The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, April 12, 1882, Image 1
ABBEVILLE PRESS AND BANNER. 1
BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WABDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1882. NO. 45. VOLUME XXVI.
V
^ In Fnture
m ^ . It seems to me the bud of expectat ion
Has not yet swollen to the perfect flower
That with its wondrons exhalation
The world of faith will dower.
The lamps we light are but the stars of promise
The f&intest reflex of a distant sun
That wakes an eager salutation from us
'Till nobler heights are won.
The past was but the preface of the story
In which the ronlance of our lives is wrought I
The deeds that win imperishable glory
Live scarcely in our thought.
Whate'er we do falls short of our intending;
The structure lacks the beaity we design;
And tortured angels, to their home ascending,
Depart and leave no sign.
By all the donbts and tria's that so vex us, [
By all the falls and failures that annoy.
By all the strange delusioua lhat perplex us,
And yield no fruits of joy.
We know that unto mortals is not given
The strength of knowledge that is yet in store
For us, ere yet we walk the streets of heaven,
And dream of heaven no more.
The hear of earth lias secrets yet withohlen,
That wait the dawning of some future day,
When angel hands from sepulchre so golden
Shall roll the stone away.
Man baa not touched the zenith of creation:
The godlike thought that filled Jehovah's mind
Has had in Him but feeble revelation,
Uncertain, undefined.
The days wherein time reaches its fruition,
With moments weighted with no vain regret,
Those days of which the soul has sweet proTiBion,
Draw nigh, bnt are not yet.
?Josephine Pollard.
t
? i
THE QUAKER ARTIST, j
" I tell thee now, Richard, that thee'll j
never get a cent of my money if thee
keeps on with this devil's work."
The speaker was Friend Joseph Harris,
and he held at arm's length a small
picture in water colors, the features of
which were hardly discerniblo in the
gloom of the winter morning. Friend
Joseph had .been at the barn, as was his j
cHstom, to fodder the cattle and feed |
the horses before breakfa?t. and had I
discovered this humble bit of art in a
nook in the granary. He did not have
to be told that it was his son Richard's
work, whose inclination to such ungodly
pursuits bad been the distress of his
parents' lives.
Fall of suppressed wrath Joseph
burst into the kitchen where the family
were waiting breakfast, and without
preface addressed his son with the threat
which he considered the most dreadful
he could use?that of disinheritance. It
meant something, too, for in spite of his |
plain 8urroundinga Joseph Harris owned
nearly two hundred aores of land worth
easily a hundred ard fifty dollars an
acre, and his visits to the county town on
the first of April of each year were not
to pay interest but to receive it. A
tall, straight figure, he was nearing
sixty years of age, but as vigorous as a
youth, with quick motions and sharp
. black eyes, indicating a violent nature
chained for life by the strict discipline
of the Society of Friends.
His son Richard, now turned of twenty-two,
was of a different mold, short
and stoutly built. His fa.-e at first
sight seemed heavy and vacant, but
this was in fact the abstraction of the
dreamer. His soft brown eyes, and
hair clustering in thicK curls over his
low but broad forehead, made amends
fnr his somewhat commonplace features.
The moment bis father entered the
bitf?Tipr> Rirlinrr? fplf. th it Viih sp/?rof
labor had been discovered, but his
anxiety was more for it than for him- ,
self. He rarely dared face his father's
anger, for Joseph Harris, like many of .
his sect, made up in severity at home i
for the smooth and passionless exterior ,
he maintained abroad.
" Will thee give it to me, father?"
said Richard, advancing toward the ;
outstretched hand which held _ the^J
owner contemplated
it with unspeakable disgust.
Poor little painting ! It was u fragment
of an autumn afternoon, during
which Richard had been husking corn
in "the hill field" and which had
abided in hie memory clothed with the
halo of a hundred day-dreams. There
was a oorner of a woods, the foliage half
green, half shading into tints of
brown and red. A rivulet leaving apiece
of meadow still gay with autumn flowers
and green witn late grass, flowed
rippling and sparkling out of the sunlight
into the shade of the dying leaves.
What courage and hope it must have!
Richard followed in thought its waters
a3 they flowed on -to Chester creek and
then to the stately Delaware river, and
far out till they met the mighty ocean
which washes the shores of all the
world.
And as'he mechanically plunged his
husking knife into the shucks and
turned out tho golden ears one after
the other, ho humbly took this lesson
to himself, as was his wont, and said:
"I, too, must have more courage,
firmer hope. Why should not I go forward
in my study of art with greater
faith ? I mutt, I will." And to fasten
the vow be had painted two studies ot
this little piece of meadow as a constant
reminder, snatching the time on First
days and Fifth days, when his father
and mother were at meeting, and he
and Mose Riddle, the colored man,
were left to look after the stcck. One
copy he had sent on a venture to a commission
house in New York, the other
he had hidden in the barn.
It had acquired a kind of sanctity to
him, and each tree had become a symbol
of some rebuff or danger he was
fated to encounter in his future life.
He had, moreover, described it to Sibbilla
Vernon, and had promised this
Bole confidante of his aspirations that
he would bring it over some time and
let her see it. But Sibbilla lived two
miles away, and as her parents were
also strict members of meeting, who
regarded every work of art as profanity,
this would have to be managed with due
caution.
Richard's first impulse, therefore,
was to 6ecure the picture. But his
father bad a donble cause of displeab-1
nre, and his anger was d(e ). He bad !
Bgreed to Rive Richard a lourth share
in the profits of the farm this year, and
not oniy was this painting business an
ungodly amusement, but also a waste of
precious time and a loss of money. It'
mnBt be stopped.
i'jl put it where it deserves to go,
and where thee will follow unless thee
turns thy steps from th& world and its j
follies. But the firo that thou wilt i
meet will be that which is not quenched, j
sad where the worm dieth not."
With these words, which Friend j
Harris ppoke slowly and with that i
slight chantiDg intonatipn which char- j
acterizes the utterances of the speakers
in meeting, the solemnity of which was
fuither increased by the use of the
formal "thou" instead of the usual
'thee," he stepped to the kitchen
fireplace, where a goodly wood fire was
burning under the crane, and striking
the picture against the corner of th*
mantelpiece tore a rugged split through
its center and threw the whole into the
flames. In a moment it was a shriveled j
cinder.
There are certain natures whose in-1
hcfent strength can only be developed |
by a violent shock. Full of latent power, j
their weakness comes from a native J
humility. They distrust themselves j
through a genuine admiration of others, i
Such was Richard Harris. But the1
necessary shock had come. He gazed a
' moment at the cinder, his face crim-1
soned. but the severe discipline of the
Society and the family exercised the
sway that it usually does even on the
very young among Friends.
" Father," ho said, in a low and even
tone, " I repeat what I have often told
thee; I have no light that there is evil
in j-ainting; but as thee thinks there is,
I shall bid theo and mother farewell
to-day, and seek employment elsewhere.
I shall not ask theo for any
share in thy estate."
Taking his hat from the window-sill
he passed ont of the kitchen door, leav
ing his father speechless with amaze
ment at this rebellions utterance, and
i his mother?a poor weak woman, conI
stantlv in misery between carrying out
i the severe rule of her husband whom
I she feared, and yielding to her tenderness
for her boy whom she loved 1
wiping her tears without; emitting any
I sound, either word or sob. As for his
I two sisters they sat demure and motion'
less through tho ttliolo scene, at heart
rather pleased at it, as thev had no
sympathy with their brother's taste for
forbidden arts, and thought him a queer,
wasteful, uncomfortable member of the
household. Moreover, though younger
than he, they were not too young to
see at once the pecuuiary advantage to
them of his renunciation of his share
of tbe estate.
Richard went toward the barn and
took a seat in a nook of the corn-fodder
ofo/*lr +tiaf. rroo luiilf. olnnnr fhn ci.^A r?f
the barnyard. Ho did not feel the cold
raw air of the early morning. His mind
was too fnll of the step ho was about to
take and what had led up to it. Now
or never he must quit the farm, renounce
the teachings of the Society,
throw aside the coat with standing collar
and the quaint broad-brimmed black
hat, give up the plain language, reject
the counsels of the venerable facers of
meeting who would surely be appointed
to visit him, and prove a recreant to the
revered precepts of Fox and Barclay.
All this was meant by a pursuit of his
strong bias for art.
Why was he born with it? Whence
came it? These questions he had often
asked himself. For six generations his
ancestors had never touched a brush or
palette; not a painting nor a statue nor
a musical instrument nor any drama or
work of fiction had been allowed in
their houses. How had he been created
rrrif h u noooinn frtf nr\lnt? onrl fnm TClfVi
a love of poesy and music, which neither
the dreary farm work nor the colorless
life, nor all the frigid, deadening discipline
of the Society could quench?
Going back to his earliest memory
he could recall that when four years
old he was left for a few hours at the
house of Mike Wallis, an Irish tenant
on a neighboring farm, and that Mike's
wife had kept him in the utmost bliss
by showing him a colored print of the
Virgin and the Infant, and telling him
the pathetic history as it had pictured
itself in her warm Irish heart. But what
was the horror of his parehts next day
when he toddled into the room when
they were at dinner and called :
" Mudder, mudder, come see God."
Hi3 parents ran to the door to fee
what this strange appeal meant, and lo!
there, on the floor of the front porch,
chalked in rude but faithful outline3,
were the Child, with rajs of glory
around his head, and the Mother, by
his side, holding a cross. He could
still recall the scowl that camo over his
father's face and his mother's impetuous
rush for a bucket of water and
scrubbing-brush. Nor had he forgotten
the violent shake and immediate spanking
ho himself received for his artistic
endeavor.
His memory leapt till he was a boy
of ten, and to his intense delight at
o fvo/lo nf o PovlAro bnifa fnr I
? UiUU?J vt u i/uiivn MUAAV ava
a box of paints. Many an hour of joy
had they given him, hiding himself in
the garret of the old house, in the back
part of the hay mow neur the dusty
gable window, or in a iittle hut he had
built in tho woods. But his prying
little sister betrayed him one day, and
not only was his treasure confiscated
but ho himself was tied to the bedpost
by his mother and given 6uch a whipping
as would have discouraged most
youthful artists.
Later in life, when he was too old
for such vigorous measures, many lectures
bad he received on the frivolity of
such tastes and the wickedness of ministering
to them.
These scenes passing through his
memory convinced him that it was vain
to battle with such inflexible rules, and
that to be free ho must leave the farm
and all its associations.
There was but one which had really
held him. This was Sibbilla Vernon.
rha~feggbtpr of jfod her.
mother even a " public friend," whose (
voice at monthly and quarterly meetings
was familiar to all members of the
Society, Sibbilla was a not unusual type
of the advanced thought of her sect.
Calm, self-possessed, clear-headed, she
had announced when but fifteen to her
family that her own conscience was her
guide, and that in all essential matters
she should follow it.
From childhood she and Richard
Harris had delighted to play aud talk
together; and though no word of love,
no kiss aud no caress had ever passed
between them, both their families and
themselves considered their union
merely a matter of time and money.
Nor did this absence of the usual passages
of love seem to any one concerned
a strange circumstance. They were
accustomed to the repression of 4 all
outward show of feeling. In neither
household had the children ever seen a
kiss exchanged among its members,
young or old.
Though devoid of any passion for art
herself, Sibbilla understood and respected
the forbidden tastes of her
lover. Sho looked upon his peculiar
abilities as gifts of God for use in life,
and sho quietly but firmly put aside the
traditions of her sect, which condemn
them indiscriminately.
"Wilt thou presume to deny the
many testimonies of Friends, both in
England and America, against these
sinful arts her mother would ask ;
being a "public friend" of considerable
local fame she never employed the
incorrect nominative "thee," even in
family life.
"Mother," replied the daughter,
" fchey spoke for their day. I must act
in mine by the light I have, not by
theirs."
Her mother wisely avoided argument,
trusting that the Spirit would enlighten
her daughter in time..
Leaving the fodder stack Richard
walked across the bare fields toward
the plain brick houso which was Sibbill
a's home. His mind was made up.
He would go to New York and devote
himself to the study of art. Ho had
saved since his majority about three
hundred dollars. Ho had youth,
strength, talent, love?was not that j
enough V Would Sibbilla approve of i
it? Would she mako tho serious sacrifice
it involved ?
As he approached the house it \yas I
* _7_ ?11 I
aooui 1U U OlUl'J'., UUU Uil IUCI iiiitico ttci D
out at work. He knocked at the front
door, instead of the eide door as usual,
and Sibbilla herself opened it and
gazed at him with considerable surprise
in her hazel eyes, qnickly changing to
an expression of pleasure, which Richard
did not tail to note, and which
filled him with both joy and anxiety.
" Why, Richard, what brings thee
here at this Lour?" was her exclamation.
"Sibbilla," he ; :i.\ " I wish to see
thee," and stepping in ne closed the door,
and they both stood in the wide hall,
obscurely iiehted by the transoms at
each end. He paused a moment to recover
his control, and then spoke in- a
low, vibrating tone: "I am going to
leave the farm in order to study art. I
shall have to give up my membership
in the Society, as thee knows. Father
says he will leave me nothing if I do,
and I know thy mother agrees with
him. But I am not afraid. All I ask
is that thee approve of my decision and
will become my wife as soon as I am
able to offer thee a home."
At that supreme moment of resolve
a'l the strength which for generations
had been nurtured by the noble Quaker
theories of seK-reliance, all the passion
which for generations had been muffled
and smothered under the narrow Quaker
system of formality and repression,
burst forth and were expressed in the
face of bibbilla Vernon. She seemed
to rise in stature, and looking him full
in the eyes, laying one hand on his arm
and passing the other round his neck,
she said:
" Richard, I will come to thee then,
or 1 will go with thee now."
i The tone was low ana tne woras witnout
haste, but he who heard it felt in
his inmost sonl that no oath could be
stronRer.
" Thank God and thee," he uttered,
and for the first time in their lives each
j felt the magic meaning of a kiss of
j love.
Seated on tlio wooden ' 'settee,"
which is the common furniture of the
j country hall, he told her his father's
I words and action and his own unalterai
ble determination to seek his future in ,
art. It was agreed that they should be
married by a magistrate as soon as Richi
ard should have an income of seven
; hundred dollars a year.
! Full of quiet joy he went home, an-1
| nounced his intended marriage and iin- |
medi'ito departure, packed his trunk, j
j and told Mo'e to have the dearborn
j ready at fi o'clock in the evening to
I take him to the station. After the 5
J o'clock supper the members of the
family maintained almost entire silence,
' his mo;her quietly crying, his father
: reading the "Book of Discipline," his
i favorite literature.
The dearborn drove up with Mose,
i who had been to tho station with the
milk, and stopping at tho country store,
which was also the postofiice, had
brought a letter for Richard. It was
rather unusual for any member of the
household to receive a letter, therefore
Mose announced it with considerable
emphasis, addressing rus master r>y ms
first name as is the custom in strict
families:
"Joseph, by'ur's a letter for Richard.
Hiram sez it's a letter from York,
and 'pears as if it mont bo on bizness."
Joseph took the letter, and resisting
a strong inclination to open it passed it
to his son. It was from the firm in
New York to whom he had sent a copy
of his pictnre, and it read:
New York, Jannary 18, .
Dear Sir: We have the gratification
of informing you that the study you
sent us on sale has attracted the attention
of one of our patrons, to whom we
have parted with it for S500. Deducting
comm., stor'ge, insur'ce, del'y, etc.,
as per inclosed statement, leaves a net
bal. of $372.62, for which lind our c'k
herewith.
You mention a duplicate of the stndy
yet in your possesion. We will take
that at the same figure, cash on delivery,
and will give you an order for five
more studies to be completed within a
year. Respectfully,
Smiles, Wiles & Co.
As he read this letter the check fell
from his hand on the table. The Bight of
the colored and stamped paper was too
much for his father. Glancing at the
large amount, as much as he received
for the best wheat crop his farm could
raiRe, he snatched the letter from his
son's hand and eagerly read it. Richard
"stood by in silence.
" What does he mean by the duplicate
study ?" said his father, in an uncertain
voice.
"He means," said Richard, qnietly
" the picturo jou threw in the fire this
morning."
A new light dawned on his father's
mind. So long as his son's taste seemed
nothing but a time-and-money-wasting
form of idleness it had no redeeming feanres;
but 'the incredible fact that there
were people willing to pay hundreds of
dollars apiece for such vain images now
stood right before him. He was too
shrewd to misunderstand it and its results.
" Richard," ho paid, with a softened
voice. "I desire that thee would postpone
leaving us for a few days. Thy
mother and I will accompany the a to
the city, and will be present at the -cermony.
I think Sibbilla's parents will
also not refuse to attend."
As he went out he said to Mose, who
was waiting with the dearborn :
(< a oltAnl/l olrtrorre Ka clAW 4"/%
IUUJ'Oj lute OLIKJ UiU UI TT O KT w> 11* V JT W
anger, and avoid the committal of rash
actions when out of temper."?Our Continent.
Flowers from the Down of Butterflies.
Mr. E. Griffith, one of the greatest
microscopio fanciers in the United
States, who. in addition to being honored
by having several societies named
for him, is an inventor and collector
of microscopic curiosities, was found
by a_jSL Lonia< at __
tEe Southern hotH.
" Have you anything of interest, Mr.
Griffith," inquired tho reporter, " to
tell tbe world about the hobby you
have been riding so long ?''
" Yes," he answered, as he walked to
a table standing in the center of the
room, upon which his pet microscope, ,
a very poweriui instrument, was suuiuing,
"X have several tbiags to tell you
which are not known outside of the
profession I represent. Here is a slip
of glass for instance," he continued, as
he picked up a narrow glass slide,
"which contains the representation of a
beautiful bouquet of flowers. The
representation, when examined with the
naked eye, can scarcely be seen at till.
It simply looks like a small spot. This
bouquet, when you look at it through
the instrument, contains, as you can
discover, eighty-two distinct flowers of
various shades and colors, and each is
as perfect as it would be possible for
an artist to represent them on canvaB.
The entire bouquet, including all
the flowers, leaves, etc., was
made from then scale and hair of Bra-,
zilian "butterflies. The dust from the
wings of the butterflies was picked up
and placed in position by Harold Dalton,
of London, who is now dead. Dalton,
with Che aid of a microscope,
picked up one particle of the dast at a
time on the end of a hair and adjusted
it on the slide in such a manner that
when his task was finished the bouquet
assumed its present beautiful and pjr
feet form."
"Dalton mast have been a genius in
? - 1! 1 i.
ms lino, was u? uutr
"Yes, although ho was dissipated, he
excelled most of his imitators in his peculiar
lino of art. Among microscopiets
his works are prized as lijghly as
the works of the great masters in painting
are prized by artists who work on
canvas. A painter who can paint a
complete scene on a surface as small as
a sleeve button is considered skillful,
yet Dalton used a single hair for a
brush and dealt with particles of matter
scarcely visible to the naked eje,
which ho placed in their respective po
sitions with the aid of his microscope
wifh such accuracy that he finally produced
his representations, which aro so
correct in every detail that artists who
have examinod them critically have
been almost overcome with astonishment.
Tbis is what I call ono of the
wonderful achievements of the century
?"
" How long did it take him to make
'jn
I LIU U'J UlJUCb .
" He was a fast worker, and by laboring
almost constantly be could finish
it, I think, in iho course of a week or
I ten days."
The Way of a Serpent.
The movement of a snake in climbing
a perpendicular surface, as I have
observed it, is a vermicular, undulating
motion, not spiral, but straight up the
face of tho surface. I have seen a black
snako thus glide up a beech tree with
the easy, careless graco of movement j
which is characteristic of tbat snako
when moving over horizontal surfaces.
The bark of the beech affords few in- j
equalities into which tho ejges of the
gastrosleeal bands could be thrust
claw-fashion, and I have no doubt
Ulat aitnospueriu pressure -o luo
force that holds the snake against snch
surfaces in climbing, sucker-fashion,
as th4 boy l:fts the brick with the
piece of wet leather, I once knew
| a black snake to ascend a Etucco
wall to the second-3tory window, and
another I saw go up to the eaves of a
carriage-house to the swallows' nest,
straight up the up-and-down boards. I
have seen them glide from tree to tree
and leap down from near the top of
large trees, but never saw one descend
l/y going down a smoothly perpendicular
Burface. I have no doubt of
their ability to do so, however. I do
not believe that this power is enjoyed
by the copperheaded or rattlesnake, or
any venomous sort with which I am
familiar, they being heavy and sluggish
in their movements. I havo seen them
go up on leaning trees and crawl into
the foliage of bushes, however.
About $1,000,000 are spent annually
for cut flowers in New York.
APACHE MATT, THE SCOUT.
A Fninoiia FronilpfMinnn'n Itcnmou for Was
inn War Upon the 1 mil mi*.
A recent issue of the Denver Tribune
says: Matthew Johnson reached this
city from Fort Hualapai yesterday, nnd
to day will leave for his old horn? in
New York State, there to spend his remaining
days. Several years ago he
was living with his wife and several
children near Hualapai. One
early morning, while the father
was absent al the military
post, the band of Majave Indians
of which Delshay was chief
attacked tho ranch, and tortured the
mother and the three children to death.
When Johnson returned his cabin was
in flames and the blood of his dying
family yet warm. Almost crazed, ho
went back to tho fort without even
waiting to inter the remains of his wife
and children and briefly told the awful
tragedy. Within fifteen minutes a detachment
of K company of the Fifth
cavalry were mounted, under the command
or Colone} Mason, and on the
trail of the copper-skinned devils, Johnson
going along.
On the morning of the third day the
cavalry entered the Black Hills, at the
headwaters of the Verdi river, thehome
of the wild Apache Mojaves. That
evening camp was made near the Verdi
and a scouting party farther followed
the trail, which appeared to bo only a
few hours old. In a small clump of
cottonwool and near a marshy portion
of the river the smoke of the Indian
fires was discovered. It was too
late to attack the Indians, as the darkness
wjuld afford them an escape.
They had apparently located with tho
intention of remaining a few days and
hunting, so the assault was deferred
until the morning, the cavalry coming
up, however, and putting out sentinels.
On one of the posts Johnson stood
keeping vigil through tho night. In
the morning the cavdlry swooped down
upon them. Surprised in their stronghold,
and with their arms scattered
A.?wAlAnn1*f Tr?/linr?a /Ir\ I
i-aicicaoij auuuvj tuu xuuiuun wuau uu
nothing better than fly; and fly they
did toward the river, the soldiers picking
them off one by one in the chase.
Delsbay was more canning and selfpossessed
than his followers, making
np the river through the thick cottonwood.
The six Indians were killed
before one of them had reaohed the
Btream, bnt Delsbay, the seventh, had
such a start that the cavaliy almost
gave up ' all hope of overtaking him.
They spread out, however, and made
a skirmish through the cottonwood
forest.
When they brought up in a little
glade up the stream a couple of miles
they were astonished to find Johnson
leaning over the dead body of the Indian
chief, hacking and cutting it with
a huge bowie-knife in insane frenzy.
The body lay upon the river bank as if
it had been pulled out after the infliction
of the death wound. The head was
nearly severed by a stroke of the knife,
and Johnson had scalped it. It was
many minutes before his fury had
spent it-self, the soldiers never interfering
with the horrible satisfaction
which the widowed husband and
childless father was taking for his
wrongs. Finally, when he had grown
calm enough to explain, he tcld how he
had seen the Indians making up the
river, and, resolved that none should
escape, he followed as best he might.
When he got through the timber he
found the trail, and, although it was
done with much difficulty, he succeeded
in tracing it to the river bank. There it
became lost, and knowing that the Indian
could not have crossed the stream
yithout having been Been on tho opcifln
tnliinli mo a on/1
pvono diuvj nuivu nuio v^w?? muv? vtv
nuded of trees and underbrush, he concluded
that the Indian was secreted in the
bank. While walking down the bank
a head was protruded from a pool near
the shore. It was Delshay taking air.
Steadily Johnson approached, and before
the Indian could realize that the
avenger was nigh ho was grasped by the
hair and his throat slit from ear to ear.
^JWhgs ^e/o5t-^ai_Teachfti\ trohnfiOQ
requested"^ be employed in the scouting
service and he was engaged. He
became the bloodiest and most relentless
of the border scouts and figured
prominently in all the campaigns against
the Apaches up to the recent one which
General Oarr led, earning the titl9 of
"Apache Matt."
Perpetual Motion.
If the census taker could have known
all the perpetual motion inventors when
he went his rounds in 1880, the returns
would show a list quite formidable in
numbers. One of the most persistent
of these pursuers of the delusion has
recently come to light, and is one
Charles Brown, of Corrv, Pennsylvania.
He is a German, and first conceived the
idea of perpetual motion while working
as a machinist in Karlesrabe, Baden, in
18G2. Since that date he has worked at
his idea almost constantly, save barely
earniDg his bread. He came to this
conntry in 1867, and is now working
npon a machine which he says will
weigh about thirty-five pounds?and is
sure, in his judgment, to sucoeed. He
has built and abandoned several machines
as failures in his labor of twenty
years. Thia list construction he expects
to complete soon.
A history of the more important attempts
at finding perpetual motion,
written by Henry Dircks, was printed
in London, in 1870. It is stated that
Wilars de Honecourt, an architect of
the fif eenth century, made the first
attempt so far as is known to master
tho question by a mechanical contrivance.
Capara, in 1678, undertook the
problem and failed. The Marquis of
Wooster made a labored attompt to accomplish
the motion, and his machine
has considerable historical prominence
on account of the rank of the inventor.
Probably he exhibited no more skill
than hundreds of others of less noio,
of whom me puonc Dave never
heard.
It is a fact, doubtless, that some important
inventions huve resulted from
the endeavor to solve the problem of
perpetual motion. The mechanic who
stopped when ho found something practical?
and left the impra6tical?the impossible,
alone, for h real invention,
WA3 wise. The great maiority of workers
of tho problem havo. however, followed
the one idea, and their machines
have died with them. The endless
chains, the balls, the pulleys, all fail in
producing tho result desired. Tho doctrine
of the conservation of forces
seems to demonstrate completely tho
impossibility of mechanical perpetual
motion; but it is likely tho world will
hear of the enthusastic: workers at tho
problem for a long time to como It is
not probable that all the laws of motion
will be proved a fallaoy though enthusiasts
continuo to discuss tho theme?
and mechanics continue to work at the
problem.?Rochester Democrat.
Creamy Gold.
According to the statistics of the
Northwestern Dairymen's association
there are 12.4.4*2,137 cows in the United
States, which yield their owners an annual
profit of $35. Strange as it may.
seem, says one writer, the poultry intprpfits
of the eountrv. and tho noultrv
i and dairy, which go together generally,
j though separated in this figuring, is
greater thsn the beef trade. By reference
to the' fignro3 of the New York
produce exchange it will be found, and
may astonish Eomo, that six thousand
barrels of eggs are sold there every
week, which, at $12 per barrel, makes a
total of 872,000, or for the year in one
city, ?3,744,000 paid for eggs alone.
Then think of the chickens, the turkeys,
tho geese and other fowls sold
there, and the eggs and fowl sold in
Chicago aDd throughout the country.
This, howover, is nothing compared to
the dairy interest since tho creamery
and co-operative system has been introduced,
and which is now in vogue
everywhere in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.
A man who "traveled on his shape"
insulted a young lady, and her father
knocked him down and traveled on his
shape, too?walked all over him.
f
The Tame Alligator.
" Ton see that item in one of the
papers about taming young alligator?,
I reckon," taid the Gravesend man,
capturing the city editor by the buttonhole
and dr#rring hira into the doorway.
".You know the paper faid it!
was a fashionable, thing to do."
" I don't ren^mb^r. Perhaps I did. i
What of it ?" asked the city editor.
" I tried it," said the Gravesend !
man. "A friend of mine brought me one j
from New Orleans, and I'm taming that i
a'ligator for the children to play with."
' How does the experiment come
alonpr," asked the city editor.
"I don't know about the experiment;
the alligator is thrivin'. Bo was six
weeks' old when I got him two months
ago, and he is seven years old now.
People in our parts say he's all the alligator
I'll ever need."
" What does he do?"
" Well, it's here. When he came he i
was a f-portive little oass ana jn6i waubled
around friendly. He was chiefly
month, and we used to feed him for the
fan of seein' him eat. Now we skin
around when we see him comin' for the
fun of seein' him go hungry.-'
"Is he dangerous?" asked the city
editor.
' I haven't been close enough to see.
He eat up my dog, and when 1 left this
mornin' ho was in the sty argnin' t'ie
qnestion of pork as a diet with the pig.
My wife thinks if the pig has any luck
he will find the cow we lost."
"Better get rid of him, hadn't you
suggested the city editor.
41 T rlrm'f Irnnro " cnirl f.hft GrflVefleild
man. "We've stored 60 much away in him
now that it seems like givin' np most of
onr property, and my eldest girl says
she can't hear of havin' her leg go ont
among strangers."
" Did he bite her leg off?" demanded
the horrified city editor.
"Saro." responded the Gravesend
man. " Took it off short! Then here's
the baby. We hate to part with the
baby's grave, so we try and keep the
alligator along. My wife insists on
keepin' him, 'canse she thinks she saw
a couple o' peddlers go in one day,
packs and all, and she's got an idea the
pa3ks may come to the front again if
we hold on. Besides, she seen that
item abont tame alligators being fash'nable,
and she's got a good deal on
Btyle."
" Bnt do yon call that alligator
tame ?"
" Cert'nly. He comes right into the |
house, same's any of ns, and keeps ,
himself. He's got that heel," and the I
Gravesend man pointed to a mutilated
foot. "There's my son's wife, too. i
She's part alligator now. He eat her
up a week ago and the boy hasn't got
over his arm yet. The alligator got
the arm, too."
"Great scott 1" ejaculated the city ;
editor.
"Oh, yes, it's lively Jown there.
When he puts himself up he's business.
He s the lightninest alligator for
a tame one yon ever saw. >vnen we j
first got him we used him for a tack
hammer, drew nails with him; but now
he'd the head of the family, except
pajin' the rent. When there is any
mysterious disappearance around
Graveeenc. the coroner comes and views
the alligator That ends it. When !
tho baby wa3 snatched they held
the inquest in a tree. The jury was all
on one limb, and the alligator underneath
looking up. Bimeby ihe limb
broke, and the jary disappeared in a
row, just as they sat. We didn't wait
for any verdict. The coroner gave me
a permit, and afler tho funeral we shied
au empty coflin at the alligator. Then
the minister paid dost to dust, and we
all dusted. Do you remember whether
that item said what a real tame alligator
ought to be fed on ?'
"Don't recollect seeing it at all.
Aren't you afraid he'll eat up some of!
your family?"
"Think ho'u liable to2' asked the
Gravestnd man, with a curious expression
of visage.
"He might. Suppose he should get
your wife V"
' <rAtrf~' s-nTcrlEr-Gr^end man.
" He might gel; her, mighten
think l'ukeep him, t.hmi^^yd
the Gravesend miw boned affainsttheS*
door and gave himself up w, -^flection. '
"So he might, bo ho might," the [
editor heard him say as he drew away
and left him there. " Thut beautiful j
young tame alligator may get her yet,"
and tho gloom of nightfall enveloped j
the frame dilating with a new hope.?
Brooklyn Eagle. *
Recovering from a Broken Neck.
About five months ago, says a recent
issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, the
daily press published a short item regarding
a teamster named John Collery,
who attem pted to drive his team through
a barn door, and in so doing had his
head forced down on his breast until
his neck was broken. Police Surgeon
Stambaugh made an eiamination of the
injured man and found that the seventh
cervical vertebrco was fractured, and
that the spinal cord had been stretched
nearly two inches. So serious was the injury
that the reporters, after chronicling
the incident under the head of fatal accidents,
paid no further attention to the
matter, ar d failed to inquire after Collerv's
condition, considering him dead
and buried. A Chronicle reporier was !
therefore exceedingly surprised yester- \
day afternoon to meet the supposed j
corpse near the city prison looking re-j
raarkably well for a man with a broken i
neck. In a conversation which ensned
Mr. Collery stated that he was almost
as wellas befo:e theacciden', a slight
8tiffues8 in his right side constituting
his entire " nnheallhiness." After his
removal to his home Collery states ;hat
ho was laid Oat on his back with a sort of
fence about his neck and head which kept
him immovable for over two months.
Both the body of tho vertebra) and
the arching lamince were discovered to !
be broken, and the operation of joining !
them together without pinching the;
spinal cord where it had sagged be-:
tween the ragged edge is described as !
one of tho most difficult ever performed. !
For a month the patient lay on j
hia back, completely paralyzed in one
half of his body and with bnt little I
feeling in the other. If he moved in the i
slightest degree during the first fortnight
he could plainly feel the jigged I
edges of tho bone grate together, and for
K Anwn hUaumi rtU n r> n + fnm r\ f Un TTrn o rtnn .
UVUIO UibCl ouuu au uitciu^u au uaa vwir >
tent to lie on bis hard lied without at-!
tempting to movo a muscle for fear that j
the spinal cord should be crushed and '
his existence ended in a twinkling. The j
straightest position attainable was re
quired, and to this end Dr. Stambangh I
was compelled to refuse him a mattress, j
forcing him to lie on a wide plank. ;
Collery said that before his eight weeks ,
of enforced quietness were ended he J
thought that Doard was mudo of ada-1
mint, The most dangerous time he I
experienced, he says, was one day when i
an attendant told him that n j
mm whose neck could stand break-1
ing as his had was not born to be |
hanged. His desire to laugh was irre- j
sistible, and the shaking up his morri-1
ment gave him caused his fastenings to j
burst and the fracture came near being
ruptured afresh. During the first five i
weeks he did not move over a foot from j
liiu fifat nAofnrn HPlio nnrnlrniti linn I
now almost entirely disappeared, and
Dr. Stambaugh yesterday promised him i
that he would be able to go to work
within sir months. The average fatal- !
ity in cases of clearly defined lracture I
of the spine is estimated at 999 in 1,000. |
??
A Catfish in the Parlor.
The } Cairo (111.) 'correspondence of:
the St. Louis (ilobc-D> mocrnt furnishes '
the following iu tho course of an inter* I
view with a merchant of Columbus, J
Ky., relative to tire flooding of tho
town:
" llow high did the water come ?" t
" Well, the Belmont hotel was built
above high water mark of 1867, the !
highest flood ever known, and tho j
water was two feet deep in the houst. I
Why, the proprietor actually caught a
huge catfish in the 'parlor on the
ground floor."
An English thief, on a Btolen horse,
was caplured. by a policeman on a
I bicycle.
EARTHQUAKES.
Some o> I lie Shock* thnt Have Visited ih??
Wenteru ilemlnvhcre*
The laet great earthquake which
visited Central America was on March
19, 1873, when San Salvador was utterly
destroyed. That part of ihe world
is peculiarly exposed to these convulsions,
but the disaster of 1873 was not
so fatal as that just reported, for,
though three successive shocks were
felt, the inhabitants, warned by previous
noises, were able to find places of safety,
and only about 500 perished. Earthquakes
have been so frequent in the
Central American States that the Indians
are accustomed to say that it is
"the land that swings like a hammock."
The city of Caracas was entirely destroyed
in fifty-six seconds on March
26, 1812. Quito, in Ecuador, was almost
destroyed on March 22, 1859. In Peru,
Caliao was destroyed in 1586, and the
accompanying sea wave was ninety feet
high. It was again destroyed in 17-4G.
An eatthquake which will b3 readily
recalled was that o! Angast 13 and 14,
18'jfy in which Arica suffered severely.
The tidal wave carried a number of
ships inland, among them the United
States steamer " Wateree." A United
States storeship was also lost by it. In
Chili destructive earthquakes have occurred.
One in 1822 caused a permanent
elevation to an extent of from two
to seven feet of fully 100,000 square
miles of land lying between the Andes
and the coast. February 20, 1835, the
city of Ooncepcion was destroyed for
the fourth time; there were felt over
300 successive shocks within two weeks.
April 2, 1851, a eevere shock was felt
at Santiago.
In tho United States have been many
severe siiocks. The most severe which
ever visited the Eastern and Middle
QL-a il-.k ?? 1 Q 17KK
O IULUO VYttB liiuu ui Xiuvuuiugi uj j.i vv?
The shock felt in New England was
undoubtedly promulgated from either
the same center which emanated the
disturbance that had destroyed Lisbon
on the first day of the month, when
60,000 persons perished in six minutes,
or from a center whose activity had
been stimulated by the continual
quaking that then prevailed from
Iceland to the Mediterranean. The
earthquake of the 18th began in
Massachusetts with a roaring noise lifce
"hat of thunder. After a minute's
continuance of this there came a
Jirst severe shock with a swell like
i;hat of a rolling. eea?a swell
do great that men in the open fields
iran to seize something by which
to hold on lest they should be thrown
down. After two or three lesser Bhocks
then came the most violent of all, producing
a quick horizontal tremor with
sudden-jerks and wrenches; this continued
two minutes, and after a short
revival died away. Numerous other
shocks followed in the course of a
montb. In Boston many buildings
were thrown down and twisted out of
uhape. On October 19,1870, occurred
the most considerable shock that has
been observed in the Middle and Eastern
States during the present century.
The source of this disturbance has been
traced, with some probability, to the
volcanic region fifty to 100 miles northeast
of Quebec. From this region
the shock spread to St. Johns, N. B.,
and thence was felt westward
to Chicago and southward to New
xorn. iUU veiuuiljr U1 wo rruro v>
fehock was about 14,000 feet per second.
The occurrence of the shock felt at
Quebec was telegraphed to Montreal by
the operators of the Montreal Telegraph
company in time to call the attention
of those at the latter city to the phenomena,
about thirty seconds before
the shock reached them. In California
the earthquake of 1852 destroyed one of
the Southern missions. That of March
26, 1872. was the mo9t severe that has
occurred there during many years.
Special damage wa3 done in San Francisco
by the cracking of the walls of
fine public buildings. In Nevada the
mining regions suffered in 1871 by the
destruction of Lone Pine and other
settlements.
Where the Boulders Come From.
All who have seen the immense haulers
called "lost reek" in some sec*
[jjps, scattered over the northern part
?}je United State?, which have little
or no reaeiiiVince to any mass of rocks
anywhere in the vicinity, and have perhaps
asked the quebvion: Where did
' * n I
lliev como irom r ai?u mi iicu^o t?i
sand, gravel and cobble stones various
sizes which form many of o\i
ridges, knolls and hills, and which are
totally unlike any fixed rock near them.
All these phenomena are attributed to
a single cause, and that is the great
sheet of ice which nature stored up
years ago without the necessity of protecting
it in an icehouse, According to
Agassiz the sheet of ice extended in this
country as far south as South Carolina
or Alabama, and was thick enough to
cover all the mountains of the eastern
part of North America with
the exception of Mount Washington.
This peak projected, a lone sentinel on
that vast waste of ice, two or three hun
dred feet. In the latitude of Northern
Massachusetts he conceives the ice to
have been two or three miles thick. The
boulders were all torn off by the advancing
ice sheet from the projecting
rocks over which it moved, and carried
or pushed as "bottom drift," scratching
and plowing the tur'aco over which
they passed and being scratched and
polished themselves in return, till they
were finally brought to rest by the
melting of the ice. They were not carried
au far south as the ico sheet extended,
seldom beyond the parallel of
forty degrees north. The native copper
of Lake Superior was drifted four or
3ve hundred miles south, and the pudding
stones of fcoxbnry, Mass., were
carried as far south as the Island of
Penikese.?Scientific American.
??
A IJoy's Heroism.
During the recent cross examination
of John H. Leeds before a railroad committee
in New Haven, the interesting
/act was brought to light that Mr.
Leeds had a life pass over tho New
York and Now Haven road. Riven him
for a courageous deed performed thirtythree
years ago. On the evening of
Jnne 24, 1840, Leeds was watering his
father's cattle in a brook near the rail:road.
Whib there he heard the pufif
of an engine behind the hills, and boyliko
sat on the fence to wait for it to
go by. Presently ho heard a train
coming from the opposite direction.
It was a single track road, and
he saw at once there would
soon be a collision unless prevented.
Without an instant's hesitation he
bounded on to the track cap in hand,
in front of the coming locomotive. He
stood his ground till the engine was almost
on him, und Le lost part of his
jacket in jumping aside. Tlio engineer
understood his meaning and stopped
the train. The two trains were brought
to a halt within about two rods of each
other. The company presented Leeds
with a handsome silver cup, a life pass
and fi comnlimentsirv letter. When
young Leeds was ready to leave the
farm the directors gladly engaged him,
and the simple occurrence of that calm
June evening near his country homo
has had much to do with.directing the
course of one of the most successful
men of the State.
Every cook who makes tea or coffee
in tin pots knows tbat efter a few
mouths her results are not tlie same as
when the pots are new. If she can afford
it, she throws them away and buys
new ores. They can bo cleansed in a
very siniplo manner, and so last a longer
time. .Tut enough water in to nearly
fill them, and then drop a few liveccals
in the water; gases are absorbed, and
the coffee or tea pot is fresh and almost
as good as new.
A Galveston school-teacher asked a
new boy: "If a carpenter want3 to
cover a rouf fifteen feet wiiio by twenty
broad with shingles fivo feet broad by
twelve long, how m&ny shingles will he
need ?" Tho boy took up his hat and
slid for the door. "Where are you
going ?" asked the teacher. "To find a
carpenter. Ho ought to know that
better than any of we fellers.'
Dnnenhower's Life In Yakutsk.
Mrs. Danenhower has received a long
letter from her son, Lieutenant Dan- ,
onhower, of the Jeannette explor- 1
ing expedition, dated Yakutsk, \
Siberia, December 30,1881. It contains '
no news which has not been anticipated
by telegraphic dispatches, but it gives
some interestiqg details with regard to
the life of the Jeannette survivors at
Yakutsk. In the letter Lieutenant
Danenhower says:
We are passing the time quietly but
impatiently. It is daylight here at about ;
8 a. jr. We get up and have treakfast
at a little hotel that is handy. Tne !
forenoon I spend reading a little, writing
a little and in attending to any busi- '
ness I may happen to have on hand. 1
About 2 p. m. General TscherniefTs
sleigh arrives, and I go to dine with him; 1
generally return about 4pm, and if I i
do not have visitors I take a nap and
kill time as well as I can until 9 p. M.t
when we have supper at the little hotel,
and then go to bed. As I have told you
before, I have found nice people in
every part of the world that I have
visited, and this place i9 by no means
an exception. Last evening, for instance,
we spent very pleasantly at the house of
a Mr. Cbrreikoff, an Irkutsk merchant,
who entertained us very well. His wife
ia a dliorminw lndr. and it was verv
pleasant to see the three beautiful children.
They have a fine piano, the first
one we have seen since leaving San
Francisco.
Yakutsk is a city of 5,000 inhabitants,
The houses are built of wood, and are
not painted. The streets are very wide*
and each house has a large yard or
court. The principal trade is in furs.
In Bummer a great deal of fresh meat is
sent up the river. Daring nine months
of the year snow and ice abound. In
the winter the thermometer falls to seventy
degrees below zero. Since our
arrival it has been sixty eight degrees
below, and to-day it only thirty-five degrees,
or thereabouts. In the summer
the temperature rises as high as ninetyfive
degrees Fahrenheit, bnt the nights
are cold. There are many horses and
cows in this vicinity. The natives, the
Yakutzs, eat horse meat, but the Russians
eat beef and venison. Potatoes,
cabbage and a few other vegetables, a
few berries, wheat and rye are grown in
this vicinity. There are a few sheep
and poultry also.
Dr. Kapallo has examined my left eye
and he says that a very ordinary operation
is required to make it a very efficient
eye- What is called an "artificial
pupil" will have to be cut in the membrane
that now clouds the vision. He
advises me to wait until I get home, for
after the operation 7. will have to i amain
in a dark room for a month or two. My
general health is excellent. I am stout
and hearty.
Of course there is very little Ameri"or
rtarra in tViiq far.awav llTlfc T
have been able to pick up a few bits of
it here and there. * The death of Garfield
is a topic often montioned, and
from the acconnts here I learn that he
was shot by Guiott on the train near
Long Branch. A great deal of interest
and sympathy is manifested by the
Russians. Last evening I saw a Tomsk
newspaper, which said that the Alliance
had made a cruise in search of the Jeannette,
and had reached latitude eighty
degrees fifty-five minutes north on the
west coast of Spitzbergen. Had our ship
held together ten (twoV) years she would
probably have drifted out in that vicinity.
About 900 miles south of this
place there lives an Englishman named
Lse, and from him I hope to learn a
great deal uf news.
Petticoat Lane.
A Londoner bought in Petticoat
Lane, which is famous for its tags, rags
and bob-tails on sale, a coat in exchange
for his own, paying in addition
several shillings for the bargain. The
coat not suiting him, he carried it back
and exchanged it on payment of additional
shillings, far an apparently
smoother and nicer one, which fitted
him exactly. On getting home and
putting his hand in his pocket, he drew
out a pawnbroker's ticket. It was his
own, held against his watch. The nice
new coat was the old one which he wore
there the first time, and which had
been cleaned, pressed and sold to him
again for about t vice what it was worth.
Another of these tricks?which every
one except those on whom they are
played enjoys so much?was recently
played on a German innkeeper by a
peddler who sold him an almanac, and
then, on his wifo's coming in and her
hwband's going out, sold her another
copy. -^Vhen the husband discovered
it he seiche porter to the railroad
station to teiV *he peddler he wanted to
see him on buaine5^.
" Oh, yes,' said the peddler; " I
know, he wants one of n*j almanacs,
but I can't miss my train for that. You
can give me a quarter and take the almanac
to him." The porter paid Vue
money and carried a third almanac to
the innkeeper.
Taking leaf Photographs.
A very pretty amusement, especially
for those who have just completed the
study of botany, is the taking of leaf
photographs. One very simple process
is this: At any druggist's get an ounce
of bichromate of potassium. Pat this
into a pint-bottle of water. When the
solution becomes saturated?that is,
water has dissolved as much as it will
?pour off some of the clear liquid into
a shallow disii; cn this 2oat a piece of
ordinary writing paper till it 13 thoroughly
moistened. Let it become dry
in the dark. It should be of a bright
yellow. On this put the leaf?under
it a piece of black, soft cloth and
soveral sheets of newspaper. Put
these between two pieces of glass (all
the pieces should be of the same size),
and with spring clothespins fasten them
together. Expose to a bright snn,
placing the leaf so that the rays will
fall as nearly perpendicular as possible.
In a few moments it will begin to turn
brown; but it requires from half an
honr to several honrs to produce a perfect
print. When it has become dark
enough take it from the frame and put
it in clear water, which must be
- 1 _ _ i 'l XT
changed every lew minutes uutu me
yellow part becomes white. Sometimes
the leaf veinings will be quite
distinct. By following these directions
it is scarcely possible to fail, and a little
practice will make perfect.
Curious Civilization in Africa.
The large island of Now Britain, lying
midway between New Ireland and New
Guinea,has not hitherto borne any envialle
reputation. Tiaders have been
afraid to have auy dealings with the
natives, who, when tliey had no strangers
to molest, were always engaged in
tierco inter tribal warfare, apparently
merely for the love of lightiug. The
Rev. Georgo Brown, a missionary who
has recc-ntly returned to Melbourne,
reports that matters have much improved
during the last few years, the
various tribes having been brought into
friendly relationship witii each other,
and a vigorous trado having sprung up
witti tlio outer worm. xno mosi carious
fact in connection with the island is
that the natives liavo a currency of their
own, and their language comprises
words signifying lending, borrowing,
and paving interest. Tlio "bank rate"
of interest is ten por cent., and borrow- j
ers aro so scrupulous in the matter of !
meeting their liabilities that they never
have to bo asked a sccond time to repay
an overdue loan.
A Useful Table.
In laying off small lots the following
measurements will be found to be both
accurate and complete:
52^ ft. 8(|. or 2,722'? ei|. It. is 1-1?> of an aero
74-j; ft. si), or 5,415 s'j. tf. is lN'of an acre
101.',: It. fij. or 10,801) kj. ft. is }%' of an acre
120* ? fr. hi(. or 14,52ft wj. f>. is of an aors
147' i ft. Mtj. or 21,780 e<|. ft. is ytof an aero
I oiium* o .... r*r* .1*1 "i:,i ft iu ' | ncrp
wu't, " cl|*
Brown is a kind-hearted man. Every
night b6 give3 each cf his children live
cents for going to bed early fo as not to
disturb him when reading the evening
paper. About midnight ho creeps
noiselessly np stairs, fakesthe five cents
from their pockets, and the next morning
gives them a whipping for losing
it,?Philadelphia Bulletin.
FACTS AMD COMMENTS.
Th^e total losses by fire in the United .
3tates last year aggregate $81,280,900,
of which the insurance companies paid
544,641,900.
The savings banks of the State of
New York represent financial resources
Df $443,000,000. Tiie savings banks of
New England represent as much more.
In Jane, 1783, Stephen and Joseph
Montgolfier sent up the first balloon.
To commemorate the centenary of the
event, it is proposed that an international
exhibition of " ncrial arts ' be
held at Paris next year. The "serial
arts" are to include every industry,
science of art, relating to gas or the
atmosphere, which is sapposed to have
any connection directly or indireotly
with rcronautic experiments.
Our Continent quotes frcm Barcn
Nordenskjold's scientific reports that
the only tong-birJ he found in the extreme
north was the snow bunting. Ita
merry twitter was often heard near
heaps of stones and craggy cliffs, where
it builds its nest of Rrass. feathers and
down. Delighting in cold and snow,
this cheerful songster enlivens the ,
gloomy shores of northermost Spitzber
gen with its lively notes, and defies the
rigor cf the Arctic winter.
Tlifl RUDerintendent of the New York 1
Central railroad denies that it is eoon- ,
omy or oldfoginess that prevents the
heating of oars by steam. It is imprac- '
ticability. If the steam is not returned ;
to the engine?which has not yet been
successfully done?the locomotive cannot
afford the waste. If it comes from
a separate boiler, say in the baggage
car, and on account or a broken wheel
or other trouble the baggage car has to
be cut out, then the heat supply has
gone, and any single car which had to
be side-tracked or left waiting for !
another train on another road would
leave no heat aa eoon as separated from !
the train. Every car mu6t have its own ,
source of heat. Tests are now going :
on for heating the trains by a small
boiler under each car, which, i6 case of
collision, would tumble off and not set !
the car on fire. The superintendent
claims that the road has spent $12,000
in experiments on heating cars, but '
the subject is surrounded with many (
difficulties.
The proportions in which foreign
countries have contributed to Mormonism
are shown in the following figures,
which are compiled from the censuses
of 1870 and 1880:
1870. 1880.
Bom in England 1G,073 19,654
Born in Scotland 2,391 3.201 I
Born in Wales 1,783 2,396
Born in Ireland 502 1,321
Born in Denmark 4,057 7,791
Born iu Sweden 1,790 3,750
Born in Norway C13 1,214
Born in Switzerland 509 1,040 |
Born in Germany 353 885 |
England, it will be seen, makes the i
chief contribution to Mo/monism, aad
next to Eogland come those Scandina- !
vian countries to whose people the i
Anglo-Saxon stock is close akin. The <
infrequency of Irish or German Mor- i
mnno ia tmrr romo>lrftV>!o and tl)A Tiftt.in
races of Europe- never have been hospitable
to Mormon missionaries. The
number of proselytes made among
Americans during the last twenty years
is very small. They ara few and far
between. The recruiting ground is
Great Britain and Scandinavia.
Professor Morse in one of his recent
lectures before the Lowell Institute, in
Boston, exposed some of the tricks of
the Japanese in a manner calculated to
fill the minds of costhetic people who
have been living up to their pottery with
sincere grief. From his statement it
appears that the Satsuma pottery, to be
worthy of which soulful je3thetes intensely
strive, is held in no esteem in
Japan. There is no such thiDg as ancient
Sitsuma pottery, and, more than
this, plates with heavy rims, cups with
handles and sauceis and pitchers have
no existence at all as gennine pottery.
Jnst what it is that aesthetes are worshiping
Professor Morse told hi3 audience as
follows: The large articles sold as on
cient Sitsuma are from two to four
years old, are principally manufactured
in Tokio and are rubbed with charcoal
dnst to give them an appearance of age.
I have myself stood beside an agent of
an American firm which deals in " Satsuma"
ware, and heard him give an
order for a great quantity of this "ancient
" pottery, directing the designs
and telliugtho maker to pat on plenty
of decorations, no matter what. These
large pieces are regarded by the Japanese
as abominable paraphrases, and a
name is applied, to them w\iich signifies
that they are made saleiy to be exported.
T.hay are for the moat part not Satsuu.?
at all, but Awata, and the decoration is
performed by children and cheap work
men of all kinds. I know that I am
breaking many hearts in this audience
and I am sorry for it, bnt I must speak
to save other hearts from being broken.
WISE WORDS.
A lie always marries early, and almost ,
always has a large family.
Money in the pocket of a spendthrift I
is like a sword in the hand of a fool.
Money and time are the heaviest j
burdens of life, and the unhappiest of '
all mortals are those who have more of ,
either than they know how to use.
Don't think there is something radi- ]
cally wrong about the world because it l
don't run according to your notion. ;
There are thousands who think the i
same. i
In order to have any success in life.or <
any worthy success, you must resolve to <
carry into your work a ,'nllness of knowledge?not
merely a sutdciency but more
than a sufficiency. ]
Aswimmer becomes strong to stem <
the tide only by frequently brpasting '
the big waves. If you practice always i
iq shallow water your heart will as- <
suredly fail in ihe hour of high :
flood.
No man ever took hold of a godly
life as men take hold of a secular life, 1
and followed it up with such persistence
as men employ in a secular life,
that ho did not, by augmenting knowledge
and progressive steps, rise to the
realm of spirituality in religion.
"When men in high places stoop to
association with vice and crime they
cannot expect to remain untainted;
often, to save themselves, they seek to
fasten their guilt upon the innocent,
but deception is a tangled, as well as
dangerous, web, and sooner or later its I
votaries are caught in their own foul [
meshes.
One perfect diamond is more valuable
than many defective ones. One truth
well fixtd in the mind and comprehended
is better than many half understood.
A unall opportunity fully
realized is better than a great one misimproved.
The wealth of affectionato
sympathy and aid is better than gold,
and tills the soul with most perfect
peace. Faithfulness lays up treasures
in the heavens which nothing can injure
and no one remove.
Tlie Laplander's Friend.
The Laplander's sledge has no run-1
ners, but like himself it is covered witn |
reindeer skin, and is in shap-j something
like a canoe. Harnessed to this sledge
tho reindeer starts off with almost the j
rapidity of the steam engine, going fif- 1
teen or twenty miles an hour. The reiu- j
deer is not only tho Laplander's horse ;
but his cow, and during the time that it
gives milk he is freezing large quinti- '
tics of it to be .used when no more is j
obtained. Then he breaks off a piece, |
warms it, and has again a good article ,
of milk The deer is also his food, large I
herds of them being kept in some parts i
uf the country. From its skin the Laplander
makes ihe roof of his house, his
bed, his shoes and stockings, his1
clothes, and cords and strings for his j
bow. Without this animal tho Lap-1
1 nder would bo in a deplorable con- j
dition. i
r
Grant'as a Lover.
Hearing that there was a lady living
n this city who had once been courted
jy General U. S. Grant, and who had
refused her hand in early womanhood
;o this noted American civil and miliary
character, a Constitution report et
jought an interview with the lady, \rith
rery satisfactory results. The newspaper
representative found the early
iweetheart of Grant's to be a lady considerably
advanced in years, yet etill
arge, active and buoyant, and not
learly so reticent as the general.
She had not seen General Grant since
;he '50s, she said, and then his father
iarried on a tannery in Portsmouth, O.
3he once had occasion to retide for a
;ime in the family of a farmer whose
'arm joined that of Grant's father?only
li 1 1 l._i A a
I JiLiu Ul icuuu uukwcuu?tuiu iu nao
luring her stay at this farmhouse that
?he was courted by General Grant. It
nust have been in the spring-time, for
ihe says she and Grant would meet at
;he division fence, on each side of which
were beautiful flowers.
"Ulick," said she, "would faylo me
"Let's gather flowers and see who will
have the most binds when we get,
ihrough.'"
"You mean Grant when you say
'Ulick interrupted tho reporter;
"his name is Ulysses."
" Yes," she replied, " we always
called him ' Ulick.' and while he was
30urting me and wanted to marry me
my father used to laugh at him and
plague me, saying: 'He is the greenestlooking
boy I ever saw,' " and chuck
ling to herself she added: "and he
was a green-looking fellow. I remember
the last time I saw < Ulick.'
We had been buggy 'riding. We had
alighted from the.buggy and he stood
leaning with one arm on the wheel of the
vehicle and looking iuto my face ho laid, \
lTTT-11 fail / TD Ii.
wwt31l, HlHtJi-l [ LUJ UULllU iD Uicauuii UUb
they called me Ellen), if I ever find
anybody that I love well enongh to
marry and urn so foitanate as to have a
daughter, you know what that danghter'a
name will bo." The daughter's
Dame is Nellie, a pretty contraction of
Eleanor.
" We shall not publish your name,"
aaid the representative, " since you have
been so kind aud courteous to us, without
permission. Can we use your name?1'
Finally she remarked: "I am not
ashamed of my father's name; it was
Charles Brandon, and my maiden name
was Eleanor Brandon. My first husband's
name was John Spaulding. ?
Farther than this I will not go."?
Ktokuk (Iowa) Constitution.
mmmm
Wonders of the Brain.
Dr. H. W. Mitchell, of New York, iu
a lecture on the "Brain and Its Wonders,"
said that the cerebellum of the
brain presided over the organ of motion,
and that it could bo removed from animals
without taking away their intelligence.
The effect, however, would be
that they could not move. The same
symptoms, he said, could be observed
in man under the influence of alcohol.
If the latter takes too much of the
Btimulant his cerebellum and tho little
cells of which it is composed refuse to
do their work and the man staggers.
He claimed that a person learning to
play on the piano and a lady threading
a needle were regulated by their cerebellum,
and witbootits assistance could
do neither. He said that the medulla
oblongata was the most vital part of the
whole system, and if run through with
a knife life would be destroyed in an
instant. Advantage has been taken of
this in the process of hanging people,
and the carrote had been introduced on
the same principal. He claimed that
the brain conld not get along without
nerves and that it had twelve pairs of
them. The first three nerves were of . .
special sense?olfactory, optic and an*
ditory. The olfactory nerve was not
very well defined in man, as it was got
necessary, bnt it reached its highest
development in dogs, cats and rats. It
was more perceptible in the rat than in
any other animal, and the bloodhound
came next in order. After describing
the optic nerve the lecturer said that
the sense of hearing was less developed
in man than in the animal. He contended
that if either of the three nervea
mentioned were cat thcro would be no
sense of pain and that the only result
would be tho destruction of the sense
of smell, sight or hearing The fifth
nerve, he* said, confers sensibility onthe
face, and when irritated gives rise
to intense pain. He insisted that the
pneumo-gastrio nerve was the Rreat
vital nerve of the whole body, and said
tfi&t II II Wtr8 uiviueu uur ruejiiiabiuu
would cease at once. He then explained
the workings of tho spinal cord and its
connection with the brain, and concluded
by reciting the effects of alcohoJ,
chloroform, opium and strychnine on
that organ of the body.
Hair Tiuni*?? White in a Single Xight.
About fifteen years ago a young man
named Henry Richard*, wlio lived at _
Terre Haute, Ind., was going ii^e ono
eveving about dark from a visit to &
fiiend, and was walking along the railroad
track. Some little distance from
town was a very high trestlework ov6r
a creek, there being no planks placed
across for walking, so that people had
to go over on the ties.
Richards was walking along at a
lively rate, and whtn he arrived at the
bridge he did not stop to think that a
train coming in was ttoen due, but, being
in a hurry to get home, he started
to walk across on the crosstie?. He
bad gotten nearly half way across the *
bridge wheL the train came slipping
iround a curve at a lively rate. He saw
the train at once and started to run, but
saw that it was useless as it would certainly
overtake him before he could get
Dff the bridge.
He was now in a terrible plight. To
jump off was certain death, and if he
remained on the track the train would
jrush him to pieces. There was no
woodwork beneath tho bridge for him
a 7. !?.
to hang on to, so ne saw mat ma umj
chance was to swing on to a tmall iron
rod that passed under the crossties. No
time was to be lost, as the train wa3
nearly on the end of the bridge. So ho
swung himself ander the ties, and in a
few moments was banging on for dear
life. The engineer had seen him just
before he swung under the bridge, and
tried to stop tbo train, but did more
harm than good, as he only succeeded
in checking the speed of tho train and
made it a longer time iu passing over
tho form of Rickards. As the engine ?
passed over the coals of fire from the
ashpan dropped on his hands, burning
tho flesh to the bone, as he could not
shake them off, and to let go would
have been ceitain death.
The trial was at length over, and,
nearly dead from fright and exhaustion,
with his hands burned in a terrible
manner, Richards swung himself upon
the bridge again and ran hone. When
he reached there his hair had not
turned, but in a short time afterward it
began to got gray, and by morning it
was almost perfectly white.?Louisville
Courier-Journal.
Effector Heat on the Nerves.
Dr. William A. Hammond, the dis
tinguisneci nomologist, iu ?u
Our Continent with the taking title,
" How to Escape Nervousness," warns
against overheated apartments. He
says: An overheated apartment always
enervates its occupants. It is no
uncommon thing to find rioias heated
n winter by an underground furnace
up to ninety degrees. Fiehts and
murders are more numerous in hot
than in cold weather, and the artificially
heated air that rushes iato our
rooms, deprived as it is of its natural
moisturo by the baking it has undergone,
is even more productive of
vicious passior>8. It is no surprising
circumstance, i^erefore, to find the
woman who awolters all day ir. such a
temperature, and adds to it as night by
superfluous bedclothing, cross and
disagreeable from little everr-day
troubles that would scarcely rulll-3 hex
temper if f-he kept her room at sixtydegrees
and opened the windows every
now and then.
* * - ; j