The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 31, 1886, Image 6
THE REDBREAST.
In country lanes the robins sing,
Clear-throated, joyous, swift of wing,
Prom misty dawn to dewy eve
(Though cares of nesting vex and grieve),
Their little heart-bells ring and ring.
And when the roses say to spring:
* V rrf* io a'oi* \rrlinn hn'n (T
Jb wu J w O V VI ^ nuvu ui
t The scents of sprays that lovers weave
In country lanes;
The redbreast still is heard to fling
His music forth; and he will cling
To autumn till the winds bereave
Her yellowing trees. Nor will he leave
Till winter finds hini shivering
f In country lanes.
A aOOD INVESTMENT.
A nondescript red brick, with dingy
windows and a brown wooden porch?
that was the sort of house the Darrells
lived in, and meant to die in, Berta used
to say, sometimes rebelliously, but always
hopeiessly, until that startling evening
when Miss Matilda came home in a state
nf cmAfmnol r?Vioonrl flirnur /-\n
the lounge.
Berta was knitting an amazing stitch
before a dyspeptic little grate, with her
feet crossed scissors-fashion on the fender.
"Lost your office?" ejaculated that
young person, when she had pieced together
the bits of broken sobs that fell
from her sister's lips like the toads in
the fairy tale. ''Do give me that paper
and let me see what it means.'
"It means?starvation?for two !"
wailed out the disconsolate Matilda from
the sofa.
It certainly did, as far as the six lines
ol official literature went; but youth is
so insolent in its hopefulness, that when
the youngest Miss Darrell h id buried
the letter under the coals with a vicious
little dig her spirits mounted with the
blaze.
"Oh, Teddy, dear, don't go on like
that; just think, there's enough money
in the tin bank to put a silver streak in
our cloud, and a whole month's salary,
with our bills paid in advance?"
"Seventy-five dollars!" sniffed Miss
Darrell.
' It is that mach better than nothing,"
observed Berta, with a philosophical nod
at the crumplcd-up figure, and another
nod?a confidential one?at the fire. "I
believe I could smuggle us out of our
tro ibles if you would only trust the
money to me,"
"jLiKeiy!" retorted JVliss Darrell, with
a tear-chokcd sob of contempt. "I
would as sojn trust a baby with
matches."
"That's what I call a burning shame;
but even allowing I wasted the money,
we would at least indulge in a new set of
woes. There's nothing like variety in
one's miseries, Matilda; and if you only
would trust me, I would buy two tickcts
right away."
Miss Darrell permitted the feeble firelight
to flicker for a moment across her
small, wet face, as she lifted it from the
^ arm of the sofa.
"Tickets for what? Tickets for
where?"
"Anywhere," answered Berta, with a
generous circle of her brown hands in the
air. "For the "West, I guess, if the
money would take us that far."
"Did I ever?"
"No, Matilda, you never! If you had
ever done anything else but plod right
on in that old rut of an office, you
wouldn't be crying because you are out of
your rue to-aav. serves you just rignt
for not marrying Jack. Oh, you needn't
moan or wriggle like that, Teddy dear;
it's true, every word, and you know it!"
' Miss Darrell raised her head again, and
this time her face was flushed a dark,
tempestuous red, and it wasn't fire-light
either.
"True or not, you are not the one to
reproach! If I have kept on plodding in
my 'nit,' it was only because you had to
be raised and cared for; and now that I
am weak and unnerved from my?my
trouble, you can sit there and taunt me
with your own superior intelligence. Wait
until you have done something to prove
it before you begin to brag. Oh, my
head! my head!" and down it went again
among the cushions.
"You don't consider my head, nor my
heart, either, to go on in that unfeeling
fashion. Yes, it is unfeeling in you, Matilda,
when you know how it hurts me to
see you suffer so for nothing."
i 9 /~i r t?
XWlUlllg? VJUUU UUiUi I
1 "I suppose," and with statistical
cheerfulness the girl set herself bolt up-1
right and proceed to check off undeniable
facts on ner fingers?"I suppose the
half the world would change places with
you and me to-night. Just think of the
streets lined with beggars; the hospitals
cram-full of suffering people; the insane
asylums and prisons, and "
' "And then look at us. Two women
not over strong, with only one month's
wages between them and the street; the
contrast is really dazzling!"
She willfully ignored the small bank
behind the Swiss clock; but Berta, wise :
from experience, suffered the omission in I
silence. It was so like her small, nerv-!
ous-tempered sister to struggle on and
on like a Spartan, and then stumble at last
in the slouch of despondency with a
helpless splash, that she crept over to
the sofa, and proceeded to administer on
the half-exposed cheek a series of those
carressing little dabs that go such a long
way toward soothing woman's deepest
woe. |
When the storm of tears had lulled into
irregular and rather childish
sobs, Berta^ with her cheeks flushed and
her voice quivering with eagerness, began:
4'0h, Matilda, do let up go! If we.
were among strangers we could be no !
worse off than we are here. If we were
starving to-morrow, do you know a soul
we could go to for a penny? I don't.
And I am so dead tired of this one room, !
and old Mrs. Bell's weak tea, and that
Tommy Tolsom mooning at us from
his side of the table."
But wnere couia we go? ana wnat
could we do when we got there?"
"Anything?anything! Teach, sew?" ;
Miss Matilda wriggled convulseively
from head to foot.
"And, if nccessarv scrub."
Miss Matilda screamed.
Berta laughed out in a fashion slightly
boyish, but wholly delightful, because
she enjoyed it -to the last echo, and
sprang to her feet with a suddenness calculated
at the very least to drive Miss
Matilda wild.
"If I arrange every thing?everything," i
she cried, breathlessly, "will you let me
have my way this time, Teddy? Say,
will you??will you?"
And because Miss Matilda was totally I
demoralized and weak from her emotion, !
she helplessly answered yes.
It could be proved?if only some one |
would take the trouble to do it?that,
theie exists no one quite so hopelessly ir-1
responsible as a woman newly dismissed
from governmental office?unless it be a
man!
When Miss Darrell had cried herself
rick enough for a prescription, she sank
into a state of apathetic despair?and staid
there?until Berta came home one evening
after a week's busy planning, with
two yellow tickets in her hands.
"They cost exactly sixty dollars," she
cried, joyously. "And I decidcd on
Goldvillc for two splendid reasons?you
sec, we shall have thirty dollars and fiftytwo-cents
to astonish the natives with,
and there is such a spice of comfort iu
the first syllable, don't you think?"
"What's in a name!" quoted Miss Matilda,
dismally.
But Bertha only laughed.
Miss Matilda almost wanted to laugh
herself, two days afterward, when she
found herself flashing through State after :
r 11 i i:r? t ,3 l
OiiHl', lor an nur me uhu. uuij meant an
many red and blue splashes on the map.
There was no longer need to reprove '
Bertaforthe reckless handling of their 1
future. The money was spent now?and,
after all, there was a flavor of dangerous
pleasure in daring fate to do her worst.
All her life she had walked without
stumbling in the beaten path that lay
before her as prim as a Dutch flower garden,
and now that there had come a sudden
and appalling end to her road, all
the comfort she had got from Berta was 1
a reference to "ruts," that wasn't sisterly, 1
and another to "Jack," that was scarcely
genteel.
Very well! there was no longer the
despised rut to plod in. They had a desolate
amount of freedom now to starve where
they pleased, and ot course, if it suited
Berta best to have their bones bleach on
the boundless prairies of the West,
why
- And then she did laugh at her own
amazing stock of self-pity,and it brought
such a sparkle in Berta's warm gray eyes '
that it was worth being hopeful just to
sor? thnm.
And, indeed, the girl was so cheerily
familiar with things she never saw before 1
and knew nothing about, so worldly- j
wise in the matter of checks and so
equal to the baggagemen, that Miss Dar- '
ril, in spite of her thirty and something 1
over years, was beginning by the second 1
night to feel childishly, irresponsibly 1
happy, when?their journey came to an 1
end. - j
Came to such a sudden and disastrous
end, that she had been lying in an ugly ]
heap under the stars quite twenty rain- }
utes before she realized that there had (
been an accident, and that like as not j
she was dead. f
Wounded she certainly was, for her t
arm lay under her as stiff and cold as a ^
wooden thing, and there was something r
f r\ nr V*ftf in oIauT
\A.\J *T 1_1 AAV/1 luVyV.) iU blAXVstV) OIV" j
drops, that she knew* even in the awful J
darkness was nothing less than blood?
and then she fainted again. The
accident had happened in an out- j
of-the-way part of the country, with no j
one to blame but a sleepy flagman. There c
was an inch or so of paragraph in the ^
nearest paper, and a two-line telegram- r
notice in the press all over the State?but
it takes more than a handful of bruised
and battered passengers to make headlines
in these progressive days, so that
when Miss Darrell opened her eyes on the t
world again it had quite forgotten all s
about her. i
It was rather a strange world for a pair g
of civilized eyes to open upon?four walls [
of round logs chinked with mud of deli- ^
cate yellow^ with a small, square opening
for a window, aud a long panel slit j
for a door. I
Outside the window there were frostcoated
mountains shooting up, up above ?
the sky line, and on the other side of ^
the door there came swift, irregular r
sounds of?what was it? What was that t
sound? And where in the name of sense
was Reberta? 0
Why, there she stood right beside her,
and as her watchful eyes caught sight I
of Miss Matilda's wide, wondering ones, d
there came a pink wave of gladness into t
her face, as with a womanly sob she leaned j
j v.*. 1? T
uver auu uitugut uei ui nci iiuus. j.
"Berta," began Miss Matilda, in such li
a small, faint voice that it very nearlyfrightened
her into silence, 'Tve been ill, ?
haven't I?" t
"Yes, dear; but the doctor says?" a
"I've needed a doctor, then?" And ?
when she had asked her question, she ^
moaned and closcd her eyes.
Berta could have told her she r
came near needing a coroner, t
but she only patted the thin white 1
hand, and purred out a series of soothing e
endearments instead. c
"And what did he say was the matter t
with me? I feel as if everv bone in mv t
* i _ 1 a _ i i T It
Doay was spuncers?my arm is proven, i ~
know!" j
''Indeed it isn't!" cried the girl, eagerly.
"You were just shook up, don't you t
know, and bruised and scratched all *
over, poor darling; but there was nothing j
downright dangerous the matter, because
the jury, or whatever you call it, sat on t
you, and, of course, they ought to
know."
Then Miss Matilda Darrell's eyes flared
open, and her moan was something ,
dreadful to hear.
"It only serves me right tor trusting a (
child like you with the responsibilities, ?
that belonged to me. I don't blame you ]
heaven kuows; but to come back to con- x
siousness in a hovel like this, penniless,- (
and maimed perhaps for life?it makes i
me wish I was dead?oh, I wish I was r
dead " And then the faint, quiver- t
ing voice trailed off into a pitiful and }
most childish sob. t
"If you knew what you were talking t
abou, Teddy, you wouldn't go on in that (
unfeeling way. It isn't a novel; it's a ]
very nice shanty, with big blazing fires . x
in both rooms, and its the loveliest spot
you ever saw outside, with high mountains
and miles and miles of pines?the ?
cars will be coming by presently?don't
shiver like that, poor darling?and when \
you see the doctor?well!" and Berta ac- j
cented her last word with uplifted eyes
and hands. ]
"And how am I to pay him,, that's
what I want to know! Oh, Berta, child,
that was a bad investment you made oi T
our last bit of money?"
4lI call it a very good investment," in- s
terrupted the youngest Miss Darrell, ?
stoutly. "I only had a hundred dollars ,
to work with, and I'm sure I've realized j
on it to the extent of five thousand dol- s
lars and a beau!" ?
"Fiv<! thousand?dollars?and?a?" }
"Beau?your beau, not mine. My operations
have been purely disintereeted. I \
don't even exact the usual per cent. Good
gracious, Matilda, don't sture at a body
like that! Jack said I must break it by
degrees, but he hidift seen your eyes
when he gave me the order. You see,
when we determined to 'Westward Ho,' i
T wrote to .Tack, and the dear old boy? <
you just ought to see what a drab-col- ;
ored head he has, with a round bald spot '
in the middle?well, he said in his reply ;
that I was to buy tickets for Goldville, i
and that he would meet us at the station. !
The accident happened six miles this )
side, and as you were not able to be
moved, he turned out the lumberman
who own this cabin and fixed us up as
snug, as snug. You can hear the men
chopping in the pines now?isn't it the
chee.iest, crispest music in the world!
I'm going to marry a lumberman some
day on account of his axe?and dear old
Jack owns a comfortable home in Goldville
and gets all the practice in the town.
A bad investment, indeed!"
Over Miss Darrell's face came a tinge
of faintest pink, and her lips trembled
like a baby's.
'Oh, yes, you are so taken up witl*.
Jack that you don't consider the cash
profits of my little speculation! The
five thousand dollars is the result of a
compromise the railroad made with me,
and I've put it in Goldville bonds at six
percent., which I consider a downright
good investment!"?Nannie Lancaster.
Hoiy the New Mexicans Capture Ants.
An automatic combination self-adjusting
ant trap and intoxicating machine I
has been in use for years in New Mexico |
and Arizona, which is worthy of careful
civilized attention. The chief blessing
of that arid section is held to be mescal,
a fiery liquor distilled from a species of
cactus, and the principal curse is an immense
black ant that considers himself
proprietor of any premises to which his
nest may belong. It is said that the natives
could not live without either the
muscal or the ants, for while it is or.ly
mescal that can make a Mexican's life
endurable with the ants, it is only the
ants that wake a Mexican from the profound
coma into which the mescal
plunges him.
The ancient Mexican method of trving
to get rid of an ant's nest was to fifl up
the main hatch with fine gunpowder and
touch it off, keep a fire boiling over it
night and day for a week, or drown it
?' - - 1??a u a /> n 1*?nonlf
UUb Willi UUlllll^ 1VC. ?1115 vuij iboutu
was that the ants would stay down cellar
until the trouble was over, and then
cheerfully repair the damage done to their
dwelling, and "lay for" the Mexican in
the silent watches of the night with a
vigor and alacrity that were truly awful.
One day a desperate Mexican poured
a quart of mescal down his throat and.
buried the bottle in the centre of the,
principal ant's nest in his yard, with the
intention of filling it with gunpowder
and blowing both himself and his enemies
out of the territory. Having buried
the bottle to the neck, he went to the
trader's to get the powder. When he
returned, he found that the bottle was
illed with ants, whom curiosity had
prompted to drop in, and who, unable to
ilimb out, were indulging in a rough
md tumb[e free fight that did the Mexican's
heart no end of good. Another
jottle was quickly procured and filled,
ind by sunset the Mexican found JJhim- j
lelf proprietor of seven quarts of ants in
various stages of mutilation and wrath,
fo shake these into a bonfire was easy,
ind thus in a day the colony was broken
lp forever.
The writer has seen two pounds of rifle
' 1 nr?nof onfl
juwuul I'cluiucu lutu an aui. a iivou auu
jrove ineffective in its destruction, while ,
>y the bottle system the work was thorrnghly
accomplished in less than a week
>y the capture of the last ant in the comnunity.?Scientific
American.
Southern Forts.
At the outbreak of the war between
he South and the North there were
eventeen forts in the South belongng
to the United States. The list begins
with the forts in Louisiana and fol-,
ows the coast line in the order named
)elo-vs;:
Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip?On the
Mississippi river, sevonty-five miles below
sew Orleans.
Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines?The former
,t Mobile Point, the entrance of Mobile bay,
orty miles below Mobile; the latter on Dau>hin
Island,, opposite Fort Morgan and three*
niles distant. These two forts commanded
he entrance to Mobile bay.
Fort Pickens?Santa Rosa Island, entrance
o Pensacola harbor, one of the largest forts
in tlio fliilP nf Mnrim
Fort McRae?On Poster's Island, opposite
"orb Pickens, and one and a half miles
listant A powerful caseniated water-batery.
Fort Barrancas?Near the navy yard at
'ensacola, facing the entrance to the harbor,
ntended also to cover the navy yard from
und attack.
Fort Jefferson?Intended to protect the
mchorage of the Tortugas, as a naval depot
.nd station: for guarding the commerce
vuich follows the channel of the gulf stream,
md for controlling the navigation of the
fulf.
Fort Taylor?Key West; an important
vork protecting the harbor of Key West.
Fort Pulaski?On Cockspur island, a few
niles below Savannah, protecting the enrance
to the river and approach to Savanlab.
Forts Moultrie and Sumter?Protecting ';he
mtrance to Charleston harbor. The former
in Sullivan island, three miles below Charles- I
? ?J i? l-ii ~;i? I
Oil, ttUU H1CJ lUblCl UUC UAX1C7 It VAX* JL- V/l 1/ iUVU.
rie, and three-fourths of a mile from the
learest land.
Castle Pinekney?A small work on the ap>roach
to and near Charleston.
Forts Monroe and Calhoun?At the enrance
to Hampton Roads, protecting the
rloads and approach to Norfolk, James river,
>tc. Fort Monroe was the largest work of the
cind in the United States in 1861.
Fort McHenry?An old work protecting
he entrance to Baltimore harbor.
Fort Carroll?A very important work a
ew miles below Baltimore.
His Private Mark.
A mild-mannered German cook, wlio 1
loes business in a smali way in Grand
;treet, chanced to fall overboard from an
2ast river ferryboat. He was rescued after
nuch trouble by three young men?a
leek hand hand and two longshoremen.
While the German's recovery seemed a
natter of extreme uncertainty the three
? ? ? _#
roung men quarreled over tne credit 01 ,
laving rescued him. Each man wished '
he glory of shining on the station-house
jlotter as a rescuer, with perhaps the
;hance of subsequent material reward. {
3efore they had succeeded in settling the
natter to their mutual satisfaction they
vere forcibly drawn apart by the police.
"See here," said an officer, "you can't
settle this thing by fighting."
"That's so," assented the smallest of
;he three. "I can prove without fightng
that I saved that man."
"Let's see you do it, then, and be
ively."
"I've got my private mark on him."
"Show your mark and give us less of
four jaw."
The young man stepped blithely to the
iide of the half-conscious man, pulled
.1 A ?r>/I
isme tne umiiKm mat uuvcjuu mm, aim
jointed trumphantly to a two-inch gash
n the fleshy part of his back. "There!"
laid he; "there's my private mark I
There's whore I stuck the boat-hook into
lim!"
His name went down on the police
)lotter without farther question.?New
York Times.
Her Royal Spouse's Beard.
The lovely Queen Marglierita, of Italy, i
s at present in painful trouble on account '
)f her royal spouse's beard. About a
^*ear ago it began to turn gray. This
ivjks 110 had. as his maiestv is only forty
rears old, arfd, in the eyes of her
majesty, the handsomest man in Italy.
She purchased a bottle of patent hair restorer,
and ordered his majesty to use it.
King Humbert demurred, but as the
Queen insisted, he first took the precaution
to apply it to the cars of one of his
hounds. When the queen asked next
morning if his majesty had used her ;
remedy. Kiny Humbert begged her to
apply it to her pet parrot, and let him
know the result next day. Her majesty
took the bottle and left the room, but
has not mentioned the subject since.
The king's beard is now almost white.
INDIAN JUGGLERY.
CEREMONIES IN THE "SACRED
IiODGE" OF SAVAGES.
A. Programme of Performances Lasting
Six Weeks and Ending in
a Sham Hunt?Some of
the Tricks.
It is seldom that one meets with any
special form of entertainment among Indians
save shamanistic and other mystic
ceremonies, which are part of the rites
performed in connection with making
rain, exercising evil spirits, etc., but
among the Arikara Indians of Northern
Dakota there survives a custom of giving
a public entertainment each year, which
causes the o-atherinor of friendlv Indians
from all directions. The ceremony takes
place during August and September, and |
after continuing for six weeks terminates
in sham hunts. The young men and j
warriors among nearly all tribes of |
the great plains organize themselves j
into bands for mutual amuse- j
ment, dancing and feasting, to while I
away the long, dreary winter evenings, j
One of these bands of Arikara braves j
numbers but ten or twelve individuals of j
acknowleged prowess, and appears to ,
consist of candidates for future recogni- i j
tion as shamans or "medicine men." As |
they progress in the art of deception it is ! j
nccessary to impress the balance of tlje '.
tribe with their assumed mystic powers (
and to secure for themselves the neces- (
sary amount of superstitious veneration .
for future success in becoming leaders in .
the tribe. {,
The "Sacred Lodge'' of the Arikara is i
around dirt lodge, with dome shaped!
r 1.1: ~ T * i. i 1
roox, reseniuuiig a uu?e mveneu uusuei
basket. It measures fifty feet in diameter
and from fifteen to eighteen feet high, ,
and has a large opening at the top for the
escape of smoke. There is only one door, |
facing the east, and this is directly oppo- |
site the point of the interior at which the
band is stationed. In the middle of the J
lodge are six heavy upright trunks of 1,
cottonwood trees, serving aa pi'lars for
the roof. The posts are arranged three
on a side, thus forming an oblong square, |
between which, on the ground floor, a fire
is kept burning more for light than for i'
heat,' although the evenings at this lati-!,
tude become decidedly chilly at this sea- j
eon of the year. Attached to these posts.
and around the sides ot the lodge, are nu-1 ^
merous candles which shed just sufficient
light to add to the weirdness of the
scene. That quarter of the in- j
terior next to the door I
is reserved for the audience, the old men ,
and women taking the first two rows of
seats?on the ground?the succeeding 1
ones being taken by the first comers. The 1
space around the wall of the lodge is
appropriated by the young Indian bloods
and boys, who usually manage to create j
considerable merriment during the awk- j
ward intervals, which are not infrequent, j
The crier of the tribe mounts the roof of
the sracred lodge each afternoon, and in
a doleful, monotonous song announces ,
the programme for the evening of that ;
day. When sunset approaches the .
members of the band enter the structure ^
and pvepare for the evening. An orchestra
of two drummers, two male singers
and two women noted lor shrill voices J
occupies a position on the right side of ;
the floor, and at the proper time drum- j'
ming Begins in a very faint tone, grad- j
ually increasing in intensity, when the !1
singers join in. There may be one or j
two preliminary songs before the members
of the band rise from their places :
and advance toward the central fire, !
where they form a semi-circle and dance, ]
keeping time to the beating o f the d rums. ,
Then a young brave advances bearing
a long pole before him which is surmounted
by a stuffed sea gull. His com- .
panions dance around him excitedly, ]
oinmnir lnnritv and nonnmnftniftd hv thfi ; '
~(r>*"fc> ?~"J ? 1 ~j j i
hired singers. All of a sadden there is
an instant of silence, when the bird's
spirit can be heard, the voice issuing
apparently from the mouth of the gull.
Then, ns a murmur of approbation notifies
the dancers that the trick is surcessful,
it is repeated. Upon close examination
it is found that a thin reed tube extends
from the brave's mouth to the pole, that
the pole is hollow, and that a small
whistle has been inserted in the top, immediately
under the bird.
Another trick consists in swallowing a
large bullet and having it removed from
the back. The pomme blanche, or Indi- j
an turnip, is made to grow in the earthen j
floor of the lodge, though it is almost 1
needless to say that these have been
planted there during the day of the per- j
formance. A small puppet, representing (
an Indian, probably six inches in height, <
is placed on the floor before the dancers, j
and after considerable drumming and (
singing the image begins to bob up and 1
down in unison with the music. One
dancer takes a ro4 and passes it above
and behind the figure, to show that no
strings exist whereby its movements can
be governed. Finally all of the dancers
run around so as to cross the fire, each
time resting upon the burning branches a
few moments, though not long enough (
to scorch the moccasins.
The closing exercises have been thus
described: "When the last day of the (
festival (Sundav) came the roofs of al- '
most every habitation in sight of the :
plaza before the sacred lodge were
crowded with spectators, as none were
admitted on that day rave those taking
part in the hunting scones. First appeared
a man representing a duck, be- .
ing covered with articles of clothing
made of duck skins stitched together. As 1
he issued from the door of the lodge he ,
passed into the next house?the resi- '
dence of a shaman?where he tarried a
short time. As he again started to visit the
next house the duck hunters issued from "
the door of the sacred lodge and fol- ,
lowed his trail. The duck imitated the ^
voice of the bird he represented, while
the hunters passed through many amusing j
evolutions in their search. So the hunt
continued round the circle of six or eight
dwellings and back to the point of dc- j
parture. Then the rabbit appeared and <
passed over the same ground, similarly ,
pursued by hunters armed with bows and '
arrows. The rabbit was almost without
co-vering save the blotches of gray and
white clay with which his body was besmeared.
He, instead of returning to the
sacred lodge, ran to the middle of the I
pla/.a where he hopped about and finally '
squatted in a cluster of sage brush, which
had previously been placed there. When j
the hunters espied him one of them drew
his arrow and shot him through the body. 1
Then two women came forth from a side ;
lodge, removed the arrow, when plenty
of blood(?) appeared, and after a few :
minutes' careful pow-wowing the rabbit j
was restored to life.
4<A oimiloi* fnfn OTTOifa/1 KnfPoln !
IX Ollllliui 1UI/V u U Ui UWVA tuw k/unuivj
though this animal was shot with a 1
bullet instead of an arrow. He was
carried upon the roof of th eacred lodge
and there restored. Hunting the owl,
the bear .-nd the wolf, beside other game
animals, v.-as also illustrated in nearly the
same manner."
These ceremonies complete the festival,
the Indians return to their respec
tive houses and almost beggar themselves
in entertaining their friends from a distance.?New
York Herald.
Silk Cnlture.
Professor Riley, chief of the entomological
division, department of agriculture,
hitherto supposed to have been entliiioinflfi/>
in rflrrorrl fA fliA oillr
lUUOJUOllVy XU IV^um t/w l/UU puuio U1 OllXW
culture in the United States, in a recent
issue of the Rural New Yorker says:
The experience of the experiment stations,
both at Philadelphia and New
Orleans, run under the auspicies of the
department of agriculture to test the
question of profit, has not been very encouraging
the last year. The actual cost *
at Philadelphia for producing a pound of
silk has been $7.58, while the silk has
brought $4.40 per pound. At New Orleans
there is a better showing; 3,360
pounds of dried cocoons have been obtained,
and have brought on an average
$1 per pound; 2,710 pounds have already
hcen reeled, and have produced G41
pounds of reeled silk, which has
sold at $4.50 Tier nound. For labor
employed in making this reeled
silk the cost has been $1.75 per pound;
in other words, the silk reeled has cost
$0.07, and has brought but $4.o0. There
has recently been a decided rise in the
price of reeled silk, which would put a
different showing on the above figures,.
and it must be remembered that the general
expense in purely experimental work
is always heavy because under commercial
circumstances there is some income
from silk waste which is not here included.
I have rather discouraged than
encouraged this industry for the last
three year*, because I am thoroughly convinced
that the majority of those who
engage in it are doomed to disappointment.
Life Studies, by Lige Brown.
Be cheerful and you are bound to
be healthy. The despairing patient is
the one who dies.
Hope is a guideboard that is always
pointing to a pleasant pathway through
strove and meadow.
Somebody has invented a woman's hat
that shuts up, but the woman herself still
continues otherwise.
' An exchange has a department headed
"Woman's Talk." It crowds out a good
3hare of the advertisem nts.
The man who thought that an editor's
work was "nothing more than write,"
Found he was wrong when he tried it.
It has been observed by the men who
browse on the dry fodder of statistics,
that the English could sparrow a fe.w
more of their birds.
Alligator hides are worth seventy-five
:ents each in Louis iana. This significant
fact explains why tramps are seldom seen
30 far south.
To a certain extent we all profit by
iach other's misfortunes, but the man
ivho tells a woman that her babe is not
pretty is liable to go home with a bleeding
scalp.
Why it is that an ordinary woman has
more music in the neighborhood of her
ander jaw than a blacksmith has in both
irms, is one of the things that science
bias never undertaken to explain.
Somebody who has been digging down
into the hard-pan of language, claims
that the orig:nal meaning of the word
editor was uto eat," but in the pinching
present it means "to starve" in a good
many localities that a blind horse might
stray into.
Every man who discovers a previously
anknown fact is a benefactor to his race,
ind adds to the mental wealth of the
svorld, unless his discovery is the inevitible
result of blowing into the muzzle of
i shotgun to find out how much vacancy
it contains.
Bagdad is a place of over 100,000 inhabitants,
and yet it has no place of public
amusement, and the women folk never
talk about each other. If human nature
is the same the world over, what a godsend
a dog fight must be among the
Bagdadians.?Chicaoo Ledger.
Dead Before the Knife FelL
At the execution of the murderer
3agny, at Troyes, France, recently, an,
incident took place the like of which had
never before been witnessed in France,
rhe condemned man, during his trial and
anal imprisonment, did not evince the
[east fear. When, on the morning of the
fatal day, he was roused from sleep and
informed that his hour was come, he received
the intelligence quite calmly. He
urnsp attended to his last relifrious
duties, ate a hearty breakfast, had his
"toilet" made, asked for a good glass of
brandy, and said he was ready to go.
Be walked between his attendants with
i firm step and a look of courage, almost
of defiance. But when he came in front j
Df the ghastly instrument of death and
glanced up at it, he was noticed to blanch
or turn almost white. At the same time
his body becamc inert. He was lifted on
the bascule, where he lay for twenty-five
awful' seconds before the knife fell.
Meantime he did not stir. When the
head was separated from the body it was
noticed the blood did not spurt eight or
nine feet, as it does in such cases. When
TIT Ar A mtfATI
LUC UUUlIUllig pujoiuiaiio ngiu ^xivu
charge of the tody, they found the heart
had filled with coagulated blood. This
they explained by the fact that when
Gagny looked at the machine and turned
suddenly white, his heart ceased action
and did not resume after. He was dead
before the knife touched him.
The Baby's Horoscope.
Believers in astrology and fortune-telling
of all kinds will find it a little difficult
to explain the cause of a slight mistake
made by Johannes Schoner, a
zealous astrologer of the Sixteenth
century. While on a journey, Schoner
put up at the house of a friend, where he
?aw the youngest child of the latter, aged
two years, lying asleep >in its cradle.
Schoner immediately sat down and drew
up the baby's horoscope. "Qe will be a
^reat man, a gallant warrior, and, like
k-!o foi-linr Tirill o+fain tn Vnr/h rAnk and
I A J o miuoij nui uvw?iM wv _
iignity," was the result of the astrologer's
profound* meditation. The father
glanced at the paper, gave an embarrassed
little cough, and said, "Why?why, Johannes,
the child is a girl!"?Youth's
Companion.
The Author of " Dixie."
Colonel Will S. Hays, in conversation
last night, declared that he was the
original author of "Dixie." "The words
[ wrote as a Confederate war ballad during
the early part of the war. The music
[ fitted to them was a variation or adaptation
of a song that was current in my
rT/M^Vt V?A?Inn!?n.. P T Vl.O Q ^AtllrOV
yUULUj UC^IUUIU^* xx J. Aiwv* M V4VUU.VJ
what wouldn't go.' I was working then
in a printing office, and the music I engraved
myself in the fourth floor of the
building where the New York store now
3tands. The city was then in the hands
of the Federals, and the plates and words
had to bo surreptitiously smuggled
through the lines into the Confederacy.
The song became immediately popular in
Urn (ii-mir on/1 Vion^o wirlpsnrpnd nn.
l?uv U t 111 J ^ UliVt UV.UVIV A vu ?? a^vH. ??
toriety."?Louisville (Ky.) Post.
Never be over-exacting with children;
they will grow wiser with years.
TTTiMW (IK KIIN !
JL/ V X/ VJIJLfi. V'A A VIM
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM c
VARIOUS SOURCES. t
After a Fashion?The Domestic Com- 2
promise?He Talked Too Much? fl
Matrimonial Infelicity?The t
Grocer's New Boy, Etc. f
Johnny Grey?1 'Say, Mr. Black, did c
you get the fashion?" r
Mr. Black?4<Did I get what, Johnny?" c
J.?"The fashion you wrote after." 1
Mr. "R.?"T Hnn'f; understand vou.
really, I haven't written after any fashion."
,
Miss Grey?(coloring) "Johnny, you
may leave the room, children should be
seen and not heard."
J.?"I don't care,I ain't done nothing.
You told ma, yourself that Mr. Black
wrote for the papers after a fashion."?
Roxbury Advocate.
The Domestic Compromise.
"Bromley, I'm having a wretched time
with my wife. We wrangle fearfully, and
she's so wordy that she overwhelms me
every time."
"Well, Darringer, these little pleasantries
are not to be avoided, it seems.
My wife and I have reduced them
to a science. She demands but two
words, and I good-naturedly let her
have them. It's a small concession, you
see."
"t should think it was. I envy
vou. Bromlev. 'oon mv soul I do.
Oh, by the way,'what are the two
words?"
"The first and last."?Pittsburg Telegraph.
He Talked Too Much.
"These building associations may be
good things," said a man loafing about
the station, "and they may teach a man
to save his money, and enable him to get
something ahead, and to build a house
of his own, but I don't think I need any
building association in mine. A year
ago last August I took my present position.
I hadn't a dollar to my name,
then. Now I have a nice house and lot,
all paid for, and money in the bank, and
I haven't been very economical either."
"And what position do you hold?" inquired
a solid-looking man.
"My position? Oh, I'm a conductor
on this road. You say you're in the railUnMnnfld
4-r\r\ aVi 1
luau uuoiugao vut wu\*uv%w4?
"No."
"Engineer?"
"No."
"What then?"
"Oh, I'm one of the directors of this
company. Your name, please."?Peck?a
Sun.
ftfatrimonial Infelicity. (
It is generally understood in Austin |
that Colonel Yerger and Mrs. Yerger |
fight like cats and dogs. They recently (
gave a reception, to which Tom An jerry ]
and Bill Yard, two Texan university (
students, were invited. <
"Who is that little dude with an eye- ,
glass to whom Colonel and Mrs. Yerger are
talking so pleasantly," asked Tom. j
"He is an artist from Boston who is \
goingtopaint them on one picture," ,
replied Bill. i
"Is?is he a painter of battle pieces?" j
"I don't know. I believe he is going
M -noint tlipm in nil " ,
4'Paintthem in oil! What foolishncsss.
He ought to paint them in vinegar."?Siftinga.
The Grocer's New Boy.
A Michigan avenue grocer took on a
new boy the other day, and when it came
noon he catechised the lad as to the
price of butter, sugar, eggs, clothes-pins
and other articles which might be called
for and went home to dinner feeling that
the boy was all right. When he returned,
after an hour, he missed a barrel
of flour and asked what had become of it.
" old it!" wafc the proud reply.
"For cash?"
"No; the man said he had an account
here." 1
"The dead-beat! He took advantage 1
of you 1" " ^
"Oh, no, he didn't. He said he '
couldn't wait for us to deliver it, and he '
rolled it out the back way and went after (
a wagon to take it off. Oh^ no?he
didn't beat us any." (
"Bat the flour is gone."
"Yes, but while this fellow was after a 1
wagon another man came along and stole 1
the barrel and got away with it! I'd like f
to see anybody take advantage of me I"? f
Free Press. f
(
He'd Choose to be a Baby. '
The following story was told at the 1
recent encampment of the grand army at
Mexico, Missouri. A group around one ?
of the numerous camp fires were relating
incidents of bravery and cowardice
9hown in battle, and this is one of them:
"It was at the battle of Gettysburg,"
' ' ? 11 1 At- - I
said me speaicer, "wnen uie uuuuia ncic
falling like hail, and the shells were a ?
shrieking and bursting over our heads in <
a way to make the bravest heart tremble, y
a private dropped out of the ranks and <
shulked back toward the rear. He was t
well under way, when, unfortunately for {
him, he was met by General Slocum <
coming to the front. ]
" 'What are you doing here? Get ]
h.mk to vour uost.' the ereneral shouted, i
y i' / cp
"The poor fellow stopped still and
trembled like a leaf, but made no reply.
"Get back to your post, you miserable
coward; aren't you ashamed of yourself
to be skulking back here when you
should be in the front with your brave
comrades?"
"Still the man made no reply, but
commenced to cry like a year-old infant.
"'You infamous, sneaking coward,'
shouted the infuriated general,
get back to your post; I'll ride you
down like a dog. Why, you are nothing
but a baby.' r
" 'T-T.TMl t-t-t-tell vou what, cr-ff-crener
al,' said the blubbering fellow," 'I'd f
g-g-g-give anything just n-n-now if I
was a b-b-baby, and i-i-f I had my
ch-ch-choice I'd r-r-rather be a female
b-b-b-baby.'"
How Senators Talk.
A Washington correspondent writes as
follows to the Utica Observer: Dennis F.
Murphy is as well known to the great
men of the country as any man in Amerinu.
lift has been reporting speeches
since I860, and he has been eonnecttd j t
with the Senate for a full generation. He
was the leading short-band man in the ^
trial of President Linco^'s assassins, and
he has reported all of thu Senators from
Webster until now. "Daniel Webster,' c
he says, ''talked very slow. Henry Clay' J
averaged about 150 words a minute, and
the fastest speakers we have to-day are ^
Senators Beck, Morgan, Hawley and i
Plumb. The average of senatorial speak- '
ing to-day is about 150 words a minute, J
? ? And DOn/TA A C ll 1 An t
LllUUgU OUIUC OCUatuio au.a xxAgu. OO
200 and some at times 225." *
Good temper is like a snnny day; it
sheds its brightness on everything. .
! i
\
y viMfctf Ante*****!' fm&w " i'l
.... _ . _/ <
FACTS FOB THE CURIOUS"
"I:- -'*^08
The present alphabet, in the course of
tenturies, grew from the original twentywo
signs of the Phoenicians.
The finest screws used in a watch have
150 threads to the inch, but screws with
K)0 threads to the inch can be cut. It
akes 144,000 watch screws to weigh a
>ound. ? ;v"';
The horses of the Numidiana and some
if the northern nations were in ancient
imes so docile and well broken that they
:ould be managed by the voice, without
em or bit.
Harry Brownlee, of Adair county,
!owa, has eaten tweuty-three big cucum>er
pickles in four minutes, and therefore
claims to be the champion pickle
sater cf the State. ^ H
Cathay was the name that Marco Polo
ipplied to China when he visited it in
;he thirteenth century in the employ of
he khan of Tartary. Columbus expected
;o find this land by sailing westwardfrom
Jpain.
An ordinary freight car holds ninety
Darrels of flour; 340 bushels of wheat;
500 sacks of flour; 430 bushels of pota;oes;
6,000 feet of dumber; and unless
,rou keep a sharp lookout, from one to
lalf a dozen tramps.
There was a sort of prison and place - o
)f correction attached to the farms and v
alias of the Romans, in which those of
:he slave family who were kept in fetors
were lodged and made to work in
irons; wherein the rest, who wore not
chained, were provided with separate
iccommodations in another part of the establishment.
' .y r/j
A microscopic slide in the possession 4
3t the Manchester Philosophical and LitBrary
society, in England, contains the
Lord's prayer written within the 405,- '
)00th part of an iuch. The minute speck
:an be found with powerful microscopes
Dnly with great difficulty, as the focus ,
point of the letfs must be made to coyer
;he exact spot bearing the object. It was , ^
?ngraved by Mr. Webb some years ago
}y the aid of an instrument now held by
;he society.
On May 12, 1780,' a remarkable darkipsa
nvfirsnrfiad Now England, varvinar in'
ntensity at different places. In.some secions
persons could not read common
printed matter in the open air. Birds be- v.
iame silent and went to rest; barnyard
fowls went to roost, and cattle sought - "/q
;heir accustomed evening resorts. Houses
f^ere lighted with candles, and nearly all
)ut-of-aoor work was suspended. * Tha
)bscuration began at 10 o'clock in the > ->.
norning and continued until night. The
iause of the darkless has never been re- N
realed. The air was unclouded.
__ iVj.Sc
?
The Stomach.
The walls of the stomach are thin and - "'i
ilastic, and may be temporarily dilated
jy overmuch food, or by gas generated
ay the decomposition of food. A dilated
stomach, crowding against a heart enfeebled
by fatty degeneration, or by any
)ther cause, may so far hinder the action
3f the lattSr as to result in sudden
leath.
But the stomach may become permanently
dilated, and enormously so. In
ihe latter case, the two openings?the ' '
mtrance and the exit?maybe so affected
is to make it difficult for it to eject food >
into the intestines.
The muscular walls of a dilated atom- ,
ich are weakened. This causes the '
food to remain too long in it?sometimes
several days. The food thus retained
loflnmnnceu infn o nnmhpr ftf irrifaifing
icids and annoying gases. The worst
forms of dyspepsia result.
Such dilatation may be due to a diseased
narrowing of the pylorus?the
opening by which the food passes from
;he stomach?or to its obstruction bj
;umore of vanous kinds, thus hindering
;he passage of the food through it. Or
;he coats of the stomach may have become
weakened by disease; or the nerves >
)f the stomach, on which its peristaltic
iction depends, may have lost their nor
mal irritability.
Habitual overeating also causes this
lilatation. All persons are liable to it
syho overload their stomachs with either
Food or liquids, especially with beer,
clearest evidence of dilatation is the ha
bitual retention of food in the stomach
)ver night.
Tia dilataion is faequent in children,
'specially among those fed artificially.
But it is not confined to them. Many
nothers nurse their children at night
ilmyst continuously. Such infants have
*ood appetites?for their food does not
iuly nourish them?but they are badly
roubled with indigestion, colic, and
1iarrhn>A Their ahdomensare distended.
rhe only relief is in more proper feedft
is the same with adults, though the
nuscular tone of the stomach may be
itrengthened by tonics. The worst cases
equire the doctor.?Youth's Companion.
V
Discovery of Daguerreotyping.
J. A. B., writing from San Rafael,
lays: An interesting fact in the history
)f sun-printing which, in its beginning
vas called daguerreotying, accidentally
same to my knowledge recently, which X
;ake the liberty to furnish for the Ghron"de.
My edition of Appleton'a new cyOnnmdio
qottq if i<j nnf. L'nnwn whaf. led
Daguerre to discover the art called by his
same. Mr. Louis, an intelligent French
gentleman, who has a shop in San Rafael,
jave me, in substance, the following aciount
of the beginning of this wonderful
liscovery and invention, to which the
vorld of sciencc and art is so deeply inlebted
to-day: ''It was about the year
1834?a year or two after the cholera
jlague?I was an apprentice boy in the
irst of the three silversmith establishnents
in Paris. Mr. Daguerre, the ar;ist,
had been polishing a silver plate in
he fourth story of his house, where he
iai skylights arranged to afford fuller
iglit for his purposes. One day, having
>ccasion to leave the room for a time, on
eturning he found some one had disirranged
the room and stolen his money,
booking down upon the table where he
lad left the polished plate, to
lis surprise he discovered the image of
lis gardener, who came once a week to
trrange his grounds, whom he charged
with the theft, and recovered the money,
rhis accidental discovery led to experinents
with the camera, which established
he art, and rendered Mr. Daguerre a
vealthy man. I to^k him a polished
>late, sat for my picture, and obtained
ny likeness at a cost of about one dolar."
Such is the statement of Mr. Louis,
vhich I suppose is substantially correct,
rhere seems, however, a discrepancy in
lates, Mr. Louis putting the date of dis:overy
about the year 1834; whereas the
:yclopaedia places the establishment of
he art in 1839. And I remember somo
rears aso Mr. Rulofson, of Bradley &
*ulofson, in San Francisco, told me that
? ?rrnrl TCoarrl'a rroilartr
IC (X\UIUJl&UJXy YVUl fV^U it* o guuvij^
London, in 1839, which was about the
>eginning of the art.?Chico (Cat.)
9hronicle.
There are 111 young men's @hristian ,
aviations in New York, with 21,500
nembera.