful manage ment of the foreman, who still has the [arm in charge. There were twenty of these ostriches and they first saw tho farm near Fullerton, a little more than lix years ago. Of the original birds im ported, sixteen still survive and of the four dead, only one died from sickness, the others having injured themselves fatally, by falling into ditches iu tho right time. From the flock of twenty birds, 140 have been reared, but owing to death from accident, only 124 of them were on the farm when the World party visited it last week.' " ~ A COVET OF YOUNG OSTIUfflES. “If you will walk this way,” said tho Superintendent, “I will show you the youngest ostriches ever exhibited in America, here or anywhere else. I have a number in a little inclosure down here, which were hatched only day before yes terday, and they are well worth seeing.” We walked toward a little brook on the bank of which stood a framework cf boards which looked something like a hot-bed in a vegetable garden. It had a roof partly of boards and partly of glass, and underneath the panes were several birds about the size of half-grown gos lings. They were as lively as sparrows, jumping hither and thfther, pecking at the gravel in one corner of their cage or nibbling at the tender shoots of alfalfa clover growing in another. The sash was lifted off and the Superintendent went into their cage to catch one of the covey. He had a prettly lively chase of it around the narrow limits of the in- elosure, but finally succeeded in catching one of the largest. The young ostrich was covered with down soft as satin and as glossy as if it had been oiled. There was a slight moulting of white-tipped, fluffy feathers all over Us body, and down the back of its neck was a broad stripe of jet-black color, merging into shaded ! brown and very pretty. There were ten in all, ranging in age from three days to three weeks. The Superintendent dropped the one he had caught and picked up another and a smaller one a moment later. The rapid growth of the ostrich can be imagined from (he Super intendent's assertion that in sixteen months the bird will have reached a stature of eight or nine feet when stand ing erect. “What is the value ofa young ostrich?” I asked. “We value them at $100 each when they are batched, and their value in creases with their age. They yield their first crop of feathers when they arc six teen mouths old. After that we get at least two crops of feathers every year from them.” "And for how many years will a bird continue to yield a paying amount of plumes?” “Ob, they live to a good age, and so long as they live yield first-class feather*. The male birds—ail those big black fel lows you see up there on the hillside are males—of course pay the best, for it is from them that we get the finest plumes. From the female birds we get the brown snd gray feathers. These have to be dyed before they can be marketed, and then they arc shorter and lighher in body than the plumes from the males. The feathers from the female birds are made into tips and short plumes, and bring much less, comparatively, than the long, heavy plumes of the miles.” “How do you pluck the featherol" I iskcti, desirous of seeing the operation, If possible. “I cannot pluck a bird for you now, because we are through with that work for this month, hut it you will walk up into the main corrals I II show you how it is done.” Up on the side of the sloping hill are EXPRESSING HIS INDIGNATION. Doming, taking his “watch” with al most clock-like regularity. He does two- thirds of the duty of setting and there fore two-thirds of the labor of hatching a brood of young. I had an opportunity, in one of tha smaller corrals, of witnessing the build ing of a permanent nest. The female bird tiotted around the lot in a peculiar manner, now and then pecking at the ground with her bill. Finally she found a spot to her liking and scratched up the sandy loam a little with her foot. Tuen she walked away, proud and happy in the knowledge that she had found the proper place for digging the family nest. She retired to a further corner of the lot and sat down. Then the male bird, a handsome, black-plumed fellow, strutted over to the spot where the head of tho house had scratched away the turf. Hu weut to work with a will and soon his big, two-toed feet, armed with their heavy claws, had dug out quite a hole in the soft sand. He did not stop until he had made an excavation fully as broad as the body of his beloved mate and about a foot in depth. Then he spoke to her in ostrich language and she immediately came to tho nest. There were some modern improvements which he had overlooked, perhaps, for she wasn't pleased with it exactly. She gave him a few more instructions and sat down to watch the progress of the work. Tin old fellow went to work like a dutifu' AN OSTRICH TWO WEEKS OLD. husband, scratched a little more dirt here and dug a little deeper there, until he had apparently carried out the orders of his spouse. She then sat down in the nest, ruffied her feathers, kicked and scratched a little and finally pronounced the nest a fit. Then they both went gos siping around by the fence, letting the inhabitants of the ostrich village into the secret that they had the latest-improved and best-appointed nest in all ostrichdom and were about to hatch a brood which should be the envy and wonder of all be holders. In an adjoining inclosure an ostrich hen was just going on her nest. She had told her better half that he might take a little stroll, and he was cantering to ward the feed-trough at the further side of the corral as fast as a horse could run. The female in this particular instance was a very mad hen. The Superintend ent had taken two eggs from the nest, and she had caught him at it. He had the eggs outside of the fence, but he couldn’t put them hack for fear tho bird would kick him. So, as the only alter native, belaid them down carefully just inside the inclosure and the hen rolled them back one by one, using her head as a lever. Then she fluffed her feathers a little, uttered a defiant hiss at tho im pudent visitors who had caused her nest to be disturbed, souatted down over her eggs, tucked her head under her wing and went to sleep. “Come this way now,” said the Super intendent, “and I’ll show you the full- grown birds, not yet mated off, over in the big paddock. They are a bad lot just now, for they are mating and the males like to show off. Don't get too near the fence, for they will kick you if they can.” As soon as we stopped they came up to the fence and snapped at our hats in a friendly sort of way. The Superintend ent took up a stick and rattled it be tween the boards of the fence. Instantly there was a crash as of a heavy blow, ac companied by • shrill hiss. Crash after I crasn followed as one of t'n ostriches kicked at the stick held in the Superin tendent’s hand. He thrust his great foot forward with lightning-like rapidity and every time hss horn-shod great toe struck the fence it left an indentation almo st an inch deep. It was an exhibition of kick ing »uch ns I had never seen elsewhere, and I had much rather see that ostrieli practise on the plsak fenen than on any part of my anatomy. The feeding of the giant birds is in teresting. In the evening they eat grain, principally oats and rnUeJ barley, but for their other nsa!s they are fed finely chopped green alfsl*. yhs fields of al- falfa on the ranch afford an unlimited supply of nourishiug food for the birds aud they thrive upon it parfcctly. It is tho food tho ostrich gets iu South Africa, and he docs as well on it in California as there. Tho alfalfa is brought in from the fields by the wagon-load,then chopped in a feed-cutter very finely and thrown into the feeding-boxes in the various in- closures in unlimited quantities. The birds cat little at a time, but eat often. They are not gluttons nor gourmands, though they will cat aud swallow any thing. They drink large quantities of water aud spend their time iu chasing one another around the paddocks. A Telegraph-role Bore. The woodpecker and portion of ’tele graph-post here represented were re cently exhibited to the Cardiff Natural ists’ Society by the President, John Gavcy. In the course of his official du- THE WOODPECKER AT WORK. Hes as district engineer of postal tele graphs, several instances of injury to poles in the neighborhood of Shipton-on- Stour, caused by large holes being driven into and almost through them, were brought under his notice. A watch was set aud tlie depredator discovered in tho form of what the watchman de scribed ns a "stock-cagie,” which, when shot, turned out to be a poor little wood pecker. The bird is thought to have been mis led by the humming noise conducted through the wood from the wires, iuto the belief that a store of insect delicacies awaited extraction from the interior, and with energy worthy of a better result it “slogged” away until it bad arrived within half an inch of the opposite side. Then the fatal shot terminated the work. IVh^re May the Sun Get Its Heat? When a shooting star dashes into our atmosphere its course is attended with an evolution of light aud heat owing to its friction through the air. We were thus able to account for the enormous quantity of heat, or of what was equiv alent to heat, which existed in virtue of the rapid motion of these little bodies. Of course, we only see these meteors at that supreme moment of their dissolu tion when they dash iuto our atmosphere. It is, however, impossible to doubt that there must be uucoun te l shoals of me teors which never collide with our earth. It must ncsessarily happen that many of the other great globes iu our system must, like our globe, absorb multitudes of meteors which they chance to encoun ter in their roamings. The number of meteors that will be gathered by a globe will doubtless be greater the larger and more massive be the globe, and this for a double reason. In the first place tho dimensions of the net which the globe extends to entrap tho meteors will, of course, increase with its size, and in ad dition the more massive be the globe the more vehement will he its attraction and the greater will bo the number of the meteors that are drawn into its extensive atmosphere. Of course, this reasoning will apply in a special degree to the sun. Wc shall probably be correct in the as sertion that for every meteor that de scends upon this earth at least a million meteors will descend upon the sun. As these objects plow their way through the sun's atmosphere light and heat will be, of course, evolved. It Ins been cojccturcd that the friction of the meteors which are incessantly rushing into the sun may produce light and licat in sufficient quantities to aid in the sun's ordinary expenditure. It has been even supposed that the quantity of energy thus generated may supply all that is wanted to explain the extraordi nary circumstance that from ago to ago no visible decline has taken place in the intensity of the solar radiation. Here again is a question which we must submit to calculation. We have first of all to determine the heat which could be de generated by a body of, let us say, a pound in weight, falling into the sun after having been attracted thither from an indefinitely great distance. Tho re sult is not a little startling; it shows us that such a body in the course of its friction, through the sun’s atmosphere might generate as much heat as could bo produced by the combustion of many limes its own weight of coal consumed under the most favorable conditions.— Good Wordt. Counterfeited Karo Coins. A gigantic system of counterfeiting has its headquarters iu New York, with branches in various other sections of tho United States. During the last annual sale of valuable and antique coins by Dealer Hazletinc, of Philadelphia what to all appearance seems to be one of the rare silver dollars bearing the date of 1805 sold for the sum of $500. This dollar was one of a number of spu rious pieces that have lately flooded tho market. It was sent to the numismatic association and examined by an expert. It was a dollar of the date of “1815” with the second figure “1” struck out and a cipher substituted before the “5” by means of a tiny block. This discov ery led to an investigation liy the associa tion of all the principal coin collections in the country, and it was soou found that a systematic counterfeiting of rare and antique United States coins existed somewhere. One of the sources of this supply was found to ho at Neoga, Gum bcrland County, III. Kcceutl a heavy letter was received by mail at tho Indiana prison at Michigan City addressed to Pete McCartney, one of the most notor ious of Treasury counterfeiters. The letter was from McCartney's wife, who had so often engineered his escapes from prison. In the letter was inclosed a coin cf the date of 1805 wrapped m a blue ribbon. The clerk submitted the coin to an expert, and it was found under a mi croscopic examination to be a clear and well-executed counterfeit. Chief Bell, of Washington, was notified of the dis covery and the movements of McCart ney’s wife at Neoga were watched. It was found that she was in league with the counterfeiters, and at last the miut was located in tlie garret of the house of one of the citizens of Neoga who lives on the outskirts of the cite. — Chicago 11 raid. In some wheat-planting experiments, when tho seed was covered but half an inch it came up iu about eleven days, while that covered three laches wa» ;?t) twenty da?* in cqmiog up. MOST USEFUL OF FISHES. XHZ CODFISH INDUSTRY IN NEW FOUNDLAND. How the Fishermen Capture This Koyal Fish and What They Do to Get Him Ready for Market. The cod is king wherever he lives. He is a swift, fierce, powerful fish. Of all the commercial fishes he is incomparably the most useful. No part of him is without a function in the serving of man. His head, bones, and intestines arc used in the manufacture of rich fertilizing compost. Isinglass is made from his swimming bladder. The roe is exported is bait for the French sardine fishery. The liver is famous for the great curative oil that is extracted from it, aud the rest af the cod is pure flesh. His home in the waters of the Northern and Western Atlantic extends over about 250,000 square miles and along a coast-line from Labrador to Cape Hatteras, which in all Its sinuosities is about 0300 miles long, Of this vast hunt over 200,000 square miles in area and over 5000 miles in lateral extent appertain to the British possessions. The temperature of tho waters within which he keep' himself loes not greatly vary from 39 degrees •jo 42. So soon as the caplin fla"h their silvery males in the sunlight about the coasts :he fishermen become active. This generally occurs as the month of June jpens. The caplin (pronounce it cape- ,in) is one of the most beautiful little ishes in the sea. It is six or seven nches long and most delicate of flavor, it come in uncountable myriads, with the ;od in swift and greedy pursuit. The ishermeu begin their work by catching :he caplin, for the run lasts only about a week, and in that time enough must be caught for bait to last until the squid srrive. Tlie catch is enormous. So plentiful are the fish, and so easily taken by seining, that a great surplus beyond the needs of the fishermen accumulates. No method has yet been found of pre serving the caplin, and all this surplus, amounting to thousands of barrels, is used as a fertilizer. It seems shameful that this exquisite little fish should be put to such base purposes. Being now well stocked with bait, the fishing harvest begins. The banking fleet hurries out to sea, and the smaller boats, little two-masted schooners ol from twenty to forty tons burden, go and come at dawn and nightfall to their fish ing grounds just off the coast. Varioui devices arc use 1 for catching the fish, many of them injurious and wasteful. Tho hook-aud-lino is used along the shores extensively, and this is the least destruc tive and also the least remunerative in strument. The seine, tlie cod-net, the cod-trap and the bultow are generally employed. Except the bultow, these air all nets, variously constructed. They have gradually done so much harm to th« shore fisheries that laws Lave had to b« passed regulating the size of the mesh, in many of tlie bays and harbors where s few years since cod were plentiful scarce ly a fish can now be taken, and seriom concern is felt lest the shore fisheries hav« declined beyond hope of replenishment. This fear has led to the estab lishment by the Newfoundland Govern ment of a Fisheries Commission, which has been busily experimenting with a cod- hatchery. The superintendent of the hatchery is a distinguished Norwegian, and his intelligent and suggestive work has been of great service to the Commis sion and to the colony. He has probably solved the problems of cod-hatching, and a revival of the shore-fisheries is confi dently anticipated. On the banks the bultow is almost exclusively used in catching the fish. It is simply a multi plication of the hook-aud line. Several hundred hooks, each attached to a fine hempen line, are suspended at intervals upon a series of long, stout lines. Each hook is baited. There arc sometimes twenty rows of theso books, all well fastened, each row connected with tho others, and the whole contrivance se cured against the bank currents by stanch moorings. They are overhauled every morning. So soon as the fisherman's boat is well, laden he makes for Ids “stage.” This is a covered platform of lir-polcs, project ing over the water and held up by other and heavier poles. Stages and "flakes.” i’hirh are uncovered platforms where the rod are laid out to dry, line the water front of every fishing village. The fish are tossed witli a “pew”—a two-pronged pitchfork—from the bottom of tlie boat to the outer floor of the stage. There they are passed, one by one, through a little window in tlie stage. The “cut throat” seizes them ns they come in. He is a human being, selected for this work because of his expertness with the knife. He is armed with a long, sharp, pointed blade, He makes three swift and dexter ous cuts. One severs tho cord connect ing the gill-covering with the body. The second slits the abdomen clear to the vent. The third lays the head open to the base of the skull. All (Ids is done so quickly that a watcher’s eyes are quite un able to analyze the cutthroat's mo tions. He slides the fish now to the “header,” who extracts the liver, wrenches off the head and removes the viscera and ruts out the tongue and the “sounds,” or air bladder. Everything is carefully preserved, for everything in and about a codfish possesses a commer cial value. 'When tlie “header” has done the “splitter” begins his work. He places the fish on its back and draws a sharp knife along the left side of the backbone clear to the base of the tail. Then, as the lish lies open on tho table, with a quick blow he snaps the backbone just above the tail aud cuts the tail away. Tho “saltcr” proceeds to the performance of his functions just so soon as this has been done. He washes the fish with great care, not permitting any blood to remain upon it, aud then he covers it with salt and leaves it in little mounds on the floor of the stage. All this work must be done so soon ns the fish is caught. It cannot ho left twenty-four hours without salt. It re mains for a day or two in this condition of pickle, and is then washed and laid upon the flake iu rows to dry and bleach in the sun and air. It is taken in every night and whenever the weather is damp or rainy. IVheu thoroughly dry it is stored until the “planter’’ buys it, or, having already bought it, until he wishes to put it upon the market. Then it goes to St. John’s and is exported to Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy and Brazil. The catcli is considerably larger than that of Canada, Norway or tho United States. It amounts annually to from 1,009,000 quintals to 1,200,000, and it brings to Newfoundland from $4,500,000 to §!),- 000,000.—Aem York Tribune. Proficient in Eleven Language*. It is stated that Marion Crawford, the novelist, is proficient in the use of no fewer than eleven languages—English, German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Sanscrit, Arabic, Persian, Russian nui Turkish. It is evident Unit when Mr. Crawford, blindly feeling about in tlie dark for a door, stumbles over a rocking- chair, he is able to give his feelings ade quate expression. Even the incidental advantages of culture are not to be de spised.—Alw York Tribune. NEWS AND NOTES FOR WOMEN. Checks are very popular. Braided skirts aro worn this season. Bed is ever popular with brunette beau ties. Shot alpacas are deservedly fashion able. The newer cheeks are irregular or broken. There are a dozen women notaries public in New York city. Sashes are playing a very important part in the season’s fashions. English women have better all-round feet than their American cousins. Blonds are said to be disappearing both in England and in America. Parisian ladies devote especial care on the choice of their personal handles. Entire bodices or waists of beads on a foundation of net are something new. It is to be remarked that the very long stick sun shade is declining in favor. The discovery has been made that no two girls of the period have hats alike. There are women who have not yet adopted the blouse waist, but they are very few. The sleeves of checked dresses are made in gigot style and ended with a small cuff. Cosmetic artists and beautifiers claim that the veil is a detriment to a good complexion. Small buttons of cut steel are being used on crcpon dresses to hold the drap eries in place. Fans of shingle wood, on which auto graphs arc to be inscribed, have come once more into fashion. Ginghams this season excel all pre vious offerings in finish and colorings. They come in stripes, checks and plaids. A women at a Long Branch (N. J.) hotel appeared in the dining-room the other day wearing $30,000 worth of jew elry. Mrs. Ada Bittcabendcr, of Osecoln, Neb., has tried many cases before the Supreme Court of Nebraska and has not lost one. Mrs. Houghton, a resident of Spokane Falls, AVashingtou, is said to have made $250,000 in real estate speculations in four years. Brass plates arc put on the high heels of low shoes, to keep them from declin ing. Even the fine suede leathers are penny plated. The Maori women of New Zealand are killing themselves trying to wear corsets since they have seen them on the mis sionary women. Needlework scollops appear upon many of the French vests, blouses and morning dresses of China silk, sheer wool bati* and camel’s hair. No meal is quite so hard for the house wife to provide as breakfast. The ordinary monotony of eating is never so hard to overcome. Parisian ladies at present indulge in tho delightful luxury of allowing their skirts to trail, aud sweep and stir up the dust of the streets. The Vassar girls have concluded to en dow a chair of astronomy in that college iu honor of, and to be known after, the late Maria Mitchell. An orchestra composed of good-look ing young women from Boston is an at traction at a hotel on Mount McGregor, near Soratoga, N. AL Mrs. Anna Garland Spencer has charge of a church in Providence, R. I. She has tho rcputalion of being one of the best speakers io that city. A novel charity in New York city pro vides excursions for little girls who arc obliged to take ear* of younger children while their parents are at work. To raise a pile on plush hold it over steam a few minutes, wrong side down, and then pass it tightly across a hot iron. Then brush the plush with a stiff bristle brush. Mmc. Carnot, wife of the President ol France, has revived “Magenta red” as a fashionable color in Paris by appearing at an official reception in a velvet robe ot that hue. Few ladies consider that they carry some forty or fifty miles of hair on theii heads; the fair-haired may even have to dress seventy miles of threads of gold every morning. A sum of $53,000 has been collected by American ladies for the furtherance of the higher medical education of women at the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Md, The new mackintosh issilk. with cash mere pattern, in shades of old gold, light blue and glace red. Tlie shape is that of the gathered pelisse with tight back, called the dolman back. At the recent marriage of the daughter of Chauncy Kilmer, of New York, at his summer home at. Rock City Falls, thf grounds were illuminated with nine- miles of Chinese lanterns. Sara Orme Jewett is said to be the prettiest of Boston’s literary women. She is the daughter of a Maine sen cap tain, ami is u dark-haired, graceful woman, with a Madonna-like face. Lady Alexander Lcveson Gower is de termined to be of some uie in the world, albeit she is the only daughter of the Duke of Suthcrlaud. She has begun her training as a nurse iu a London hos pital. Sir John Millais was so struck by the loveliness of a young lady whom he met in London recently that he asked her to allow him to paint her portrait. The young lady said yes, aud gets a picture worth $15,000 for nothing. A wonderful wedding dress was re ccntly made up in Russia for the daugh ter of a great Russian artist. It is of regulation white satin, but on the satin are innumerable little pictures, chiefly al legorical, painted by her father's artist friends. AVhat may be its value in yean to come? Panic and Bicycle*. Sir Evelyn Wood, of the British army, has expressed himselt in favor of the for mation of a corps of 20,000 volunteers mounted on bicycles. Sir Evelyn is an undoubted authority on military affairs, but lias lie ever studied the influence of panic on the bicycle? The ability of the rider to keep his machine on its legs, so to speak, depends wholly upon his cool ness. The moment he uecomes nervous his knees, as well as his resolution, weaken, and his bicycle “wabbles” and comes to grief. Imagine the effect of a round shot crushing through a corps of fresh bicyclis's, oml scattering broken wheels and splintered backbones in its path. Unquestionably the more excitable members of the corps would be given to ‘wabble.” collisions would ensue, and in the course of the next five minutes the twenty thousand bicycles would be inex tricable entangled one with another, and tho enemy would make prisoners of the entire corps—that is, if the enemy could spare the time uccess try for disentangling its prisoners bum their bicycles, a task which would probably require from six to ten days.—AViS York Herald. It is said that a bunch of clover bunf) up in a sitting room or bed-room will clear it of flic*. REV. DR. TALMAGE THE BROOKWN DIVINE’S SUN DAY SERMON. Text: “A so/d lonr/ae brcakelh the oonc.”—Frov. xxv., i.j. * AVhon Solomon said this ho drove a whole volume into ona plu-as '. You, ot course, will not beso silly as to toko Ilia words of the text in a literal sens.-. They simply mcau to set forth tho fact that there is a tremendous power in a kind word. Al though it may seem to be very insignificant, its force is indescribable an I illimitable. Pungent and all conquering utlcrance: “A soft tongue breaketh the hone.” If tlie weather were not so hot and I had time I would show you kindness as a means ot defense; kindness as a means of useful ness; kindness os a means of domestic liar- wony; kindness as host employed by govern ments for tho taming aud curing of crimi nals, ami kindness a. best a-laptod for tho settling and adjusting of international quar rels; but 1 shall call your attention only to two of these thoughts. And first 1 speak to you of kindness as a means ot defense. Almost every man in tho course of his life is set upon and assaulted Your motives are misinterpreted, and your religious or political principals are bom- bon led. What to do under such circum- stances is the question. Tho first impulse of the natural heart says: "Strike back. Give ns much as lie scut Trip him into the ditch which he dug lor your feet. Gash him with as severe n wound as that which he inflicted on your soul. Shot for shot Sarcasm for sarcasm. An eye for cu eye. A tooth for a tooth " Put the better spirit in the man’s soul rises up an* says: “You ought to reconsider that mat ter.” You look up into the face of Christ and say: "My Master, how ought I to act under these difficult circumstances-'” . And Christ instantly answers: "iiless them that curse you, and pray for them which dospitefuUy use you.” *1 hen the old nature rises up again andsavs: "You had belter not forgive him until first you iiave chastised him. You will never get him in so tight a corner again. You will never have such an opportunity of inflicting tho right kind of punishment upon him again. First chastise him and then let him go.” “No," says tho better nature; “hush thou foul heart. Try tho soft tongue that breaketh tho bone.' Have j'ou over in all your life known acerbity and acrimonious dispute to settle a quarrel? Did they not al- wn's make mailers worse aud worse and worse? Many years ago there was a great quarrel in the Presbyterian family. Ministers of Christ were thought orthodox in proportion as they had measured lances with other clergymen of tho same denomination. Iko most outrageous personalities were abroad As in tho autumn a hunter comes home with a string of game, partridges aud wild ducks slung over his shoulder, so there were many ministers who came back from the ecclesias tical courts with long strings of doctors of divinity whom they hod shot with their own rifle. The division became wider, tho ani mosity greater, until after a while some good men resolved upon another tack. They be gan to explain away tho difficulties; they be gan to forgive each others faults, audio! the great church quarrel was settled, and the new school Presbyterian church and the old school Presbyterian church became one —tho different ports of the Presbyterian order welded by a hammer, a little hammer, a Christian hammer, that the Scripture calls “n soft tongue.*’ You have a dispute with your neighbor. You say to him, T despise you.” Ho re plies, “1 can’t boar tho sight of you.” You fay to him, “Never enter my house again.” lie says. “If you come on my doo* sill PU kick you off.” You say to him, ‘Til put you down." He says to you, “You arc mistaken, Pll put you down.” And so the contest rages, and year after year you act the un-Christinn part. Alter a while the better spirit seizes you, and one day you go over to tho neighbor and say: “Give mo your hand; wo have fought long enough. Time is so short and eternity is so near that we cannot afford any longer to quarrel. I feel you have wronged me very much, but let us settle all now in one great hand shak ing, and bo good friends for all tho rest of our lives.” You have risen to a higher plat form than that on which before you stood. You win his admiration, and you get his apology. Rut if you have not conquered him in that way, at any rate you have won the applause ot your own conscience, tho high estimation of good men, and tho honor of your Lord, who died for His armed ene mies. “Rut,” you say, “what are wo to do when slanders assault us an l t here come acrimon ious sayings all around about us, and we are abused ami spat upon?*’ My a lvice is. Do not go and attempt to elm o down tho slan ders. Lios are prolific, and while you are killing one fifty are born. All your demon strations of indignation only exhaust your self. You might as well on some summer night, when the swarms of insects are coming up from the meadows and disturbing you and disturb ng your family, bring up some great “swamp angel,” like that which thundered over Charleston, and try to shoot them down. The game is too small for the gun. But what, then, are you to do with tho abuses that come upon you in life. You are to live them down. I saw a farmer go out to get back a swarm of boos that had wandered off from the hive. As ho moved amid them they buzzod around his head, and buzzed around his hands, and buzzod around his feet. If he had killed one of them they would have stung him to death. But he moved iu their midst with perfect placidity until he had captured the swarm of wandering bees. And so I have seen men moving amid the annoyances, and the vexations, and the assaults of life in such calm, Christian deliberation that all the buzzing around about their soul amounted to nothing. They conquered them, and above all they conquered them selves. “Oh,” you say, “that’s a very good theory to preach on a llot day, but it won’t work.” It will work. It lias worked. 1 believe it is the last Christian grace we win. You know there are fruits which wo gather in Jnne, and others in July, and virion, and it will scorn aa if a supernatural band was steadying his staggering gait. A good many years ago there lay in the streets a man dead drunk, his face exposed to tho blistering noonday suu. A Christian woman passed along, looked at him and said, “Poor fellow.” She took her handkerchief and spread it over his face, and passed on. The man roused himself up from his debauch and began to look at the handker chief and lo! on it was the name of a highly respectable Christian woman of the city. He wont to her, he thanked her for her kindness, and that one little deed saved him for this life, and saved him for the life that is tc come. He was afterward Attorney-Genera! of the United States; but higher than all, he becamo the consecrated disciple of Jesir. Christ. Kind words are so cheap it is a wonder we do not use them oftener. There aro tens of thousands of people who are dying for tho lack of one kind w’ord. There is a business man who has fought against trouble until ho is perfectly exhausted. He has been think ing about forgery, about robbery, about sui cide* Go to that business man. Tell him that better times are coming, and tell him that you yourself were in a tight business pass, and the Lord delivered you Tell him to put his trust in God. Tell him that Jesus Christ stands beside every business man in his perplexities. Tell him of the sweet prom ises of God’s comforting grace. That man is dying for tho lack of just one kind word. Go to-morrow and utter that one saving, omnipotent, kind word. Here is a soul that has been swamped in sin. Ho wants to find the light of the Gospel. He feels like a shipwrecked mariner looking out over the beach, watching for a sail against the sky. Oh, bear down on him. Tell him that the Lord waits to be gracious to him, and, though he has been a great sinner, there is a great Saviour provided. Tell him that though his sius are as scarlet they shall be as snow; though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool. That man is dying forever for the lack of one kind word. There used to be sung at a great many of tho pianos all through the country a song that has almost died out. T wish somebody would start it again in our social circles. There may have not been very exquisite art in the music, but there was a grand and glorious sentiment: Kind words never die, never die; Cherished and blessed. Oh, that we might in our families and in our churches try the force of kindness. You can never drive men, women or children into the kingdom of God. A March northeaster will bring out more honeysuckles than fret fulness and scolding will bring out Christian grace. I wish that in all our religious work we might bo saturated with the spirit of kindness. Missing that we miss a great deal of usefulness. There is no need of coming out before men and thundering to them the law unless at the same time you preach to them the Gospel. Do you not know that this simple story of a Saviour’s kindness is to r<> deem all nations? Tho hard heart of this world’s obduracy is to be broken before that story. There is In Antwerp, Belgium, one of the mo51 remarkable pictures I ever saw. It is The Descent of Christ from the Cross. It is one of Rubens's pictures. No man can stand and look at that descent from the cross as Rubens pictured it, without having his eyes flooded with tears, if he have any sens! bility at all. It is au overmastering picture —one that stuns you, and staggers you, and haunts your dreams. One afternoon a man stood in that cathedral looking at Rubens’s “Descent of Christ from the Cross.” He was all absorbed in that scene of a Saviour's suf ferings when the janitor came in and said: “It is time to close up the cathedral for the night. I wish you would depart.” The pil grim looking at that “Descent of Christ from the Cross,’’ turned around to tho janitor and said: “No, no; not yet. Wait until they gel Him down.” Oh, it is the story of a Saviour’s suffering kindness that is to capture the world. When tho bones of that great Behemoth of iniquity which has trampled all nations shall be broken and shattered, it will be found out that the work was not done by the hammer of the iconoclast, or by the sword of the conqueror, or bv the torch of persecution, but by tho plain, simple, overwhelming force of “the soft tongue that breaketh the bone.’’ And now I ask the blessing of God to come down upon you in matters of health, in mat ters of business: that tho Lord will deliver vou from ail your financial perplexities: that ho will give you a good livelihood, large sal aries, healthful wages, sufficient income. 1 pray God that Ho rnay give you the oppor tunity of educating your children for thir world, and through the rich grace of our Lord Jesus Christ of seeing thorn prepared for the w orld that is to come. Above all, I look for the mercy of God upon your immortal souls; and lest I stand before some who have not vet attended to the luingi* oi uieir eternal interest, in tins, tne closing part of my discourse, I implore them here and now to seek after God and be at peace with Him. Oh, we want to be gathered together at last in tho bright and blessed as semblage of the skies, our work all done, our sorrows all ended. God bless you, and your children, and your children’s cnildren. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build von up and give you an inheritance among afl them that are sanctified. A Tcn-Storjr Steel linlldlog. Tho new ten-story steel building at Chicago, of Rend, McNally & Co., the publishers, will contain,it is announced, fifteen miles of steel railway sixty-five- pound rails in the foundation, besides the twelve-inch and twenty-inch beams. There will be twelve miles of fifteen-inch steel beams and channels; two and one- half miles of ties and angles in the roof: seven miles of tie rods; ten miles of Z steel in the column^,; twelve miles of steam pipe, 350,000 rivets and bolts, and seven acres of floors, the boards of which would reach 250 miles, if laid cud to end. others in August, amt others in September, nml still others in October; nuO I have to admit that this grace of Christian for giveness is about the last fruit of the Chris tian rout. I\ r o hear a great deal about tho bitter tongue, aud the sarcastic longue, and the quick tongue, and the stinging tongue, hut we know very little about “the soft tongue that breaketh tho hone.” We rend lludihrus, and Sterne, Demi Swift and other apostles of acrimony, hut give little time to studying the example of Him who was reviled, and vet reviled not again. O that the Lord by Bis spirit would endow us ail with "the soft tongue that breaketh the bone." 1 press now to the other thought that I de sire to present, and that is, kin Iness as a means of usefulness. Iu all communities you find skeptical men. Through early edu cation, or through the maltreatment o'f pro fessed. Christian people, or through prying curiosity about the future world, there are a great many people who become skeptical in religious things. How shall you capture them for God? Sharp argument and sarcas tic retort never won a single soul from skep ticism to tho Christian religion. While pow erful books on the "Evidences of Christian ity" have their mission in confirming Chris tian people in tho faith they have already adopted, I have nolieed that when skeptical pcopleore brought into the kingdom of Christ it is through the charm of some genial soul, and not hy argument at all. Men are not saved through tlie head, they tire saved through tho heart A storm comes out of its hiding place. It snvs: “ Now, we’ll just rouse up all this sea;" and it makes a great bluster, but it does not succeed. Part of the sea is roused up -perhaps one-half of it, or one-fourth of it. After a while the calm moon, placid aud b.autiful, looks down, and the ocean begins to rise It comes up to high water mark. It embraces the great headlands. It sulnnergas tho la-aches of all tlie continents. It is the heart throb of one world against ths heart throb of another world. And 1 have to tell you that while all your storms of ridicule and storms of rarcastr may rouse up the passion of an immortal na ture, nothing less than the attractive power of Christian kindness can ever raise thedcath- less spirit to happiness and to God. I have more faith in tlie prayer of a child five years old, in the way of bringing an infidel back to Christ and to heaven, than I have in all the hissing thunderbolts of ecclesiastical contro versy. Yen cannot overcome men with religious argumentation. If you come at a skeptical man with an argument on liehalf of the Christian religion, you put the man on his mettle. He says; “1 s?.* that man has a car bine. I’ll use my carbine. I’ll answer his argument, with iny argument." But if you come to that man persuading him that you desire his happiness on earth and Kis eternal welfare in the world to on*ne. he cannot an swer it What I have said is just as true in the re clamation of the openly vicious. Did you ever know a drunkard to i o saved through the enri'-ature of a drunkard? Your mimicry ot the staggering step, and the thick tongue, and the disgusting hiccough only worse maddens his brain But if you come to him in kindness and sympathy, if you show him that you appreciate tlie awful grip of n de praved appetite, if you persuade him of tlie fact that thousands who had the grappling books of evil inclination clutched in thei.’ soul as flrmly as iu bis have been delivered, then n ray of light will flash across hi* Children Enter The pleasant flavor, gentle action and soothing effects of Syrnp of Figs, wfcen In need of a lax ative and if the father or mother be costive or bilious the moet gratifying resnlts follow Its use,so that It Is ihe lest family remedy known and every family shonld have a bottle. Experts at picking looks—-wig makers. Rev. H. P. Carson. Bcotland, Dak., says. “Two bottles of Hall’s Catanh Cure com pletely cured my lit’le girl." Hold hy Hrug- giste, 75c. A storm movee miie* per hour FITS stopped free by Hr. Kline's Great Nerve Restorer. No Fits after first day's use Marvelous cures. Treatise and trial bottle free. Dr. Klliie,93I Arch Ht.Phila.Pe. If afflicted with sore eyee use Dr. Thom son’s Eye wator. Druggist sell at 25c per bottle A fool and h s money is soon parted- I’m So Hungry Says Nearly Everyone After Taking A Few Doses of Hood’s Sarsaparilla PISO'S CURE FOR (rUHtS WHERE AIL ELSE FAILS. . Best Cough By nip. Tastes good. U*o iu time. Bold by drumriata. I CONSUMPTION We offer you a ready made medicine for Coughs, Bronchitis and other dis eases of the Throat and Lungs. Like other so-called Patent Medicines, it is well advertised, and having merit it has attained to a wide sale. Call it a “Nos trum” if you will, but belifve us when we say that at first it was compounded after a prescription by a regular physi cian, with no idea that it would ever go on the market as a proprietary medicine. Why is it not just »* good as though testing fifty cents to a dollar for a pre scription and an equal sum to hav* it put up at a drug store? It was Ben Johnson, we be lieve, who, when asked Mal- lock’s question, “ Is life worth living ? ” replied “ That de pends on the liver." And Ben Johnson doubtless saw the double point to the pun. . The liver active—quick— life rosy, everything bright, mountains of trouble melt like mountains of snow. , The liver sluggish—life dulh everything blue, molehills of worry rise into mountains of anxiety, and as a result—sick headache, dizziness, constipa tion. Two ways are open. Cure permanently, or relieve tem porarily. Take a pill and suf fer, or take a pill and get well. Shock the system by an over dose, or coax it by a mild, pleasant way. Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets are the mild means. They work effectively, without pain, and leave the system strong. One, little, sugar-coated pel let is enough, although a whole vial costs but 25 cents. Mild, gentle, soothing and healing is Dr. Sage's Catarrh Remedy. Only 50 cents. • BEECHAMS PILLS (THE GREAT ENGLISH REMEDY.) Cure BILIOUS and Nervous ILLS. 25cts. a Sox. CU-' AT.Ia DIUJO-GISTS. OPIUM ilAttll', Onlf C'ert.xli ami eu.iy CURE, iu tfte ivorld. Ur* •I. 1.. ft'i Ll'ti la>>, i.cfcanoowO S N V 55 () ’r Cents pah! for every dozen larg" size copper £* ) cents United Stat“s. Other old coins wanted . C. E Kvesthh, Charlotte, N. C- fc * HUE • nooK-Keepmg, business Forma* (•UmC Penmunsnip, Antninetic, Shori-nand,eie.,’ ■ • thorougniy taught by MAIL. Circulars Iree. ItrvH lit’** 1 olleitts 457 Mam M.. Putin to, N. Y. S T AUGUSTINE’S - SCHOOL* flALEIMU. N. C. NOnWAL AND Coi-I.KOIATF IVSTHTTK for Olored voting men and women, Hleh grade and low rate. Under the episcopal Church. .f> per month ennli for hoard and tuition. Send for catalogue to K;:v. K. H. Sutton. D D. P;1nclpal. Make your Own Rugs. m I rice List of Rug Machines, Rug latte?ns, Ynn>p. rte., FREE. Aacntn Wnufed. KOJ-S a CO., Toledo. Ohio. PENSIONS Mitchell. Solicitor of I'ensions'and Patents, Box 2Y1. Washington, D-C. ( Jerk Senate Pension Conm ittee for ias-t yearu. 01.0 c I* AIMS SET FLED NEW LAW. PENSIONS 0, ™'‘ - , ■ LIlwIvliV soldiers, Widows, Parents, soft4 for blank applications an i information. Patrick O'Farr ell. Pension Agent, Wasniugt m. I). C. npiui udi ml Whiskey Habits cured at home with out i*«in. Book of par* tictilars sent t’RKB. » M WOOLLEY,M.D. ▲tlauta.iiin. udice 104J4 Whitehall at PENSIONS are entitled to $|g n inonili. Fee $10 when you S t your money. Blanks free. .lOSF.I'II 11. UKTEK, Alt’y, WttAlihitfton, O. C. Tha great Pentfou Bill has passed. Sol diers, their, widow*, mothers and father* m A |« jr K a m B m Who will Write for the ANY MAN Colored People CAN MAKE MONEY. For Particularsadurew NATHAN IIICKEOKI). W >i-lii ngt on. i». C*. 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