The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, May 05, 1886, Image 6
QUE3 TIONINGS.
Daisies In the summer meadow,
Fern-leaves in the woodland shadow,?
Why they grow atid why they blow,
Know'st thou why?
Nay, not I!
Dreams of happy days and places,
Visions of fond hearts and faces,?
TPkn 4-1 ? 1 J 1.1 ^
ixj tmrv i;umu uuu > * uy muj i uaiu(
Know'st thou why?
Nay, not I!
"Wouldst thou stop the flowers from blooming?
Wouldst thou stop thy he i t from roaming
Where the beams of love-lit dreams
Charm th? eye?
Nay, not I!
? Willis Fletcher Johnson in the Current.
TWO OF A TRADE.
"Plague take the beast!" sxcVmed
up, Dr. Nelson, wrathfully, with an instinctive
movement towards a bootjack which
a second thought convinced him would
coffin in too late to be available.
Dr. Nelson w.is a good-looking
bachelor of four-and-thirty, owner of the
comfortable house bv a window of which
he was standing at that moment, surveying
the neat garden at the back, whose
two flowering beds were his special pride
and pleasure. That pleasure, however,
had just been rudely disturbed by observing
a eat belonging to his neighbor
?n his left?a crabbed old maid, whose
three pets, a savage, snappy little cur,
with a long tattered coat of dirty white,
a screaming parrot with a never-ending
tongue and a vocabulary that would
have made a pirate blush, aud the aforesaid
cat, were making life a burden to
the doctor?hap surreptitiously over the
fence, stalk across to one of flower-beds,
and, after scratching up two or three
smaller plants :hat were in her way. settle
herself for a sunning against a tuberose,
with a pressure that - broke off- |
several of the flower-laden stalks. As j
the doctor flung up the window, the
guilty quadruped beat a hasty retreat
over the fence and out of sight.
"This thing has gone on long enough!" '
exclaimcd the doctor, pulling the bell- 1
cord. "Gallantry or no gallantry, I'll 1
et that old maid know she can't ride '
oyer everyuoay witn ner plagued menagerie.
Brilget," lie added, as a neatlooking
Irish girl appeared in answer to ]
his summons, "go in the garden and see
if you can prop rp that tuberose so that
it will do until I have time to attend to
it, a'd then go next door and tell that (
w. man that if she doesn't kee,> her cat
out of my yard, IM And some way to
compel her to?that's all!'' and, seizing *
his ha', the doctor strode from the room. \
. Bridget desc nded to the yard in some
perplexity. She had oniy entered the
doctor's service the day before, and was
not acquainted with the neighbors or th
oir peculiarities. She was consequentlv
at a los-s to determine the nunrterfrom
whence the outrage' had emanatei.
Aided, however, by a happy thought,
/ ahe scrambled up by the fence and peered 1
into the yard nearest to the desecrated (
flower-bed. A sleek, white cat was 1
seated in the middle of the grass-plot, 1
washing her face with that air of .^erene ,
and seif-satisfied conip'acency peculiar to
the cat who has just committed some
more than usually outrageous misdemeanor.
,'^ch. you murtherin' basic?" exclaimed
Bridge^, with a vindictive shake
of her tist. "If yer m'sthress is adacent
woman, it's a sound throuncin' ye 11 be
affhsr gettinV'
Repairing the da y age as well, as she
could, Bridget next proceeded to lodge
her comprint. In spite of her mingled
valor and ind'gn .tion, howe\ cr, she wa>
somewhat aba bed before the tjuiet, selfpossessed,
and decide Uy pre'ty little
lady who o,.encd the door in answer to
vigorous summons. But there was
no back-down about Bridget, and accordingly
she blurted it ail out in a breath.
i 11 *11 I
"sure, ma am, me mastner says win
yez be kind enough to kape that villain- (
ous baste of yours out of his yaard! i
Faith, it's broke off his beautiful tube- 1
rose, bad ce>s to its dirty self, an' he's 5
that mad he could kill the crather!"
"Has my Muffet been doing any mischief
in your garden?" was the response, j
in a sweet and perfectly self-composed
tone, as the bright blue eyes of the <
?peaker looked straight into Bridget's
? face. \
"If that's the name iv the four-legged 1
baste what's enjoying herself on the ^
grass oeyant, just as n sne naa no conscience
at all, at all, it is I Sure, she's
kilt the docther's iligant flower ea- ]
tireiy!"
"I'm very sorrv. Please take my re- '
* grets to your master, and tell him I will j :
try not to let it happen again." Then j ]
the door creaked suggestively, and '
Bridget withdrew. M
"Did you attend to that matter about '
the cat?'' asked the doctor on his return.
"Sure, I did, sorr! an' I must say that
a nicer-spoken lady I niver saw," said 1
Bridget, delivering the message. ]
"Humph!" grunted t\ie doctor, as he
busied himself with the phnt, happily \
unconscious that a pair of bright eyes j
eere watching him from behind the j1
closed window-blinds of the house on j 1
ais right. "She hasn't given up hopes !1
of capturing me yet, I see. and thinks to *
make an ally of my new servant-girl! I ;
believe she'll let those pests annoy me .
more than ever now, for the sake of try- .
jng to strike up an acquaintance, even
though it must begin with a quarrel!"
The doctor's predictions seemed destined
to be verified. The garden continued
to bear evidence of feline depredations.
mostly nocturnal, however?and
Bridget's complaints, instigated by her
master, were met by polite regrets and
assurances that she was taking every
pains to prevent further annoyances; i
while it secme.l to the irate doctor, I
whose hostile feelings toward his neigh- j
boi w re increasing hor.ly. that the dog's :
yelping and the parrot's screeching were |
ft.icriirif'Titprl tenfold i
"This thing must be stopped!" he ex
c'aimed. rising one mornm0 in a more !
tl.an usual uad humor, having been kept ,
awake most of the preceding night by j
yelling of the parrot. "There's no u^e
fending verbal messages?she seems to i
have learned the art of fibbing to perfec-1
tion. Pitting down to his desk he dashed I
Oil a few resentful lines.
Two hours later "the lady next door"
opened and read the savage missive.
Madat.i: Unless some wav can be foun.l to j
put a stop to the repeated annoyances I am i
i jceiviug from you. one ot' us will have to .
1mv? the Tipicrhborhooi: and as 1 hold my
house by t!ie right of ownership, and you are
merely the lessea of yours, I do not feel disposed"
to be driven away. Not only am I
subjected to depredations from your cat, but
my much-needed rest &t night is disturbed by
the distracting barking and screeching that
go on in your nouse. I suppose it is music to
you, but in my opinion the prepetrator of it
ought to be indicted as a public nuisance;
ana unless a very different order of things is
inaugurated forthwith, I shall be compiled
to seek legal redress.
Respectfully, Geop.ge Nelson*. M. D.
The lady read the missive, and then
j,ackcrcd up her smooth white forehead
anxiously.
. . .... ..
"What can it mean?" she exclaimed. j
"He seems to actually hate me! and yet
he does not look like a man who would
be jealous of a poor little woman like me,
even though she had been presumptuous
enough to embark in his own profession.
I never heard any one complain of my
singing before, and as for giving up the
house when I've just got settled, and paid
a year's rent, I connot think of it. I believe
if I could speak with him we might
come to some understanding. I won't go
to his house, but I'll watch an opportunity
to meet him on the street."
Fortune favored her design. As she
was preparing to leave the house the next
morning, she spied the doctor descending
his own stoop: and a moment later
she followed his example. He bad passed
on a few steps but hurrying after him
she laid one hand on his arm.
Turning quickly, Dr. Nelson looked
down at the little, dimpled, cherry- 1
cheeked woman, not higher than his
shoulder. 1
"Well, madam?'' he said, interrosai
? i
tively.
"Excuse me!" faltered the lady, her
carefully prepared and effective little
speech slipping from her memory in the
most treacherous manner, and leaving
her at the mercy of the present inspiration.
"I want to ask you if we cannot
be friends, and disprove that disagree- <
able adage that 'two of a trade can never I
agree?'"
Dr. Nelson's handsome eyes opened
wider than e/'er. "I beg your pardon,
madam! I do not understand you; inexplicable?'1
he replied.
"Let me introduce myself," continued
the lady, raising one hand toward the
house she had just quitted, in a window
of which a modest sign bore the name of
"Elinore Morrow, M. D."
The doctor's eyes traveled mechanically
in the direction indicated; then he shook
his head again.
"I don't understand it!" he repeated.
"I have taken special pains to keep
Muffet indoors, ' continued Miss Morrow,
earnestly. "And if my singing really i
annoys you, I am even willing to discontinue
that; only?"
"Annoy me?" repeated the doctor,
more and more hopelessly mystified?
md, if his fine eye3 spoke aright, experiencing
another equally strong, but much
more agreeable sensation. 4'I cannot
conceive it possible that anything you
jould or would do could annoy me?"
A deepening of the dimple in the lady's
pretty cheek was her only comment upon
ihat part of his speech, as she continued
"You certainly seem to have consid
jred me ajvery disagreeable neighbor, sir,
judging from the tone of this letter."
"Letter!" repeated the doctor with a
*a?p, at the same moment taking the
)ff(;red document, and glancing over it.
"How in the world did you get hold of
;his, madam?"
''It was handed me by your servant
;e>terday," was the reply.
"Oh, my good gracious!" exclaimed
he doctor, actually red and pale by
;urcs. "My dear lady, who are you?"
"Your next-door neighbor, sir?Eli.lore
Morrow, at your service!" was the
lemure reply, a'though a new brightness
was creeping into the bonny blue
:*ycs.
"Xext door? Oh?why bless my
hpnrt T hadn't even noticed that the
house was taken! The fact is, I've had
but one 'next-door neighbor' for the last
rear, and she has been such an unmitigated
nuisance that you c innot wonder
?but pardon me! this is all a mystery to
mi. and I certainly do owe you a full
jxplanation, as well as an apology for
;hat stupid mistake of Bridget's! So you (
iave a cat, too? I'll be bound it's a very
different looking and acting animal from
;h? ill-favored, ghoulish imp of darkness ,
lext door?the other way. I mean!" cor- j
ectinu himself precipitately. "But " I ,
" I begin to see your mistake, and as- ]
;ure you in advance that you are quite
ixcusable!" said Miss Morrow, interuptincr
this decidedly incoherent flow (
>f words. "And as we both appear to (
3e in a hurry just now, suppose you
:ome this evening and lot us talk it over.
[ will be home by 6 o'clock. The place 1
s in order now, and as I have obtained a
iervant I have been able to leave my ,
shutters open for the first time."
" I will do so with pleasure!" was the
response; then lifting his hat, the doctor
walked off in in a strange whirl of '
jmotions.
" The prettiest little creature I ever
;aw!?and a doctor, too! What an id- (
!ot I was not to notice that the house
ivas occupied 1 And to think that I have
aecn abusing her all this time!"
But if one were to recount all that
i ii ;f
passed ILXTVUgll 111U UUUIUI a miuu jlu
ivould require a volume. Suffice it to
say that that evening found him comfortably
ensconced in'one of the chairs '
in Miss Morrow's parlor, listening
with unwearied pleasure and satisfaction
first to her lively conversation,
and then to her singing?all
thought of any further explanation of
that ridiculous blunder being apparently
hv both, for it certainlv was
lwlf5Vk,,v" y --- .
not alluded to from the time they met
until, on leaving, the doctor returned to
his fair colleague's invitation to repeat
bis visit a most hearty affirmative.
Those visits continued, moreover, with
unabated frequency, and about six
months after the first one, Dr. Nelson,
taking the little soft hand that made no
effort to disengage itself from his clasp,
said a few manly, straightforward words
that brought a most charming combination
of blushes, smiles, and tears to Miss
Morrow's pretty face, followed, after a
delicious little silence, with a "yes"
* . . , . ,,L _c _ ;ja
wfticn toia "two 01 a fuuu unu decided
to "agree" for the remainder of
their lives.?E. H. Uougli, in Tid-bits.
The Air of the Sea.
The air of the sea, taken at a great distance
from the land, or even on the shore
and in ports when the wind blows from
the open, is in an almost perfect state of
purity. Near continents the land winds
drive before them an atmosphere always
impure, but at 100 kilometers from the
coasts this impurity has disappeared.The I
sea rapidly purifies the pestilential atmosphere
of continents: hence every expanse
of water of a certain breadth becomes an j
absolute Obstacle to the propagation of !
epidemics. Marine atmospheres driven \
upon land purify sensibly the air of the ,
regions which they traverse; this purification
can be recognized as far as Paris.
?3f. if. Morvm a:.d Miquel.
Male Diplomatic Beauties.
Mr. Charles Haniinge. of the British i
legation, is the professional masculine j
beauty of the corps. He is young, tall !
and slender and has a distingue ensem- i
ble. Isholsky, the new Russian secretary.
wears glasses, and is a northern
blonde. He is peculiarly quick and alert
looking, and is more one's ideal of what
is a foreign minister of diplomatic training
than any of the others. Count Lippe,
the charge of the Austro-Hungarian legation,
is a tall, jolly person, with distinguishing
floating side-whiskers of blonde
color. These gentlemen are all much
sought in society, but affect' great exclusiveness
to strangers.? Washington
fxf.ter.
V
AN OSTRICH FARM.
PROGRESS OP A SUCCESSFUL
INDUSTRY IX CALIFORNIA.
A Visit to the Long-I?e;j/jed Birds
in their Pens?How the Birds are
Plucked?Facts and. Figures
Full of Interest.
A correspondent of the San Francisco
Call sends that paper an entertaining description
of the celebrate i ostrich farm
near Anaheim in Southern California. The
writer savs:
The ostrich ranch presents an attractive
appearance, from the extreme neatness
of its arrangements, and is a large
corral, embracing about two hundred
acres, divided up into many smaller
ones, the house of the gentlemen in
charge being in the centre. Upon enter- J
in??. two larcrc corrals are seen, in which ,
were birds three or four years old, walk- ,
ing about with a mincing gait. They
were perfectly tame and pecked at my
hands with evident curiosity.
The southern half of the farm is de- ,
voted to the breeding pens, with the ;
exception of one corral that held a flock '
of youug that raised their wings, j
as they are alleged to do while "sailing"
in the desert, and ran quickly away, presenting
a curious appearance. The ;
breeding hens were numbered from one ^
up, each being a separate enclosure. ^
The females were smaller than the males,
and of a brownish gray hue, while the
latter, that stood at least seven or eight
feet in height, were distinguished by
their dark or black plumage, the wings 5
and tail being white. The birds were 1
continually in motion, the males aggres- 1
si^e, and the demonstrations of rage of |
the males during the breeding time are '
said to be amusing. J
It is extremely dangerous to enter a *
corral, the powerful leg with its two 1
claws, one two inches in length, being <
capable of killing a man by a forward j
kick. . Even horses have been disem
bowelled by the birds in Africa. Dr. '
Livingstone once saw a native instantly 1
killed by an ostrich, and Verreaux re- ^
cords a similar case. At the time of my 1
visit a female was laying, and in another
coinl a pair were nesting. The female t
sits all day, the male relieving her at i
sundown. The nest ia this corral was a i
mere shallow hollow in the sand, about j
four feet in diameter and six or eight i
inches deep. In their wild state the birds 1
lay about ten eggs, but on the ranch 1
they lay from fourteen to sixteen, and t
when the eggs are taken for use in the s
incubator as many as thirteen are ob- <
tained. The eggs are laid every other <
day, and good first class birds often lay j
three batches a year, or about ninty eggs, j
weighing in all about throe hundred and i
sixty po inds, the average egg weighing ]
from three and a half to four i
pounds. The average number of <
chicks per year is about seventy. 1
Much appears to depend upon the feed- j1
Illy U1 LllC UlI Uo. AUUUL U11C 11U11U.IUVA j i
acres of the farm are given over to alfal-1
fa (lucerne). Forty pounds of this green j
food is given to each bird daily, and the j
breeding birds are fed twice a day regu- ?
larly. This forty pounds is exclusive of ; ]
corn, cabbage, carrots and turnips that i
is also given them in greater or less quan- 1
titics. The farm team goes to the sea i
shore once a week for a load of shells, i
which are gronnd up and given the 1
ostriches. Each adult bird eats about i
nine or ten tons of fodder a year. c
In entering the pen of the breeder, a i
ten-foot pole with a crotch at the end of j
it is used, and when the male charges the t
crotch is pushed against the neck. In r
plucking the birds are run into a small i
enclosure, so that they cannot kick, and p
ometimes the men rush in on them and t
krtl/1 fKnm in o r/MirrV* o n rl fiimKlA T^nll- \
Li\llU bUl/iU 1U U A Ug II UUVi bUUiUL^t X UJl ?
?rown birds are plucked every seven or ^
eight months each bird of both sexes n
producing about twenty-five plumes, t
valued at from $3 to $5 each on the bird, t
Chicks are not plucked before the sev- c
pnth month: and when two years old the t
feather arc worth about $2 apiece, and ]
when nearly four they produce perfect c
feathers. The fact that the ostrich will ^
live nearly one hundred years and breed r
when over eighty; that .there is no sick- i
ness to which it is liable here, and that it
increases rapidly, points to the assump-; i
tion that America will soon produce her , r
own feathers. a
In Africa the ostrich industry ranges ; s
next to the diamond, and enormous for- c
bunes have been made since 18(55. when ! i
farming was first commenced in that ^
country. About the same plan is adopted ]
as here. The large farms are divided t
into two branches; one raises feathers, <
the other birds are for sale. On farms 1
where the birds lay more eggs than can be 1
covered the remainder are hatched by an 1
incubator. A South African authority i
says: "One set of three birds?a 1
* 1 1 4 V _*1 * it 1 t
cock ana two nens?auring rae penoa from
June 30, 1872 to Junde 30, 1873, ]
laid 188 eggs, which produced 133 ]
chicks. Of these eighteen died, leaving
115 young birds. Of these, seventy-four
were sold at three months old at $80
each, and, allowing the remaining fortyone
to be worth only $00 each, we have
a return of $8,380 from one set of birds.
The next year the same set laid 113 eggs,
producing seventy-seven chicks, and the
first six months of the third year they
laid ninety-seven eggs, producing eightyone
chicks, being over eighty per cent."
Ostrich farming is carried on successfully
in Algeria and Buenos Ayres, and
even ia Africa the business was not originated
by the whites, certain tribes
"Koxrin cr kent ostriches for their feathsrs
for a long time, and even used artificial
incubation. The tribes of Soudan, the {
upper Senegal, and the Algerian frontiers
raise them as we do chickens, the birds
wandering about the camp perfectly
tame, following the men on the march, 1
and when leaving the camp at day re- 1
turning at night. , 1
The male ostrich utters a sound that
so resembles the* roar of a lion that it is
difficult to distinguish between them,
and so loud and penetrating is it that it |
can be heard three miles. As I was
leaving the ostrich farm near Anaheim,
a male uttered the roar, swelling up its
neck, and having heard the roar of the
lion I should readily have taken it for
that. The ostrich in its native state
is a remarkable runner, covering nearly
thirty miles at a stride, but they are easilv
tired, and can be run down by a
' ' nil
horse witn good staving powers, mev
will eat almost anything, merely from a
natural curiosity. Yerreaux saw one cat
a liirire )>jcco of soap and follow it with
:i copper candlestick. and a spectator of:
tlie<e birds in Paris ?aw his gold watch j
and chain swallowed by a gluttonous
ostrich.
That large ostriches can carry a human
rider is well known, and Culver describes
* -__i xi.-.
an instance wncre mu nuti tamui
so rapidly that he wa? almost suffocated.
The establishment of ostrich farms and
the value of their feathers have undoubtedly
saved these birds from extinction,
and a few years will probably show an
increase in the numb?r of farms in this
section of the country.
?i
Color blindness is said to have been
first reported in 1777.
'
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Primrose sqeds from a height of 11,000
to 15,000 feet in the Himalayas have been
received at Calcutta, and some are to be
planted in England.
A spiny African caterpillar, seven inches
long and of a steel gray color, was
exhibited at a recent meeting of the Linnean
Society of London.
A German chemist, Prof. C. Winkler,
has discovered a new element?"Germanium"?in
a mineral named Argyrodite,
which consists chiefly of sulphur, silver, i |
and mercury.
.Pure beeswax is obtained irom tne or- ;
dinary kind by exposure to the influence .
of the sun and the weather. The wax is
sliced into thin flakes and laid on sacking j
or coarse cloth stretched on frames rest- ]
ing on posts to raise them from the ground.
The wax is turned over fre
quently, and occasionally sprinkled with ,
soft water if there be not dew or rain 5
sufficient to moisten it. The wax should ,
be bleached in about four weeks. j
One of the most recent enterprises 1
brought to the notice of the New York <
public is the manufacture of a so-called
stone brick. The process consists in i
grinding quicklime rind siliceous sand i
together, and then mixing intimately t
with more sand in the presence of moist i
steam. The mixture is then molded i
under heavy pressure and blows, and the 1
bricks stacked up and plentifully sprink- ]
led while hardening. They are not put 1
Dn the market until at least three months 1
Did. 1
The sea occupies three-fifths of the !
surface of the earth. At the depth of 1
lbout 3,500 feet waves are not felt. The 3
temperature is the same, varying only a
trifle from the ice of the pole to the (
burning son of the equator. A mile down ^
;he water has a pressure of over a ton to
:he square inch. If a box six feet deep '
was filled with sea water and allowed to 1
jvaporate under the sun, there would be ]
;wo inches of salt left on the bottom. '
Taking the average depth of the ocean to s
3e three miles, there would b3 a layer of 1
Dure salt 230 feet thick on the bed of the ( (
Atlantic. The water is colder at the 1
jottom than at the surface. 1
The beaked chsetodon of the Indian
ind Polynesian seas is a fish of eccentric
'orm and beautiful tints, but its most '
emirkable feature is its curiously elongated
muzzle or beak, which is employed
is a gun, with a drop of water for a
jullet. Unlike other fishes, this crea- !
;ure does not wait for its prey to fall into
;he water, but shoots it down like a true .
tportsman. Seeing a ily or other insect
>n a twig over the water, the chnetodon
quietly approaches and, with. its nose
just above the surface, accurately pro- {
jects a drop of water at the unsuspecting k
1 in -fmm ifa t
n.S(;Cl, WHICH IS 1,11110 nuvwvu itvix ...
jerch and is quickly snapped up by the j
ish. The finny urcher is highly prized ]
is a household pet by the Japanese, who 1
Iceep it in bowls and amuse themselves by .
matching it "shoot", flies held up - before ,
' _____
The Expense of ircnsing. j
W. W. Cole, the circus proprietor, ^
says to a St. Lesjis 0lube-Democrat re- ,
sorter: "Fifteen years ago the transition ^
Tom wagon shows to railroad shows
)egan in earnest, and to-day there are no j
vagon shows that amount to anything, j
U1 circuses travel by railroad, and where <
jefore they had ten wagons and maybe '
if ty or sixty men, to-day they own thirty (
>r forty cars and employ GOO to 800 men.
V wagon show couldn't exist now. Peo- j
)le have become so accustomed to big (
hree-ring circuses and to vast amuse- . .
nent enterprises that thev lau^h at the i
3-- nnnHil'n rr
aC'il OI usm;u lu |jttutiuii.i. uiij vuiMg j
mall. There is now invented in the circus <
).isiness nearly $~),000,000. Any man
vho should try to buy out P. T. Barnum ^
vou'.d be asked to pay $500,000, and ^
inybody who wanted to embark in the
>usiness to the extent which I am in it in ^
he show which bears my name would re- j
|uire $300,000 for the purchase of my
hirty-five cars and all the animals, ,
)rinting and property connected with the j
>rganization; and after purchasing he J
vould need $2,000 a day to pay his run- j
ling expenses. The expense of circus- j
ng has increased in proportion ^
vith the receipts, almost; when
\e used wagors the expenses were not {
nore than $300 a day, Dili rne receipts ,
vere only $600 a day; then, however, we .j
lent only one advertising wagon ahead,
ind the driver would kick very hard if {
ve tried to put more than three men on it
ivith him; those three carried all our (
jrinting and did all the advance adver- ^
<ising; now we send out three cars j
equipped, so that they can be coupled on I j
:o aud carried along with passenger I {
:rains, and there are twenty-five men
with those cars, aud they carry an im- ]
nense amount of paper for the walls.etc.,
with them. Those men will put out (
f2,000 worth of paper in a town like St.
Louis, and you can judge their other ex- J
penses when I tell you that in all large
:ities we find the bill-posting privileges {
nouopolized and have to pay dearly for
r,he work we do ourselves. For instance, |
in St. Louis one man controls all the !
ooards, and we pay about $300 for the '
ise of the boards, then pay for the post- i
?? mnnvi r?pr r>if>p? and afterward I j
Illg ?V U1UK.. (
post the bills ourselves. Railroad travel ,
is a heavy item with us. "We make con- ^
tracts with the roads at so much per run j
and aim not to show at points within a
radius of fifty miles of each other, but
sometimes take towns so near as Omaha
and Council Bluffs, or St. Paul and Min- ,
neapo'is, and we have short "run*." '
They co3t us almost as much as long ones.
When we leave St. Louis to go to Kansas ,
City we pay $1,000 for our transportation, \
though we use only three locomotives and j
they give us about twelve, or fifteen men, ,
the locomotives hitching on to our own ,
cars and hauling us at the rate of eighteen ,
miles an hour, or about two-thirds as fast ,
as passenger time.
legal Fog.
It was of a case in the United States
district court at Albany, many years ago. 1
A patent right suit was brought on before 1
Judge Nelson. William H. Seward was 1
counsel on one side. In summing up he <
occupied a whole day. Peter Cagger i
came in while he was talking, and after ]
listening an hour turned to a learned i
lawyer and inquire I: ''What is'Bill' i
Seward talking about?" The counsel on ]
the other side made a long speech, and i
the judge charged the jury. After the <
jury had been out about two hours, they 1
came in court and thu foreman said: i
' Your honor, the jury would like to ask ;
a question.'' ''You can proceed." "Well,
your honor, we would like to know what
this suit is about?"?Law Journal.
"Dude."
So far as we know, the term dude has .
nn pf-vmnlomcal historv. is derived from I
w " vT O / '
nothing, and has no root which readies
into any language, ancient or modern. It
was probably made out of the whole
cloth simply for the purpose of getting a
rhyme for some other word in a song
sung by a London concert-hall singer.
But the t :-.n, bo manufactured, finally
< ame to dc cribe and indicate a definite
variety of the human species.?New York
Com mere-U.
SELLING SEEDS.
MAGNITUDE OF A NEW YORK
SEE OMAN'S BUSINESS.
What the Different Varieties Cost?
Some of the Adjuncts Necessary
to Cultivation?Some
Interesting Facts.
"Gath." writes from the metropolis:
Some of the seed stores of New York are
wonders to examine. There is one man
in Ccurtland street who has a splendid
store, with a depth of 130 * feet and a
front of fifty-one. If you were to walk
in there, seeing his signs covering all the
five stories, you might suppose that you
wire in the domain of a great company.
Phis man, whose name is Dennis, is e.viience
of how any business can be carried
in a larsre countrv to the verv exeat
2st proportions. He commenced as a
florist in Jersey City in 1848; he has,
therefore, been almost forty years in this
iepartment.
He could once carry around his wares
in a basket; now he has four and a half
lcres of glass greenhouses, uses steam
ind hot water, and he boasts of a sale of
2,500,000 plants per annum, not includng
cabbage, cauliflower, and celery, of
which he sells every year 6,000,000
plants beside. He is not the only man
who has a fine establishment on Courtand
street, for that street leads to the
ferries which go to New Jersey, and
ill the northern part of New Jersey is a
villa and garden. Little express companies
connect with every town in
New Jersey, and they load up at
Courtland street twice a day, cross the
ferries, and drive to points desired.
The American postoftice department
has become a great dispenser of seeds
for the million. For sixteen cents a
pound you can send anything over the
land; for thirty cents a quart you can
send beans and peas, and corn costs
twenty cents a quart. The printing of
Dne of. the large establishments is immense,
and the systematizing of the business
is carried to as much perfection as
the handling of the postoftice depart3i?nt.
One of these big florists, or seedjellers,
will publish half a dozen books,
jelling from $1.50 to $3. Looking over
)ne of the catalogues, I find it specially
lemanded that customers leave their
jrders in the morning and call for them
in the afternoon, so that the day can be
commenced filling them. One of the first
;hing to be noticed is strawberry plants,
which sell at twelve for $1, fifty for $3,
>r a hundred for $5. Inferior varieties
sel1 at $3 a hundred. When you buy
jeeas you can picK them out separately or
jet them in assorted lots. A collection
>f some thirty-six seed packages costs
?5. Some ch?sts containing larger packiges
cost as high as $25.
The making of manures is an impor:ant
feature of these establishments; they
lave special manures for grass lawns,
nade between the chemist and the garlener;
while the bsst rannure down to
;he present day is that which is well-rot;ed
in the stable, and which requires a
iva^on-loud or a ton for every 500 square
:eet. There are special manures made
>ut of bones, guano, decayed fish, etc.
[t takes about 1.500 pounds of rotten
jone manu e to the acre; it costs about
$20 to the ton of 2,000 pounds, and if
lecomposed with potash costs in this
;ity $22. Lawn enrichers cost about $1
Der twenty pounds. Grounds bone sells
for $5 a barrel, or $45 a ton. Pure
crushed bone for grape-vine costs $*0
per ton. Bone-meal, finely ground, for
:op dressing on lawns, costs $60 a ton. A
fertilizer made of blood and bone costs
*50 a ton. Guano costs $65 a ton.
The infinite number of insecticides attracts
our attention when we enter one of
ihese se.'d stores. You can get mildew
nixtures at seventy-five cent9 a bottle, firtree
oil for spiders and bugs at $5 a gallon.
deith powder and Persian powder,
Paris green at twenty-five cents a pound,
slug shot at six rents a pound, tobacco
soap at thirty cents a found, whale-oil
;oap to wash trees ten cents a pound, tobacco
stems for smoking plants which
lave the green fly at two cents a pound,
lower sulphur at th'i same price, powlered
hellebore at fifty cents a pound,
ind there are all sorts of little articles to
ipplv these things, such as the vaporizer,
;he syringe, and the powder-gun.
When you come to garden tools there
ire more th in eno igh' to supply a dis^ectng
room. Here are some sixteen kinds
)f knives selling from thirty-five cents
ror a corn knife to $5.50 for a hedgemttcr;
garden-axes at $1.50, brush
looks at 81.35, floral tools at sixty cents
i set, grafting chisels at sixty cents.hoes,
.licks, rakes, scyth s, scissors, svringes,
jveeders, and thermometers. When you
:ome 1o larger instruments for the garJen
you have another museum to look at:
\n asparrg s-bu^chcr at $2.50, a hose
nender at $2 a-dozen, hose at eighteen
:ents a foot, corn-planters at $20, rootgutters
at $!0, garden engines at $20,
potato-diggers at $12. plow-sulkies at
iron rollers at $30. garden-rollers at
$8, mfinure-cnrcaders at $110, water-barrel
and tru' k at $12, hor;eradish-grater
it $7.50, grass-edger at $7, plant-protec:ors
at $2 a dozen, and mole-traps at $2.
rhey will sell you water-proof covering
for plants at fifteen cents a yard, and
labels for trees and plants at fifteen cents
i hundred, stakes at $1.50 a hundred.
ffi-dQe.mnnTor Txrill pnQt. V<">11 3515.
You can buy Feeds of annual flowers at
?4 a hundred. Gladiolus bulbs sell $1.25
i do/on. The prices of seeds vary according
to passion or fashion; seed beans
ire fifty cents a quart and Lima beans
seventy-five cents. Celery, which has
jecome one of the favorite American
vegetables, is not nowadays raised in the
hotbeds or cold frame?, but sowed on
:he open ground in the early spring and
replanted in summer.
After a Licence.
The Buffalo Courier tells of a gentlenan
of that city whose heart was won
by a belle in a neighboring Pennsylvania
A v? nn rrn ff/imftnf fnllAU'A/1 fl ml lfl
*UV\U. II 11 Cll^a^LlllV/ltv iviivitvx*, wuv. *?*
lue time the wedding d,:v was set. The
prospective groom, it appears, regarded
bis abnegation of bachelorhood with a
sort of rueful misgiving, which increased
is the days of his liberty waned. His
last revolt against the shackles of matrimony
occurred when he was sent to prosure
the marriage licence, a few days before
the ceremony, lie sought the city
official who presided over the jicence department
an 1 asked gravely:
"Is this where licences arc kept ?"
41 Yes, sir."answered the clerk, politely.
"what kind of a licence do you
want'{"
""Well, what kind have you got ?" rejoined
our friend, with superhuman
gravity.
The clerk had begun to look upon hi?
visitor as a lunatic, but he obligingly
rattled off the list. "Give you a licence
L ? -?? ? 1- ? . .1- *?aii <1 linonno fn
iu unve ;i imuiw, j?j 14 u nw.in.1, w
pull teeth or practice medicine, give you
a pawnbroker's or huckster's licence,
give you a licence to keep gunpowder in
the house?"
"Stop," said our friend, quietly,
u that's what I want."
Scenes at a Military Post.
Retreat has been sounded; the flag,
opening out its graceful folds, comes
waving down the tall staff simultaneously '
with the thunder of the evening gun;
and we cross the parade for a stroll out
along the banks of the creek that flows
tranquilly over its sandy bed in the deep
ravine in rear of the post. Although the
sun has disappeared, the western sky is
all aglow with his light, and it is the
nlooaantiacf ti'mo nf Inner
?"*? * o
hour of northern twilight, before the
shadows of night close in on the fair
landscape before us. Down below us,
where the creek sprcad9 out into a wide
and deep; pool, some young Indian girls
are bathing in its cool waters, and their
laughing voices rise up melodiously in
the still air. Some squaw3 are squatted
along the edge filling their water
jars or dipping their squalling little
pappooses, clothes and all, into the
stream.
Following the path along the bluff
toward the high ground in our front,
stopping for a moment at some graves
fcnced in with neat white palings, where
some poor fellows are silently "awaiting
the last reveille," as we see is
inscribed in rude characters on the
little headboards, we climb to the
i top of the mound, and, turning, look
| back at the scene below us. At J
our feet lies the little fort, with its square
parade-ground flanked by the "Officers'
Row" opposite the'barracks of the men,
and at either end by the guard-house
and quartermaster's stores and offices and
the post hospital. We can see the soldiers
gathered about the doors of their
quarters, while in the open space between
the fort and the agency buildings, standing
white and straggling beyond, and
rising above the tepees grouped near by,
some young Indians are racing their
horse3, yelling and whooping like fiends.
Still further beyond, where we can see
the shining, curving river, and the creek
emptying its waters into it, the village is
lying, the smoke from its many fires
melting into the air above. Very gradually
the light fades, gray shadows are *
stealing over the prairie, where the great
herd of agency cattle is slowly moving;
the p^tforms on which the red-skins deposit
the bodies of their dead stand out
on the mounds black against the sky,
and the weird, sobbing wail of mourning
women strikes discordantly on our ears.
Lights beorin to twinkle in the barracks,
and, ringing out clear and mellow, the
bugle is sounding "first call" for tattoo.
?Harpers Magazine.
Bovines vs. Eqnines.
The Chicago Tribune says: The differences
anatomically and physiologically
between the cattle tribe (Bos) and the
horse family (Equus) is an interesting
study. In parallel tables these can be
? ?A ? ?1..? rrl*_ .
seen HI :i gWIIlUl?. J.JJ.CJ uuvg v&cu V/VU
denied for the Tribune with a view of
bringing the whole matter into a nutshell,
so they may be understood at a
glance:
Cattle? * HorsesHave
two toes. Have one toe.
Horned. Without horns.
Have no mane. Have flowing mane.
Long hair in a tuft at Tail covered with long
end of tail. hair.
Pawing with fore-feet Pawing with fore-feet
denotes anger. denotes hunger.
Seize forage with the Gather food with the
tongue. lips.
Lips slightly movable. I Lij s very movable. .
Have no upper incisor; Have upper and lower
teeth. incisors.
Lie down fore parts Lie down hind parta
first. I first..
Rise on hind legs nrst i Kise on iore-ie^s nrst. i
Short mouth. No space Mouth loDg. Space bebetween
incisor and twefen iront and.
molar teeth. back teeth.
Four stomach?. One stomach.
They chew the cud. Do not chew the cud.
Intestines small?120 Intestines large ? 60
feet long. feet long.
Have gall bladder. Have no gall bladder.
May vomit. Do not vomit.
May breathe through Do not breathe
. the mouth. through the mouth.
Mouth generally open Mouth never open
when wearied. from exhaustion.
Defense by goring. Defense by kicking.
Bellow or moo. Neigh or whinney.
I Do not sweat. Perspire easily.
Have dewlap. |Havo no dewlap.
No warts on inside of Hard, oval warts inhind
legs. side hind le?s.
Never use teeth in Use the teeth in fightfighting.
ing.
Donotretract the car?. Retract the ears when
an:ry.
Very rough tongue. Soft," smooth tongue.
Short, broad head. Long, narrow head.
Widq. drooping ears. Erect, narrow ears.
Limbs formed for Limbs formed foi
strength. speed.
Live twelve or eigh- Live thirty or forty
teen years. years.
Do not roll in the dust. Do roll in the dust.
Sleep with both ears.Sleep with one ear foralike.
word.
Lie down to sleep. Often sleep standing.
Eat and lie down to: Never ruminate. Eat
ruminate. I little and often.
Shoulders straight. (Shoulders sloping.
Concerning Baldness.
It has b?en estimated that one-half the
adult men of American i birth living in
our cities are bald-headed. The estimate
is not exaggerated if it is applied to
persons above the age of thirty, and it
may be rather under the mark. If, nov,
it be conceded that one halt our American
business and professional men aro
bald at the present time, it would be interesting
to speculate as to the condition
of their descendants some hundreds of
years from now. The probabilities point
toward a race of hairless Americans,
for baldness is especially liable to be
propagated in the male line, and to appear
a little earlier in each generation,
The American nation is threatened with*
a catastrophe of a universal alopecia. It
appears to be worth while, therefore, to
consider the subject of prevention, since
no means have yet been found for the j
cure. Why are so many men bald before
tbeir time ?
The answer has always been that is is
due to the excessive strain and ceaseless
mental and physical activity to which
American methods of business and modes
of living conduce. From the visitors' !
gallery of tbe stock exchange, for example,
one views a mob of shiniug plates
belonging, as a rule, to rather young
men.
Any reformer, however, who expects
to prevent baldness by changing American
habits may as well stop at once, for
lie will surely fail. Now, thsre may be j
perhaps, help in some other quarter. The j
sons of prematurely bald fathers should ;
bear in mind that if they wish to save {
their hair it will only be through industri- .
ous attention to their scalp. This much j
nr.rrifvf.tpfi surface should be thoroughly
cleansed at certain intervals. It should
b^ carefully and regularly examined, and
if it lie unhealthy, dry and scurvy, the 1
proper applications should be made to it. j
The wearing of unventilatcd hats is one :
of the greatest sources of failure of nu- |
trition of the hair, and these must be j
avoided. The beard never falls out, be- j
cause it gets plenty of sunlight and air. .
These are what the hair of the scalp '
needs, also. Women arc less bald than
men, because, lor one reason, tneir scaips :1
are better ventilated, In fine, civilization
has made the hair producing organs 1
of the scalp delicate and feeble. They ' j
have to be nursed and cured for, or they
atrophy and disappear. Young Ameri- }
cans who do not wish to lose their haii
before they are forty must begin to look
after their scalps before they are twenly.
\
* 'j
" rc, ' }' -iv*
A SUBMARINE BOAT.
Y..J
THE STORY OF A QUEER CONFEDERATE
CRAFT.
Built to Go Under Water?Several
Trips That Ended in DeathDestroying
a Federal
War Vessel. ;i
?Submarine
boatinsr has always proved
a dangerous business. Especially did it
show itself perilous in the experiment?
with "Davids," in Charlestown harbor;
and the nerve and heroism evinced" by , certain
young confederate officers and
men in the use of these engines or harbor
defense deserves more notice than it has
ever received. Of these submarine boats
or "Davids"?as they. were facetiously v
nicknamed from their pigmy size, contrasted
with the iron-clads, the allusion,
of course, being to the scriptural account
of David and Goliah?it will besuifici?:nt
to sketch the history of one, ?the same * ;
which, rusty and battered from its long : . ^
sojourn on the sea bottom, may now be
seen, as a naval curiosity, at the New
York navy yard.
It was built of boiler iron, shaped like a
cigar, being nearly round and closed
over on top. Its length was about
thirty-five feet, its breadth six or seven
feet, and it was capable of carrying a
crew of nine men, eight of whom turned
' ? _ _ ?
the shaft of the propeller screw, by band,
while the ninth steered the boat. She
could be submerged at will to any depth,
by admitting water into a tank, and .. ,V
raised to the surface again by pumping
it out.
Her speed, under water, with the men ,
working well, was about four knots an
hour. The torpedo which she carried
contained about sixty pounds of powder, .
and was attached to a long spar which
could be run out irom Her bows against
the side of the eucmv's vessel*; or a floating
torpedo could be dragged after her.
In the latter case it was "intended that,
on approaching one of the enemy's ships,
the torpedo-b at should be submerged
and pass under her keel, when the torpedo
itself would strike the ship's side
and explode frtm concussion of its T4'primers."
The boat coiild remain submerged
for half an hour without fresh
air. - ?.^3
Soon after the completion of this odd
craft, Lieutenant Paine of the Confederate
navy, with eight volunteers, set off *
by night to attack the Union fleet. But
while making ready, the swell of a passing
steamer caused the boat to roll over,
and all hands except the lieutenant himself,
who was standing in the open hatchway,
was drowned inside her.
She was rai- eel a few days later, bowever,
and again Lieutenant Paine volun- .
teered to go out in her. But when ofl
opposite Fort Sumter, the treacherous
craft again capsized and sunk in deep
water, drowning all hands except Paine .
and two others. . '
She was again brought up and prepared
for action; and this time a gentleman ^
named Aunley, o:ie of the builuersof the
boat, insisted on making a trip in her.
They proceeded up the Copper riven
Eut while submerged in deep water, the boat,
from some uuknown cause, became unmanageable.
The crew could not
bring her to the surface, and all perished
together on th; bottom of 1h;i river.
Still again she was raised with he*
ghastly cargo of nine dead men; and it
would not now have been strange had ; 'Jfc?
few been willing to embirk in her.
Daring spirits were not wanting, in the.
South in those days, however; and on
the night of the l?th of February, 1864,
Lieutenant Dixon, of Mobile, collected a
crew of eight men and set off in her, to
attack the Housatonic, a heavily armed
war vessel, on blockade duty olf the outei
harbor.
During the evening of the nth. Acting
Master J. K. Crosby, of the Housa
tonic, who at that hour was officer of the
deck, saw a dark object in the watei
about a hundred yards from the ship's
side. On perceiving, after watching it
for a time, that it was moving slowly, he
hailed it, and gttingno answer, gave an
alarm. So slowJy did the 4'David" approach,
that the caMe was slipped, the
engines started, aud the crew called , to
quarters. But they were unable to de- ,
pre?s the guns sufficiently to fire upon
the object, though a volley of rifle bullets
was rained down it. These latter
produced no effect on the little craft, and
before headway could be given, to the
ship, a t >rpedo was driven against her
side, and explodid with tremendous effect.
The vessel speedily keeled over to port
and sank, stern foremost. In the con- . *
fusion which ensued, nothing further
was seen of the ''David," and it was supposed
that the formidable little craft escaped
under covcr of the darkness.
A part of the crew of the Housatonic
was saved by boats from the Canandaigua,
which lay at a short distance away,
and others took lefuge in the upper rigging
of the Housatonic, which was not
entirely submerged.
But meantime the Confederates heard
nothing from Lieutenant Dixon and his
submarine boat. He did not return; his .
fellow-officers looked for him in vain,
and his fate remained a mystery till some
time after the close of the war, when a
submarine diver was sent down to cx?
plore the old wreck of the Housatonic.
The "David," with its crew of dead men,
was then found, plugged into the hole
caused by the explosion of the torpedo in
the ship's side! It had been drawn by
the suction of water into the breach. The
destroyer and the destroyed, had gone
down in grim dead lock togethsr. It was
one of the fateful episodes of the war.?
T. C. Hoyt, in Youth's Companion.
A Story of Andrew Jackson..
Colonel A. L. Blackman, of Kentucky,
told me to-day a story of Andrew Jackson,
which he heard in Pennsylvania laat
summer at a resort where he was staying.
It seems that there formerly lived
in that vicinity an old character who was
known as "Andrew Mason, millwright."
He was as eccentric in his opinions as he
was fearless in their expression. There
came along by his place in 1807 a lumbering
coach with two men in it. It
stopped to water the horses. One of the
men seemed to desire to obtain an idea
of public sentiment, and began to ask
questions of Mason as to public feeling
over Aaron Burr, whose trial was about
to take place at Richmond. The old fellow
replied with a good deal of vehein*'
1 ..?1x^,1.? KaIRnrr
Once Illill uva> uuu* uuntnu tuuk ^....
was a traitor, and that Andrew Jackson
was not far from it. The stranger jumped
from the carriage at this remark, swearing
like a pirate, and, drawing a sword,
chased Mason out of the road and into
the fields for safety before he could realize
that it was Jackson whom he was ad'
i i 1 j r> : _
dressing. .jacKson nau uai uuicu uun iu
the "West, and then was on his way back
to Richmond to the trial.?Cincinnati En,fairer.
In 1860 there were 357,833 "public j
houses" in France. Now there are 386,185.
or one establishment where drink is
sold for every niaety-seven inhabitants.