Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i fi ■i TRI-WEEKLY EDITION. W1NNSBORO. 8. 0.. OCTOBER 30. 1883. ESTABLISHED 1848 THE VERDICT -or—, THE PEOPLE. * BUY 1HE BEST! Mh. J. O. BoA<i-i>ear Sir: I bougtit tne &m Duvui Machine bold by you over five yearn ago for my wife, who has given it a long and fair inaL I am well pleased with It. It never alvea any rouble, and la as good as when Um ixiugiiu J. W. tiOLlOL Wlnnsboro, S. O., April 1883. Mr. Boao: you wish to know what I have to say In regard to the Davis Machine bought of you three vears ago. I feel i can’t say too much In its favor. I made aixiut 180,t>o within five months, at times running it so fast mat the needle would get per fectly hot from friction. I feel confident I could not have done the tame work with as much ease and so well with any other machine. No time lost in adjusting attachments. The lightest running machine 1 have ever treadled. Brother James aud Williams’ families are as much pleased with their Davis Machines bought ot you. 1 want no better machine. As I said before, I don’t think too mnch can be said forme Davis Machine. Kespectfully, Ellin mi vinson, Falrfl°ld County, April, 1883. Mk. Boao : My msctune gives me perfect sails faction. I dnd no fault with it. The aitac.bmeuta are so simple, i wish for no better than the Davis Vertical Feed. Respectfnliv i>.as. V Mil.UNO. Fairfield county, Aprl', 1883. LOVkl’B 8WKET RED ROBE. • k No wind that blowa can over barm * Love’s sweet red rose. The north wind will not it molest, T he south wind rocks it on its breast, And east or west all things are best. Love’s sweet red rose Front every wind receives some charm, Taki s richer scent, or tint more warm, And fairer grows. No frost love’s splendid flower can blight. No cold can kill. Its roots are far away from harm, Deep in the h art all safe and w arm— The tender heart that has a charm For every ilL And s i the flower is ciimson bright, And sweetest perfume day and night The rose leaves till. No storm that blows can hurt the rose— The rose love plants. If skies be black and overcast, It bravely stands through rain and blast, And fairer shows when storms are past. The rose love plants Through every tempest stronger grows, In coldest seasons sweetly blows And perfume grants. Then plant the finy crimson bloom Of love's sweet rose. If skies are blue, It tempests lower, ’Twill sweeter be from hour to hour. Till life and love are but one flower That grows and grows Deep in the heart’s most tender glo m, Till all is beauty and perfume With love’s sweet rose. A MAN THAT SUCCEEDED “My only daughter, sir,” said Colo- Mk. Boao: I uougnt a Davis vertical KceJ ewing Machine from you four years ago. I am elighteJ with it. it never has given me any rouble, and has never been the least out of order. 1 " c It Is as good as wlieu I urst bought it. I can cheerfully recommend It. Kespectfully, Mas. M. J. Kikeland. Montlcello, April 30.1883. This Is to certify that I have been using a Davis Vertical Feed Sewing Machine for over t w . ye irs, purchased of Mr. J. O. boag. I haven’t found It p assessed of any fault—all the attachments are so simple. It uevenefuses to wont, aud is cerululy cutely the lightest running in the market. * •* ' a drat class machine. Very respectfully, Minnik M. Oakland, Fairfield county, S. 0. Willingham. Mk Boao: i am wen pleased mevery particui with the Davis Machine uought of you. I tuiuk a first-class machine in every respect. You know you sold several machines of the same make to dnlereut members of our families, all ot whom, as far as 1 know, are well pleased with them. Kespectfully, Mrs. W. H. Fairfield comity, April, 1883. Mogi.kv. This Is to certify we nave nat in constant use the Davis Machine bought ot you about ihree years ago. As we take in work, and have made me price of it several times over, we don’t waut any better machine. It is always ready to do any kind of work we nave to do. No puckering or skipping stitches. We can omy say we are well pieama and wish no better uiach.ne. t.'ATHBKINK WYLIK AND SlSTBK. April 85,1883. I have no fault to find with my mach ne, and don’t want any better. I have m tde the price of K severa times by taking in sewing. It is always ready to do Its work. I thmk It a firsi-class ma chine. I feel I can t say too much for the 1) ms Vertical Feed Machine. Mrs.Thomss smith. Fairfield comity, April, 1883. Mr. J. O. Boao—Dear Sir: it gives me m ich pleasure to testily to tue merits of the Davis Ver tical Feed Sewing Machine. The ma. nine l got of yon about five years ago. has been almost lu con stant use ever since that lime. I cannot see that it is worn any, and has not cost me one cent for repairs since we nave had it Am well pleased and don’t wish lor any better. Yours tru'y, kobt. Crawford, Granite ycarry, near Wlnnsboro S. C. We have used the Davis Vertical Feel Sewing Machine for the last five years. We would n it have any other make at any price. The mac.une has given ns unbounded satisfaction. Very respectfully, Mrs. W. K. Turner a sd Dauobtsks Fairfield county, S. C„ Jan. 81.1883. Having bought a Davis Vertical Feed Sewing Machine from Mr. J. O. Boag some three years ago, and It having given me perfect satisfaction In •very respect as a tamlly machine, both for hea y and light sewing, and never needed me least re pair lu any way, 1 can oneerfnliy recommend It to any one as a first-class inachln in every particu lar, and think It second to none. It Is one ot the simplest machines made; my chi'dren use It with all ease. The attacaments are more easily ad justed and It doe i a greater range of work by means of its Vertical Feed than any other ma chine I have ever seen or used. nel Mouteagle. “And, as I venture to hope, accomplished in the way. We are not much in her way of schools or academies here, but 1 have been her instructor myself and she is a thorough mathematician, an excellent musician, and a linguist of no mean capacity. are studying Hebrew now every day, she and I, and site devotes tier evenings to comprehensive reviews of her Latin and Greek. She will be a scholar, sir, if 1 live to complete her education.” Mr. Crofton looked curiously at the oddly assorted pair—the silver haired, , shabbily attired old gentleman, with > his bald fore-head, eagle eye and deli- white hands; and the dark i consider it sullen looking girl, with a gipay skin, untidy frock and patched boots. Pretty? Yes, she might be pretty under some circumstances. The dia mond itself is not an attractive stone before the lapidary’s art lias polished its rude angles into glittering facets of white fire. Hut she certainly possesses no sweet, feminine graces now. “How old are you, Miss Monteagle?” lie asked, finding it imperatively nec- cessary to say something. And Mary Monteagle answered in words, “seventeen,” while her looks replied plainly, “None of your busi ness.” “Go, my child, and gather some flower’s to deck our humble board,” said the old gentleman maguiloquently, while he conducted the son of his old friend into the tumble-down old stone house, where the carpets were moth- eaten, furniture mildewed, and every trace of decayed gentility told the sad story of better days. Mrs. Monteagle, who had been a beauty once, and had her portrait en graved in a “Gallery of American Rosebuds,” was sitting up instate in a battered boudoir in a black silk dress that must have been quite a quarter of a century old, with a flower iu her sil ver sprinkled hair, and still preserving the girlish attitude in which the en graver’s pencil had immortalized her. oddly contrasting with the sharpened outlines and haggard abruptness of her sixty odd years. And this was the way the old couple lived, in the dead past as it were, Colonel Mouteagle starving contentedly on the recollection of his past grandeur, and his wife foudly fancying that time stood still since the days in which she had been counted worthy to be one of the “American Rosebuds.” Mrs. Mouteagle sweetly welcomed her guest, and touched the little hand bell at her side. “We will dine, Sarepta,” she said to the maid, “Please, ma’am,” breathlessly ut tered that young person, “there ain’t Mas. Thomas owinob. Winnsh-tro, Fstrfield coiintv. S. U. We bave had one of the DavH Machines about four years and nave always found It ready to do all kinds of work we nave Had occasion to no. Can’t see tnat the machine is worn any, and works as well as when new. Mrs. W. J. Crawford, Jackson’s Creek, Fairfield oouniv, s. C. My wife is htirhly pleased with the Davis ^ tdf yon. Ma chine bought dl yon. She would not take double what ane gave for It. The machine has not been oat of order since she bad It, and she can do any kind of work on It. Very Keapectfully, Jas. F. Free. Montlcello, Fairfield county, S. 0. nothin’ for dinner. We eat the last of the cold beef yesterday, and the dog he tipped over the pan of oysters, and— “That will do, Sarepta,” said Mrs. Monteagle, with a red spot mounting to each of her cheek bones “I said— we willdiuel” And Sarepta withdrew with a jerk. The dinner was served presently—an instance of the magnetic power of will—but there # was no cold beef, neither were there oysters. Fruit, a thin, watery soup of herbs and pars ley, tastefully garnished salad of let* tuce and mayonnaise, and a dish of peaches and cream formed the meal. “Quite Arcadian!” said Mrs. Mont eagle, with a giggle. “And very badly served,” secretly commented Mr. Crofton to himself. “Hut the salad was nice,” “Where?” is Mary the Colonel asked. “Drinking in the beauties'of the sun set, I presume,” the lady answered air- ' ily. “The poor child has an artist’s soul, and we do not tie her dowu to any hours or rules.” The colonel fell asleop in his chair after dinner, Mrs. Monteagle and her painted fan withdrew themselves into the boudoir, and Mr. Crofton, inwardly bewailing himself that he had promised to slay a week at Monteagle manor, sauntered out upon the heights which overlooked the valley below. As ha stood there a rustling sounded in the bushes and the dark browed gypsy sprang up the hillside. “You have a fine place here, Miss Monteagle,” he said, by way of making himself agreeable. “I hate it!” said Mary, darkly. “1—beg your pardon!” exclaimed Mr. Crofton in amazemeet. “1 do!” flashed the girl; “I hate it all! The learning and the poverty, and ‘Ds^Msc^b^i^ht r/ou^re yew? the grand pretenses and the miserable >. I have never regretted buying it, as it is make-shifts. ” ravs read! for anv kind of family sewing, either „ The Davis Sewing Machine Is slmplv a treas ure Mrs. J. A. uoodwyn, Ridgeway, N. C., Jan. 10, IsSS. J.O Boao, Esq., Agent-Dear Sir; My wife has ueen ualug a Davis Sewing Machine constaut- ly for the past four years, and it lias never needed any repairs an i works Just as w -ll as when ui nt bought. She says it will do a greater rauge of practical work »nd do it easier and better ihau any machine sue use ever used. We cheerfully recommend It aeaNo. 1 family machine, tour tru-j, •Jas. q. Davis. Wlnnsboro, S. C., Ja*». S, 1883. Mr. Boao : I nave always found my Davis Ma- entne ready do all kibds of to work 1 have had oc- ctaioniodo 1 cannot see that the machine la worn a particle and It worka as wed as when new. Respectfu.ly, Mas. K. C. uooui.no. Wlnnsboro, S. C., April, 1883, doors like a pack 6t howling wolves; you dou’t know that the house is adver tised for sale for tax arrears. How should you? How should you be aware that the very clothes we wear are not jiaid for, nor the coals that cook our dinner? Papa smokes his cigars and talks about the Mexican war; and mamma (loses in the great chair and dreams of embroidery work and ta pestry stitch; aiid I—lam expected to learn Arabic and Sanscrift, and nobody knows what else, and ignore our wretched poverty. But I can’t! Who could? Mr. Crorton looked pityingly at the girl’s sparking eyes, and jiale, excited face. “I am sorry to hear this,” said he. “Can nothing be done?” “Yes,” said Miss Monteagle brus quely, “Something can be done—and I am doing it, in so far as I can. Hut papa and mamma must not be allowed to suspect it. I am—learning a trade!” “You!” he echoed. “A trade!” “There’s a factory near by here,” she said, calmly. “The country girls earn a little pocket money there sewing on shirts. I am to have a machine as soon as I have learned to manage it. I go every evening while papa fancies I am at the Greek and Latin, to farmer Pelham’s whose wife teaches me the use of the machine. I am learning house work, too. I made the mayon naise for your salad today, and I baked the bread. Our servant can do noth ing of the sort. Hut it would kill mamma to think that 1 had stooped, as she would call it, to menial labor.” “You are quite right,” said Mr. Crofton. “That is what I wanted to know,” said Mary, hastily. “Because, living here all by myself, in such a strange, unnatural atmosphere, I sometimes get confused, and scarcely know right from wrong.” “Hut they will have to know it, when—” “When I realty go into the factory,” said Mary. “Yes, l know that. Hut until then, I would fain spare them the pang. I am to have a dollar a day, Mrs. Helham says, if I operate the machine skilfully. And a dollar a day will buy mamma many a little luxury, and go toward paying the grocer and baker.” “You are a noble girl,” said Mr. Crofton, warmly; and in his eye, at that moment, Mary Monteagle was glorified with rare beauty, as she stood there, the fresh wind blowing her jetty curls about, the reflection of orange sunset deepening the color on her cheek, and the grave, faraway sparkle of her eyes half veiled,beneath tlie long lashes. And if I could be of any as sistance to you in this task—” “You can,” said the girl, abruptly, “you can stay here and amuse pajia so that he shall not suspect what occupies my time. You can divert his attention from Sanscrit and Arabic and all these mysteries.” ' And for the first time in his experi ence of her, Mary Monteagle laughed— a mellow, birdlike laugh. “I will,” said Mr. Crofton, heartily. And so the compact was sealed be tween them. Instead of tl e week he had promised his father to sptud with old Col, Monteagle, the sojourn was extended to three. At the end of that period, he gravely addressed himself to the dark-eyed daughter of the house. “How Is the trade?” said lie. “I am to have a machine next wi ek, ” said Mary, with the conscious pride of one who has conquered fate; “and then, only think of it, Mr. Crofton, I shall earn a dollar a day 1” . “Mary,” said Mr. Crofton seriously, “I have been thinking of another plan for you. You tell me this farmer’s wife has made a first class housekeeper of you.” “I baked nice pies ye’sterday!” said Mary, exultantly; “and I have quilted a quilt ami made soft soap, within the week!” “I don’t like the idea of your going into a factory,” saitl Mr. Crofton. “Suppose now, by way of variety, you were to—marry me?” “Hut you are not in love with inel” said Mary, opening her bright black eyes. “But I am,” said Mr. Crofton, witli great gravity. I have deliberately made up my mind that I can’t be happy without you. Aud although 1 don't profess to be a ricli man I believe I can make you a better allowance thau six dollars a week, while at the same time you will not be couqielled to work ten hours a day for it. That is the business like view of the question. Now to the more personal one. Don’t you think, Mary, that you could love mo? Because 1 love you very much indeed l” “I—1 don’t know,” whispered Mary. “I might try.” And then she blushed charmingly. So Colouiel Monteagle’s daughter went to the fair Floridian plantation on the shores of the river St. JotiH, and astonished every one with her thorough knowledge of house-keepiug iu all its details. And the two old people, with their burden of insolvency and care lifted off their lives, dwell quietly on, in the ancient tower-like house, and talk to everybody who crosses their path of “the excellent marriage which my daughter Mary has contracted.” “A thorough scholar,” says Colonel Monteagle, with dignity. “A musi cian. a linguist, a thorough Hebrew student, aud a proficient in Lat in and Greek. I mjself was her iustrucior. It is not singular that a girl of such intellectual power should marry well.” But Colonel Monteagle, honest man, never dreamed that it was a sewing machine and soft soap, the mayonnaise dressing, and the vehement struggle to get free from debt, which conquered Mr. Crofton’s heart. They are plenty of scholars and poetesses iu the world; hut a real womanly woman—is not her price far a»ove rubies? Unaxplored Alaska. To give glass great brilliancy, wash with a damp sponge dijiped n spirits, then dost with powdered blue or whiting (tied in a muslin bag) aud polish with a chamois akin. A Sitka letter says; Although we had realized the distance we had trav eled to the northward by the increasing length of the days, we were astonished enough when we reached Sitka to find all of our time-pieces forty-live minutes ahead of the local time. For the Arts tiuie we became aware of the fact that our course had verged westward, and we puzzled not a little over the great difference in time between Astoria and Sitka. Although Sitka aud Alaska are almoqt synonymous with the north pole to average minds in the temperate zone, a comparison of maps shows that Sitka and St. Petersburg, Russia, are iu tlie same latitude, ailutbe mouth of Chilfat river, the most northerly point that we visited, is on a line with the south coast of Greenland. The extent of tins northwest territory and the vast distances between points are more than bewildering. Alaska itself is equal in area to all of the United States east of the Mississippi river. Counting the Aleutian chain, the Pribyloff group anti the 1,100 islands of the Alexander archipelago, the total area of the Alas ka islands is 31,205 square miles. The Island of Attu, the last of the Aleutian chain, is as far west of San Francisco as Bangor, Me., is east of it, and the indented coast line of Alaska, meas uring over 25,000 miles, is even greater than the whole coast line of the Atlan tic and Pacific shores of the United States put together. Southern Alaska, as it is called, comprises the narrow strip of territory that extends south ward from Mount St. Elias to Dixou chaunel, the boundry line between Alaska and British Columbia. This ihirty-mile strip of laud, with it out lying islands, is the best known part of the territory, and with the exception of Onalaska aud the Seal islands, Is t he seat of the only white settlements of any consequence or promise. Dense forests clothe the islands aud mainland of Southern Alaska aud “darken a re gion half as large as Europe. ” AlthoRgh the rocky foundations are only covered with a thin, sandy soil, vegetation flourishes with a rankness that cannot be surpassed in the tropics. The close forests of yellow cedar, Sitka and Douglass spruce, Jeffreys pine and balsam fir have never been devastated by fires, and for unnumbered ages only glaciers or avalanches have interfered witli the steady process of nat ure. The Russians cleared a little ground about their settlements, but later inhabitants have made no efforts in that way, since crops cannot be raised with suc cess and there are not enough horses or cattle for any one to difect their atten tion to grasses that cam uit be dried in the constant downpour.* The stumps of trees will never rot hi the ground, and the fallen trunks in the forest form a network like the corner’s of rail fen ces. witli each log covered witli thick mosses and grasses, and bearing a dense growth of rank ferns, bushes aud small trees. It is wholly impossible to pene trate the forests without a path first being hewn through the thickly ranged tree trunks, apd iu the wnod paths about Sitka one frequently sees trees two aud three feet in diameter, growing over the prostrate forms of pines of even greater dimensions. If you step aside from the path to force your way through the underbrush to reach clus ters of ciimson aud orange salmon-ber ries you may suddenly be engulfed aud sink two or ten feet into a pitfall of mossy logs. Only the certainty that there are no snakes or creeping tilings iu Alaska encourages one to venture aside from the narrow and graveled paths that beneficent Russian rulers caused to be made about Sitka. A1 though there are a few natural clear lags at the mouths of the streams, aud grassy fields cleared by the toil of the old serfs, no attempt is made to raise or keep cattle, aud the milk of the .hree cows of Sitka is sokl at eighty cents a quart. Without beef or mut lou, the people live cm a routine of fish, venison aud bear meat, aud no quail-eater grows wearier of his daily luxuries than these Alaska citizens do of their regular vension, salmon aud halibut iu steaks, roasts and curries. Even the Indians know nothing of the interior of Southern Alaska, and on account of the imjiene trable forests not one island lias been wholly explored. All travel is done by boats aud canoes, aud the two sections of the territory are as far apart for traveler as if on different continents. From Sitka to San Francisco it is some 1,000 miles by direct line, and coimnu- uication is kept up by the monthly mail steamer Idaho. From Sitka across to Oualaska there is a voyage on the open sea of 800 miles, and the Seal Islands lie hundreds of miles 'further west of that point. Onalaska aud the sealing stations havb communicated witli San Francisco by the steamer be longing to the Alaska Commercial Company, but uo direct cuminunicatiou with Sitka or the rest of the territory. The collector of customs at Sitka gets the report from his Onalaska deputy via San Francisco, unless a rare schooner or whaler comes that way, and sailing vessels, as a rule, give the tortuous channels and unknown reefs of the archipelago a wide berth at all limes. Northern Alaska, fir the territory proper, comprises vast areas of unex plored laud, where even the adventu rous Itussiau aud lludsou Hay Com pany’s traders have never set foot. N ) surveys of these groat steppes, moors and prairies have been made, with the exception of the explorations of the scientific corps sent out by the West ern Uuiou Telegraph Company iu 1808 to report upon the feasibility of a cable across Behring’s Straits, More than for geological surveys aud exploratioiLS do the people cry for some form of govern ment and the establishment of some definite law and order; for iu Us pres ent neglected condition Alaska is a territory in name only. The collector of customs at Sitka aud his two depu ties are the only civil olluers vested with authority, aud their jurisdiction only applies to Treasury regulations an to imports, duties aud clearance papers. The people have petitioned for a gover nor, for iojoe judical officers, or to bave a recognized delegate in Congress, and nothing has ever come of it. Man-of- war government may have done very well for the few years succeeding the Russian transfer, but withiu the past five years Alaska has been devolpiug industries and slowly comiug mto a prominence that demands some protec tion of law and semblance of order. If a trader is caught selliug liquor to the Indians lie must be indicted aud tried by the courts at Sau Francisco. If convicted lie may be fined $500, mean while the expense of bringing the ac cused aud ail the witnesses from Alaska to San Francisco costs the Govern ment three or four times as much as the fine may amount to. As the Uni ted States Attorney once remarked, “They bring a teu cent Indian dowu to Sau Francisco aud give him a $1,000 trial, all for doing the territory a favor by killing the worst white man iu it.” It is only iu extreme cases, however, that prisoners aud witnesses are treated to an excursion to Sau Francisco at government expense, since the com mander of the man of war is vested with constabulary aud all other kinds of power, and metes out justice by direct aud common sense methods without the rigmarole qf the law. The discovery of gold at Juueau, aud the rapid growth of that miuiug towu, make the want of goverumeut all the more felt, aud the trouble constantly arising between the miners, and the Indians, keeps the inau-of-war at Sitka busy maintaining the peace by whole some examples. Owners of property at Juneau cry for a surveyor and a laud office more than for a police court, since without surveys of titles to their lauds they hesitate to put money into works or mills that the first organized baud of squatters may demolish or take from them. While this state of per fect lawlessness exists enterprise is checked and operations are slowly con ducted, the great capitalists waiting until some protection is assured to property and some form of government is given to this ricli and undeveloi>ed country. How to Halite Itu Crops. It has been asserted by advanced ag riculturists that if wheat, either spring or winter, is sown iu drills far enough apart to admit of using a horse-shoe between the rows, both to keep down weeds and loosen and aerate the soil, the yield might be increased to a mar velous extent more thau it uow is iu the country. I u proof of this a recent observing and intelligeut traveler iu Belgium gives the mode of culture there, anil the yield, which sometimes with very favorable weather for har vest, re;tches as high as 100 bushels jier acre. This is one of the most fertile, proeperous aud most populous coun tries iu the world, supporting 481,71 persons to the square mile, against 13.- 02 in the United States aud 210.02 ii Germany. Winter wheat is a staple crop there on their high-priced small farms of only an acre or two. The land is highly manured in autumn, well har rowed several times, aud got into the best jaissible condition. The grain is sown in the fall iu seed beds, very thickly, on the highest aud best luca- tion, where it is not likely to be win ter-killed or injured by any casualty, suck as overflowing or drowning out, or smothering under the snow. In the spring the main fields are again dressed up and marked out iu drills the proper distance. When the wheat has grown sufficiently to be moved it is thinned out by being taken up, separated from the thick stocks and planted in drills with a tool called a dibble, which makes a hole the proper depth, into which the roots are inser ted, pressing the earth tight against them with the foot. This work is us ually intrusted to half-grown boys and girls, a man sorting out the wheat plants in order that those of t lie same size may be placed together, and that the field may grow even aud regular. When the plants have commenced growing, the soil is thorougldy aud constantly stirred, either by means of hand or horse -power. Every weed aud all foreign piants are destroyed, and nothing but what is wanted, the arti cle itself, is allowed to grow. There are very seldom any extensive failures of crops thus carefully aud seieutitically grown. The yield is a quantity never imagined or heard of iu this country, and the crop always and surely pays the cultivator. It is as erted that such pains would not pay to apply to crops iu this coun try. But do we uot go to the opposite extreme? Has it ever been tried here: It certainly would pay satisfactoury if applied to choice varieties iu small quantities about to be used for seed. It is certainly better to till oue acre and get. a crop now raised on four acres, than to try the four and only raise half a crop, wuich is uow so often the case here. Gulling the Pelican. Moustroultles at Dinner. The willingness oi man to reap the One by one the ancient curiosities, or monstrosities, of our capitals yauish from the sight ot a uoad. ring public to room for more modern monsters. The mod curious of all Paris ouriosities will cease to exist when the demolition of the Grand Hotel Ljguay, known as “La Table d’Hote dee Monstres,’’ is oom- plsted. The hotel in itself is like any common provincial hotel, but the auests of its table d’hote, as described by the reporter, form an assembly hardly to be met with in any other place. “JJmuer being announced,” says the pnveleged guest, “the first coup! 3 to enter the Uiuiug hall with an air of per- feoi propriety are a bearded woman ao cotnpauied by a skeleton-like gentle man. She receives his whispers with thoughtful eyes, gently stroking her beard, A dwarf, with an enormous nose, sits next to them on a high stool; her neighbors are a well known showman, who now and then tarns his face round to the middle of his back—a convenience whenever the waiter is wanted—and a young giantess of sixteen, weighing four hundred pounds. Somnambulists, acro bats and many more o! the same school complete the circle, who, after their meal is ended, will sometimes, for the benefit of an occasional visitor, unite in a dance, fantastic, grotesque and hide ous to the lest degree.” fruits of the labors of others should dis pose him to regard with interest if not with admiratiou the same trait and its practical application in any of the mem bers of the lower orders of animals. It is true that he U uot inclined to look with the same complacency on his beastly type as ou himself, and for this reason we ,find the jackal universally scorned of meu. Nevertheless, there are two qualities the exhibitiou of either oue or both of which will at once com mand his applause. These are wit and impudence. The gull has both of these qualities, and exercises them for its owu benefit at the expense of its fellows. Behold then a good reason for admiring it! It is uot at all nice in its choice of victims, but practices its rogueries with regard only to its owu safety and profit. If the victim be small, then force alone is re’ sorted to to obtain the coveted object- whioh is always something to eat; if strong, then wit is brought into play; aud if stupid, tlieu impudence accom plishes the same result. Nor is the gull unaware seemingly of the ludicrousness of the part it so often plays of makiug others do the work it ought and can do itself, as may be seen in its dealings with the pelican. The brown pelican, though its num bers have been greatly lessened, is still plentifully found along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, aud iu Florida es pecially may he encountered without difficulty. It is iudefatigable iu two pursuits—first fishing then eating. It is a ponderous, clumsy bird,, with a body as large as a swan’s, but with enormous wings which enable it to Ily with ease and power and almost with grace. The head, which is almost all bill, is not pretty, but, what is better, it is emiueutly useful, for it combines fish spear aud lunch-basket iu oue. The upper part of the bill terminates iu a hook which is fatal to a fish, aud the lower part iskuug with au elastic pouch into which the captured prey are dei»os- ited until desired for eating. As it has large webbed feet and swims well, it catches a great many fish, just as the ducks do; but it also lias a very picturesque wayVif capturing its finny prey. It sails majestically over the water at a considerable height above it, glancing sharply about for victims in the tiauspareut element below, until, catching a glimpse of one favorably d.s- posed for capture, it launches itself straight dowuward, aud with bill pro jecting aud wiugs folded cleaves tiieair like a bolt, transfixing the fish aud by the impetus of its fall disappearing un der the water, to return to the surface, however, with all the buoyancy of a cork, aud with the quarry comfortauly tucked away for future reference, Having labored earnestly in tins way until its pouch is full, tiie pelican seeks a long ledge of rocks, aud there in com pany with his fellows takes up his posi tion in solemn earnestness to enjoy the fruits of his toil. A skillful toss of the head shoots a fish from the reservoir m- to the throat, and a gulp sends it ou its way into the stomach. A little time for the pleasurable sensation of digestiou, aud again the head is tossed. Aud so the game is played witli regularity by the whole grotesque liue. The lomr heads are sometimes turned about ami rested ou the shoulders poiutiug back ward, or more frequently are held point ing vertically dowuward. Although a large aud clumsy crea ture the pelican is uot necessarily stu pid; but by dint of frequent tossing of the well-laden pouch it becomes at once gorged aud dull, aud then is the golden opportunity of the gull. He impudent ly alights upon the very head of the victim, aud waits patiently until the pelican receives warning from within that another fish is wanted. Up goes the bill, upon gapes tiie the awful mouth, out shoots a doomed fish—not into the ready throat, however, but iuto the waiting bill of the gull, which has ad roitly twisted its head so that it cau see ah that is exposed of the peiicau’s inter nal economy, aud iias snatched the mor sel aud flown with a wild scream of laughter to eat it at its leisure, if in deed a gull ever had such a state of be ing. The pelican is almost too stupid to know that it has been robbed, but the gull gives every evidence of enjoying the trick very little less thau the booty, for its farewell shriek sounds derisive enough for the evil oue himself. It might be supposed that the pelicans would learn wisdom iu the course of time, but they do not seem to have done so yet, for day after day along the coral reefs of the Florida coast may be seen long lines of gormandizing pelicans en tertaining gulls in this way. The Blesainifa of » Day, Gold is not the only thing that glit ters. Much the greater part of the great sum total of daily shine emanates iroin substances decidedly more humble and more common. Here is a list of yesterday’s small blessings. On waking to lie abed ten minutes longer. To be able to put on big siioee instead of the small ones of the previous night. Pleasurable surprise at finding um- brelja uot taken during breakfast. Gowiori of being at office in time to read the paper and assume studious at titude beiore Smith gets down. (Jou- sciousness that Smith is late. Ditto that he is very late. Momentary thrill at throwing mucilage pot at organ grinder below window. Self-commen datory consciousness that Smith has a head on him. Comfortable feeling all over Smith's state and his resulting idleness. Much comfort m loafing be cause Smith does even less. Compla cency at refusing two cocktails beiore dinner. Comfort in a B. & S. taken with Smith and in benevolent reoogni- tiou of hia state. Dinner, and in par ticular the oold apple pie with oheeee. Self-congratulation that I have uot got to marry girl with fnzzy hair engaged to Jonee. Comfort In thinking Jones has got to marry her. Comfortable nap in office chair while preserving appear ance of work. Satisfaction on hearing Smith say he has had two more drinks, because myself have lud none, Joy at finding Mrs. Rodgers not at home, and leaving card. Tea. Novel, Cigar. Bed, The Velvet Period. A couple of old roostera were standing smoking flve-cent cigars, one evening, when a young follow passed along with a velvet coat on, and before he had got out of sight an old fellow of about sixty years passed the same place, and he had on a velvet coat. One of the two old roostera knocked the ashes off bis cigar and then said: “It catches them all sooner or later. ’’ “What do you mean?” asked the other. “Whv, the velvet coat period,” said the first old rooster, as he took his cigar back, and puffed on It to keep it going. “Every man, some time in hia life, eitner aa boy or man, sees a time when he thinks the world will cease to revolve on Its axl} if he does not have a velvet coat, and he is bound to have one if he has to steal the money to buy it. It is had enough for a boy to have the period to come on, but it is infinitely worse to escape it in youth and have it attack a man in middle life, but it always hits them sometime. Now you wouldn’t think to look at ms, that I ever had the velvet coat fever, but I had it once in its most violent form. About twenty years ago, at the time of the oil excitement, j made a little money in oil and 1 got to thinking how 1 could show how I was no ordinary son of a man, and all at once it struck me that a velvet coat could do it for me, and l had a surveyor measure me, and had a velvet coat made, I was anxious to have it done so I could put it on ami go around among the boys, but when it was done and brought home, 1 all at once lost my grip, and could hardly get up courage- to put it on. I let it lay for a week, until my people got to making fun of me about being afraid to wear it, aud finally I put it on and wore it down lown after dark. Only.a few people saw it, and I went home satisfied that the worst was over. What I wanted was the com munity to get accustomed to It gradually. After awhile 1 wore it to my office on days that 1 was going to be busy, so I knew 1 wouldn't have to go arouna town. After the boys in the office got so they could witness my coat without going behind a partition to laugh at me, I concluded to wear it on the street Well, there was an organ grinder with a monkey out on the side walk when I went out, and the beastly Italian had on an old velvet coat, like mine, only soiled. The monkey was jumping around picking up pennies, and all at once he saw me. 1 snail never for get the expression on that monkey's face, lie seemed to take me for his master, and clearly realized that his master had pro- ourred a new coat without asking the con sent of his little brother. There was a look of pain as though the monkey felt hurt that such duplicity had bedfa practiced upon him, and then the monkey would look at the clothes in wliich he was dressed up, with contempt, aud then he would took at my coat with envy. I never felt ao sorry for a monkey In all my life. I could stand it to hear strangers say, aa I passed by, ‘What blank fool is tbatf’ but to see that poor moukey grieve over the sty.e 1 was putting on was too much, and I re solved if ever 1 got that coat home 1 would put it where it could never be seen again. The organ grinder became alarmed at the actions of the monkey, and jerked on the chain, earning the monkey to turn a back summersault and the poor animal came up standing in front of his master. He looked at him, and seemed to be at once reassured and to feel that the apparition was only a horrid dream, and thea he looked over his shoulder to where I stood, to make sure, and there I was In all my glory. Then the monkey was mad and began to make up faces at me, and I got out of there and went home, with shouts of the monkey’s audience ringing in my ears, and 1 took off my coat and gave it to tLs; man that took care of my horse, and I never see a velvet coat, either on a boy or man, but ( think what a confounded fool I made of myself in ray Oscar Wilde days. If you have a boy, teach him to go through the velvet coat period yaung, and he will thank hia stars.” Uurder Will Out. The dead body of William Scott was found lying along the track of the Erie Railway a mile this side o? the Oloan Depot, about midnight on Tueeday the 25.h. There were bad cuts about the head, back, and abdomen. A Coroner’s jury returned a verdict that Bcott had been killed by the can. On Tnursday word was received from a brother of the dead man that he had dreamed on Tuesday night that his brother was murdered in a piece of woods and robbed. When the dreamer awoke he was so nervous that he was unable to sleep again during the night. He awoke from his dream between 11.30 o’clock and midnight. On the same day a sister of Scott’s, who lives in Roch ester, sent word to a fnend in Olean that she had a dream Tuesday night, in which she saw two men beat her brother to death la tbe woods and take money from his pocketa. She awoke screaming, “Don’t touch the money 1 There Is blood on ill” She says she was frightened so that she arose from bed and struck a light. A clock on the bureau showed the time to be alittle past 11.30. These singular declarations led to bringing to light the fact that on the day ot William Scott’s death he had sold some property, for which he was paid $1,000. In the afternoon he was seen in an out- of-the-way saloon keps by a man named O’Hara, in company with two strange men. He was luioxicaieu aud exhibited a large roll ot money, and boasted of the bargain he had made in the sale. Be tween 4 and fi o’clock he was so drunx that the men earned him out to a barn in the rear ot the saloon and left him there. About 11.30 o’clock that night he was met by an acqiibiutance on the road leading from O'Hara's to the Erie depot, near a piece of woods. He was not seen alive again. There was no money in his clothes when found. It is noted now that there was no blood on the rails or anywhere about the track at the spot where he was found, aud railroad men say it would be next to an Impossibility for a person to be hit by an eugine or run over there without the fact being discovered at once either by the engineer or fireman. The belief is strong now that Bcott was mur dered and robbed and placed where he was found to give the impression that be had been killed by the cars. Mere bashfuluesa without merit is awkward, and merit without modesty insolent. But modest merit has a dou ble claim to acceptance. > j