The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, May 16, 1883, Image 1
^ ABBEVILLE PRESS AND BANNER I
BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY. MAY 16, 1883. NO. 48. VOLUME XXVII. f|l|
THE OLDEST FRIEND.
Ob, Life, my Life! 'tis many si year since we
Took hands together, and came through
the morn,
i When thou and Day and I were newly
I born?
I And fair the future looked, and glad nnd
ft free,
K A year as long as whole Etornity,
3 And full of roses with no stinging thorn(
q And full of joys that could not be outH
worn;
H And time was measureless for thee and me.
Long have we fared together, thou and I;
B Thou hast grown dearer, as old friends
^ must grow;
r Small wonder if I dread to siy gooa-oyo
When our long pact is ovor, and I go
To enter strange, new worlds beyond the sky
With Death, thy rival, to whom none saith
" No."
?Louise C. Moult on, in Harper.
j THE PASSENGEit'S-STORY.
The night mail upon the Cumberland
Valley railroad had reached the
heavy up-grade a few miles beyond
Kanakia station, when it became evi|
(lent to the passengers that something
| - had gone decidedly wrong. The speed
L. of the train sensibly slackened ; there
HMk . came a series of tremendous jolts, accompanied
by a curious and unpleas[-Jiill*
ant whirring sound; followed in turn
kgjfr by a complete stoppage. A dozen
* heads weri thrust inquisitively out of
| the car windows, and as many voices
I insisted on knowing all about it immeI
diately. In these days of magnificent
collisions and holocausts, the traveling
B public exhibits an astonishing amount
of interest in railway concerns, to the
B great scorn and indignation of all ofii
rials connected.
"You have nothing to fear," said
the conductor, who passed through the
car, superb in gold buttons and official
dignity. "We have struck an up-grade
where an "oil train stopped an hour
or>a nilflil ilfwl tVlP
<I^U. l lie mitno uic vnvu UMM V?.v
drivers don't take hold. "We sliall get
the sand running in half a minute."
It was doul tless clear enough to
those who understood such matters,
lut to ine his explanation was mere
jargon. As somebody said of Coleridge's
commentary upon his poem,
"Christabel," I wished "he would explain
his explanation."
The gentleman who occupied the
^ seat immediately in front of me, a fine,
middle-aged person, with an erect, military
air, seemed to have no difficulty in
making out the state of affairs. lie
smiled, and was preparing to settle
himself comfortably in his seat again,
when I tapped him upon the shoulder
and said:
"Excuse me, sir, but what has occurred?
The conductor's explanation
' \ is Chinese to me. What does he mean
by the trarks being oil'.'d ?"
The gentleman turned about and
faced me.
'It is a simple matter," he said,
(courteously, "to those who have an I
idea of railroad affairs. The power of i
an engine depends upon the friction of j
the drivers on the tracks?taking hold,'
as it is called. If there is oil upon the |
rails, especially upon an up-grade, there |
is 110 friction, consequently the wheels 1
i simply spin around upon the tracks
without moving the train."
"Ah," said I. " I comprehend."
"I could illustrate the case l>y an
event which occurred to me upon this
very spot some years a<?o. I have always
thought it a remarkable incident,
and perhaps you may find it so. The
circumstance I refer to," he continued.
" took place during the war. I was at
the time an adjutant upon General
Thomas' s-taff during the exciting and
momentous c ampaign in the mountains
of Tennessee, it you reinemuer, mere ]
wero many times when it was feared I
that our hour had come. Our commu-1
nications were repeatedly cut oft and
our whole command in danger of instant
destruction. It was at one of
those crises that the event I am going
to relate occurred.
" "We were at this time intrenched
upon a spur of the hills around Chattanooga^
whither we had been driven
hy the desperate courage of the ConI
federates. Ourmtnhad fought bravely
and well, but they were exhausted
with long msirches and constant action.
Our stores had run low, and but one
lin? of pnmmnnic.ition was left ODen
to us?that of the railroad into the !
eastern part of the State. By a bril- J
liant fiank movement the Confederates
succeeded ia throwing a line across
this one highway ; and there we were,
hemmed in like a woodchuck in his
burrow. Starvation or surrender
stared us in the face. One or the
other of these alternatives we must
accept in a few days at most, unless
fti>me unexpected change took place
very speedily.
" It is, perhaps, difficult for us to
comprehend the feelings of a commander,
hitherto successful, and with
? the fate, perhaps, of a nation depending
upon his action, place I in such a
nns'.tion as our general then was. I
i * 0
saw his face grow hourly more pale
and despairing, his step slower and
more feeble, and his whoie air that of
a man whose heart and spirit were
breaking under the strain. But Thomas
was not the man to yield until every
resource had been pounded to the 1 ottom.
And there was one resource yet
left?a desperate and almost hopeless
one, it is true.
" Forty miles to the eastward of us
lay Stockton's command of nearly
thirty thousand men, serenely unconscious
of our danger an 1 their own.
Several days before Stockton had been
direct d to occupy a pass in the mountains
on the left, and to hold it until
3 further orders. ut course, unaware
I of the predicament of the main army,
9 he would make no movement to. our
I relief. Communications were now cut
B off, and it seemed a matter of utter
impossibility to re-open them through
t}ie heavy fine of Confederates which
lay across the railroad. Thomas, how^
ever, determined to try it, and I was
selected for the dangerous, but honorable,
duty ot the attempt.
" We ha l r asjn to suppose that th *
enemy had not destroyed the railroad,
aud that if we were not captured at
the outset we might g. t an engine
through to Kanakia station, wlier.*
Stockton lay.
"At 10:30 my orders were given me,
and I mounted the engine, which was
either to carry me to my death or to
save the army. It was not a powerful
Tnaphind lint it WJiq t.ho l)PSt !lt OUT (1:8
posal, and in good order, fortunately.
One of our men, who had been an engineer,
undertook to manage the engine,
and another to fire it Both were
ccol, tried men, but as we stepped into
the cab togeth- r, I saw them shake
hands with their comrades and bid
them farewell. Evidently neither of
them expected to get through alive.
" 'Put in a couple of extra tallowcans,
John,'said the engines. 4 We
are going in to make time, and I expect
the old machine will heat up finely.'
" The cans were stowed away in the
caboose, the engineer opened the
throttle-valve, and amid an impressive
silence in the crowd surrounding
the starting point we moved slowly
away. About two miles distant lay
the first battery which the enemy had
thrown up to command the road; beyond
that were several more, to say
nothing of the picket lines scattered
along the tracks. So you will perceive
we were to run a pretty warm gaunt*
let.
" We had proceeded but a very short
distance when there was a flash and
i report from the shrubbery skirting the
1 road, and a bullet crushed through the
window of the cab. An outpost had
I already discovered us, and had given
I ns a foretaste, of what we were to exI
pect further on.
II ?4 Let her out!' I said to the enI
ft /? gineer. 'There is no use in trying to
I I hide ourselves. Speed is our only
fiance now.'
^ S ' v ' "VV*.
! them so you couldn't stir them an
1 inch.'
I " 1 did as directed. The garment
! fell across the track, and exactly
where the forward trucks could strike
it. Present!}* there was a heavy jolting
sound behind us and a shrill escape
of steam.
I Caught,'cried the engineer. 'If
it has only wedged into the piston bar
they may work all night before they
get it out.'
Some accident had certainly hapupiml
to our enemies, for all sounds of
4,4 Very good, sir!' replied the enj
gineer, opening the valve jis he spoke,
j The engine bounded like a spurred
; horse. On we went, swaying from
side to side, until it seemed a> if we
! must jump the track. Meanwhile, our
! friends along the road were not idle.
I Bullet after bullet whistled by us; but
| fortunately, what with the darkness
and the rapidity of our motion, none
: of them reached us.
I 41 We had now arrived in sight of the
first battery. By the lights moving .
' hurriedly along the parapet, it was
! obvious that our approach was expectI
ed. As we passed abreast of the battery,
it gave us its lir.-t compliment in
the >hape of a round shot, followed by |
a storm of grape. Here, again, the j
darkness and our speed saved us.
Several of the grapeshot glanced oil
the frame of the engine without doing
| any damage, however.
44 4 Give her some more fire, John,'
J said tin engineer, grimly. 4It' they j
j happen to knock a hole in us with one j
; of them 1 its of iron, you won't do no
i more tinner, mv bov, I can tell you J
i that.'
j 44 By this time we had passed out of j
i range of the first battery, an 1 were
under the guns of two more. These j
I works had been constructed to com
| mand the junction of our road with !
j another running south. There wjk> '
also a station at this point, and as we ;
i whirled by I saw an engine standing
upon a siding with steam up. I caught
! sight of a number of men running to!
ward it, as well as others busy with a
! car which stood near it. What they ,
I were at I could not make out. for we !
. passed them like a Hash of lightning.!
j At this moment, too. the batteries, |
: which had probably received tele-!
j graphic notice of our approach, opened '
j lire upon us, and for a moment the
air si em ed to be alive with shrieking i
! iron. |
44 4 More fire, John,' cried the en-j
i gineer; 'ram her full to the doors, or j
j it's all up with in.'
"The fireman stooped to obey, but!
at that moment a shell struck upon J
the caboose anil burst within three teet |
of us. It was a ten-inch monster, and
how any of us escaped alive I fail to I
see. As it was when the smoke and
dust cleared away, I found the top of
the cab gone, a portion of the caboose
j torn olT and the fireman lying in a
heap on the lloor, with his arm broken.
" I'm knocke 1 out, \Villiam,' he
groaned, 'and whose to fire her for the
rest of tlie trip V
"'I will,' said I; 'I think I can
manage it.'
' After placing the poor fellow in as
comfortable position as possible, I
seized the shovel and began my new I
duties.
" By this time we had passed out of !
range of the batteries, which now and
then, however, sent a sullen shot in
| our direction, as a parting evidence of
their good-will.
" We are safe,' I said, with a sigh of
relief; 'that was their last line cf
works. The road is clear before us.'
*" I hope so, sir,' responded the engineer.
' How's your fire, John ?'
"'Very bad, William,' groaned the
fireman ; 'but that ain't the worst of
it. We ain't through with the trouble
yet.'
"4 What do you mean r i asKea.
'The scouts say that there are no troops
beyond us except our own at Kanakia
station.'
" But they're following us,' replied
the fireman. 'They are after us hot
and heavy.'
" I looked at the engineer, under the
impression that the poor fireman was
in a delirium with his injury.
He's right, captain,' said the engineer,
listening intently. 'Sure as
fate they have pulled out that engine
we saw at the junction, and are chasing
us.'
" ' But there is no possibility of their
overtaking us,' I replied.
" I don't know about that,' he said,
giavelv. 'That engine is a heavy one,
1 and I have seen her make a good fifty
miles with a train behind her. This
one is a light machine, and I can'tI
promise more than forty at most, lie- ;
side, they have the advantage of us
in the fact that they have a car at.
tached and we are running alone.'
"' I should suppose that our lightness
1.1,1 Krt rnilwir in mir fftvnr tlinn
MUUiU UC i lit VU4 HVT'/A
i otherwise,' 1 responded.
"'Got something to balance her,'
grunted the fireman, sententiously.
j '"John is right,' explained the
j engineer. 4 You see, sir, if an engine j
j has no weight behind her she is apt to
J jump and pound the rails, and, if you j
put her at her full speed, to get off the
track altogether. So, while that engine
behind us can do her lev.el best, we
can't even let out to torty miles without
danger of a smash-up.'
"Meanwhile our own little machine
was not idle. I had kept the furnace j
at a white heat. The steam, pent up j
I in the ooiler, groaned and wheezed like
1 the breathing of an imprisoned giant.
! The wheels spun around upon the'
! tracks, crashing from side to side, j
; until there were moments when even
! the engineer peered with a startled eye
j out of the si'ie window at the coinpli'
cated mechanism below. As we passed
i over a 1 >ng trestle bridge across a wid
| marsh, I saw, emerging from the sha li
ows at the other end, the black form of
the pursuing engine, followed by the
car, through whose lighted windows a
crowd of armed men were visible.
Ilere we had a momentary advantage,
for. desperate as our enemies might be, J
j their engineer dared not carry his j
weighty engine over the light frame-.
' work as rapidly as we had gone. It!
i was but a trilling gain, however, for
' once on the solid road-bed again the 1
! monster came on at a re.louble 1 speed. ,
"4 More lire, captain,' muttered the j
engineer, at this moment, 'on Ibis i
grade we must do our best, or it will
be all over in five minutes.'
"1 opened me lurnac.Mioor ani
! begun shoveling in the coal. Upon
' the instant there was a Hash and report
from the cab windows of the purj
suing engine, arid a rifle-hall smashed
| the clock in our cab, within an inch of
J the engineer's head.
" The llame gives them a line i
J mark,' observed the engineer, calmly, j
j 'That ball was meant for me, and but
| for the swaying of the engine it would
! have hit, too.'
" I completed my t;isk as speedily as
I possible and closed the furnace-door.
We were now in darkness again, and J
if a ball reached us it must be by acei j
dent. Our enemies made no further :
attempt, however; confident, doubt- j
less, of running us down very shortly..
And well they might be. We had ten I
miles yet to run before reaching a
point where they would themselves be
in danger of capture or destruction
from our own division at Kanakia.
t* i /!<? i
i i'UUllg nit; 1<13?, irn IIIIIC.1 HH1 mm v?>.
! creased the distance one-half, and run;
ning as]we now were, it would be ;U1
| up with us in live miles more.
" Is there nothing we can do:' I
! asked, anxiously.
"' Pitch something on the track,'
said the fireman i'roin Ins corner.
Maybe you can catch their wheels.
Try one of the fire-bars.'
j ' It's a good idea, .John,' replied the
, engineer, 'perhaps you had better
I make the experiment, captain.'
I " I seized one of the heavy bars, a
I piece of metal as thick as a crow-bar
' and ten feet long, a id clambering
I over the coal in the f-alioose, leaned
; down and dropped the bar as nearly as
j I could across the track. Heaven l'or!
give me! but with what interest I
I waited for sjme crash or outcry which
! should signal the destruction of our
| pursuers. In a moment more there
i was a sharp clang along the rails bej
hind us, and a crackling among the
I bushes lining the road.
| " .She has kicked it off,' said the en>
| gineer. * Try my heavy overcoat.
. I've known a p'e:e of cloth like that
' to get among the wheels and jam
pursuit rapidly di< d away and we began
to breathe freer. We had now
reached a point within live miles of
Kanakia, in two or three more we
should be within the line of our outposts.
At this moment I saw the engineer
lean forward and listen again
intently.
" ' What is it?' I asked.
"'After us again,' he answered,
quietly. 'The coat merely retarded
them a little. There they are !'
" I could now plainly perceive the
black figure of the engine, emitting
white clouds of steam into the pale
night sky, whirling swiftly around a
curve not sixty rods behind. Angered
with the delay, and knowing that if
we were to be c.iptured at all, it must
be within the next ten minutes, they
were coming on more rapidly than
ever. We were at the foot of this
very up-grade- where we now are.
It extends for nearly three miles beyond
Kanakia, and is one of the heaviest
in the country. It was at this
point that our fate was to be decided
From the moment we ran upon it our
light <ngme began to lose ground
hopelessly. Our pursuers were now
so near that we could plainly observe
the movement* of those in the engintcab
by the light, of their gauge lamp.
The platform of the car was crowded
with men, cocking their muskets and
making ready for an exterminating
volley.
" 'Oh, for five minutes more!' T
groaned. 'It is horrible to be trapped
or kiltod in sight of friends and
safety.'
'"Ves/muttered the engineer; 'there
is no hope now. When they fire there
won't be much left of us. And they
will, too, in half a moment.'
" I've an idea,' said the fireman,
arising .stiffly from his corner. 'I can't
light and I can't fire the machine, but
I've one arm left, and that'll do to hold
her steady while you and William puts
a spoke in their wheel.'
'"But how,' cried the engineer.
'Speak quick, John ; moments are gold
now.'
* ' Where are the tallow-cans we
put aboard ?' asked the fireman.
"'Bravo, John, just the thing !' exclaimed
the engineer, as if perceiving
a meaning in the other's words which
escaped me utterly. 'Captain, those
dispatches are safe, and you owe it to
John; for I should never have thought
of it in a lifetime.'
" By this time the fireman was standing
at the valves, and the engineer had
found the tallow-cans, two brass vessels,
each holding a gallon or more,
with long-curved spouts. One of these
he gave to me. while he kept the other
himself, and we scrambled over the
coal to the rear of the tender. I had
not the remotest idea of what we
were going to accomplish, but there
was no time to lose in explanation.
" ' N'ow,' said my companion, in an
excited tone, ' lean over, and pour
your tallow carefully upon the track
as we sro alonjr. Don't waste a drop,
and don't leave a foot of rail unoiled.'
" I obeyed him in silence, and soon
the tracks for a long distance beliind
us wer shining with the thick, greasy
fluid. When the contents of the can
were exhausted, the engineer said, as
he arose from his position, ' 1 think
we have fixed them. John, old man,
you can case her up a triile. We
needn't smash the machine trying to
got away. We shall have no more
trouble to-night.*
" I looked back and saw that our
pursuers had just reached the oiled
section of the track. Their own momentum
carried them forward some
distance; then there was a harsh,
whirring sound, and a furious escape
of steam. All was plain to me now.
On the up-grade the driver, finding no
resistance on the oiled tracks, simply
whirled around, without bearing the
engine onward a foot. It was as helpless
as a hamstrung elephant.
"At this moment a shot was fired
in the road before us, and a hoarse
voice commanded us to halt. Well
aware that we were now among
friends, our engine was stopped and
the facts explained to the otlicer in
command of the detachment.
- *
" mere is nine inure u? rejuti-. uui
pursuers and their engine were neatly
captured. Stockton's division made a
forward movement and relieved
Thomas and his army from their perilous
position. As for myself and my
brave companions, we wen; not furgotten,
and I am glad to say that the
inventive John, whose timely suggestions
had saved our engine, and perhaps
our army, left the service with
the rank of captain in the engineer
corps."
Having finished his story, and our
train at the same time beginning to
move on, my interesting companion
wrapped himself up in his cloak and
was so:m asleep.
t iwIamr*it
1 1IU AIIUUII1U1I ArvAituiiv*. O.
Owing to a singular practice of
adoption, it is rare t<? see a child above
six or seven years residing with its
parents. It is considered a compliment
for a "married man, after a visit, to ask
his host for one of his children. Indeed,
the soi disant father may, on a
similar occasion, pass th* child on
further without, referring to the real
parent. To prevent improp r flirtations
auiong the lads and lassies, they
paint tin* suspected parties, one red,
the other white; of course they cannot
mutually embrace without partially
exchanging color. Marriage is
forbidden among near relatives. Relationships
are tnuvd in both lines, and
the system with reference to either sex
i. i?it ti,? record fails after
ih liiciiiu in, >***/ -?_ .
three generations. Children are named
before they are born, after some friend
of the parent: there being no distinction
of sex in these titles.
Much ceremony is practiced in the
burial of the dead; infants being deposited
under the hearth of the hut
where they died, and adults upon a
mat-ban,' or platform, in the jungle, or
in a grave. Temporary migrations in
either case follow death, in order to allow
the spirit of the deceased full
range around the old haunts. After a
proper tim;; the dead are exhumed,
their bones cleaned and made into jewelry
and mementos. The belief in
spirits is evident from the ceremonies
accompanying interments.
Friends", at meeting, stare at each
i other until the younger speaks; rela
1- , 1..Tfn,
tive.s embrace ana nowi iimcmmi;. ^
! each particular kind of meeting there
is a special form of salutation, in
which tears form the chief ingredient.
Fire-making is unknown ; but the
modes of preserving the lire furnished
! by the active volcano of one. of the
! islands are very ingenious. Many misi
statements have been made concerning
their former ignorance of fire.?Scij
en re.
The cultivation of the olive in Calij
fornia promises to be a great success,
i The trees begin bearing in three years,
S and continue to yield for centurie
j Some of the olive trees ars already
j eight years old, and produces 250 bush!
els of fruit to the acre, representing
$1,200 in oil.
One of our esteemed contemporaries
comes to us with a stirring leader,
a column and a half long, on "Yeast."
j It must have been written by a rising
young journalist,,?Troy Timet.
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Snlt for Wood*.
An experience'! gardener says: Salt
is sometimes applied to gravel walks
and roads in a liquid state, or in the
form of strong brine used quite hot,
or as near the boiling point as possible.
This is said to be very effectual
in preventing the growth of weeds.
Sundry other solutions are also recommended
for the purpose; but I know
of nothing more effectual than a liberal
dressing of dry salt, sufficient to
whiten the entire surface of the
gravel. A slight sprinkling is of little
use, and may even increase rather
[ than'diminish the evil which it isinI
tended to cure. In applying such a
dressing as has just been recommended,
it i-; of course necessary to
exercise caution, in order to prevent
the salt coming in contact with the
grass, box or other plants, which may
form an edging to tho road or walk
operated on. In my garden last year
i some walks which were salted early
in the season have been free from
weeds all summer.
Trontnicnt of a Pnaluro.
The first thing to Vie done with a
| paai/uii; uilujiiiji'iv\i wiui aiuiio la tu
remove this incumbrance. If there
is a low spot, a ditch should bo dug
there with an outlet to carry off the
water and the stone gathered into it
and covered a toot deep. Large rocks
should be buried where they lie. Then
the surface can be improved by harrowing,
fresh seeding, and the use of
plaster, superphosphate of lime, nitrate
of soda, or other useful fertilizers.
Permanent pasture is very desirable
and easily attainable if the right means
are used. The chief of these is the
seed. A mixture of grasses is necessary.
and the varieties chosen should
' e those having running roots and
coming to maturity in succession.
Meadow fescue, tall oat-gnisses, fowl
meadow-grass, orchard-grass, timothy,
and red-top will altogether make a
thick, permanent sod, and if a little
white clover is added it might be an
advantage. Four pounds of each
would be enough to the acre,?New
1 orlc Times.
Milk Cow* Need Stnblea.
If the stable is not so close as to
make the cows uncomfortable, and is
well ventilated and kept clean, and as
good food given as that obtained
by grazing, the same cows will give
more milk in a se:ison if kept up than
they would if running at large, unless
tlio grazing is done under unusually
favorable conditions. Cows in milkrequire
but little exercise to maintain
good health. What they get beyond
this requirement when grazing, which
is generally considerable, tends to
diminish their milk. Exposure to hot
sunshine, to storms, and to annoyance
by ilies, tends to depreciate both
quantity and quality, and to give a
balance in favor of stabling. The
more traveling cows do, the more
cheesy matter do they develop in their
milk, while to support- the increased
respiration occasioned by theincriased
exercise, more fat is burned up and
less appears in the milk. The quieter
they remain, the richer their milk in
butter. Upon the varying conditions
which may accompany the two modes
of feeding, will depend the preference
in richness and quality of milk. It is
believed to be generally on the side of
housing when properly attended to.?
Live Stock Journal.
Fertility lncrca*e?I by Rotation"When
the farm annually yields to
its full capacity there is extracted
Irom the soil thuse elements that principally
constitute its riches or fertility,
and unless the soil is led with matter
containing those elements of fertility
it will in the course of time fail to repay
for the labor and capital required
in its cultivation. Most farmers are
aware of that fact and u.?-e barn-yard
manure and commercial fertilizers in
order to supply the deficiency. AVe
have within our power, however, the
means by which the soil can be recuperated
and restored to fertility, anil
every prudent farmer takes advantage
of such opportunities in order to
bring his farm to the highest degree
of productiveness. The practice of a
rotation of crops is essential to good
farming, and it is by sucli system that
I the most fertile sections have been
I kept to their standard condition.
How rotation accomplishes so desirable
a result is not a hard matter to
solve, for plants, like animals, differ in
their methods of growth and feeding
capacities. "When a Held is occupied
by clover, the crop, when plowed
under or fed to stock on the farm and
again returned in the shape of manure,
adds additional matter to the soil.
"When fed to animals, only a portion
returns, but when the whole crop goes
under, the quantity is very large. Hut,
j as :i crop of clover is sometimes too
I valuable for the plow, we still have
the advantage of knowing that the
I sods and roots are very enriching,
i Clover is a lime and potash plant, requiring
but little applied nitrogen to
I ito irrnwfli* :inil vet,. liv shading
: numv ivo^iv.iv.., .....x. ^ r,
the seil, and through its power of
! utilizing the nitrogenous materials of
j the soil and atmosphere, it returns
j more nitrogen to the soil than those
crops that depend largely on that substance.
Xor does it take from thesoil
j a disproportionate quantity of phosphoric
acid, which is another advanI
tage in its favor. As clover
I takes from the soil lime and potj
ash principally, it leaves the ground,
: when removed, in good condition for
some crop that prefers nitrogen and
I phosphoric acid. Experience has
i taught farmers tii.at wheat or corn is
i capable of filling a place in the rota;
tion, and such system is general on
j well cultivated farms, wheat, clover
I and corn following in successive
I firilnr
In some sections the practice is a
i lioeil crop, that is, in aldition to the
| use dt'the cultivator, tin; hoe is passed
i through the corntielil, which more
j thoroughly eradicates weeds. It calls
I for iimr- labor 0:1 tlie corn, but saves
it on the weeds. The rotation is not,
however, complete without a root crop
j o ' some kind, and this, joined with the
j bindi ng of sheep, as is done in England,
will bring an almost barren field
in the course of a few years to a fertile
condition. Our system of rotation is
| too narrow and should take in other
I crops that are profitable, in order that
the elements of plant-fcod should be
distributed as evenly as possible when
removed by crops.
PAnother advantage in rotation is
that all soils contain fertility to a certain
degree. Even iq the best of soils
ther-3 are dormant or insoluble substands
valuable in composition, and
when they are not being appropriated
by an occupying crop are gradually
being reduced and rendered soluble as
plant-Iood loruie succeeumg nun, nun
thus rotation not only prevents the loss
of particular substances in excess but
converts the locked-up elements of the
soil into free and assimilable matter,
In this country no system of rotation
is complete without clover; in Eng
land it must contain the cultivation ol
root crops and sheep pasturage. That
we may learn a valuable lesson by com
bining both practices it becomes th<
'7uty of every farmer to make experi
ments, even if only on small locations
?Practical Farmer.
lleeioest
Jelly Cake Kolls.?Four eggs
beat whites aod yolks separately ; on<
teacupful whire sugar, one tcacupfu
sifted (lour, one teaspoonful cream tar
ter, one-half teaspoonful sodadissolvet
in a very little hot water ; flavor witl
the juice of one lemon ; biat all we)
together; spread quarter of an incl
thick in a square tin ; bake quickly
then turn bottom side up, spread witl
.
jelly, and roll up while hot; this re
eeipt makes three rolls.
Flummery,?Boil one pint of mil'i
i with one and a half ounces of sugai
! and a bit of vanilla; as soon as il
boils add one ounce of corn lloui
which has been mixed with a little
j cold milk, ami stir with a wooder
| spoon until the corn Hour is wel
i cooked. Then take the pan off tin
lire and add four or five whites of eggs
beaten to a stiff froth ; pour the mix
! ture into a mold and serve with cus
tard or fruit syrup. To be eulen cold
I Potato Pudding.?Melt a table
i spoonful of butter, and add it to a pinl
i of cold mashed potato, with a palatabh
l seasoning of salt, pepper and cayenne
| beat the eggs to a froth, gradually mi>
{ with them half a pint of milk and stii
I the mixture into the mashed potatoes
1 put these ingredients at once into ,
j buttered earthen baking dish, plac;
! the pudding thus made in a very hoi
j oven and let it brown; serve it hot ir
i the dish in which it is baked as *
' vegetable.
Asi'AHAGrs Soup.?Cut the top;
from about thirty heads of asparagus,
about half an inch long, and boil the
rest; cut off all the tender portions am.
rub through a fieve, adding a little
i salt; warm three pints of soup stock
i add a small lump of butter and a teaspoonful
of Hour previously cooked b\
heating the butter and slowly stirring
in the llower; then add the asparagus
pulp. Boil slowly a quarter of at
hour, stirring in two or three tablespoonfuls
of cream; color the soup witl
a teaspoonful of prepared spinach
| made by pounding the spinach well
| adding a few drops of water, squeezing
j the juice through a cloth and puttins
i it over a good fire. As soon as i!
looks curdy, take it off and strain the
liquor through a sieve. What remain;
on the sieve is to be used for coloring
the soup. Just before serving the souf
add the asparagus tops which have
been separately boiled.
j Scalps Worth Two Hundred Dollars,
The Mexicans and the Indians of the
Chihuahua region vie with each othei
in savagery. The whites are as read}
as the reds to scalp their enemies. A
few months ago a party of ranchmer
set out for the mountains in search ol
Apaches, and came upon a band headed
: by a son of old Victorio. Battle was
waged for several days. At last the
Mexicans wer<j victorious, and witli
eight scalps, several squaws and some
ponies began their homeward march,
One of the most important captures
tli.if /if .? \fuvii?in wnmnn whf
had been carried away a year previous
by the Apaches. The reception of this
party in Chihuahua was witnessed by a
member of the Boston Herald's staff,
They got word from the mayor that on
Sunday he would receive them in the
plaza. At the appointed hour quiet
was disturbed by a clanging of the
bells in the cathedral towers, and vast
crowds rushed pell-mell toward the
square. Behind a band of music
came thirty horsemen, who were the
victorious ranchmen. Each carried
the ritles aid revolvers he had used,
and hanging to the saddles were the
other arms that had been employed in
the battles with the Apaches. Eight
men on foot held long poles* from
J which dangled tin; scalps of as many
j hated Apaches. "When the peoplesaw
these they became frantic with delight,
Bravos resounded on all sides, women
waved their handkerchiefs, and the
long line of excited gazers rocked to
and fro with enthusiasm, and applauded
until they were exhausted.
But hardly had" the scalp bearer.-passed
before there came the squawd
that had been taken. The minute
thise bare-headed, dirty, hard-faced
women were seen, the cheering and
the waving began again, while the
boys pressed hard against the guards
to strike at the wives of those who had
killed and tortured their people. Some
of the prisoners held in their arms, and
' securely bound to Hat, rough boards,
! their nursing babies, while the Mexii
cans struck at them. Every wail from
I an infant was hailed with joy by the
j friends of the victors. The mayor
j mailt: a congratulatory speech. The
j correspondent asked the consul of the
I'nited States what the city did with
the captive women. " They are sent
to the fort at Vera Cruz for life," he
replied. "The children are given to
whoever wants them to bring them up
as servants. The scalps? Why, the
government buys them. Every one
brings $200."
Peter Cooper's Liberality.
During the winters of 1874-"?, 1875-G,
and 1870-7, the sufferings of thu. po;>r
''n New York from privation, ct>ld and
want of employment were unprecedented
in the history of the metropolis.
Every day during these long winters,
from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until
i:.in "\r?. i?.>op fWmnr s.it. in liis
U 1U1.X . Wi V.'WJ.V. ?
or library on Lexington avenue, and
no one, however shabby in dress, was
refused admission. On the table be'
fore liiin were piled hundreds of newly
| coined half-dollars and pilei of onei
dollar greenbacks, and these piles were
; replenished every hour by the servant
in attendance. His rule was to give
' every applicant half a dollar in any
i event, and if the case seemed to be a
specially urgent one the douceur was
doubled, with a request either to write
;i history of the case, have it authenticated
by some clergyman or other authority,
and send it in for further consideration.
As early as 2:30 o'clock
in the afternoon crowds of povertystricken
people ? nun and women
of every nationality and position
I in lilc?.nigut ueen seen gamerou m
! front of the Lexington avenue resi!
donee, and the amount expended often
! amounted to $'200 in a single day, irrespective
of the special cases that were
| more carefully inquired into, and in
i which special aid was given. Most ot
I the applicant:- were strangers, and
I many, of course, were downright
frauds. But the old man proceeded
' upon the principle that it is better to
| lit* deceived by many than to deny one
deserving sulTorer. lie could afford,
1 he used to say, to give half a dollar to
j anybody who asked for it, irrespective
j of the merits of the applicant, and
| time did not permit him to inquire toe
: minutely into the circumstances. His
i heaviest week during any season ag
! gregated $1,000; it was considerable
money to spend on mendicants; but,as
the old man said, the ministers woul<
take care of those who belonged te
their denominations, and some one
must take care of those who wer<
| neither Episcopalians nor Methodists
I I)./u.l,vfnr!nno nr*r f'ilthnlifiG T t. WJ1I
I lUOI'J ttl UiMO UU1 \/?nuv;itvg? * w ?
those who h;ul no religious affiliation!
who were most liable to suffer withou
any resource or remedy; and it was fo;
this class that he kept up his distribu
tiun of half dollars.
Boys Will Bo Boys.
j A boy will tramp two hundred an<
I forty miles in one day on si rabbit bun
1 j and be limber in the evening; when, i
j you ask liitn to cross the street am
:; borrow Jones' two-inch auger, he wil
| be .as stiff as a meat block. And h
i ! will go swimming all day and stay ii
;! the water three hours at a time, am
-! splash and dive, and paddle and pull
' and next morning he will feel that ai
! unmeasured insult has been offerei
" him when he is tclil by his mother t
wash his face. And he'll wande
around a dry creek bed all the eveninj
piling up a pebble fort, and nearly di
when his big sister wants him to pic
up a basket of chips for the parlo
, j stove. And he'll spend the bigges
3 part of his time, in trying ta corner
1 stray mule or a barebacked horse fo
- a ride, and feel that all life's charm
I have fiad when it conies his turn t
i drive the cows home. And he'll tun
1 a ten-acre lot upside down for te:
l inches of angle worms, and wish fo
; the voiceless tomb when the garde:
i demands attention.
THE BAD BOY AND THE BABY
; THE TROUBLE THE NEW ARRIVAL
HAS CAUSED.
Howtlm Had ftoy'n I'n <Jot a Ortitt for tlie
, Infunt'n Simteniincp--iri? Ne^r Situation its
Teller in a Liver? Ntn.ble?
I "Well, how is the baby?" asked the
, grocery man of the bad boy, as he
came into the grocery smelling very
"horsey," and sat down on the chair
with the back gone, and looked very
tired.
" Oh, dickens take the baby. Everybody
.asks me about the baby as though
. n was mine, x uoa i p;iy uu <ii/ieuwuu
; to the blame thing, except to notice
; the foolishness going on around the
! Jiouse. Say, I guess that baby will
. grow up to be a fire engine. The
J nurse coupled tlie baby on to a section
, of rubber hose that runs down into a
| bottle of milk, and it began to get up :
J steam and pretty soon the milk began j
( to disappear, ju->t like the water does
when a lire engine couples on to ;i hy,
drant. Pa calls the baby 'Old Number
Two.' I am ' Number One,' and if
, pa had a hook and ladder truck and a '
j hose cart and a lire gong, he would
. imagine he was chief engineer of the
jlire department. Hub the baby kicks
| Dn this milk wagon milk, and howls
, like a dog that's got lost. The doctor
r told pa the best thing he could do was
[ ,to get a goat, but pa said sincc we J
t fnishiated him into the Masons with ]
tlio goat, he wouldn't have a goat
' around no how. The doc tulu pa the j
other kind of a goat, I think it was a
' Samantha goat lie said, wouldn't kick
J with its head, and pa sent me up into
\ the Polack settlement to see if I could j
! borrow a milk goat for a few weeks.
[ I got a woman to lend us her
' goat till the baby got big enough
\ to chew beef, for a dollar a week, and
; paid a dollar in advance, and pa went
up with me in the evening to help me
get the goat. Well, it was the blamtdest
mistake you ever see. There was
two goats so near alike that you
couldn't tell which was the goat we
! leased, and the other goat was the
' chum of our goat, but it belonged to a
' Nirish woman. We got a bed cord
hitched against the Irish goat, and
\ that goat didn't recognize the lease,
I :inti when we tried to ierlc it along it
I reared right up and made things lively
1 for pa. I don't know what there is
! about a goat that makes it get so
1 spunky, but that goat seemed to have
! a grudge against pa from the first. If
there were any places on pa's manly
1 form that the goat did not explore,
> with its head, pa don't know where
1 the places arc. Oh, it lammed him, and
1 when I la fled pa got mad. I told him
' every man ought to furnish his goats,
when he had a baby, and I let go of
1 the rope and started off, and pa said
' he knew how it was, I wanted
Jiim to get killed. It wasn't that, but
! I saw the Irish woman that owned the
- goat coming around the corner of the
1 house with a cistern pole. Just as pa
: was getting the goat out of the gate the
1 goat got cross ways of the gate, and pa
yanked and doubled the goat right up,
' and I thought he broke the goat's
1 neck, and the woman thought so too,
for she jabbed pa with the cistern pole
; just below the belt, and she tried to
get a hold on pa's hair, but he had her
thoro Vn u'fimnn fiin flip :idvnn
tage of pa in that way. 'cause ma has
tried it. Well, pa explained it to
the woman, and she let pa oft' if he
! would pay her two dollars for damages
1 to her goat, and he paid it, and then
Ave took the nanny goat, and it went
right along with us. The baby
1 hasn't done anything but blat since
the nurse coupled it onto the goat
1 hydrant. I had to take all my playthings
out of the basement to keep t ic
goat from eating them. I guess the
! milk will taste of powder and singed
hair now. The goat got to eating
some Roman candles me and my claim
had laid away in the coal bin, and
chewed them around the furnace, and
the powder leaked out and a coal fell
out of the furnace on the hearth, and
* - ^ i ? /-v ^:?I
J'OU U II Uldu lost'e |iiiium tucmicn gin
and the goat. You see pa can't milk
nothing but a milk wagon, and he got
the hired girl to milk the goat, and they
were just hunting around the basement
for the gout, with a tin cup, when
the fireworks went off,- Well, t'iere
was balls of green and red. and blue
fire,and spilled powder blazed up, and
the goat just looked astonished, anil
looked on .as though it was sorry so
1 much good fodder was sp >iled, and
when its hair began to burn the goat
gave one snort ami went between pa
and the hired girl like it was shot out
of a cannon, and it knocked pa over a
washboiler into a coal-bin, and the
hired girl in among the kindling
wood, and she crossed herself and repeated
the catekisni, and the goat
jumped up on top of the brick furnace,
and they couldn't get it down. I
heard the celebration, and went down
anil took pa by the pants and pulled
him out of the coal-bin, and he said he
would surrender, and plead guilty of
being the biggest fool in Milwaukee.
I pulled the kindling wood off the hired
girl, and then she got mad, and said
she would milk that goat or die. Oh,
that girl has got sand. She used to
work in the glass factory. Well, sir,
it was a sight worth two shillings admission
to see that hired girl get up on
a step-ladder to milk that goat on top
of the furnace, with pa sitting on a
barrel of potatoes, bossing the job.
They are going to fix a gang-plank to
get the goat down off the furnace.
The baby kicked on the milk last
night. 1 guess beside tasting of powder
and burnt hair, the milk was too
warm on account of the furnace. I'a
has got to grow a new lot of hair on
that guat, cr the woman won't lake it
ba'*k. She don't want no hald goat.
Well, they can run the baby and goat
to suit themselves, 'cause I have resigned.
I have gone into business.
Don't you smell .anything that would
; lead you to surmise that I had gone
into business? Xo drug store this
1 time," and the boy got up and put his
! thumbs into the armholes of his vest
> and looked proud.
1 " Oh, I don't know as I smell any>
thing, except the faint odor of a horse
1 blanket. What you gone into, any>
way?" and the grocery man put the
1 wrapping paper under the counter,
and put the red chalk in his pocket, so
s the bov couldn't write any sign to hang
5 up outside.
1 "You hit it the lir.st time. I have
> accepted a situation of teller in a livery
5 stable," said the boy, as he searched
3 around for the barrel of cat sugar,
. which had been removed.
i "Teller in a livery stable! Well,
* that is a new one on me. What is a
t teller in a livery stable?" and the gro'
eery man looked pleased. ;ind pointed
- the boy to a barrel of seven-cent
sugar.
41 Don't you know what a teller is in
a livery stable? It is the same as a
1 teller in a bank. I have to grcaso the
t harness, oil the buggie.s, and curry
f off the horses, and when a man comes
T 1
4 in to nire a iioim- i n?i>^ i<> ? >??
1 to the saloon and tell the livery man.
c That's what a teller is. L like the
3 teller part of it, but greasing the har1
ness is a little tuo rich for my blood,
but the livery man says if 1 stick to it
l 1 will be governor s >me day, 'cause
1 most all the great men have begun
0 life taking care of horses. J t all der
pends on my girl whether I stick or
B not. If she likes the smell of horses I
< shall be a statesman, but if she objects
1 to it, and sticks up her nose, 1 shall not
r yearn to be governor, at the expense of
t rriy girl. It beats all, don't it, that
a wimmin settle every great question,
i Everybody does everything to please
s wimmin, and if they kick on anything
0 that settles it. But I nuist go and
d umpire that game between pa and the
d hired girl and the goat. Say, can't
1 you come over and see the" baby?
a 'Taint bigger than a small satchel,"
and the boy waited till the grocery
man went to draw some vinegar, when
lie slipped out and put up a sign written
on a shingle with white chalk,
"Yellow sand wanted for maple sugar."
?Peck's Sun.
a
Villages lu China,
Villages, not badly built by any
means, occur at intervals of a mile or
more apart all along the roads of China.
Very good brick?much about the
same size, shape and material as those
made in this country?compose the
walls of the better houses, while for
the poorer order of edifices mud is
used. The brick walls in China are excellent?better
than the cheap brick
walls in America, and but little inferior
to our best preserved brick. "When
villages are constructed of mud there
is a striking resemblance to the villages
of Egypt .The houses haveno outside
windows and but one opening,
which is the door. The openings for
lights are upon inner courts or Kvk
yards, and are without glass. Tne
eaves arc made to project, so as to keep
out the ruin, awl in doing so exclude
much light as well. Blinds made of
slats are sometimes used, and thin,
light pappr pasted over the slats serves
to keep out some of. the cold air and
let in a little light.
The houses are invariably one story
high, and at the bottom of this custom
is a superstition that higher houses
would interfere with the spirits of the
air (" Fung Chui") and offend them,
thus bringing disaster upon the house
i or village. In fr ?nt of each door, and
! at a distance of eight or ten feet, stands
a detached wall, fifteen feet long and
as high as the eaves of the house, concealing
the door from any person
standing in front of it. This is for
the purpose of defending the house
and family from the malignant "Fung J
Chui" or spirits, which are popularly I
! believed to fly only in straight lines
and to be incapable of turning a corn?r.
It follows that when traversing the
' air in search of a certain house when
they come in contact with the wall
they are thrown off at an angle, and
thus baffled of their purpose, and fly
in a tangent through infinite space and
are lost.
A Chinese village lias but little in
common with those of this country,
either in detail or in general appearance.
While the villages of America,
copied from English prototypeare
peculiar from their detached andseparwSfli
/?orrlnna onrl frniQQ nlllf.Q
ilLC UU11U, ttun jj(uuuM uum g.f.....,,
those of China arc compact, huddled
together, and present from a distance
tlie aspect of a mere dead wall. One
peculiar aspect of all Chinese cities and
villages is the absence of all steeples,
spires or pinnacles of any kind. While
Mahominedan countries have the
mosque, with its dashing domes and
graceful minarets, and European and
American centers of population are
marked by lofty towers and spires
China is almost absolutely without any
of these striking architectural points.
The result is great monotony and
dullness of aspect.
The Day on Which Congross Opens.
In very early times, when March 4
was supposed to be the last day to
which Congress could extend itself in
the odd year with propriety, it would
J occasionally be found hard" at work ai
! the 3d passed into the 4th. As the 4th
I of March is the day for the inauguration
of the executive department of
the government of the United States,
that date has become the first in this
nation. It was fixed upon in 1788 by
the action of the Continental Congress, i
which, on September 18, adopted the
following resolve, preceded by a preamble
which set forth in order the
reasons for the action of that Congress
i at that time, "That the first Wednesi
clay in January next be the day for apj
pointing electors in the several States
i which before the said day shall have I
i ratified the said constitution; that the
first Wednesday in February next be
| the day for the electors to assemble in
! their respective States, and vote for a
j President, and that the first Wednesj
day in March next be the time, and the
j present seat of Congress (New York)
j the place, for commencing the proceedj
ings under the said constitution." The
j first Wednesday in March, 1788, fell on
j March 4, hencc the precedence of j
j that day in our history under the con!
stitution. It was not till the 30th I
i of April, 178't, however, that Wash- j
! ington became P esident, owing to various
circumstances, but in 1793, when
he entered upon his second presidcnI
tial term, he was inagurated on
j March 4. Were 1S83 an inaugural
i year, the ceremonies would have been
j postponed to March 5, as March 4 fell
\ on Sunday Next year will be the
1 ? *?i 1. i ,..:n s\r\ 'Tmac.
1 IPUJ) yCiir, <U1U iUitl Ullt ? ui ur; \jil i uwI
day; and the next presidential term
i on Wednesday, March 4, 1885. Our
! century of Presidents will be coinj
pleted on March 4, 1889; and the
i President to complete it will be chosen
! in 1883-9, if we shall insist that the
work must be done by a newly-chosen
| President. Properly, we should say,
the man who shall go out in 1889 will
j be the completing chief magistrate of
j this nation, as will regard the first
: century of the nation's constitutional
l life. It will be soon enough to discuss
j the matter almost six years hence.
I Possibly April :jl), 1889. the hundreth
1 anniversary of Washington's first
| inauguration as President of the j
i United States, would be selected as j
j the most lilting day on which to have
I a national celebration of the beginning
of our career as a people with a fixed
government of limited powers, and
| with the principles of liberty admitted
in every way?save where the colored
i race were concerned.?Huston Traveller
?
Hunting in a Curious Mask.
A Loiorauo iilini.'l iiiia iuvculuu a i
i duck-hunting outfit which discounts
| the California man's cow. He stripped
| the hide from a bullock and mounted
| it on a wire skeleton, which looked as
i natural as a living animal. lie cut
away the stomach of his wire bullock
for his body, and made two holes
through the shoulders to take sight
: through. When he wants a duck
! shoot he drops his skeleton over his
; head and starts out for the tulies. He
can walk right into a llock of ducks
without startling them, and has on
one or two occasions returned home
with his hiding-place full of teal caught
with his hands. He never fails to kill
all he wants.
j TVlicre Deep: st Solitude is Found.
A sensible young lady ma le the fed- i
I lowing request to her friends: " Do ;
i i ... Kif fl?i? rmnlinnr
; not iav mu um>?i -,?
brook's side, lest babbling lovers wake
me from mv dreams, nor in the beautiful
cemeteries in the valleys, lest sight
seers conning over epitaphs distract
me; but let my last sleep be under
the counter of the mi r.-hant and j
the business man generally who '
never advertiser There is th |
peace which passeth all understanding, j
and a deep sleep on which neither the j
buoyant footfall of youth nor the j
weary shullle and drag of old age will!
ever intrude."
Growth of the Republic. |
It is interesting to contemplate the
growth of the great republic in popu- j
! lation since the year 1790. It is as
follows:
Census of 1700 3,029,214 I
Census of 1S(J0 5.3>i,48:l
Census of 1810 7,2W,S',1
i Census of lw20..; 9,033,822
Census of 1N50 12,SCR,01*0
Census of 1H10 17,0(5!>,45J
Census of 1850 28,191,87(5
Censnu of 18C0 31,441,321
Census of 1S70 38,568,371 j
, Census of 1880 /50,l.r>f>,783 j
Everything is sweet to the swee J
singing poet. A Western warbler ha
been attracted by tho freckles on the
fai-e of a pretty girl. He calls them
brown-eyed daises slumbering in a
field of cream."
IN JUDGE LTNCH'S HANDS.
A. FEONTIEE LYNCHING SCS2TS VIVIDLY
DESCRIBED.
Tnktng the Murderer from flirt Cell and
Hanging Hiin Over a I>Iinl j Shaft?TUo
Vigilantes' Warning.
Did you ever see a lynching? A
genuine Joaquin Miller sensation,
stripped of its unreal mountains, impossible
trees and unimaginable rocks,
and done out in the bare browns and
reds of a sullen spring morning in the
barren, desolate gorges of the Kockies?
Just follow the crowd as it gathers at
the postoflice, and at last, in silence
and seriousness, moves slowly over
the hill to the ja'l. Everybody knows
there is death in the air.
The "solid citizens" stand at the
doors of their respective saloons and
s -e the "mob " go by, a mob in which
are their sons and brothers. A
drunken justice of the pea^e, old
'Squire O'Marn, who tried to kill himself
hist week, braces blearily up in a
doorway, and calmly, even smilingly,
reg.irds the men who are about to
take the law into their own hands.
They mount the hill and surround the
palisades which fence in the pen
where three murderers and i^any
thieves and " bums " are confined.
One corner of the jail is honored by
a double row of slabs along its side s,
and around this corner cluster.inost of
the men,according to their preconcerted
plan, while the ringleaders go around
to the wicket to interview Jailer Fish.
They know the answer they will get,
for Jim Fish is true as steel, and tells
them they'll grt his prisoners after
they've gotten the best of lnm, and
not before. It's a dangerous game,
but the vigilantes play to win at all
hazards. Convinced of the firmness of
Fish's purpose, they leave him, gather
once more around "Murderer's Corner,"
and in a moment the crackling of tiny,
creeping fiames is heard, heavy smoke
stifles the wretched prisoners, and their
cries and shouts form a terrible accompaniment
for th:? short, sharp blows of
deftly wielded axes cutting into Jim
Murphy's cell.
In ten minutes he is out writhing,
terror-stricken in the grasp of a half
dozen men, some of whom, possibly,
asked him only hist week for a " job."
The jailer is forced to busy himself in
releasing his other prisoners, and has
no time to check the mob even if he
could. But can this wretched, dwarfed
carrot-haired, sandv-bearded and alto
gether villainous-looking ruffian be the
clapper, blavk-browed gambler, whose
broadcloth was wont to be no blacker
and smoother than his own locks? The
transformation has indeed come, and
the king of Secret Gulch stands revealed
as the tramp who killed the
Frenchman on Cut-Throat Flat.
How curiously the boys stare at hiin
as they hurry him along to the old
shaft on the hill where once stood the
windlass and hoist of the Mory mine,
out of which Jim Murphy swindled the
widow of its discoverer. The splendid
new works yonder cannot help their
miserable owner n nv, for it is at the
mouth of the deserted shaft that he
meets his fate. The windlass chain
still holds the bucket over the sullen
water forty feet below, and a 200pound
weight is easily and quickly
slipped into the bucket without
Murphy's seeing it.
"Have you got anything to say before
you die?" says Big Bill, and for a
moment all is silence. The murderer'c
coat, hat and boots have been stripped
! from him for the llrst time since he
went to prison, three weeks ago. His
small, greenish eyes look eagerly about
for a chance to escape, but two sixshooters
stare him in the face. He
vents a volley of oaths and imprecations,
but begs no mercy, makes no
denial. ' Jim Murphy, alias California
Reddy," says Lig Bill, " the vigilantes
of Secret Gulch condemn you to instant
death. You know why, and it's
no use to take up time telling you."
Half a dozen hands bind the still
struggling wretch to the bucket, in
which he is forcibly seated. Years
ago he went down this shaft at night,
Secretl.y. when it belonged to John
Rowand's widow, to see what it had at
the bottom; and the next day lie
bought its riches from the widow for a
| song. Now he is to go down it again,
in broad daylight, but never to come
back.
The chain is wound up, and
low, over the yawning shaft and its
black bottom of water, hangs the
wretch, botween earth and heaven, an
>bject to gods and men. At a signal
;he handles of the windlass are reeased
from the hands that hold them,
ind, with the rapidity of lightning,
the bucket, with its shrieking human
freight, shoots downward to the very
bottom, striking the water with a loud
splash, but never staying its headlong
course until the very bedrock below is
reached.
After ten minutes the dripping, distorted,
slimy body is hoisted to the surface
and the remainder of the vigilantes'
sentence carried out. The remains
of the gambler king of Secret
Gulch, at this writing, hang from the
big telegraph pole in the Placer mines.
Xobody is lik'ly to cut it down soon,
for on its breast is pinned a notice,
which reads as follows:
"To all the thugs, thieves, cutthroats,
horse-thieves and disreputable
loafers of Secret Gulch: You are lierei...ci-v
lumen t.n Ip.ivr the camn.
anii warned by the example of Jim
Murphy. We mean business, and shall
execute the commands of 3-7-77."
Six hours have elapsed since the
posting or this notice, which now
adorns the church door and the saloon
screen alike. The trails down the
gulches and southward to Idaho are
already lined with swift-fleeing men,
some of whom have diamonds and
broadcloth, but no hats.?Correspondence
Pliikultlphi i Press.
Cities Warmer tlian the Country.
Those who happen to live at a little
distance from the heart of a city, says
(Science, must frequently have noticed
a lack of accord between the readings
of their own standard thermometers
and the published observations of the
signal service observer of th;?ir locality.
The rt ason of the discord is plain, viz.,
the perturbing action of the heat
which the city omits; arm, nowevei
gratifying it may be to the outsider tc
lind himself superior to the government
observes, it is very little to tin
ere lit of the weather bureau that this
particular source of error was not long
since recogniztd and avoided. Tin
remarks of Professor Whitney on this
subject, as applied to observations
made at London, are pertinent and
convincing. He says:
" It is a well-known fact that cities
are considerably warmer than tlu
more thinly-inhabited country, other
wise under similar climatic conditions
Statistics prove this to be true: ami
there could bt? no doubt that such
would be the effect of an immense aggregation
of population within a
limited space, even if there were nr
statistics hearing on this question
Many millions of tons of coal ar<
burned in and about London during
every year, and the whole ma>s <>i
brick of which the city is built i:
heated during the entire winter, am
more <>r less in the summer, many d?
grees above the natural temperature.'
An editor of a Minnesota paper i:
huniimr one of his compositors with ;
shotgun. The e litor attempted t<
publish a story healed "The 1'hanton
Bride," and the compositor set it up
"The Pontoon 15ri Ig.%" and it went ii
the paper that way. .Several sub
j scribers read tho story, on the supposi
tion that it was something about ;
pontoon bridge, and they stopped tin
paper.?Peek's Suit.
Many sheriffs of North Carolina re
ceive less than $300 annually in fees.
A SONG FROM THE SUDS. .
Queen of my tab, I merrily sin?
While the white foam rises high; I
And sturdily wash, and rinse and wring,
And fasten the clothes to dry; -HSj
Then out in the free fresh air they swing,
Under the summer sky. * HgH
I wish we could wash from our hearts and
souls ?"^|B
The stains of the week away; . SR||5fl
And jet water and air by their magio make
Ourselves as poor as they:
Then on the earth there would be, indeed,
A glorious washing day.
Along the path of a useful life
Will heart's-ease ever bloom; . 1 "laSSM
i The busy mind has no time to think
Of sorrow, or care, or gloom,
| And anxious thoughts may be swept away,
As we busily wield a broom.
I am glad the task to me is given /||RH
To labor day by day,
For it brings me health, and strength, and
hope, .
And I cheerfully learn to say,
'Head, you may think, Heart, you may iMgajSr'jf
feel,
But Hand, yon shall work away!"
?Miss AlcotL HK'SaBjjE
HUM R OF THE DAY.
The greatest composer?Sleep.
Checkers is looked upon as a square
game. *
The best tiling out is believed to be a "'^^8
conflagration.
The garment of a gho3t must be a ;
spirit 'rapper.
Should music he sold by the chord?
Drum music might be sold by the '''IjjaB
P?und. frnm
The briefless young lawyer must
wear his old clothes until he can win H B
a suit in court.
Every time a man in England snores
loud nervous people take it for an explosion
of dynamite.
We never knew a person to eat , l
ordinary lumber, but wo bave known
them to dine on shipboard.
Alma Tadema, the Portfolio says,
has "masterly veracity." What an 'v^SB
editor he would make!?Troy Times.
An exchange says: "Hay smell* ;;
the sweetest after it is cut." In that 3SI
respect Limburger cheese cannot com* J
pete with hay. *
"You said, Mrs. Jones, your um- Jfl
brella had a straight handle?" "I
thought it did, but since it vanished I
am quite certain it ended with a hook."
"Ella is better looking," remarked 4j|
Mrs. Brown, with a smirk, " but Lucjr 'M
will get married first." " Yes," chimed ; 1
in her husband, "gimme Luci-fer 'I
mifntiM owrv time."
liiUVVUVW V I
He rang the door-bell of a banker. |5j
The servant tells him "Monsieur does ;
not receive to-day." "That makes
nothing to me. My racket is to know 3|j
if he will give anything." - ,;;|ja
" Can you tell me," asked Twistem,
"the difference between my cook, this
morning, and a passenger on a new Kj
railroad ? One was bakin' stt&d and
the other was shaken bad."
The newspapers often print the
" last words " of men, but never those
of women. The latter would take up B
too much roam and crowd out all the
advertisements.?Norristoum Herald,
"I'msorry to keep you waiting for
your money," said the bank teller to >
Smithers, "but here's the money all in B
yellow boys." "Never mind," said'
Smithers, "I see'tis worth the wait in .
! gokl" '
* A paper announced jur its cumuuu*
a forthcoming story entitled "The -ffiSB
Prettiest Girl in tlie Town." Ahundred
young ladies sent postal cards
and warned the editor not to use their
" Is anybody waiting on you T said }
' a polite dry goods clerk to a younsr J
, lady from the country. "Yes, sir,"
replied the blushing damsel; " that's
my fellow outside; he wouldn't come
" Esquimaux are said to be able to Ja
?ee objects at a much greater distance Hkfl
than American^" and as they are
nearer, and can see better, and H -^fla
cannot discover tlie North pole sttelir,
ing up out of an open polar sea,"$|^$^^S
looks like foolish business for Ana^ ^gS Y^?Jg|
cans to look for it.
The Ore of Diphtheria. '
A California physician writes: Doij^ .J^j
ing a prolonged residence in the
terior of China I became acquaiatt^.^Stt^M
with the fact that the Chinese pi** " ...gi
reliance during epidemics of diphtheria von
the internal use of the fresh juica /; .-v^M
of limes, and the fruit itself, wfcioh
tiiey consume in enormous quantities, B
| in every conceivable form?as lemoft- .
I ale, with native spirits, cut in slkML, H
etc., during attacks of the dreadfoi?*2|^^^B
disease, with apparently most succeat- " 98
ful results, it hardly ever failing to-pl
affect a cure. The Chinese consider
a specific, and will, in case of need, da
anything to obtain a supply.
Since I have come back to California, ^
as also in Louisiana, 1 have used limes
and their juicos in my practice as a
! physician with most succe3siui resuits
in cases of diphth - ia.even in the most
desperate casts. ,r; soon sis I take
charge of a case c. 1 ^hiheria, I order
limes to be admin!c... freely as
possible, in any man;, or patient ijy?
can be prevailed upon to tak<> them,
especially in the form of hot }<?. made,
! sweetened wi ll white sugar uoney,
or cut in slu es with pourer -d white
sugar. Beside lime '"^ce ( vhich I
suppose acts by imp*rtii. - an excess of
oxygen to the circulatior. and thereby
prevents formation cS: vibriones, etc.,
and so has almost a specific effect on
disease), 1 prescribe whatever drug
may be indicated to relieve symptoms
;ts they develop, and impart strength
by appropriate stimulants and nourish!
nmrif
IJICU u.
They Settled.
Two men were wrangling in front '
! of the City Ilnll the other day, when
j one of them calie.l uut:
' "I tell you 1 don't owe you no $5 !"
JI "I say you do ! '
11 " And" I won't pay it!"'
I " Then I'll sue you!"
; j At this point a pedestrian Iialted and
' j inquired of the < n:1:
' i lirt vnn honestlv owe him?"
' j " Xot a penny, sir!" I
j "And will you sue him for $5?" lie 1
!' asked of the other. J
1 "I will1
I "(Jive him seven dollars,'' continued m
| the pedestrian t ; the debt >r?"give
*i him seven and be glad to. It' he sues fl
5 he's sure of a verdict, an I your ex
' penses will roach, at least ten dollars.
Give him seven and be tl.aikful that
' i you are beating two lawyers, a justice
i i and a constable, six jurymen and two
' i witnesses out of their fees." J1
A satisfactory settlement was made
on the spot.?Free Prtss.
i
mm _?
Swallowed a To.'peJo.
)' Little Johnny IJotts found a garter- ~
,! snake in the parks the other day and
> j he brought it home and hid it in the
r piano. When his sister's young man . .
f opened the instrument mat evening
^ to play "For (loudness Sake" he
1 thought he had 'em and yelled like a
. Piute on the war-path. They wouldn't
' believe in .Johnny's innocence some*
how. and 'his father said that af 0*
j dinner he'd attend to his case. When
i the family sat down to table Johnny
> solemnly entered the room in his stock- jL
1 ing f.'et'iin I carrying a pillow, which '
, he plac id on his chair before sitting
1 down. " What new im nkey shino is
. that ?" growled o'.d Bott*. ".Ss-s-h,
. pa." said Johnny, anxiously; "J was
i playing fireworks with Billy Simpson
ij this afternoon and I swallowed a tor- /I
pedo." " Did, eh?" "Ye?, and if any- iw
j thing should-1 uch me kinder hard I J
- might go off and all burst up."?-San
. Francisco Post. im