The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 22, 1888, Image 6
THE LAND OF HOPS.
There's a beautiful isle in a summer sea
In a wonderful country awaiting me,
Where wealth with its blessings and love
with its crown,
Blend in harmony rare; where songsters
brown
Fling out sweet symphonies on each hand.
Oh, the land of Hope is a beautiful land.
No sorrow or illness is ever known there,
No trial or weeping or touch of despair,
No burden to carry, no task to pursue,
No thought that is weary, no sighing to do.
Our lightsome feet tread over glittering
sand,
Oh, the land of Hope is a beautiful laud.
Bat the fairy-like is'e in a summer sea
Is a million leagues too distant for me.
Though I sailed o'er the seas, and sailed evermore,
t could never catch sight of its lonely shore,
Though we hear of its glory on every hand,
Oh, the land of our Hope is a phantom land.
?& B. Bohan, in Daughters of America.
THE MOKSAN WILL.
I had been admitted to the bar, but as
I had very little practice and found myself
with plenty of time on hand, I had
got into the habit of dropping in to chat
with a news dealer who kept a stand
not far from my office. Old Bowls, as
everybody called him, dealt also in
waste paper and rags, which he sold to
the paper makers
One evening he was sorting a lot of
Tubbish, when my practiced eyo lighted
on what appeared to be a legal document,
bound with blue tape. I took it
up, and saw that it was marked "Last
"Will and Testament"
I opened it and commenced to read:
In the name of God: Amen. Know all
men by these presents,that I, James Morgan,
being of sound mind and disposing memory,
-do make and publish this my last will and
testament.
' What's that you say?'' demanded
Bowls, as he dropped a handful of paper
aud looked up at me.
J. repeated wnat I naa reaa.
"Ail right," he said. "Sow read on,
Squiie."
I give aud bequeath to my adopted
daughter, Elizabeth Morgan, otherwise
known as Elizabeth Summers, all my personal
aud real property, after the payment
of my funeral expenses and my just debts.
' Heavensl" exclaimed Bowl-, "that
must be the wili of old Morg.in, who died
four years ago?it was said?intestate.
He left not le=s than $10(1,000, th-it all
went to remote h; irs, though everybody
expected it would have been left to this
very Elizabeth 5-ummers, his adopted
daughter."
?"What has become of the adopted
daughter?" 1 a^kcd.
' I do not kuow, but I think I can find
out.".
"How much of this property is reil
estate.' and where is it situated."
"Well, there is the Oakdale plantation,
which I es about five miles out
from here, and is worth at lea;?t $50,000.
Then there are several houses in town
also, besides $25,000 in Government
securities." I
"Who is the relative that got the
property <"
"Simon Skagg*. He live3 out at the
Oakdale farm. I think he i3 a second
cousin to Mr. Morgan."
nixru .*
TT Xlwfrb IViliU vx luau 19 UC
4<A mean old skinflint, or he would i
never have taken the last cent from that
poor girl."
Well," said I, "I propose to take
* this will home with me to-night aud ex?
-. amine it carefully. If I find it all right!
-we'll hunt up the girl and recover the
^property for her.
To this he assented, and, depositing
:? the document in ray pocket, I bade the
old man good night and returned to my
oitice, where I slept.
The next afternoon I went to Bowls's
store. He was alone, waiting for me.
"I have found where the girl is," he
said, as soon as I told him that the will
was undoubtedly genuine. "She lives
about fifty miles otf, in a little place
called Friendsville, quite up among the
mountains, on a wild hill-farm, where
things go on in the most primiti e manner.
A distant relative?an aunt fhree
times removed, very poor, but, it seems,
not without a heart?heard of her destitution,
and sent for her. An old lady,
who used to know the girl and had her
at her house awhile a ter old Morgan's
death, happened to come in here and I
* J* ^ - * .1 n:?i.Aik
ftSiicu uer 11 snu kliuw wucie jdii/uuciu
Summers was."
"I will go down and see her to-mortow,"
I said promptly.
"And bring her back with you," au wered
Bowls, as briskly. "My daughter
and I will give her a home. Gad."
he cried, rubbing his hands enthusiastically,
"we'll le too much for old
Skaggs, after all."
It was late the next afternoon when I
arrived at my destination, having made
the journey partly by rail and partly by
stage. The coach put me down at a
lonely crossroads, from which I had
about two miles to walk.
"Oh, yes, the Widow Benham," said
the driver, pointing with his whip, "lives
up yonder, juBt around the point of the
mountain. You'll see the house in ten
minutes or so."
it was a warm, sultry dqf in August,
with not a breath of air stirring. I soon
caught sight of the house?a plain, unpretending
structure like so many in that
region. When it was about 2oO yards
distant the sound of falling water attracted
me, apparently coming from some
precipitous rocks on the left. As 1 was
thirsty I went toward it As I turned
the corner of a cliff a handsome girl,
about 20 years of age, emerged from a
sort of cave, bearing on her shoulder a
large water jar. The lightness with
which she stepped from stone to stone
across the brook, the poise, as of some
sylvan goddess, with whieh she bore aloft
the jar, made me utter unconsciously
an axclamation of surprise. Though she
was dressed in the coarsest homespun
and wore neither shoes nor stockings, I
lorgot altogether the homeliness of her
apparel in the grace of her movements,
the exquisite contour of her figure, and
the beauty of her expressive face, which
was now mantling with blushes. A small
dog, apparently a self-constituted protector,
barked at me furiously as I advanced,
hat in hand; for intuitively I
knew this must be my client.
My dent it was. I loat no time in
. plaining tl e object of my visit. She
was very much surprised, but, after a
moment's hesitation, said with dignity:
"Come up to the house, please. I will
consult my aunt. Down, Tip?down,
air."
The dog ceased barking at this command
'and trotted quietly ahead. I
offered to take the jar, but she declined
with the composure of a queen.
When she had introduced me to Mrs.
Benham and said; "This gentleman,
aunt, has something very strange to tell
you, and I will leave you with him for a
moment," she disappeared, returning
come quarter of an hour later, dreaaed in
ft becoming blue muslin and with the
daintiest of slippers on her pretty feet.
I had meantime produced the will and
i? *
given details of the manner in which it
was found.
Not to dwell too long on this prelude
to my story, I will say briefly that my
client and I started the next morning for
Kent, and were met at the depot by
Bowls and his daughter, who relieved
me of my charge, while I went to my
boarding house for supper and thence to
my room.
The next day I filed the document in
? ' ^ /M?l- J raA.,A I
the office 01 tne UOUUiy uiers., auu^avo
notice to Skaggs that on the following
Monday I should move that it be admitted
to probate.
But here a new difficulty presented itself.
In our anxiety to find the claimant
we hfid utterly overlooked the attesting
witnesses.
I immediately went to Bow's and'
stated the difficulty.
' Ah!" said he, "why have we not1
thought of this before?"
"Do yon know these witnesses?" I said. |
"Yes, I know them. Tom .'ones lived
as a tenant on the old man's farm at the
time of his death. He now live3 about I
ten miles out on the Lancaster road. !
Aud, as certain as I'm a sinner, 'squire, j
this other wituess is dead, William Jack-1
son? Yes?I remember him. Ke moved '
to Texas, and died a year ago."
"Then it's all up. We can't get along j
without both witnesses. Are you sure (
! that .'ackson is dead?"
j "I am certain. He has a brother liv- j
ing in this town, who received a letter ;
from the family in Texas at the time of
his death. There is no doubt about it." ,
! "Then we may as well drop the matA
T" - 1 1 iU Cfota ya. !
( ter at ouce. i ue mw ui tmo ??<- 1
! quires the evidence of two witnesses, |
and makes no provision for the death of .
one."
j "It does look rather ugly, if that's the
case," said Bowls. "But let's make a
fight of it?something may turn up in
j our favor."
My fears proved corrcct, however. We
made a gallaut struggle; but it was in 1
, vain. My speech, I was told afterward, j
was applauded privately by the Judge,
though in his offcial capacity he felt
compelled to decide against me. I remember
that I spoke from a full heart of
. the injustice of refusing to receive a will
; which everybody knew to be that of
i Morgan, merely because one of the wit- j
j nesses had died.
My fair client still remained at my ;
, friend Bowls'a. "My eldest daughter
has come to love Ler as a sister," he
said. "Bessie, as you must have seen,is :
I unusually intelligent. She bad received j
quite a good education, too, before old I
Mr. Morgan died. The cheerful manner
in which she bore her subsequent
poverty is, as Mrs. Benliam says, a
proof of an unusually n'-ble character.
Now we have invented an excuse that
we want a nursery governess, for she is j
too proud to stay as a mere pensioner, '
and her aunt hits consented to the arrangement,
saying that it is a sin to bury j
Bessie among the hills."
! One day in the following summer I
was in the clerk's office searching some
old records, when I came upon a page
that almost took my breath away. After
reading it carefully I closed the book !
and returned to my office.
The next day Simon Skaggs was served {
with a summons to answer a suit of
ejectment in the name of Elizabeth
Morgan, for all the real property held by
hira, which he < laitncd as heir at law of
the late .lames Morgan; and great was j
the excitement in the village when it
was known that this suit was begun.
"What could it mean?" asked everybody.
I told no one. Even to Bessie I only
represented that I thought I saw a chance
to recover; but I was careful not to appear
too sanguine.
In two months the Circuit Court came
on. Again the court was crowded. The
excitemeut was even greater than it had
been before. I had prepared no brief.
Not even a memorandum or a book did
I carry to court.
"Morgan vs. Shaggs," called the
Plprlr nnrl ehnrMir nftprw.irrl T aaid :
"Call Mr. Bowls."
The Sheriff called him,. He came into '
the court room, took the witness-3tand J
and was sworn.
The most intense silence now reigned.
My fair client was seated by my side, 1
pale and quiet. The defendant was
se.ited near his counsel, calm, confident,
and de 'ant.
! " Examine the witness," said the
; Judge.
"Mr. Bowls," T began, "are you acquainted
with the plaintiff."
" I am."
" Do you know where she lived, from
the time she was three years old, up to
the time sue was sixteen?"
,l I do."
j "Where?"
"With the late James Morgan.''
"Are you certain that this plaintiff is
; the same person?"
" I am."
"That's all I wish to ask," said I to
; the Court.
"Cross-examine, gentlemen," said the
Jud^e.
"We don't wish to asK anytmnsr," |
said the opposing counsel?two of the
able t lawyers in the country.
| "let the witness stand aside," said
the Court. "Call your next."
" >'ay it please your Honor, we have
1 no other witnesses that we wish sworn
at present," said I, rising to my feet and
| looking around the room.
A murmur of disappointment ran
through the crowd.
j " Then you rest your case here?" said !
the Judge with a smile.
i No, your Honor; we have some record ;
! evidence that we wish to introduce;";
and as I spoke 1 drew it from my
' pocket. "It is nn authenticated copy '
j from the records of the country for the j
1 year 18?. It proves that this young
lady w?i3 duly and legally adopted as
' the daughter of the deceased, and as
B.ich is entitled, under our law, to this
p-operty, as his nearest and only heir at ,
law. Shall I read it to the jury?"
j "Pead it," said the Judge.
But Skaggs's lawyers sprang to their
feet with a storm of objections. For a
full hour they argued, with all the force
of their ability, bringing to bear their
vast knowledge and experience. But,
they were finally overruled by the Court,
whr? directed me to nroceed.
The record was conclusive. After
; reading it I announced I would close the |
case for the plaintiff. The defendant
( wa9 so completely taken by storm that
! he did not introduce a single witness.
| The charge of the Court was lucid and
comprehensive. In thirty minute* the
jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff,
j The result was received with loud |
acclamations by the excited aud'ence. j
Skaggs took the case to the Supreme ;
Court, but only for the purpose of gain- \
ing time. The judgment below was 1
affirmed.
Three months later the real estate wa3;
turned over to my fair client. The
securities were given up at the same
time without a suit. With a part of the
interest which had been accumulating
for so many years the old mansion at
Oakdale was refitted and furnished.
Six months later there was a quiet
wedding,-at my o'.d friend Bowls's, in
which ftook a prominent part.
I am getting on toward middle age.
I love my profession better than ever, \
though my time is now necesjarily
divided, and a portion of it devoted to
the farm at Oakdale.
The old farmhouse is vocal with
childish music, and a sunny-haired, softvoiced
little woman makes it the brightest
spot on all the earth to me.
Starting an Alligator Itanch.
Captain C. A. Eastman left this port
several months since on the little steamer
Balboa on a trading voyage along the
west ports of Lower California and Mexico
and has just returned to this city,
after having comp'eted a successful trip.
The captain is well known as a pro
fessioual curiosity-hunter, naving as
times been employed by Barnum, the National
Museum at Washington and the
zoological gardens and by Government
museums in the 1'astern States and Kurope,
and has procured for them seals,
sea lions and other marine wonders. He
is also a collector or rare plants, and besides
many valuable orchids, he has
brought with him a rare collection of
ancie"nt pottery, consisting of jars, idols
and domestic utensils, presumably of
Aztec manufacture, which were found
thirty feet beneath the surface in an excavation
made on the Mexican National
Pailroad near Colima. But what he
f>rides himself particularly upon is twenty
ive young alligators, ranging from eight
to twenty inches in length, all of which
are in prime condition, notwithstanding
it is many weeks since they left their
place of nativity. With these as a plant
the captain proposes to start an alligator
ranch on some one of the lagoons in the
vicinity of Petaluma or Sonoma.
Terrapin farms thrive in the State of
Delaware, and their cultivation is not
considered beneath the dignity of n
United States Senator. The captain ar
gues that there is a iortune in xne project,
because alligator skins are valuable
and are beginning to be rare and expensive,
and he also claims that the beast
can be readily corralled and domesticated
and their habitations staked off and
secured the same as an oyster bed.
The alligator is known to breed rapidly
under almost any circumstances,
is easily provisioned, and the projector I
of this new enterprise claims that the
animal has been slandered by travelers'
tales, which have hitherto prevented
their being introduced to the "glorious
climate of California^and their propagation
for the sake of their valuable hides
thus prevented fromlbccoming a remunerative
"home industry."?tian Framuco
Examinet.
A Par9on Prevents Judicial Murder.
A curious incident is related by the
New York Observer of the Rev. Gilbert
Taylor, of Tennessee. Mr. Taylor was
a Methodist minister?a near relative of
President Taylor and a man of property.
A young man was condemned to be
hung for murder in his town, but Mr. |
Taylor was not satisfied that he was (
guilty, and one night, passing the jail
where the condemned man was confined,
he had a conversation with him, and becoming
satisfied of his innocence he
aided aim to break out, and he disappeared
from the community and efforts j
to recapture were fruitless.
Some years thereafter Mr. Taylor was |
traveling on horseback in a wild part of
Arkansas, and being benighted stopped
at a cabin and asked to lie allowed to
remain all night. Only a woman appeared
to be in the house and she stoutly
refused permission. No other residence
being near, Mr. Taylor insisted on stay- i
ing,- .and finally stated that he was a I
Methodist minister and that he wns
Gilbert Taylor, of Tennessee. The wo- |
man at once asked him in and called to i
her son, who was hiding in the loft of '
the cabin, to come down?that the j
?A?AHA.
btrauger WU3 UIIUCI t ilia ICOV/UCI, I
The meetin? was a cordial one, and Mr.
Taylor had the pleasure of informing
the young man that he coula. return
home, that another person, on his death*'
bed, had confessed that he alone was
guilty of murder. There wa3 joy in that
humble cabin that night.
An Automatic Life Preserver.
A new automatic life-preserving belt
has been successfully tested at Hidgway
Tark, says the Phi adelphia Times. The
preserver can be made in the form of a
belt to tit around the body under the .
arms or also be made in the form of a |
vest. The belt is in the form of a rubber
bag, covered with black Jersey cloth,
and is intended to be worn at all times
while on the water. It is ingeniously
constructed. Under the left arm is a
metal cap, about six inches in circumference,
perforated all the way around. The
metal cap screw3 down lightly upon a
capsule about five inches in circumfer- I
ence aud half an inch thick, which is
perforated on both sides.
In the capsule is compressed ga3. On '
contact with the w. ter tnegas is released |
and fills the entire belt in less than five
seconds after the wearer has fallen into '
the water. The water enters perforated !
holes on the outside of the capsule and
comes in contact with the mechanism
and releases the gas.
The capsule then automatically closes
and not a drop of water can penetratd
the inside.
The experiments were made from the
front of Hidgwav Park. The wearer ol
the belts was Frederick Golden, nineteen
years of age, who wa9 pushed and fell
overboard three times, each time the belt
being inflated and the wearer buoyant
before he came to the surface of the
water.
Smallest Locomotive In the World.
Henry Case of Gloversville, N. Y., has
just completed what is said to be the
smallest locomotive in the world that
runs upon a rail or by steam. It is madA
of solid gold, silver, steel, and brass, and
contains 283G pieces. The weight of the
engine is 1J- pounds; of the tender 'j
pounds; length of engine inches:
with tender, 12 inches; height, 3^
inches; gauge of track, li{ inches; diameter
of cylinder, 3-1G of an inch; stroko
of piston, i linch?piston head fitted up
' ? ' l-i
witn secuonai or ring pacing, siiu&c m
valve, 1-16 of an inch; length of main
and parallel rods, 1} inches, connected
up with straps, bolts, keys, set screws
and boxes aronnd the pins; length of
links, 7-16 of an inch; width of link, 4
inch; diameter of ecccntiics, } inch;
diameter of drive wheel, U inhes;
diameter of truck wheel, + inch. It is
fitted up with reverse lever, with thumb- j
latch and click-throttle lever, steam!
gauge, etc. It can be run a mile in 22
minutes, drawing a miniature coach.?
Neu> York S'ir.
Fire-Proof Stables.
Fire-proof stables are not uncommon
in Germany, and are very simply built.
Timbers like railroad tics are placed
from three and one-half to four feet
apart, archud corrugated iron put betwaen
them and filled in with a mixture
of cinders and lime, making it deep
enough to protect the timbers. The trap
or door to reach the loft is made of sheetiron,
filled in with the same compound.
This kind of fire-proofing is very cheap
and very effective.
Blessing are strewed like flowers in
our pathway; it rests with us to gathei
thorn up carefully or pass them by.
I BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
A. Russian Courtship?Keeping Him
Busy?Not for Himself?Her
Mother had Been
There, Eic-,
II Be mine!" said the ardent young Sawmiiegoff,
In a voice with emotion quite husky.
" My fondest devotion,oh, p'.ease do not scoff,
Katinka Pojakaroiuski?"
" Techcrnyschevsky, my friend," the shy
maiden replied,
"Your people are noble and rich.
"Would a Golgusoff's granddaughter be a
fit bride
For a nephew of Maximovitch?"
"I care not a kopeck!" he said. "In my
droshky
I have you safe now, and I laugh
At the wealth of a Klitkin or Overhauloshki,
Ooinvnilr or Pnllerzedoff.
"You are worth more to me than the gold
of Slugmiski,
Brakemupaki, or Sumarakoff!
Katinka Pojakaroluski, it's risky,
But I'm going to carry you off!"
And this is the way the young Sawmilegoff
| Put an end to all further discussion,
'Twas a simpler proceeding to carry her off,
I Than to go on courting in Russian.
?Chicago Tribune
Keeping Him Busy.
"James," said the grocer to hi3 new
boy, haven't you got anything to do
now if"
I "No, sir."
"Well, ketch some flies an1 stick 'em on
| the fly paper in the window."?New
York Sun. .....
Not for Himself.
Snarley?<;I see you're spending a lot
| money on that little place of yours in
Surrey."
Snobley?"Yes, I wan't to make the
1 place?a?thoroughly fit for a gentleman,
don'tcherknow?"
Snarley?"Oh, I suppose you mean to
let it?"?Punch.
Her Mother Had Been There.
Eight o'clock a. m.?Mrs. Popinjay? ,
"Where are you going, Angelina?"
Angelina?"Only just around the
corncr to match this piece of silk, ,
mamma."
Mrs. Popinjay?"All right. Til tell
Bridget not to have supper until 7
o'clock."?Free Press.
Agreed With Her.
Mrs. Yeast?"Do you buy your eggs
at Shortcounts?"
Mrs. Bacon?"Why7 certainly; his
eggs can't be beat."
Mrs. Yeast?"I know it; that's the
reason I don't think they're good."
Not Wholly Voluntary.
Mrs. Van Prim?"I am astonished,
Clara, that you should voluntarily allow
Mr. Featherly to put his arms around
you."
Clara?"It wasn't exactly voluntarily, !
mother; at least, considerable pressure !
was brought to bear upon me.?San :
Francisco aminer.
A Practical View of the Situation.
Lady Blanch?"I'm so tond of riding,
I could almost live in the saddle! The I
habit grows upon one so, you know." j
I ady I?ose?"I wish mine naa grown j
on me I I had to have it moulded to my j
Bhape, and I expect papa will grumble
frightfully at the cost when he has to j
pay the bill."?Fun.
Hope Springs Eternal.
Mr. Tilbury Carter?"That ship yonder
is the Pontiac, bound for the Land of
Orange Blossom!"
Miss Marie Gold (twenty-nine, des
perate, and humming Mendelssohn's I
"Wedding March" under her breath? i
"I should n't mind being bound in the
same direction myself!"?Puck.
A Terrible Threat.
"Vat," said the collector for a little
German band to a citizen who sat in his J
front window. "You no gif noddiugs |
for dot moosi,?"
"Not a cent I" replied the citizen, with j
hopeless emphasis.
"Den ve blay some more, dat's allPi
threatened the collector; so the citizen '
hastily gave up a quarter.?Epoch.
A dUnnlAti Anno.
Benson (entering Newport Casino)?
"Where have you been. Ed?"
Cathcart?"Called on that rich and l
hideous heiress, Miss T-jmith. Thank
heavens she was out." (Exeunt twenty
young men.)
Miss Smith (at home next day)?
"Strange that thirty-seven gentlemen
should have left their cards last night?
just the night when I was not at home."
? Time.
Unlucky Pate of a Hotel Clerk.
Clerk?"Will you register now?"
Lord Divvivian (taking pen)?"Aw,
aw, James!"
Enter James.
Lord Divvivian?"What ia me full
name, Jeames?"
James?"Cecil Fauntus Victor Albert
Rnrlaio'h Rnpnn WaI v&tlcrhiin
Vfuiu^j ?5 ? o
Warwick Divvivian, sixth Earl of (iilcourtmage,
me lud."
Lord Divvivian?"Aw, thank you,
Jeames."?Mall and Express.
A Stray Lamb.
Village Parson (entermg country
editor's office)?"You promised to publish
that sermon I sent you on Monday,
but I do not find it in the latest issue of
your paper."
Editor?"I sent it up. It surely went
in. What was the name of it?"
Parson?"Feed my lambs."
Editor (after searching through paper)
?Ah?yes?um?Here it is. You see
we've got a new foreman, and he put it
under the head of "Agricultural Notes,"
as "Hints on the Care of Sheep."
A Great Sale.
On a railway train. Two men discussing
a book that has just been handed
to them by the newsboy.
First Man?"That's a great book, sir,
a masterpiece of work."
Second Man?"I wonder how it is selling?"
L tfnr. U Cullin/V lllfi* n'Tiiel/TT nf Q
rirai uiuLi? ^"**'5 ?inv " uiojxj c I
Montana picnic. Never saw anything i
like it. You see I am the publisher aud
ought to know."
Second Man?"Your information delights
inc. I am the author."
First Man (with fallen countenance)?
"Well, that is, it hasn't had much of a
sale yet, but I think it will have. Big
risk you know, getting out this sort of
book."?Arkansaw Traveler.
Slightly Misunderstood.
"Yes," said Miss Crushington, the
celebrated exponent of society and emotional
drama, "I had a most successful
tour in England last summer."
"Did you enjoy the trip acrosa the
ocean?"
"Very much coming back, but not so
much going over."
. . .' '.
"Were jou sick?"
"N-not so very, but I felt badly and
wished I hadn't agreed to come. Wanted
to back out, you know."
"I understand; you felt like throwiag
up the whole affair."
'Oh, dear no! I wasn't as sick as
that!"?Merchant Traveler.
Disproving Viral Statistics.
There was a cold, hard look in her
eyes and a baby on her arm as 9he came
into the Critic office and sat down in the
visitor's chair, alongside of the editor's
desk.
"You are the editor," she asserted,
confidently.
The editor did not deny the charge.
,l.'n your paper not long since," she
continued, "I read an article on the rendu
a Kafnma mada hr f-Vifl nnlififv and in it
I noticed that the increase of population
in Georgetown from 1885 to 1888 was
only twenty-three."
4'Yes, madame," said the editor, because
he hadn't anything else to say.
"Well, it's abase slander on our town,
sir," she exclaimed indignantly, and disturbed
the baby till it grunted. "Why,
sir, on my block alone, the increase has
been tweuty-four within a year, and this
one I've got is one of them."
"Yes, madame," repeated the editor
with striking originality, sticking his
pen in the paste pot."
I "Now, sir, I want to sue somebody
for libel. It's either the police or tha
newspapers."
"The police, of course, madame,"said
the editor, recovering his wits.
'Vs all the same to me, so long as
somebody has to pay for it. Good
morning. If any other member of the
Georgetown Committee on Population
call, tell them, will you, that Fve been
here?" and she went out haughtily with
the baby.? Washington Critv,
How Congressmen Live. -liepresentative
Long, of Massachusetts,
in a recent letter to an editorial friend,
corrects some mistaken notions as to the
manner in which Congressmen generally
livp in Washincrton_ He savs: "There
arc a few persons of great riclies who
now and then give enterta'nments, and
live in an extravagant and profuse way,
as sor.ie rich people do in every other
community. But the great bulk of Representatives,
including noticeably nearly
all those of controlling influence, are
men of limited means, who live in a
modest and simple manner.
"On the whole, I should say that the
instance of Henry Wilson, which you
cite, is a type of the present majority of
members. Our Massachusetts Senators,
Dawes and Hoar, live quite as simply,
one in a little tenement not better than
our ordinney New England parsonage,
and the other in a boarding house, which
you will not think extravagant when I
tell you that, with the exception of myself,
the rest of the boarders are government
employes, whose annual salaries
ran?>e from $2,000 rapidly downward.
Walking out with Mrs. Long at sundown
last evening, we passed a modest doorstep
on which, with his young children
pliying about him, sat a member who
pointed to a suite of rooms as his lodgings,
and whose dress and manner of
livinc are as simDle and unostentatious
as those of a Plymouth County farmer;
and yet he is a millionaire?the richest
San, I thiuk, in the House; a "Western
mber man. wise and hard-headed, and
not nshamed, bat proud, of the goadstick
which he wielded in his youth, and
with which he pricked his way to fortune.
"Among the leaders, Reed lives in the
fifth story of a small hotel; Randall in
a house that would perhaps yield a rent
of $300 or $100; McKinlej, in two or
three chambers; Mills, in a quiet boarding-house;
aud so on through the list.
The House is full of poor men who
make no show; who are just such plain,
well-behaved, temperate, churchgoing
people as you and I meet at home; who
go afoot and drive no fine teams; who
ape no fashions; some of whom go to
the few public receptions that occur in
the winter, but few of whom are able
or care'to hold receptions or give entertainments
themselves.
"Fine raiment is so rare among them,
that an old suit which I am now wearing
for the third summer has actually been
exploited by the newspaper reporters, in
the absence of any other sensation, as
subjecting me to the charge of being
'well-dressed," and if Tom Reed should
cover his shining head with a silk hat,
he would lose the Republican leadership.
The member who lives luxuriously
" .1 _ J Li. Jl_
13 the exception, wnai is unaouuteuiy
true of a few o.licials, especially of some
outside persons of great wealth, who reside
and entertain in Washington in the
winter and are advertised in the society
oolumns of the Press, it is not true of
the great majority of the people's
servants."
An Ingennons Criminal.
The old story of the jury that found (
the prisoner not guilty and hoped he
would never do it again has a close parallel
in a case recently tried in one of the
New York courts. The defendant, a German
widow, was on trial the second
time for arson, the first trial having resulted
in a disagreement of the jury.
The testimony snowed that she was
found last fall in her room bound and
gagged, with a fire burning in the middle
of the floor, and there was a very strong
suspicion that the gagging were her own
work a la Davenport Boys. The jury,
however, found her not guilty, and the
interpreter?she could not apeak a word
of English?informed her that she was
free. As she turned with a smiling
countenance to leave the court room the
Judge asked her interpreter to say to
her that the case had a very suspicious
look, and that she had better not go
around getting herself tied up and
gagged and having fires in her rooms.
The interpreter dia so, and electrified
the court by announcing that in response
she solemnly promised never to do it
again. The jury, no doubt, felt convinced
that its duty had been properly discharged.?Detroit
Free l*res*.
Blaekbeard, the Pirate.
Not far from St. Simon's, Ga., is an
island called Blackboard. The name, it
is said, originated from a pirate called
Blackbeard, who long ago inhabited it
with his crew of desperate men. A long,
black beard, flowing to his waist, gave
the pirate his name. When the government
dispatched vessels laden with
mouey to pay off the men sent to colonize
the State, these pirates would lie in wait
to s-ecure the treasure at any cost. Some
years since a colored man was plowing
on this island, when his plowshare turned
out $40~0 in Spanish jrold. A crafty
A-lJ ' * wno 4 AA S\1/l f A Kfl
wnite man toiu unu n< wu um .
good, and that lie would give him if 150
for it. The offer was accepted, and
when it was beyond recall, the poor fellow
found out that he had been swindled.
Even now on the neighboring island of
Jeckyl the trees are often found notched,
and the people suppose that these marks
denote the place where the treasure
booty of the old pirate is buried. Blackbeard
did not live to be very old. A
vessel coming by was attacked by the
, pirate and his men, when the captain of
the beseiged vessel fired upon him and
| killed him.?Chicago Herald.
SODA WATER.
INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING
ITS MANUFACTURE.
Produced at a Cost of Less than
Two Cents a Glass?Machines
for Dispensing the Effervescing
Fluid.
More than twenty thousand gallons of
soda water are drunk in this city, says
the New York Commercial Advertiser,
duriDg a warm daj in summer. This ia
the estimate of a manufacturer who
turns out 8000 gallons a day.
In the manufacture of soda water as
in that of ice cream America is ahead of
Europe. Across the water they do not
use me dispensing apparatus wnicn is
10 common in every dmg store and confectionery
store here; they serve it only
in bottle and siphons. The business has
developed enormously 'within the last
half century. There are now about
twenty-fhe thousand of these "fountains,"
as they are termed, gushing the
popular effervescing drink into glasses
and down the thirsty throats of people
in this country. This estima' e is also
arrived at by the manufacturer upon the
basis that a trifle more than fifteen per
cent, of the whole number of "fountains"
manufactured are now in use. The big
firm referr.d to has made more than
100,000 of these fountains altogether.
A hundred different kinds of machines
are now in fashion and kept on hand,
costing from $78 to $4-?00 each. A good
many in unique designs are built to
order for customers. One sent to the
London Exhibition last year cost $10,000
to make; this was the biggest thing
yet attempted, and rather astonished the
eyes of the Englishmen.
The name '-soda" water, by the way,
as is generally known, is an entire misnomer
for the effervescing drink. It was
possibly given to it by some obscure
manufacturer, who wanted a name of his
own in the early history of the business
onrl afnrlr tn it TVif? nr+.iflp nn nnv n<u>H
is simply water impregnated with ctftrbotiicacid
gas?the 9ame gas which operates
in the "raising" of bread or anything
of that sort. The ingredients used
in generating carbonic acid. gas for soda
water are few and simple and have long
been standard articles in the market of
the world. The two necessary materials
are a carbonate of some kind and an acid,
by a union of which, with the carbonate,
the gas is chemically evolved. Experimentally,
a gnat variety ot acids and
carbonates have been employed. For
practical purposes sulphuric acid is now
adm'ttedly superior to any other, but
as for the carbonate, pulverized marble,
whiting and bicarbonate of soda are still
competitors for favor. The gas ia generated
according to the American sys*
tem, in an apparatus for the purpose, the
gas after its evolition from the marble
being carried through three washers,
where any impurities are caught off by
additional chemical appliances. It is
then put into the steel fountains, ready
for transport, by a process especially de|
vised to suit the exigency.
The regulation size fountain will hold
fifteen gallons. Ten gallons of Croton
water which, has been niterea tnrougn
charcoal, sand and gravel, are first put
into it. Then the fountain is placed
upon a shaking machine and the gas
foiced into it under pressure while the
shading thoroughly impregnates the
water with the gas. The fountains are
made to stand a pressure of 500 pounds
| to the square inch, being of steel with
block tin seamless lining, but the pressure
of the gas is but 150 pounds to the
I inch. The mn.rble u*ed in the manufacture
is the white snowflake, found up
the Hudson and said to be the best for
I the purpose, containing ninety-nine per
: cent, of the carbonate of lime and magnesia.
When the water is filtered as
thoroughly as it is for this purpose, the
product in the fountain will keep for any
length of time, and an export trade is
now being built up in the article. One
generator of the size ordinarily used here
will make about 2175 gallons of gas at a
charge, enough to supply 750 gallons of
water.
The largest firm of the kind in this city
controls now about two hundred patents
in the various departments. It manufactures
not only "soda" water and all
the appliances of fountains and fixtures
for dispensing it, but also the fruit
syrups, boxes and other details required,
even shoeing their own horses.
"Soda" water is kept on tap in the
factory for the refreshment of the hands,
the same as lager beer in breweries,
or ice water in ordinary establishments.
Between three and four hundred men
are employed during the busy senson,
from January to July, chiefly making
dispensing apparatus and fixtures. After
the Fourth the demands of those going
into the business has been prettv well
supplied and the work of the factory is
cut down to the manufacture of supplies
tor the "plant." "Soda" water is also
used about the factory premises as a
fire extinguisher.
The most popular flavoring for soda
is the same as for ice cream?vanilla?
about one person in every three calling
for it. Lemon ranks next and sarsaparilla
next, after which the various
flavors are about on a par as to popularity.
The ordinary purchaser of five-ceut
glasses of soda water does not realize
that he is giving about 250 per cent,
profit to the dealer. But here is what a
circular of the above-mentioned firm
says about it:
The profits wnicn aeaiers in caruuuauou
beverages may reasonably hope to make can
be readily inferred from the following accurate
estimate of the cost of manufacturing
each beverage:
One glass of plain soda costs one-tenth of a
cent.
One glass of soda water with syrup costs
one ana a half cents.
One glass of mineral water costs one cent
One glass of root beer costs one cent.
One glass of ginger ale costs one and a
cents.
One glass of fine draught champagne corts
four cents.
A Texas Eviction.
A San Antonio (Texas) landlord had
trouble in effecting the eviction of unprofitable
tenants. Mr. O. Bergstrom
was the landlord, and the family he desired
to rid himself of bore the somewhat
snaggy name of Pflughaupt. Procuring
a writ Mr. Bergstrom placed it
in the hands of deputy shcrills. Mrs.
Pflughaupt, it seems, was advised of the
coming of the o ticials, nnil umping into
bod, covere I lie.self with a blanket.
When the o Kcers arrived she moaned
that she was sick unto death, and a
grown daughter and three smal'er
Pflughaupts flew at the sheriffs with
bromstichs, skillets, tin cans and other
articles of like character, sometimes
used for purposes of caressing. But the
doughty bailiffs fought their way
through the foe, and reached the bedside
of iMrs. Pflughaupt with the papers,
when, to their astonishment, that lady
reached out with a long pitchfork handle
and whacked one of the officers over the
riuht ear with it. Nothing daunted,
however, they gently lifted the pretended
sick woman from her bed, bore
her into the yard and soon had her and
the bcl'igereut children out of the premises?
'L tmes-Democrat.
% V?v # ^ ? - i , j
,-> i
CURIOUS FACTS.
A talent of gold was $13,809.
A shekel of silver was about fifty coats.
A violin made of clay has been on ex?
hibition in Berlin.
Aquatinta, is a kind of engraving by
which a soft and beautiful effect is pro*
duced.
A moving train knocked the tail off a
Missouri calf without in any way hurting
the rest of the animal. * ;
"Lover's ink," warranted to vanish ill
twelve hours after use, leaving the paper
blank, is said to be a Western invention. "
The other day at Westport, Conn.,
Mr. Mitchell and Miss Lewis got married,
and went off canoeing upon a bridal
tour.
An organ in a San Francisco church is
said to have been benefited, rather than
injured, by the accidental discharge of a
bullet into it.
A cat at Norwich Falls, N. Y., is '
bringing up her kittens on a diet of
frogs' legs, which she catches for them .
in a near swamp.
At Deep River, Conn., two men, both
shoemakers and both 82 years old, recently
died upon the same day and at
just the same hour.
Lightning struck a pine tree on the
farm of W. F. Spann of Webster county,.
Ga.. and killed twenty hogs that had
taken shelter under it.
Sharks have appeared at the mouth of
the Mersey, England, and Liverpool's
small boys are wearing bowie knivef
when they go in swimming.
A Clinton (Iowa) baby has two grandfathers
and two grandmothers, two greatgrandmothers
and one greatgrandfather,
besides parents, to pet it to death.
A big willow tree ia aa upper New.
York town was blown a foot fr<yn t]je
perpendicular in a late storm, but little
by little has gone back to uprightness. ,
On the farm of B. Peacock, Thomasville,
Ga., lightning has struck the same
building three times within one week,
and the building is now about used up.
A university is said to have beea
founded at Bologna by Theodosius about
433, but the real date of the establishment
of the University of Boulo&ne was
1116.
Lincoln Chestnut and Edwina Arrow- . '
smith were wedded at Grafton, Neb.,
few weeks ago. The bride's reply to the
usual formula: "Do you take this Chestnut?"
was a painful strain on the solemnity
of the occasion.
A decidedly rare fruit is the white
huckleberries gathered this week in *
Bloomiijg Grove, Penn. The berries . ^
are about the size of a wild cherry, and
are creamy white. They are very sweet
Whether a new variety or a freak of nature
we are not informed.
The old belief that more light-haired
persons than dark become insane has
! gone the way of the other ancient de- *
, lusions. Out of l<i5 patients who are
being treated in the Kirkb:idge Insane
Asylum in Philadelphia all except foui! ..
are of decidedly darK complexion.
Nine years ago a Mrs. Manning, of.
Paris, 111., vowed that it her son married
; a certain young lady who was objection^ '
i able to her she would go to bed and stay
' there until she died. The marriage took)
Jriace, and the mother, true to her resoution,
never left her bed until she wai
! borne to her coffin.
I There is said to be a smokehouse in
the southwestern part of Madison ?
j county, Fla., that is a veritable bee hive,
j and from which large quantities of honey
are taken throughout the year by mere*
j ly cutting the comb and catching the
j liquid honey which pours from it. The
i bees have sealed the interior of the house
| with comb. i
The Chinese frequently place little
! metal idols within the shells of mollusks,
i removing them several years afterward
1 covered with a substance resembling
| pearl; they also lay strings of small
| pearls, separated by knots, inside the
shells, and on taking them out, after a
lapse of some years, obtain large and
costly pearls.
i About twenty years ago Mrs. Benjamin
Braughn, of Atlanta, Qa., cut the
hair from the head of her little two-yearold
child, and saved one curl about an
inch and a half in length. A few weeks later
the child became ill and died.
| Yesterday Mrs. Bra ighn opened the bor *
in which she had laid away the little
ringlet, and was astonished to find that it
had grown to be two feet in length.
Matt. Carpenter's Dramatic Death.
The dvin?? hours of Matt. Carpenter,
the distinguished American jurist, were
strikingly and intensely dramatic. He
watched the play of disease on himself
as a naturalist watehej experiments or
a scientist a chemical reaction. Heknew
that his disease had passed to its
third or incurable stage, and he gratified
a curiosity, abnormal and painful to his
friends, by watching himself the tests
which the physicians make to indicate
the progress of the disease. He procured
chemicals and made tests h'mself
with the interest but personal indifference
of a young physician in a laboratory.
Sometimes he would say to his
partner: "At this rate there are two
months left me," or again he would assert
that nature and medicine had set back
the disease a little. One morning after
examining a test which indicated that
dissolution was not far away, he spoke
of it calmly to his partner, discussed it
as he would a piece of testimony that he
intended to introduce in a law case, and
then quietly made some notes cf a
speech he intended to deliver in the
Senate. He entered the Senate chamber,
his face whiter than his hair, bantered
and perplexed a fellow Senator on tha
subject of estabrshin?j a consular court
in China. With one hand in his pocket
and all his exquisite melody of voice
and charm of diction, he delivered a
speech on this unusually dry suljiect
that entranced the Senate, and then as unconcernedly
as though going to the restaurant
for lunch, put on his heavy, furlined
overcoat, stood at the door of the
Senate a moment, looking around for
what he knew was his last glance and
quitted the Senate foiever. And wh'le
he was making the speech with his hand
in his pocket, he held in it the vial which
contained the test that told the story of
his speedy death.?tfcio York Sun.
Pearl Fishing in Ireland.
Pearls have been discovered, it is just
announced, in several of the Irish rivers,
and a gentleman who is chairman of the
Oma?h Town Commissioners ha? arrived
in London, bringing with him a packet
of the gems which have been found in
fresh water mussels of County Tyrone.
Some of these pearls arc said to be of
l'air iize, measuring over a quarter of an
inch in diameter, while others range
downward to the size of a small gun
shot. They are asserted, moreover, to
be of fine quality, ana to aoouna in mo
stretches of water where the pearl-bearing
mussels have now been discovered,
?Picayune.
A SOO-acro farm in Essex, England, is
held by the present owner at the nominal
rent of $;>. A few years ago the
same tenant paid $2500.
/ T , <
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