The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 13, 1887, Image 6
THE SUMMER DAYS.
The summer days are long and sweet
Oh, sweet and long!
We ait and list at Nature's feet
Unto her song.
"Wa dream and dream through days so rare,
Oh, life is sweet!
With birds and flowers and tender air,
And sunshine deep.#
Pair youth an<l love go hand ill hand,
111 life's bright spring;
Love uses well his magic wand
Sweet spoils to bring.
Young hearts, be happy while ye may,
For youth is fleet;
The path lies not again this way
For thy swift feet.
Then dream and sing thy happy song
Through summertide;
Mirth, inrocence and joy belong
And with thee bide.
?Sarah P. McLean, in the Current.
K SONG OF THE SUi'JSET LAND.
In the far-off hills of the sunset land;
In the land where the long grass bends and
quivers,
Where the ghosts of night and morning stand
By the gleams and dreams of the lonely
r.vers,
Where the brown sedge waving, stoops and
shivers
At the water's edge in the sunset land.
Through the trackless paths of the sunset
land;
Where the silence broods in a dream unbroken,
And the days slip by like grains of sand,
Where the song unsung aud the word unspoken.
Seem like a part of a namless token
Of the wild gray wastes of the sunset land.
j On the snow-clad p?aks of the sunset land;
As they rise in tiie ciouas so near to neaven
In shadowy vastness, stern and grand,
Where gaunt o!d pines by the lightning
riven,
Moan in the wind, through their branches !
driven,
On the crags and cliffs of the? sunset land.
'Mid the rolling plains of the sunset land,
Where the echoes drift on the tufted
heather
In the wake of breezes sweet and bland;
Where the shadows go in a troop together
Across the haze of the fair June weather
In the grassy dells of the sunset land.
By the wand'ring streams of the sunset land,
Where the ripples rise 'mid the tall reeds
bending
And float away to an unknown strand;
And the shade and the sunlight slow descending
Pall where the voice of the waters blending
Sings of the sunset land.
?Ernest McGaffey. tit Inter-Ocean.
* T T TITTm TT 1 "*T fi T"l T\
, iLLili JDU1 JCLAIN IjliU.
The story of a man who is reprieved
"While standing on the scaffold with the
noose about his neck, must always thrill.
The fact of any one standing in the presence
of death for a moment has a strange
fascination about it, aud his fellow men
are anxious to know what his thoughts
and feelings were as he expected to be
ushered into eternity. It has been my ill
luck to look squarely into the eves of
grim death on several occasions, and my
good luck to preservi my life aga'nst the
fate which seemed to hunger for it; and
some of the incidents may prove interesting
to the general reader.
During the siege of Yorktown by McClellan
I was detailed from my company
to do scout work. While my reports no
doubt went to the commander himself,
I reported directly to a division commander,
whom I never met without
being forced to notice the fact that he
was the worse for liquor. Later on in the
war there was a chief of scouts, but at
this time there were half a dozen of us
taking orders direct from this General
and reporting back to him in person. On
my third trip I was very nearly captured
by the Confederates, and in the squeeze j
T rvf oil mtt nonArs inolllHinff t.VlP '
Xgvsunvi vr* "O pass
which gave rae entrance and exit |
to the Federal lines. Therefore, when I I
finally reached the Federal picket post I
had nothing by which to identify myself.
The officer in command of the reserve
picket post was a smart Aleck, who
thought to add to his importance by refusing
to believe my story and sending
me to the headquarters of the brigade.
There I was regarded as a veritable
Confederate spy, and the General in command
was extremely pompous in his demeanor
toward me. I can remember
the conversation as vividly as if it took
place yesterday. By the time I reached j
his tent my arms had been tied behind '
me, and I was looked upon as a very
dangerous fellow.
"So you arc the spy captured down j
there at the picket!" shouted the General
as I stood before him.
"I am no spy, sir," I replied.
"Oh, no, of course not; but don't you
talk back to me, you infernal tratror! j
Who sent you spying into our camp?" I
"I am a Union soldier, sir, and be- '
long to "
"Shut up, you scoundrel! Don't !
think that you can stand there and lie to
me. What rebel command do you belong
to?"
"None, sir. I am a Union scout, and
was detailed "
"Stop!" he shouted, while his face
grew crimson. "While the truth may
not help, you, I hate to see you stand in
" ,v _ r j ii. !i.i. _ i
ine presence ui ueaui wicn a ue upon
your lips. Guard, remove him."
I was taken away and confined in a
gnard house, but not for long. In about
an hour I was taken to another tent in
the same encampment, and I entered
it to find four or five general officers present.
It was to be a drum-head court
martial. As I afterward learned, a report
of my capture had been sent to
headquarters, and McClellan had replied:
4< Try him by drum-head court martial,
and if found guilty hang him at sunrise."
A drum-head court martial is a dignified
farce. It is convened to convict. The
idea is that the victim is guilty, but must
be disposed of according to the regulations
of the War Department. The fact
that I openly and boldly approached the
Union picket, and that I was coming
from the Confederate lines, carried no
weight in my favor. The officer of the
picket said I was certainly a spy, and that
settled it. When they finally condescended
to hear my explanation. I gave
my name, and stated that the Geneial
to whom I made my reports would
identify me. I stood in neither awe nor
fear, knowing how easily I could be
identified. Some of the members of the
court were opposed to giving me this
chance for my life, but it was finally decided
to despatch an orderly and adjourn
the court for an hour. I was conducted
back to the puard house to w;iit,
and when agiin taken before the officers
I expected 10 be disc' sirred w.rhout 1 elay.
\ou can therefore imagine m.:
rVv'^ii 'i.aa'aatiat. ,/..a.
feelings when I was informed that Gen.
utterly repudiated me. My regiment
and company were a dozen miles away,
and I felt that it would be useless to ask
farther delay. In ten miuntes I wa9
found cruiltv. and sentenced to execution |
at sunrise, and before midnight a scaffold
had been prepared.
Why had Gen. denied my identity?
The only excuse I could offer for him was
that he was drunk when the Messenger
reached him, and such proved to be the
case* Roused from his stupid sleep, he
had winked and blinked at the communication
and made out a portion of it,
and then flung it down with the assertion
that he knew no one of my name. The i
gallows was erected within a few rods of j
where I was confined. Some beams and
hr>fiivi? uorp taken from an abandoned I
house, and the structure was a very rude
affair. I could plainly hear every blow
struck, and the fellows engaged in putting
it up seemed to want ine to overhear
their unfeeling remarks. About an hour
before daylight a curious change took
place in me. I began to wonder if I was
really the man I claimed to be, and it
wasn't fifteen minutes before I had come
to the conclusion that I was some one
else?in fact, a confederate spy, as they
declared. This idea took such firm
lodgment in my mind that I would have
honestly denied my real identity. I felt
that I had been fairly tried and" honestly
convicted, and that I ought to suffer
death. There was no particular terror in
the idea. The only thought about hanging
which made me cringe was the fall
tVimiKrh tlip tm?v Tt seemed to me as I
reflected on it that the pain would be
something awful, but I was consoled at
the same time with the reflection that it
would soon be over.
Half an hour before sunrise I was
brought out aud escorted to the foot of
the gallows. If I remember right there
was about half a company of infantry on
the ground. Only a few of the soldiers
in camp were out to witness the proceedings.
They had graciously provided
me with spiritual conso'ation in the presence
of a chaplain, but, though the good
man talked to me for ten minutes, I did
not hear one word in twenty he uttered.
I was all the time wondering how long
before it would be over, and every
minute of delay made me impatient.
When the time came for me to mount the
scaffold I was really dad of it. There
was nothing in the sight of the dangling
rope to chill me. I took my place on the
trap, the chaplain uttered a prayer, and
then a soldier quickly tied my elbows
aud ankles and pulled a cap over my
head. It was a matter of seconds now,
!ind T said tn mvsHf!
"It is comiug now?good-by to all?it
will soon be over."
Tliey had to cat a rope underneath to
spring the trap. My sense of hearing was
so acute that I located the man who
stood with an axe ready to do his service
at a given signal, and I heard him
whisper to himself:
"Why. in God's name, do they keep
the man so long in suspense?"
"Then I began to count one?two?
three, and so on, and had got up to nine,
when I heard a shouting not far away,
aud mingled with it the sound of horses
coming at a gallop.
"Don't cut that rope!" commanded
the officer in charge, and I said to myself
:
"Something has gone wrong, and there
will be a further delay. Perhaps I am to
be shot. That would be an easier way
to die.1'
There was some loud talk around me,
two or three people came up the ladder
to the platform, and directly a hand
pulled the cap off my head and a voice
said:
'Captain, there is some terrible mistake
here. This is Roberts, one of my scouts."
';But you did not know him last
night?"
"I know him now, and you will release
him at once."
It was Gen. . As he awoke from
his drunken sleep at an early hour a dim
remembrance of the message crept into
his mind, and he rolled out of bed and
found the inquiry sent by the court
martial. He could" not remember what .
word he had sent in reply, but he jumped
into his clothes and then into the saddle,
and he came just in time to prevent a
military murder. What was the effect
of this close call? Well, I went to the
hospital for two weeks with a fever, and
it was a full month before I was positively
certain of my identity.?New York
Sun.
The Giant's Causeway.
The Giant's Causeway is a series of columnar
basaltic rocks in County Antrim,
on the northeast coast of Ireland. For
eight miles along the coast the land abuts
on the sea in cliffs of basalt, many of
them made up of rude vertical columns,
and the appearance of these columns
from the sea suggests a partial resem|
blance to architectural forms. The name
Giant's Causeway is often applied to all
this coast range of cliffs, but it properly
belongs to only a small part of it, which
i 1 1*
15 (I pmiiuiiu ui Urtoau ill vivavij uiiuu^vu
columns?from fifteen to thirty-six feet
high?which extends from a steep cliff
down into the sea till it is lost below low
water mark. It is divided across its
breadth into three portions, the Little,
Middle and Grand Causeway, these being
separated from each other by dikes of
basalt. The columns are generally hexagonal
prisms, but they are also found of
five, seven, eight and nine sides, in almost
every instance being fitted together with
the utmost precision, and it is said that
even water cannot penetrate between adjoining
columns. The name causeway is
given to the platform, as its columns terminate
at so nearly a uniform height
that it presents an almost smooth area
extending to the water, seeming to the
primitive imagination a road that had
been prepared for the convenience of
giants.?Inter- Ocean.
Silver on Their Soles.
The workmen in Mexican silver mines
become so skilful in stealing silver that
the owners employ detectives to work
with them. An owner tells this story:
| "One day a detective came to me and
said when such and such men came out
I tn uvomino eon/lolo f Tio/1 fhnf I
done. On the bottoms of the sandals
was what appeared to be mud, but when
it was scraped into a pan and worked I
found that it ran at the rate of $3,000 to
the ton. My miners had plastered a thin
layer of mud from the mine over the
leather, andthen sprinkled on the particles
of silver, and over all had put an>
other layer of mud. They were working
for 37? cents a day, and carrying out |
fifty cents worth of silver on the sole of
each sandal."
A Great Poet's First Effort.
A certain traveling man recently discovered
that he is a great poet, and this
is how he found it out:
Oh, little girls, always practice economy,
Even your slate pencils, save them up with
care, l
For some day when you no longer need them
to do sums with,
You can use 'h?m heated to curl your soft
golden' a'r.
?Merchant-Traveler.
AGRICULTURAL.
TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE
TO FARM AND GARDEN.
Missed Seeding of Grain.
It often happens that strips of land
through grain holds are accidentally left
unseeded, and the mistake is not discovered
until the grain is up. In most cases
little is gained by trying to seed after the
main crop is above the surface, especially
"with spring grain, which matures so
quickly after sowing. The entire width
of a drill for a short spacc will at harvest
time scarcely be noticed, as the grain on
either side will spread so that the tops
nearly cover the vacant space. Usually
if the stoppage has been from the grain
giving out, some tubes will run most of
the way across the field, and these will
help fill up, often suggesting that far less
seed is required for a good crop than is
generally supposed. A failure of grass or
clover seeding is really a worse evil than
the loss of a strip of grain, and if there
are many bad faults in the grass seeding
it were better to plow all up and try it
again. For where clover and grass fail
to catch the vacancies will certainly be
filled with weeds.
Floral Hints.
In hot. drv weather, gladioli will re
pay the attention of a mulch of rotten
manure over the beds, and applying
water freely if thought needful. It is
the right course to place supports in the
earliest stages of the spikes, as the broad
leaves are much acted upon by gales of
wind, and if the roots get loosened the
plants soon suffer.
Thvsc having spots about the home so
shady that grass will not grow, may rely
upon the hardy ferns for embellishment.
Wild ferns abound in all parts of the
country, in woods and waste places, and
can usually be had for the digging.
Many persons gather seeds for the season
all in one day, and that far along in
the season. It is better to commence
with the first flower of spring, and keep
it up all through the season. A correspondent
writes that she usually carries
in her pocket a small ball of twine, and
when she sees an extra tine flower from
which she would like seed, she ties a bit
of twine around the stem, and when
among the flowers she is glways on the
I i j. e it.. ?J /]?
iuuiyuui iur lug rijiuucu aucua ui suuu.
These she gathers and ties up in the corner
of her handkerchief, or in chcese
cloth, narrowly hemmed for the purpose,
which she has provided expressly for,
gathering seeds in.
Phlox and pansy seeds must be covered
with something to admit air yet retain
the seeds, else they will fly away
while curing. Morning glory, phlox,
and other kinds with heavy seeds and
light shells can be easily cleaned by putting
in a cup, shaking this and blowing
iuto it slightly or hard, according to the
kind of seeds. Fine seeds with coarse
husks can easily be separated by sifting,
and still others, like scabiosa and calendula,
require no cleaning.?Cultivator.
The Thinning of Fruits.
Perhaps no other horticultural operation
has been so much written about, or
has been so eloquently advocated at the
meetings, as that of thinning of fruits,
by which we mean the removal of a
portion of the crop that sets, that the
portion of the crop that remains by having
double rations plant food, may be
larger and better; yet in spite of all this
expenditure of ink and eloquence, how
little is there to show for it? Who thins
fruit upon any large scale? It can be
shown by figures, that the o:ae way to make
fruit-growing pay is to sell good fruit at
large prices, and that the one way to have |
good fruit, is to throw away one-half or |
two-thirds of it while it is still young, j
This may be done before the flowers have !
bloomed, by the operation of disbudding. !
This rarely removes enough, and as soon 1
as the fruit has set a large share is re- j
moved. If it appears tha t too much still!
remains, the number may be reduced
wheu it is half grown, ana still more, if
need be, just as ripening is about begin-,
ning. So with giapes, a certaia number j
of clusters of which is apportioned to the
age and strength of the vine. Of course
precision like this is not; looked for in i
market culture, but an approximation to \
it may be attempted, but let nothing be j
carried beyond tne point of profit. If a
fruit grower be desirous of testing the
matter, let him select two trees or the
Bame. kind, peach, pear, apple, and also
two grape vines of each kind he proposes
to grow, at the same age. etc. Allow
one of each kind to go in the usual way,
and with the other, thin out from one"-!
half to two-thirds of the fruit from the
tree soon after it has set fairly. If when :
half-grown, it appears that more thinning j
will be profitable, do it, keeping an j
accurate account of the cost of doing it. !
With vines, left to themselves, each shoot j
usually boars three clusters, sometimes!
more, they leaving two clusters and,
also one, on each shoot, and also in ,
pinching the cane back to three, two or
one leat beyond the bunch or bunches.
It is expectcd that the increased value of i
the fruit, the price at which it is sold, j
will leave a handsome profit.? American :
Agriculturist.
I
Summer Soiling.
There are several ways of economizing |
grass used as pasture or other pasturing ,
crops. The great waste of pasturing is
in the tramping of the stock and in the
fouling by the excrement. This loss is a
very large item where land is high in j
value and where it costs a large sum to
get a well set pasture. In such cases
there is a large economy in soiling. This '
may be done not only by cutting the fod- j
der and feeding it in stables and yards, j
but also by tethering the cows, and with j
sheep by providing light movable hurdles
or fence panels, which may be set up
or taken down and removed with great
ease. The movable fences may be used
for confining co .vs as well as for sheep.
There are several kinds of them in use.
The cattlc of the islands of Jersey and j
Guernsey are all tethered, and it is to this
economical management that the small!
farms of those fertile islands are able to !
support a cow on less than an acre of j
land. This method is also extensively J
used in the western part of France, where j
the farms are small and yet keep a large
number of cattle. Small fields of colza :
(a variety of rape) and of clover may be ;
seen there, with the cows tethered in i
ranks, each one having so many feet of
fodder to consume each day. The cows
are secured |>v strong leatherneck straps,
having rings sewn in them, and a chain
or rope with a snaplock at one end and a
Vorrrn i*?nrr of /\4-V?a? Tlio Cnnnlni'L*
is fastened to the ring in the neck strap, !
and the large ring is dropped over the
tethering stake. When feeding down !
Jhe grass on the lawn and under the fruit.
trees in the orchard the writer has useci a
light chain about twenty feet long, with
a swivel in it, and attached to a revolving
ring or clevis in the head of an iron
pin, which is driven into the ground.
Tethering chains of the same kind h&ve j
been found very useful in feeding down j
green clover in the fields, giving the cows
a strip about six or eicht feet wide, in
the shape of a curve in front of them, for
their meal. There is some little difficulty
in placing the cows, and when ten or
twenty are kept it is better to have movable
hurdles for enclosing them and pro
tecting the crop. But where a single
cow or two or three are kep t this method
is quite pr;rcticable and convenient. The
best hurdle is a simple panel nine feet
long, made of light narrow boards, just
as a board fence is made, and with upright
bars of the same material. The
ends of the boards project beyond the
end bars about six inches, so that when
two are placed overlapping, a fence wire
ring; can be slipped over thusc ends and
secure them. Stakes are driven down,
three to each panel, and the panels arc
held by them quite firmly by driving
two on one side and one on the other alternately.
A. very good hurdle has been made of
round poles sixteen feet long with stakes
or spokes fixed in tfiem in noies Dorea
through, thus forming rows of strikes
on both sides about twelve inches apart
the whole length. A second set is put
in crosswise with the first row. This
hurdle is turned over and over as it is
required to advance it. But for moving
a distance it is not so handy as the plain
board hurdle.
It is impossible to keep cows or sheep
whh economy and profit unlew some provision
is made for Summer feeding, and
for this purpose the annual plants, which
grow quickly, are better than grass.
They yield a large product to the acre,
i and may be changed from one year to
' anDther. And these annual forage crops
must be a considerable dependence also
for the Winter feeding as cured fodder.
?New York Times.
Farm and Garden Notes.
Feed the young chicks early, late, and
often.
There are few plants that start from
seed as readily as lilacs.
A farmer's wife whose hens have paid
well calls poultry the woman's friend.
The finest stalks of asparagus are raised
i by giving the plants plenty of room.
From analysis, oat straw appears to be,
as a rule, superior to wheat straw for
j feeding purposes.
j Mineral fertilizers, notably marl, are
best for peach trees. Stable manure on
young trees is deleterious.
Foremost among birds that never do us
any harm are the wren and bluebird, according
to a fruit grower.
Oats and peas sowed together, and fed
as soon as the crop is high enough to cut,
is convenient feed for a cow or two on a
farm.
When fungus appears on roses, carnations
or other sodden plants sulphur exposed
to the hot sun is among the best
remedies.
Remember that sheep are close grazers
and ought not be turned on backward
pastures or on fields not well covered
with grass.
Lampblack mixed with strong vinegar
will mark the sheep so that it will remain
a year, and will not injure the wool as do
tar and paint.
Wi?o nnffin r* fnrA.innli moaVi i c ooi/l
now to be cheaper than boards for
fencing poultry, and more easily arranged
with less labor.
If stock of all kinds could have a
dark shelter to flee to in the hot part of
the day, to get away from the dies, it
would be a great saving.
Absorbents should be freely used to
prevent standing water about the yard 01
barn cellar as a sanitary measure and a
saver of fertilizing material.
Some recommend to sow pasture land
with clover and a variety of giassjs, that
herds of cattle with different tasles may
separate over the entire pasture.
The common red clover is better than
the large for general purposes. The latter
is aifficult to cure, makes coa-serhay
and is more apt to become musty.
Buttermilk is cheap food for the pigs,
and they will always do well when buttermilk
is made a portion of their food;
but it should not be fed exclusively.
When a brood sow proves a good and
careful mother keep her, aud do not discard
her for a lighter and younger one,
because the old is large and heavy.
Lettuce seed should be sowed on a
finely-prepared bed, made rich, and the
largest plants used as they grow, which
will avoid the necessity oi transplanting.
Undertake to cultivate no more than
you can manage well, and increase your
acres as you increase in ability, and your
acres and ability will advance step by
Step.
If new grape vines are wanted, lay the
last year wood in a trench before the
buds start much. Rub off half the buds
and fill gradually with mould a3 the shoots
grow.
It is claimed that more damage is done
by the gentle bull than those that are
vicious, and the advice is to watch them,
as the gentlest of bulls is a treacherous
animal.
It is too often forgotten that the teeth
of aged animals, like those of old men,
arc defective, and food should be ground
and made soft accordingly, in order to
feed them with economy.
Au exchange says if farmers will drop
~ T-w-w*? aw fr\rr\ in noKill nf T\nf,n.
tt SUUpUCUU vi l/??v Ail vuvm ***** v?* jswrti.
toes when they plant them the pesky potato
bug will never bother them. There
is a smell about the bean the beetles dislike.
If by the ensilage system, a greater
number of cows can be kept, the farmer
will have a larger arta of land to be cultivated.
Every acre of pasture that can
be cultivated and made to yield a crop
Ls a gain.
With an ample supply of sweet, tender
grass and clover, no; only cattle and
sheep, but hogs, would steadily lay on
flesh and fat till the frost appears in tho
fall. A variety of grass ana clover is absolutely
necessary if a farmer would
produce beef, mutton and pork at a very
small cost.
A correspondent of the Country Gentleman
dilates on tho advantages resulting
from bagging grapes. It much more
than pays for tho time and trouble devoted
to the work, and assures the ripening
of several varieties which, if not
bagged, would be worthless. The big
should be slipped over the cluster before
the grapes become large enough to be
stung by insects.
The Face at tho Window.
Here is an item for the lovers of the
-_j. i?
marvelous: "A young woman uui, iuug
ago was married to a soldier stationed at
Fort Uniou, New Mexico. After the
marriage he returned to his post and she
resumed her duties as a domestic in a
Denver family. A few nights ago, while
sitting in the kitchen, she heard several
distinct raps upon the window. Looking
up she saw the face of her husband.
She ran to the door, opened it, and, calling,
found no one on the oufciide. Th?n
she fainted. Soon after she received a
telegram saying that her husband had
died at Union just about the hour when
she saw his face at the window."
~ I
[ HOHENZOLLERNS...
THE HOUSE FROM WHICH GERMANY'S
RULER SPRINGS.
The Hohenzollerns Splendid Physical
Spcimens of Humanity
?Habits of the Aged
Emperor William.
"When the subject of a marriage between
the Crown Prince and Queen Victoria's
eldest daughter was first broached
writes C. W. Mcllvainein Harper's Weekly,
Bismarck was reported to have expressed
his disapproval of the match in
these terms: ,4It will spoil our handsome
Hohenzollerns." The House of Hanover
is ? physically weak and undersized
stock, while the Hohenzollerns are, as a
rule, f-p'.endid specimens of humanity.
Bismarck's fears were realized. All the
Crnwn .Princess children with the exceo
tion of Princess Charlotte, are commonplace
in appearance. Princess Charlotte,
who has a subdued likeness to the Prince
of Wales, gave no promise of beauty in
her early years. The Emperor is said to
have jestingly remarked to her: "If I had
known that you were going to turn out half
so beautiful,I would not have married you
off to Saxe-Meiuingcn. You might have
caught a king!" Prince William, the
oldest son, is short and slight; and although
military training has given a certain
hauteur to his bearing, he yet lacks
the kingly dignity and impressive eyes of
his equally small-sized ancestor, Frederick
the Great. One of his arms is unsymmetrical
with the other?a deformity
which is carefully concealed by the tail|
or's art. Although a coutrust to his
| grandfather in appearance, he is singuj
larly like him in mental cl aracteristics,
and if the liberal tendencies of his father
do not forestall him in an intermediate
reign, he will stoutly maintain all the
royal prerogatives like the present Emperor,
as he has already like him become
the general favorite of the army.
Bismarck's vexation at the thought of
introducing Havoverian blood into the
antral cnofincoinn is hilt An PXHrGSSion Of
the pride which all Prussians feei in the
splendid physical development of their
line of kings. The Emperor William
himself is every inch a Hohenzollern of
the traditional type. He is considerably
above the average height, and although
age has bent his head, his figure has still
an erect, military bearing. His thin gray
whiskers, wrinkled brow, faded, almost
sallow, complexion, the failing lustre in
his quiet gray eyes, and the involuntary
languor which creeps at times over
his face, betray, while his activity
and mental vigor are unable to conceal,
the real condition of his strength.
His face, as a whole, is ordinary. A
reader of physiognomy would be inclined
to credit the belief that in affairs
of state he often retires behind the Chancellor.
His commanding presence, however,
is an outward sign of the dignity
with which he conceals this fact from
the world. Whether it is due to the
traditional economy of the Hohenzollerns
or to the strict^ military training from
early youth, his palaces and general habits
of life befit an officer rather than an
emperor. He always appears in uniform,
his business and his pleasures are ordered
with military exactness, and he
even sleeps on the same kind of camp
bedstead which he has used on Ins cam
paigns. It is amusing to hear the comments
of peasant visitors to the palace
when they arc shown the royal bedroom.
Their own feather-beds, they think, are
more comfortable than the imperial
couch. It is only in the grati6cation of
of his appetite that the Emperor allows
the slightest relaxation of military discipline.
His guests at dinner, however, do
not all share the benefits of this indulgence,
for, according to etiquette, the
Emperor is served first, and as soon as
he has finished the course is changed,
often before those lowest in rank at the
table have had time to partake; so
many an officer anticipates a royal "feast"
by dining first at some restaurant.
Visitors at the summer palace of
Babelsberg, near Potsdam, have often
wondered what the shrine-like frame on
the Emperor's desk contains. No fee to
the guides will open its doors. They
conceal to all but the Emperor the likeness
of Elise Radziwill. The Empress
so far respects this first love of her hissband
that she often deck the shrine with
flowers. When he was still the young
Princc William of Prussia the Emperor
fell desperately in love with the beautiful
Elise. Unfortunately it was a statute
in the royal family that none of its scions
should marry except into a reigning
house. Lawyers tried to prove mat ine
P&dziwills were descended from an old
Polish dynasty as royal as the Hohenzollerns.
It was proposed that Prince
Augustus, an unmarried brother of the
then king, should adopt Elise. But no
ltgal qubbling could prove her of royal
birth. Meanwhile Prince Charles,
younger brother of the present Emperor,
married a daughter of the Grand-duke of
Weimar. The latter declared that if
Prince "William should insist upon
marrying Elise, he would claim the
throne for the issue of Prince Charles.
It was only to prevent the possibility of
a war of succession in Prussia
that Prince William finally consented to
forego the dictates of his love. Elise
died soon afterward, and there were not
?1- - 1
a lew senumciuausis wuu cmuucu uui i
this wns due to a broken heart. Next
to the constancy of his love for the lost
Elise, the most touching trait in the
character of the aged ruler is his fidelity
to the memory of his mother. Every
year, on the 10th of July, the anniversary
of Queen Louisa's death, he goes to the
mausoleum in the quiet park of Charlottenburg,
and there with his family
holds silent communion with the dead.
A long experience in the great capitals is
not required to convince the visitor that
the Emperor is the most popular monarch
in Europe. Evidence of this is given
upon every appearance of his in public,
whether it is at the historic corner*
window of his palace, where knots of
people gather daily to greet him, or
whether it is in his afternoon drives,
when the stray soldiers on the street line
up to give the military salute, civilians
raise their hats, and perhaps some lady
in high society makes the profound court
courtesy. Often a lady will be seen rush
ing up and laying a bouquet in the carriage,
while the Emperor nods his pleasure
at the attention.
Pedal Measurements.
The size of the foot varies in individuals
within wide limits, but the average
length among different peoples is pretty
constant, and would appear, with certain
exceptions, to be an indication of the degree
of civilization to which the community
had attained. Thus, according to
a series of measurements collected from
various sources, we find the proportionate
length of the foot to the height of the
individual, represented by 100, to be as
follows: Parisians, 14.8; Russians, 15.5;
Hungarians, 15.4; Chinese, 15.1; Australian
aborigines, 15.1; Algerians, 14.8.
?Medical Record.
West Point.
North and east the Point is hemmed
in by the mighty river, west and south
by the rock-ribbed Highlands. The
plateau, little by little, has been leveled
and graded, until to-day it is a broad,
beautiful, grass-grown plain, bounded on
the west by the cosy homes of the officers
and professors, on the south by the
stately barracks, the grim, old-fashioned
"Academic," tne urccisn cnapei, ana
the domed turrets of the Library. Skirting
the precipitous river banks, a broad,
graded road encloses the plateau on .the
north and east, and others, as level and
carefully kept, border it on west and
south, and nearly bisect italong the meriJ:?
/-.? 3 ?:,i, 11
UlilU. VUrcit'U ?>nu r>cii-viu|/|yvu wui?^
the western half of the "plain" is devoted
to infantry drills; the batteries
and the crunching hoofs of the horses
are limited to the gravel of the eastern
half. All around are the rocky heights,
trimmed with pine and fir and cedar,
with here and "there a peep at the stony
parapet of some old redoubt or battery
thrown up in the days of the Revolution.
The square built hostelry, once and foi
years known as Roe's, stands perched at
the northeast limit of the plain. Statues
in bronze or marble gleam here and there
amid the foliage, and tell of deeds of
heroism and devotion on the part of the
sons of the old academy. The tall white
staff glistens against the dark background
of the Highlands, and throws to the
breeze, high over all, the brilliant colors
of the Stars and Stripes; and on the
easternmost verge of the broad plateau
lies the camp ground, the summer home
of the Corps of Cadets.
Laid out in mathematical regularity,
with well-graveled pathways, sentry
posts and "color-line," and shaded by
beautiful trees, the encampment, like
everything else at West Point, is so exquisitely
trim and neat as to leave little
lesemblance to the "tented field" as seen
in actual service on thefrontier. The white
tents gleam in accurate ranks as though
they were pitched by aid of the "straightedge"
rule. Farthest to the west are the
guard and visitors' tents; then comes an
open space between them and the color
line, along which the arms are stacked
every bright day. It is in this space
the camp ceremonies?guard mounting,
dress parade, and the weekly inspections
?take ulace. Immediately behind the
color line are the tents of four companies,
two inward facing rows to each, with a
broad alley, known as the "general
parade," separating the right and left
wings. The company streets run east
and west perpendicularly to the color
line, and the tents of the cadet officers
are pitched looking west along the
streets of their respective companies.
Behind the rows of company officers'
tents, and opposite the right and left of
camp, are the larger domiciles of those
cadet magnates, the adjutant and quartermaster.
Back still further are the
double tent3 of the four army officers who
are immediate commanders and instructors
of the four companies: ind behind
them all, at the rear of camp, is the big
"marquee" of the Commandant of Cadets.
! Dotted about the rear of camp are the
j little tents occupied by the drum boy
"orderlies," the boot-blacks, varnishers,
j etc., and around them all, day and night,
! paces the chain of sentries, which, posted
in mid-June, is never removed until the
aimtilfitnunn: fall of PVflrT tent On the
OUUUUUUWUV 4.... w. ?J "
28th of August.?Harperi Magazine.
A a Edible Lizard.
The tail of the iguana in a state of
(nature is loDg. slender and brittle. It
| snaps off like candy sticks at a rude
touch. The iguana is an edible reptile,
and among the Indians and negroes of
tropical countries it is a deadly insult
j to offer a guest a baked iguana with its
| tail broken off. It lives on grasses, herbs
and insect*, and its flesh is white and
solid, with the flavor of a turkey's breast.
As a stew it is fine eating. You see them
alive in all the markets of tropical America,
with their jaws tied up or sewn up,
for they have teeth that make an ugly
bite.
The iguana is believed to have originated
the fable of the chameleon, that
feeds on air and changes color. I have
seen them among the grasses of the open
country, green as the grass itself, ana in
the woods of the color of the tree trunks.
The change appears to have come from
the difference of feeding, though tne sunlight
may have some effect in bringing
out the color,and is useful in aiding theii
concealment from the hunter. They are
susceptible of quite an amount of petting.
I shot one in Costa Rica, wounding
it only enough to bring it down, and
carried it to the abandoned cabin where
the expedition I was attached to was encamped.
It did not die, so I kept it
i tied up outside the house and gave it
fruit and buds to eat. After a few days
it gnawed the withe that confined it
through aud escapcd, but it remained
I aronna the cabin during the three months
! we held Qarap (here tjgd allowed rpe to
approach it. Our paHy went into the
mountains and was absent for seven
months. Returning, we slung our hammocks
in the old house while the boat9
were gettiug ready to take us up the
coast, aud next morning the iguana was
sunning himself on the same old log out
I side. He was shyer than before, dux
j soon tamed again and aeeraed to know
me quite as well as before.?New Tori
Times.
Twelve Great Classes of Plants.
Twelve of the great classes of plants
are classified by botanists as follows :
I. Crowfoot or Buttercup Family.?1. But
taicup. 2. Columbine. 3. Larkspur. 4. Blaeh
Snake-root. 5. Anemene, 6. Virgin's Bower
II. Mustard Family, or Crueiferae.?1
Water-Cress. 2. Mustard. 3. Shepherd's
Purse. 4. Radish. 5. Turnip. 6. Sweet
Alyssum.
III. Pink Family. 1. Pink or Carnation
2. Soapwort. 3. Bladder Campion. 4. Core
Cockle. 5. Chick-weed. (J. Sand Wort.
IV. Pulse Family. 1. Pea. 2. Bean. 3
Clover. 4. Locust. 5. Sensitive Plant. 6
Wild Indigo.
V. Rose Family. 1. Plum. 2. Cherry
3. Five-Finger. 4. Strawberry. 5. Bram
ble. 0. Ro3e.
VI. Parsley Family. 1. Carrot. 2. Parsnip.
3. Poison Hemlock. 4. Sweet Cicely
5. Water Hemlock. 6. Black Snakeroot.
VII. Composite or Aster Family. 1. Aster
2. Daisy. 3. Tansy. 4. Marigold. 5. Sun i
flower. 6. Chamomile. ]
VIII. Mint Family. 1. Mint. 2. Thyme ,
3. Sage. 4. Cat-Mint. 5 Horehouna. ti .
Skull cap.
IX. Nightshade Family. L Bitter-sweet 1
2. Ground Cherry. 3. Tomato. 4. Potato (
5. Tobacco. 6. Thornappleor Jamestowi j
W1 66(1 I /
X. Oak Family. 1. Oak. 2. Chestnut
3. Beech. 4. Filbert. 5. Iron-wood. 6 I
Chinquapin. _ ^ t
XI. Lily Family.?1. Lily. a. ouiohivus j
Seal. 3. Asparagus. 4. Star of Bethlehem
5. Onion. 6. Garlic.
XII. Grass Family?1. Meadow Grass. 2
AV heat. 3. Barley. 4. Rye- 5. Oats. 6 t
Broom Corn. f
:. 5
A certain amount of opposition is a c
great help to man. Kites rise against and t
not with the wind. Eveu a head wind i< ; ]
better than none. No man ever worked i
his passage any where in a dead calm. Lef i
no man wax pale, therefore, bccause ol t
opposition. (
1 ii
A San Francisco exchange tells that in
California there are at least 4,000 vinegrowers,
and the area planted in vines ii a
n )t less than 160,000 acres. v
. v : '
" . '
WORDS OF WISDOM.
We covnt words as nothing; yet eternity
depends upon them. <
Trials wear us into a liking of what
possibly in the first essay displeased us.
When desperate ills demand a speedy
cure, distrust is cowardice and prudence
fnlltr
Poorness of memory every one complains
of, but nobody of the want of
judgment. . vp
He who thinks too much of himself
will be in danger of being forgotten by
the rest of the world.
A man must be excessively stupid, as
well as uncharitable, who believes there
is no virtue but on his own side.
Those that place their hope in another > >
n trn in a mnnotirO OATI
"v/itu uoro iu a iuvucuiv wu
quered dread of death and unreasonable
love of life.
Life often seems like long shipwreck,
of which the debris are friendship, glory
and love; the shores of existence are
strewn with them.
The heart is a small thing, but desircth
great matters. It is not sufficient
for a kite's dinner,yet the whole world is
not sufficient for it.
If doing what ought to be done be f
made the first business, and success a 'v
secondary consideration, is not this the ^
way to exalt virtue?
No soul was ever lost becausc its fresh
beginning broke down; but thousands of f
souls have been lost because they would
not make fresh beginnings.
Death docs not destroy, but catches,
crystallizes, and makes permanent the
character of a good man, leaving it ft
priceless bequest to society.
It seems to me we can never give-up
longing and wishing while we are thoroughly
alive. There are certain thing*- ]:M
we feel to be beautiful and good, and we '
must hunger after them.Early
rising not only gives us more life
in the same number of our years, but adds
likewise to their number; and not only
enables us to enjoy more of existence in'
the same measure of time, but increase*
also the measure.
:
A Short History of Natnral Gas.
The earliest use of natural gas on rec? .
ord is in China, where for centuries it . s.
has been conveyed through hollow bamboos
from fissures in salt mines to the
surface for burning purposes. Near the
Caspian Sea, in Asia, there are also placet
where natural gas is seen to exude from
the earth, and a similar phenomenon is to
be seen in the Szalatua *alt mine in Huo?
gary. Natural gas was first discovered
in this country in the neighborhood of
fkrtutonnnn /wnnftr "V Y . t'l
JL1 ICUUUIH, vuauiau^uu VWUU.JJ ?.y
early in the century. Here it was first ^
put to use by some enterprising citizens in ^
the year 1821. A small well was
bored in the village to the depth of
twenty-seven feet, and the gas wat ...
conducted through pipes to the ,
houses, where it was used for illumin
ating purposes alone. It is said that in
1824, ,on the occasion of Lafayette'9 visit,
the village was illuminated with natural
gas. This well, which was drilled in
1850 to the depth of only seventy feet, continued
to supply the village with illuminating
gas until the year 1858. It is s
noteworthy fact that although this interesting
discovery was widely known it
did not lead to any further experiments,
either in the neighborhood or in other
places, till fully twenty years after 1821.
In the early part of. the present century VJ
it was found that the wells which were
bored for salt in the Kanawha Valley
yielded large quantities of gas. In .1841 /
this gas was first used as fuel for boiling I
the brines obtained from the wells.
Wuai-lw oil tVio k drilled for the Dur
pose of obtaining petroleum afforded
natural gas in abundance; it Was,in fact,
a considerable inconvenience to tho=e engaged
in sinking the wells, and often a
source of serious danger. In 1865 a well
which was sunk for petroleum at West
Bloom field, N. Y.t struck a flow f.
of natural gas. An effort was made
to utilize this, and it was carried
in a wooden main to the city of
Rochester, a distance of twenty-four K
miles, in 1870, for the purpose of illuminating
-the city, but the experiment
was a failure. So, though it was obvious
that this gaseous product constituted an
inexhaustible supply of excellent fuel, rit>
attempt was made to put it to use in man- m
ufacture until during the past decade. . I
In 1873, a well in Armstrong County,
Pennsylvania, was so arranged that the I
gas could be separated from the water I
with which it was discharged, and con
veyed through pipes to several mills in I
that vicinity, where it was used in the I
manufacture of bar iron. From that time >
to the present day the use of natural ?
gas has increased very rapidly. It is vl
estimated that the gas used in 1883 for
heating and illuminating purposes was .
equivalent to 3,131,000 tons of coal,
having a value of $4,85*7,000. The con- fl
sumption of gas during the last calendar I
year very much exceeded this quantity; H
the total value estimated on the basis of H
the coal which it has displaced, proba- H
bly amounted to more than $6,000,000. I
?Inter Ocean. i
???
How Cabinet Meetings Are Conducted. fl
An ex-Cabinet member was asked by a H
newspaper interviewer: H
"What is the process in a Cabinet H
meeting of beginning the business? Does H
the President go through his Cabinet with " - H
l? inot to'iIL- Jirniind and
u sw5ll-|h,ui uy iuvj juwv
have a confab?" H
' No," was the reply. "President Arthur,
when the time arrived for Cabinet
conference, took his seat at the head .
the table. He would turn to the Secre-" H
tary of State and say: 'Mr. Secretary of H
State, is there anything in your depart- - IB
ment requiring our attention?' If the H
Sprretnrv of State passed, he would say:
'Mr. Secretary of the Treasury,'or 'Mr. ,
Attorney-General, have you something H
we should attend to?' In that way he flB
went the rounds,' calling every man by ,
his official title. Sometimes the first
man asked would bring up a question
that would take the entire time of the
meeting up. At other times there would
[>e no questions in any department requiring
attention. Often polftical quae:ions
would take the place of mere official
msiness. A Government is much more
)f a political organization than outsiders
jelieve. The President invites to his
Cabinet those men who represent their |H
wrty as well as their country. Of course,
he political discussion is in the light of Hfl
)udiic Dusmess uswuu. ??
Statistics show that the churches of [[
he United States have communicants as
ollows: Methodist Episcopal, 4,340,116;
Roman Catholic, 4,000,000; Epia- Hi
opal, 430,531; .Moravian, 10,(380; Bapist,
3,682,007: Congregationalism 436,(70;
Christian Union, 120,000; Friends,
05,000; Adventist, 97,711; Methodist, bM
8,750; Presbyterian, 1,082,436; Lu- VH
heran, 930,830; Reformed, 259,974;
ierman Evangelical, 125,000; Mennontea,
80,000; Church of God, 45.000.
Tennyson is reported in failing health,
nd discussion is already rife as to whs Hflj
vill succeed him as Laureate.
' I