The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 04, 1886, Image 2
UPON THE HILLS.
Along their heights on peaks of stona
The bird of prey alights;
He rears his youug and dwells alone
Along the heights;
A MA?4i?>nl T*rV?rvo? cai?1 m vifao
<CX OCUltUUl n UVJU ovu? iu< <w?
The lurid clouds that shriek and groan
With frenzy on tempestuous nights,
O come! O come! for years hare shown
The storm but vainly smites
The wulls that create Freedom's throes
Along their heights.
Upon these walls doth oceaa beat
r? ilu cittiiiui iutti oppu
But wrecks at length his billowy fleet
Upon these walls;
Then writhes with pain, and backward falls,
And moans within his safe retreat
Until again some cyclone calls.
O, come from the city's heat,
From where decay enthralls,
For ruin cannot plant hi3 feet
Upon these walls!
On crests so high, 'mid rocks and bars
There's wealth for all who sigh,
No fitful fever scathes and scars
On crests so high.
The calm and cool and open sky,
With all its hosts of changeless stars,
Seems spread so very close and nigh!
O, come above the do.id that wars
Where tranquil stories lie!
No stiife from sorrow's lowland jar
On crests so high.
The spirit fills with joy sublime
On these enduring hills;
With sheen from heaven's unclouded clime,
The spirit tills.
The breath like balm of living rills
From fountains flow iug through all time
Into the suil'ei ing soul instils.
O, come from out the rueful grime
Which soon corrodes and kills;
The hills sing aud their deathless chime
The spirit tills.
?liu/us J. Childress.
JOHN'S WIFE.
So you think my wife is beautiful'" j
eaid my friend, John Crown.
. Wlivn John asked this question we !
were sitting together co/.ily in the room
ne culed "liis den,' uec.iuse, as he said, j
he had things in its as du ty, disordered :
and unarranged as lie pleasei. However, I
th's was a little delusion iu my friend's I
mind; I have always had a keener observation
of tiifles than John, and as I
looked around his cozy study I saw indications
that, though Lis papers were j
left religiously untouched, and if he laid
a book down on its face open it would
stay there a month undisturbed, sti 1 a '
feminine hand stole in when the grand
lord and master of this confusioa was
absent and applied many a deft touch
and many u gentle whisk of the duster, 11
o keeping his disorder endurable to him- j 1
Eelf while he fondly imagined that he 1
was keeping it unendurable to every one j1
else. There we sat, I ;ay. before- his 1
cozy, opon fire, for John always would j
have a little wood for his den, cost what j:
it miiiht, wh. n Joirn a ked me if I.
thought his wife bea-.tiful.
"Why, no," said I frankly.
"But," said John, loking a little surprised,
"I saw you look at her at tabie
with glanccs I call precious near admiration.
mv bov
"Why, yes," said I, "that is true, j
too."
"Then," said .To!in, after a few moments'
thoughtful pull at his pipe, "you
eay she is not beautiful."
"No," said I.
"Pa-sable, eh " caid lohn, looking at i
me with the kind of ait'stic sarcasm in j
his face which 1 remembered his having !
cultivated so successfully in our college j
days.
"No," said I ng::in, with provoking ;
calmness and as much indifference as I j
could assume.
"He lo,"' cried .lohn. waking up a lit- !
' tic; "perhaps you'll tell ine now what.
he is, if neither b autiful nor payable; |
for I don't see anything left but hideou?, !
nd if you say that ?'ll thrw you out of ,
the window. Now 1 can tell you she is
beautuul. '
"Yes," s itl I aga'n, with the most:
studied listlesscess. "I believe you."' j
"Come, n jw," said .John silting a |
little straight r, "drop that drawl you
used to think so fine when you were a
enior, and speak out. You would se3
?he is lovely if you conld know her
well."
"Very likely," said I, "but you know
I have not seen her at all."
"But," said John, opening his eyes
ery wide, "that was my wife at the
table. I introduced you."
"Exa; tly," said I; "I could see a small
bit of her."
Now, I must say th -t my friend John
Brown was an excc lent fellow and a j
very fair scholar in college by dint of
prodigious digging, which same splendid
application (for, after all, what can the
greatest genius do without labor?) had
given him an honorable success in business;
but he had not a very quick mind,
though a very 9afe one. And so when I
remarked th it I had *een but a small bit
of his wife, he simply stared at me in
ilpTifA Aft.pr ?mn-in<r mvsplf with his
vacant countenance and wide open eyes,
I began to expouud.
''Suppo e, my dear fellow," I said,
"that a picture of the Madonna were set
before me all ca efully curtained but a
iquare inch of the forehead. Now, tell
me, will you, you who stood?what number
was it in our class? something outrageously
high?could I say whether that
Madonna were beautiful or not? Now,
I have looked at your wife through the
square-inch hole of one session at a table;
and, if even the complexion of a Diana
peeped through that hole, how on earth
could I tell what the whole would ffppear
viewed by day and night, in parior aud
study and kitchen, and at all meals?
Don't you see that, a* I said, 1 have seen
but a bit of your amiable wife, and can
say r.o more than that the square inch of
the forehead is well painted
"Ah,"said John, settling back, "you
are the same old philosopher that you !
used to be when you stood in the class?
where was it? Somewhere outrageously
low. Well, I tell you,my boy, that was
a lucky sprawl for me."
"Sprawl?" said I.
"Yes," said John, "the tumble which
_/ land d me at my wife's feet in more
x senses than one. Didn't I ever tell you
about it?" said my friend, seeing my
1..1. ; ? n.?i iiumi
IUUJv U1 >ui |?11*C miu. i;u. iisaii v. n ru,
it isn't much of a story after all, only,
you know, it made mo supremely happy,
and all that. Why, you remember, I
never could stand on my feet if there
was a possibility of slipping, and this
event wa3 an egregious half-somersault
which I performed at a country boarding-house
where I was faking vacation.
There were two or thiee girls in the
house, and some young men, and one
day when out for a picnic I went back
quite chivalrously for a bucket of milk
that had been forgotten, and the others
waited lor me at the foot of a little hill.
Now, as I came down, my proclivity beinir
strongly in unison with the declivity
of the hill, what should I do but stnb
ftJ loe; P over 1u^e serenely on my
ErSv
face, and spill the milk most skilfully;
and that's the wayl got my wife."
"Well," said I, feeling a little inclined
to stare in my turn, but concluding not
to gratify John by such a simplicity,
"that is an odd kind of wooing, certainly;
you don't mean to say that's the
whole of the storv'j"
__ ? .Irj .1. _ A1I
"?Tiijr, jea, saiu uuim, at iva^i, ??i
I'll tell you. You sec, the point was she
didn't laugh. Ail the others mude immensely
merry at my expense, confound
them, and the girls as badly ns the boys.
I thought they would fairly faint with
laughter when I got up, red and be-1
scratched in the face and begrecned with
grass stains all over my white linen suit.
In the midst of my confusion, as I tell
you, I had sense enough to note the fact
that one girl did not laugh. On the con
trary, she had a shade of ipiiet concern
on her face, mellowed (for I tell you I I
remember the expression, my boy. with J
remarkable distinctness) bv intense observation,
to assure herself that I was not
seriously hurt. Well, row, pe;h ps you
will think I fell in love with her on the
spot?" with a suspicious glance at me.
I nodded.
"Well I didn't. I was such an unconscionable
cub that I was really madder
with hr>r tlmn with tin; rest of tliCtft.
Bah, said I to myself. I knew she was j
quiet and ^tiil but I thought she might I
be waked lip. There is no more humor j
in her than in a monkey."
Here John paused a loug time, ga/.ing
into the fire. j
"Go on," said I.
"Oh," said John with a little 9tart, I
"why?well, there's nothing more to tell; j
only the next day when I was wandering j
about alone, a little sore in the knees,
and still sorer in my mind?the mortification,
you know, and those detestible
girls giggi ng every time I hove in sight
?why, what should I hear but a little
rippling laughter, for all the world like
the babbling of a brook over its pepples,
a kind of cross between that and the twitter
of bird3 when they have just buildcd a
nest; and when I came where the sound
was there was my wife, you know,?11
mean?well, you know who I mean?
laughing over Pickwick. So I was
for. ed to conclude that she had more
humor than a monkey. After that I fell
to observing her, and discovered that the
reason she didn't laugh at ir.e was simply
because she had too kind a heart. 1 noticed
now how she always deftly, covered
up little mishaps, and, in short, I found
her out?and myself too."
"Now,"continued John, after another
long gaze at the fire. "I am not going j
to teil you of another preposterous fall I |
had; it was when?but no matter; what j
she snid to me then was: "Stand up, my j
clear; it is my duty now to hold you up
wheu you slip."?Chicago Herald.
Stories of Turtles.
J. C. Banks, of Oluey, 111., caught a
land turtle in 180,1 and cut his initials on
the shell. Recently he found the same
turtle in his garden, within a short distance
of the place where he saw it twenty-oue
years ago.
A hotel-keeper at Washington, Ga.,
says a turtle's head's wj:s cut oif and
thrown into the back yard of his hotel.
Twenty-four hours later it caught a
chicken by the foot and held on until its
j iws were forced open by the hotel man.
Colonel J. G. Johnson, of Cherry Hill,
Md., found aland turtle in 1812 and cut
in its shell his initials and the date. In
1848 the turtle was fo :nd byE. D. Clay- j
tnn. a neighbor of Colonel Johnson. Mr.
Clayton found the turtle again a short
time since. It was crawling about the
tomb of Colonel Johnson, who died fo:ty
years ago.
Louis Cronenberg, of Columb'a. S. C.,
was bitten on the foot by a snapping :urtle.
He attempted to foive the turtle's
mouth open, whereupon the creature;
c.iught him by the finger and bit it badly, i
A local paper gravely says: "Fortuuately |
it was thundering at th(; time and the j
turtle let go his h;ld without further
trouble."
Two colored men quarreled in a mar-,
ket at Raleigh, N. C., and one of them
swung a ten-pound mud turtle above
his head and tl en brought it down upon
the hand of the other man. The 1 low
indicted a deep wound :>nd the wie'dei
of the turtle was arrested. The court
? :n
Will U'JW UC LailCU \i\IUU. LKJ \4VV.iU?
whether a turtle is a deadly weapon.
Jake Pecker, a Louisville fireman,
bought two snapping turtles and start d
to carry them home. One of the turtles
snapped at a passing negro and grab' ei
him by the coat. "While beckcrwas trying
to pull the turtle's h ad away the j
other turtle g abbed his hand. In the
excitement v>liich followed the first turtle
seized Becker's free har.d. Neither
would let go its hold and Becker ran
home with a turtle dangling from each
hand. The creatures' h< ads were cut ofl
and still their jaws clung, but were
finally torn away with great difficulty.
Becker's hau.ls were so lacerated that he
was la:d off from duty.
Riding Elephant Back.
We quote as folio vs from Edwin Arnold's
'-India Revisit'd:" It is some -.vhit
o Id to hear "Hatti taiyar hai?the ele- !
pharu is ready," anno- need as naturally
as though it were a cab or carriage which
stands waiting at the door. Yet the least J
experienced might safe y climb to the
mountaino.is back of Bhnirava, one of
the guico war's qu'etest and biggest
tuskers. Caparisoned in scarlet and yellow,
with a.foreheal c'.oth of kincob,
which the m:\hout pushes aside whin he
desires to prod the mighty bc:ist on the !
occiput with the pointed hook, Bhairava
seemed grand aud porderousenonghto be
wholly above serving as a sort of colossal
omnibus At the word "baitho," however,
he meekly folded his hind legs and
stretched his front legs forward, lowering
his body to the earth, whereupon a
ladder of ten steps, set aguin-t his side,
enabled us to cl.mb to the silver ho ulali,
where a party of four can be com'ortably
accommodated. Then Bhairava heaved
majestically aloft?a movement which :
demands precaution on the part of the j
passengers?and rolled forward on a trip !
of circ.imambulation round the city and
its sub.irbs. Behind lain ran a hattiwallah,
uttering gruffly many a "sum'' and
"chutt" to keep the monster going, and !
sometimes emphasizing the ejaculations .
with a tremendous b'ow upon th<; <-le- j
phant's tailroot from a staff four inches ]
thick, which vonld have broken the leg
of si horse, but seemed to be regarded by I
Hhainr a as the merest and most playful
hint to "move on."'
Hats of Wooil.
By a new proves* of manipulation hats
more serviceable and liner than anything i
n .w on the market are made of wood j
pulp. They are impervious to water and !
not wanting in flexibility. It is claimed
lliat felt hats will have to take a back :
seat as soon as these new hats can be !
placed in the market in sufficient
numbers to supply the demand. They
are certain to revolutionize the hatter'B
trade, as they can be molded into any j
shape or style desired and colored to I
meet the taste of the public. They can '
be m;ide to represent a glossy or nappy
appearance.?Troy (Times. 1
BUDGET OF FUlT
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
Congressional Methods?No Mere
Passing "Whim?Wasn't Afraid?
Hints to Summer Boarders?
Categorical Witness.
The clock had struck midnight in the
residence of a Congressman, and still the
young man in the parlor did not go. The
young fellow had been away for two
weeks, and the girl's father was willing
tl at he should have a fair show; but this
was too much, and at last he went to the
head of the stairs ai:d listened a minute.
"Mollie!'' he called sharply.
''Yes, papa," came the silvery voice
of his child, with a slightly smothered
acccnt.
"It is after 12 o'clock."
"Yes, papa, and we are doing all we
can to expedite the accumulated business.
We will adjourn by-and-by,
papa."
The helpless father, unable to answer
the argument, returned to his bed in
tea s.?JYcw York S'ar.
No Mere Passing Whim.
Miss Birdie McGinniss is one of the
most confirmed flirts in Austin. She has
been engaged to half a dozen men, and
thus far has never mained any of them.
Of lite, Tom Anjerry, a dissipated
student of the l*n:ver.-ity of Texa=>. h;is
been paying Miss Birdie marked attention.
A few evenings ago, being in a secluded
place with her, he flopped down
on his kneea and remarked in an agonized
tone of voice:
"Miss Birdie, I adore you."
"I cau't believe you,'' replied Birdie,
'you men are so fickle and unreliable.
Your so-called love is a mere passing
whim."
"Oh, no,"saidTom,"my loveforyouis
greater than that of your last four fellows
put together."? &'iftings.
Wasn't Afraid.
Geo ge and Mabel were walking down
the avenue, and George was showing her
how much he knew.
"Yes," he said, "science is constantly
making some new discovery. Now there's
the tyrotoxicon."
"What is that? It must be something
horrid."
"It is. It's a terrible microbe that
gets through your entire system. It is
cai ght by eating ice cream," and here
George looked straight ahead with an
the indiiTeience he had in stock.
'"What kind of a disease does it give
you?" she inquired, suppressing a
shudder.
' I don't know exactly, but I should
th'nk it was something like the smallpox,
only a great deal wor3e.
She didn't speak for two or three minutes.
Then she laid her hand on his
aim, and said in a low voice:
"George."
"What is it, dearest?"
"I have been vaccinatcd."
In George's humble estimation the
tyrotoxicon is the biggest failure on
record.?Merc) ant- Traveler.
Hints to Summer Boarders.
City folks who go into the country to
board on a farm during a part of the
heated terra, will save them elves con
siderublc trouble and some remorse by
taking these brief end hastily evolved
hints at their facc value.
Don't expect the earth; you can have
only a very small part of it for six dollars
per week.
D.in't expect a view from your window
that takes in a green hillside with browsing
limbs, a lake with water-fowl,groves
and llowers, and a clear sunset every day
during your stay. These things come
high, save in advertisements for summer
boarders. Look out upon the patient
farm-boy bugging the potato-vines and
be content.
Don't go noar the mowing-machine
;f iQ in innt.inn Yon mav safelv
IV
sit on the fence surrounding the field in
which it is singing its merry song, but
that w.ll be near enough. You might
go behind a mowing-michine when it is
in comp'ete repose,but if it should start,
you should start also, and you should
not stop until you reach the fence.
Don't monkey with the straw-cutter,
or try to climb over the barbed-wire
fence, just to show the congregation how
smart you are. It requires long practice
to climb a barbed-wire fence and not be
sorry for it afterward.
In busy times you may take off your
coat and go out with the hands for half- j
a-day, just to give yourself an appetite, j
That will please the farmer, notwithstanding
your increased appetite; but
don't get into the habit of tint sort of
thing.
Evince an interest in live stock, but
don't siy you would like to learn to imilk
a cow. You might in this way, greatly
please the farmer and his wife; but the
cow would probably kick you in the
stomach, or the finee-corner, at the first
motion, and you would have to buy a
new milk-pail.
Praise the apple dumplings; say the
farm is the be t kept you ever saw; kiss
the baby and pet the dog; and thus make
yourself solid with the whole family at
the very outset.
If you go walking in the woods and
see a large hornets' nest hanging from a j
low limb, don't become infatuated with
it. If a desire to pull it and taks it j
home to show it to the other boarders i
jprings up in your bo?om, try to repress |
t. Hornet* are a little particular, and j
do not like to have their nest shown i
around among curious city people while |
they are using it, and if you pull their !
nest while they arc at home they will!
show their disapprobation of your course, j
?Scott Way, in Puck.
A Categorical Witness.
"Do you know the prisoner well?" j
asked the lawyer.
' Never knew him sick," replied the
WilllfSS.
"No levity," said the lawyer, sternly.'
"Now, sir, did you ever see the prisoner |
at the bar?"
"Had many a drink with him at the
bar."
"Answer my question, sir," veiled the ;
lawyer. "How long have you known
the prisoner:"
"From two feet up to five feet ten
incae-*.''
"Will the court make the?"
HT ? - 1 M :t..Ann
"i nave, your uonur, duiu iuu wnuw,
ant cipating tlic lawyer; "I have answered
the question. I knowed the
prisoner when he was a boy two feet
long and a man live feet ten?"
The lawyer arose, placcd both hands
on the table in front of him, spread his
legs apart, leaned over the table, and
said: ''Will you tell the court what you
know about this case?"
"That ain't his name."
"What aiolhis name?"
"Case."
"Who said it was?"
' You did. You wanted t:> know what
I knew about this Case?his name is
Smith."
"Your honor," howled the lawyer,
plucking his ibeard out by the roots,
"will you make this man answer?"
' Witness, you must answer the questions
put to you," said the judge.
"Land o' Goshen, your honor, hain't
I bin doin' it? Let the counsel fire
awav, I'm ready."
4 Then," said the lawyer, "don't beat
about the bush any more. You and this
prisoner have been friends?"
"Mover!"
"What! Wasn't you summoned here
as a fr.'end of his?"
"JVo, sir; I was summoned here as a
Presbyterian. Neither of us was ever
. ?? AhaItak oKmif Kim "
I IH L U3 , UU V^uarwi aywuw u.w.
"Stand down!" yelled the lawyer, in
deep disgust.
"Hey*"
"Stand down."
"Can't do it. I'll sit down or stand
up
"Usher, remove that man from the
box."
Witness retires, muttering: "Well, :if
he ain't the thick-headulest lawyer I
ever laid eyes on!"?Detroit Free Press.
A Bulgarian Hercules.
In the Bulgarian village of Ostrova,
correspondent of the Freie Pressc recently
witnessed the explo'ts of a rustic
athlete who could m:ike his fortune in
any North American circus. He snapped
! an inch tow by passing one loop over his
! neck and shoulders and the other around
[ his be.idcd knei?, and then stra'ghtening
o.it with an effort that turned his forehead
into a clump of wrinkles. With an
end of the same tow he then got a hitch
around a sixty-pound chunk of limestone,
and after giving it a few pendulum
swings, whirled it around his head
like a slungshot. A boy attendant then
handBd him a stone jug of the heaviest
* * > J .? : ...1
caiiDer, wmca nu wruppeu up m a tum<i
and chucked between his crossed arms
and his chest. "Will you pay for it if I
brca'c it?" he asked, a'ter giving the
I bundle a preliminary hug. Coppers
dropped in from all sides, and under the
next hug the massive stoneware collapsed
like an egg-shell. Samson next seize d
a wheelbarrow by the end of the handles.
"Who will give me a florin if I let him
sit in here and lift this thing the way I
I hold it?" No one seeming disposed to
volunteer, Samson made his boy get
aboard and hold the limestone rock between
his knees. Seizing the barrow at
the very extremity of the handles, he
raised it clean off the ground, held it
out at arm's length for at leust fivo seconds,
and then lowered it without nllow
ing the front end to tip a single inch.
He then produced a l irge grain sack and
offered to bag any fellowman in less than
ten minutes for a bet of live again>t two
florins. A broad-shouldered raftsman
accepted the challenge on condition that
the matador should refrain from usin<$
his fists. A ring was formed, and the
raft man proved a to igh customer, but
in spite of all his kicking and bracing
the c :ampion finally go! a lock-grip
around his arms, and in the next moment
ensacked his person from h; ad to heels,
amidst the thundering plaud ts of the
rustic spectators.
The Coachman's Bride.
Referring to the daughter of Morosiui,
the rich banker, whose marriage to her
father's coachman created such a huge
sensa tion in New York social circle.', a
Xew York correspondent of the Boston
Hera^l writes: I hear that the somewhat
celebrated love match between Victoria
Schelling and her stable husband is not
quite as rosy as it was. Indeed, they do
say that the wedded life of the coachman
and his bride is rather more spirited
than affectionate. Mm. Schelling looks
thin and anxious. She wa? plump and
rath r light-heurled when hir runnwaj
marriage occurred. Now the girls at
the Casino are telling that she cries in
her clressing-roo.Ti between the scenei on
the stntje, and thr re arc rumors that she
is badly treated at home Her father, ]
understand, would take her back to his
home if she would get away from hei
husbind; but she is not quite ready tc
do that. She is, however, beginning tc
| think that she male a great mistake in
life and to feel her humiliation verj
keenly. But she is too full of pluck tc
acknowledge her error publicly, so shf
grows pale and thin and goes away by
l herself to weep. She now gets sixtj
J dollars a week at the Casino, and th<
people in the company like Her ana nave
sympathy for her :ipp:?rent distress. Sh<
will never be very much of an actress,
but she sing9 well enough and look?
well enough to be sure of earning a good
living on the stage as long as she maj
choose to stay there.
Protection Against Bees.
J ~r Trrnrl,
JLIIU Utilizer Ulkw'Ul^btllg ?.w nwm
among bees without some kind of fact
covering has recently heen exemplified
in the case of an Indiana famer, who
lost his life from his temerity. The
farmer had a large num'.er of colonies oi
| bees, and one day recently a swarm came
I out which seemed of a somewhat cross
j disposition. There was considerable
trouble in hiving them, and while doing
this the man was stung twice on the side
of the nose. He complained at once ol
the unusually severe pain, a id his wife,
who was assisting him, hastened to the
house for medicine. When she returned,
which wns less than five minutes, she
found her husband lying dead upon the
ground,having evidently expired in great
agony. The opinion of the phys'ciana
was ;:hat the c ause of death was paralysis
of the heart, iuduced by the severe pain
of the stincs. There are manv bee-keep
era who boa^t that they are able to do all
the work of the apiary with no protection
to the face, and while it may be a little
unpleasant in very warm weather to put
on a veil, still, when the risks that are
run are taken into consideration, it is just
as well to be a little less bold and take
precautions which may possibly be the
means of saving life, as would have been
the case iu the instance cited.?Chicago
Times.
How to Grease an Axle.
A paper devoted to the coach making
indus'ry tells how to grcaso an axle: A
well made wheel will endure constant
wear from ten to twenty-five years, il
care is taken to use the right kind and
amount of grease; but if this matter is
not attended to, it will be used up in
live or six year-). Lard should never be
used on a wagon, for it will penetrate!
the hub, and work its way out around
t lie tenons ot the spi.Kts, tnus spoiunij
the wheel. Tallow is the best lubricator j
for wooden axle trees, and castor oil for |
iron hubs, but many of the patent axle |
grcacs arc also excellent, and have the
merit of being cheaper and more convenient
to handle. Just grease enough
should be applied to the spindle of a
wagon to give it a slight coating. This
! is i e'.ter than more, for the surplus put on
will work cut at the ends, and be forced
by th-j shoulder bands and nut w;.shcr
into the hub arnuud the outside of the
boxes. 'J o oil an iron axle-tree first
wipe the indie clean with a cloth wet
with sp--:rs of turpentine, and then J
apply a f w drops of castor oil near the
i shoulder ind end. One teaspoonful is
| sufficient ;'or the whole.
i
WEATHER REPORTS.
a
HOW OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE ^
AT A SIGNAL STATION. C
c
Gathering Facts as a Basis for "Old j
Probabilities"?Watching the t
Weather and Issuing
the Bulletins. j
t
The tall tower on top of the Equitable f
building, where the agents of the Signal *
| Service Bureau used to collect samples of <2
weather, has been torn away to make E
room for one much taller, which U part d
of the plan for remodeling the build- f
ing. Temporarily the signal oifce has t.
been removed to another tower, perhaps ^
not quite so tall, yet high enough to en- 1
able a keen observer to note any weather a
that may happen around it, on thrj south- d
east corner of that same editice. It will *
be hoisted two or three stories h'gher *
I over the front, after a while, and lrom v
that elevation the weathcrwiae young c
men who perch up there expect to peep s
over the eaye of the world on fair days, s
This signal station began to supcrin- 1
tend the weather on November 6, 1870, 8
and has had a sharp eye continuously t
upon the doings of the "Prince of the ^
Power of the Air" ever since. Sergeant
i H. J. Pernod is in charge of both this
station and the Marine Agency, at the f
Maritime Exchange, but occupies h:mself
most of the timu at the latter place, ?
leaving Sergeant E. B. Dunn to rule the '
roost on the Equitable building. The 0
assistants are Sergeants Francis Long a
i (late of the Greely expedition) and G. A. F
Warren, and Messrs. G. A. Loveland, R. ?
E. Hinman, and L. F. Pas ailnigue. The fj
work done at the Marine Agency consists "
mainly in comparing ship*' barometers
and receiving and forwarding to Wash- "
I ington observations taken at sei by ship- a
masters, 'mat wmcn ians to ine snare v
of the signal station men is much closer 8
to the popular interest, for this is one of a
the principal points in the great system a
by which the public daily gets authorita- *
tive official information as to the sort of ^
! weather it is going to have, provided D
it doesn't have some other kind. ?
The hours of duty are divided into ?
eight hours each, but as there are four ^
men two are on together in the middle of u
the day. Seven observations a day are c
taken and recorded, and three of these 1
are reported to headquarters at Washington.
The hours for observations are at
3, 7, and 11 a. m., and 3, 7, 10, and 11
p. m. Those taken at 7 a. m. and 3 and c
lip. m. are the ones telegraphed on to j(
Washington to be used with others from r
all parts of the country in making up the
newspaper reports of weather probabili- t
tie9. This explanation will, it is to be
hoped, be deemed a sufficient refutation -y
of the story that General W. B. Hazen,
Ciranol n (4^*r*or? rrnaaooa "f At* fVlftQO V
I V illUl UAqUUI VUtVblj guvoovu AV4 wuwwv 2'
' reports by the feel of his corns, shrewd ^
observations on the habits of pigs, the j
breastbones of geese, aud other occult j,
sources of information. f
Taking the observations includes taking
the re:ordo of the automatic self-registering
barometer and anemometer, ^
reading the thermometers and noting the t
direction of the winds, ihe look of the q
clouds, the state of the weather, and
the rainfall, if any. Another and inde- a
pendent obser.ation is made at 2 p. m. v
each day by Sergeant Long on the temperature
aud depth of ihe North River, ^
for which he goes down to Pier 13, at j.
the lr>ot of Cedar street.
Telegraphic circuits bring to this t
station every morning duplicates of all ^
the reports made from the 100 or more
other station-; to Washington. These all |
: come in cipher, which ujs to be trans-!
i intprj a momifirr rlisnateh. for instance. ! r
I that reads: "Mocking?Finely?(Sandy | i
j ? Habit ? 111 ? Pintail ? Vice," means I
j ''Barometer reading 20.94; temperature j
| of exposed thermometer, 65 ? ; tempera- j D
1 ture of dew point, 45 ? ; north wind and i g
| clear sky; velocity of the wind,six miles 1 q
per hours; three-tenths of the cloud ! a
I stratus moving from the southwest; j(
' lowest temperature since last reading,
61?." I
From these reports bulletins are made t(
out and given to the public. While one j ^
man reads aloud his translation of the
cipher dispatches, another puts upon a
semi-skeleton map of the United States
the reported figures indicating barometrical
pressure and temperature at the re- D
spective stations whence the reports y
come. Then blue and red lines aie drawn
on tho map, enclosing irregular sections 0
of it, so as to mark o.it by the blue lines t
and figures where the temperature is high- e
est and where it is lowest, and by the red F
lines and figures the areas in which the {
knmmofri/v,i nrpcsnr.'s are highest and S
I o
lowest. Finally the map is adorned with I
many little arrows, showing, by the way d
j they point, the various dirictions in o
' which the wind has blown at the hour of
' making the report, in different parts of T
| the country. That completes the map, s
( and it is then ready for duplication and j
sending abroad for exposure in public '
places, where it can rattle citizens who s
try to understand it. The red marks B
and the arrows enable one to observe c
that when a storm centre is established 11
| anywhere?a; shown by the lowest baro- a
] metrical pressure?the winds ru->h in v
j from all directions to that common a
i centre to help the trouble along, just as a S
I man's creditors concentjatu on him at his f
period of greatest financial stress. c
' ? ? ? * I
It will oe seen irora ima u^njuivu the
work done he :e tha". it results simply ?
in the statement of ascertained facts con- a
cerning ai-tual conditions of weather all c
ovsr the country. The proud prerogative v
of prognostication is monopolized at ^
Washington, and a c >nscientious signal {
| officer here, or at any other station, would
as soon think of lending a dollar to a F
total stranger, as of permitting himself. s
to say that "it is likely to rain,'' though, 0
j if the rain were actually falling, he would ^
| not hesitate to affirm the fact to anybody.
?New York Sun. A
The "Poor Man's Oyster.
s<
TVin annil tlflPViXit ll?9 llisfc llP/TUn in
France. The ''poor man's oyster" is so t,
appreciated that Paris alone consumes ?.
: sjme forty-nine tons daily, the best kind C(
j coming from Grenoble or Burgundy. v
'I he finest specimens are carefully reared
in an escargoticrc, or snail park, such as C|
the poor Capuchin monks planned in by- n
I gone days at Colmar and Weinbach, \
! when they had no money to buy food,
and so cultivated snails. Hut the major- t]
j ity are collected by the vine-dr^ssers in jj
| thj evening from the stone-heaps where <<
I the snails have assembled to enjoy the f|
I dew. The creatures are then starved in j(
J a dark cclhir for two months, and when ^
t they have closed up the aperture of their ll(
| slieil are ready for cooking. According f.
to the true Burgundy method, they aiv |,
I boiled in five or six watois, extracted ^
I from the shell, dressed with frc.?li butter c
and garlic, then replaced in the shell, ^
| covered with parsley and bread crumbs, q
ana imany simmerou in wane ?mv,? <
London Standard. n
?? c
The climate of the Island of Ar an, off d
the west coast of Scotland, is so mild if
that palms and camellias thrive in the s;
open air in winter, though the latitude is ^
that of the northern part of Labrador. b
Agricultural Implements.
Agriculture, like all other of the arti
ind sciences, has seen wonderful ad
ancc3 witnrn tne iaat century in tne una
>f tools. Improved machines and meihanical
devices of many kinds have
jreatly reduced the farmer's manual
abor, and made an immense increase in
he power of improving with a given
amount of labor. The mowing-michine
ias almost supplanted the scythe, and
he flail is fast becoming an interesting
elic. Yet a? late as 1830, in some parshes
of England, the laborers went about
lestroying every horse-power threshingnachine
they could fina. Little prejuLice
now remains against labor-saving
arm machinery, and the farmer ifl
nougns Deaina ine nines ? n? mows
vith a ^ythe or threshes with a flail.
Che model farmer now mows, spreads,
,nd rakes his hay with the mower, tedler,
and horse-rake and then lifts it from
he hay-rack to the barn-loft with a horseork.
He plows, in the West, at least,
vith a sulky plow, then uses a harrow,
ultivator, and pulverizer all in one, and
ows his seed with a mechanical seed
ower. When manuring time comes
n fall or spring, he cau use a manurepreadcr
if he wishes. Wheel-hoes save
he farmer's back lots of stitches, or a
torse-hoe can bo u^ed.
One of the devices that are now no
ongur thought luxuries is the wind-mill.
Lny one who rides through New Engand
with his eyes open knows how many
f these are in use. Some are utilized
or cutting wood, hay and roots, and for
ther mech- nicjl purposes, but thsv are
,s one in a hundred to those used for
tumping water. Theie is almost no limit
o the height which water can be raided
iy the wind-mil', and it need not be put
Lirectly over the well; in fa::t, it m y.be
aany feet away, provided the vertical
listancc be not greats Old Probs says,
,nd exper ence prove3, that hereabout
he wind blows abou^ one-third the time,
o the tank used for storage must hold
t'jeast three times as much as the
mount required in any one day. Thus
/ater can be stored to supply the house,
iarn, or fields, and the farmer can be allost
independent of rain. The smallest
aill put up, with fair winds, will store
rom 350 to 400 gallons of water an
tour. Such mills as farmers ordinarily
isc cost from $125 to $400, and the purhaser
can, if he wishes, easily erect
hem himself. ?Boston Olobt.
The Tramp's Hands.
"One of the essential points of sucC39
in my profession," said a dilaplated
old tramp who was talking to a
eporter from behind the bars of one of
he cells in the city jail this morning,
' is to keep the hands in good order,
fou don't understand what I mean, eh ?
Vhat I mean by keeping the hands in
;ood order is this: Of course, in tramp g
from town to town, a man is liable
o be arrested for vagrancy at any time.
Ic mu&t tell a story of how he has just
teen thrown out of work, and is looking
or employment, which, as yet, he has
lot been able to find. In nine cases out
f ten the judge will ask him to show
ip his hands, and when he does produce
hem, they must be horny and toilworn.
"atch on, do you ? ?o you see it is part
if my business to keep my hands looking
,s though they belonged to a man who
ras accustomed to work 365 day.? in the
'ear. For that purpose I carry with me
his sma'l piece of hickery wood, which
3 round and very smooth. About twice
. day I take it between my palms and rub
hem so that the friction will make them
Lard and callous. In that way you see I
?ro luce the 're.il result,' with very little
rouble and annoyance. There is a bottle
f brown liquid which I occasionally use
or staining the back part of my hands a
leautiful sun-brown color, and there
ou are. "When I show up my hands
nd tell the judge that I am a ha:d-workoan,
thrown out of employment by the
trikes, what can he do but believe me ?
? * ' ' ? -3 ? I? :.:i
ne triCK nas save me many a uay in jnu,
xd I flatter myself is a strictly original
3ea, though it is spreading rapidly. The
irofession, you see, is beginning to
ealize that it will never do to show up
o a hard-hearted police judge a pair of
ender, lily-white hands."?Omaha Bee.
,
Chocolate.
Chocolate is one of the articles of trade
lost susceptible of adulteration, since a
ery small quantity of the cocoa bean
mparts taste and perfume to a mixture
f tasteless and not always harmless mater.
Unscrupulous manufacturers (and
specially is this applicable to the small
troducer) introduce into the paste flour,
.Tound corn and beans, stale coffee
pounds, veal or mutton tallow (to suptly
the necessary oily substance) and the
Iregs of ground nut< (peanuts) after the
iil has been completely extracted. The
nttrxm cnKotnnno O fow VPflffl flffn
BULCl J
ras employed as a fertilizer and occaionally
made into rakes as food for dogs,
snow profitably converted into chocoate.
Add to the above ingredients cocoa
hells and ground brick, the latter to
;ive weight, and the component parts of
heap chocolate arc given. Chocolate
aanufacturers admit, with refreshing
xtlessne;s. that adulterated chocolate is
ery little used in .France, but is profitbly
exported. It is difficult to distinguish
good chocolate from fabricated,
iom th j appearance of the tablets. Good
hocolate possesses the following qualiies:
it is oily, possesses a full and undeiable
flavor of cocoa, breaks regularly
nd smooMi, it is slightly yellowish in
o!or, Wi.u cryj-tillinc appearance, and
rhen cooked with a little water or milk
ecomes only moderately thick. Adulerated
chocolate, on the contrary, breaks
rregularly, is somewhat gravelly and
ioi ous, is whitish in color, thickens eoniderably
in couking and gives forih an
rdor resembling that of glue. ? Oonfecioners'
Journal.
i New Navigable River Discovered.
The report published by Lieut. Von
Jimptsch of the German army, gives
ome very interesting details of the joury
which he made with Ilerr Wolff, a
raveler in the service of the Congo Free
tate, and which has resulted in the disovery
of a river likely to b:? of material
alue to traders with the Congo.
The Congo in its co irsc irom rnesouin-1
ast, makes a very wide bend to the
orth, and then descends a<;ain to the
tlnntic, a very large tract of country
L-ing embraced in the curve. Within
lis curve is the river ICassai. which
icut. Von Ximpt^ch regards as being
of even greater importance to commerce
ia n the Congo itself." Describing their
>umey, he say; th:it a-; far as Lucbu, tlie
,'assai flows through wide plains well
lapted for cultivation, pasturage, and
msts of palm trees and gutta-percha
es. There arc many villages on the
anks, and the travelers met with great I
ivility in all of them save one, the in- |
abitants of which tied at their approach.
?ne tribe, adds Lieut. Von Nimptsch,
'was remarkable for its joviality. The
atives accompanied the steamer in their
anoes, and when we landed, organized
ances and songs in our honor." There
i a great deal of ivory all along the ICa9ai,
and large pieces of the finest quality
rerc readily given in exchange for empty
oxes and tins.?Lond n Times.
IN TYLER'S TIME. ^
PERIiEY'S REMINISCENCES OF
wnTf n PffiPI.P
Hospitality at the White Ho*?Marriage
of Baron De Bodisco
? Bean Hickman?
A Strange Diplomat
?????
The following is taken from 1 'Perley'i
Reminiscences
John Tyler, who was fifty-one years of
age when he took possession of theExecutive
Mansion, was somewhat above
the medium height, and of slender figure,
with long limbs and great activity
of movement. His thin, auburn hair
turned white during his term of office,
his nose was largj ana prominent, au
eyes were of a bluish-gray, his lips were
thin, and his cheeks sunken. His manners
were those of the old school of Virginia
gentlemen, and he was very courteous
to strangers. The cercmonioufl -V .
etiquette establishei in the White House
by Van Buren vanished, and the President
lived precisely a9 he had on hi*
plantation, attended by his old family
slaves. He invariable invited visitor*
with whom he was acquainted, or strangers
who were introduced to him, to i,
visit the family dining-room and "take
something" from a sideboard well garnished
with decanters of ardent spirits
and wines, with a bowl of juleps in the
summer and of egt:-nog in the winter.
He thus e pended nearly all of his
salary, and used to n gret that it was not
larger, that he might entertain his gueets
1 i 1 XT
lilUI \J
a second-hand co.vt-of-arm8.
One day President Tyler joked Mr.
Wise about his little one-horse carriage,
which the President styled "a candlebox
on whe.'ls," to which the representative
from the Accomac district retorted
by telling Mr. Tyler that he had been riding
for a month in a second-hand carriage
purchased at the sale of the effects
of Air. Paulding, the Secretary of the
Navy under Mr. Van Buren, and having
the Pauldingscoutof-arms emblazoned on
the door panels. The President laughed
at the sally, and gave orders at once to
have the armorial bearin ;s of the Paaldings
painted over. Economy also
prompted the purchase of some partly
worn suits of li cry at the sale of the
effect* of a foreign minister, and these
were afterward worn by the colored
waiters at state dinners.
<4b;:ai;" hickman,
as he called himself,piade his appearance
at Washington toward the close of the
Tyler adminstration. He was of middle
sire, with long h:iir, and an inoffensive,
cadaverous countenance, it wan his boast
that hi was born among the
slashes of Hanover County, Va., and he
was t) be seen lounging about the
hotels, fa-hiona' ly,yet shabbily.dressed,
generally wearing soiled white kid gloves
and a white cravat. It was considered
the proper thing to introduce strangers
to Beau, who thereupon unblushiugly demanded
his init ation fee, and his impadenca
sometimes scoured him a generous
sum. He was nhvavs ready to pilot his
victims to gambling houses ana other
*-- J aI *
(jiicsiionuuiu ri'suria, uuu iui o ^juoiwi vi
a century he lived on the blackmail thus
levied upon strangers.
COLONEL BENTON AND HI8 FAMILY.
One of the most agreeable homes in
Washington was that of Colonel Benton,
the veteran Senator from Missouri, whose
accomplished and graceful daughters
had been thoroughly educated under hia
supervision. He was not willing, however,
that one of tbem, Miss Jessie,
should receive the attentions of a young
second lieutenant in the corps of topographical
engineers, Mr. Frt-mont, and
the young couple, therefore, eloped and
were married clandestinely. The Colonel,
although tcrr.bly angry at first, ac
ceptca tne snuauon, hiiu uis puncnui
support.in Congress afterward enabled
Mr. Fremont to explore, under the patronage
of the general government, the
vast central regions beyond the Hocky
mountains, and to plant the national flag
on Wind River Peak, upward of 13,000
feet above the Gulf of Me xico.
BARON DE BODISCO'S WEDDING.
A very different wedding was that of
the Baron Alexander de Bodi-co, the
Russian Minister Plenipotentiary, and
Miss Harriet Williams, a daughter of the
chief clerk in the oiice of the AdjutantGeneral.
The Baron was nearly fifty
yearj of age, with dyed hair, whiskers
and moustache, and she a blonde schoolgirl
of 'sweet sixteen," celebrated for
her clear complexion and robust beauty.
The ceremony was performed at her
father's house on Georgetown Heights,
?nd was a regular May and December affair
throughout. There were eight
groomsmen^, six of whom were well advanced
in life, a?:d as many bridesma'ds,
all of them young girls from fourteen to
sixteen years of age, wearing longdreises
of wh te sat n da'* asKj aonat. u vuo
bri'-le^rjora. The question of preceacnce
gave the Baron much trouble, as hccojjld
not determine whether Mr. Fox, then the
British Minister and Bean of the Diplomatic
Corps, or Senator Buchanan, who
had been Minister to Russia, should be
the first groomsman. This important
question was settled by haying the
groomsmen and bridesmaids stand in
couples, four on either side of the bridegroom
nnd bride. The ceremony was
witnessed at the bride's residence by a
distinguished company, and the bridal
party then went in carriages to the Russian
Legation, where an elegant entertainment
awaited them, and where some
of the many guests got gloriously drunk
in drinking the health ot the happy
couple.
A STKANOK PIPI.OMAT.
Queen Victoria's diplomatic representative
at "Waslrngton, the llono-able
Henry Stephen Fox, was a son of General
Fo.v, of the British army, who fought at
the battle of Lexington in ITT.!, and a
nephew of the eminent statesman,Charles
,'amci Fox. lie had served in the British
?i^? f*r\rr,o fnr ai-vnpjil roars, and
J_/ J p i U LU a I 1 Vy Wij/g WW . ..... J 7
was t! oroughlv acquainted with his
duties, b it he held the least possible intercourse
with the Departme it of State
and jarely onto ed a private house. He
used to rise about :J o'clock in the afternoon,
and take his morning walk on
Pennsylvania aven e an hour or two
later. Miss Seaton says that a gent'e-nan
on one occasion, meeting him at dusk in
the Capitol grounds, urged him to return
with him to dinner, to which Mr. Fox
replied that "he would willingly do so,
but his people we e waiting breakfast for
him." Cn tho occasion of a funeral of a
member of the Diplomatic Corps, turning
to the wife of the Spanish Minister, he
said: "How very ocld we all look by
daylight!" it being the first time he had
seen his colleagues except by candlelw.v.*
if/i irr.nf fn l>orl at daybreak.
after watering his plants, of which ho
was passionately fond.
Remarkable accuracy is now attained
by engineers in cutting tunnels through
mountains, working from both ends.
Thus at the Muscontecong tunnel, on the
Lehigh Valley Railroad, the alignment
tested to 0.04 feet or leas than one-half
an inch. In this case levels were run
5,000 feet long. j