The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 28, 1883, Image 1
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BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28. 1883. NO. 37. VOLUME XXVII.
? r ? 1
Ever and Everywhere.
Say not of me when I am in my crave
I only wounded where I should forbear;
?Twas that I drank from sorrow's bitter wave
Ever, and everywhere.
Say not of me, calm voiced, when I am gone
That I have marred your life that else was
rfair,
I walked with sunshine from my own withdrawn
Ever, and everywhere.
Say not of me, as colder hearts will sny
When I am dead, that life has proved a
snare.
Because misfortune followed on my way
Ever, and everywhere.
When I am gone, then kindly speak of me.
Say that ray heart was frenzied with do
spair;
I loved thee from my soul, if bitterly,
Ever, and everywhere.
?From the Polish.
THE SOX 01: A KING.
Sometimes she was positively handsome,
and sometimes very plain?can
you understand it? I never could.
I had known Miss Minty Robarts
from my childhood. She wrote poetry
taMMMt-cultivatert pinks. Ah! that was
a lovely garden of hers, just opposite
the barracks, and where could be seen
glimpses of the blue river, llow often
have I sat on the rose-embowered porch
and listened to the band, headed by
their handsome and accomplished
leader, John Brigson. To look at him
alone was a pleasure. Tall, straight,
svarthy, with Hashing black eyes,
straight eyebrows, and red,- sensitive
lips under the thin mustache, and a
hand as taper and delicate in shape as
that of any lady, he was always the
cynosure of every eye.
Miss Minty had a great many Indian
relics. She was ten years my senior,
and seemed old to me. The captain
was in the regular army and a martinet
still, though retired from active service.
Miss Robarts was generally called
plain by the people of Wallburg. They
did not see her when her eye flashed
as she spoke of her life on the frontier,
nor the lovely rows of ivory-white
I teetli when she smiled over some
oleasant recollection. She alwavs
dressed in blue?blue wraps, blue
dinner-dresses, blue ot a darker shade
for the street?and she was a splendid
horsewoman.
The old captain was very quiet,
though military in all his ways anil
thoughts, and forever poring over old
musty books. In one hand he carried
a cane, and his left arm was propped
by a crutch. Everybody honored him
because he had done his country good
service, and the old man liked to light
his battles over again with whoever
could be found to listen.
Once when 1 was there old Josiah
Pegford, who prided himself on being
one of the "melishv," made a r;ish
speech.
"Them red Injuns is the despisablest
things in all creation!" he said,
his narrow brows contracted into
countless wrinkles. "I sh'd think
your father'd despise 'em."
"My father never despised the Indians,"
said Miss Kobarts, kindling in
a flash, her cheeks as red as roses; "he
is too just for that. People hate them
without reason. I've lived among
them and I ought to know. My father
had Indian friends as noble as any
white man could be."
"Law sakes!you du take up for'em
don't ye?" said Josiah, looking at her
admiringly. "Wall, now, they do say
Urigson, over har, the leader of the
i j v. "h; T
UilllU, n 1'L. jliijnil uiuyu 111 nun. jl
s'pose that's what makes him such a
favorite of the ladies."
1 happened to be looking at the captain's
daughter, and saw a slow red
; flush creep all over her face and up to
the very roots of her fair hair.
"1 have not the acquaintance of the
band leader," she said, in a high, grand
voice, turning away.
' Course not; cap'in's daughter
couldn't associate with sich," said the
old man, in his grave fashion. " Hut
Idu declare for his singing in church
kinder sends the cold shivers over me,
and they du say some operatic chap
has offered him?well a sort of little
fortin if he will go with him and sing
in opprev."
Again I was looking at Miss Robarts,
and I saw her turn as p<de as
death.
"Of course we can't expect to keep
r"1 him here, lor ne s a man oi uncommon
parts. Kind o' queer why he ever
come here, too, in a small garrison
town like this."
" How people do hate the poor Indians!"
said Miss llobarts, with sparkling
eyes, after her visitor had gone.
"You have lived among tliein, have
you not ?" I asked, determined, with
the audacity of a girl of eighteen, to
get at her story?if story she had any
to tell.
" I was born in Indian Territory,"
she made reply, " and my nurse was
an Indian woman,"
" How strange!" I said.
"Oh, dear Miss llobarts, please tell
me something ?" I asked. ?
She looked up with wide-opened
eyes. I thought she seemed startled.
"What do you mean? Tell you
something about what?who?" she
said.
Oh, about yourself," I said, trembling
at my own boldness. " Haven't
you had some little romantic episode
in your life among the Indians ? I
have always felt a secret sympathy for
them, and you have been among them
so much."
" I never like to tell of myself," she
said, turning her attention to some
pretty fancy-work she had in hand,
" for sometimes you must tell tilings
that look like boasting, and one don't
like to be conspicuous, even to one's
self; but then acain"?and she smiled
a little sadly?"I sometimes think I
should be happier if I could talk over
the old times, even if there were some
heartache in them."
She placed her work aside, and rose j
as she said:
" i jjiive suuicuiiug i WISH iu ,
you first."
She went to an old-fashioned cabinet, i
and from one of its nooks drew a small j
package, which she unwrapped, handing
me a picture framed simply in four j
s',rips of Indian berk.
" Why, yours, of course -and it is j
v ry good?only the dress is?so
mi -.h?"
" ,'ounger," she said, smiling.
"Yes, I was only sixteen when that
was ta/en?twelve years ago."
"But your face has not grown a
minute older," I said, bluntly.
"You think so, perhaps, but 1 know
better. I am no beauty, and flatter
myself I know just how I look, and,
certainly, my face is not as fair, my
eves as blue, or my cheeks as red as
they were then. Still, plain as I was,
I was always a favorite with the
Indians. More than one brave, more
than one chief, has offered my father
.... horses and wampum and land in exchange
for me, even when I was
scarcely more than a child?and when
1 grew older I was never allowed to go
anywhere unattended. The picture
you hold in your hand was painted by
an Indian."
" How strange!" I said, with a secret
admiration of the delicate work.
" "Why strange?" she said. "There
is a great deal of talent, even genius,
among them, if it could only be cultivated.
They are much like other people
; poverty and ignorance keep them
iown."
Then she plunged into the story:
"When I was a child there was a
rumor rife that some Indians of Mad
River had murdered one of the agents
under peculiarly aggravated circumstances.
Nobody could prove it for a
certainty, though it was probably true.
One night several white men belonging
to the post surprised a small camp
of that tribe, and not only tortured,
but murdered them, with their chief.
,J u?t then some soldiers rode up,
headed by my father. The murderers
then had the chief's son, a lad of only
ten years, under torture. My father
not only expostulated, but arrested the
ringleaders?there were live of them
?and, speaking kindly to the boy, who
had thrown himself upon the old
chiefs body, he did everything that
could be done under the circumstances,
and sent him
to his tribe under guard. Meantime,
the men who had practiced such needless
cruelty were tried and punished,
hut eventually set at liberty. One year
from that day not one of those guilty
men was living, save a sutler who had
taken almost superhuman precautions
to keep out of harm's way. Onebyone
| they had been singled out, some at
their hearthstones, some on their routes
| of business?one after the other asthey
took precedence by age?till only
Gregory, the storekeeper, was left.
" One (lay I heard a great hue and
cry. My father had sent me to one of
the lieutenant's quarters on some simple
errand. I wjis a well grown girl of
twelve, and tall for my age. Looking
up, I saw a cloud of dust in the distance,
and heard pistol shots in quick
succession. I ran back to my father's
quarters, but before I reached them I
saw an Indian lad covered with blood
and Hying before a small army of pursuers.
Ilis strength was evidently failing,
for he ran unsteadily, and in
another moment had (led into the quarters
where we lived. My first impulse
was to shield him, and I tried first to
lead, then to drag, him into the house,
but the effort was unavailing. lie was
too weak to move and his pursuers
were upon him, apparently thirsting for
his blood, and crying out, 'Shoot the
Indian devil!'
"Finally?it was all I could do?I
sfnnfl mv around and covered the bov '
...J n- v
as well as I was able. They dared not
fire for fear of .wounding me, and
presently my father came out, dispersed
the crowd, and had the boy carried indoors,
where the surgeon attended to 1
his wounds." 1
" Did lie die ?" I asked, as she paused,
looking into vacancy.
"Xo, he lived; though the only man
who had been spared, as yet, of all who 1
belonged to that murderous band, '
thirsted for his blood. Singularly '
enough, however, the very next day he
was thrown from his horse and killed." 1
"Is it possible," I said, "that this 1
boy had avenged with his single hand
the murder of his people?" i
"Xo; but he had tracked them out,
and followed them?so he confessed to
my father?and delivered them over to
justice. To my father he was most
grateful, for he remembered how he
had saved his life, and an Indian is as
grateful for favors as he is revengeful
for injuries. For a long time after his
capture he was an invalid; but as lie
begged of my father to keep him, lie
lived with us six years and became
quite civilized. It was only when in
the saddle he reminded one of a savage
He subdued every horse he mounted, no
matter how unmanageable with
others."
"And what did he look like?" I ventured
to ask.
"A very handsome young man, with
flashing black eyes and a lithe slender
figure. I have never seen a handsomer
man."
14 Ah, Miss Minty! I know how it
ended, or ought to have," I said.
" You couldn't dream how it ended,"
she said, simply.
?_i i- - i .?:_i.
"^vna ne uecauie u pium-ei: j i
"Xo, I don't think he did, though |1
he hud much talent. An old sergeant j *
took a great fancy to him, and taught i
him to read and write, particularly to j
play the piccolo. The painting came :'
quite naturally. I have some sketches j *
that you shall see some time. I never *
have shown them to anybody but my *
father." 1
" That's not the end," I said, em- {
boldened by her kindness. 1
" Xo, that's not the end." (
"And you! he must have felt that 1
you were the preserver of his life."
" Yes, of course he did. I saved his *
life," she replied, simply. 1
" And then?but that's a shocking j
thought?he wanted to dedicate that J
life to you." J
"Why a shocking thought?" said ,
T>wf ? linr AVAO nl
ivwuait^ 11^1 tjw <n- j
most flashed. " I * tell you lie was IA
noble in every respect, and as delicate ^
{is the most refined gentleman. When (
my father forbade him even to speak j
to me, he obeyed him; but from that r
hour he rarely spoke to any one? ?,
till?" 1 g
"Oh, Miss Minty! did he die?" I!(
asked, anticipating her speech. I ]
"Yes?to me?he did," she said, j
slowly, looking like one just come out j
from dreamland. "That was years l
ago." i
"And have you never seen him
since?"
" Don't question me, child," she said,
with gentle decision; neither did I (
have further opportunity, for at that j ,
moment her father came in. !!
rm iji .1 i. 1 4
j ne om cnurcii waniens were nix- \ :
trified, a few weeks after, at the news j;
that they were going to lose their j
tenor, and the band its leader. 1 had j
never taken mucly 'aterest in John 1
Brigson, simply because he was a quiet j
man who rarely lifted his handsome
eyes, except when spoken to, and who .
seemed never to care for anybody but
himself, never going into society, nnlrss
in a professional capacity. Everybody
who looked at him admired him,
and his wonderful singing voice j
brought crowds to our little church, j
for the way he sang was something j
marvelous. Now we were going to |
lose him?for rumor said he was offered !
a small fortune yearly?lie suddenly i
gained in importance.
I generally contrived to meet Miss j
liobarts on my way to church, so on a 1
particular Sunday I said to her:
" I suppose you have heard the j
news?"
" "Whatnews?" she asked, eyeing me j
keenly.
" Wp jtrp to lose the lender of the
band. "When shall we get such another j
tenor?"
"Never," she said, quietly.
" "What! lirigson going away ? I j
never heard it," said the captain, coming
to a stop. " That won't do, daughter,"
turning to her.
"I suppose Mr. Brigson has a perfect
right to go where he pleases,"
said Miss Kobarts, as the old captain
stumped on.
" "Well, well," muttered the old man,
"I ought to die."
"Father!" cried Miss Iiobarts, ap-j
pealingly, and her lip quivered as she i
; spoke.
1 ? - * i xi. - i t !
That day n nappeneu mat, i g?ive up i
my seat to a stranger, and took another i
w here I faced Miss Robarts. I remem-!
her exactly how she was dressed?old-1
gold ribbons tied under her chin, a'
navy blue dress, light gloves and a j
fan that she had painted herself. She
always looked pretty to me, with her
| hat on. I watched her through the
service, and particularly when Mr.
lirigson sang. It seemed to me that
, she w;is growing pale, as if some
j strange gray shadow was settling
; down upon her face, and just as the
i tenor sang, in his wondrously clear |
j tones, " 0 Lord, have mercy upon us j
i ?have mercy upon us!" what I almost:
unconsciously dreaded came to pass,!
Miss Robarts sank back against her
father's shoulder. She had fainted.
Of course there was confusion, stir
and wonder. I found myself at the
door as they carried her out, and I
I could hear the solemn tones of the
' rector and the choir singing again.
They brought her clown the steps and
carried her into the rectory, where,
after a long time, she came out of her
swoon.
" What do you suppose made me
faint V" were her lirst words when she
came to consciousness. " 1 never
fainted before in all mv life."
The old captain was standing before
her, his grim features working .is he
looked down upon her. It was evident
that he was very much frightened,
for his only child was his idol.
"Xever mind, father, it's all right,"
she said, rising feebly and throwing her
arms about his neck.
"Xo, it ain't," he muttered, half
savagely; " it's all wrong."
The next day I called and learned
the captain was sick.
" lie took to his bed last night," said
the stout maid, as she stood at the
door, "and he'll never git up."
"Tell her to come in," said a voice,
and there was Miss liobarts in the
hall, as pale as ashes.
" lie is asleep now," she half whispered,
leading me into the parlor,
where the old captain lay in a reclining
chair, which was the onlv bed he ever I
used. A screen stood in front of him,
and Miss llobarts and I sat by the window,
talking.
" It was the fright on Sunday," she
said, looking sadly out. "I nevei knew
him to be ill before. Oh, what shall I
do if?" Iler white lips trembled,
then she sprang to her feet, for the
old man called her.
"Daughter, it is all right," he said,
in a soft, slow voice.
" Oh, father!" she half sobbed.
"Yes?yes, it has been a false,
wicked pride. I had nearly sacrificed
you?but now?"
"Father! lam not sorry. I am
strong," she said, kneeling l?y the side
of his chair.
"1 know?I know," he muttered,
" but I see things in a different light.
I might have made you happier; it was
a foolish prejudice. Xay, don't cry; a
Jying man must have his way. Send
for him?send for him !" he added,
more emphatically.
Miss Kobarts turned to ine.
" Will you go to the barracks for
me?"she asked?"only to the green
tloor. Take this card." She wrote a
single sentence.
I followed her directions. The
leader himself came to the door in h:.s
uniform. lie looked imposingly hand
?ome, and as he read the card, he lifted
liis cap and turned hastily away.
" Say, if you ple;ise, that I will be
there immediately," he said, and I returned
with my message.
"Don't go," said MissRobarts,lioldng
my hand; " papa hasn't spoken
since. Don't leave me alone."
Of course d would not leave her. In
ive minutes a step sounded on the
travel walk. As the man entered the
jld captain came out of his lethargy.
"John, my son!" lie said.
The man came forward and bent
ibove him.
"Have I not obeyed you?" he asked.
' I said I would never speak to her
without your permission."*
" But you have taken good care to
follow us up pretty well," said the old
nan, with a feeble laugh.
"I acknowledge it, sir; you put no
jt.hcr restraint upon me but that one
)f speaking."
" Vou have been true to her for
;welve years, John; you will be true
:o her for life?"
?? T TV-ill'" Ami tlia wmvls hail nil
he solemnity of an oath.
"Take her, then, with an old man's
jlessing. You are a good boy, John?a
jood boy," and his voice grew drowsy.
Then I saw MissItobarts' face kindle
nto positive beauty. In that exalted
iiomentshe looked to me like an angel,
so much of the good, true heart shone
n her eyes.
The man?the band-leader, was the
lero of her story?the son of the
wtchered chief. lie had loved her all
his time patiently, silently, speaking
;o her spirit only with his ringing,
vonderlul notes. From outpost to
mtpost, from city to city, from station
;o station, he had followed, content
mly to breathe the same atmosphere,
;o worship at a distance?to wait.
"It seemed to me," MisB Iiobarts
;old me afterward, "that at last his
latience was worn out, and 1 felt
;hat Sunday that I was listening
,o him for the last time. But the
itory of the operatic star was a ruse?
le never contemplated leaving while
ny father lived."
The wedding was a nine-days'
Yonder. The blue blood of the army
vas shocked until the band-leader Was
>lTered a commission, through the inluence
of friends, which at first he
efused, but eventually accepted.
Somebody said that somebody else had
laid they heard him say that the son
)f a king was good enough for anybody.
[ should not wonder.
The old captain did not die. Xo one
it the marriage feast was happier than
ie; and John Brigson worships his
ivife.?Jlrs. 31. .1. Venison.
Instances of Desperate Courage.
At Alexandria, the other day, I heard
)f a seaman who cut oil two wounded
ingers (his own) with a jack-knife,
md turned up for duty as usual. The
jack-knife had been lately used for
shredding tobacco, and, when the mutilation
was discovered, this poor fellow's
arm had fallen into such a state
that tin* doctors reared tnev muse cut
it off.
A match to the sailor's plucky deed
was that of Grimbold, a sergeant of
Rajah Brooke's police. "When the
Chinese attacked his post, after a gallant
resistance, he jumped from an
embrasure and cut his way through
the crowd. A bullet shattered his
forearm. Grimbold borrowed a native's
sword, with which and a small
penknife he amputated his limb at
the elbow, tied it up and marched
nearly two miles in an effort to join
the rajah. In custody at the fort,
when the Chinese appeared, was
a madman. Him Grimbold armed
and posted. But the maniac refused
to crouch under shelter. lie swore
that to hide was unworthy a brave
man, and planted himself in the veranda,
alone against a thousand. There
Y*f\ ou"iv 1 ilrn H?n c'mrxt. nf in
vulnerable epic heroes. AVhen Grimbold
decided to evacuate the place, the
madman, unhurt, obeyed his call. But I
lie refused to jump from a window,
and the others left him eageily unbarring
a door that he might sally forth
like a gentleman.
?This man evidently understood the
danger but did not feel it. Some infirmities
are great aids to nerve. I remember
a war correspondent, stone
deaf, whose recklessness in pushing
under fire, and coolness where the bullets
Hew thick, impressed the Turks,
W110 Wilicneu mill ^ilii ;i .TLiLiuun
feeling. "Wholly bereft of hearing, he
could not recognize one-quarter of the
peril, and the awful din of battle affected
him not at sill. This gentleman
made several campaigns, and was
killed in Armenia, I believe.
In the sum of military honor no
army is so punctilious sis the German.
That superb machine is braced and upheld
by a code of such minuteness and
severity as no other people would carry
out. Crack regiments in the Russian
service hold themselves together and
preserve the honor of the corps with
strict vigilance, but their rules are fantastic,
and still more so the execution
of them. The doom of suicide has
been passed upon a German officer, if
stories are true, but in Kussia it has
been pronounced not once, nor a hundred
times. For some terrible scandal
a cavalry regiment was exiled to Central
Asia It held an inquiry upon the
officers implicated, and the one found
guiltiest was significantly told that a
man of honor would not survive the
' ' ' . .
?Tr W-. * ..." ' S L .. _ .. 1 . /
shame of bringing disgrace upon his
uniform. In such a case a German
would, perhaps, have taken his own
life quietly, but the Russian did nothing
of the sort. On parade the next
day he charged the colonel with drawn
sword and was promptly shot. I have
been told that the proportion of otlicers
who die a violent death in time of
peace in Central Asian stations is enormous.?All
the Year Hound.
Meteors.
Meteors may be divided into two
classes, says Professor Young. The
majority of those actually seen to fall
are stones; but now and then we find
;i lump of almost pure iron. It is a
common idea that most meteors are
pure iron. That is not so; lor of the
uOO or GOO specimens which have been
seen to fall, only ten, so far as I know,
are iron. There are not unfrequently
large masses of iron picked up, which
cannot be accounted for, and which scientific
men have generally held to be
meteors. But I must confess to some
skepticism about that. Those great
masses, from Greenland, shown in the
Centennial exhibition, I am inclined
to think at least doubtful.
As to ihe other class of meteors, you
may go out and look at. the sky any
evening, and you will see after a
few minutes some little star shoot
across the sky and fade away. If you
watch the whole sky, if you have eyes
big enough to do it?and if not you
can get a group of friends to help you
?you will find that there are forty
visible in an hour at a favorable time,
in any one place on the surface of
the" earth. And you find this
also: that there arc about
twice as many in the morning?between
5 and 6 o'clock?as there are
between 5 and G o'clock in the evening;
and a little calculation as to the
distance at which we see them and the
height at which they appear shows
this number wo\ild h.junt up to, not
200 or 300 a day, but something like
7,000,000 or 8,000,000 a day striking
the earth. That is Professor Newton's ;
estimate?7,500,000?while some com- ,
pute it at as low a number as 3,500,00
and others {is higli as 10,000,000 a
day. There are little bodies of matter
Hying through space with velocities
like those of the comets, and the earth ;
encounters more in the morning than .
in the evening, for the reason that we (
are then on the headlight of the loco- ,
motive, as it were, or on the front of the
earth as it moves around the sun, ]
while in the evening we are in the
rear, and we see only those which .
overtake the eartli and strike it from j
behind. And so, as they are moving ]
in all directions in space, we do not ;
experience as many of the phenomena ]
as when we are in front, or during the ,
morning hours. These meteors are .
some of them very bright, and I am j
nrtf. snrp t.liat. t,hf?v fan be distin- .
guished from those that send
pieces to the earth. On this point
scientific operation is divided. A
great many scientific men claim that
these shooting-stars that we see all the
time are precisely the same as the
larger meteors that drop pieces on the
earth, except as to their magnitude.
Many of these are so small that they
burn up entirely in the air, according
to that view of the case. Others hold
to the contrary, and I am rather disposed
to think with them, for this reason
: that when these meteors are exceedingly
numerous, some being
brighter than Venus or Mercury, we
never see them come to the ground nor
hear from them at all; as, for instance,
in the great star-shooting showers of
1833 and 1867 nothing came down, although
the sky was full of stars. My
father has described it as like a snowstorm,
although in place of the snowllakes
it was snowing stars.
As for the distance of these from
the earth, they appear at as great an
elevation as seventy-five to eighty
miles, and disappear after shooting
about forty miles through the air.
Their velocity is about the same as that
of other meteors, averaging perhaps a
little less, as they are more checked by
the air. As for the materials in them,
we cannot get hold of them to examine
them. It is only occasionally that
we get a shot on the wing by means of |
fho un?ffrnar>mip which shows linpts nf I .
sodium and magnesium, easily made ,
out, and occasionally iron. There is, ,
in fact, a good deal of reason for sus- \
pecting the presence of consider- ,
able iron in many of them. j
]
Submarine Diving. 1
The first sensation of a diver in de- '
scemling is the sudden, bursting roar *
in the ears, caused by the air driven
into the helmet from the air-pump. |
The flexible air hose has to be strong '
enough to bear a pressure of twenty- 1
live or fifty pounds to the square inck. 1
The drum of the ear yields to the strong '
external pressure, the mouth opens in- '
voluntarily, the air rushes in the tube !
and strikes the drum, which snaps back '
to its normal state with a sharp, pistol- '
like crack. Peering through the goggle
eyes of glass in his helmet, the
diver sees the strange beauties about ]
him clearly, and in their own calm '
splendor. Above him is a pure golden j
canonv. while around and beside him
are tints and shimmering hues, including
all colors, which are indescribably
elegant. The floor ot the
sea rises like a golden carpet,
inclining gently to the surface.
The change in familiar objects is won- :
derful. The wreck of a ship seems
studded with emeralds, glittering in
lines of gold ; piles of brick assume
the appearance of crystal; a ladder
becomes silver ; every shadow gives
the impression of a bottomless depth.
An instance of cool determination and
courage in overcoming unforeseen
dangers occurred to a diver who was
engaged in the recovery of the dry
dock at Pensacola. It had been con,
structed in water-tight compartments
and it was necessary to break into the
lower edge of each to allow the water
to flow evenly into them. Huge beams
and cross-ties formed a network so
close that tne passage ueiween uureadmitted
the diver's body. Through
an aperture the diver had crawled,
tearing off the casing and prosecuting
his labors until time to return to the
surfave. He attempted to back out,
but could not. The armor about
his head find shoulders, acting
like the barb of a hook, caught
him ; lie could go ahead but could
not retreat. In vain attempts to twist
himself out he spent so much time
that the men above began to be
alarmed, and increased their work at
the pump. This swelled up his armor
and increased the difficulties and
dangers of his position. lie signaled
for the pump to stop. The cock at the
liia linlmpf tr? 1 f.f. th*? nir nut
i was beyond his reach. His only chance
was to open his dress around the
wrists. At this point lie found himself
affected by breathing over the air
in his armor. The carbonized air made
him dreamy, creating an intense desire
to sleep. This he overcame by a strong
effort of his will. His efforts to loosen
his dress succeeded, and with a supreme
effort the diver escaped from his
narrow limits and was drawn to the
surface, dazed and only half conscious
of the peril he had undergone.
Europe contains 1,457 theatres. Italy
heads the list with 358; next conies
France, with337;Germany, 184; Spain,
1G0; Great Britain, 150; Austria and
Hungary. 131; Russia, forty-four; Bel
gium, thirty-four; Holland, twentytwo;
Switzerland, twenty; Sweden and
I Norway, eighteen; Portugal, sixteen;
Denmark, ten, and Turkey and Greece,
I four each.
| In beating butter always take the
J (back of your spoon.
AN INHUMAN POTENTATE.
A JFREXCH PAIXTER'S EXPERTEXCE
IX PERSIA.
A Uiiler Who Cut Off IIIn SubJcrliT Hamlx.
knrm nnil Nohcs nnd Put Out Tliclr Eyes to
Kxtort Money?Why a Slave was Killed.
Among the many who were engaged
by the shah of Persia to go to
Persia was M. Ernisto I'elletier, a
young French painter of great promise.
M. I'elletier had to go by the tedious
route of Trebizontle and Tauris
to Teheran on mules, tlie journey lasting
three months and ten days, during
which he not only contracreua dangerous
fever, but also had the misfortune
to fall into the hands of Abdoul Ilamman,
the notorious Persian brigand,
who robbed him. On his arrival in
Teheran he went straight to the palace,
and, not knowing a word of the
language, and consequently being unable
to explain himself, lie was
seized by the guard and thrown
into prison, where he remained
nine months suffering the most
awful indignities and priv.itions.
Through the intercession of Prince
Moskin IIan, the grand vizier, M. Pelletier
gained his release and received
permission from the shah to paint the
palace. The shah had previously repudiated
all knowledge of having
made any engagement with the young
painter, and it was only through a
stratagem ol" the grand vizier that he '
obtained entrance to the palace. A
very comfortable apartment wa3 assigned
to him, and he set to work. In
three months he completed the decorations
of a small trick-track room,
which so pleased the shah that he sent
for him. and pave him a nurse of cold, '
anil from that day his majesty used to '
sit for hours "watching him paint. 1
The Persian day of rest, like that of j
all Moslems, is Friday, and on Fridays,
when th<2 painter wanted to rest, the
shah made him work, saying: " This
is my Sunday, not yours, so you must 1
work," and on Sundays lie would say, ]
" This is your Sunday, but not mine, ^
so you must work." and as the artist j
could get no rest and recreation he fell
ill, and remained so for a long time. '
The shah often sent to inquire how he J
was, and during his convalescence
placed the only carriage in Teheran at j
his disposal, and otherwise paid him a
great deal of attention. On Wednes
[lay the shah used to sit at the window
of his medglis overlooking the palace '
pard, and from there try the prisoners *
below.
c
One Wednesday he invited the young !
foreigner to sit by his side and see ,
liow he judged his subjects, and the j
uorrors 10 which jie was witness can- |
not adequately be related. A treni- f
bling baker was in the yard between j
two soldiers, charged with selling lightweight
loaves of bread. A cadi made
the charge. The poor wretch made
some defense. " Kess kopegoli" (cut
ihe son of a dog), says the shah, holdng
up his right hand, and in a second
;he executioner seized the man, and
;hen and there cut off his right hand,
fhe feelings of the artist can easily be
magined, but knowing what awaited
lim if he interfered he kept his seat in
silence. The next prisoner was a
ivatchman in a store of the bazaar
nto which robbers had entered witli)ut
his hearing them. "Kess
topegoli" quietly said the shah again,
-his time holding up both his ears,
md in an instant the poor watchman's
?ars were cut off. In three hours,
luring which M. Pelletier assisted
it this awful day of judgment, two !
nen were beheaded, one woman j
inu six men lost, ;i nana eacu, ;i ,
nuleteer who had already lost one J
land had the other cut off, and in '
;en cases were the prisoners de- J
irived of their ears, eyes and noses. In J
nany cases, however, the prisoners !
jotight themselves off immediately *
ifter the sentence was prpnounced, but ?
iefore it could he executed, by shout- s
ng out the sum they were willing to ?
jay his majesty, and after a deal of bar- ,
gaining between the sovereign and subect,
the latter went away accompanied J
jy an official to whom lie was to pay the
lioney and by a soldier wlio saw that (
ic did not escape before paying. M. (
Pelletier subsequently discovered that {
whenever the shah wanted money he .
ised to order the arrest of wealthy citi- !
tens, and the cadis had instructions to
iccuse them of crimes they had never j
committed. The shah would then sit :
it the little window of themedglis to ;
;rythein, which really meant to extort ;
fKnm 11 rnlar '
urge DUillD U1 IIIUUCJ nuiu ujx^iu uiiuvi .
;he threat of cutting oft their ears or
lands, or, what was still more serious, c
;heir heads. 1
The artist used to spend his leisure J
;ime, of which he had enough after his J
illness, in going about Teheran,
ind in painting in his apart- 1
inent on his own account. lie '
liad finished a life-size picture of the
head of St. John the JJaptist being pre- *
sented to Ilerodias' daughter in a *
charger, and with which the painter
lias since taken a prize. }
Ilis friend the grand vizier, Prince
Moskln 1 Ian, who had always been very
partial to him, and who took lessons in f
painting from him, thinking to do him (
pood, told the shah that the young
Frenchman had painted a magnificent
picture referring to the religion of the
infidels, and that he prayed to be al- ]
imvpii t.n pvliihit. it to his maiestv. to '
which tl:e latter cons' nted. On the <
following day the painter took the pic- <
ture to one of the shah'i private apart- '
rnents, but the moment he saw it. he ?
told the artist it was faulty. The latter J
asked where the fault was, but for all <"
reply the shah demanded how many
minutes were supposed to intervene 1
between the head of St. John being cut <
off and its being presented to Hero- <
dias' daughter, to which the painter ]
replied that he allowed two minutes to i
pass, when his majesty, walking up to '
the painting and closely examining it, i
said in that case the lips ought to be i
ashy white and wide open, instead of <
liai'rwr r?inl- anil pnntrrU'fpH !irwl HS 1
the sirtist was unwilling to i
he convinced, the shah clapped his '
hands once (this being done in the i
East to summon servants instead of i
ringing a bell) and, upon a slave appearing
to answer the call, his master 1
drew his sword, and, to the dismay of
M. Pelletier, with one tremendous
sweep severed his head from his body,
lie then pulled out his watch and
called the trembling painter's attention
to the time. Exactly two minutes
after he stooped down and picked up
the bleeding head and walking to the
picture he held the real head by the
side of the painted one, and said to the
Frenchman: "Monsieur, you can see
for yourself that the lips ought to be
ashy white and wide apart, and you
will learn to believe the shah in the
future," when he tossed away the head
and calmly walked out, leaving the
painter more dead than alive to take
himself and his picture back to his
own apartments.
This shock was so severe to M. Pelletier's
nerves that lie became quite
hysterical, and the shah seeing that he
remained so for months and was unable
to do any work, conferred decorations
and titles upon him, which cost
nothing, and giving him just enough
money to take him home, allowed him
to leave Persia, and he now occupies a
studio in the Palais Royal in Paris.
The product of tea in Japan now
reaches upward of 90,000,000 of
| pounds annually, the production have
i ing largely increased within the last
eix years.
For chapped lips, mix two table
spoonfuls of clarified honey with a few
props of lavender water or any other
perfume, and anoint the lips frequently
American patent medicines are in
great demand in Belgium.
PICTURES OF PRIVATION.
HARDSHIPS EXBURED BY THE
XAILJIAKERS OFEXGLAXD.
Men ami Women In tbc Hlark Country
Working Long Ilourif lor n Pittance to
Keep Hotly ntul Moul Together.
About 24,000 people are engaged in
this dismal part of Great Britain in
making nails and rivets. It would
not be so much a matter for surprise,
even for the lowness of wages that
they earn, if they were all men and
youths who are engaged in this industry?one
of the worst paid in any part
of the country. But It so happens?
and here arises the social degradation
of the traflic?that there are at least
16,000 females engaged day after day
in the occupation. They are not all
mature women either; daughters work
by the side of their mothers?daughters
who, in their tender years, ought
to be either at home, if they have any
home, or in bed, instead of working
their weary arms in shaping, in the
still small hours of the morning, molten
iron into the form of nails for the
beneiit of what are called the " foggers."
Here is a picture of what
may be seen any night in this district
?except, perhaps, Saturday nights. In
the middle of a shed which adjoins a
squalid-looking house there is a whole
family at work in the production of
these nails; father, mother, sons and
daughters?daughters, too, very young
in years, but with that sad look of
premature age which is always
to be noticed "in the faces of childworkers.
The gayety of youth, its
freshness and its gentleness, seem to
be crushed out of them. In the center
of the shed, with its raftered ceiling?
n bleak and wretched building, through
the walls of which the wind readily
finds its way?there is a " hearth," fed
by "gledes" or breezes. Probably
there is a girl or woman blowing at
the bellows, while the strips of iron
from which the nails are made become
molten. Or, to take an actual case
witnessed by the writer a few nights
since, close upon midnight: In one of
these forges were a mother and several
children. The mother was a woman
probably forty years of age; her
youngest daughter?a flaxen-haired
jin, wnn <l sweei unu wuiauuit; iciue? |
jvas certainly not more than twelve ;
fears of age. By the side of the
jeartli there was "what is technically
jailed the "Oliver"?a barrel-like conduction,
on the top of which is iixed
;he stamp of the particular pattern and
size of the nail required to be made
The workmen and workwomen, by
neans of a wooden treadle?an indus:rial
treadmill it ought more strictly to
Hi called?shoot out the nails from the
slot into which they are fixed. They
lave previously hammered the top of
he incandescent metal, with masculine
irmness, so as to form the head of the
mil. The women and girls seem to
-vork with more vigor than the men?
?'ery often, indeed, they support their
nisbands and their fathers, who may
lave fallen into drunken habits; in
)ther cases, this nail-making is the
neans of supplementing the husband's
y.iges.
But what do the nail-makers earn a
veek, may naturally be asked? The
enumeration they receive is incredibly
small. It is no unusual thing?on
he contrary, it is rather the usual
rustom?for a family of three or four
Persons, after working something like
'ourteen hours a clay, to earn zl in a i
.veek. ]Jut out of tliis money there
ins to he deducted Is. 3d. for carriage '
,o convey the nails to the " gaffers," as i
hey are termed in the district; then |
here is allowance to be made for fuel J
ind the repairing of the machinery,
vhich reduces the ?1 to about lCs. 9d.
or three people?for three people who
lave commenced to work every morn
ng at half-past 7 or 8 o'clock,
ind who have worked on through
ill the weary day, with no subitantial
food, until late at night.
tVho is it that reaps the benefit of all
his terribly hard work? Certainly
lot the laborers; for it is a well-known
'act that they rarely taste meat from
>ne week's end to the other. In the
;xpressive but simple language of one
joor workman, this is how they fare:
' When the bread comes hot front the
jakehoiwe oven on Saturday we eat it
ike ravening wolves." The "fogjers"
or "Tommy shop" men live
ives of contentment, profit and rest at
he expense of the poor nail-workers,
rhe "fogger" is an intermediate
igent between the worker of nails and
lie buyer. Out of the bone and sinew
)f these poor people he makes a:
,-ery line living?and he does not |
vork. He has a huckster's snop at;ached
to his dwelling; he supplies, at
;he beginning of the week, the nail.vorkers
with their sixty-pound bunlies
of iron, and when they return the
jundles of iron in the marketable
shape of nails?out of which he makes
it least twenty per cent, profit?if
;hey do not buy his high-priced provisions,
they get no more work from
lim. These are the men who, by cutting
down the workmen's wages to
starvation point, are at the root fcf the
jvil.?London Standard.
Marriage by Capture.
"When an Esquimau youth has killed a
polar bear unaided, and so proved himjelf
capable of providing for the wants
:>f a family, lie is sent fortli at night to
jbtain a wife by seizing the first girl
li can surprise unawares. She screams,
course, bringing out the whole village
population, and an appreciative
mdience secured, sets upon her captor
with tootii and nail, releases herself
L'rom Jus clutciies, and uarcs among me j
srowd. He follows, pushing aside the
old women who attempt to bar his i
progress, heedless of the sealskin
scourges they Jay upon his shoulders.
Should he catch the flying lass,
more scratching and biting ensues,
and, perchance, a second escape. The j
chase is then renewed as before, only
the wife-hunter is inspired by knowing
that, if a third capture is effected,
there will be no more maddening
struggles, the girl accepting her fate
and allowing him to lead her away
amid the applauding shouts of the
excited spectators. The aboriginal
Australian adopts a more summary
process when tired of single blessedness.
lie looks about for a likely
helpmate, and, finding one, waits his
opportunity, knocks her down and
carries her home.
In Singapore the winning of a bride
depends upon the matrimonial aspir
ant's lleetness of foot or skill in paddling
his own canoc. In the first case,
a circular course is marked out, half of
which is traversed by the maiden ere
the word given for the would-be possessor
to go in pursuit, in the hope of
overtaking her before she has thrice
compassed the circle, that achieved, she
has no choice but to take the suitor
for her lord. In the water chase the
damsel takes her paddle until she has
obtained a reasonable start, when her
admirer sets off after htr. The contest
is usually one of short endurance,
the pair having come to a proper understanding
beforehand; but should
the girl have no fancy for the suitor,
and possesses sufficient determination
and strength of arm to gain the goal
first, she is at liberty to laugh at the
disconsolate loser of the match, and
reserve herself for a claimant more to
her liking.
A vessel sailing for Rio Janeiro, instead
of going directly south, usually
steers east half-way across the Atlantic
nffpmnt.ircr to fro flirwtlv nn her
~ o ? O J
voyage. Then she strikes the trade
winds and takes a southeasterly direction.
The sailor loses sight of the
great dipper soon after crojsing the
equator. Then the southern cross is
visible early in the evening, and the
scorpion is directly overhead,
teg /.
FACTS AND COMMENTS.
Nearly every farmer has the necessary
intelligence unci a practical management
of all branches of his business
to place himself on an honorable level
with any man. He needs but a few
elementary books on the sciences in
connection with his business, added to
some practical works, in addition to his
agricultural newspapers, to guide him
in all important operations on his farm,
or in the marts for the sale of his produce.
Three women are making more
money this season on the American
stage than any ten men. It is impossible
to get at the precise figures, as the
pay of performers is so exaggerated,
but it is asserted that Patti receives
$4,000 anight. As she is to sing thirty
times during her tour through the
States, she will therefore receive $120,000.
Isilsson will get about $100,000
for fifty concerts. Mrs. Langtry is said
to receive one-third of the gross receipts,
and will get about $75,000.
Dr. Mulhall, of the St. Louis Medical
college, adds his opinion to that of many
~4.1 4.4 ? ir, i-n
UU1UI3 tIJctb UlgcliCLLC aillUlWlig 10 JXAJUrious,
because the inhaler inhales the
smoke. He is satisfied that smoke in
the process of inhalation comes in contact
with four times the extent of mucous
membrane that it does in ordinary
smoking, and hence the absorption of
nicotine is excessive. The doctor remarks
that about all cigarettes manufactured
in this country are cheap and
vile.
Notwithstanding many opposite rumors
on the subject, it is now announced
positively that the coronation
of the Czar Alexander III. will
be celebrated in the usual historical
manner and with all due pomp some
time in the spring, and in .ill likelihood
as soon as possible after the
thaw. In view of the coronation, it
has been decided that the building in
which the Moscow exhibition was recently
held shall be kept standing; and
it is apparently to be made the scene
of festivities.
Statistics published in England give
the following valuation of natural
wealth of the countries named: The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, $44,400,000,000; France, $36,700.000.000:
United States.$32,000,000,
000; Germany, $22,000,000,000, and
llussia, $15,000,000,000. The average
annual income of citizens of the United
Kingdom is $165; of the United State?,
$165; France, $125; Germany, $85.
The annual accumulation of wealth is
$825,000,000 by the United States;
$325,000,000 in the United Kingdom; ;
$375,000,000 in France and $200,000,000
in Germiiny.
Puyallup valley, in "Washington Ter- :
ritory, located about ten miles east of :
Tacoma, is the great hop-producing
section of the Pacific coast. This !
season, in consequence of the hop ,
famine in Europe, the price has ad- ,
vanced 400 to 500 per cent. The hop- ,
growers of Puyallup are in high
clover, so to speak, some of them clearing
$50,000 on their crop. Before the
picking season opened they sent a t
messenger up tne coast to notiry tne
Indians of an advance in the price of '
picking hops, for all the hop-picking is
done by Indians. This welcome news i
had the effect of bringing Siwashes
from the northern part of British Co- ;
lumbia, and the sound was completely |
dotted with their canoes, all heading
for Tacoma. Many of the canoes were
loaded down almost to the water's
edge. The squaws and the children do
most of the hop-picking.
The New York Herald says, editorially,
that "no more important '
subject has of late occupied the attention
of stock and dairy farmers in
this country than the French ;
method of preserving fodder by
ensilage or continual pressure.
The cost of fodder for
cattle during the lengthy winter season
is so great that the handsome
profits of the milder months, when
the pastures are available, are seriously
eaten into. Through the use of silos,
fodder is not alone stored at a time I
when it is exceedingly cheap, but it
suffers little deterioration throughout
the winter and is served to the animals
almost as fresh and tender and juicy
as when first brought in from the green
fields. Our farmers are slowly realizing
the value of this system, already
thoroughly well established in France,
and when they have learned how
cheaply a capacious silo can be built
its adoption:will be general.
To be a high Chinese dignitary cannot
be much more pleasant than to be
a Chinese menial. The etiquette of
Chinese rank in Washington is thus
given by the Herald of that city:
"Kin-tan and Chang-Hansen, the two
sons of the Chinese minister, continue
to attract a great deal of attention at
Professor Young's school. Hansen is
of a superior rank to his younger
brother, and when the two set out for
school Hansen always goes first. Kintan
follows a few moments after,
carrying all the books. The two
never walk together. Hank carries
with it isolation, according to the
Chinese etiquette. "When the Chinese
"* nnmaa nilf nf his TOOTD
IlllUlOkUl VV111VU V.MW
at the legation all of the members of
the legation, including his immediate
family, must lly from his sacred presence
unless he indicates a wish for
them to remain. The moment the
minister comes out for a walk about
the house there is a perfect clatter of
slamming doors, as every one must get
into the nearest room and hide his insignificance
as soon as possible. The
members of this legation are very fond
of looking at the American ladies.
Sunday afternoons they hang upon the
balcony overlooking Connecticut avenue,
perfect pictures of oriental delight
;is they gaze rapturously upon
-rl 11 >>
uic lauy pruuiL'iiiiucis uciu?.
Japanese Artists at Work.
I low a young man made a drawing
of a Hying duck is very clearly described,
and with much graphic power,
in the following extract from Dr.
Dressner's work on Japan: "A brush
of considerable breadth was dipped in
water and drawn between the lingers
of the artist till nearly dry. It was
then dipped in a thin wash of India
ink, the central portion of the brush
being bent outward, so that the
hairs of the brush assumed a crescentlike
form. The convex or center portion
was now hastily dropped into
dark India ink, and the brush allowed
to straighten itself. Two or
three hairs were separated from one
side and dipped into dark ink, but
fhpsn rpmuiiu'd detached from the other
part of the brush. By a dexterous
movement the artist produced, with
one stroke, the shaded body of the
duck and an outline, the few separate
hairs forming the latter, while
the shading resulted from the darker
ink of the center not having fully
spread to the sides of the brush. A
bill is now drawn, then feet and then
tail feathers. An eye is added, then
follow a neck, legs and a few finishing
touches, when an admirable sketch of
a llying duck is before us."
A French scientist, explaining why
fish eaten in Holland are superior to
those, eaten in France, says that the
Dutch fishermen kill their fish as soon
as taken from the water by making a
slight longitudinal incision under the
tail with a very sharp instrument.
The French fishermen, on the contrary,
allow their fish to die slowly, and t his
slow death softens the tissues and ren1
ders them more liable to undergo
change.
THE GREATEST OF BLIZZARDS.
Rcmininccnccg of the Great Three Days'
Snowstorm In Minnesota.
Tlie great storm of 1873 was the
most violent known in the Northwest
for fifty years, as the records kept at
Fort Snelling showed. It was a violent
electrical storm, extending over
the whole Northwest, so that the
telegraph wires west of Chicago refused
to work.
It struck Minnesota on January 7,
1873, and raged for three days, the
wind blowing a gale, the temperature
being about eighteen degrees below
zero, and on the prairies the air was
filled with snow as fine as flour.
Through every crevice, keyhole and
nail-hole the snow penetrated, puffing
into houses like steam. The number
of human lives lost in Minnesota was
about seventy.
The morning of January 7, 1873,
was beautiful and bright. The air
was mild and still, and farmers set out
for town or went to neighboring farms
with their teams. Generally it was
thought that a "January thaw" was
imminent, but Professor Ilumiston,
who had a good aneroid barometer,
foretold a storm. The barometer naa
been falling for twenty-four hoursj
and never was known to fall so low
before.
Between 12 and 1' o'clock a white
wall was seen moving up from the
northwest upon Worthington. The
front of the storm was distinct and
almost as clearly outlined as a great
sheet. "When . it struck the town
faimers began to scatter to their
homes. A number, however, remained,
and were housed up for three
days. Persons visiting in the village,
only a few squares from home, in
some instances remained until the
storm abated, not daring to venture
out upon the streets.
J. II. Maxwell drove four miles
against the storm, and then took refuge
with a neighboring farmer, not being
able to reach home. The Rev. Mr.
Stone walked five miles facing the
storm this side of Jackson, and finally
took refuge in a sod shanty. A party
of Worthington men, among whom
were Dr. Langdon and Cornelius
Stout, were caught on the road between
"Worthington and Jackson, and
also remained snowed up in a sod
house. A man north of Worthington
was caught on the trackless prairie
driving an ox team. He unhitched and
unyoked the team, then took hold of
one ox by the tail, and by twisting it
kept the animal on a trot. The other
ox followed, and the man brought up
against his own woodpile. The
school in Indian Lake Township
was taught by a young lady in a
log school-house. The snow drifted in
through the crevices and soon covered
the floor. The supply of wood was
soon exhausted, and then teacher and
scholars split up furniture and eked out
a scant fire till the storm abated. To
keep up circulation they formed an Indian
file and marched around the stove
through the dreary days and long
nights till, on the third day, they made
their escape. Joseph Poots was caught
in the storm in the western part of the
county, and lay for several days in a
3now-drift. Unfortunately his feet became
exposed, kicked the cover off, so
to speak, and both feet were frozen
and had to be amputated.
A Mr. Small, who lived four miles
southeast of "Worthington, started
from town with an ox team and sled
just after the storm struck us. He
drove within a few rods of his own
door, and wandered over the prairie
till he came to some bay stacks, around
which a rail fence had been built. He
evidently attempted to climb the
fence, but was too near gone to accomplish
it. When found, the day
after the storm, he was standing with
one hand on the fence, covered ^with
ice and as stiff as an icicle. A Mrs.
Blixt, who lived a few miles beyond
Mr. Small, went to the stable when
the storm came on to turn the cattle
in. In attempting to return to the
house the snow blinded her, and she
wandered off on the prairie and perished.?
Washington (Minn.) Advance'
Aboot Thermometers.
"The greatest demand for thermometers,"
said a clerk to a Minnesota
Tribune reporter, " comes in the depth
of winter and the middle of the summer.
In the spring and fall, when the
temperature is such that nobody
thinks about it, the thermometer trade
is dull. But it gets brisk in the winter
time, when one's nose and ears get
frozen, and the water turns into ice
in your bedroom. The cheap thermometers
that we sell are made in
this country?in New York city, Troy
and Rochester, X. Y., Chicago and
Cleveland. The finest?that is those
used by scientific men?come from
T TllOrO in nTlfl TTIlltpr
X~iH.lv> tlliu JlJUliUUll. XUV1V AM VMV
of fine instruments in Xew York city.
The Fahrenheit scale, which is so
common in the United States, receives
but little favor at the hands of
scientific men, who use the centigrade
scale. The zero of the centigrade scale
is freezing point; boiling point is 100
degrees above freezing. "We are used
to the Fahrenheit scale, it is true; but
if I tell you this morning that it i? 20
degrees below zero you have to do a
little sum in arithmetic before you find
out that it is 52 degrees below the
freezing point. This calculation is
not necessary in the centigrade or
decimal system. In that 20 degrees
below zero means 20 degrees below
freezing. The English folk, in their
method of talking about the temperature,
are struggling toward the centigrade
system. For example, they never
say that it is 10 degrees above zero,
but 22 degrees below freezing; not
that the thermometer stands at zero,
but that there are 32 degrees of frost.
Zero is the point at which salt water
freezes. Mercury congeals at 39 degrees
Fahrenheit, and to register below
that, spirit?alcohol or ether?
must be used. But spirit is rot as
sensitive as mercury."
How a " Forty->'iner" Made a Fortune.
Mr. Henry L. Goodwin, of East
Hartford, Conn., made a good share of
his large fortune by a curious sort of
monopoly. lie was a California
"Forty-niner," and in those early
days, when San Francisco and its vicinity
had a wretchedly poor supply
of drinking water, he was one evening
charged half a dollar by a man who
owned a well for a drink for his oxen.
That made him mad, and he resolved
that he too would become known as
Man-Who-Owns-a-Well. witn tne
aid of his partner, an engineer, he
bored eighty feet deep on his own town
lot, and there struck an inexhaustible
supply of the best water yet found on
the whole coast. Then he established
a free drinking-fountain for all passersby,
but for all other purposes he sold
the water, six gallons for a cent. Cattle-owners
could have their stock watered
for liftv cents a yoke per week.
For a long time every one who wanted
pure water had to go to Goodwin's
well for it, and a handsome fortune
was realized therefrom.
Horned Men.
The last alleged discovery is that
there are horned men in Africa. A
I Captain ,7.?S. Ilay recently read a
I paper before the British association,
! in which he stated that he had seen
them anil exhibited sketches of them.
He thought they belonged to the class
of malformations of which there was
a noted example in the case of the
" porcupine man," who had horny
plaits on various parts of his body. It
was remarkable that the horns were
peculiar to the male sex. Most anthropologists
think that the gallant captain
i3 either joking or romancing.
Signs of Prosperity.
Where spades grow bright,
And idle swords grow doll;
Where jails are empty,
And where barns are full;
Where field paths are
With frequent feet unworn.
Law court yards weedy,
Silent and forlorn:
Where doctors foot it,
And where farm are ride;
Where age abounds,
And youth is multiplied;
Where poisonous drinks
Are chased from every place;
Where opium's curse *
No longer leaves a trace?
Where these signs are
They clearly indicate
A happy people,
And a well-ruled State.
?From the Chinese.
??
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
? ?2
Bright days in store?When there is " ?
a rush of customers.
Men who get credit'for their good
works?"Watchmakers.
Seasick passengers are most inclined
to heave when the vessel heaves to.?
Lomll Courier.
Even an armless man can take a
hand in a game of foot-ball.?New
York Commercial.
There sprang a leak in Noah's ark,
And then the dog began to bark;
Noah took its nose to stop the hole,
Hence a dog's nose is always cold.
?Humane Journal.
It is related as a singular fact that
fat men never commit crime. It
doesn't seem so singular when you
reflect that it is difficult for a fat >
man to stoop to anything low.?Lowell
Citizen.
A pretended ghost made its appear- ,
ance in a "Western town, the other
night, and accidentally ran against a
bulldog. The result of the encounter
established, beyond all doubt, that
there was nothing superstitious about
the dog.
The president of Tufts college was
recently made a happy father, and the
following morning at prayer in the
chapel he introduced this rather ambiguous
sentence: "And we thank "
thee, 0 Lord, for the succor thou hast
given us," which caused a general
smile to creep over the faces of the
class.?Haverhill Gazette.
The sad news comes from Van
Bulow, the great musician, that it has
been found necessary to place him
under treatment for incipient insanity. *
"We trust this paragraph may strike the
eye of the youth who owns the doublebarreled
accordion, and who seems to
think he holds a mortgage on the air
in the vicinity of our humble domicile.
?Statesman.
Explaining the tracks: Mistress (who
has long suspected her servant of hav- .
ing a follower and thinks she has
caugni ner hciuslj?- jrvux mooter
wishes to know the meaning of
those large footmarks; can you explain?"
Mary?"Oh, yes, mum! my
sister's been here, and she's got tho
gout so bad she has to wear big boots."
?London Judy.
" Thomas, why have you not learned /?$
your lesson V" asked an Austin teacher 0,
of a pupil who was noted for |his impudence.
" Because I did not feel like V
it." The reply pleased the teacher im- . v
mensely. It was really refreshing to
hear a new excuse, so he said:
" Tommy, I'll give you a good mark for.
your truthfulness. Now, Billy," turning
to the next boy, " what is the reason
you did not learn your lessoi#?\ ;.
"Because I didn't feel like it," replied >
Billy, thinking he, too, would get a
good mark for his truthfolness; but,
instead, the teacher took out a strap,
and said: "Billy, I'll have to punish
your plagiarism. You stole that answer
from Tommy."?Texas Siftings. '
FEMALE FIGURES.
Sometimes, by flattery, she's L
Sometimes she is 2, too; ^
She's often 3-ling and, my son,
Sometimes she goes 4 you.
' 3
Sometimes she is 5-acious quite;
Sometimes, alas, she's 6; , ^
Sometimes she's 7 to our sight,
And doth our souls transfix.. :.t
Sometimes, by cannibals, she's 8,
She often is be-9; *
Sometimes she is a 10 der mate
In the domestic line. * Sometimes
she gust amounts to 0,
And cannot make a pie; 4
And then it is that we are taught
That female figures lie.
-H. C- D^gc.
An Unsolved Mystorj.The
smallpox ambulance of Chicago
is driven by a stalwart but rtjntle
Iiussian named Otto Guteknechfc,' who
is said to be the only son of a living
millionaire. . The mystery of his posi
tion is not likely to be solved, for he
meets every inquiry leading up to that
subject with the rather perplexing exclamation,
"Vat I care!" He appeared
in Chicago about five yeareago,' i
and at that time had considerable
money in his possession, with which
he rented a tract of land for a hunting
privilege, but his money was soon
gone, and, returning to Chicago,
he accepted from the board of health
the occupation which he still follows,
lie carries the dying to the pest-house
and the dead to the grave, and lifts
patient and corpse into his ambulance
as if lie coveted contagion. He onco
had a mild attack of varioloid, and if he
hopes to die of the disease which keeps
him busy he is likely to be disappointed.
"That he really is what he claims to bo
* .. ii- ru.j ? ?
IS prOVGQ," Stiyb lilt? VlllUft^u jlig/ut(U>
"by the fact that at the German consul's
oflice in this city is a standing
letter of credit upon which he can
draw to practically an unlimited
amount, but he very rarely avails himself
of it. Once he went to the consul
and got $25, and at another time $10,
but that is all."
Fatal Baseball Accidents.
An unusually large number of accidents
occurred on the ball-field in
1S82, including three that proved fatal.
Thomas Toppin, while playing in a
game August 14 in Chester, I'cnn., was
struck in the mouth by a pitched ball,
fracturing one of his front teeth. IIo
had the tooth extracted immediately.
Two days afterward he was taken with V
a severe pain the neaci, ami men m au. ,
hour. The coroner's jury rendered a
verdict of death from compression of
the brain. A fatal accident happened
May 11 in Boston, Mass., while a number
of boys were playing baseball. A
boy named Charles Gould, twelve years
old, was hit in the head and so badly
injured that death resulted within ten
minutes. It was claimed by some of
his companions that he was struck by
a ball, while others stated that another
boy in jumping to catch a high ball
5.1. rirtlll/l nn tViO h PnA .
(iOCIUt'll r>ti uta uuum vu vmv uv*<~.
The coroner deemed an inquest unnecessary.
Gustave Tischner, eleven years
of age, was struck in the breast by a
ball, while looking at a game played
May 26 in Philadelphia, Penn., and
died from the effects of the blow.?
Clipper.
Fire losses in 1882, the world over,
were $400,000,000, of which this country
furnished $115,000,000; Canada,
$20,000,000; Russia, $105,000,000; and
Great Britain, Germany and France
$92,000,000. In a generation these
fire losses, nearly all preventable, would
pay off the national debt.
It takes $150,000,000 to keep the
hens of tins country in good enough
spirits to supply the egg market.
Spiral mignonette is used in great^^^
profusion for flower decorations.