The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, September 05, 1888, Image 6
CONSCIOUSNESS.
There is no Caesar who can bridge the Rhine
That flows forevermore between our souls,
There is no ship that sails the sea that rolls
Around the St. Helenas, where we pine
Forth3 vague Europei that are thine and
mine.
In utter salitule we s?ek our goals,
As distant from each other as the poles
Of space's azure sphere, whose walls confine
The universe. Since we must tread alone
The awful galleries of Consciousness,
Since we must scale the Alps of the unknown.
Whose misty crags are deaf to our distress.
How sa 1 h's lot who s93ks not in his own
Breast for the boon of help and happiness.
?Franklin E. Denton in the Current.
nflNSEOTTFIN TT, Y.
CHAPTER I.
Oliver Harmon was walking down Connecticut
avenue one mo.ning early in
June. There had been rain during the
night, and water in places still flowed
slowly through the gutters. Nature was
almost at her best. The grass in the
yards and little parks was one solid
emerald, not yet browned or shriveled
by the increasing heat. Roses seemed in
spontaneous growth, and everwhere gave
color'and perfume. Children were playing
on the walks, and nurses lolling on
the benches of Pacific Circle, as it was
then called, where the Dupont statue now
stands. In spite of the greenness of the
grass and the freshness of the flowers, it
was excessively hot. The whole surface
of the ground except the strejts where
the asphaltuni had dried was stemming.
' The heat was of that moist, suffocating
kind that makes us say it is going to rain
again.
Oliver walked on briskly, for he had to
be at the Tn as iry building at nine j
o'clock, and dried his ruddy face as well j
as he could, froji time to time, with his i
handkerchief. As he reached the N j
street c ossing he hesitated and looked at I
his watch. It had suddenly oocurred to |
him that he would ike a glass of mineral !
water. With the thought came the con-!
vict:on that this would not only be re- j
freshing but highly medicinal, and that j
his sy-tem stood in great need of i
it. There was a Dlace on Fourteenth1
street where he liked to get it. |
T his wa; now considerably out of his .
way, but as his watch showed that he i
still had fifteen minutes in which to fret j
to his desk, there was time enough. The i
extra walk was desirable for one who
had to write all day. ^Vhy should he,
not go if he wanted to? Ninety-nine
young men in a hundred would have !
reasoned about as he did, and would !
have considered it a mere whim to be
indulged or not, according to individual
fancy. He had not the faintest idea
that anything depended upon it. Nevertheless
it was an epoch in the life of;
Oliver Harmon.
About the time Oliver looked at his !
watch an elderly gentlemen was just
coming out of the door of his house near j
the Thomas Circle. This gentleman, whom
we will call Mr. Amidon, was going downtown,
and would take the street car at
the Circle. He stopped a moment to
gpeak to his daughter, then walked
slowly down the steps. He was not a
very large man, but had something of a
bultnus appearance. He carried a gold- j
headed cane, ?nd walked very slowly, j
What with the little delay on the steps i
and with Harmon's rapid walk, they j
would come together at the precise point j
where the old gentleman would take the
6treet car. unver naa onen enougn
heard Mr. Amidon's name, but he did
not know him by sight. This ignorance ,
was fully reciprocated by Mr. Amidon,
who not only did not know Oliver Harmon
by sight, but had never so much as
heard his name.
The old gentleman signaled a car, ar.d
was walking across the street, wheu
auddenly the bright sunshine began to
grow dim. The car wavered before his
eyes, and obje: ts rose up and dnnced in j*
the air. He thought if he cowul *each
the car and sit down that he would re-,
cover in a momrnt. Leaning heavily on
his cane, he took a step or two forward, i
groping with his feet. Unluckily his
foot struck something that slipped or
rolled away, and throwing up his hands, :
he fell backward, anl the darkness
closed over him. It would have gone
hard with Mr. Amidon at this instant if
some one had not observed the whole
movement, and darted forward in the
nick of time. A carriage was whirling
about the Circle between the track and
the sidewalk, the eyes of the i:egro
driver Deiug ou everymiujj twuepi. 111s
team and the road. A clutch at their
bridl s brought the horses up so suddenly
that th d iver had nearly pitched headlong
from his seat. With white eyes and
blank astonishment he looked down to
see a man almost under his horse's feet. \
When the light began to come again
eo Mr. Amidon, he looked up to see a
young man fanning him, and saying, '
cheerfully:
"Feeling better, nren't you? You'll bu 1
a'l right in a miuute, I think."
The o'.d gentleman "had not realized
that anything much was wrong. It was
only a slight attack of vertigo, not at all
uncommon. He would <jet into the car, j
which was of course waiting for him;
but he was a little surprised that it had
moved away. In fact, two or three had
passed the same point since he fell.
He looked around to see quite a little
crowd collected about him. He w*is ,
i ?U_J. -t ? * .t i.u_ _.i 1
iviu^ in wuc rmavtc ui a iiuc at tut; cujjc I
of the sidewalk. His head, which had j
very little hair on it. was covered with a i
wet handkerchiet. His collar was un- j
buttoned and limp, and his shirt-front
much demoralized. The pungent smell i
of ammonia was in the air and in his
nostrils. Then he began to realize that j
something had happened, but he could
not remember what.
When Mr. Amidon seemed pretty well i
recovered, the young man said: "Shall
I call a cab for you now?"
"Thank you. I live very near here,
and if you will help me to my fret I think
I can get home."
He got up, but stood so unsteadily on
his legs that the young man could not
think of letting him go alone, and so the
two walked slowly along to the hi^h j
steps the old gentleman had descended ;
ten minutes before. He sat down wearily ,
on the lower step while his companion .
ran up to ring.
Miss Nellie, sitting at the window, at j
this instant looked out and saw her i
fnthpra tumbled and trenprnllv rlicrp
spect .blc appearan-e. Full of :? great j
fri :ht, she rushed out and narrowly
missed upsetting the young man com
inn up.
"Oh. you poor dear papa, what is the I
matter?"' cried she, as she reached his
side.
"Nothing much, my dear," said he,
more cheerfully than his looks warranted.
"Please help me up the steps."
So putt:nu" his arms over the shoulder
of his daughter on one side, and of the
young man on the other, he walked
slowly up the steps into the high, cool
parlor to a reclining-chair, where he
leaned back and with a sigh of satisfaction
c'osed his eye*.
There was nothiDg more to do. Mr.
Amidou was too tired, and Nellie too
frightened and absorbed, to pav much
much attention to our young friend. He
lingered a second, then bowed, and went.
He had done his duty, but it was his
p'easure also. He did not know whom
he had agisted. He noticed, indeed, the
house was tine and richly furnished, but
at first he had merely seen that a human
being was in danger. He would have
do.ie as much for a hod-carrier.
He was flush d and heated when he
got back to the drug store, but he did
not stop. It had just occurred to him
that he m'ght be late, and he pulled out
his watch to find it was nine o'clock.
Ilore was another entirely unexpected
consequence. The work of a clerk in
the Treasury is not so exacting, and a
good deal of time may be wmled away
without visible result during office hours,
b it tardiness is one of the unpardonnb'e
sins. Twi e before within two or three
weeks, for no very good reason, he had
been a few miuntes late. He walked
rapidly but not confidently. He could
scarcely expect this time to cscape a
reprimand, but he had no reason to think
that an explanation of the circumstances
would not set everything right. He
could not help thinking as he walked
what an uncommonly pretty daughter
the old gentleman had. In going up the
steDS. her arm. all unconsciously, had
piessed against his. He did not mean to
be silly, but it had sent an electric thrill
through him which reproduoed itself as
the thought ever and anon recurrcd to
him, and thus he reached his desk to find
a note lying on it informing him that his
services would no longer be required.
CHAPTER If.
Nellie Amidon berate aware at la^t
that the young m n had gone, and that
she had made no acknowledgement of
his services. She did not regard him as
a hero at all. She did not, of course,
know what he had done. She had in
truth scarcely notice 1 him. Still she
cou'd not be a woman witnout taking
note, by some instantaneous process, of
the details of his dress and general appearance.
The photograph was not unpleasing.
A young man of two or three
and twenty, fairly good-looking and
fairly dressed.
When she found he was gone, her impulse
was to run to the window and speak
to him, but he was already a half-block
away.
"Who was that young man?" she
asked, coming back to her father.
"What, has he gone?" said the old gentleman.
"I meant to inquire his name
and residence."
"Well, he must think wc are curious
barbarians,''said Nellie, and straightway
began to distress herself over her lack of
courtesy. Whatever other offeDses might
be condoned, however hi^h crimes and
misdemeanors might be palliated, for impoliteness
there was no forgiveness, either
in this life or the life to coiie. '"But
you will see him when you are well
again, tind tell him how very much
obliged we are, won't you, papa?"
"Certainly, my dear," said the old
gentleman; but as he languidly speculated
on the matter it had rather a difficult
look. To find a man whose name,
residence and occupation were unKnown
was a good deal like finding a needle in
a haystack. He was not utterly cast
down, however. The usages of society,
with him, were not a matter of life and
death.
The young man, on his part, had felt
no surprise, and perceived no lack of
courtesy. He quite appreciated Nellie's
preoccupation. Certainly he would have
enjoyed a word of recognition from such
a very pretty girl. It would have been
a ureat pleasure to tell her that it was a
satisfaction to he of any service. But
had she not run against him on the step?
Had her arm not rested for several
seconds against his? Ah. reader, he was
young. Alas! that we cannot always be
eighteen and twenty-three: that it cannot
always ba June: and that there is
other work for young men and maidens
beside helping elderly gentlemen up the
steps.
In the unexpected leisure that followed.
he had a chance to go over the
matter again and again. The doorstep
scene, to which he succeeded in adding
many romantic little details, occupied
nearly the whole field of vision. btill,
he was a sensible fellow on the whole,
lie knew that no significance was to be
attached to the little episode. He did
not so much as walk by the house in the
daytime. He expected no recognition.
It was not certain that he wished for an
ac juaintance w th the subject of his
fancies. His judgment was in no way
inauencea dv ms visions, nc K.ue\> mm,
the d^UihtiTS of wealthy men in Washington
did not, as a rule, m:irry Treasury
clerks?discharged clerks at that. It was
horribly unjust, he thought, that he
should have lost his place through an act
of humanity. And yet in spite of the
consequences he could not tlii-k thnt he
would do differently if placed again in
like circumstances. He decided to make
a full statement, in writing, of the case,
and ask to he reinstated. This he did,
and submitted to the slow grist of the
gods.
"While lie waited, his health demanded
a good deal of exercise, lie found none
so healthful a* walking, and no street so
wholesome as that on which Nellie lived.
It was onlv'in the evening that he walked
there. He always felt his pulses quicken
as he boked up at the window, but he
never saw her. What difference does it
make, he thought, since nothing could
come of it? He had not so much as
thought of inquiring who lived in the
house.
Mr. Amidon was not dangerously ill.
But for that u ilucky fall, the attack
would have passed off in a moment. He
had been considerably shaken, aDd what
with the heat and Nellie's fears, stayed at
home for several days; then, feeling
quite restored, he started down town one
? TT - 1 1 3 4.1^
morn in ir. xie iuunuu uuuuuoiy ai mc
place where the accident occurred, as if
he expected to see a dent in the pavement.
He stopped a moment at the
drug-store, drank a glass of soda.water,
and chatted a little with the proprietor,
with whom he was well acquainted.
"By-the-way," said the latter, after
remark n<j upon his apparent health,
"you had a rather close call."
Mr. Amidon opened his eyes. ITe
didn't like the illusion to his apoplectic
tendency, which he wa> quite aware of.
and to which his physician, indeed, had
called his attention, but which it suited
him to ignore.
"Oh, uo." he *aid, carelessly; "it was
just a little rush of blood to the head."
"I did not meau that, but the carriage,"
said the druggist.
Mr. Amidon opened his eyes still
wider. Somebody was evidently quite
oil the track.
"The carriage? What do you mean?"
"Didn't your friend tell you how
nearly you were run over?"
Run over? My friend? The young
man who walked home with me, you
mean?"
"He seemed to take matters quite into
his own hands. I thought he was a
personal friend."
"I never saw him before," said Mr.
Amidon. "Tell mc about it."
Whereupon the druggist recited the I
facts already known to the reader.
Did the druggist know anything about
this man? He had never heard hi3 name.
He thought he was employed in the
i Treasury. Couldn't say why be thought
so. He had sometimes seen him with
other clerks. He had often stopped at
i the store, but he hadn't seen him since
the acc'dent.
Later in the day Mr. Amidon called at
the Department, but did not find tho
young man. He looked over the list of
; those who were for any cause .absent.
Finally, by accident, he learned that one
had been discharged on the very day the
old gentleman fell on the street. Inquiry
showed that this was the person he
sought. Mr. Amidon hasten to verify
the statements in the application for rei
appointment. He learned further that
i the young man was of irreproachable
character, and except for the instances
of tardiness noted against him, had been
a faithful and intelligent clerk.
So it happened, a day or two later, that
our young friend, who was growing
i quite anxious, received, one morning,
two communications. The one bore the
stamp of the Treasury Department, and
was first opened. It announced his reappointment.
He looked curiously at
[ the other. He didn't know that he had
any dealing . with ..the Bank. He
was more than astonished at the contents.
To a very neat letter of thanks from Mr.
Amidon was appended an offer of a situation
in the bank at a better salary than
he had been receiving.
And now my story is substantially
told. Every reader knows instinctively
what followed. Of course he accepted
the latter offer. Of course he became indispensable
in the bank, being a really
capable young man. Of course he was
prudent and sagacious, and invested his
savings in real estate that soon doubled
in value, and in the course of- two or
three years was looked upon and pointed
out as a rising young man. He often
siw Nellie, who persisted in thinking
him quite a hero, though he was not.
Anxious to atone for her first rudeness,
she had gone further, perhaps, the other
way than strict politeness required. So
it came about, little by little in the chain
of events, freely indeed, but in obedience
to the far-off, ayparently unconnected
cause, they were drawn together,
interested in each other, and?why prolong
the tale? As so many worthy
couples before them, and so many who
will follow them to the end of time,
please God, they fell violently in love,
and in due time were married. Afterward,
whenever they talked the matter
over, they were both of them ready to
declare that it was-a case of love at first
sight, which the reader has seen was by
no means the case.
And now let us turn back a little in our
story to see how strangely things come
Ahntit Tt was a ouarter to nine, we said. I
when Oliver Harmon looked at his watch, |
at the corner of N street and Connecticut
avenue. He thought it well to be several
minutes early rather than one minute
late. It was very hot. and he did not
like the extra walk. Besides, there was
a place down-town where he could get
his mineral water without going out of
his w?y, and he concluded to wait.
Therefore it was that he kept straight
! down the avenue. His walk was such,
as we have said, that if he hud turned at
N street it would have brought him to !
the exact spot, at the exact instant that j
Mr. Amidon fell. But as he did not, he .
never knew the old irentleman's need of
assistance which he would have been delighted
to render. Consequently, he was
never employed in the bank; consequent-1
! ly, he never saw Nellie, and, of course, |
did not m irry her. It was Henry Leland I
who had been walking down Fourteenth !
street who did all that.?H. E. Warner.
Thfl Tllnrktool Indians.
The five tribes were reckoned, fifty i
years ago, to comprise not less than thirty |
thousand souls. Their numbers, union, j
and warlike spirit made them the terror :
of all the Western Indians. It was not j
I uncommon for thirty or forty war-parties (
: to be out at once against the hostile tribes
of Oregon and of the eastern plains, j
I from the Shoshonees of the south to the j
Crees of the far north. The country I
! which the Blackfoot tribes claimed prop- I
erly as their own 'comprised the valleys I
j and plains along the eastern slope of the
I Kocky Mounta:ns, fro:n the Missouri to
the Saskatchewan. This region was the
1 favorite resort of the buffalo, whose vast
j herds afforded the Indians their princi'
pal means of subsistence. In the year
j 18-36 a terrible visitation of the smallpox
: swept off two-thirds of the people; and j
i five years later they were supposed to j
count not more than fifteen hundred
tents, or about ten thousand siuls. Their j
enemies were then recovering their spirits j
and retaliating U]>on the weakened tribes j
the ravages which they had formerly j
committed.
In 185j the United States government ;
humanely interfered to bring about a '
complete cessations of hostilities between j
the JBlackfoot tribes and the other In- i
dians. The commissioner appointed for
the purpose summoned the hostile tribes
together and framed a treaty for them,
accompanying the act with a liberal distribution
of presents to bring the tribes
into good humor. This judicious proceeding
proved effectual. Dr. F. V.
Ilayden, in his account of the Indian
tribes of the Missouri Valley, states that
from the period of the treaty the Blackfoot
tr.bes had become more and more
peaceful iu their habits, and were considered,
when he wrote, the best disposed
Indians in the Northwest. He remarks
that their earlier reputation for ferocity
was doubtless derived from their enemies,
who always gave them ample cause for
attacking them. ''In an intellectual and
moral point of view," he adds, "they
take the highest rank among the wild
tribes of the West." The recent reports
of the Indian agents and other officials of
the Canadian Northwest confirm this
favorable opinion of the superior honesty
and intelligence of the lilackfoot tribes.
While constantly harrassed on their reserves
by the incursions of thievish Ciees
and other Indians, who rob them of their
l r?_l
nurses, LUCY IViUUUl VKf akUU?wv, ?.V?.- j
orably ab'de by the terms of their late 1
treaty, which binds them to leave the redress
of such grievances to the Canadian
authorities.?Popular Science Monthly.
A Ghastly Story.
A ghastly story comes from Cape
Tiburon, Hayti, according to Dr. Felix
L. Oswald. Three brothes, sons of the
native pilot Marsrtte, left their home ou
the beach and began to supply the mar- I
ket of Tiburon and (Jrand Guave with I
meat. The specialty was an attractive i
variety of fresh pork steaks that found a !
ready sale, till one day a storm-flood ;
washed out a sand-bar at the mouth of a
neighboring bayou and re vealed a whole
abattoir of carved human corpses. Suspicion
at once pointed to the Marsctte
boys, who at the time were absent on one
of their weekly cruises, but were caught
the next night in the act of landing a
fresh cargo of victims. They seem to
have procured their subjects, as themcdical
students would term it, by cruising
along the coast and raiding solitary fish- J
ermen's cabins and jungle ranchos.
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
The Penalty of Profanity?A "Walking
Mystery?Commodore Van*
(lerbilt Overreached?Not
Afraid of Burglars, Etc.
The average small boy of the present
day is seldom at a loss for something to
say, even in the most embariassingsituations.
Bobby, a precocious youth of six
summers, had been indulging in profanity,
and, in order to escape the punishment
for which his mother had made
preparations, he crawled under a barn
and remained there in a state of siege for
the greater part-of the afternoon. When
his lather returned at night and learned
how matters stood he male his way, with
much difficulty, under the barn in search
of the boy. "Hello, pa,"said Bobby,
cheerfully, as his sire approaced, ''you
been swearing, too?"?Boston Record..
A Walking Mystery.
A young lady belonging to one of the
first families of New York returned from
a walk. Her mother, who is very strict
with her, asked:
"Where have you been?"
"I have just been taking a little fresh
air in Central Park."
"Alone?"
"Alone."
"Arc you sure of it?"
"Of course I am. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing at all, except when you
went out you to >k with you a parasol,
and you come home with a gentleman's
cane in your hand."
The young lady has taken the matter
under advisement and will bring in a
verdict at an early date. ? Texas SifLings.
The Commodore Overreached.
An amusing story is told of the way in
which William H. Vanderbilt overreached
his father, the Commodore. William
wanted manure from the Fourth avenue
car stables for his Staten Island farm,
and asked his father what he would
charge for ten loads. "What'll you
give'f" asked the Commodore. "It's
worth four dollars a load to me," said
the farmer. "Good enough; I'll let you
r?4- J) oncTir/ivar) fVin roi ] r/\0 rJ
it iUi tuut| auoTrvibu iuv a m 11 vwu
man, having a decided impression that
the price was as at least twice as much
a3 the stuff was worth. Next day he
found his rustic son with a scow just
loaded for home.
'How many loads have you got on
that scow,.Billy?" asked the commodore,
in excellent humor.
"How many?" repeated the son, feigning
surprise; ' 'one, of course."
"One! why there's at least thirty," the
old gentleman exclaimed, inspecting it
curiously.
"No, father, I never put but one load
on a scow?one scow load! Cast off the
lines, Pat!"?Chicago Times.
Not Afraid of Burglars.
"It's a joke on me, of course, but Til
give it to you fellows," said a Cass farm
man to a little group in the city hall yesterday.
"I have a great fear of burglar?.
When I go to bed I want to know that
every door and window is securely fastened.
About a month ago we changed
hired girls, and the new-comer was very
careless about the doors o' nights. On
two or three occasions I came down stairs
at. miflniorht to find a window un or the
back door unlocked. I there ore determined
to put up a job on her. I got
some false whiskers and an old rig, and
one night about 11 o'clock I crept up the
back staiis to her room. She was snoring
away like a trooper, but the minute
I struck a match she awoke. I expected
a great yelling and screaming, but nothing
of the sort took place. She bounced
out of bed with a 'You villain!' on her
lips, seized a chair by the back, and before
I had made a move she knocked me
to my knees. Before I could get out of
the room she struck me again, and it
was only after I had tumbled down the
back stairs that she gave the alarm. Then
she went through to my room, rapped on
the door and coolly announced:
" 'Mr. Blank, please get up. I've
killed a burglar.' "?Detroit Free Press.
Surprising Unanimity.
"I see," said the police reporter last
night, as he paused to sharpen a pencil,
"I see that Bob Burdette has given an
account of a strike he went on when a
schoolboy. I never was on a strike, but I
had a lively experience in another line.
On Friday afternoon when we were expecting
the School Board to come around
and see the school on dress parade, the
boys agreed, with one accord, to speak
"The boy stood on the burning deck."
Well, the Bo ird came, and things were
looking us solemn as a funeral when the
first boy walked out and started off:
" 'The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but him ha i fled;
The flames that lit the battle wreck
Shone round him o'er the dead.'
"He went through the thing without a
smile, took his seat and the second boy
started off:
"' The boy stood on the burning deck,' etc.
"The tcacher's eyes opened wide, and
the School Board looked puzzled, but
the boys all looked so solemn that the
uninitiated thought there was nothing
wrong. The second boy went through
the lust line, took his seat and the third
boy arose. Tse silence was oppressive
until he began:
" 'The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had flea;
The flames?'
'.'But that was all the further he got.
The teacher ro?e in his might, marched
the entire crowd off to a burning deck
adjacent and thrashed the whole caboodle."?Atlanta
Constitution.
Swift's Snow Storm.
"Talking about the signal service and
its bad luck in the weather prophesying
business," said a station agent, "let me
tell you a little story about Swift, Superintendent
of Telegraph on th2 Rock
Island. Some.time last winter the Signal
Service people told Swift they would
furnish him their bulletins if he would
undertake to send them out and have
them posted along the road. Swift accepted
the offer, and thought it a big
thing. He had instructions sent out to
all operators concerning posting of the
weather bulletins, and felt so proud of
the new service cum u? wt-ut uiuuuu
bragging what a good thing it would
b?. In a few days the Signal Service
predicted a very heavy snow storm, and
Swift sent word to the Superintendents,
suggesting that they had better make
arrangements in advance to keep the
tracks clear of the unusual fall of snow
sure to come.
" 'Now. you see,' he .-aid, 'how valuable
this service is to a railroad. When
that snow comes we'll be prepared for it,
*nd not a wheel will be stopped.'
"Instructions were sent out to station
agents and vection bosres, and in some
places gangs -f extra laborers were hired
to shovel mow. But the snow storm
didn't seem 10 be in a hurry, The day
! ' #' . i- i 7 '
fc . * 'v ' - . '
passed as bright and clcar as one could
ask for; the night following was equally
pleasant, and the next day started in as
clear as a morning in June, with no sign
of snow to be discerned.
"The boys couldn't stand it any longer.
First one sent a messenger to Swift inquiring
'Where is that snow storm?' and
then another took it up and sent in his
question. In a few hours Swift received
about five hundred messages' from Illinois,
Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota, inquiring
where that snow storm-was, and
when it might be exported to arrive at
the station of the inquirer. One of the
boys wanted his storm sent by express,
and another asked what snow looked i
like, anyway. In this way they kept it
up until poor Swift was 'knocked out of
the box,' as the DaseDau people say, uou
after giving orders that the Signal Service
reports should be fired from the road
he went home and stayed there for thirtysix
hours."?Chicago Herald.
No Fun in the Judge.
Two Dakota lawyers recently had some
trouble with a new judge and were discussing
the subject. Said one:
"You got thirty days or $100, did
you?"
"Yes."
"Pay the fine?"
.. "No; co'ddu't. Thought thirty days
in jail-was good enough for me. What'd
he fine you<"
"Fifty dollars." i
"Pay it?"
"Ye1, that is, my wife's father did." i
"Of course?I didn't suppose you raised
it jourself. What was it you called the
old judicial snoozer?"
"I was telling him that his counte- i
nance reminded mc of a freight-car which
had been to a smash-up and that in his
various rulings he leaped about from i
wronrr ideas to untenable premises like i
... p - - 4
an insane jack rabbit?when he socked i
it onto me."
"Yes. Now that's the usual talk and
the old judge never objected. I put it a I
little stronger and told him that I could I
only explain the unheard-of ruling9 of the i
court by the supposition that they caiho I
from a man with a spavined intellect and I
then threw my coat and hat and yelled: *i
'Come down, you ancieut antiquity, and I
I'll whale enough sense into your shat- |
tered mind-so that you can hold a posi- i
tion at pounding sand with a ball club! i
Lcmmy get you and disfigure the fair
face of nature by scattering your worth- |
less remains around this judicial district!' i
He said it would be $100 or thirty days i
and then went on and decided the case
against me." i
"Yes, thut's the way it goes?it seems |
he can't tuke a joke. It strikes me that
if this administration is going to send I
many more of these kind of judges ou*. I
here that the tntire territorial bar will be
in jail. If this is the way they are going i
to work it there don't appear to be much
encouragement for a lawyer to take right
hold of a case in earnest aud make Rome
open her mouth clear back to her ears i
and howl."?Eatelline {Dak.) Bell.
Taking Disease From Book?.
111.. : 1 T Ikr.n
VISlCOrS tU ilXlU VUU^IC9Siuuai Jiifcsit?ij
had their attention attracted the other
day by the demeanor of ail old man who
entered with the assistance of a crutch,
writes a Washington correspondent of
the New York Mail and Express. He had '
a bandage over one eye and a roll of red
flannel enveloped one of his hands. He
stored his crutch away by the side of
his chair, adjusted the bandage over his
eye, an I rubbed his side while waiting.
Presently the attendant brought him an !
armful of books that seemed to be inedi- .
cal works. The cripple was soon pouring
over thesj with the deepest interest.
"That's one of them," said the leporter's
companion.
'*I see," replied the reporter. "So devoted
to books that he climbs up the
Capitol steps and comes here to read,
notwithstanding his terribly afflicted
frame."
"Well, it's not exactly that." replied
the habitue. "It's his affliction that
brings him here, and it's bis amiction
that he comes. You see he is, as I said,
one of them. There are enough more.
They come to read up their own cases.
Those books before him speak of blindness,
lameness and rheumatism. He is
one of the best informed men on those
subjects in the city. The more he knows
about the ailments the worse becomes
his affliction, and he will probably add
some new ont-s before he gets through
with that pile of books. When he started
in here he had something the matter
with one of his eyes, and he came to read
up on blindness. By careful study he
hus spread ailments all over himself,
until there is no point in his body that
ain't in torture. He had been reading up
his own case, and has improved upon it.
That's about the way with all of them.
Some of them are actually suffering from
some trouble for wh'ch they are seeking
a remedy. Others are unconsciously
looking for troubles to have. Men who
have some chronic ailment, for which
doctors have been unable to give them
any relief, go to the library and read all
the works they can lind that may, in any
wnv ftnnlv to their case. Some of them
" VJ -rrv
become experts in particular branches of
medicine. They devote their whole
lives to it, and never seem to think i r
speak of anything else. Some, like this
man, discover that they are in possesion
of a great variety of ailmerts, and their
researches into medicine becomes veiy
extensive, though somewhat desultory.
Some get cured of one complaint when
they fall into possession of another, but
others .retain all the old ones and continue
to nurse and train them very carefully
while adding new ones constantly. But
generally they are devoted to one particular
thing, and they pursue that assiduously.
They are one of the peculiar
classes of readers."
Changes in Congress.
There is nothing in this country that
has undergone a greater change tlian
its Congress. When I was in that body,
says Judge James J. Lindlev, of St.
Louis, to a Globe-Democrat reporter, wa
received $5 a day, and even that was an
advance which at that time was strongly
opposed and condemned by some. My
tirst year I received $720, while on the
next year the pay-roll credited me with
about $2,000. The onlv satisfaction now
w i- t? 1 ni
is in knowing that wcDster anu v/my
worked for the same money. Then we
did a great deal of our own committee
work also. Now the pay-roll for committee
clerks is about as large as it then
was for members. This shows a vjist
change. The present members of Congress
can hardly appreciate how the
work was then done.
Thunderstorm in a Clear Sky.
Captain Anderson, of the British bark
Siddartha, which lately arrived in New
York, reported a peculiar thunderstorm
while on the the northern edge of the
Gulf Stream. The sky was quite clear
at the time and the sun shining brightly,
although there appeared to be a thin
mist about the ship. Suddenly there appeared
a vivid Jlash of lightning, accompanied
by violent thunder. The
compass was cau;ed to vibrate perceptibly
for a period of fifteen minutes. I
. _ I
FORT FISHER
HOW THE "KEY TO THE SOUTH"
WAS CAPTURED.
An Assault by a Combined Federal
Force of the Army and Ntfvy?
The Fort taken After a Desperate
Resistance.
The capture of Fort Fisher, the Confederate
stronghold, commanding one
entrance to Cape Fear River, is described
by a writer in the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
The combined assault by the Federal
army and navy force took platee January
14, 1865, and was witnessed by the writer
from one of the attacking vessel*. He
says:
The 14th of January broke cl< ar, and
with a smooth beach and light westerly
wind. The ironclads went in closer than
ever, so that their keels were close to the
sand?impossible except with perfectly
smooth water?and the bombardment
commenced in qu.ie a uuuucas-utie way.
Some re-inforccinents were observed to
be thrown into the fort by a river steamer
which had come down the Cape Fear
River from Washington, and to-day the
combatants were girding the'r loins for
the final strugg'e which every one/elt to
be near. By.11 in the morning the troops
were all landed and intrenched among
some scrubby .woods about a mile and a
half to the northward of t^e fort. Sduth
of this, toward the huge earthwork, there
was an op n space of sand and sedge for
ear a mile. At this time a storming
party of sailors and marines pulled on
shore from the fleet, and were soon
landed; about 2:80 the nava1 column
was ready to advance along the beach,
and at a given sigoal the tiie of the fleet
suddenly ceased, the quiet after such
continuous uproar scjming quite unnatural.
The naval column moved close along
the beach by the. left liank, with the intention
of assaulting the face of the angle
ar main work, which was about forty
feet high and about like a railway embankment.
In addition to these difficulties
there was a very strong stockade,
bolted and battened and strapped together.
Well, it was not a very pleasant
job, but the * sailors and marines
marched down to try it.
As the fire from the fleet ceased, the
garrison came out of their bomb-proofs
and manned the parapet of the * sea-face
Df the fort, shooting at the sailors and
marines from the "coign of vantage" as
if the seafaring people were a covey of
partridges. To a looker-on the people
who manned the parapet appeared only
to fire the loaded pieces which were
handed them by the people in the rear;
and the fire was not only rapid but accurate.
The beach was soon full of dead
and wounded, for there was no protection
from the fire. Some of those
wounded when very close to the water
staggered into the slight, surf, and had
to be assisted out. So heavy and fatal
was this small-arm fire that few of the
assaulting force actually reached the
foot of the mound which formed the
northeastern angle of the fort. They
could go no farther, and having reached
a place of partial shelter at the foot of
the sea-face of the fort, inside the stockade,
they were obliged to stay there until
the approaching darkness, and the
hard fighting on the northern fac i of the
fort, drew the garrison off, to the la9t man,
and enabled the navy people to get away.
In this foolhardy attempt twenty-one
officers of the navy were killed and
wounded, and the loss among the men
was proportionate. As far as the assault
went it was a perfect failure; but the
lives lost were not entirely thrown away,
as the naval attack created a diversion,
drawing the garrison off the sea-face,
distracting their attention, and allowing
the preparations for the real assault to
go on unmolested.
About the time that it was evident that
the naval attack was not to succeed,
there emerged from the scrubby wood
north of the fort the troops destined to
assault the place. These were veterans
from the Army of the Jame3. Rough
looking, with frowsy clothing and disheveled
hair and beards, after their long
and hard experience in the transports,
these soldiers had their arms clean and
bright, and cartridge-boxes filled with
forty rounds, while they aligned and
dressed in line of battle as coolly and
precisely as if on ordinary parade. Probably
there was not a man among them
?* t? J --l i ~
WHO JLiau iiul uei'u iu a uv/xu uuico ucfore.
There was little fuss about it. and
no noise of either bugling or verbal command.
Then suddenly, at a "right
shoulder ~shift" and a ''double-quick,"
the line swept across the sandy plain
which extended from the place of starting
to the base of the huge mamelons
which, running from sear to river, formed
the northern side of the fort.
Some patches of rushes and dried salt
grass were dotted here and there over
the plain, but there was nothing else to
obstruct the view from the Ironsides.
Kearly all the guns upon the northern
face had been di-mountedor disabled by
the severe bombnrdment; but when the
assaulting line came near enough the garrison
opened on it with musketry end a
howitzer, which was run out from a
sally-port, cut great gups in the advancing
line with grape and canister.
Two lield-picces ?t the northwestern
ansrle also began to fire, but were very
quickly silenced by shell from the ironclad*;
but the one at the sally-port,
r\ Trrn inf/\ O /'AV?rnrl TVOTT tr\
\Y 11IUU W(W Uianu i*j w ? v. v ? w v? ? M>T
load, could not be bit, and continued to
do execution. The assaulting force did
not return a shot, and the onward sweep
never ceased,although it swayed at times
when the gaps were cut in it. On such
occasions we could see the officers spring
to the front, and then the line would
straighten out again, leaving many a
poor fellow behind with the salt sand
drinking in his heart's blood.
Such a charge soon carried them to
the palisade at the foot of the great
earthworks, and the pionee:s'axes brgan
to gleam in the western sun, as they
chopped away at the palings, already
shattered in some places by the bombardment.
The fire of small arms now becnir.e
incessant, as the assailants began
to respond.
After what seemed a long delay we
saw the line pass through the obstruction,
and, in another moment, they and
their colors were seen on one of the
western mamelons, sharply defined
against the sky. Then there was a
sharp musketry fip;ht, and men, killed
or wounded, rolled down the steep incline;
yells of defiance and shouts of
1 lAiirlpr nnrl
commana grew iuuuci uuu k/u?v., ......
then there came a rush, a pell-mell struggle.
and we saw the colors slowly me,
and then established on the top of the
next mound. Then more fighting, another
rush, and the next mound was taken,
after the most determined resistance.
Scetn? this, General Terry signaled the
Ironsides to fire into the easterly traverses
and clear them out, which was done with
wonderful precision, until the advancing
fight rendered the shelling as dangerous
to our own troops as to the enemy.
The Confederates fought like tigers,
and the sun went down and night closed
in while this desperate infantry fight was
v V " x:>>' *';r~
? ^
I going on, rendering it impossible to di*
tinguish friends from foes by oar glasses.
Fearfully anxious, yet confident, we
waited on the deck, listening to tha
varying sounds as the two patties fought
at close quarters, guided in their fire by
the flashes of their oppoaents' muskets.
At last, about 10 o'clock at night, there
was tremendous cheering, awi the tide
cf battle suddenly swept away down
toward Federal Point, where the remnant
of the gasri*on. about 2,000 in
number,-laid down their arms. -Thesurrender
was instantly telegraphed
by means of signal lanterns, and every
ship sent up round after round of hearty
cheers; not only for joy at the achievement,
but because there was an end, at '
last, of the weary blockade, on that
dangerous coast, of a nuss important ?
point?so important, indeed, that General
Lee had telegraphed not long before,
"that it must be hold at any cost, otherwise
he must evacuate Richmond." The
Confederacy was by this capture completely
isolated, anciv no more military
supplies could go in, or cotton ?0 out?
and cottoa meant gold, the sinews of
war.
Fort Fisher had btea pronounced impregnable
both by friend and foe, and1
was said to be much stronger than the
celebrated Malakotf, at Sevastopol, by
officers who had seen both places. Alt'
the other forts about the Cape Fear wer? <
of the most approved and' careful eonf
struction, and contained, among them,'
about one hundred and seventy heavy.,
quis, with Hnesof pile.} and torpedoes to
be fired by electricity.
An officer of high rank very pertinently
remarked that the engineer who built
such works, at tl*e expen-eof so much
time and labor. mu*t have had an abiding
fate in the Confederacy. Fort Fisher
had been nearly four years in process of
construction.
Early in the morning after the capture
we came on deck to find a lovely dajfand
the morning sun shining on the stars and
stripes hoisted on the works. About 7
o'clock, while stiH surveying the scene,
we were startled l.y a terrible explosion
within the fort, which threw great masse*
of earth i?nd timber and bodiea>of men
high up into the air, and then n dense
balloon-shaped cloud of powder smoke
and dust hung about the spot in the clcar
air for many minutes The magazine had
blown up. How it happened no one will
ever know, for those who could tall about
it were a'l killed. Some persons suspected
trains laid by the garrison for,the
purpose, but that wa soon seen to be improbable
in high degree; and there was
""1"' oVi^ttt nf F/iiK'in in fhp snnno-ition
UiVtV ouvn Vi *VUwu mmm ?
that careless drunken soldiers or contrabands
h d been exploring with open
lights, and had J;r tl Mime of the powder
olways found about on the floors of such
places after a prolonged engagement
Some-of the officers and seaman of. the ?
fleet, who had been on shore from the
day before, were ncver"heard from, and
there is no doubt they Lad been Ifd by
curiosity to enter the fort, and were blown
up. 'If they had been killed in the assault
their bodies would have b?en found.
Turnincra Penny.
A very valuable nervous tonic in the
multitudinous cases of nervous d bility
which are to 1 e foui.d among our young
people is that afforrie 1 by the excitement
and pleasure of emiing a little money.
The occupation whlcii leads to ths receipt
of payment is. in the first place,
healthful, by taking the mind off the
especial iorm of su e.ing, in whatever
small measure; and the delight of roceiy-''
ing the pay reacts at once on the nerves
as invigoratingly as mountain air does on ,
the lungs. The invalids suddenly find i
themselves of use in the world, not mere
cumberers of the ground; they at once
turn to repeated efforts; they find life
fuller, brighter, radiant with hopes; and
by chance or necessity the work brings
something to think about other th n the
daily disab'lity and despair, something
in which self is lost: and plans are made
and castles built, and often health of
body and mind is restore 1 by means of
the little income, wh'ch has value thus
not only as a revenue but as a medicating
force, and is the ckanest money ever
spent. No drug in ail the pharmacies is
so good u nervine as this self-help. Any
one who can place before such nervous
invalids as are not the children of luxury
and wealth the cha::ce to earn this first
small sum, with promise of more, is doing
work as truly useful a-> that which calls
itself philanthropy on a larger and more
ostentatious scale. Meanwhile, perhaps,
the gift of such opportunitie* is able to
a'Jt quite as strongly with tonic properties
for the children of luxury and
wealth, who cannot be stimulated by the
chance to earn a penny, but may be by
the bestowal of the chance so often in
their power.?Bazar.
History of the Standard Silrer Dollar.
The coinage of th-; standard silver dollar
was first, authorized by act of April 2,,
1792. ltd weight was to be 416 grains
standard silver; fineness, 892.4; which
was equivalent to 371 1-4 grains of fine
silver, wtth *14 3-4 grains of pure copper
alloy. This weight wns changed by act
of January 17, 1837, to 412 1-2 grains,
and fineness changed to 900, thus preserving
the same amount of pure silver
us before. . By act of February 12, 1873,
the coinage was discontinued. The total
number of silver, dollars coined from
1792 to 1873 was 8,045,838. The act of
1873 provided for the coinage of the
"trade dollar," of weight 420 grains, and
an act passed in June, 1874, ordered that
all silver coins should only be '-le^al tender
at their nominal value for ainountj
not exceeding $5." The effect of these
acts was the '-demonetization" of silver,
of which so much h:is been said. Febru?
oo m?a 4-Vi.. Aningcf? nf the standard
arjr -6o, IUIV, vuv
dollar of 412 1-2 grains was revived by
act of Congress. $2,000,000 per month
was ordered coined, and the coins were
made legal tender for all debts, public
and private. From February, 1878. to
November 1, 188-3, 213.257,594 of the
standard dollars were coined under the
above act.?Inter-Ocean.
A Sinful River.
Iu coming down from Benares to Calcutta
we passed the picturesque, but illomened,
River Kurrumnassft, from the
water of which no high-caste native,
though ever so thirsty, will drink. Its
name is in Sanskrit Karmanasha, the *
' destroyer of deeds," and it? legend is a
curious insfance of the superstitions yet
survivinj? in India. The Kurrumnassa
enters the Ganges at Chans:), flowing by
Mirzapore from the hills: but the orthodox
say it came iuto existence by reason
of the sin of Raja Trisang Kni. He had
killed a cow, murdered a Brahman and
married his stepmother?offenses beyond
all forgiveness. Had not his repentance
been so earnest that the gods, in pity at
hist of so contrite a sinner, took water
from all the rivers of the world, and
making Kirrumnassa with them bade the
linja wash away his guilt in its waves.
The threefold crime was thus purged,
but the stream is supposed still to bear
in its contaminated current the evil o?
such heinous deeds, and not a lotu of
any Braham Keshatyra woman is ever
dipped into it.?London Telegraph. >