The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, November 03, 1886, Image 6
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BARTER.
' Give me the gold from off thy hair,
The rose upon thy checks that lies,
Thy siuging voice that everywhere
Makes laughter in the trembling air,
The young joy in thine eyes."
"What will you give to me. oh. say,
Thou gray old man with restless wings,
For love's entrancing morn of of May,
For dawn and fre?hne>s of the day,
And life that leays and sings J"
''Lo! I will ma'ce thy foot>t?p* slow
Across the flowers that bend and wave;
A ad for thy gold will give thee snow,
And silence for thy laughter low,
Darkue s, a grass-grown grave."
?Boston Transcript.
?
THE SERGE ANT;S VOW.
r
I bad been waiting a week at Jeffer OQ
for instructions fr. m Washington.
I bad written for permission to go to
New Orleans, as I had relatives there
with whom I wished to pass the winter;
but at the end of the week my hopes
were all nipped in the bud by the following
mi sive:
Major: You will proceed at once to Fort
8tet.-.on: thence, with all possible disjatch,
to Foit Carson; and thence to Fort Kearney,
t which posts you may pay oil' the enrolled
men and officers, n<id alio settle all duly authenticated
bills against th? offic e on account
of provisions, forage, camp and garrison
ttoi es, etc.
It is particularly re jucsted that you wi'.l
be careful and exact in your return of estimates
for the co ning winter months.
Captain Goodwin will detail for you suih
scoi t as you may ro^uire. I have the honor
to be, etc., G. P. Bowman, D. P. M. G.,
Major and Paymaster, U. S. A.
To G. S. Cochrane.
This did not reach me by the hands of
Captain Goodwin, however, whom I
tiould Have b;on nappy to meet; out oy
the hands of Se geant .'ames Connover,
who cime with s.x n.cu tsndet his command,
to cscoit nie on my way, if I
deemed s i<h : sco:t su i cicnt. Goodwin,
who w.;s sick wit 1 fever and ague, wrote
by the hind of his clerk:
"I would send you more men: but,
really I think more would be iu your
way. There aie no Indians ou the trail
between . etferson and Stetson; and certainly
this cscoit is suflicie.'it again-tany
ordinary highway interpolation. Ser,
gcant Lounover is not a very brilliant
man: nor is he over and above sociable:
but I have found him true as steel; and
the privates?members of my own company?whom
I send wiih him you can
rely upon in any emerge uoies. Only,
they liavc tho common weakness. Don't
?jv,. give them too free a run at the whisky
Dottle. Th y won't break faith with !
you to get it; but if allowed full sway, ;
they might get a drop two much for j
your own comfori.'"
And he wrote abjut other matters, but:
nothing more of his men.
After reading the letter I raised my j
yes and rait the ^aze of the Sergeant,
who stood with his cap in his hand on
the opposite side of the small table, lie
tartid when I looked up. and I thought
he was ashamed of having been caught
taiing at me so fixedly. But the flush
quickly left his face, and he inclined his
head another way.
He wa> a man of medium size, very i
heavily built, and evidently very muscu- I
lar. In short, he was made for a fighter, i
and f.r one of those valuable fighters'
wVir? r>riss!j?s<! stubborn will and doffirid 1
"* 0-? I
resolution rather than hot and impetuous |
pugnacity, lie was not a man to be ever
in a ferment; but a man who, when j
fairly aroused, is to be feared, lie wa3
not fur from forty-five years of age, and i
the stripes upon h:s foreaim showed that
he had served four full terms of enlist- !
ment previous to the present.
I wont out with the Sergeant and i
found the six raea on the p azza, stand
ing at eaie under arms. They wererejlly J
fine looki. g fellows, and auswerid, re- j
pectively, to the names: Smith, Adams, !
Mealy. Oe.'-au, Van Wirt, and Connolly. I
Smith was a Yankee; Adams was an Eng-1
lishman, and had been in the Queen s
ervice as a dragoon; Mealy and Connolly
were Irishmen; Oe^uuwas a Dutchman,
and Van Wirt was a Gcrmau. A
wide range of nationality for so small a
quad; but a fair sample of our army, !
nevertheless; and, furthermore, six men i
cf one nation could not have beea more
free and pleasant t!:an were those six. j
Unlike their Sergeant, they were free i
t*nd pleasant, and seemed to be thankful I
for the privilege of taking the forest
tramp with me; while I, in turn, gave
. * them to understand that I would do all
I couid to make them comfortable. The I
ennnrl hud rnmn with <?ood hor-es. SO !
the only preparations I had to make for
the start were to get my own horses
ready and draw my money.
My estimates had been to the amount
of *ii.>,000, and this I must take in gold.
I went to the baak with the sergeant and
three of the men and got the money,
which I took a<\ay in four small canvas
bags, weighing about forty pounds each,
but at the hotel I packed the gold in a
tort of pannier-saddle, a contrivance
which I had invented myself, and in
which I could so pack anywhere from
one to four hundred pou ids of gold that
it would neither sway or jingle. In short,
? a horse could bctr in this saddlc-pack a
burd n of dead weight almost as easily
as he could bear a human rider. And I
had a hoiin on purpoe for the workone
that I used for several years, and
that understood his duty as ihmgh it
had all been reasoned out in his mind.
Bright and early on a clear, cool October
morning we set forth from .JeiFerson
with three days' rations in our haver*f
/ sacks, for fctet-on was 120 miles away
and we would be doing well to make thu
trip within the time indl aed. I rode
in advance?not because I desired it, but
because the others "were inclined to fall
to the rear.
We were passing over a narrow bri'lge
just on the outskirts of Jctrcrson when
we met two men and two boys driving
before them a dr .ve of cattle. I had
met and gone clear of the herd without
difficulty, and was think ug how I would
like to take one of the fatter bullocks
along with me. when an c clamation of
nnger arrest'.-d my attention, and turning
in ray saddle I discovered one of the
oxen? n wild, frolicsome thing?had attacked
the sergeant's horse. It had been
quickly done?a fri*k-a leap?a lunge
of the great curving horns at the horse's
side?the ieiring of the latter, and the
.consequent unseating of the sergeant.
WYhen Connover had regained his feet
the fro'lesome bulock was away f. 0111
his reach, but to. so the innocent
drovers. Til'1 two men w;re near together
and directly by his side as he
graced his sword-hilt and turned upon
ihem. I did not think Connover would
harm them; but they were terribly
frightened, nevertheless, and the younger
i f the two, who was a stout, fair-looking
fellow, was the lirst to speak an intelligent
word?(the sergeant had utteiedone
or two oaths).
"Excu-e us, my good friend, I am
forry?truly sorry?for this mishap, but
I assure you it was no fault of ours."
As Sergeant Connover then stood his
face was turned very nearly toward me,
so that I caught nearly every line and
sha !e of expression upon his features,
lie had been terribly shaken and was
1
.... .....>
exceedingly wrathful, but his wrath wa3
in a gr atcr part made of chagrin at
being unhorsed in so ridiculous a manner
than from a mere attack of the bullock.
A few seconds he glared into the face of
the man who had spoken to him, a id
then, prefacing his remark w th an oath
of condemnation, he exclaimed:
"If ye've got a (iod ye'd better thank
Him that .'em Connover don't owe yc
much of a grudge!"
The man muttcre.1 something and
passed oil to attend to his cattle, while
the Scgeunt pitted his foot in the stirrups,
and as lie did so he looked toward
me.
Our eye? m?t, and again I saw him
change color and start, as though he had
done s:mo guilt.v thing in thus looking
into the face of his superior officer.
"If ye've got a God. ye'd better thank
Him that -cm Connover don't owe ye
mut'h of a grudge.''
Why did those words ring in my ears,
j and ec ho through my whole being?
Twenty times dining that day I looked
upon my Sergeant whim he did not know
it, and studied his face, ar.& each effort
seemed to bring the last connection
nearer, without quite giving it into my
hands, lie seemed to knew that I had
begun to feel an interest in his ante*
j ce ients, and toward the latter part of
the day behaved himself more as the
oflicer of my esc >rt ought. He asked me
I how I would like to have the guard disI
posed, and very modestly gave inc to un!
derstand that my wishes would be held
i as law by them. I took this for what it
| was worth, aud I knew very well what it
j meant: There was an old association
that he would not have raked up.
; Th it night found us at the foot of
| Brock's Mountain, and at the extreme
i verge of civilisation in that direction.
' Beyond here we were to take the old
i government-supply road ?a mere bridlep
ttli?with which Connover and his two
men were perfectly familiar, and we
wou'd not strike another settlement until
near Stetson.
I went to sleep in my tent thinking of
Sergt. James Connover, and it must have
been immediately after my waking senses
that my dream senses took up the thread,
and they took it up to some purpose.
Hampered with to ordinary loutine or
j system of circumlocution, bothered with
I * 1! 1!.U
I no scsarcniiig iur cunucvuug uun.5 m gur- ,
j relative circumstances, they went back
, over the years with a leap, and drew a '
j picture for rae a? vivid and distinct as i
! the original event had been just eighteen j
| years before.
I was at F->rt Sne!lin<,' a Second Lieu|
tenant of Engineers, engaged in surveying
government lands, laying rut roads,
and so on. and among those detailed to
assist me was a private of the name of
James Connover. He got drunk while
at work, and when I reprimanded him
he used language so offensive and foul
that I could not pass it by. I fact, if I
had been armed at the time I should have !
shot him, for his course was such as to
entirely place himself beyond the reach I
of forbcaravce. I reported him and he j
was Hogged severely?Hogged so severely |
that I bore him no more grudge. But he j
bore a grudge to.vaid me. though. Aye
?while his back was bleeding and smart- I
ing he hissed into mv ears: "If ye'vegot!
a Cod, be sure to him. Jem Connover
swears that he don't give over this
grudge till one of us dies."
I started out from my sleep aud s ;t up.
It had been a dream, and yet not all a j
dream. All the while th? scene was be- [
ing repeated before me. I had been conscious
that I lay there in my tent under I
(he old boulder of the Brock. I had j
sunk into a state where my mind was !
free to follow its own course, taking the j
single fact of James Connorer for a point
of doparturo, and thence running back- j
ward until he was met again.
I remembered all now. Yes. This j
was the man who, eighteen years before,
had cursed and swore and reviled me,
and threatened all manner of violence; ;
and his only provocation had been that I i
liad threatened to have h:m punished if '
he ever got drunk again while on duly j
with mc. To be sure he wss under the j
influence of li |U?r at the time; but not j
so far gone but that he know very well j
what he was doing; because, alter reach- |
ing the fort, on our return, he made his ;
boast that he had given the <;sho ?Idcr- j
pop" (so he called mcl a stoma* liful to
carry off, but he didn't believe I would !
dare to report him. But I did report j
h m, and I gave his specc-h in full, and)
the resu't was that the old Major ordered !
a court martial, out from the sentence of J
which the man came with a hundred :
lashes.
And here I was. with my old enemy i
for an escort! From'that far gone time
to the present I had never s en nor heard j
of the man, and he had longajro passed j
1 entirely from my mind. Connover is a .
common name in the army; or, at least, j
i I had happened to hit quite a number of |
| enlisted men of that name; so I had n'.>t
' connected the stout, dark-browed, I
stocky Serjeant with the fair-faced, |
lithe and youthful soldier who had
crosscd my path at Snelling. , j
' A hasty review of the whole thing
1 brought ir.e to rather an unpleasent un- '
derstandiug of the present situation, j
That < onnover still b'j:e a grudge was ,
i very evident; and it wa> equally evi- j
dent that ho meant to settle the account
i between us on th:s t ip. I could not |
think therein the tent. It was too nar-1
row a space. I had arisen, a:id was upon J
, the point of passing out, with my pistol !
; in my hand, when I heard a stealthy j
footstep at the entrance. Without noise !
I sprang into a front corn t, and there j
I crouched down upon my saddle.
1 had scarcely gained the position !
when the flap was thrown aside and a
; man looked in. Ah! ju-t beyond the I
| fa e of the interloper was an opening at;
the end of the mountain, and I caught j
, his profile against a p itch of clear sky. |
i It was the hard, broiued face of John j
: t'onnovcr!
I held my pistil realy for instant use, i
| expecting every moment to see him leap '
to the spread blankets. But he was !
very moderate, lie put his he d further I
; in, and seemed puzzled. It w:is, of
: course, very dark in there, but yet he
could probably see that the bed did not
! look as though there was a man in it.
Once I raise:! my pistol, full sure that j
j the man v. as after my life, and fearful!
I that if I threw a chance away he might j
I get thy better of me; but I did not fire. |
Something seemed to wiiisper in my ear: j
"Hold on: you've hit him once. Be sure j
you're in danger before you hit him '
again!" and I lowered my pistol and
wat- hod. Presently:
''Major!" came from his lips, carefully
but earnestly. "Major!?Major C'och|
rane'r"
There was something in the tone of
that voice that gave me heart. It was a j
soit of imploring, prayerful tone, as of !
one who has a great lavor to ask. I de- :
tcrmined to answer him: but to be sure I j
kept my pistol ready at hand.
With a yawn, as though just startled
from my sleep, I returned:
"A-ah! Hello! Who'sherc?"
"Eh! Down here? It's me, Major?
Sergeant Connover. I was passing round
back of your tent and thought I heard
ye talking with yerself. f?'o, thinkin'
ye'd be awake, and havin' something I
wanted particularly to say, I made bold
to come around and look iu. The fact
. ' :.y :."Vis
Major, I couldn't sleep till I'd sst matters
right."
By this time the fellow had turned so
that I could see that he had no weapon
with him, and I began to think that I
had been a little to:> fearful. However,
I got up and stepped out int") the centre
of the tented area, and then .<-aid:
"Go ahead, sergeant. I'm all attention."
Without further preliminaries he went
oa:
s'Of course you kn:>w me?"
' I fiiuk I have good reason to remember
you, sergeant."
4'And you remember the last words 1
ever spoke to you in the old years'*"
"I have not forgotten thrm."
"Well," he said, with a palpable burst
of feeling, "them wo.ds have been haunting
me ever since I met you nt the hotel
in Jefferson. When I was ordered to rcpo:t
to .Major Cochrane I never thought
of you. The old aTair hid almost gone
from my mind: but when I saw your face
I knew you, and when you looked up at
; me I was troubled. I hoped you might
nut remember me. If you did not I
: meant to hold my tongue. But I could't
j act hide m}\self. Howsumever, I held up
l till to night. But after we'd done supi
per I kfpt watch of your movements, and
j made up my mind th it you were going
; to look out for mc. But, Major, don't
| let it go no fuither. I'm too old a soldier
now not to know that the harm I suffersd
! at Snelling was of my own making. I
don't bear the old grudge any longer,
j and I tell you the truth when I tell you
| that you did me a good turn that time.
' I know how I was going on, a::d I know
| that another oilicer in your place would
have shot me. So, yon will tike my
hand and cry quits of all old memories?"
I never gave my hand to a man more
readily, nor more cheerfully; and 1 doubt
j if in all this Western wilds there was a
j more sociable and .^olly party than we
! made on the following day. As an individual,
I was particularly happy; foi
I am free to confess that there* were
a few moments of that first night in the
wilderness freighted with about a3 much
dreud and uneasiness as a m in woul care
to experience. But, as I remarked to
the Sergeant on a former occasion: "All's
well that end's well." And our tramp
of four weeks continued so pleasantly
that the end might have been longer deferred
without complaint from us.?
Chicaao Times.
Healthy and Unhealthy Occnpations.
The first place among healthy occupations
is held by ministers of rel gion,
the death rate of this cla33 being ;>53.
Next we h*ve gardeners and nurserymen,
who stand at r.Oit; farmers and graziers,
G31; agricultural laborers, 101;
schoolmasters, 718; the other trades
which follow closely on these being grocers,
oal merchants, paper manufacthr- !
ers, lace and hoisery manufacturers,
wheelwrights, ship builders and .shipwrights
anrl coal miners. The ligures
of mortality of all these trades is under
775. Cn the other side, that of unhealthy
occupations, the first place is held by
the trade* which are concerned in the
manufacture und distribution of intoxicat'ng
drink, which, as is well kr.own,
entail many temptations to use it to excess.
The list of unhealthy occupations
is headed by the class of inn and hotel
ser.ants, whose figure mounts up to
2,205, being nearly double that of the
medical profession. The highest place
next to them are held by the
general laborers and coster - mongers,
hawkers and street sellers, the i
former class with 55.020, and the latter
with 1,870. It is probable that both are
largely made up of brjkcn men, the
wiecks of other calling. Innkeepers,
?Mih1l/inns crviiif winfl onfl hftAr Hpnlnrc
" ""
follow with ii figure of 1,521 and brewers
with 1,301. In support of the belief
that thes.* high rates oT mortality are
ohiefly due to alcoholic exces?, Dr. Ogle
has compared with them the mortality
assigned to diseases of the liver, the
orjrfin through which sucii excojs chrefly
dcclarcs itself, nnd has obtained results
which are entirely in harmony with those
of the trade returns. Next to the trades
conccrned with alcohol, the highest
rates arc furnishedJ?y occupation, which
involve the breathing of dust?other
than coal dust?and especially of a sharp
and gritty character, or largely composed
of mineral matter; next, those in
which there is expo urc to lead poisoning.
as with plumbers, painters and filemakers.
The earthenware manufacturers,
who are mu.-h exposed to mineral
dust, have a figure of 1,742; fileraakers,
who work upon a leaden cushion, reach
1 lilt? onrl nlnmKftro onrl nnintprQ "whrfc
4%"vc r**??>
are also exposed to lead, reach 1,202.?
Chambers?4 Journal.
Noted Book Peddlers.
Mark Twain and Brete Hartehad their
first association with literature as humble
canvassers.
Jame G. Blaine began life as a book
agent in Washington, Penn., selling a
' Life of Henry (."lay."
The poet Longfellow was a book agent
before his verso began to attract the attention
of the public.
.Jay Gould made h:s first money peddling
books in the rural districts of
Central New York when a mere boy.
Rutherford B. Hayes footed it all over
Southern Ohio when a mereJad getting
subscriptioss for Baxter's "Saints' Best."
Danrel Webster paid his second year's
tuition at Dartmouth by acting as local
agent in Merrima? county, N. H., for Dc
Tocquevillo's "America."
When Napoleon Bonaparte was a
Lieutenant in the army, and unemployei
at Paris, he canvassed a suburban
Parisian arrondisscment for a work en
titled "ITHistoire de la Revolution."
General Grant, after his resignation
from the army and before his ventures on
t':ie Dent farm, took part of the territory
of a general agent of Putnam's to dispose
of Irving's "Columbus.''
George Washington, while surveying
Fairfax county in his youth, canvassed
for BydeU's "American Savoys: llow he
.May be Tamed by the Weapons of (. ivili.
ation," and sold over 2U0 copies in
Alexandria, Va.
Bi.-marck, when at Ileidelburg during
the winter vacation, having his allowance
cut short by his father, the Baron, canvassed
for Biumenbach's ' Aufgescliichte
die Wes-elgung in der Spiegeleisen.''?
New York Graphic.
Letter Mail Long- Ago.
The interesting Post Museum at Berlin
has lately received a noteworthy addition
in the shape of a letter cover dating from
last, century. The letter was sent from
rnuaaeipnm touie great gnmu-iubu?;j ui
the U}te possessor of the cover. The
cover bears the postmarks af Philadelphia,
London, Calais, Brussels, the
Hague, Amsterdam and Hamburg, so
that the route adopted in those days was
evidently a very circuitous one. The
date of the missive is between 1700 and
i 1789, but the actual year cannot be de!
termined, as the cover gives no date.
The cost of transmission was no less than
five thalers?twelve schilling of Mecklenburg
money, or eighteen mark niuety
pfennig of modern German money.
TCSJHB* ' crcsrv: ?*
/ ?V'' *- ;
?
A HOT FIGHT.
AN INCIDENT OP BANKS'S REI
RIVER EXPEDITION.
A Federal Flotilla Attacked by Con
federate Troops?A Battery's
Warm Reception?Under
a Heavy Fire.
Carrington Smith describes in the De
troit Free Pram a hot fight which .'th
naval flotilla that accompanied Genera
L'atiks's ill starved Red hiver Expidi
tion had with the Confederates. Say
the writer: "We had at Grand t'core a
! the time a large gunboat called the East
; port, which was in an almost helplus
! condition from having struck a torpedo
! and three smaller ones, aud all the crew
j were a mixed set and not too strong ii
numoers. i was iucu ?civiu^ uu uuun
the Cricket, which was the ling-ship, an*
I at least half our crew was made up o
negro refugees, all of whom c ;u'.d hel]
I han lie the big guns, but none of whon
j had the least knowledge of gunnery o
i had ever been in .1 fight. "We were lef
to ourselves, and in what every man real
ized was a dangerous position. W
were far fr.m Alexandria, in the nvds
of a hostil countiy, with a river full 0
bends, bars and sunken logs.
Had the gunboats moved off at one
we might h ive escaped much of the los
we we: e compelled to sulfa by the delay
but the Admiral refused to leave th
Eastport b.hind. She had been un
1 loaded and something done toward re
! pa ring the leaks, and he det-rnvnet
ihat she should go withusto Alexand ia
j She not only had to be towed, but t
j drag a lighter after her, and such wa
' her draught, even wh:-n light, "hat con
stant vigilance had to bu exercised t
keep her off the bottom. She got agroum
twice the first day and in the next fift
miles she was almost literally pull d b
; hand over burs,sunken logs andob tinai
i snags. During nil this time the gun
j boats were pumping tne water out, o
i her, and a full hundred men were kep
busy with hawsers and chains. At lengtl
a stiff current at a bend of the river sc
her upon a bed of sunken logs am
slumps, and she was there to atay. Shi
could be lightened no more, and any at
| tempt to pull her off w. uld have ton
her to pieces. Thirty hours were spen
in trying various plans,and she was thei
filled with powder and blown up.
The Confederates had been given am
pie time to concentrate betwera us anc
Alexnn iria, and we had scarcely gottei
; rid of the Eastport wlien the wood
seemed to swarm with sharpshooters
They fired on us at every bend and fron
every bank, but fortunately did not seel
j to obstruct the way by telling trees. W<
bad a s arp fight with infantry befori
leaving the scene of the l ast port's dc
struction, and were made to realize tha
we should mee. with more serious difii
culties on the way down. Our thrci
gunboats were guaranteed only bulle
proof, but they were not even that. Qui
guns were of old pattern and small cali
ber, and, r.a I said at the outset , the gun
crews were made up from a inisc-'llan
eous lot of stragglers. When we lef;
the spot where the I astport was blowi
up. the flag-ship took the lead down the
river, with orders for the batteries or
every boat to be in readiness to open fir<
at any moment. We had, if I remcmbe
rightly, eighteen guns in all, and thi
largest one on the L'rieKet was a twelve
pounder.
We had been uhJ-rt ?Yny a,1 out threi
hours und had just readied the uppc
end of a blulf a mile long.when the pilo
blew a sharp blast on/the whistle as 1
danger signal, and the next moment then
was a roar and a crash which seemed ti
sh:ike heaven and earth. The Confcd
crates had planted a score of cannon or
the blulf, trained them all on the channe
at short range, and as we came oppositi
the whole battery was discharged as om
gun, and the Cricket received every mis
silc. Whi'o the guns were being rcfoadci
several hundred infantry opened fire,am
there was n t a square foot of the gun
boat above water which was not chippci
by bullets. The fire from the batte:;
killed the engineer, pilot and ten othe
persons, and wounded twenty-one, in
eluding e*ery fireman and the best gun
ners. inside of two minutes we lost ii
killed aud wounded over half our crew
We were five minutes under fire befur
returning it. and in this t'.ine were strucl
over foity times. The following gunboa
came in for almost as many hard knocks
having twenty killed and wounded, an(
she got out of range by returning up th
river.
Meanwhile, we in the Cricket hat
floated down to a point from which w<
could take the Confederates in reverse
and we soon silenced half the j guns
though they worked a sutlicient mnnbe
I to sink one of our tow-boats nnd drowi
her whole crew, and to bluff the othe
gunboats from attempting the passage.
They left us below, and two gunboat
and a tow-boat above. We ran dowi
about seven miles, getting aground a;i<
off again twice, and then fell in will
| one of our ironclads. The latter wtts a
j once ordered up the stream, but ran her
self aground after going a coupL* o
mile?, and before she got off the twi
gunboats came down. They had -eft th
other tow boat above the battery to fa I
into the hands of the Confederates, anc
they also raised the one sunk in the rivei
"We lost in kill d nnd wounded on tin
threi boats nearly ninety men, and whili
one had two and the other three gun
rendered helpless, the flagship had onl;
one which could be used after the
was over. Many of the missile.* passe,
through both sides of the boats, anc
dozens of them fell into the engine room
and it has always been looked up >11 as 1
miracle that the engines and boilers es
capcd injury.
The Polite Children of Norway.
The village of Egersund beneath in
nestles close to the base of the hill a?
though frightened by the threatening
bowlders all abr>ut, writes a correspond
ent of the Boston Hcral /. The day ii
cloudy; the wind is strong, but not un>
Comfortably cold, and we sit in a sliel
tf.rcd nook and write a letter tothehom<
folks, or gather some of the wild flow'
crs, blooming luxuriantly everywhere,
But a few drops of rain fall by and by,
and wc do not wish to risk a wetting, s::
we descend leisurely to the town, and or
the way meet numbers of school chil
dren. The boys politely do!F their caps,
while the? girls shyly drop a demure cjur
t sy to the "Inglisman," for all strangers
are 'Tnglismen" until known to he nf
another nation. The children have boea
well taught in the school of good man
ners, as all Norwegian children are, and
recalled to our minds an incident thai
happened in a suburb of Hamburg, when
the streets are only narrow lanes, twisting
in and out between the tiny red-tiled
house-on the steep hillside. E'own oik
or these oyways we were wanting siowi\,
when a little golden-haired 0!rct:hen raci
us. and in the most winsome way helc
out her hand and greeted each one, noi
saying a Avord, but very grave, and as i:
giving us a cordial welcome to the vil
Inge.
' - * k - ' "
w -
Pommican, the Food of Arctic Trarelers.
The meat, cut in long fakes from the
j warm catenas of the buffalo and dried in
the sun, is afterwards beaten into shreds
by flails upon a floor of bntfalo-hidc on
the open prairie. The hide is thi'n sewed
" into a bag, the meat jammed in, the top
sewed up all but one corner, into which
more meat is crowded, and then the fat,
which has meanwhile been tried, is
poured in scalding hot, filling every
crevicc. A species of cranberry is often
added with the meat. The whole forms
?, a bolster-shaped bag, as solid and ns
' heavy as stone, and in this condition it
remains, perhaps for years, until eaten.
^ Each bag weighs from 100 to 120 pounds.
Cne who has tried it will not wonder
that it was onco used in the turmoils of
s the contests between the Northwest and
' llud-on Bay Companies to form a re
s doubt, armed with two swivel guns.
? There are two ways of preparing this.
, one r all; d "rub-a boo," when it is bnilt d
f in a great deal of water, and makes a
soup; the other more favorite di-h is
P '-rousseau," when it is thrown into a
1 frying pan. fried in its own fat, with
r the addition, perhaps. of a little salt
I pork, and mixed with a small amount
of flour or broken biscuit. But somec
times, when philosophers are fcaid put to
? it, and forced to take their meal in the
c.moe, th? ptmmican is eaten raw;
chopped out of the bag with a hatchet,
L an I accompanied simply by the biscuit,
3 which has received the sobriquet of "Red
' River granite." These wonderful obe
jects. as large as sea-biscuit, ar.' at least
three-quarter.} of a i inc'.i in thickness,
and against them the natura ist's geological
hammer is always brought into
" requisition.
0 But the "infidel fish," as rousscau is
3 termed, is by comparison with the others
palatable, though it is even then impos?
sible to so disguise it as to avoid the
suggestion of tallow candles; and this
^ and the leathery, or india-rubber, strucy
t.nri> of the meat arc its chief disaualifi
cations. But even rousseau may lose its
I chiirins when t iken as a steady diet three
J times a day for weeks, especially when
itiss.-rved in a frying pan, and, break.
fast or dinner over, ones. es the remnants
with the beef or pork all hustled to
* ge:h r in the boiling kettle; the biscuit,
3 broken bannock3 and unwashed cupa
placed in the bread-bag; the p ates,
J knives and forks tossid into the meatdish;
and all, combined in the ample
1 folds of an old bit of gunny cloth, which
has served daily at once as dishcloth and
j tablecloth, thrown into the canoe to rest
I until the next meal, when at last Billy
1 finds time to wash the dishes?the table3
cloth never.
\ Why Men Bccome Bald.
g "Did you ever notice what classes of
j men arc most commonly bald?1' asked an
_ I expert hair-dresser the other day. "That
j.; thiowi a good deal of light on the causes
_ I of baldness. People give all kinds of
! explanations for it?dissipation, cutting
j the hair too sho t, letting it grow too
; long, smoking, drinking strong coffee,
j woi ry, wearing high hats, wearing low
_ | hats, wearing your hat indoors, not
; wearing it outdoors, late hours and a
hundred other things. Now you will
| notice that there are no classes of men
, more frequently bald than retail sales'
men, bookkeepers and otiicc clerks in
I certain lines of business. Why should
' i baldness affect them more than others?
! Because they habitually stand or sit
j r.early every evening under gaslights.
Bookkeepers always have a strorg light
I ri?ht over their heads or just in fiont of
e j them. So do clerks who have to work
r j at night, Itctail salesmen sell goods at
1 , night directly under two powerful burn*
| ers, and most of the time their heads are
1! not more than two or three feet from the
> flame. The artificial heat dries out the
" I hair, makes it brittle and unhealthy and
1 i finally kills it at the root. If you will
1; pass your hand through your hair after
B j you have been standing under a gaslight
s i for a few momeuts you will see at once
" | how it is. Although you may not have
I noticed the heat ou your head, your hair,
*! if you've got any, will bo hot to the
": roots. You'll be surprised to observe,
* I too, at what a distance from the light
r j the hair wi.l absorb the heat. Now there
r | is nothing so bad for the hair as getting
* i it dry. That is why the use of water on
" i it is so in urious?because it evaporates
ri j so readily and takes with it the Datural
oil of the hair. Your hair should be
c j moist all the time and with the oil th'..t
c j is secreted by the little cells at the roots.
j "When the oil is continually and rapidly
j | dried out, as it is when the head is kept
* i heated by gaslight, the cell dr'es up and
c ; the hair fal s out People who sit under
1 the gaslight should wear some kind of a
I cool, non conducting headgear to prois
tect themselves. I have an idea, too,
, J that after the.electric light has been in
, ! universal use for a generation or two,
r ! baldness will be as scarce as it was before
1 gaslights and night work got common
r , together.- New York Mail and Exprm.
s I It Is Unlucky
i i
j | To be struck by lightning on Monday,
j I To sit on a buzz saw in motion on
* j Friday.
_ i To break the mirror your wife's mothf
! er gave her.
3 j To fall down stairs with the parlor
c ! sto/e on Tuesday.
j | To speculate with other people's monII
ey. and get caught.
To get wet when you fall overboard
2 while boating on Thursday.
g To see a bill collector over your right
3 shoulder on Saturday.
,. To see a bulldog over your left shoult
: der in your neighbor's orchard.
] j To see your overcoat over either
j: shoulder as you pass out of the shop of
j your uncle. I
I To spill salt in the cofTce of the man
who has the carving knife.
To be one of thirteen at table when
there is only food enough for six. ? Tid
Bit .
j The Mouse and the Hare.
3 A Hare who was Seeking his Dinner
r; in a Stubble one day came across a Field i
- I Mouse and thm Addressed him:
) | "Well, well, but who on l-.'arth ever j
J heard of y u Before? I wouldn't be as ,
-1 Small and Helpless as you are if I could |
? 15vn in Idleness all mv Days!"
At that moment the Shouts of Men and j
, the Harking of Dogs were heard and the i
, ! Hare began to tremble and gasped out: |
? j "They nre Hunting for Me, and I feel!
i that I shall Certainly be Captured!"
I "Very likely,"' replied the Mouse. |
, j "While I, who am so Insignificant and!
i Helpless, will be run over and left Uu11
noticed."
'I Mon*'-?The Greater the Size of the
i Game the more the Anxiety of the Hunt
er to Secure it. A Drayman sleeps uni
disturbed o' lights; the Congressman
t must lie Awake to checkmate the Plans
s of his Enemies.? Detroit Free Press.
I .T. B. Wells, of Red Bluff, Cal., cut
; down a sound oak, and four feet from
the butt, in a little cavity in the heart ol
' the tree, were five small and healthj
I frogs. They were a little off in color,
| but all right.
Many a man asks a girl to share his i
lot when he owns no lot.
I
i AD r I?ATT A 1 TfTTI70
j UIUIiiUilL IVIIJ^O.
! CHICAGO CHINAMEN KEEPING
A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Taking Large Kites of Many Grotesiue
Forms Out on the
Prairie and Plying Them?
A Queer Ethibition.
A few days ago a strange scene might
; have been witnessed on one of the big
! vacant lots on the west side. From an
I early hour on the day iu pucstion an occasional
Chinaman carrying an unwieldy
and mysterious looking bundle took one
of tbc Madison or Randolph stre.-t cars
and went to the end of the route. Each
one as he arrived dismounted and wended
his way in a westerly direction, but none
of the "busy conductors was aware that a
common point was their destination.
I Such wa* the case, however, and before
i the autumn sun had begun to shine very
strongly they were gathered to the number
of a score or more on a sloping piece
of gromd a short distance outside the
city limits.
Then a queer movement began. Each
celestial, having made a variety of elaborate
salu'ations toward the east, turned
bis attention to his parcel and commenced
to gravely undo the fastenings. A
Nms repoiter, -\vh-> happened to bean
unseen observer, fully expected to see a
quantity of ong-tailed shirts, linen cuffs,
collars, etc., produced and a new method
of bleaching exhibited to his wondering
ea/.e. But a still greater surprise was in
store. From each newspaper wrapper a
br.ind-new and elaborately constructed
paper kite was unfolded, and in a few
j moments the cords were adjusted, and a
score of pig-tails were streaming in the
morning breeze as the orientals scampered
nimbly around in every dire tion
trying to "raise the wind'' and hoi->t their
strange playthings upoa their wings.
An 1 a curious looking batch of contrivances
they woie. It w as no ordiuary
school-boy's kite that John thinamaa
was disporting himself with on the Chicago
piairies this fine morning. They
were of all -hapes andsi7.es, cunningly
manufactured and elaborately on.aj
mented. Birds, tish, serpent-*, dragons,
j and, in fact, eve;y kind of imaginable
| animal and reptile were represented.
One big laundryman, with a huge
! queue and the most curly pointed of
I wooden shoes, kicked up his heels like a
! two-year colt as he bounded over the
j soft turf at the end of a string attached
| to a kite that res mbled an immense pair
of spe:ta Ics. lie jabbeied continually
I in n innmiATft that seemed made UD of
" w **"? O' ? ?
nothing but three or four woids that
sounded like the monotonous tones of a
v gorously hammered goug to a companion
who was floating nn arrangement
meant to resemble an eel not less t!:aa
fifteen feet long. Another child of the
sun was flaunting a paper eagle with
| plumage of u flaring ? e low, and a third
j carried a peculiar-looking eight-sided
figure, wh'ch was probably made in imI
itation of somu of the diagrams produced
! by the early Chinese emperors, some of
| whom had mathematical pretensions
| Cualrupeds, bipeds, and reptile* of
l almost e' cry species were represented, all
being gaudily painted and dccorated.
One ludicrous-looking Mongolian, with
a face like a pumpkin with a gash in the
center of it, hung on to what looked like
a liuddhist idol almost as ugly as himself.
He seem.d in high "lee as thi
monstrous image floated rapidly upward,
its huge head and shoulders bobbing from
side to side, while its glass eyes seemed
to twinkle like stars as they now and
then caught the rays of the morning sun.
One low, broad-shouldered fellow had a
i larger bundle than any of the rest and
went some distance off from the main
crowd to open it. Five minutes later
1 * * i - - i. 1 1,.,
! wnat secmea to ue u, uuun. ui uamu nOJ
I hovering over (he yellow-faced heathen,
their beaks and talons bent downward as
i if prepared to alight on some object underneath.
They were all of paper, and
by an ingenious contrivance controlled
by one string.
For over an hour the?e queer gambols
were kept up, and then the kites were
recalled, and the owners, after again indulging
in similar extravagant ai.d fantastic
salutations to those with which
they began proceedings, disappeared as
quietly as they had come.
At first when this extraordinary scene
was presented to the eyes of the wondering
scribe lie became impressed"withthe
idea that the Chinamen must haw taken
leave of their senses, and that some new
j and extraordinary species of insanity had
! developed : mong the Easterns. But such
was not the case. The Chinamen were
simply observing one of tbeir nationa
holidays?the niith day of the ninth
month?which in their own land is celebrated
by kite-.Sying on tbejhilltops. The
Chinese tell the following story in explanation
of their choosing a particular (late
for the observance of thiscastim: In ancient
time a certain m in named Hing
Shay was informed by one of the wise
men of his locality that some dire ca'
" ? i- T
limity Wouiu oeiau uia uyu^umu on iuc
date in question. lie immediately informed
his family of the impending ruin,
nnd on the morning of the inu>h-dreaded
davrepiired with all his re'ations to a
nighboring hill and spent the time as
I best he could. On returning home that
j evening he found all his domosti*. ani!
mala dead. The Chinaman consid*.:ed
h'mself lucky to have escapcd with his
family, and, the story having got around,
h came to be looked upon as one in
whose behalf a miracle had been performed.
Ever since then Chinamen,
wherever they are scatterel and when
i the opportunity offers, celebrate the ninth
day of the ninth month by propagating
' the evil spirits in the same manner that
I Iling bhay did. ? Chicago Newt.
Hindoo Heads.
A Hindoo writes to the Phrenological
Magazin* as to the relative size of tin
heads of his countrymen as compared
1 with thoset>f Europeans. He says: "All
the Hindoo heads I have had the opportunity
of measuring by tape measure
come nrar to or about twenty-two inches,
and in some cases more, in circumference."
The writer goes on to give his
view of the difference between the English
and the Hindoo, and the reason ol
the hitter's subjection. The native, he
considers, has less of those qualities that
give energy, force, resistance, enterprise,
hopefulness and caution, wnne lie nas
more of those that 1 ad to passive obedience,
reverence, respect for authority,
submission to what appears to be the will
of hcavon, and in general to religious influence?,
than his couqueror.
Consistency.
Ha always stays so late?that stupid Browul
'fwas half past ten, I know,
Last night before he took his hat
And "thought he'd better go."
I thought so too, but only said
"Good night," and yawned behind my fan
And wondered bow the other girls
Could entertain that sort of man.
Three months later; same man, same girl.
"Don't hurry, Ed; it isn't late.
"Chat clock is lo's too fast.
It's only twelve; I'll let you stay
Till twenty minutes past,
E. Sylvester, in Judge. [
POPULAR SCIENCE. I
Professors Fischer and Penzoldt,. of I
Erlangen, have established the curioua
fact that the sense of smell is by far the 9
most delicate of the senses. They find 1
tbut the olfactory nerve is able to detect fm
the presence of 1-2,700,000,000 of a grain Jj
of mercaptan. *
According to observations made in
Munich on a zinc roof which had been in
use for twenty-seven years it is estimated
that such a roof l-48th of an inch in . . r
thickness would last for 1,248 years. It
was found that the rust of zinc, instead
of hastening, like iron rust, the oxida- A
tion on the metal underneath, really pro-.
tected it.
A glass'as hard as ff"iy cast metal, and
Dot more expensi/e than cast iron, has
been produced by Mr. F. Siemene, of
Dresden. Experiments are being made
to determine whether it can be used for
rails on railways. Specimens of this hard
Gflass have been found suitable for mill
stones and railway sleeper'. An important
advantngj of the glass is it? transparency,
as flaws can be detected before /-'
it is put to practical US3. -fThe
Journal of Reconstruction states
that an infant lose? from three to six
ounces in weight duriug the first four to
six days after birth; by the seventh day
I it should have regained its birth-weight;
j from that to the fifth month it ought to .?
j gam about five ounces per week, or jsl
I about six drams a day; after the fifth I
; month, about four drams a day; at the Jrl
j fifth month it ou ?ht to have doubled its , J
| birth-weight, and in sixteen months ' 1
quadrupled it. C
In many skulls from Roman and Etrus- ;;; J
| can tombs Dr. Marter, of Rome, has dis- -J
covered interesting specimens of ancient sH
dent stry a'.:d art flcial teeth. These lat-'
ter are in most eases c arved out of the 1
teeth of some large unimal, and in many j
instances arc fastened to the natural ^
teeth by b:nds of gold. No filled teeth ^3
have been discovered. The skulls exsfin- I
ined date back as far as the sixth cen- ffl
tury B. C., and pro . e that toothache-and I
the art of den i try ase by no means 9
modern institutions.
A new method of preserving and tranf-'
porting fresh fish lias been devised by
Mr. A. R. Rcosen, of Hamburg, and was
recently tried in England. It consistsin ?
placing the fish in barrels of steel, eaf*h ;
barrel being closed l>y an air-tight lid
fitted with a small valve connection, to y
which is temporarily attached a tube '""T
o omn 11 V? ?r/3 *? ? n 1 r* Konrl.mimn Witll
liv/iU n 3ujou ujuiiiunu aauu-|/uiu^/. tv
this pump water is forced into the barrel .
(the air being at the same time expelled)
until the guage indie..tes a pressure of
about sixty pounds ]>er square inch. The ^
tube is then disconnected, and the barrel
closed by the valve. Before the pumping
begins the b r el is supp'ied with sufficient
fish to make the cargo, and an <!
antiseptic solution of three per cent of .
boracic acid, tartaric acid,salt and water,
with ninety-seven per cent, of fresh
water. Fish have bcc:i brought in a freaky
condition by this plan from Montrose,
Copenhagen and ihe Shetland Islands for 7
London consumption.
-in the west of Scotland, Stevenson ' -jj
found the average force of the waves for - ^
the five summer monthi to be 611 pounds
per square foot, aud for the six winter
months 2,036 pounds. He mentions thnt
on one of the Hebrides a mass of rock
weighing about forty-two tons waj gradually
moved five fee t bv the waves in a
storm. Hagen records that in the harbor
of Cette a block of concrete measuring
2,500 cubic feet and weighing probably
125 tons, was moved on its bed over three ;
feet. And now a late observer, Mr. E. '.IH
M. Nelson, reports finding on one of the "
Shetland islands senvi granite boulders,
whose appearance in 1 cates that they
ha. e been broken fr m the (lit! at the
water's edge as a sing'e block weighing
fifty tons, cast up U0 yards inland ana
thirty-five feet above sea level, and i
broken in three pla- es. This tremendous j
power of the waves is constantly grind- Q
ing away exposed coasts, forming new A
land of the removed materia', and thun a
slowly but steadily changing the contour ^
of the continents and inlands.
Worship of Ancestors.
During the first three weeks in April
the Chinese held a prolonged uAU 4
Souls" festival iu honor of their dead ancestors.
Family parties are arranged for
a day's outing at tho graves of their de- *
parted sires. They walk many miles,
bearing stores of good things, such as
roast ducks and fowls., and cooked fish.
I They provide sometimes a roasted pig,
[ for which the more economical substii
tute a pig's hea 1 with the tail in his *
; mouth, which is symbolic of the whole
nnimal. As the d'.*;.d ancestors care only
to smell the offerings the family enjoy an
excellent feast on their return home.
Worship of ancc tors permeates Chinese
life, affecting the most trivial details
of every day. It is the most conservative
of intfuen e>, for it compels the
j Chinese to look backward, instead of forI
ward, and obliges him to stop and think
if a proposed act may not offend the
sp rits of his fathers. He may be a
Buddhist, or a Ta ui t, or a Confucian, ?
but his first duty is to worship his ancestors.
*???*
Evqn the service of the Empire must
j give ftay to this act o; filial revercnce. It
j IS 111(3 om* 111 VU'Uil n UIV/U vaauo
! precedence of everything else. The mo it
I important Government officer may ne'
gleet his official. duties with impunity
while engaged in some ceremonial associated
with this wo ship. Should his
father or mother die while he is in office,
he is obliged to retire from public life y,
for many months. '
A Viceroy of Canton wks notified that
his grandmother had die at Pekin. An ^
Imperial order summoned him to attend
her obsequies and to remain in mourning
for one hundred days.
Being a person of dignity, he required
a large retinue to attend him. He char!
tercd a special steamer at a cost of ten
j thousand pounds to < o ivey him ana His
J suite to Taku. Sea-sickness so disgusted
him with the otea.i that he embarked at
Shanghai, sent hi-j baggage on the
stealer, and journeyed the rest of the
way by land to hon-or his grandmother's
remains.
Yet the man who thus honors an ancestor
need not even wear mourning at a ? *
daughter's death, much Ie3s interrupt
his daily businc a on account of such an
event.?Youth's Companion.
The Gait of Fast Horses.
An interesting statement has recently
been worked out, showing the distance
I a trotting horse goi-s at each second at
j various rates of speed. Maud S., when j
! i j _ ?:i~ :? o rtcsi I
sne covcrcu a mus m
41 1-3 feet per sccond. At a 2.20 gait ^
a horse travels 37 5-7 feet per sccond.
At a 2.25 gait he travels 3U^ feet per
second. At a 2.30 gait he travels 35 1-5
feet in the same time. At a ^.35 gait he ^
travels 34 1-6 feet; at a 2.40 gait the dis- ^
tance traveled is 33 feet; at a 2.45 gait,
32 feet; at a 2.50 gait, 311-1? feet; at a
2.53 gait, 30 1-16 feet. Wahn going a
mile in three minutes he travels over
29 1-8 feet per second; at a 3.10 gait,
272 feet; at a 3.20 gait, 26 2-5 feet; at a
3.30 gait, 25 1-7 feet; at a 3.40 gait 24
feet ; at a 3.50 gait, 23 feet, and at a 4.00
gait, 22 feet per second.