The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 21, 1888, Image 6

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A SONG-DREAM. Long time she sat yet never touched a string, Her thoughts were all of one far, far away, One dearly loved, whoso face to her could bring Desire to play. The tune?ah, well she knew it?and the words 80 full of tenderness, unsung so long, Hung on her parted lips?a (lock of birds "Without a song. For there was none to hear it: none save her Unto whose ears too solemn now it seemed; Yet in her b*art she sang the words which were Of him she dreamed. And soon tne music to ner nnger-tips In swift pulsations from her glad heart went, Then quavered to the song upon her lips The instrument. How tenderly she touched it' 'twas as though It were a sleeping child she fearod to wake. Of joy or sorrow, which, she did not know, She should partake. Tken suddenly across the strings she swept Her slender hand, and lo, there came at last The melody which had in si!ence slept The whole year past. Faintly at first, with every touch it grew More sweet, and filled the charmed air around, And sang within her ears until she knew "Twas joy she found. And there, alone, she held the graceful form And sang to it as 'twere a babe at rest, Singing itself to sleep and growing warm Against her breast. So, happy in the melody she wrought Upon the old guitar in her embrace, Her eyes grew heavy, closed, and slumber brought Dreams of his face. ?r ranK onerman, in inaeiienaenz, AFTER AN EMBEZZLER. During the first three years of ray career as a detective I had some singular jobs given to me to work on, and the manner in which one of them was worked, and the developments of the case, may interest the reader. About three miles outside the limits of a large city in Pennsylvania stood a large farmhouse. There had been a murder committed there, and whisky had played havoc with an heir, and the house had stood vacant for three years before I saw it. The farm had passed into the hands of a New Yorker on a mortgage. Naturally enough the cry of ''haunted house" was raised, and pruacuwj j uu uwuiu nut nave micu a neighbor to enter the house in the day time. There were people living withiu a quarter of a mile of the place, and by and by they began to tell some queer stories. On two occasions parties of three and four went out from the city to stop in the house all night, but in each instance they were driven away by strange noises before midnight, i lived in a town forty miles from the haunted j house, and consequently heard nothing 1 of it. I had a case agaiu9t an absc onding treasurer. He had the funds of a large and prosperous lodge in his hands, and got away with $3,U00 belonging to it. He furthermore borrowed about $2,000 i of his friends, and got $800 mere on a lorged draft. This occurred in a town about thirty miles from the haunted house. The defaulter had bought a railroad ticket for Chicago, and had left behind him, as if by accident, a parcel addressed to a party in the harden City. It ought to have been reasoned that this party was he under another name, and that he had gone to Chicago as fast as Bteam could carry him, but I reasoned just the opposite. He had gone without his trunk or clothing, but when I came to overhaul his thing3, his landlady figured out that two clean shirts, several collars, a stout pair of boots, and an old j suit of clothes we:e missing from the house. The boots aud old suit had belonged to a boarder who died months before. There were three highways leading out of the town. I worked two of them without success. On the third I soon 1 found a farmer who h'U? seen a foot trav-1 eler resembling my man pass on the evening he absconded. Five miles further on I became positive of hit Identity. He : walked all that night with ouly two i brief halts before midnight to inquire! about roads, but once on his trail I soon 1 picked up plenty of pointers. The absconder's Dame was Kelly, and he wa3 a keen, shrewd fellow. He had planned : the embezzlement and escape weeks! ahead, and he followed out a regular j programme. He left town dressed as a : laborer, and carrying a valise. He had ' a light felt hat, a black felt hat, and a cap, and about once in ten miles he exchanged his headgear. He was a smooth faced man, but he had provided himself with a goatee and side whiskers. I thus j heard of him as a smooth faced young man wearing a cap and having oue arm | in a sling: next as a youngish man with a 1 goatee and a b'ack hat; again as a full ; whiskered man with a light hat. I con- ; fe>s that I was badly puzzled and about ready to despair when I came to a farmhouse where he had stopped for dinner. He was then smooth faced and wore a j cap, and claimed to be an agent for a windmill company whose rights had b(en 1 infringed on, and who we:e takirg steps ! to co'.lcct royalty. ?ncn Kelly entered the kitchen for! dinner a hired boy who was not per- j mitted to eat with the family, was left I in the sitting room. His curiosity regarding the contents of the valise was aroused, and he picked the lock and j overhauled them. He was careful not to 1 say anything of this to the family, but when I came along on my errand I soon discovered that he had a sceiet. The sight of a silver pie.e loosened his tongue, and he told me of the hats and false whiskers. After that I had no troulle in following Kelly, no matter what disguise he assumed. The?e was a direct highway from the town he left to the city with the haunted house, but he did not keep it. He would branch j off here and there and make a half circle j to come back again. One o: two nights he slept in barns, aud so I !o-t track of him for a few hour:?. On another occasion his fee' became sore and he lay by at a tavern for two days, and then 1 actually got ..h'ad of him. While the towns were only ihirty miles apar% Kelly trpveled all cf 100 miles in making the distance, and was twelve days about it. I followed him mile by mile, and owing to a severe storm was thirteen dnvs. I traced him - ' .v _ _ -V t _ _r ."1 u.. 1 i\ inio mc suuurns 01 me unjr ?uu iuuo lost him, and, though I had the help of three or four local officers, we could get 110 further trace of him. At length we heard of a person a h indred miles away who bore Kelly's dc-cript'ou, and I wa> about to start atier him when I o.erheurd the following conversation in a Testaurant: " So the boys who vqq[ to the hauuted house got a scare ?'* " An awful scare. I guess a new ghost has taken po^essiim." "What did they see or hear " Saw doors open and heard groans and various other noises." " Well, it's funny.'' "Yes." It may seem strange to you that I at once decided that I had located Kelly again. It was (juite probable that he hud knowu of the haunted house for years, as its fame was widespread, and the fact of a new ghost showing up just at this time made me suspicious. That night at in <->Vlrv/-lr aonrinmnnirvl l?v ft Infill dfl tective, I visited the place. It was a rambling bi<r farmhouse, situated twenty rods from the highway, and the ground around was grown up to weeds ard bu-hes. All the windows were broken, and some of the doors stood open, and a more gloomy place I never saw. We entered by a lear door and found the floors rotting awny and the plastering crumbling off. "\Ve pushed on to the sitting room, where the young men had statioued themselves the night before, and here found some blocks of wood to sit down oa. There was a doorway leading into the front hall, but the door n*oe rrnna Tlioro tvftQ a rinnrwnv tn the I parlor, and the door was partly open. As we looked into the parlor I swung the dcor to and fro, and knew from the movement that the hinges had been freshly oiled. When we came to inspect the cellar we found little but cobwebs and dust. Each cf us had a lantern, and each inspected for himself. At one corner of the cellar I found an old oyster can in a queer position. It seemed to be stick ing to the floor above, but after a close examination, without, however, touch ( ing it with my bands, I made up my j mind thak it was held up there by a i cord. I :-aid nothing to my companion i about this, nor about another discovery ; made in the front hall. At one spot, J where the plaster was off from base to < ceiling, I caught si<jht of a wire behind j the laths. This led up and down, and i the lower end was probably attached to some object. We aid not go up stairs, i The front stairs had never been finished, i and the back ones were so dilapidated J that we hesitated to trust them with our | weight. By 11 o'clock we hud takeu i our seats in the sitting-room, eyes and ears alert, and ready for an emergency. ] There was no lock or catch on the door 1 opening into the parlor, but it wa9 shut. Tne two windows looking out ot the < room had been boarded up. We placcd < rmr lanf-prna in n. rorner. and as we i walehed and waited the room was in ] semi-darkness, and the house as still as < death. It must have been near midnight when i the performance opened. We suddenly 1 caught the faint notes of music, and the 1 sounds lasted for two or three minutes, i I was satisfied that the sounds came : from a jewsharp. My companion whisp- 1 pered that two female voices were sinking, while a guitar played an accompani- 1 ment. The music had scarcely died < away when the parlor door opened as noiselessly as the swing of a coffin lid. I i was perfectly satisfied ihat it was the work of human hands, but I was startled. < T liftfl not told the detective that I ex- < pectcd to find Kelly in the hoi:se. I had ' simply said that I expected to make an 1 important discovery. When the door < swung open the man started up in alarm ' and whispered: . ] ' Great heavens! Let us begone?" 1 I put my hand on his arm aud waited i < for the next move. In about a minute < we heard a tunk! tunk! tunk! on the < cellar stairs. I knew that the sound was . made by the oyster can being lowered ! a few inches from the floor and drawn 1 up again by the string, but my compan* 1 ion rose to his feet, wheeled half around i and whispered: ] "Look out for yourself! The cursed < thing is coming up out of the cellar!" \ 41Keep still?listen!" I replied, and I wnen tne can naa mnKea one ioreacn . 1 step the souud ceased. Then the parlor J1 door slowly and silently swung to. As I have to!d you, I was dead sure that all these things were caused by human agency, and yet I felt a creeping of my flesh, and my forehead was damp with ( perspiration. The detective with me j ] was as brave a man as ever took up a ' trail, but such was the effect upon him | 1 that his face was as white as snow, his' \ teeth chaticred, and hechitched me and ] pleadingly exclaimed: < 44Tf tvo a+aTr Vinv<* mi'nntA U'A i are both dead men!" |l I sat down and drew him down beside j me, and as I did so the parlor door j opened again, and from the front hall j came gro.ms and sighs and dull sounds I of a struggle. I knew that the wire I j had seen was being worked behind the laths, but my companion could stand no j more. He seized both lanterns and started out, and I had to go along or be ( left iu the dark. When clear of the house j he made a run for the highway, and I found him on the further side of it when I came up. ' What's the matter?" I asked. j "Good God, man, but my nerves are ; all gone!"' he gasped. "I wouldn't stop , in that house another five minutes for all : the money in the State!" | ] I was satisfied that all the noises had ; ] been made by human agency. Someone ' < had taken possession of the house, and I! i had a feeling that it was Kelly. It was s ju<t in line with his other sharp tricks, i ' I did not tell my companion what I sus- j? Eected nor what I intended to do, but I j 1 ad all my plans laid before morning. 11 The old house was two and a half stories, ! < and whoever was hiding there was likely 11 to be in the garret. It was also likely !( that this garret was rcached from the \ ' secoud story bv a ladder. If the person I was Kelly or any other sharp fellow, the , i ladder would be drawn up, or any one I showing his head above the scuttle would Is Tf T a. - 3 .r i r receive a rap. u i goi a squau ui men t and surrounded the house the occupant * might g'.t off by some unknown way, or I find a hiding p'"a'C unknown to us. If I wc failed to lind any one the whole city I would hold us up to ridicule. c There wae no window in the garret at a the back end of the house. It wa< hardly c daylight before I approached it from I that diiection. entered the place with <jreat caution, and hid mys-elf away behind 'he kitchen stair*. I expected the occupaut of the garret woirtd come down i befon* noon, but he did not show up. It r was 21 dar'i and irlooniv dav in ihe f:ill c with frequent rain squalls, ami about two o'clock in the afternoon I crept up stairs 3 in my sto. king feet, enteied a room near i: where the garret scuttle was lo-ated, and I bewail playing the irhost for some one 1 else's benefit. I had brought along a a m mth organ, and I sounded aud hung i on to a few lonesome note* several times i over. Pretty soon I heard a slight move- j ment overhead. Then I took a fiddle t string, made one end fast to a nail, and t when I had hauled taut I picked the a string with my thumb nail. I sent forth 1 complaining sounds, and I added a few ? ? -? ? *J ? '. ?? rPV?a oaiin/1 n oKavo mn t UUU gM/ilU3. I UO OVUllUij UVV1 v 111 v V hocame plainer, aud I knew that some f ono was listening at the scuttle. ' f I gave him a few more notes scrutched r on the wall and floor, and in a few s moments a ladder was thrust down from r the scuttle. A. few deep-drawn groans 1 on my part brought a man down the f adder, aud as he reached the foot of it I ? " - ? - collarcd him. It was Kelly. He who had played ghost on others had himself fallen into the trap. He screamed right out at s:ght of me, and he did not get his nerve back until I had him outdoors. He fully believed for the time that a spirit made the sounds. The case was about as I had figured. He had planned to come to the house, and he intended to remain there several weeks. He had affixed cords to the top of the parlor door to swing it,. and had arranged for all the sounds we heard, if i telt eiatea ne ieit very sneepish as an offset, and when sentenced to two years in State Prison for his crime, he said to me: "It isn't that I was caught, but that I was outwitted and bamboozled. Why, man, I had that whole plan in my head for mouths, and I'd have bet a hundred to one that I'd get 5afe off. Just think what a fool I was to take up quarters in a haunted house, and then let some one play the ghost on me!"?New Yorlc Sun. Highways. So, the known ocean paths are the highways which the .ships of the world have the right to pass and repass without tolls. Such ocean paths, like highways over the land, have always been regarded a3 inherently incapable of private ownership, and from this cause water freights have universally been maintained at the minimum. ? ? - " ? 1* a- nr 1 Uigliways are 01 great anwquuy. i ucy j must have existed in ancient Egypt in a high degree of perfection, for the Egyptians had hard, paved roads over which they carried immense blocks of stone for the pyramids. Highways also existed among the ancient Hebrews, for in -Judges v, 6, Deborah sings of abandoned highways: "In the days of Shangar the son of Anath, in the day of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through the by-ways." [n ancient Greece and Rome road building was a great science, but the Carthaginians seem to have excelled all others is builders of great roads. The general reader will recall the Roman Via Appia, Via Anrelift. Tvrrhean coast roads, and :he famous Flammiaiau way. Roman nilitary roads were very numerous. Humboldt says that the ancient Incas juilt wonderful roads, and he refers to ;heir mountain roads over the Ande3. The evolution of the road and theevoution of road vehicles have necessarily been simultaneous, the growth of the chicle demanding such a modification )f the road as to render it useful and safe. Chariots are the most ancient road vehicles of which history speaks. The first chariot was made by Erichthonius, of Athens, 14SG B. C., and the earliest purposes to which transportation waa ipplied were war and agriculture, war first, and most universally. In England the eariiest vehicle wa3 the "carretta," in the Thiitecnth century, used cnieny for women. Next came the two-horse litter of the Fourteenth century. Highways themselves are, in England, said to be "of immemorial antiquity, or else :reated by act of Parliament." Horses and camels are found in abundance in the regions first peopled by man, and riding on the backs of animals ioubtless preceded the custom of driving domestic animals harnessed to vehicles. Ihe various methods of transportation tiave necessarily been determined by the climatic conditions of the countries where travelers have journeyed. The - ? ~ ? " nt +fincrvrvrt>itinr> mftV hp M1UYTU 1U?UU>? Ul J | briefly summarized as follows: Riding or iriving horses, mules, asses, oxen, I :amels, elephants, dromedaries, reindeer, iogs, sometimes ostrich riding among Africans of the interior; snow skates, in Lapland; skating on frozen canals in Holland, with bundles on the head, and, lastly, oriental palanquins. These ! methods have often involved the use of peculiar vehicles, such as the Syrian oxcart, the two-wheeled French brouette, the Italian coach of the Sixteenth century, the Maltese "calesse," the Russian telega, which is a rapid cart, or the many nodifications of vehicles seen in all ages. ? Chicago Current. Meals at a Cost of Fifteen Cents. A satisfying meal can be had in this i rity for probably less money than in | nrvsf riHes in this or anv other country. There is plenty of variety in the daily alll of fare presented by the cheap restaurant. For breakfast or supper the aungry guest may take his choice of beef- | steak, with or without fried onions: mutton or pork chops, ham and eggs, scrapple, sausages or fried liver. NVith each 3f these more or les3 nourishing dishes ire served?fried potatoes, two relishes, , bread or hot cakes and butter and a large I :-up of coffee or tea, and tin; price of all ', this?is but fifteen cents. All meals J ire served at a uniform charge, and surely j :he dinner of roast meat, three vegetables, ', pudding, coffee, bread and butter must I :ut deep into the slender ma-gin of f, profit realized on the inoi ning and even- ' ( ing meals. But a vast number of the : patrons of the eneap restaurants regard j fifteen cents as an extravagant outlay for | i single meal, and they have to be j watered for accordingly. For five cents i ( i man c?n have a large bowl of vegetable t )r bean soup, tin oyster or beef pie, a big plate of beef stew, a plate of scrapple,pot pie, pepper pot or his choice of several >ther more or less appetizing and nourshing dishes. The less said about the icrving and cooking of this cheap food tc he better. Sticklers for show?white a lothes and highly polished knives, ? orks and spoons?must look elsewhere f ban to the che;ip restaurants for these Ic Inceptive adjuncts to an appetizing meal. |3 fast quantities of food nre consumed ic laily in the popular cheap dining rooms. | rhe proprietor of one of those places .'' jave a reporter t\?e following list of the | T ivurorro nnnntitira nf food UScd in the I ' jreparation of a week's meals: One thou- 1 and, four hundred pounds of bread, 1,200 v nunds beef, steaks, joint*, stewing ' neats, etc.; 300 pounds of sugar, 100 I ? jounds of coffee, 20 pounds of tea, 400 ^ )ounds of mutton, joints and chops, 150 s -/ounds of veal and 125 quarts of milk c li'ily. About 2,500 bushels of potatoes ^ tie used annua'ly, and a proportionate '' |uantity of cabbagc, parsnips, turnips, jeets and other vegetables. The Handsome Nutmeg Tree. c ''The demand for nutmegs is increas- h ng every year,''said an importer* to a J eporter for the Mail and Erpreu re- a ently. t "Nutmegs come chiefly from the (Inlay Archipelago. J lie tnrce utile slatids composing the volcanic group of s iauda produce the nutmeg to peri'ection. a rhe soil there seems to be peculiarly ' dapted for their cultivation. The island s 3 shady, and the excessive moisture (for r t rains more or less every month in the n ear,) seems to exactly suit the nutmeg h rees, which require little or no atten- d ion. They flourish all the year round, v ,nd ripe fruit can be picked every month, o I'Vid nntmnir trp? in vnrv hanrlnnmrv It trows to a height of about twenty or liirty feet, bearing small yellowish lowers. The leaves are glossy and the c ruit is the size and color of a peach, but $ nthor oval. It is tough, but, when ripe, h plits cpen, and it shows the dark brown t\ tut witbin. covered with crimson mace, f rhis mace covering is valuable, and a inds a place in the spice boat of e.ery v joodcook."' li ' V ^ * i 7 . .v .V) ?i:. ^ BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Pleasures of Travel?A World of Misery?Jones is Married? At the Party?Active and Passive, Etc., Etc. How sweet it is in foreign lands To meet a friend who knows you, Who rashes up with outstretched hands, And almost overthrows you. But oh, how sad, when that same friend, Whose joyous greetings thrill you, Exclaims, as you both hands extend, " Lend mo ten dollars, will you?" ?Journal of Education. A World of Misery. Tramp (to fussy old gentleman)? "Will you please give me ten cents, sir; I'm starving?" Fussy Old Gentleman (producing a bill)?"Dear me, starving I Can you change a dollar?" Tramp?"Yes. sir." Fussy Old Gentleman (pocketing the change)?"Dear, dear, starving! Bless me, but this world is full of misery!"? Epoch. Jones is Married. "Jones is a very brave man," remarked one traveling man to another. "He distinguished himself in the war." "Yes. I know of only one thing that he is afraid to do." "What is that?" "Ring his own door bell at three o'clock in the morning."?Merchant Traveler. At the Party. Admiring Mamma (pointing to her daughter)?"Don't you think that Nannie looks so much better in that dress, Mrs. Greene, than mi any she has ever had?" Mrs. Greene (with emphasis)?"Why, my dear Mrs. Scott, I don't think anything could improve Nannie's appearance." It was meant as a compliment, but the fond mamma took it otherwise, and now they don't speak.?Harper's Bazar. Both Active and Passive. Pretty School Teacher?"James, is 'to kiss' an active or passive verb?" James (oldest boy in the class)? XIUIU* Pretty School Teacher?"How is that, James?'' James?"Active on the part of the feller and passive on the part of the girl." Pretty school teacher blushes and marks James "perfect'' in grammar.? Washington Critic. The Longed-For Let'cr. As the last note of that touching little ballad, "The letter that he longed for never came," vibrated on the evening ft-'r, she turned to find a tear trickling down his cheek. "Ah, Mr. Sampson," she said, sympa thetically, "you, too, have 'longed "Yes," he replied, huskily, "two years ago a very dear friend of mine weDt West on twenty-five dollars which I loaned him, and for aught I know he may be dead.?Epoch. He Got Left. "Coalfor sail," read the sign over a door on the wharf. "You spelled that wrong, old man," said a passer-by to the proprietor. " It ko < a.o.Lo 1 lnafnarl r?f * Q.fl.i.l ' " auuuiu wv w?ivj w? ...... "That's where you got left, my friend. My customers are all shipowners, and they buy coal to use on shipboard, so of course it'8for s-a-i-1, ain't it? I'd have made it 'for sailing vessels,' but the board wasn't long enough."?DansviUe Breeze. Generosity. Generosity of a man who was approached and asked to subscribe to a charitable ob'ect: " What do you want?" he inquired of the man who held the subscription book. " One dollar a * - i ?n *' ADU WUIit lurt "To bury a policeman." The man fished out a five-dollar bill ind handed it to the man. "Bury five,''he said. ? Chicago Tribune. A Hint to Inventors. First Yankee?"What puts you in ?uch a good bumor tiis morning?" Second Yankee?"I've just got my patent for my new ink eraser. I wouldn't take $."50,000 for it." "Did you get a patent last year for inrenting an indellible ink:" "I did, and I sold it for $00,000, and low I've invented an eraser that will I ;ven remove writing done with my own i ndellible ink." ">vnat arc you going ac next; "I'm going to invent another indelli- ! >le ink that can't be erased with my new ' ;raser. I tell you, there ia money in his patent business if you go at it right." ?Si/tings. In the Family Circle. Mr. Oldsportte (fa-etiously)?"My, lear, you complain that I do not read ,loud, as I once did. Now, here's a ! :hoice item for your edification: 'When oul flies are squarely muded, the fielder nuffiig the same shall be charged with n error.' There, can your feminine i nind grasp that?" n "Perfninlv nur IrtVP \ftw I et me read you a sweet thing from my taper: '1st row?Slip the first, then by urns purl 2 stitches anil knit 2. 2d ow?Slip the first, then * knit 2, put the vool over, slip 1: repeat from*: finish ?y knitting 1. 3d row?Slip the first, hen by turns purl two stitches, and :nit together the next put over and the lipped stitch that follows it.' There, an your mighty masculiue mind euoiupass that?*'?Eaut End (Ca'.) Buitfin. Juniper vs. Tlllywa.?. "Maw!" shouted a St. Louis wharf-rat J! f nine summers, bounding eagerly into |, lis mother's presence. "Say, maw. Mis1 ! 'uniper is scrubbed her floor,an1 is called , 11 her young uns in an* is washin' all | ( heir han's an" their faces!" "She is, hey?" said Mrs. Tilly wag. ( 'Well, you go au' tell yer brothers au' | ] isters to come right in here, while I get | , rag an' a pan of water. I'll let Mis' uniper know 1 kin put nil style well as ! he kin. I'd let 'er know who's had | aisin' an' who ain't. I'll not ..nly wash , iv young uus' faces, but I'll comb their j, ' - ?t ? tmi ?i. i 1 eaus, 100; an iul-u i u w.iau mj mu- j , lows! Oh. there's snow in the cellar ^ rhen a Juniper gits ahead of a Tillyw ig j n style an' manners."?TidBitu Holding Something in Reserve. j The road from Mrs. Blank's s miner i: ottage (on Capo Cod) to the nearest ! j tation lay over a succession of sandy ' | ills and yet more sandy hollows, and as i tie horse with which journeys to and 1 ro were made was a native of the Cape, | nd prenatally dfsposed to sloth, there 1 /as often much uncertainty about the < jngth of time required for the journey. < r-?a8i i ? - ; - -'i *" v.- r;; On one occaaion Mrs. Blank was very anxious to catch a ccrtaiu train, and as that event seemed from the leisurely gait of the horse extremely uncertain,she urged Mr. Casseboom to make the beast go faster. The coachman plied whip and reins with no apparent effect, while the lady alternately examined her watch and encouraged the driver. At last, however, her patience become completely exhausted, and espying a place in the tough hide of the stolid brute where the harness had chafed, she cried out vehemently: "Hit him on the raw, Mr. Casseboom! Hit him on the raw!" "Ma'am," responded Mr. Casseboom with unmoved gravity, "I'm a savin' the raw till wp pnmp to the hill.?Boston Courier. Wanteti A Thumper. A farmer about fifty years old stopped a number of people on Monroe avenue to inquire his w.xy to a gymnasium, and he was finally asked if he was going to take lessons in boxiug. "So, not exa.tly," he replied, "but I want to see a thumper." He was directed to the right place, j and after looking the establishment over he said to the proprietor: " I live out here about fourteen miles. I've got a hired man who has got so sassy that I can hardly live with him. He's got too big to lick with a gad, and I've .rnf frt nnff Viim nn fn n npfllf T want, f.ft gvw wvy v/uu uiui up tv u . hmx. ?W take a lesson with the gloves, and when I go home I'll astonish John Henry with a bit of science " One of the boxers about the place said he'd give a lesson for a dollar, and the old man peeled down to his undershirt and put on the gloves. He was shown how to pose and how to hold his guard, and then warned to look out for himself. ''You play you are John Henry, the hired man," he said. ''All right." "You've been fooling your time away, and I've called vou & lazv covote." ' Exactly." "You have sassed me back, and I go for you like this?and this!" And the old man struck right and left and followed the boxer around the ring. He was doing noble work when something shot over his guard and hit his chin, and he went over like a log and laid there until they threw water on him. Then he sat up, looked about in a dazed way, and feebly inquired: "What was it?" John Henry hit you." "He did, eh? Then that settles it! Here's your dollar, young man, and here's the gloves. If I'm liable to get such a lick as that I'm going home to tell the hired man he can boss the whole ranch and be hanged to him!"? Free n. .. j rrt *3. Emin Pasha and Stanley in Africa. Just now the world is interested in efforts made for the relief of the learned and brave Dr. Emin Pa>ha, who has been for seme years in the heart of Africa superintending the province over which he was given direction by the Egyptian government. I.etters have been received , from Dr. Emin at Wadelai, showing that he is still holding his own and that he has done much for the development of the province and for the suppression of the slave trade. "Wadelai is about one eAiith nf K'Kor^niim ho- i IUUUOUUU LLUXC3 OUUIU Ui nuiutvuui, vv ( twcea Gondokoro and the Albert Nyanza. He speaks of bis great confidence in the trustworthiness and ability of the natives, and says that his experience has taught him "that the black race is second to none in capacity and excels mauy others in unselfishness," and asks for.succor; not for an armed force, but for supplies, including ammunition, for his own forces. The proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society give a brief sketch of Emin Pasha, whose true name is Eduard Schneitzer, born March 28, 1840, in Fussian Silesia. After gradu-*] ating in medicine he became attached to the household of Ismail Pasha, and visited Trebizond, Ezroom and Constantinople. In I880 he started for Fgypt as surgeon in the army. Attracting the attention of j General Gordon, he was made governor of the equatorial province, and his subse- ! quent history is now well known. Mr. H. M. Stanley is leading an expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha. It consists of about seven hundred men provided with ample supplies. Starting from Zanzibar, it moved by steamers to u?* *Ua on/1 flionAO Inn^ aim up tut uuu buvuw vj fr~m the Aruwhirai to "Wadelai. Mr. Stanley has probably, by this date, fulfilled the leading object of his mission, as he was expected to be at Wadelai by the middle of October. Almost the next | news we receive should apprise us of this most happy consummation. The Egyptian government has contributed $50, 000 toward the expenses of the expedition, and the British Geographical Society has given #>,000 with the ex pec-' tation that when the immediate object of the undertaking shall have been accomplished, Mr. Stanley will spend some time in explorations. ? Commercial Advert iter. | Where the Poor of Paris Are Fed. j The noblest and most beneficent of, Parisian charities, the "Mouthful of Bread." has received a new extension. A va*t hall has been erected in the Montmartre quarter, and there every poor creature that makes application receives a large piece oi' bread and a bowl of hot coffee. The applicants are asked> no questions aud need present uo tickets. That they are hungv is a suili ient title to relief. After eating, e.ich person is required to wa-h out his or her bowl at a sink where water is kept perpetually running. They are admitted by squads of fifty at a time, which is as many as can bo conveniently accommodated and served at once. A register i< kept where any one may inscribe his or her address, with an account of whatever may be wanted in the way of clothes. The managers of the institution send to have these statements investigated, and if the application is found -wor hy of recognition, they generally find means to satisfy the want From the stork of cast-off clothiog sent them by the charitable. Very piteous sometimes are the cases that come under their notice. The other ;lay a man, seemingly well dressed and wearing a foulard tied around his neck aver his closely buttoned coat, presented tiimself for the raiion of bread nnd coffee. One of the directors took him aside. "My friend.he snid gently, "you have lot the airof a person in need of such rcl ef. Our charity is intended solely for [lie starving. ' For answer the man :hrcw back his coat. I'nder it there ivas neither waistcoat nor riauuel, only a .1.!? '-"I.'?? nUJtif f U'lfli a nin IIIIU Itt 1 t*u 9Jillb iUOiVUbvt ?? * 1/?U, He was a teacher of the French language )ut of work. | Sometimes people faint for want of food before they can be served. For, as ! i rule, the Frem h poor are very proud, ind they will put oil the evil day of ap- j iilying for (harity iu any form as long as they possibly ran. Organized efforts are iow being made to obtain sufficient funds for the opening of one of these nobly beneficent establishments in each if the Parisiau arrondissements.? Phi'allphia Tekgrorph. y~-?"?y?- <&? - "-' NATURAL GAS. THE TRANSFORMATION IT HAS EFFECTED IN SOME PLACES. The Terrific Advent of the Giant Kary Weil?The Dazzling Career of Findley's Natural Gas Boom. Natural gas furnishes all the stimulant that Northern Ohio and Indiana need. Uncertainty united to unlimited possibilities, which, in one way or another, may affect all members of society, keep up the exhilaration. There is no foot of ground that may not be the spot. A few dollars chipped in to buy a drill by an errand boy may turn into a fortune uplifted by a "gusher." Such things have happened all about?at Findley, Cygnet, Montpelicr, Delphos. A generation has seen strange sights. Toledo was settled in 1334, and a small book published shortly after makes no mention of coal. The surrounding country was dense forest and swamp. The forest was cleared, and then came the coal, bringing further prosperity. Now coal is dismissed for uatural gas. On September 7 Toledo was ablaze celebrat lug tue operation 01 ner pipe une irom the Hancock and Wood couuty gas fields. These changes have bten radical, touching life at every point. But much more dazzling are the immediate examples. That of Findley, for example. Three years ago it was a small j town on the Blanchard River surrounded by an area of bleak, swampy ground, and with a population of 5,0U0 or 6,000 inhabitants, without manufacturers, and pursuing the dull dead-and-alive life of other small town*. Then natural gas was discovered. There waa much digging and plenty of failures. A little over two years ago the great Kary well was struck. Its advent was terrific. A balloon-like flame mounted ou a geyser shot into the air. The engineer even fled the scene. At length the earth was removed about it, heavy walls were built, the valves were sustained by iron braces, and the great creature was chained.. Its flow is tremendous. It is the giant among Findley's thirty active wells. The town of Find ley offered gas as fuel to manufactories free. Some glass works accepted it. This was only aoout a year and a half ago. Then came Findley's boom. The excitement can be compared to the discovery of gold in C'aliI forma, to the finding of oil in Pennsyl| vania. For sixty days the tumult raged, i Men poured in with their savings in their pockets to invest In real estate. Women came up from as far as Cincinnati, grip; sack in hand, and money in the sacks, on the same errand. The accommodations [ of the town could neither lodge nor feed the stransrers. Real estate leaped from , hour to hour. Two real estate agents, not able to find a place to transact busi! neas, walked into a little jewelry store and offered the owner $2,000 for his 1 place for the rest of the year. The j jeweler, who had paid $'200, tumbled his I things into a bag and went out. I At length this excitement subsided, , but here are the substantial results. The wells now put forth 90,000,<000 cubic feet of gas a day, a supply fully equal to ' the first flow, and believed to be unlimj" ited. There is no wood or coal burned in the town. Every house aud workshop is heated by gas at a cost of fifty cents a month for stoves and five cents a burner for lighting. There are now forty dif J ferent manufacturing interests represented there. The town has increased from j 5,000 to between 15,000 and 18,000 within a vear. and additions have been laid [ out for 40,000. Within the year 2,o00 houses were built. "Water works are conj tracted for, and from six to ei<*ht miles of railroad track are to be put down this summer. Business property sells at j $100 and $300 a foot. This brief and dazzling career of I Findley shines before the eyes of all | Northern Ohio and Indiana. The gas and oil belt, as it is called and known, 1 extends from Noblesville, northeast of Indianapolis, and runs northeast, em' i- - _ J T\~1 I bracing jJiontpener, aiuucie, auu uhj phos,and passing through Findley, where it has proven richest. Gas is found both north and south of the belt, but not in "gushes," and not in paying quantities. This, however, has not damaged the hopes that it may be yet found, with impioved methods and greater knowledge. Montpelier has proven tj be the oil ciiy of Inaiana and Cygnet that of Ohio. In Cygnet the Big Parker well, discharging 13,000 barrels in twenty-four hours, is said to be the largest oil well known. Cygnet is thirty miles from Toledo, and a year ago was only forest and swamp. It is now a village of 700 inhabitants, and in six weeKs after the discovery of oil there were thirty tanks erected holdings rtfin trillions each. From these fields "o ? . . oil is now* piped to Lima, Ohio, where within a year 1,000 tank builders have i been added to the population. Pittsburgh furnisher the basis for all J estimates, authentic and commercial. It i lias put off its sooty robe. It is light, airy, comparatively clean and livable. Within a distance of from 0 to 35 miles there are 280 wells boied at a cost of 1 from $300 to $(J,000 each. The initial ] pressure carries the gas 30 miles; 500,- > 000,000 feet are sent each day, as freely 1 as water, for 3 cents per 1,000 feet. The 1 annual saving to the city is $0,000,000. * The saving in labor amounts to 5,000 J men. During the year 000,000 tons of ( gas and water pipes were produced. < Plumbers' bills for connecting gas maim j * with houses amounted to $1,500,010. '? Krai estate increased *35 per cent. It is j impossible to compete in manufactures j 1 with any place holding such an advan- * tage. Other cities are alarmed. M Natural gas has its dangers, and chiefly | I from leakage. The Pennsylvania gas is ! I odorless, which increases the danger, i * In the little village of I.ewisburg when i your nciglibor is alarmed all the lights ^ in town must go out. But the manufacture of safer pipes is now goiug for- ! e ward. The Ohio and Iudiana <ras has J 1 a slightly pungent and sulphurous odor, ! s which announces itself. Mill accidents a occur, as at Anderson, Indiana, the other a dav. where several people were killed in a a domestic explosion. * | \ Of the ultimate results in that part of | 1 the country there is no question. Gas ! I will he the fuel of the future, and its s cheapness will revolutionise prices in i every direction, and put the cost of | n livingon an entirely diil'erent basis. The | t offect of this ou the East aud its manu- t factures is for the Kast to cousider.? i New York i .... r A Wonderful Iron Tower. Notwithstanding some reports to the contrary, work is progressing rapidly uponM. Eiffel's wonderful iron tower, or observatory, which is to dominate the Exposition grounds and all Paris next year. According to the plans, it is to reach a height of 300 meters, equal to about 1,00l> feet. The four mighty arched pillars of the ba.se, rising over the Champ de Mars like the skeleton of some extinet monster, have already nearly reached the height of the towers of Notre Dame. ?Frank Lt-tVe's. '' ' ' >' " ' O.- ' }>?> $ 1 ; :: ' 'v .... " - *2n -r-r'-V^g . . . APOPULAK SCIENCE. Carbonic acid gas produces a sensation of greater warmth on the skin than air of the same temperature. Pasteur's plan of exterminating rabbits by inoculating them with chicken cholera has been tried at Rheims with success. Australia has some giant caterpillars seven inches long, and specimens of larv? of two other species measure eight inches in length. A Baltimore company proposes to sharpen the shoes of car horses in icy weather by means of electricity, without removing them from the stable. Scientists tell us that a man's brain decreases in size as he grows old. The human brain, it appears, weighs the heaviest between the ages of fourteen and twenty. A prize of $5,000, instituted by the king of the Belgians, is to be awarded in 1898 for the best paper on means for abundantly and cheaply providing large towns, especially Brussels, with the best quality of potable water. The big British war ship Imperieuse, a ten gun cruiser of the first class, is now i under inspection, being practically use- v less at sea because she won't mind her helm under steam, " and with any wind requires a great deal of weather helm, as much as two turns having been needed with a fresh breeze abeam." Two hundred and seventy-one asteroids had been discovered at last accounts. These little planets, thought by a rem a tn ho tVio nf a fnrmerlv existing, but now exploded, larger planet,-are constantly receiving new additions to their numbers by the discoveries of later obeervera. Professor Tyndall has shown that atmospheric germs do not pass through a layer of cotton wool; ana the discovery has been applied to keep preserved fruit by covering the jar, holding it. with cot-, ton batting. The germs of putre action in the fruit are saici to be rendered harmless by cooking, and the cotton batting keeps out those of the air. Piussian observations have shown that teeth decay in a quite regular order, tha , lower third molar being the first attacked, then the upper, then the lower fourth molar and so on, the lower incisors ana canine teeth being the last affected. Upper teeth, as a rule, are more durable than lower, right than left, th se of dark persons rather than those of blondes, those of short persons than those of talL A. writer in Science says that, while as yet we have discovered no way of avoiding contagion which comes to* us in the air, we are just beginning to find out the extremely important fact that the air does not become contaminated with bacteria unless they are allowed to' dry. Recent investigations, he adds, have shown a. smaller number of bacteria in the air of a well-kept sewer than in that of a poorly ventilated scnool-room. It has been stated that since the sunflower has been cultivated on certain swamps of the Potomac, malarial fever A 4- flift m AllfVi nf tflA liOO UCWiCOOCU. XXb vuw u<vui? W. Scheldt, ia Holland, it is stated that >- > similar results have been observed. The sunflower emits large volumes of water in the form of vapor, and its aromatic odor, as well as the oxygen it exhales, may have something to do with the sanitary influence in question. One of the largest naphtha fountains yet known has lately broken out near Baku, Russia, which threatens to inun.date all Balakhani. The naphtha, owing to the pressure of the gases which accompany it, rises to a height of from. 280 to 420 feet, and is carried away by the wind to a great distance, falling Ilka fine rain at the more distant parts of the district, but near the fountain coming down in torrents that form river|_anjl streamlets. Further on it falls like sleet, and settles in a layer on all the buildings '? HilfrllKftrllrtnd -'AlSft Ill bug uwiguuviuwM # S. I. Barrett, an electrician, was sentenced to jail in Houston, Texas, for a period of twenty days for using a pistol in the county court-house. VVhde in jail he invented an instrument that he calls a micro detecter. While in working position it will warn a jailor if pris- t oners are attempting to escape by sawing, filing, or using any other adroit means, ft was tested by a number of j citizens, they posting themselves in a front room in the back part of the prison, I with the doors closcd. A clock was put j- ~v-trarv />lir?lr oniild 1>e dia ILL UlUUUUi A-IV.; v..v? ? tinctly heard in the room. A saw was - used gently on the bars, and produced a loud, sawing noise. The instrument is worked by electricity on a single wire, the various noises of the cells coming over it distinctly. Senatorial Tardiness. In the Inst Congress, says the Argonaut} l Senator Hoar offered a resolution to require the p:esence of a quorum at the prayer, but the second day after he himself failed to appear in time. "When th? prayer had been delivered, Mr. Hoar entered the chamber wearing somewhat of an air of embarrassment. His delinquency was observed, and the resolution became a dead letter. This ignoring of the prayer has grown to be a habit of the Senate. When Judge Davis, of Illinois, was president pro lempore, he entered ;he chamber with the chaplain one day, md the only Senator visible was Mr. Butler, of South Carolina. Judge Davis lid not pause an instant, but with ail ;hc solemnity and gravity usually ob- j icrved by him cn such occasions, he gave J i stroke with his gavel and said": "The j 'enator from South Caroliua will come > ;o order." The summons was treated as i icst by the galleries and the pnges on he floor, but it was not so intended. The residing officer took that method of re)iiki?g the Senate, and of having his ebuke go into the Record. She Bought the Forest. Miss Bertha Von Hillern, famous years igo as a lady pedestrian, and better mown in recent years as a painter, once pent a great deal of time in Virginia, ,nd while there she became particularly ittracted by the picturesque qualities or , large section of forest. One day she ras thrown into artistic grief by the ;nowledge that th s forest had been io :ght by a lumber merchant, and was peedily to be cut down and made up nto planks. Such a calamity coula iever be permitted, and after consulting ter bank account, Miss Von Hiilern went ' o the purchaser of the forest and bought t of him at a reasonable advance on nis nvestment, and thus saved it forartistic .nrrt/Mina It io ctil! in VjAr nOSSPMlOTl ,ud remains untouched by the axe. J I The Reason. "Get married," say my frien.i*, ajd I, Who've just turned thirty-four. Join their lament and, sigh for sigh, ; My loneliness deplore. It is not that I fear to speak, By bashfulness distressed? In fact, I'm noted for my cheek, And know the bold are blest. My reason then, if I must give, Is simple, short and clear? I know tnat I can't wed and live On half-enough a year. I ? Wood B. Benedict, in the Centunu to I ?^1^^