The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 04, 1882, Image 1
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ABBEVILLE PRESS AND BANNER.!
_ . _'Jj?
BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WARDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. 0.. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1882. NO. 18. VOLUME XXVII.
An Apple Memory.
The white hot dusty road.
The field so green and still,
The twittering of a bird,
The tinkling of a rill.
And spreading grandly, wide and free,
The shadow of an apple-tree.
"Come rest," it seemed to say,
" Out of the dust and heat;
The grasses round my roots
Are long and cool and sweet."
So free, so gracious was the tree,
I took the offer thankfully.
Upon the grass I lay,
Green whispering leaves o'erhead:
I ate the juicy fruit.
Pale gold, flecked through with rod,
Then lay in slumber deep and sweet,
Till full of rest from head to feet.
Until the sr.n sank low.
And shades of evening fell;
Then, rested and refreshed,
" My host," I said, " farewell!
Farewell and thanks, oh <rraeious tree!
Thy guest will lon<; remember thee."
I thought the rustling leaves
A pleasant " farewell" sent;
I thought the loaded boughs
Unto my greeting bent.
Oh, apple-tree, so kind and free,
May sim and rain Ion;; nourish thee!
?Harper's Weekly.
Polly Gordon's Premium Farmer.
Polly Gordon was an old maid living
in Kansas; sin* was not born then*, for i
theStatc has not been long enough settled,
and I will not mention the place of j
her nativity, but lest the excusable I
State pride of Ohio people be hurt, I i
will say it was not Ohio; and yet she j
had energy enough at any hard work j
that offered itself to entitle her to the j
presidency, if woman were eligible to |
that position. She was able-bodied, and |
in her way strong-minded, even to obstinacy.
Though she "didn't b'lieve
in them wimmin's rights wimmin she
had heerd tell of," she always voted in
school-meeting?the Kansas law gives
that privilege to women, " because if
they mean to waste the people's
money on too much schoolin'and high
nilir?otirr I'm imin' !ill F bin tn
pervent it," was her reason for voting.
She wore her dress made in the style
that prevailed when she first put on
long dresses, and her scanty hair from
one year's end to another was twisted
in a little round knot and pinned on
top of the back of her head. 'The
tashions kin come round to me when
fhey want to, I've no time, and ain't
t goin' to run round after 'em," was
her invariable reply when some friend
flared to suggest an improving change.
Her highest ambition was to have the
finest-colored striped rag-carpets, the
nicest drawn-in rugs of impossible
roses and improbable cats; the whitest
clothes and lightest bread of any
housekeeper. She carried on a little
farm, and among farmers it was her
boast and pride that her calves were
biggest and pigs fattest; that her corn
yielded most to the acre, and she
never lost a chicken or turkey bv pip
or cholera. She could scarcely read or
write, despised "booklarnin' as no
'count toward gittin' along," and took
no interest in the world outside beyond
the prices of her crops and the
groceries she had to buy.
Mrs. Prudence Volnev, for the bust ] i
four years Polly's nearest neighbor,
also living on a farm?I may fearlessly
add that she was from Ohio?was a re
lined, intelligent woman, very fond of j
reading, and Polly was always lectur-1
ing her on her expensive tastes. " I do {
think its so foolish in you to waste
your money that way, an' spend your J
-time too. You pay out enough hard !
cash every year for such trash as
would buy two or three fat calves; if
you'd 'a done that way, countin' the
nateral increase' you'd 'a had a herd o'
cattle bv this time, instid o' all this
litter of books an' papers; an' you
might 'o drawn in a dozen rugs just
like mine!"
Mrs. Volnev took this advice from
Polly in good part, for the maiden
lady was really kind-hearted and welldisposed,
anil too ignorant of etiquette
and propriety, or the most common
things belonging to cultured, and I
might add civilized life, to be aware of
the impertinence of her suggestions.
So great was her prejudice against
newspapers and books, as wholly useless,
that, while to the lightning-rod,
sewing-machine and patent pump man
she would give a not altogether impatient
hearing and examination of his
wares,the mild-mannered book or newspaper
agent, with chromo attachments,
was sure to receive a severe, "Xo, sir.
you need not trouble yourself to take a
step inside! I've no time to look at
such trash, an' no money to throwaway
on it; an' if you want a piece of
my mind I'll tell you you'd better pitch
into hard work than to go round in
such low business!" and she always
gave a call to the dog, who stood by
grinning with white teeth that added
to the effect of Polly's remarks, the
acrent mildh said. " Good mommy."
and retired, crab-wise, with ineek side
glances in the 'tog's direction, and never
came again.
But Polly was human and a woman,
and in a State where men do so much
more abound than the other sex, and
she had secretly wondered why, with
so many substantial attractions of
farm stock, full cribs and fat turkeys,
her strong, bony hand had not been
sought in matrimony. As she grew
older and accumulated more, she often
felt the disadvantage of not being
around so as to know the price of
things, but she was entirely ignorant
of the value or use of a newspaper in
giving her the information wanted.
Besides, she wearied of tending her
stock and holding the plow; and it
vexed her still more to pay her hardearned
cash to some indifferent hired
man, when she feared or knew
slighted his work, or in some way
cheated her.
Ond day while charting about a
plow, she noticed on the premium list
of the coming county fair, " J Jest loaf
of wheat bread, live dollars, and Kansas
Farmer for one year."
The last clause very much puzzled
her, but she concluded that even for a
vear the farmer was well worth trving
H for, and he might be so well suited he
would be willing to stay a life-time.
Mrs. Yolney came in a day or two after.
"Have you heerd tell of the premiums
yit for the fair?"
"Yes, I have a list."
"Will they truly give five dollars and
a Kansas farmer for thQ best loaf of
light bread?"
"I presume so, and I am half inclined
to send in a loaf."
"Ishould think you'd most be
ashamed to say so and let folks know
it."
Mrs. Yolney never dreamed of
Polly's mistaken notion in regard to
the "farmer," and thought she meant
she took so many papers she ought not
to be so extravagant as to want another
; and she was greatly astonished
at the blush that crawled up over
Polly's freckled face and lost itself in
the roots of her scanty, tightly-drawn
hair, as she hesitatingly went on. "Well,
to tell the truth I'd like both mighty
well myself; money's always handy,
and the farmer'd be convenient in tinhouse
and out of doors too. There's
some things about farming 1 don't
know, and being just alone by myself,
I can't look after everything, and go
around too and find out about tilings,
and so I get taken in. Do you s'pose I
could have the fanner longer if it
suited all round?" she asked, anxiously.,
" Of course, the publisher would be J
glad for you to have it all the rest oi
your life, if you wanted it."
' Publishers" was an unmeaning word
t> Pclly, but she had a dim recollection
tfi? hearing in her early youth about
,
! something called " publishing the
j bans" that was connected with matrimony:
and that Mrs. Volncy spoke of
j the "Farmer" as "it" soothed her
maidenly modesty, for, as said
| "tanner" was only a supposableease,
i she could not vet bring herself totlie
j familiarity of the "he" and "him"
; which the assured wife of several
years gives to thehushand of her youth,
I if there were hut one masculine in the
, world. Mrs. Volncy was delighted that
! after all her invectives and declarations
1 Polly had become reconciled to the idea
; of even having a paper in her house,
j and in trying to steer clear of any disj
cussion she led poor I'oily further
| astray by saying. " Oh, yes. the Farm< r
j Would be so much help to you about
giving the prevailing prices all over
| the State; in that way you know when
to the uncomprehending -Mrs. Volney,
"and I thought I'd go the whole Jigger
for this onct."
" The very idea of having a newspaper
is an educator; this premium
offered may lie the entering wedge
that shall break up Polly's ignorance
and let a flood of light on her soul,'
Mrs. Volney said to her daughter
after Polly had gone with the pattern
and full instructions how to use them
to which she had listened as attentively
as any devotee of fashion.
She "set" four "sponges" for her
prize loaf, and made two loaves from i
each "settin." and at the appointed :
day, arrayed in her most extraordinary
dress, polonaise, overskirt and trimmed
skirt, with three carefully selected
loaves, she hastened to the fair. While
ticketing them she anxiously asked (
the polite official, "Will 1 git the
farmer and live dollars to onct if I
draw the first premium V"
"Without the slightest doubt, '
madame; I have all the premiums here
on hand to he given as soon as called
for." Polly gazed earnestly at the men
who were in the oflice, feeling that if
her "farmer" was as anxious as to his
fate as she was in regard to him his
looks would betray him. Put she
might as well have studied the Sphinx
as tlwir faces, so she followed her
loaves, and when once in place hovered
around them as a hen near her brood,
listening to every word that was said,
as if from the general public opinion
she might get a clew to her fate. She
passed a sleepless night and next day,
with carefully curried horse, newlywashed
buggy and herself in her best
array, she droye in. At noon the committee
came, smclled, tasted and discussed,
while she suffered agonies as if
running the gauntlet, but at last the
blue ribbon was put on one of her
loaves and the led on another.
Regardless of the latter she seized
the blue ribbon loaf, and hurrying to
the otlice she accosted the same suave
ollicial, who wondered at her breathless
excitement as she held the loaf up
and said, "Are both your prizes here?"
" Yes, madame."
"Do you see that blue ribbon. I
want my live uouars aim my larmer.
"Ilcre they arc," and ho extended
the liill and a copy of the Fanner.
" When would you like to begin with
the Farmer, madame?"
" I'm all ready, for I come prepared
to take him home. Which one is it V"
and she looked inquiringly at a group
of gentlemen who. noticing her excited
manner as she came in, had stopped
their conversation and were observing
her.
"This is it," said the superintendent,
putting it in her hand,"date of September
0, IS?"
" Why this is a newspaper?I want
my farmer."
" Well, see, The Kansas Farmer,
and he displayed the title-page.
" Was that what you meant by the
farmer you was goin'to give for the
best loaf < ' yeast light bread?"
" Yes, madams. Oh, riot one copy,
certainly, but a year's subscription," he
added hastily, thinking he had discovered
the cause of her trouble.
" That paper!" she answered with
the utmost scorn as she .sniffed with
her upturned, freckled nose. " Is this
the underhand way you take to deceive
a lone woman like myself? I wish I
had words to speak out my mind to
you and tell just what I think about it."
" What did you expect? It was so
announced on the premium list."
"Whv a farmer?a man, of course!"
The unfortunate oilicial tried t?? explain,
and the other gentlemen assisted
liiin, each assuring her that
doubtless somebody might he found to
till the hill, hut as no one offered himself
for the vacancy, Polly, not at all
appeased, went off leaving her Farmn
and loaf of bread. 1 mt she did not forget
the crisp live dollar bill! In that
dark hour of disappointment it was a
source ol comfort to her, and kept her
from utter despair as she unhitched
her horse and drove home single and
alone.
At first she thought she would hunt
up Mrs. Yolney and sptak her mind to
her, but the ride home, and the soothing
purr of the old cat who lay in the
no longer tabooed arm-chair, calmed
Polly, and sober second thought prevailed.
She did her own fall plowing: il
kept her at home three weeks, and
when next sh<* met Mrs. Yolney, who
had heard of her disappointment
through the superintendent, neither of
them made any reference to the Kansas
Farmer.
Hut as the Farm' r came to her
regularly, she gradually learned to look
for it and felt a new importance to
have some mail for her at the postollice.
From reading current prices, weather
notes and prospects of crops, she began
to care for other things; so that by the
next fair she presented herself at the
oflice with another loaf, and to the
smiling superintendent's "Miss Cordon,
if you get the blue ribbon, remember
it is only the Wiehln Kansas
Farmer for one year from date we can
give you," she was able to reply with
a return smile : " I don't want any a
other. This is the Wst kind for me."
However, in Mrs. Volney's house,
the inquiry is made weekly: "Has
Tolly's educator' come vet?" and it
always creates a ripple of laughter
among the young folks.?Springfield
[Mass,) Republicani i
' "... i
corn, butter, stuck and poultry arc advancing,
and the I test time to sell.
(Hherwise we women, tied to the house,
! not alile to tret out and learn aliout
things as men do, arc at the mercy of
i i?i\ inn i*< 111 ti 11 in#l tfilr
V IIKIUUD HM M'lllt IVIUtM, mill Utlt
ing advantage of our ignorance, buy
our things and tak?* all the profits
themselves."
"That's so." said 1'oily, sadly. "I
sold some of my corn last week five
cents on a bushel too low."
"If you had had the Funiur you
would have known that corn was last
advancing and held on. I knew it and
so was saved."
" I)o you s'pose if I get the premium
I'll have the farmer in time for fall
plowing?"
Mrs. Volney did not see the connection,
and was greatly puzzled to understand
Polly's agitation, but attributed
it to her embarrassment for this sudden
conversion and confession of faith
in newspapers, and answered: "Oh
yes. you will get the money and Farmer
as soon as the fair is over."
There were only two weeks till the
fair, and they were, very busy ones to
Polly, who cleaned house from garret
to cellar, and made many changes to
suit the tastes of the possible coming
farmer; her old loves were forgotten
in the fervor of this new hope, and so
many times was her pet cat driven off
the newly-covered cushion in the big
rocking chair that she grew anxious,
gray and thin. She also bought fifteen
yards of green alpaca at a bargain,
and going over to Mrs. Yolnev's, with
unwonted bashfulness, asked for polonaise
and overskirt patterns.
" I shall want one suit just right
nf'tv-r T <r\t the fanner!" she explained
FOR THE LADIES.
News nnd Notes for Women.
It is said that the Princess Louise,
wife of Lord Lome, lias her favorite
French and German authors in her
bedroom where she can always put her
hands on them.
President Eliot, of Harvard, is a pronounced
supporter of the medical education
of women, and Huxley, in England,
firmly indorses woman suffrage in
j the modified form in which it prevails
there
At a special meeting of the Ladies';
Land league, in Dublin, the league j
was dissolved, and a recommendation
I was passed that leagues be established
throughout the country to teach the
rising generation the national history.
.v -rmiadeipma dancing master introduced
a new style of waltzing, the
hands of the couple l>cing joined as in
roller skating, doing away with the
arm encircling the lady's waist, which
lias by some been considered as objectionable
familiarity.
Miss Mary Merger, of Portland, Oregon,
on returning from a picnic, found i
the timbers of the Elk creek bridge on j
lire. She disrobed, dipped her clothes |
in the creek, wrapped tliein about the
burning timbers, and thus kept the lire j
in check until help arrived.
In Bayou Chicot, La., a full grown
wild cat leaped upon Mrs. Griffith
Thompson, fastening his teeth in her
left arm. She grasped the savage beast
by the throat, and held it until it was
choked to death, alt hough it was biting
and scratching her all the time.
.V year ago the princess of "Wales appeared
at an entertainment at Buckingham
palace with simple wild white
clover as tloral ornaments, and it is
needless to say that the clover immediately
thereafter came into fashion.
Now it is all the rage in London.
The sending of medical women from
England to India is likely to be an established
custom. The Indian women
are averse to treatment by physicians
not of their own sex. The 'statistics
of the British medical service in India
show that the women have rarely
availed themselves of prescriptions or
attendance. A staff of trained women
is proposed as a part of the public service
iu India, a department co-ordinate
and not subordinate to the existing
medical bureau
In Germany the sofa is the seat of
honor, and to omit offering its privileges
to an invited guest, isto condemn
oneself as being ignorant of the
usages of polite society. But a gentleman
may not sit upon the sofa; to
take a seat there uninvited is very presumptuous;
and to ask even an intimate
acquaintance to sit beside her on
that sacred resting-place would lie
highly indecorous in a young lady.
Such is the custom of the country.
Pn.sliion Notcs.
"White Danish kid gloves of exaggerated
length are worn l?y brideniaids.
Xew French promenade dresses of
tlark green cloth are trimmed with
several rows of very line gold braid,
put on straight.
Much of what is called ficelle lace is
merely white Spanish lace colored in
the llax gray and ecru shades that are
called licelle colors.
Feather turbans and straw hats, with
velvet crowns, worn with cheviot or
cashmere suits, are admirably adapted
for the cool days of fall.
At present the preference is for
plain goods for new dresses, but there
will be many combination dresses that
will be partly made of striped goods or
of large figured fabrics.
AVatteau overdresses are in great
favor with young ladies. The large
fold at the hack, which is the principal
feature of the dress, is caught up
below the waist to form drapery.
The new Pompadour lace is similar
to IJreton laces, with the addition of
flowers in relief made of muslin, and
worked in button-hole stitch ; a single
(lower is in each point or scallop of the
lace.
Short round basques are becoming
fashionable, instead of the long cuirasses
that turn up at the edges when
the wearer is sitting. These are in
square battlements, or in leaf points or
slender curves, and the edges are
heavily corded.
Military styles arc in vogue, such as
braiding in cross-way rows on jackets,
and there are military collars of white
linen worn high around the neck, and
fastened by a ring and ball that is
passed through the button-holes 011 each
side of the front.
(Jinghams are a feature of the season.
In those the best choice are the
honest Scotch ginghams, which stand
any amount of washing without injury
; and next come the American
goods warranted to warjh, and which
may usually be relied on to do so without
fading.
Chiscle velvets, with figures in bold
relief, are made into dress skirts to wear
with velvet polonaises. Spanish lace,
passementerie, and chenille frings trim
with overdress, but the skirt is rich
enough to dispense with trimmings,
a.id even the narrow balayeuse finish
will be unnecessary.
Novel French mantels are made of
black merveillieux, or cam as grenadine,
cut as a rather long shoulder-cape,
with a border of chenille fringe glittering
with jet, silver, or a mixture of
colored beads. The cape forms a Vshajied
opening in front, followed by
two finely-plaited scarfs of fancy silk
starting from the shoulder-gores, and
contracted at the waist bv a number
of close sliirrings; thence these scarfs
cross and fall over the tapered ends of
* 1...
vim; V?ij/t .
lirowns of every shade, and greens
ranging from the "green erv-yallcry" of
tin; a'sthetic to the darkest and most
invisilile greens, will undoubtedly lie
the reigning favorites during the approaching
season ; and as regardsstyle,
the present indications are that 1 ml
few, if any, dresses will be worn with
Mat trimmings?the more bouffant the
better. Dressmakers, by means of
panniers, puffs, full-scarf draperies,
ruches and other resources at their
command, contrive to make fashionable
costumes as intricate and impossible
to follow as possible; and the
fuller the effect the greater the triumph.
A Reasonable Request.
lie had never told his love, their acquaintance
had been a very short one,
and when suddenly lie had placed her
;irius about his neck and imprinted a
kiss upon her rosebud mouth, she was
naturally startled.
"Sir." she said, "this is insufferable."
" Forgive me," lie cried. " I was ina<l
to act thus. 1 beseech you, pardon me!"
' No, I can never forgive you, never.
Von have forfeited my friendship. You
must leave meat once and forever."
Vainly lie plead; she was ohd urate.
So glaring an offense could not he condoned.
And so he said he would go. Ilis
whole life would he embittered, for he
felt that her image could never be effaced
from his heart.
" I will go," he said, sadly, ' but before
1 leave there is one boon that I
would ask. I feel that I am not unreasonable
in desiring and expecting
that you will grant this one little linal
favor."
"What is itV" she asked, gently,
touched by his emotion.
" Won't you please take your arm
from around my neck?"?Saturday
Niyht.
The twelve leading dairy States of the
Union are New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, .Michigan, Indiana,
Wisconsin, Missouri, Vermont,
Kansas and Minnesota. These States
produce about three-fourths of all the
butter made in the country.
FEMALE FARM HANDS.
AMlnnNhitiff Evidrnrc Klicitctl nl a Pnrlia- ;
ni-iittirv Inquiry.
Americans visiting some parts of!
| Europe are apt to lie shocked l?y"the i
j labor imposed upon women, who !
work in the fields, load carts and some-!
; times harnessed with a dog help to !
draw their produce to market. Hut!
! very often "tilings are not what they :
sewn " in this matter more than any j
I other. A remarkable illustration of 1
I the attraction that liel<l lahor lias was
| afforded some years ago in England.;
| A contractor for various kinds of agri- j
cultural work formed a gang of young j
women whom he took from place to 1
place in the eastern countries to per-!
form hedging, ditching and draining:
for farmers. This went on j
for several years, until at length the ]
rumors of the evils from it assumed so i
serious a character as to result in a
parliamentary inquiry. The evidence
was remarkable. It all went to show
that the women positively delighted in
this free, active and nomadic life, and
one of its chief charms was the astonishing
health and strength they attained.
Their limbs became muscular,
they had the digestion of ostriches, and
aches and pains were unknown to
them. They, in fact, enjoyed the most
exquisite of all human sensations?
perfect health. IIow many American
ladies enjoy that for even live years of
their lives after fifteen? The other
side to the matter was that
the moral well-being of these agricultural
amazons was by no means
on a par with the physical. They bore
children whom they regarded as an intolerable
incumbrance, inasmuch as
they kept their mothers from work,
and, consequently, it was ascertained,
bv a volume of evidence, put these
diildren out to nurse. The nurse with
whom most children died was the
prime favorite, and a significant
feature in the evidence w;ts that of
druggists, who testified to the enormous
consumption in the district of
those soothing syrups which so effectually
succeeded in soothing infants out
of their existence. It was in view ;
of the dreadful infant mortality
that parliament interfered and
suppressed the gang system. But
the case of the (Jermau, Flemish
or Dutch women who help
husband or father in his fields is not :
open to this objection. If the labor be
not excessive it is desirable. It pro- ;
duces the strong, hardy women who i
rear a stalwart race. Half the line
ladies who now find a few turns on a :
piazza almost too much for them would i
lie all the better for a graduated seale :
of garden work. Beginning with a 1
quarter of an hour a day, they would <
lind at the close of a month that they :
could easily do their two hours, and 1
that they ate and slept as they had i
never done before, while they forgot i
tiiat sucii cvus as mue nevus an?
nerves had any existence.?Ntw 1'wd
Ti vicar.
Longevity.
Can man reach and pass tlie age of
100 years? is a question concerning
which physiologists have different
opinions. BulTon was the first one
in France to raise the question
of the extreme limit of human
lift1. In his opinion man, becoming
adult at sixteen, ought to live six times
that age, or to ninety-six years. Having
been called upon to account for
the phenomenal ages attributed by the ]
Bible to the patriarchs, he risked the 1
following as an explanation: "Before ,
the Hood the earth was less solid, less j
compact than it is now. The law of 1
gravitation had acted for only a little j
time; the productions ol" the globe had 1
less consistency, and the body of man, ;
being more supple, was more suscepti- (
ble of extension. Being able to grow 1
for a longer time, it should, in conse- 1
quence.live for a longer time than now." 1
The German Heusler has suggested i
011 the same point that the ancients ; 1
did not divide time as we do. Pre- ' y
vious to the age of Abraham, the year, 1
among some people of the East, was
only three months, or a season; so that 1
they had a year of spring, one of sum- i
nier, one oi laii and one or winier. i
The year was extended so as to consist 1
of eight months after Abraham and
of twelve months after Joseph. Voltaire
rejected the longevity assigned
to the patriarchs of the Bible, but accepted
without question the stories of
the great ages attained by some men
in India, where, he says, "It is not
rare to see old men of 120 years."
The eminent French physiologist,
Flourens, iixing the complete development
of man at twenty years,
teaches that he should live
live times as long as it takes
him to become an adult. According
to this author the moment
of a completed development may be
recognized by the fact cf the junction
of tiieir bones with their apopyses.
This junction takes place in horses at
live years; and the horse does not live
beyond twenty-live years: with the ox
at four years, and it does not liw t
over twenty years, with the eat at 1
.'.-'n ?.} !...* ..,1 .
ClglUl'I'll iliuillll,^ ilini IJIilL illllllldl '
rarely lives over ten years. When it ;
is effected at twenty years lie only ex- ;
ceptionallv lives beyond 100 years. \
The same physiologist admits, however, ;
that human life may be exceptionally j
prolonged under certain conditions of (
comfort, sobriety, freedom from care, t
regularity of habits and observance of
the rules of hygiene; and he terini- (
nates his uninteresting study of the ?
last point with the aphorism: "Man <
kills himself rather than dies."?Pup- ;
vhir ti'.-ttuce Month///.
_ 1
I'oison as a Wholesale Instrument of
Death. J
The arrest of .over one liundred wo- 1
men in a little district of Hungary, ]
charged with poisoning their husbands '
and the conviction of one-third of their (
number, is startling, but not without ,
a parallel in history. In the seventeenth
century, an old fortune teller in
Italy carried on the business of selling
poisons to such an extent that the at- ]
tention of the authorities was attracted
to the place, and it was discovered that j
the poisons were supplied to young
marritd women who were desirous of j
getting rid of their husbands. The
courts in those days were little better 1
than .Judge Lynch's tribunals, so that 1
it is iiupesdlde to say whether the
judgments were well founded, but a
It ??l 11 j
and scores of others were whipped
through the streets. Ahout the same |
time there was a similar outbreak of
poisoning in France which was not
controlled until over one hundred prisoners,
chiellv women, had heen sent to
the stake or gallows. Early in the
eighteenth century a woman in Naples '
carried on a large trade in poisons, and
is supposed to have lieen concerned in .
bringing about the deaths of over six
hundred persons. Sler was tortured to
confession, and then strangled. In I
every instance of wholesale poisoning, i'
such as that reported from Hungary, P
there has been found some seller of
poisons responsible, alike for supplying
means and the suggestion of murder.
The poisons used were always slow
acting, frequently administered and so i
gradually undermined the health of t he j'
victims that their deaths excited no I
suspicion until the aggregate grew so
large as to cause investigation.?London
Lancet.
The Do Media's won fame not so
much bv their wealth as by their good
use of it. They were patrons of learning
in all its forms, of music, of sculpture,
of painting, and of all the arts
and sciences, so that Florence became
a monument to their wise use of their
wealth. They were Florence merchants
at the outset, and trade was the
> basis of their enormous wealth.
1
MILES OF WHEAT.
An linincnNo Knrm in Dnkota Which t'onipriMt-M
75,000 Acrc.s?Fnriiiin? on a Hi?
Scale?How tin; !HK) Kiii|)loyc.<t lire
l<ntlK('(l mill Fnl.
A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Times writes thus from Fargo,:l)akota:
"The land of the Dakotas" has
nothing more marvelous to show the
stranger than the great wheat farms
which thickly stud the Ked liiver val- j
Icy. The system upon which all these j
farms are conducted is much the same,
varying only in minordetails,sothatan
account of one will give a general idea
of them all. The most famous of
them all is the Dalrymple farm. It is,
perhaps the most perfect example in
the Northwest of fanning reduced to
an exact science. This farm is situated
west of Fargo, in the heart of what
was formerly called the "Great
American Desert," since more favorably
known as the great Dakota
wheat belt. It extends along the
Northern I'acilic railroad for many
miles. The lands at lirst comprised in
it were purchased from the railroad
company at about forty cents an acre,
and the lirst purchases have been gradually|added
to, at prices ranging from :
that ligure up to live dollars per acre
until now there are more than 75,000 1
acres, or nearly 120 square miles, all 1
under one management. Mr. Dalrymple,
after whom the farm was named,
was a resident of Pennsylvania and
was supposed to be "deep in wheat"
there and in Minnesota before coining 1
here. lie was selected on account of
such experience by the then owners of
the farm to come out and make the experiment
in Dakota of raising wheat
nn n liirrrp sr-nlc. under an arrangement
with them that when the net profits of
the enterprise had reimbursed the cost
of the land and all moneys paid out in
its development he should become half
owner of this and their other large
farms, a result long since attained.
Ground was broken in 1874 and, against
many predictions of failure, the farm
was an assured success from the lirst
iind is growing more profitable each 1
year.
The reader, if he would understand
the wheat question hero, must discard 1
all previous notions of farming in the J
East, for not only the natural conditions,
such as soil, climate and the sea- 1
sons, but all the methods of cultivation ;
pursued, are radically different. The '
urea of cultivation, implements used
und the results obtained?everything :
which enters into the problem?are on !
:t scale so vast that no previous experi- '
ence will aid them in the least. The 1
sole result sought for is to produce a '
bushel of wheat at the lowest possible !
cost, and in doing this experience has \
shown that the amount of manual la- ^
Ijor must be reduced to the minimum, ;
ind therefore all the old-time methods '
[>f plowing, sowing, reaping and thresh- !
ing have been superseded by the intro- 1
luction in all those departments of the j
lillt'Sl in I [)i (i \ ruu'Ji in KiuuiMaviiig
machinery. Hearing these things in
mind, wheat-growing in Dakota is of
the simplest description.
The soil <m this l'arm is a rich black
muck, or loam, from three to six feet
leep, with a clay subsoil, containing
inexhaustible quantities of lime and
it her wheat nutritives. The surface
>f the ground is broad prairie, devoid
>1' stone and timber, and presenting
10 obstacles to the free use of machinery.
The first plowing of the raw
irairie, called "breaking," is done
ivith sulky plows during May and
Tune. This plow has a share about
"ourteen inches wide, and the depth of
:he furrow, usually three to four
nches, is regulated from his seat by
;he driver by means of a lever. An
iverage day's "breaking" is about
ightcen miles. Mr. Dalrymple has
lis working-force so arranged that he
ireaks up live thousand acres a year,
fly the lirst of July the first "breakng"
has become rotten, and the worknen
go back to it and go over the
ivhole live thousand acres again in ro:ation,
with a second plowing called
'backsetting." This ground then
ies fallow until the succeeding May,
. Iwin tlw. li'i/.L-cot fnrpiiuN sire lisir
'owed, down and the "seeder" put to ^
ivork. This is simply an ingenious 1
Machine lor broadcast sowing, which t
listributesa bushel and twenty quarts 1
)f seed per acre over ten acres a day. A (
second harrowing completes the labor *
>f putting in the crop. ?
The wheat sown is of the variety i
ailed Scotch life, which comes to per- (
ection in this latitude, making a hard,
ound berry, which grades in the mar- '>
<et as ">?*o. 1 hard," and always communis
a higher price than other West- 1
rn wheat. For many reasons the crop
natures rapidly; one of the principal j 1
nes is, doubtless, that from the loose- {(
less of the soil the winter frosts go very 11
leep. The spring sowing is done as {<
soon as the surface is sutliciently i i
hawed, so that for many weeks after- J J
ivardthe moisture lower, down is com- j t
ng to the surface, laden with lime and J f
tlier wheat nourishment, and keeps ' 1
;he roots of the young and tender : t
ivheat damp and cool, and it shoots up j
tvith surprising rapidity. The climate 1<
ilso lias much to tlo with it. The days j i
ire long and exempt from those dehiJita-1J
:ing heats so depressing to all forms of !'
mimal and vegetable life, while the j1
lights are cool. While the inhahi- <
;antsof less favored sections are swel- '
eringin a heat that murders sleep, the
bonanza farmer" complacently piles
>n more woolen blankets anil sleeps the
deep of the just. .Mr. Dalrymple has | j
)ut this year 535.000 acres of wheat, and i f
is he adds 5,000 acres a year, the whole
To,000 acres will soon be under cultiva- j v
iion. \
Of course such an enterprise requires ' (
i multitude of men, horses, mules and I,
machinery. Something over 700 |
mules ami horses are kept on the farm,!,
uul during harvest and threshing as j
many as il00 men lind employment . J
[here. Without the most complete sys- ,
tem and order all would be ' confusion j j
worse confounded." The land is cut j.
up into divisions of 5,000 acres, with a j j
general superintendent over each, who ' 1
lias under him a division foreman and j <
L?ang foreman. The divisions are also :
further subdivided as convenience re- , j
pi ires. Kaeh division has its boarding j (
houses, barns, tool rooms, etc., but the j
supplies are all kept in one store, from j
which they are drawn upon by requisi- j,
tion, as in (lie army. The finances are |'
onducted upon a system of vouchers ]
indthe men are paid whenever 1 hey de- ^
mand it. Jn every department tne most j ^
complete system prevails. There can J
lie no shirking or crookedness without!,
instant detection. 10very man in the j
establishment has his place and must
lill it faithfully or leave. I j
I wish the surpassing beauty of the .
scene at Dalrymple farm now could lie 11
nleipiately deserilied. Overhead a i
bright sun, your face fanned 1 ?y a cool j,
liree/.e, wnile in every direction as far \ ;
;is tin eye can travel you see nothing
I mi mill's and miles of yellow wheat, ; ,
gently swayed by the light winds and [
giving forth their peculiar soothing i j
sounds, which I am inclined to name j
Dakota's native poetry. |
The harvest season is always the ,
period of greatest activity at Dalrymple ';
farm and it usually lasts some fifteen (
days. Near two hundred automatic;,
self-binders are used and every two ; (
machines are followed by an expert on i 1
horseback, who repairs breaks and;;
keeps them in running order. The j i
bundles of grain are collected into 11
piles of about a hundred bushels j <
each, but are neither stacked or 11
shocked, as threshing immediate-!'
ly follows th<; harvest. Over j ]
thirty straw-burning steam-threshers j
are put at work as soon as the cutting j
is completed. They each have a ca-'
pacity of 1,000 bushels per day, and the ]
grain is taken direct from them to the ?
railroad and loaded in cars for the East- ]
era market. Everywhere steam and 1
A
horse power are utilized to the utmost,
and every part of this vast enterprise
is so nicely adjusted that the whole
system goes on like clock-work. The
estimated crop this year exceeds 750,000
bushels. A bushel of wheat car
lie produced on this farm for thirty-five
cents, including in that estimate taxes,
labor, seed and interest on investment,
and that bushel of wheat can be laid
down in Philadelphia, at a slight profit,
for sixty-seven cents. Comparing those
f l? a ff/in f itut **tmf i>rS/inu
u^iutrn vimi tin; vhi inn huuim i miivio
will at once demonstrate that Mr. Dalrymple
is not losing any money on his
annual crop of 750,000 bushels. On
this farm the average annual yield has
been twenty-two bushels pur acre, without
fertilizers or other artificial aids,
and it has been demonstrated that the
wheat-producing qualities of the soil
are practically inexhaustible. The net
prolits on this farm last year were sixty
per cent, on the whole investment.
An Excitin? Scene in Mid-Ocean.
A correspondent who was a passenger
by the steamship Dacca, which left
Madras fur London, sends from Aden
an interesting account of an exciting
scene which he witnessed during a
storm in the Indian ocean, The vessel
encountered the monsoon a few
days after leaving Colombo, and had a
rough time of it for several days. Finally
the gale became so violent that
canvas had to be taken in, awnings
furled and things made as snug as possible.
The correspondent describes what
followed :
"I came on deck at G a. m. ; it was
blowing fiercely, and the spray coming
over the sheets. There were three of
us on deck when the bell struck?a
Miss, a Mr. and myself. "We were holding
on to our chairs, which were firmly
lashed to the inner cabin skylights,
under the lee of the ladies' saloon
Part of the crew wore working hard to
pet the starboard life-boat in-board,
when a bigger roll to the windward
warned us of what was coining. 'Hold
r>n!' some one shouted. "We held on.
The chairs rushed forward on their
lashings. The deck stood upright. In
came the sea over tiie gunwale, over
the taffrail, up to our waists, lifted the
lifeboat out of its shackles, carried it
overboard, smashing away stanchions
and davits, and out to sea. Then came
the horrid cry of ' Man overboard !'
The helm was put down, the engine
reversed, and back we went on a
search?all the more so as sharks had
been seen round the ship earlier in the
morning. The boat was presently seen
some 200 yards off, keel uppermost
Soon after the two men were observed
dinging on to it. Then came an exciting
two hours, during which we steamed j
ifter the boat, which was drifting rapidly
toward the east. But turning a
ship like the Dacca is a very slow business,
and as she hung in the wind's eye
t jib was hoisted to bring her round.
Hy the time this was done the boat,
with its pitif id-looking crew, was away
:wo miles and more to leeward, and we
were rolling heavily and unmanageable.
c\t last the captain decided to lower a
>oat, and the order was given Stand
?y the boat,' and soon after ' lower.'
Who is going in her?' he shouted.
"The first oflicer, Mr. Ingram,
sprang over the side, caught hold of
lie davit ropes and slipped down, but
ust as he got near her a great roll of
he ship lifted him clear of the boat
u'crtv in t.Iin nir A<< ]if? fiiinp
lown again the boat had drifted forward,
and he was plunged down in the
joiling sea for five or six seconds. Up
10 came again as the ship heeled over,
ttill hanging on, and missed bv an ace
laving his skull mashed against the
small boat's side. It was really a terrible
sight, and we shuddered as we
ooked on, the boat all the while being
ashed up and down by the vioenee
of the waves. But at
ast his opportunity came, and
le dropped into the stern. At once he
vas followed by the boatswain, two
iremen and two European sailors, the
lative crew hanging shamefully back.
)ne of the passengers, a young Engish
ollicer, Lieutenant Wolff, of the
seventh Fusiliers, a son of Sir Druninond
Wolff, volunteered at once. But.
he ollicer in charge would not accept a
Missenger's services while men of the
rew could be got. At last the boat
ihoved off and the oars were got out,
ind in a terrible sea they set out l'or the
nissing boat. Directed by the motions
>f a man aloft they got alongside her,
ind took the men aboard. Then began
i hard row back.
"We lost sight of her again and again
vondering how slio could live in such
i st'a. Rut still she held on and got at
ast under our lee. By the hel]> of a
ase of oil scattered over the waves
hev were comparatively stilled, a ladler
was let down and when the last
nan stepped on board such a cheer
greeted him as told him what we
bought of his pluck and that of the
gallant fellows with him. Captain
Ihirkitt was perfectly cool the whole
ime, and managed his ship with great
ikill. "When the iirst officer got a
hange of clothes and came down to
lie cabin, he received all kinds of congratulations,
and his health was drunk
n bumpers of champagne. On Saturirday
morning we got under the lee of
.'ape (iuardafui, and so ended our
jrush with the southwest monsoon."
A Great River's Rise.
The following is an interesting exTact
from an address delivered by
?ir Richard Temple before tiie British
Association lor the Advancement of
science: While the prevailing characeristics
of our plateau (the plateau
>f mid-Asia) are wildness, ruggedless
or desolation, yet within it are
lie sources of several great rivers
ivliieb sustain the most teeming
peoples on the face of the earth. The
nonarch, as it were, i>f all these noble
kvaters is the Yang-tse-kiang. Though
ts head streams have been hut imperfectly
explored, yet its true source
is known to he in the Kuenltin mountains
already mentioned. After quitting
our plateau and passing out of its
prison house in the mountains through
latural gates of the utmost magnili ence,
it permeates the most thickly
peopled provinces of China?provinces
inhabited by about 120,01)1.1,1100 of
>ouls. It sustains the life of thisi
nornious population by supplying the
necessary moisture, and by affording ]
the means of irrigation and of water,
trallic. No river has ever in anient
or modern times played
<o important a part in the I
increase of the human race as thej
i'ang-tse-kiang. Its supply of water
s iiimiense and unfailing, and thisi
uosf essential characteristic is caused
iv its connection with the snow-clad
and ice-bound regions of our plateau
H.ill.in it )i!i< !1 cull IX.' Ill' Till)
mill's before entering China proper. \
A mill tin.' same Kuen-lun ran#* the i
lloang-ho rises from unexplored j
springs, which the Chinese ligure to j
lieinselves as "the starry sea." A Her
uirst ing through several watersheds,
naking wondrous lienils I'roin its main
lireetion near the base of our plateau,
ind changing its course more than
nice to the confusion of comparative
geography, it traverses Northern
L'liina and confers agricultural prosperity
on some 70,000,000 of souls. It
ilso has a course of some 400 miles
within our plateau, in consequence of
which its water supply is perennially
snow-fed. Again, the Irrawaddv and
lie Mekhong, the former watering
liurmah and the latter watering Camtodia,
rise in the off-shoots of the
Ivuen-lun.
A stamp like a boy: It is said ninety
millions of postage stamps are annually
sold in this country and all of them
liavu to be licked before they will dj
tlieir duty.?Picayune,
POPULAR WEATHER SAflMS.
t'pon Wlint tlic Weatlicrwlsc of New HninpHhirc
llnnc their "l'robnbllKleH."
The chief signal officer at "Washington
is seeking material for a collection
of "popular weather sayings, proverbs,
and prognostics used throughout the
country, and bv all classes and races,
including Indians, negroes and all foreigners."
Our readers may be interested
to see a collection made in New
Hampshire, for his use. The writer
does not vouch for the correctness of
the prognostics. He gives them as
they were given to him, and the reader
may judge for himself as to their value.
The divisions made by the chief signal
ojlicer are twenty-three in number.
1. The sun. A halo around the sun
indicates that there will be rain or
snow soon. If the sun rises clear and
soon goes into a cloud it will rain before
night. If the sun shines while it
rains, it will rain the next day. A sun
dog, or mock sun, indicates that there
will be stormy weather very soon.
2. The moon. "One Saturday
cnange is enougn lor seven years," as
there is always a severe storm after it.
The nearer the time of the moon's
change to midnight the fairer will the
weather be during the seven days following.
The nearer to midday the
phases of the moon happen the more
foul or wet weather may be expected
during the next seven days. The
space for these calculations is two
hours before and two hours after midnight
and noon. A halo around the
moon indicates a coming storm. The
number of stars seen within the circle
shows the number of days before it
will occur. If the new moon stands
upright, so that the crescent will not
hold water, there must be rain, as the
water must all descend. If the new
moon is horizontal, so that the crescent
will hold water, there will be rain, as
the water collected will be poured
down. Grain should always be sown
in the new of the moon, that it may
grow with the increase of the moon.
The same rule should be observed in
planting flower slips. To kill bushes
they should be cut after the full of the
August moon, when the sign is in the
heart. Pigs and hogs should always be
killed during the increase of the moon,
or the "pork will diminish in bulk while
cooking.
3. Stars and meteors. The aurora
borealis always indicates a change of
weather, and if it is very red the
weather will be very cold. If there
are no falling stars to be seen on a
bright summer evening, you may look
for line weather. If there be many
falling stars on a fine summer's eve,
you may expect thunder and heavy
rain.
a r\ tit? il.
<?. namuows. "i.i vuu gu iu mtfoot
of the rainbow, where it touches
the earth, you will iind a pot of gold."
"When there is a rainbow at night, it
will not rain the next clay.
" A rainbow in the morning
Is the sailor's warning;
A rainbow at night
Is the sailor's delight."
5. Mist and fog. A sheet of fog
along the river in the morning indicates
that the day will be a hot one.
When the fog settles on the mountain
in the morning, it will certainly rain
before night. ""When the fog goes up
the mountain, you may go hunting.
"When it conies down the mountain,
you may go fishing." In the former
case there will be line weather; in the
latter, ram.
6. When you feel the dew falling
heavily in the evening, you may be
sure it will be fair next day. When
in the morning you see the ground
covered with webs, covered with dew
and no dew on the ground around, it
" * ? _ i. i*
is a sign or rain ueiore nigm, iur me
spiders are putting up umbrellas. But
others say, " When the spiders put out
their sun shades, it will be a hot day.
7. Clouds. If the sky is very red in
the west in the evening, the weather
will be fair next day. If it is red in
the east in the morning, it is a sign of
a storm. If in the evening it is deep
red low down in the west and black
above, it is a sign of wind. If very
black, a very high wind. A mackerel
sky in the west indicates rain. If
there lie a sheep sky, or white clouds
driving to the northwest, it will be
line for some days.
"Groat clouds like an old n.are's tail,
Make great ships carry low sail."
8. Frost. White frosts on three
successive nights indicate a thaw. If
the ice crack much, you may expect
the frost will continue.
9. Snow. When there are black
clouds in the north there will be snow.
If on a fair day in winter a white
bank appears low in the south it is a
sure indication of snow very soon. If
snow fall in large Hakes and they increase1
in size there will be a thaw.
10. Hain. If rain commences before
daylight it will hold up before 8
o'clock a. >i. If it begins about noon
it will continue through the afternoon.
If not till 5 o'clock r. m. it will rain
through the night. If it commences
after 0 o'clock r. m. it will rain the
next (lay. If it clears off in the night
it will rain the next dav.
" If it rains before seven
It will stop before eleven."
If the wind is from the northwest or
southeast the storm will be short;, if
from the northeast it will be a hard
one; if from {the northwest a cold one;
and from the southwest, a warm one.
After it has been raining some time a
blue sky in the southeast indicates that
there will be fair weather soon. After
it has been raining some time, "if you
see enough blue in the west to make
a Dutchman a pair of breeches," it will
soon clear oil'.
11. Thunder and lightning. "If it
thunder in the morning it will be fearful
before night." "Winterthunder is
to old folks death and to young folks
plunder." It is said thatpersonsin consumption
have died during a thunder
storm.
12. Winds. A south wind brings
rain A northeast wind a severe
storm, and a northwest wind fair
weather. If the wind veers round
AS' 1111 tilt; Sllll lucre will nciilii ?fiiuin i
If (hi* wind starts up while it is raining
it will blow tin; rain clouds away
and there will lie lair weather.
13. Animals. The following are
said to he signs of rain: If hats lly
low and conic into the house; if cattle
lie down in the morning and chew the J
cud; if horses loss their heads, sniff
and are very uneasy; if rats and mice
are restless and squeak; if swine are
uneasy, grunt loudly and squeal; if J
cats and dogs eat grass and sheep
spring about more than usual. .Soalso
the proverbs:
.'Wlin the nss beuins to bray.
We surely shall have rain to-day."
And
' When the donkey Mows his horn,
"f is time to house your hay nnd corn."
When in winter pigs rub against Ihe |
side of their pen it is a sure sign of a ;
thaw.
11. llirds. Defore rain cuckoos sing, j
ducks and other fowl pick up and oil
their feathers, guinea fowls are noisy,
owls hoot, peacocks squall, quails
whistle, crows caw. swallows tly low 1
and water-fowl scream and plunge into 1
tho water, if birds lloek together in j
September, it is a sign of a coming
storm. If crows are seen going south |
in tin; fall it is a sign of colder |
weather; l?ut if they go north, there
will be warmer weather. If wild
geese come from the north early in the
fall, it is the sign of an early winter;
if they go north early in the spring, it
is a sign that the winter is broken.
The l'hu'bo bird, or pewee, sings be-1
l'ore warm weather.
15. Fish. Fish bite best before
rain.
1G. Heptiles. Frogs and tree toads j
peep before rain. If a leech be kept |
in a glass jar partly tilled with water,;
while it lies curled up at the bottom of
the jar there will be fair weather, but, I
before rain, wind or snow it will be
agitated and will rise to the surface,
and if it conies entirely out of the
water you may expect thunder.
17. Insects. Before rain ants are
bustling and active, and will carry
their eggs from place to place; bees are
busy, but do not go far from their
hives; crickets sing and try to get
into the house; flies are very annoying
and lute sharper than usual; and spi
der.s spin gossamer webs in the air. it
ants clear their holes and pile the dust
high before 11 o'clock a. m. it will be
fair the rest of the day.
18. Trees and plants. If the leaves
of maples and other trees turn up so as
to show their under side it is a sign of
rain. Dandelions, tulips and other
flowers close up before rain.
19. Various objects. When smoke
beats down from the chimney it is a
sign of a storm. "When it goes straight
up it is an indication of fair weather.
If bells, steam whistles and other
sounds are heard more distinctly than
usual, rain is near. 13efore rain tables
may be heard to crack, violin strings
will break, corns will become more
troublesome, rheumatic pains more intense,
and the places where broken
limbs have united will ache.
20. Days of the week. If the sun
sets clear on Friday night, it will rain
before Monday night. If the first Sunday
in the month be stormy, all the
other Sundays in that month will be
stormy also. But others have it, that
two other Sundays will be stormy. Important
business or agricultural operations
should never be commenced on
Friday or Saturday. "When there are
three days cold, expect three days
colder." The first three days of the dog
days rule the other dog days, that is, if
they be rainy the others will be, and if
thev be drv. so will the others be. '
21. The months. A thaw may always
be expected in January.
22. The seasons. If the spring is
wet and cold, the autumn will be hot
and dry.
23. Other sayings. "All signs fail
in a dry time."
The Poetry Market.
A timid, but really rather pretty
young man came stepping softly into
the Hawkeye sanctum yesterday afternoon,
when nobody was in but the advertisement
solicitor, who was writing
a half column puff of Slab and Headstone's
new marble shop. The young
man took off his hat and said, " Goodmorning,"
and the advertising man
snarled. -'What is poetry worth?"
asked the timid, but pretty young man.
" Forty cents a line," said the advertisement
man, promptly and rather
tenderly, " and you can't do better anywhere
in America. The advantages
we offer for the publication of poetry
are unsurpassed on either side the Mississippi.
Our circulation, standing in
five figures the first year, lias steadily
increased three times an liour ever
since, and poetry placed in this paper
is placed in the "hands of 150,000 families
before night. IIow much have
you ?"
"Perhaps," said the timid young
man, fairly ree^ng with delight, " it is
a little too long."
"Makes no difference," said the ad.
man, beaming upon him kindly; "we'll
j put it all in if we have to issue a supplement.
And everything over 3,000
lines goes at thirty-five cents."
The timid young man looked disap?
ointed.
" It isn't so much then," he -said,
" when it's very long?"
"Never," replied the ad. man magnanimously.
"Never; less room, more
pay; that's the way you make a living.
Got your copy with you?"
" Yes, sir," replied the young man,
joyfully, " would you like to read it,
sir, or shall 1 read it?"
" No, don't care to read it just now
Sit down and we'll count it."
So they sat down and counted it.
" My heart, my heart in throbbing
numbers tells," read the ad. man.
"Heart medicine, young man?" he
asKeci, in tne patronizing w;ij uj. u man
who knows everything.
" Xo, sir," replied the young man in 1
amazed tones, while the ad. man ]
counted away for dear life. " Xo, sir, j
a rhapsody, sir." j
" Oil, yes; yes, of course," said the ad. <
man in reassuring tones. "Hundred ;
nine, hund ten, hund 'leven?course, i
hund fourteen?hain't done much in
rhapsodies since Helmbold failed?hund ;
twen-thee?good things, though; we
took a gross of 'em last spring on Pad &
Lotion's column?hund for'-two?and I
I wore one myself two weeks and it <
made?hund lift'-four?man of me.
One hundred and sixty-eight lines, sir, ;
and we'll throw in a four-line head and
won't count the odd half line?$67.20, '
call it an even $05 cash down. Just
step down to the business ollice and
I'll give you a receipt." (
"We don't know what happened im- i
mediately after that. "We only know I ]
that when the footman opened the door j
of the carriage to let us out at the i
marble steps of the Hawkeye office, the ad.
man was leaning on the heavy
bronze balusters, gazing wonderingly 1
at the figure of a young man, walking
unsteadily down the street, holding a
11 uttering manuscript in one hand and
into the other clasping his pallid brow.
"You may take my double-column
head for a foot-ball, sir," said the ad.
man, respectfully raising his hat and j
standing uncovered as we ascended one ! broftd
stairway, "if that young fellow ;
going down street isn't a three-square <
lunatic from Crazvville. Wanted me to j;
pay him sixty-live dollars for a long i;
rhyming pull without a line of business ! ]
in it, sir."?Ha/ckeye.
i I
Poor Humanity in London.
Many a sad sight is to be seen in Lon-!
don, but few arc more melancholy than ' j
the spectacle of those poor, broken- \,
down creatures who are hired to saun-1
ter in the gutters of our great metropo- i
lis with advertisement boards on their ,
backs. Their hopeless, famished faces, I
their listless gait, their tattered gar-1 <
ments, often drenched with rain, and '
the thought of the precious pittance j <
which a hungry child or two may be :
waiting at home to share, are too much j.
for sober contemplation; and more dis- j J
tressingthan all, perhaps, is the look of j.
! shame about these poor wretches. Of J |
! course, they are glad enough to earn a 1 ]
i shilling in this way; and yet?especially 11
on a cold, raw, rainy day?it does seem
an outrage almost for one man to put
another to such uses. 13ut when these
poor wretches arc lorceu 10 wear nun -;
ulous costumes, then we have no doubt 1
about the outrage at all. Ilere, too,
the "sandwich man" has no choice; he j
has to conform to the demands and illustrate
the humorous invention of his <
employers if he does not wish to starve .'
and does not like to steal. In this , j
case, also, ho is glad enough to;
earn a shilling: but though there can be
no doubt about that, yet should we be 1
delighted to see the man admonished;'
who adds to the humiliations of failure, ^
friendlessness and poverty by making ]
"guys" of these poor strollers. It is '
done, however. Here we see a row of , '
them, with tall extinguisher caps on '
their heads ; there another, rigged with '
pigtails, like Chinamen, and all looking ;1
so piteously ashamed. As for that,
however, we all know where the shame, '
the disgrace of the thing really lies, ami 1
a deep disgrace it is.- -tit. James Uazette. '
The number of persons employed in ;'
manufacturing in the twenty principal
cities in the United States in 1880 was, j
in round numbers, 950,000. There was
paid to them $375,000,000 in wages, or J
$395 each per annum.
"We are taught to clothe our minds, I'
as we do our bodies, after the fashion , 1
in vogue, and it is accounted fantas- ]
tical, or something, y^orse, not to d? so. I <
? a
The ETening Trains.
Whetl er rainfall or the knowing
Hasiens daylight swiftly by,
Or slow twilight, still and shadowy,
Sets her lights along the sky,
(.nit across the mystic's waters
Lying cold, and dark, and deep,
Evening trains, with precious burden^
Slow, like bright processions creep, - "M
Far behind are din and tumult,
Donbt, anxiety and fear; Sab
Past the river's silent flowing
There are rest, and peace, and cheer.
Precious freights are hearts of loving
Rearing lights and smiles of home,
Where with faith thaknows no doubting j
Tired feet, joy-winged, may come.
Homes are waiting, high and lowly;
Onward still the bright trains move:
Oh, 'tis well, halls rich in splendor
May not richest be in love. ,
Homeward going, heavenward going,
Friends pass onward one by one, r-'-J
When the day is calmly shining
Through night's shades, at set of sun. '
Through the daises we may follow,
Through the snows with pleading hands
We may only watch them going
O'er death's stream to heavenly lands. . .1
Yet for us the way seems brighter; ' : v
Light gleams o'er the mystic tide
When beyond its silent flowing
They have reached the restful side.
Boston Transcript ..
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Does the chimney-sweep play the '-A
flue-it?
To be disposed of under the hammer 1
?A carpet-tack.
A cynical old bachelor says that
" lovers are like armies; they get along ->;
well enough till the engagement be- -Vji
gins."
"There" she said, waving her mar- V |
riage certificate in the air, " there Is the < ^
flag of our union!"?Philadelphia V'$
Chronicle.
A race between a carrier pigeon and
a man kicked by a mule would be very ' ^
close if the pigeon had half a mile the v;^
start.?Texas Uiftings.
Lightning killed a bull in central ~V*M
Ohio the other day. It is getting
bolder every day and may tackle mules .
with impunity.?Toledo American.
A stock breeder in New Mexico has "f $.
a horse pasture of sixteen square :f.%
miles all fenced in. It must worry v?
a man to have to run all over the lot. M
in the wet grass to catch ? horse to |
drive down-town after a half gallon of ' %
coal oil.?Cheek.
"Mamma, what makes .angels?' -'?M
asked a little boy who had been read- ,,'Jj
ing of the heavenly inhabitants. The v||
mother glanced out into the orchard,
and with a warning look, solemnly replied:
" Unripe fruit, my dear."?New ;yM
York Commercial.
A man may be right in the bosom of.
his family, sitting down to a big meal,
knowing that he is rich and all right
in every way; yet will the sight of a
telegraph messenger make him as %
nervous as a well-fed dog is made
when he sees a boy pick up a stone " '?
and throw it in the opposite direction. ?
?Puck.
A woman in France slept seventy- ;p|
three days in one inning?and when
she awoke and learned that her bus
band had been taking his meals at a v?
restaurant during all the time, instead
of getting out of bed at daylight and ?
going to market, she was so mad that
she declared she wouldn't go to sleep
again as long as she Uy^.?Norristown'^M
Herald.
Some men have tact. Said the bridegroom,
who didn't wish either to of- f>j?
lend his bride or die of internal disturbance:
"My dear, this bread looks
delicious; but it is the first you have
ever made. I cannot think of eating
it, but will preserve it to show to oai -s^g
children in after years as a sample
their mother's skill and deftness.
Boston Post. ' & v|j
Sand for Fine Glassware.
The sand from which the finest glassware,
crown-glass, French plate and
the like, is made, is seldom - found in jc
large deposits, in accessible places and ;
in strata free from impurities. Quartz ~ j
in California, which yields five dollars v
~~i.i 4-r. ti.o trtn ia r>-.111 in miners' . Ki
J1 ^UlU IV llll; bVU) M* I. , T-Jit ,,
lauguage "pay-rock," and yet the'
sand itself, out of which French plate
glass is made, is worth $5 a ton de- livered
in the city market. A vein
sand-glass was discovered over ten
years ago near McVeytown, Mifflin
county, Pa., and is now being exten- jj
sively worked. The sand-rock occurs, #
for the most part, in irregular J
formation, with an occasional ap- *?
proach toward a stratified condition. *'$3j
The rock is liard and dry,
with difficulty to the drill, excdg??S
where water penetrates it, formilB, ^
crevices. These soft veins, made
the water, are much dreaded by
miners. A mass of this soft rock
fall at any moment and crush orbi^H ;*fiB
the hapless workman. An old
said to the Tribune correspondefl^H
"We hain't had no accidents since lftB?r?aa
been yer. That is, there hain't
l>ody been killed. One fella sot do^E^
a little nearder a blast than was
and crot raised up to the top of1
mine and got the bark peeled off'n
face and a piece cut out'n his c;ir, InH
tiiat was all. Onst when I was {9E8B9
peekin' round the corner to see if'
fuse was hurnin' the thing went^^SF J
;ind bunged my eyes with giant pow-^m
tier. Do you see them black specks?"
iind the miner pointed to a dark circle, > y-'J
about his eye, the memento of his ira- ^;430
prudence. ' v.^fl
The sand-rock is mined by what is . . J;
called "drifting," or excavating in
horizontal direction. The drift is
made sixteen feet high and twenty... :
feet wide, and extends about 500 feet
in different, directions from the mouth
uf the mine. "With a force of sixty:, '/*
men only about lil'ty feet of rock can
be excavated in a year. An analysis
of the sand shows almost pure silica,
with slight impurities of cobalt, shale
;md slate. Under the microscope
beautiful crystals in the sand are seen.
The rock in the mine is of a marble- f
white color, with a few tints of yellow
ind green. The air in the drift is
2old and damp, and is kept pure by .
ventilators running up to the top of j?
the ground. A temperature of about
forty degrees prevails in the mine, win;mil
summer.
.*5
Highest Tunnel in the World.
The Denver ami South Park railroad '
has just completed an extension, to
Pitkin, Gunnison county, Colorado. In
the course of the work a tunnel had to
be made through the main chain of the
Uockies. It is the highest railroad
:unnel in the world, being 11,500 feet a
ibove the sea level. The length is
1,700 feet, and the approaches on either
<ide are said to he marvels of cnginieeir-ng
skill. At its eastern end the tunnel
ias a sharp curve, but so nicely were
:lie calculations of the engineer
made, and so exactly were they carried
:>ut, that when the two "bores" met in
the inferior of the mountain there was
-.lw.nf ,.?><? indi v:iri:ition. Ameri
?an engineering lias more than one
ruinous triumph of this sort to boast of.
rhe sides of the great Iloosac tunnel,
though there were four " heads "?one
from ea<-h side anil two in the middle
?varied in all less than an inch. Xo
uicli exact work has yet been done in
Europe. \
You cannot tell much about the
truth or falsity of the sentiments expressed
in the "old songs" without
experimenting with them. Take, for
instance, that old and well-known
song, "Are We Forgotten When ;
We're Gone?" The only way to tell
to a certainty is to go away, and to
make it more binding take somebody
else's pocketbook with you.
^ a . . . :