Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE MCCORMICK ADVANCE DEVOTED TO THE GENERAL WELFARE. VOLUME II. MoCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY. DECEMBER 9.1886. NUMBER 38. An interesting calculation has bean made bj a New Ybrk paper, showing how the steady and rapid payment of the public debt incurred in the civil war, combined with the reduction of the in terest rate and the increase of the popu lation of the country, has affected the debt burden bourne by our people per capita. In I860 the debt amounted to $78.35 per capita. Last year it amounted to only $34.14. In 1865 the per capita portion of the annual interest charge was $4.29. Last year it was but eighty-three cents. The ratio of the principal is now but two-thirds what it then was; that of the annual interest is but a little more than one-fifth. IN AUTUM, A fairer face than ere did fancy frame To me in day-dre ams on the gracious queens, Who reign o’er noble realms of song and fame Sweeter the sight than all imagined scenes, As she stood stately in an autumn field, Her golden ringlets dancing o’er her brow As sunlight plays about a burnished shield. The forest spread about her and each bough Showered its hundred colors at her feet, A loaf, blood-red, lay in her dainty band, And from the lips of lily-mold, a sweet And mellow strain of music filled the land, While o’er the hills the floods of sunset came, And all the mighty West was red with flame. —John W. Dafoe, in the Current. The Philadelphia mint is now prepared to meet the large demand for one and five cent pieces. The demand for minor coin is almost unprecedented, and is equally great in the West, South and. North. A natural tendency of business depression is to reduce the demand for small coin, and the fractional and minor coin finds its way to the Treasury. As business revives and small transactions increase in nnmberthe demand increases. In this case the one and five cent pieces in the Treasury are being cleaned and reissued as rapidly as possible by the Philadelphia Mint under a small appro priation for that purpose, and dimes are being coined under an appropriation for the recoinage of obsolete or uncurrent coin in the Treasury. The statisticians of England cipher out that life in that country has somewhht increased in duration during the last gen eration, and the sanitarians attribute the gain to the better care which has been taken of the public health since what is called sanitary science hai become a sub ject of special study. But Dr. Thomas S. Sorinskey, of Philadelphia, writes an elaborate paper in the Medical atid Surgi cal Reporter to express his doubt as to the theory that the average length of human life is increasing, and presents an array of figures of the mortality in England and the United States to sustain his view. He shows by authentic figure* that life is longest in Ireland, whose peo ple, Dr. Sozinskey says, are supposed to be singularly oblivions to sanitary sci ence. The inluences working against the race he holds to be the artificial mode of existence in civilL eil countries. [up to the value of The unique cx- SNtr; oil lighting to electric il- withom passing through the intermediate stage of gas lighting is pre sented by the little town of Tivoli, near Rome. U pon the occasion of the inau guration a large number of invited guests from the town and from Rome were received by the municipality and citizens. The guests included the rep resentatives of England, Spain, Austria and other nations, and after the city had been illumiaated a grand banquet was partaken of in honor of the occasion and was followed by a musical eutertainment in the town hall. The success of the lighting is complete. Arrangements arc being made for private lighting in Tivoli and for tt admitting 200-horse-power from Ti oli to Rome for lighting pur- pores in the latter city. This is the season of tbo year when the *ales of tough old men begin the r round Conneticut boasts that Colonel George L. Perkins, of Norwich, who be gan his 9fith year la t August, has been trea urer of the Norwich - and Worcester Railroad Company from the beginning, and is not—as might be inferred from his great age—merely a figurehead, but is the active manager of its finances to day, and is the source of knowledge to which the stockholders refer for in formation concerning the property from the time of its charter to the present. He walks a half mile to hi* office every week day morning, opens all hi s letters and dictate'> or writes repl’es,-remains there till noon, devoting all the time to bu i- ness, when he t kei a carriage to his house and spends the rest of the day m reading and attending to matters of home life. Through some over iglit it is not stated whether or not Colonel Perkins uses whisky and tobacco. The American Cultivator philosoph ically remarks: “Modern civilization, which furnishes so many aids to our natural fa ilities, makes us pay the pen alty by diminishing their vigor The electric light enables us to turn night into day, but it is terribly trying to the eye-sight. The te'ephone and the loud noises of large cities dull^the sense of hearing, so that derfness is becoming more common. The sedentary life, which appears to be the inevitable concomitant of tbe highest scholarship, is detrimental to physical and manly vigor. Of nil classes none have received more advan tage with fewer drawbacks than resi dents of the country. Much of the severe toil which formerly made the farmer's life a burden has been made unnecessary by labor-saving machinery. The greater hcalthfulness of country life remains,and with it are opportunities f<tr intellectual improvement that fifty or eighty years ago were confined almost entirely to cities. Th * superiority of man to nature is continually illustrated. Nature needs an immense quantity of quills to mike a goose with; but a man can make a goose of himself with one. A MYSTERIOUS CLOCK BY J. A. TRUKSDELI,. It was not until father’s patience had ceased to be a polite virtue that Fred and I decided to carry out our plan. He had said so many times at breakfast, just as he laid down the carving-knife and fork, after waiting on us all: “Flora, my daughter, 10 o’clock is late enough for any young man to stay on an evening call.”" And Flora had as often looked up im ploringly, her pretty face on fire', and said: ‘ Why, papa, how can I help it?” To this defensivo inquiry father would not deign to reply, while mother, Aunt Elizabeth and we boys maintained a pio- found silence, each doubtless pondering how the difficult question might be solved. Roger Pcttijohn was a sophomore in the college town in which we lived. He “led his class,” was the son of his father, Judge Pettijohn, and a general favorite with the young people. Fred and I rather liked him; his boats were always at our service, and it was one of our choicest pleasures to spend an hour in the study which he had fitted up in one of the college dormitories, to “be with the boys.” There was no end of curious things there, for Roger was not 4 mere “dig,' but an enthusiastic student of nature, and a famous good pitcher in £he college nine. Bt sides a well-stocked aquarium and a large collection of stuffed birds, his room was decked out with fencing foils, patent oars, boxing-gloves, a fine pair of antlers sent him from Texas, and a good many things that would inteicst boys. But the one drawback to our enjoy ment of Roger Pettijohn was that he came to see our sister Flora not less than three evenings in a week, and the town clock usually struck 11 as he v\entwh : s- tling homeward. Not tlat we boys or the h usehold were at all put out by his calls. We never heard anything from the parlor, save the subdued murmur of talking or reading, and now and then the melodious tenes of piano or flute. But it was one of our little domestic se crets that Flora was working for the valedictory in her class at thj ' -amd-wmtI~frnevrBhCT<!>ul(T laid each bright silver section carefully in itsjilace in the ebony box which he had himself made for it. As father fin ished his question, Roger snapped down the cover of the box, and retorted, stiffly: “If you allude to the duet which Miss Flora and I have boen practicing, I must at least thank you for as much of your compliment as includes myself. If"you allude to the misfortune which seems to have overtaken yoijur clock, excuse me if I tell you that you or some of your house hold know more about that than I do. I wish you a Aery good evening, Mr. Shaw. Good evening. Miss Shaw.” And the wrathful Mr. Petti john turned on his heel, and a moment later the front door shut behind him with no uncertain sound. “ ‘Miss Shaw’!” I whispered to Fred. “That’s murderous! He’s fearful mad, or he never would say ‘Miss Shaw' 1” Roger did not whistle as he walked briskly down the gravel path. We could just see his form as he passed in the dark ness. When we looked again into the parlor, Aunt Elizabeth, prim and straight, in her morning wrapper, candle in hand, and her eyes snapping and gleaming like a cats’s back in tne dark, stood between father and Floors, looking inquiringly from one to the biher. Mother had also come into the room, her face.the pictute of bewilderment and despair. We thought it was time to draw the curtain on our joke. We carefully low ered the window, aud taking a last look at the distressful tableau, hurried into the kitchen, twitched off our boots, and hastened up stairs. In a minute we 1 were well abed. The clock was striking as we dropped off,to sleep. Our experiences next morning do not need to be described. We were found out, of course. Hlors wore an injured air for a week. Father was stern, but we half suspected that he indirectly ap proved our course! Roger Pettijohn's ring did not distort) our door-bell for i months. When it was certaiu that Flora had , vanquished all competitors for the head 1 of her class, Fred and I managed to let ; him know how “misfortune” came upon ' our clock. We put the works back into | the case, and with proper ceremony made 1 him a present of it, and it was given an i honored place in his room. When at ths academy commencment Flora bore off the valedictory, h~r largest bouquet had Roger's card neatly attached with a blue ribbon. The funniest oart of the affair was that when the c ock began to strike on that memorable evening. Aunt Elizabeth began counting the .strokes, according to her invariable habit, and, although i she went down into the parlor and re turned to her room after half an hour,she averred that she had counted every stroke, and that tbe clock struck exactly nine hund'ed and ninety-six times. Nine hundred and ninety-six o’clock became a family by-word: —Argonaut. :e it il sue could get time to study at homo. But, with all the numberless housekeeping duties which she took upon herself, there was often not much of a study hour left her. So Roger Pettijohn’s calls, en joyable as they might be, were not so cordially thought of or mentioned in the family circle eg they would have been had they been fewer or shorter. All this accounts for the plan which Fred and I determined to carry out. We said that Mr. Roger Pettijohn should be made aware of the fight of time, if such a thing were possible. It was several days before we hit upon a scheme that suited us. Any number of rude jokes that might easily be worked out came into our minds; but we were not sure that we should enjoy rude jokes ourselves. One day at school Fred looked up from his algebra with a peculiar grin. . In a few minutes I saw a note working its way from de&k to desk toward me. At last it came, and I eagerly opened it al most in plain sight of the Argus-eyed Mr. Winter, who, we thought, spent more of his time in prohibiting “evil commu nications,” than in explaining equations and construing our difficult Latin sen tences. Fred's note was as follows: “I’ve got it! You know the old clock? Well, nfmake it strike P. so hard he’ll un derstand. Don’t forget it. More later. * I hardly understood; but I gave my consent without hesitation to Fred’s plan, whatever it might be; for he had what we boys call “a long head and a safe heel.” Among the treasures in our workshop was a woru-out clock. The old time piece had come down from another generation, and had been in its day quite valuable; but in the days when Roger Pettijohn came to see our sister Flora, an old-fashioned, tall clock was not so highly prized as now. Bric-a- brac huntipg was an unknown mania, and a cl )ck that would not tell the time of day, no matter how ancient and hon orable its history, was well out of the way in a boy’s workshop. This old clock Fred ahd I had taken to pieces and put together again times without number, in tne hope of making it keep time so that we could put it in our room. Sometimes it would go nicely for several hours, and then some unlucky pinion would slip its place, the pendu lum would slowly come to a standstill, and the piteous, patient-looking old faco would stare at us as if in blank disap pointment at being left behind in the march of time. But, worn out and use less as it was as a time-keeper, it could strike as loudly and boldly as in its younger days; and we had no small amount of fun in turning the wheels so as to hear its silvery ring arid asthmatic wheeze. After school we discus-ed Fred’s plan thoroughly and enthusiastically. It is doubtful if we en joyed its fruition more than we did talking it over, and eagerly adding suggestion after suggestion unnil it was, in our estimation, perfect. “The plan is just this, Jamie,” said Fred. “Take the works out 6f the case, fasten them in tbe fireplace, put a long, stout string on in place of tbe striking- weight cord, wind the reel on the strik ing side as full as we can, then pass the line up over a pulley at the top of the chimney, and put on the weight. The old thing will strike as long as it takes the weight to run down.” It took some time to get everything ready. No spy was ever more secret or cautious in his movements than we. We never talked of our plans where any one could hear. In the workshop, with doors •hut and locked, or at sundown, driving home the cows from the pasture lot, or at night, buried in the bod-clothes we discussed it. The preparations, too, had to be made in the night. We nearly broke our necks climbing out on the roof night after night to arrange our “crack o’ doom,” as Fred called it. Nailing the works of the clock in the parlor fireplace required all our skill in amateur burglary. But we managed to accomplish the task- although I was shut up behind the fire, board naif the night, and Fred sprained his ankle, jumping out of the window when mother came into the room after a book. At last all was ready. By means of a string which one of us could pull from the kitchen (where a ladder was to furnish a safe retreat to terra firma), a shingle, holding the weight at the top of the chimney, would be jerked out; and as the weight began to fall tbe clock would begin to strike. The next thing was to get the oppor tunity to put our scheme in operation. Strangely, Mr. Pettijohn’s skillful feat of pulling our door bell just so as to cause the bell to ring out three distinct taps and no more, was not performed for a full week. Fred and I were in mortal dread everd day that our preparations would be discovered. Any day father might take a notion to clean out the parlor fireplace and tbe chimney. Fortu nately he did not, and Mr. Roger’s peculiar ring at the door-bell at last pealed on ears that were most intently listening for that welcome sound. We boys slipped out of the kitchen, where we had been engaged in a fierce debate with Aunt Elizabeth on a propo sition to keep our pet chickens in the cellar next winter instead of in the barn. Our first impulse was to plant ourselves in position on the roof of the kitchen ready to pull the string. On second thought we reflected that our intended victim would probably spend the even ing, and we concluded to make the best of our situation by waiting until we thought he ought to be getting ready to depart. The better to ward off suspicion we spent the evening several blocks away, with some of our boy friends. As we approached the house, a little before ten o'clock^ we saw the light streaming from the parlor window, and knew our prey was still there. I took my place at the string, trem bling with expectation of the critical moment, when Fred, who had station'id himself in the lilac bushes under the j south window of the parlor, should give me the signal by throwing a pebble on the kitchen roof. Time, always slow when waited, was never so slow, it seemed, as during the full hour I waited for the thud of that pebble on the roof. The night train came thundering up the valley while I sat there, and I counted echo after echo of the shrill whistle of its locomotive, and traced its snake-like line of light un til it wound around a distant hill and was out of sight. How the do^s barked night 1 I busied mvself in dis^p- guishing the score or more of canine voices whose nightly bayings were famil- j A peculiar class of book hunters haunt iar in our neighborhood. Now and then the large junk shops in search of rare or the popular jnonthly f old Boze, our fam ly horse, would shake himself in his stall aud munch his pro- vender for a moment or two, and then cease to make a living sound. A long odd books and magazines. These genteel chiffonieres, if they may be called such, occasionally strike valuable finds in old literature, story could be told of the pictures that which costs them at the rate of 6 cents were called before my mind by the noises per pound. Another class of buyers look I heard in that single hour. . up the monthly parts of magazines, and Suddenly, in the midst of one of these upon completing the set dispose of them, mental pictures, Fred's pebble fell, strik- usually to the Cornhill second-hand ing me so that I pul ed the string with- book-stores. These buyers often tackle out a thought of what I was doing. Hurrying down the ladder, I found Fred in the lilacs. The old clock was striking with a ner vous staccato that fairly made us dance for joy. It had then struck up to eleven. Fred had given the signal just as the sit ting-room clock began to strike. Flora and her caller were engaged in a duet, she at the piano and he with his flute. As long as the music lasted we hardly expected they would be disturbed by the clock. For several minutes piano, flute and a pile of^old paper stuff that keeps them busy for"a week or longer, and it is of ten the case that their lab ir is unre warded. The law of compensation seems to be a factor in the old junk business, for many people get a good living from other people’s waste, and some even get rich out of it. Even the old tin cans, which were formerly condemned as use less, and millions of which have been planted in tbe creation of the Back bay district of Boston, are now utilized, and the metal sheet made from them can be japanned, or tinned, or galvanized, or and clock kept up the peculiar trio, we treated in any wily that the material boys enjoying it with gigantic grins and ma< ^ e from the original ore is treated. — - Out of the iron are made buttons, shoe lace ends, show cards, telephones, electric lights and letter boxes, small ware. etc. There are parties in Boston who make frequent chuckles. Through a fold of the window-curtain we could see the faces of our victims. “He!” whispered Fred, “Flo hears it! See! She thinks something’s wrong with the music.” The players kopt on a few minutes longer, when suddenly Flora stopped. the collection of old tin, tin cuttings and old tin cans a regular business, and make money out of it. The material is sent to New York, where it is utilized. So the The fllute and the clock now had it alone utilization of tin-plate cuttings and the recovery of the tin has grown out of the same channel of scientific thought and experiment that long ago took the rags from the dunghill and converted them into sheets of paper.—Boston Herald. for a moment, and then the sound of the clock was left master of the situation. We were where we could see Roger’s face plainly. The puzzled expression that passed over it and lingered a moment was indescribable. Flora had not moved from her place, and sat, with one hand uplifted from the piano keys, listening intently and wonderingly to the meas ured striking, which now seemed louder than ever. Then we saw Roger’s lips move, and Flora turned blushing and said something which, of cours*, we could not hear. Whatever it was, they did not seem to understand each other any better than we did. All of a sudden both faces turned toward the sitting-rcom door. Father was coming! In a moment be was in the room, in his dressing-gown, and holding a lamp, as if he had been searching the house over for the cause of this unseemly disturbance. What he said we did not hear. * It must have been something se vere; for Flora blu'-hed redder than ever, and a desperate gleam came into Roger’s eyes. Fred and I began to realize that wc were in something of a scrape. But we were bound to enjoy it while we could, and we managed with a sharpened stick to pry up the window so we could hear what was going on. “What on earth does this mean. Flora?*’ shouted father. Poor Flora had buriod her blushes in her hands, and gave no answer. Father looked from Flora to Roger and back to Flora again, and said, louder than before: “I want an answer; what does this all mean?” “Oh, father!” cried Flora, “I don’t really know, unless the sitting-room clock is bewitched.” “I have stopped every clock in the house,” replied father, in stentorian tones. Roger's face turned white and red by turns; but he did not attempt to say anything. Father turned to him: “Mr. Pettijohn, can you tell me what this unearthly din in my house at nearly midnight means?” Roger had disjointed his flute, and South African Gold Discoveries. The gold fever that has laid hold upon South Africa threatens to rival in its heat and intensity the earlier days of the Aus tralian and Californian gold fields. Every mail brings the news of fresh “rushes.’ In addition to the established fields of the Transvaal, gold appears to have been found at Witwatersrand and in the Hei delberg and Waterberg districts of that Repub ic. Discoveries are also reported in the reserve territory of Zululand near the Natal border, in distant Amaswazi- land (a native State east of the Trans vaal now being slowly “eaten up” by the Boer), in the Kuysna district of the Cape Colony, and even in the Orange free State. Such alluring miners’ names as “Queen of Sheba Roof,” “The Wheel of Fortune,” and others, are upon the tongues of every one, and speculation grows rampant. It is to be said, to the credit of South African newspapers, that they are warning their neighbors to ex ercise caution. It is pointed out that of six thousand people now in the Trans vaal gold fields only a small proportion are earning wages, and many will return to die of starvation on the road. It is a characteristic of South African gold that it is usually found in quartz reef, and powerful crushing machinery is there fore demanded for its extraction. The • new fields consequently are not likely to afford great facilities to the small digger who works hi* own claim.—St. James's Gazette. Eve, Midnight and Next Day. The small boy, with complacent mien, At twilight eats the apple green. The doctor pours, at midnight dim, Jamaica giuger into him. He vows, while in the colic’s power, No more green apples he'll devour. Next day, recovered from his pain, He hankers for the fruit again.; ( —Charlestown Enterpr a* BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES PROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Mutual—“Families Supplied*’--About an Even Thlnjc—Positively Dis honest—He Drew the Dine —An Hour of Terror. Billings (meeting Baxter, who is walk ing rapidly aloDg the street)—“Helloa, Baxter, why this rush:” Baxter—“I am walking fast to keep that fellow Staggs from catching up with me. He's an awful bore. So long.” Billings (meeting Staggs who is walk ing slowly)—“Helloa. old fellow, why are you poking along this way?” Staggs—“To keep from catching up with that fellow Baxter. He’s the worst bore in town.”—Arkansas Traveler. Families Supplied. “Do you see that sign across the street, the sign over the grocery store reading ‘Families Supplied ?’ ” said a vermillion- beaked tramp to his mate. “Yes, wot about it ?” “Bill went in there yesterday and he asked the man to make good his sign -or take it in.” ‘ 41 What d’ye mean ?” “The grocer's advertising ‘Families Supplied,’ and Bill laid down a nickle and said he would tdke a wife.and two children. He said he was tired of work and wanted someone to take care of him. ” \ — Carl Pretzel. About an Even Thiug. A Detroiter who was working across one of the Northern countries with a horse and buggy this summer met a far mer on foot and asked him how far it was to Greenvillle. “Which one?” was the query after half a minute spent in reflection. “Why, I didn’t know that there was but one Greenville.” “Didn’t you? Ihere’s oue in South ‘ Carolina, a second in Kansas, a third in ; Ohio and a fourth in Iowa. Which one * do you want to go to;” “The nearest one.” “Well, that's about seven jniles off. ' Next time you inquire for Greenville j you'd better name the State. Got any ! tobacco?” “Which tobacco do you want?” “Why, I didn't know as there tvas more’n one tobacco.” “Oh, yes there is. There's plug to bacco, tine-cut, shorts and smoking. Which did you want?’* “Wall, 1 11 take plug.” “1 haven’t got any. Next time you inquire for tobacco you'd better mention the kind.” The two looked each other over for a minute and then separated for; life.— Detroit Free Press. Positively Djyhoaett. "The following story/nlustratfve of the” honesty of the border American and the Mexican, is said to be true. It was re lated to the writer by a well-known printer, who declares that it has, not withstanding its truthfulness, never been published. This explanation is necessary in order to protect the writer against the probable charge of “chcst- nutism.” An American ranchman had employed a Mexican herder. The American owed the Mexican $60, and as money was not very plentiful with him, began to devise me t ns of a cheaper sett lement. One eveniug while the two men were in the kitchen the American took down a coffee mill and said: “This is the most won derful machine in the world. It was re cently invented in the United States, and is valued at $100. See here? Instead of having to crush your coffee with a stone, you put it in this way and grind it up. I nevi r saw anything like it. Old man Jones over here wants it so bad he don’t know what to do. Offered me $100 for it, but I would not accept the offer.” The Mexican listened attentively, but assumed an air of indifference. The American left the mill on a shelf. When he got up the next morning ha found that the Mexican and the coffee mill had disappeared. “You can’t place any confidence in the honesty of a Mexican,” said he. “That fellow was positively dishonest.”—Ar kansas Traveler. “Ooh!” he called out, “great heav ens, but how I suffer! Why was I such a fool as to follow that villain’s ad vice?”' ' He had probably takeu poison, or was trying to drive a darning-needle to his heart. The landlady thought of the Coroner’s inquest, the item in the papers and the questions the reporters would ask, and she grew frantic. “Hey, Smith-Mr. Smith—you, Smith!” she called, as she rapped on the door, “but what on earth is the matter;” “Nothing!” came the solemn answer, but as she put her ear to the key-hole she heard soft groans, and a whispered voice saying: “It’s got to be done at any co-t”’ “Mr. Smith - ,” she continued, “don’t you dare commit suicide in my house! If you do I’ll have you sent to jail for a year! It wasn’t six months ago that a woman tried to poison herself to death in that very room, and I haven’t got over the fright.yet. - Say, you!” “Well,” came the faint reply. “Have you taken poison ?” “No.” There was an interval of silence while she put her ear to the key-hole again, and pretty soon she heard the boarder gallop up and down- and hiss betweep his clenched teeth: “Great Scots! but was mortal man ever called upon to suffer as I do? ” “Say!” she whispered as she turned to the boarders, “this door has got to be broken down without delay. That un grateful man has taken poison and is de termined to die on a bed which cost me over $20 last fall, saying nothing of a second-hand carpet which I traded a sewing machine for. Mr. Green, kick' open the door! ” “If Green is there I’ll let him in,” an nounced Smith, and he opened a crevice just large enough to squeeze in. Then came a whispered consultation, followed by shouts ot' paip and terror, and Green came to the door with an ob ject in his hand and calmly said: “Ladies aud gentlemen, It was simply a case of pulling off a porous plaster which he Lad worn for six weeks. Please forgive him, for he’ll never do so again.”—Detroit Free Press. Chewing the Cud. Thomas D. Baird says in the New York Tribune: A very large tribe of animals, of which sheep and cows are familiar ex amples, chew the cud. They do so ,ba- cause their peculiar orgflns of digestion require it. They can get their perfect nourishment in no other way. They have, it is said, four stomach®, but the statement is not strictly correct, for the entire digestion is done in a single one— that which is called the fourth—the other three being only places for preparatory work. Their food is swallowod without being much chewed; the chewing is to come later. When this partially chewed food is swallowed it passes directly into* the first stomach, which serves only to soak and soften the coarse food. When the first-Jins done whalrit can the fond passes out of it inWWe second, and t the cow or sheep is ready to “chew the A WIFE'S LAMENT. I know a mountain, high and grand* And seamed with chasms dark and deep Dark, stern, magnificent! it stands Aud guards the hamlet at its feet. Through clond and fog and morning mist, Unmoved by tempest, storm or time; And wheu the sun its brow has kissed It smiles with radiance snblime! The fertile valley lies below Clothed la her shimmering summer dress, And smile^ tthto the gray, cold rock tfStSix - - That < s, but stoops not to caress. I know a f^Ckingly faco, That tow<#$ high above my own, . i An artist's eye, a form of grace, A poet's soul—a heart of stone 1 He stands unmoved by praise or blame, With conscious power and mind complete He lives for labor, art and fame, Nor heeds the offerings at his feet. I'd give the world were I the sun, To kiss to smiles that haughty face, I And see the lightning glance of love Light up those eyes with tender grace. j I nestle mutely at his feet, He shields me from the storms of life, I bring him offerings pure and sweet, A worshiping, devoted wife. But ah! his heart once all my own, Forgets the gracious tenderness ., Of bygone days. I sit alone, q j He guards, but stoops not to caress. j —Jacinta Jacques, in Omaha World. ! PITH AND_ POINT. , ; A swell dinner—Dried apples. Gymnastic table ware—Glass tumblers A striking expression—“Hit ’em agin.” The eagle is a tough bird, but when it is put on the back ot a dollar it is legal tender.—Merchant-Traveler. . Now goes each gentle maiden forth To gather autumn leaves; Aud when she's stuffed her pocket full She crams them up her sleeves. —Boston Budget. The S-ientific American has a very in teresting article on “Tobacco Blindness,” biii we'll venture to say that no smoker was ever so tobacco blind that he could not see the cigars sticking out of the top of a companion's vest-pocket.—Puck. He stuttered, And muttered: “For yqur hand I’m ap-ap-pealing. She grumbled, And mumbled: “1 never did like apple-pealing.” —QoodcuFs Sun. A dog with a tin can attached to his tail by a stout cord passed hurriedly down the street. “Is that dog mad?” asked a pedestrian. “Well,” responded another, “I caught a glimpse of his countenance as he passed by and he didn't look the least b.t pleased. ~ - < He (trying to get out of it pleasantly) — “I’m awfully sorry that I mast go to night, Miss Bessie. What an two weeks we’ve had of it. 1 1 ask your He Drew the Line. “Well, Charley, I hear you don't call on Miss Jones any more,” “No, Tve quit.” “What’s the matter? Did she go back on you?” “No. That wasn't it. The luxury was becoming too expensive.” “Expensive! I thought Miss Jones was a model girl, never ate ice cream, j oysters or anything of that kind.” “She doesn’t. It was the dog that made it so expensive.” “The dog!” “Ye*. He kept me all the time paying tailor bills. I had to wear a Prince Al- ; bert coat and fasten the tails together at the bottom. I tried pin- once but never j aga'n. I kept them sewed after that, but it spoilt the fit of the coat aud made me look like a balloon getting ready for an ascension. I would have sacrificed much for that dear girl, but I can wear out trousers enough on my own account. without calling in the as-i-tance of a pug-no-ed canine that is two-thirds teeth.” —Merchant 'Traveler. A11 Hour of Terror. When lie had been there one week the boarding-house keeper said that he was one of the nicest, quietest young men she had ever had in her house. He had no complaints to make at the tabic, and he left his room so slick and clean that the chambermaid had suspicions that he was a woman iu disguise. At the end of the month, rather than to have him go, the landlady would have agreed to purchase porterhouse steak once a week, and to replace the old rug in his room with a new - one costing fifty cents. The other night, however, her enthusiasm re ceived a set-back. One of the boarders came down stairs and reported that he had In ai d groans and sighs and curses from the quiet boarder’s room. Three or four people tip-toed up, and after a hit they plainly caught his words: “Ouch! llang it! Condemn it to Halifax, but it's killing me by inches!” Theu it was realized that the quiet man had some great sorrow on his mind, and it was suspected that he was contemplat ing suicide. cud.” The second stomach while soaking the food keeps it in motion, and gradually rolls it up into masses so that iu the small upper part there is found au ob long solid lump of the size that we rec ognize as the “cud.'’ This the animal throws up into the moufh and chews with evidently as much satisfaction as the same act of mastication gives us when we put the most delicate morsels be tween our teeth. When it is sufficently chewed the mass is swallowed and its place taken by another which has been rolled up in the meantime. But the “cud” thus masticated doe9 not return to the second stomach from which it came; it passes smoothly into the third, a place for additional lubrication, and then into the fourth, where the tfue di gestion begins and ends. A Virginia Romance. , Here is a story from Nottoway County that will please the most sensational. Two years ago there dwelt in this county two individuals. One of the individ uals was a handsome and prosperous y young farmer; the other was a saucy and bewitching damsel of eighteen summers. The farmer was a stern man. The bluest of old Virginia blood coursed through his veins. He was a prominent member of the village church. He dwelt in a fashionable bouse. He had plenty of; horses and servants. The young farmer didaiot associate»with the rest of the vil- j lagers. Oh! no; he was too proud foi that. But mark the change. One year thereafter he fell in love with a pretty ; girl far beneath him in social rank ‘ and position. He pleaded in vain for her love, but she told him she loved another. This drove the young farmer mad, and in a few months he had to be taken to the Eastern lunatic asylum at Williamsburg. But the romance did not end here. The happy and expectant bride was anxiously awaiting her nuptial day, which the fates, it will be seen, de termined to be otherwise. Her sweet heart was thrown from a horse and in- j stantly killed. When the sad news was conveyed to her she became a raving maniac. She was also taken to the East ern lunatic asylum, where she met ths man who had wrecked his physical and mental capacities on account of her. The sight of the woman who spurned his love j drove him into such a frenzy that a straight jacket had to he put upon him, and the very mention of her name would throw him into a violent rage. Thus is life!—Petersburg Index-Appeal. j horse?, William, I knew it would come, asked pa yesterday so as to save you the trouble. He’s more than willing.”—- Tid-Bits. Fiddles for Firewood. Whej» Ole Bull, the renowned violin ist, was staying in Paris in 1840 he re turned home late one evening from a concert, ;md as the night was cold he ordered his man to make a fire in his room. The latter dragged toward the fireplace a huge box, on which the word “firewood” was painted in large letters. In answer to Ole Bull’s astonished in quiry the servant told him that the box had been delivered that day at noon by his master’s orders, os he thought. On being broken open the box was found to contain twenty-two violins And the fol lowing letter: “Great Master: The un dersigned, being members of various amateur philharmonic societies, hereby declare that they will henceforth cease to perform on the accompanying instru ments. The same wood from which Ole Bull can draw life, love, sorrow, passion and melody, is only to be regarded as— fuel for the flames in the hands of the undersigned, who therefore request the maestro to make an auto-da-fe of the en closures, and to look upon the ascending smoke as incense offered to his genius by penitent dabblers in the noble art.” This curiou* epistle bore the signatures of twenty-two young men. Three days afteward Ole Bull gave a dinner, to which he invited all the senders of the valuable “firewood.” Each guest had lying before him on the table one of the violins referred to, and by its side a gold ring with the incription “Solitude and Perseverance”—a piece of seasonable ad- v’.eo to the faint-hearted dilettante, and a symbolic indication of the means by which the virtuoso himself had attained to fame.—Rundschau. The Mitten. (From Mollle.) This little mitt I hope will fit, ’Tis for your hand intended. It took me very long to knit, But I am glad to send it. You'll wonder why I send but one, And think I acted blind ly, But one will do the best for you, And you may thank me kindly. It is all wool of good stout yarn. Your yarns are all un- common, And I am sure a gladder gift was never sent by woman : And by this mitten you will see That you I’ve not forgotten, And when you wear it think ot - me— It’s real and not cotton. I hope to night you will not write, And say it is un- mated. And think it only half a gift. And feel but half elated; But if you find one will not do, And you can only rest with two, With fingers which are deft ones, I’ll set to work, And send to yon, Another mitt— both left ones. —A. W. Bellaw, in Free Press. The Largest Balloon. The largest balloon ever made is that of Herr Ganswindt. at Berlin. This ballon is cigar-shaped, about 100 yards long by sixteen yards iu diameter. The Ganswindt machine is said to be capa ble or carrying a load of nearly three tons and a half, independently of its car and steam engines, which together weigh about twenty-one and a half tons. Propulsion is effected by means of three aerial screws; two of these, each eleven yards in diameter, are vertical, whilst the other, measuring eight yards in di ameter, is horizontal. Herr Ganswindt affiims that he will be able to attain a speed of fourteen to sixteen yards per second, or a mile in less than two min utes, and that he will be able to travel in any direction he pleases, even in the midst of the most violent storms. The Latest English Puzzle. The English national mania for puz zles lias broken out again, and in spite o" Mr. Gladstone and Home Rule, more than half the country, including its bel ligerent political chiefs, is engaged upon a puzzle \yhich has been launched by Mr. Barn. No one has as yet succeeded in finding a solution. The puzzle is to square the queen as under: Q U E E N U E E N The four horizontal lines beginning U E E N a: e to be filled up with English words whlea shall lead vertically as well.