University of South Carolina Libraries
/ ' - . LOSS AND GAIN. I sorrowed that the golden day was dead, Its light no more the country side adorning; But whilst I grieved, behold!?the East grew red With morning. I sighed that merry spring was forced to go, And doff the wreaths that did so well become her: But whilst I murmured at her absence, lo!? 'Twas summer. I mourned because the daffodils were killed By burning skies that scorohed - my early posies; But whilst for these I pined my hands were filled With roses. Half broken hearted I bewailed the end Of friendships than which none had once seemed nearer; But whilst I wept I found a newer friend, And dearer. * _ J T l Mfranir.111 AUU III US X ICttl UVU viva j/iocwui g.i ui o vgvt Only that something better may be given: Until at last we find this earth exchanged For heaven. ?Goocl Words. THE BURIED TREASURE. Before the occupation of India by the Br.tish it was the r,chcst country in gold, precious stones, rare jewels, fine cloth and cutlery of auy on earth. While the poor were miserably poor, the rich were immensely rich. This was so even up to the breaking out of the great mutiny. "When the British troops were fairly ia line to strike at the rebellion, the watchword was: "ilevenge and loot!' It was understood all through - .1 . T- .1. tae service 111:11 wuatcvw ? auiuici wum lay hands on should become liis plunder. Tiny clidu't light any the worse for that, but they struck a double blow at the Indians. They crippled them financially as well as in a military sense, and the people have never recovered, and never ena. The amount of loot taken out of India during the rebellion and directly afterward has been estimated at ^200. COO, 000. As much more was contributed to the rebel cause by those who could give. Twice or three times as much was lost by fire and sword. Engiaud reasoned that an impoverished people could not rebel, and loot was a part of her war policy. Ten years after , the mutiny I was talking with a Maharaiah in the Pen jab about the financial change in the condition of the people, and he said: "At the outbreak of the war our people buried or hid away at least a hundred million dollars. I do not believe that the tenth part of this great sum has yet been recovered. Those who secreted it were dead before the close of the war, aud this vast treasure is lost to us." 1 did not tell him that 1 had put in a yea. in India, and spent upward of looking for some of that treasure. Such was the fact, however. A couple of Englishmen and myself, forming an ac ;uaintance in Bombay and having a spirit of adventure, pooied our cash aud followed up several pointers looking to buried treasure. We had thus far failed to make any discoveries, and our part nershiphad been dissolved and the men had returned to Bombay. I was in the Penjab on business conuected with an Ameiican house, and had given up the treasure business in di?gust. The words of the Maharajah recalled all my enthusiasm, however, and within an hour after I left him I was determined to have one more pull for fortune, and to get it tlone. This determination was hastened and solidified by another iucident. 1 was talking with a captain of a native infantry regiment regarding some rains I had encountered, and he said: ' You may have left a do/en fortunes behind you. At the outbreak of the war these people concealed a great deal of their wealth in caves and temple?, and a big share of it is there vet. When you stumble on a pile o; ruins aga'n give "the nlare a wood looking over for loot." ' But the natives have done that a hundred tinles over, I should >ay." "Vou are wrong. Where they knew of treasure they may have unearthed it, but they fisjht shy of rambling about hapha aid. They believe all ruins to be haunted, and eveu if they arc not, you will be certain to find hyenas and serpents about." "Have you ever heard of any treasure being recovered?" 1 asked. "Half a do/.en instances, sir. The former Captain of this company went t home with ?50,000 after doing two hour's work in the ruins of a temple near i haulpul. '' The next day I started for Delhi, and there a bit of good fortune waited me. I feli in with a German naturalist who was making a collection for a national museum, and when he learned that I had had considerable experience in that line he engaged mc a< assistant. He had two TAnnr* mnn xritVi Vlim tViilc mol-inrr o Jvu"b """ ?~i ??? ? party of four, and when we struck to the southwest ot' Delhi, intending to take in the plains and ;ungles between tliat city aud .iodhpur, we had six native servants to carry the baggage. < >ur progress was slow and easy, as it was his intention to make a very full collection. The country over which we passed had no lints of railway then, and was unknown to white men except as they had hunted through it. There were tigers and other wild game in plenty, and it seemed to be the nursery of all Ind a for serpents. There were (lays when we could "not march except as the ground was beaten by the natives in our front. There was a thin population, with the villages far apart, but as an ofTset th'i natives were glad to render any aid, especially as soon as they learned that we did not belong to the ruling race. The hate they felt for the English was something terrible. This -district had been almost dcpopulaied and quite impoverished by the war. Petty rulers had been deposed, taxes levied with heavy hand, and the natives worked themselves up to the highest pitch of indignation as they talked " about it. My one object was buried treasure. While doiDg my duty by the Professor, I had opportunity for extensive rambles off the I'ne of march, and I never failed to make inquiries of natives. This, as I afterward learned, was the worst policy I could have adopted. Every ruin was sacred to them, and every white man was a defiler. One might as well have asked them to forgive caste as to have expected them to locate the ruins of a religious temple for a white man. "We had been out about twenty days, and at this time were ir. a permanent camp in & grove of mango trees on the bank of a creek, when a ryot, or common laborer, passed through our catnp on his way to his village, about five miles away. The ruins were in a heavy jungle, but he told me how to strike a path which led near them. But for his excitement he would not have betrayed the location. In about three hours he returned to tell me that he had been mistaken in the location, which was to the south insjead of the west, and if he had said ruins he meant rocks. I was not deceived with his second statement. He wanted to keen me Aw ay from the ruins, and of course I was determined to visit them. If I went, I mus: go alone. Neither :v -.; . : . the Professor nor his young men had gc ever fired at anything more ferocious or than an jackal, and they had no idea of in risking themselves with a tiger. I had or killed two of these during my jaunts ne about the country, and was quite certain th of my nerve in case of another meeting, th The native had described this tiger as fir an old man-eater, who had carried off th many villagers, and, as I must visit the en ruins by day, he would certainly be at sp home. Bright and early next morning I was ready to start. 3Iy excuse to the Professor was that I intended to look for a certain bird which he had been very n< anxious to secure, and he never noticed that I took my heavy ride instead of ashot- un gun. I also had a revolver and knife, and toi it was not more than an hour after sunrise ya when I set out. 1 followed the creek down to where it branched, and there I struck as] the path which the native had described. As near as I could de:ermine it had been made by wild animals coming and going sja between the jungle and the creek, and at the first soft spot I found the itn- on prints of the tiger's paws. They were b0 fresh, too, and there was no doubt of his th, being at home. As I proceeded, the ie!] path wound about iu the most eccentric manner, while the jungle grew thicker. One could not see five feet in any direc- th tion, and the air was shut off. wj The firvt hint that I had reached the qU ruins came iu the shape of a block of . dre-scd stone lyinix rightacrossmy path. jn A e T cfnrttmrl n,,nn it n trrpaf I V41'** ? ?* ~ uil wriggled slowly away from my feet, and an j I saw half a dozen columns and lengths j0j of wall arising among the bushes. jie i ] iftcen years before here had been a j clearing of perhaps a hundred acres, with a village of several thousand people, and pC i a temple covering half an acre of ground. ^5, A man-eating tiger now held sole pos- -pj session, while the clearing had grown up j to jungle, and tire or explosion had laid pa i the great temple in ruins. Ten feet m? ' ahead of me was a second block. I ! passed to that, and then the patn turned jj. J 10 the right and ran over a fallen wall. As I reached this latter place and looked pe i around, the tiger was stretched out on [0 the earth before me in a little open fu; . space. His legs were drawn up and he j ap 1 was gasping, and though I was greatly j startled for a moment, I soon realized I ^ J that he was dying. Indeed, he did not j tu] ' live above two minutes alter I set eyes j q-j, ! on him. As I afterward learned, the j jiu natives had poisoned the body of a man j he had killed and only ha'.fdevoured, ; and in finishing his repast he had met jjs ] his fate. He had doubtless just returned t^( i from satisfying his thirst at the creek. j It was well for me that I did not come a ?j?; j' few minutes earlier. I examined the et, ! body closely, and found the tiger to be t]1( , old and mangy, with muny of his teeth ^ i decayed. Tluse were sure evidences that ca; he was a "solitary," and had no mate. I need, therefore, have no fear that any other animal more savage than a hyena was concealed in the near vicinity. coi The temple seemed to have been blown ?.r( up withgunpowder. The walls were torn ar( and rent and knocked down in every di- ajr rection, and column and block and tjn carved work lay heaped together in ,j0 strange conius on. i was oewuaerea to fu| see the vegetation growing up through j0( the ruins so profusely, ana it stood me in hand to move carefully in such a ro) snake-infested spot. I picked my way t0( carefully to the center of the ruins, and i here I got a pretty fair idea of what the ^ building had been. Here were the re- ^ mains of a shrine or altar, which had rjp once been the cleanest of marble. It was 0?, now stained and moss-grown and cov- so ered with creepers. To look for buried y;, treasure in such a jumble was like look- ^ ing for a needle in a haystack: b it I had an( come for that purpose, and felt that I ?pjj must make a beginning. Flinging sev- m eral stones into the bushes to frighten orc any lurking serpents awav, I put down (rr( j my gun and begun at the creepers. In a ? . little while I uncovered what I said was sor an altar or shrine. It may not have jus been. From the stone floor there was a ^ . solid wall,about six feet high, enclosing jjU, a space about six feet square. The stone which rested on these four walls was a | foot thick, and carved around the edges. erg I could not tell whether the walls en- _0( closed a space or the whole cube was |re solid as a support for a pillar, but after a tw, j close inspection I discovered a spot jia] where the end of a lever might be in- _0( serted. I'had brought a hatchet to help me through the jungle. "With this I orj cut and trimmed a small tree, and after i ln i. ~tr l T 1 i 4.1.? ~:l u liiUvil CilVSib X lUUoCUl.ll 111V VUpMUUC UUL11 , I could see that the walls -enclosed a sur space. On the surface of this capstone < I clcaly made out where the foot of a _CJ pillar, which had probably helped to ?aj support the roof, h:id rested. It lay SW( near by, but was broken by its fall. i! It was not more than eight o'clock in eQC the morning when I reached the ruins, t^e but it was two o'clock in the afternoon or b?fore I had the heavy stone slewed around far enough to upset its equilibrium and force it to fall off. I was , in a tremble of excitement from the , first, and as I slewed the stone further | I?0, and further arouud I felt more and more j J s:inguine of a large cavity beneath. I a { would not look in, however, until the I 1 stone was clear o.T. When I did bend j over the wall and look down it was to ! a, find a wooden chest occupying nearly j 1 all the spacL*. I sounded it with a pole, |1 ? and it gave back such a solid echo that j ve( I saw I must pull the wall down to get I at it. This took me an hour or more, 1 ?n as the planter wa- as hard as the stone, | ^ but at length I was at the chest. It j ov( was closed but not locked, and as I ; fieD threw up the lid my eyes beheld such a citrlif !t? will snlflrvm rnmfi tn min. That ! chest held a gcnd solid ton of loot, ne'' how many tens of thousands of dollars' ! worth I cannot say. There were all the j Go gold coins of India. There were bracelets and rings, and earrings and j charms and bars of gold. There were | 1 diamonds and pearls and rubies and a I other precious stones. Some were in iut leather bags, some in parcels, some tied eve together, and on the lid of the trunk wi] was a list of articles with the names of ma owners. . rur I hung over the chest for perhaps half kit an hour, hardly daring to breath lor fear bri it would fly away. I was rich, rich be- dei yond the wildest dream a poor man ever Fr< had. This was loot. It was all mine if Pr I could keep the find from the tjovern- be; nient o'licials. I could not remove it I ]{i< without help. I was a stout man, but I ! Ca could not have lifted one end of the his che-t clear of the ground. I took a paper containing four diamonds, a pack- Bo age of gold coin which counted up about by and a couple of bars of the metal, ' Bo and started back to camp on a run. I j had I ecn &o taken up with my work that I had given no attention to any- i ( thing else. 1 now discovered thut the is heavens were rapidly darkening, and I sw had only just reached camp when a ter- ne< rible storm set in, and never let up for oni a moment until after midnight. The go< story of my discovery, told only to the pU white men of the party, created intense ful excitement, but the storm and the dark- foi 1 ness prevented any move. As 6oou as th< daylight came, however, we were oil', ni{ | but a terrible disappointment was in we store for us. The chest was there do as I had left it, but everything in the bu shape of contents had been removed. T1 Without a doubt, some uative had been no spying on me the day before as J worked. Tl and he had <?iven the alarm and brought an ( a party to the spot during the night. I ^ (or >t $25,000 out of it as it was, but it ily served to annoy me. At five o'clock the afternoon I had the wealth of two three kings in my hands. At sunrise :xt morning all had vanished?all but e triflle I had carried away to prove e fact of my discovery. It was my st and la^t find in India, and I never ink of it without being inconsistent onorTi tn hone that everv dollar of the O? J ^ oil caused the death, of a native. The Lnscions Peach. While strolling along the river front a jw York Te'egram reporter met a Delrare peach grower superintending the loading of a cargo of the fruit. He ok things easy and talked by the rd. "Where did the peach or'ginate?" ted the reporter. "No one knows for a certainty, though origin is generally credited to Peril some careful investigators conclude to be really a native of China. It is c of the fruits earliest cultivated: some tanical writers think it is derived fiom e almond: the stain-kernel and the ives, you know, have a bitter almond ang, the kernels in both are often uble, and it rather a curious fact that e peach is not mentioned in the Bible, lile reference to the almond is freent. "It grows in everyplace, but it is only this country that good peaches are eap enough for poor people to buy, J ?) ? ?nn!Anc immpd intfll V }ld U. V.UIJf in . j ? ininpr good peach sections is this true re. * irst class fruit is seldom even in 3 best seasons, sold cheap in the Mid2 and Western States. Plenty of ache3 are shipped but the best sell jh. !New York is a favored city, ley'rc cheap enough here for anybody, should say?a regular peach lover's radise; I suppose no fruit has so inv extravagant lovers as the peach. "Some persons would like it better if had a smooth skin. I have a little ;1 who won't eat a peach unless it's eled for her, and she can't be induced handle them in the basket: savs the r.z sets her 'all on edge,'like a sour pie does your teeth. "The tree is not naturally short lived, Dugh it is subject to so many misfor aes that it has gained that reputation, lere are trees in Virginia well on to a ndred years old, and there was one in ance thought to be older. "The stem-kernel, and not the stem elf, is the seed. Fruit is usually borne s fourth yeai after the stem is planted, 3ugh sometimes in sixteen month?, te seeds rarely produce their own vari7, so that numberless new sorts are all a time growing; some of these will rive anywhere, others only in the lolity which has developed them. Most the standard varieties in this country ve originated here. "In places where the climate is too Id for outdoor growth the peach is own in houses. These peach houses : not heated, protection from the outer being sufficient. The trees are somenes planted in tubs, and kept trimmed wu to about three feet; when these are II of fruits they're mighty pretty to >k at. There are some tine peach uses in this country, but more in EuDe. The tree is trained on walls there, /, tv piutvvi AW# "The best peaches never reach market, peach is not perfect unless ripened on ; tree, but if we were to pack them >e they'd be rotten when opened: even 2 soft one in a crate will spoil the lot, we have to pick them when hard, d you ever notice baskets with small ;en branches of the tree at top i bottom? Those are 'sprigged.' e choice peachcs are marked that way. ben the fruit is all gathered from an :hard we fertilize and plough the trvrnno fVlO + r/>p JUL1VJ. auu |/iuuv vuv vivvt "The amount of peaches canned is nething tremendous. The process 19 it the reverse of the kitchen method, woman heats the fruit, then cans it, t in the factory it is canned, and then ited to expel the air. "Some peach trees bear double flowbeautiful as roses, but the fruit is no ad. The dwarf peach is a queer little e that hears fruit when only one or 0 feet high. The weeping peach is a idsome lawn tree; the fruit is only id for cooking. The branches droop e those of the weeping willow; it was ginated by a New Jersey man. The od leaved peach is wonderfully strong spring.but the leaves bleach out in umer. The queerest fruit produced by the tch comes from China. One sort is led the crooked peach, but it's so set it can afford to be crooked; the1 ier has the pulp all on the sides, the Is of the stem having nothing over m but skin. That's ' the flat peach, peen-to." Writing by Wire. 'Mercy on us! That looks like the >kkeeper's writing on the telegram, lope nothing's happened to your her." 3unh a remark made a few months ago uld have subjected the speaker to not ittle ridicule, but the onward march scieuce is robbing us of our jokes at ! same tune luia ?L auuo iu um wu riences. n July :)lst a patent was granted to Illinois professor for a telautograph, means of which messages may be sent >r the wire in the handwriting of the tder himself, without the assistance of operator. It is possible, therefore, it the poets aud Presidents of the it generation may be asked for their ographs by "return current."? Idea t.rgoiy. A Cat Mart in France. L cat mart has been started here, says 'aris letter, i suppose jo nm gwn 0 a market, and in time to como >lve a journalistic organ. What fun it 11 be to read the quotations and rket reports, which last may probably 1 thus: Tabies. dull; toms, buoyant; tens, lively: Ang.iras, depressed; ndled, very brisk; Persians, in great nani'l; tortoise-shells, heavy. The jnch, from the concierge to the ime Minister, are Keenly alive to cat mties. Did not the redoubtable zhelieu allow a pet tabby to use hit rdinal's hat for her nursery? The cat i now in France, in Lambert and dame Konner, its Landseer and Ilosa nheur. What wonder, therefore, if and by we were to have a cat urse. Outside the Capitol Dome. Dn the outside the dome of the Capitol a great big bird house. Pigeons, allows, and eveu sparrows build the r its in the ornamental work, and one ce built in the head-dress of the ddess. When the painters go up to t a coat on the iron they get buckets ,i of squabs. Dead birds are often ind on the balcony, having killed ;mselves against the light during jht sessions. When the electric lights :re there the balconies and top of the me used to be covered with curious gs and deadbirds of various sorts. ie dirt thus caused was one reason for t permitting the light to stay there, ie dome is a great way up in the air, d is a little world of itself.? Wusfdri'ii Star. 1: ' ;* V- V.v BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. I A Cannibal Idvl?Valne ReceivedEducational Item?A Reader of Character?Early or Late, Etc., Etc. A cannibal maiden loved too well A missionary good. And lie loved her, but dare not tell His love?for thus it stood: A cnnnibul she and a clergyman he, And their creeds were wide apart; And how could he take, for a sentiment': sake, A cannibal to his heart? Oh, 'twas a problem vexin?, very, For the cannibal maid and the missionaryIndeed it was. But the cannibal maiden's love grew bold, For she was a simple thing; And thus her love to her love she told; "Oil, marry me! Be my king! For I love you, my sweet, well enough?oh to eat! 'Tis a terrible thing, I know; i But I must be your bride, or encompass yoi fried? j Ob, I must, for I love you so!" | Oh, 'twas a problem vexing, very, 10 cno maiueii, out more to ins missionary? Indeed it was. He looked in the depths of her dark browr eyes, With their wealth of Jove and trust, And he cried, in the flush of a glad sur prise: "Ah. well, if I must, 1 must!'' i They were wed on that day; for'tis ever the I way That passion must conquer creed. I And a happier pair it's remarkably rare | To discover?it is indeed! i And so 'twas settled nicely, very, For the cannibal maid and the missionary? Indeed it was. ?Chicago Mail. Value Received. Wife?"The laundry-man didn't get i very good polish on your shirt-bosoms this week, George." Husband?"Well, it's as good a polisl as I could expect for the $1.48 I ow< him."?Judge. Educational Item. First Student?"Vou haven't got an] I idea of what a contemptible opinion J j have of our professor." Second Student?"Humph! I guess ; that's the reason you didn't answer anj of the questions he asked you yesterday at the recitation."?Fliegende Blaetter. A Reader of Character. Mendicant?"Please help a poor blinc | man.' Kind Old I.ady?"Blind? Why, bless j me, yes; there's a dime for you."* .Mendicant?"Thank, ye, heartily, ma'am. I knowed the minnit I see y< comin' ye was a kind-hearted ole' ooman.' ?Epoch. Early or Late. Mamma (the next morning).?"Edith, my dear, I don't think you should hav< | such late callers. Air. Simpkins stayec I here until alter eleven last nignt:" Edith?11 Why,mamma! How can yoi I call him a late caller? I'm sure it wai only a few minutes after seven when h< called!?Puck. Too Hl?jh a Valuation. Customer (to bird fancier)?"My wif< wants a parrot. What's the lowest vol will take for that bird?" Bird Fancier?"Fifty dollars, air, is rock bottom." i Parrot?"Come off,you've tiied to sel j me for twenty!"?Life. A Tender-Hearted Millionaire. A tramp calls on a rich banker anc ; describes his sufferings so graphicallj that the banker, shedding tears copiously, rings for his servant, and in i voice choked with sobs, says: "Fire this tramp out into the street, He makes my heart be be-bleed. Bo-ho hoi"?Sijtinfji. Both Saddest When He Sings. Mr. Sampson (finishing song)?"Dc you know, Miss Smith, that I am always saddest when 1 sing?" Miss Smith (gently)?"I feel very much that way myself, Mr. Sampson." Mr. Sampson?"Ah, then you, too, sing sometimes:" Miss Smith?"No, I never sing."? Timed. A Careful Mother. Bad Little Boy (to good little boy)? "Hey, .johnny, doesyer wan' ter take a i hand in de ball game?" Good Little Boy?"No, I thank you; I my mamma doesn't allow me to play with bad boys." Bad Little Boy?"What's de matterdoes yer ma t'ink you'll make de bad I boys wuss i"?Life. Not to be Considered. Friend?"I hear, Charley, that the pretty Miss Argyle is engaged." fwJfVi ft frnsnl?4 'Rn 1 'VJ \ ? ? O ?I*' o-c Great Scott, Fred, I love that girl myself:" Friend?"I got it straight. The eni gagemsnt was made at Saratoga last August." Charley (relieved)?"Thank heaven! It won't count."? New York Sun. "Crushed Hopes. "And what answer do you make to rny appeal."' he asked, as he knelt at her feet. "James, I will be frank with you," she murmured. "Oh, speak," he implored, "and relieve me from this aijonv of suspense." "Then let me say it cannot be." ""Why not?" "Because, James. T do not feel able to support a husband.?Bos on Courier. Will Re Back Presently. | Mrs. Hendricks was making an after\ noon call on Mrs. llobson, when Mr. j Hobson opened the front gate and strode ; down the street. I "What a very fine-looking man your husband is, Jlrs. Hobson," said Mrs. Hendricks; "so erect and soldierly in his bearing." "ies," returned Mrs. Hobson, not without pride, "Hobson carries himself well. He was educated in a military school, you know." "Is he going away?" "Only to the grocer's for a cod-fish." ?Epoch. "Wanted a Kecord for Silence. "Mildred," said he, while his larynx ! quivered with tremulous pathos, "have j I offended you?" "No, George, you have not." "Then why are you so silent ?" "Do not ask me." "Hut darling, think, you have spoken I scarcely twenty words in the lu>,t hour. I : cannot bear the gloomy quiet. Why do you not speak: Why do you not talk?' I "Because, (Jeorge, I want fame. 1 am i a woman and I am trying to make a | record."?Merchant Traveler. She Was Too Modest, to Ask. ".John," she said, as she toyed witli one of his coat buttons, "this is lea}: year, isu't it;" "Yes, Mamie," he answered, as ] looked fondly down on her golden hei that was pillowed on his manly bosoi ^ says the Pittsburg Post. "This is the year when the proposu -- J 1 4.1. la uuue uy lug juuuy luuiuai "Yes." "I hope you don't expect me to propo to you?" "Why, Mamie, dear, I never gave t matter a thought?I?er?to ?to tell t truth, I've only known you for?that to say " "I'm glad you didn't expect me propose. I m not that kind, I hop No, John, dearest, I couln't be so in modest. I am going to let you do t' proposing yourself in the old-fashioni 3 way. The old-fashioned way is goi enough for me." And the gentle maiden gave her lov . a beaming smile, and yet the you rejoiced that he had found such a trcasu of modesty. Matrimonial Item. An old German played it rough on 1 > son-in-law. He had freouently stati that he was going to give his daught i $'20,000 after she was married. Althouj she was as homely as a stone fence ai on the shady side of thirty-live, she hf lovers three times three, and finally si gathered in a good-looking young repr bate. After they had b*en marrii 1 about, a month it occurred to the youi member that a motion to take up t! . appropriation bill would be in ordc When he had succeeded in making 1: solid old father-in-law comprehend t > situation, the old gentleman ostent tiously shelled out a whole dollar. The young husband still lingered as he was waiting for the performance go on, but the old man rang down ti curtain by saying: "Ya, 1 give dot $ .'( 000, but not all at vonct. I pays y< won dollar every year." "So I won't get all that money, un { the year A. D. :il,S34." j 14Ta, ya, der vas blenty times* doi be in a hurry my dear poy."?Sifting A Responsive Parrot. Once upon a time, as they say in fai: stories, a wicked Ma or in the Unit* *** * * * ?? ~ J A 1 *% | OLUics Army crussuu. mc Atiaun^ m I steamer. In the next room to his was r I spinster, of a certain age, as thorough ^ good as the Major was wicked. Both them were accompanied by parrots 3 large conversasional power. The Maj r was taking a parrot to England to prese I it to a friend in the English Army: ti spinster apparently had brought aloi the bird as a travelling companion. Both birds vere exceptionally clcv * linguists, but their talents had be< molded in opposite schools. TheMa,oi 3 j bird swore like a trooper most ot t time, while the spinster's was given ? : praying with forty-parson power. An j I to make matters worse, the Major spe a day in the forecastle with his bi teaching it to objurgate the old womi in the next cabin. The consequence w that the next evening the spinster w ? : astonished to hear a voice stridentiysa * i Confouud that old woman next door!' ' i But how can her disgust be pictur I when her own bird, devoutly quotii II from the Episcopal Litany, replie } j "Good Lord, we be?eech Thee to he 1 us!"?Ne.o York Tribune, Courtship of Katydids. j In the twilight of evening my atte i tion has been drawn, says a writer the Cha'ita>t<,unn, to quite an unust s j syllable sound?ka. ka, kat, ka. Ti ! repetition was sharp and incisive. Inc 1 ' ? * * miioi/?{ana nraro vaiii [ UUlIIg- IJLl&l bliC iliuoji/iwuo n vt v j vu< aud full of life, and why they did n complete the sentence?Katy did, Ka did it?aroused my curiosity sufficient I to iucite an investigation of the matte r Steppingout on the veranda I soon foui . Miss Katy on a vine which ran over ti i piazza, surr mnded by a group of gi lants. Whether she was a sad flirt ai , had brought the infliction upon hers< . of so many callers, or whether it was h own inherent loveliness and beauty th attracted so many at the same time, w not for me to know; I could see on , the result of some law or katydid ei i quette which was inexplicable to me. j There were five of these young suito ; looking precisely alike, and. so far as I could see, no preference was shown one more than to another by the fi Katy, who was seated on a spray . honeysuckle and embowered by an ovc hanging cluster of belated flowers. II J visitors walked around her in a sloi courtly manner, with their long, antenr , lying straight back over their wing But every little while one and another the number would politely salute her t bringing forward his antenna: and gentl ! waving it over her: tlien wou'd con the sharp chorus of voices - ka, kat, k; ?all talking at once, when the suiti I would subside and replace his antenn over his back and fall into rank with tl j others. Happening to know that anoth , female was not far away I secured h and placed ber near this sroup, tniukir i thereby to divide their attention. I pi [ her beiow them, knowing her tendem would be to walk upward rather thj down. .She no sooner reached the par than the iirst Miss Katy began to rise i until she stood on the very tips of h i toes, looking like a young giautess, au ' i all the time waving her autenniv as if dismiss her, while the sharp click of tl males resounded on every side, as if a suring her of their entire devotion, ar that they would not be swayed fro their loyalty by this unbidden gues She did not tarry long, however, bi walked away with a single follower, at only oue of the gallants saluted her she" passed, touching her with his a tennr. : The mode of communication amor all insects is with these organs aud f< aught we know their language may be , perfect with them as ours with us. Wheat Growers Contrasted, i It makes one's heart ache, says an o servant traveler in the New York Cot, mnrrinl Adrertiur, to think of the Bri ish wheat grower as you see the ceres in Iudia, even in a native State. Win you get to British territory the whoa maize, barley, grarnm and jowary ar ma nilicent. How ran the British farm grow wheat against the Bombay ryo He has six sunny days a month, n thirty : still clay land, perhaps, not blac cotton-growing soil that will bear whe ' fifty years running without any manu whatever; costly labor, not skilled lab' at twelve cents a day, and unskilled i C cents; complicated machinery, not plough so simple that one could make i oneself, and so ea-ilv handled that oi man with four bullocks works it invar ably; live-year rotation, not whe yearly: heavy rent, not T/0 to $1 p acre for irrigated wheat land, $1.75 t' 7.") cents for unirrigatcd; expensr habits, with a hunter and a piano, not | wile who keeps the house and cloth the family on $1 or $1.a week; ar [ donkeys to be h'red at $1.25 per sco t per day; harvest in September, not February; land pulverized by the froa i not by the genial and unfailing sun. t j There are -1000 theatres in the Fnit< , States and a million dollars a day ' spent for amusements. Zf' ' - >f -^7 V- \ v';3r?^' he I If ACT P1I cnurvAi CJ id MUOJLEjJU. OIjIIUUIJO. a, , lg THE NOISY SYSTEM OF MOHAMMEDAN EDUCATION. 90 The Yonnjj Pagans Sit All Day , on a Mat and Yell at P? tbe Top of Their Shrill Voices. to If the stranger in a Moslem country in. >e. passing through tbe streets is attracted i- by a noise, for which he cannot satisfaclie torily account, toward the building in sd which the school is held, he will, on 3d looking iu, probably see a long and narrow room, at one end of which is seated er a man with a long beard (schoolmasters th retain their beards even when whiskers re only are sanctioned by generr.l usage), the sides are lined with little boys of various ages squutted upon their heels on the floor, which i3 generally covered lis with a thick mat, in addition to which L'd those parents who can alford it provide! er their sons with a bit of carpet or felt in1 jh Persia, or with a cushion in Turkey, to id place between them and the mat. Some id of the older boys go so far as to obtain he a cushion to introduce between their i ? t? - - J xi.- ii u..4 O- DUUh.5 uuu me wan, uut wis iuauij jo ed rather discountenanced by the masters ig as an encroachment on their own pehe culiar dignities. All the boys have their ;r. heads covered, but they are without lis theirshoes, which are leit near the door,' he so mingled and so similar in shape and a- color that it would seem difficult for each to hud his own: but on the breaking up if every one seems to slip his feet into his to own shoes without any of that individual he hesitation or general confusion which ),- might be expected. 3U When the boys are learning their lessons, or repeating them to their master, til they do so all at once with a loud voice, and with a continual seesaw of the body, i't without which movement they seem to ra. conceive it impossible that anything can be learned. The scene which this urt'ords is extremely ludicrous to a European, rv particularly as the zeal of the learner is 2d estimated by the loudness of his voice' ?nH violflnftfi of his seesaw: and a hence, when conscious of the approach of ly a person whom the master or pupils wish of to impress with a favorable opinion of of their application and progress the noise or in the schoolroom, which may previously nt have sunk to a low hum, rises abruptly tie to the clamorous uproar of many voices, ig It seems that in reading all at once to the master the elder boys, in the school at er large, arc expected to give some atten2a tioa to the others near them. The masr's ter cannot, in such a noise, distinguish he the individual accuracy of each reader, to and his attention is therefore directed to. d, observe that time is as nearly as may be nt kept by the voices,and, in some measure, rd iu "the motions also of the pupils. This m object seems but poorly attained. This us style of reading is most unnatural. It is as a drawling chant, uttered in a very loud y; voice. In the East generally the tone of the ed voice is very high, even in common coaQg versation, but in reading it is raised to d: screaming. Some Arabs desired a friend ar of mine to let them hear him read, writes a correspondent of the London Standard. He complied, on which they exclaimed:, "You are not reading, you are talking!" The fact is, however, is that except ;n- among those of the learned professions, in few of those who have professedly uu learned to reaa in tae scuuuis cau ur uu he exercise the acquirement in afterlife; ii* aud the few who do remain actually qualQg itied to read with facility rarely do so ot without some stimulus incomparably ty stronger than would be required in this ly or, perhaps, any European country. After sr. a residence of several years among Moid hammedan people, I do not recollect he more than three instauces in which I il- have seen persons quietly engiged in ^d reading a book to themselves, although ilf all the acticns of their ordinary life are er much more exposed to public notice than at can well be imagined in this country, as These facts are easily explained, ly Books are expensive articles of luxury in ti- Mohammedan countries, and this is alone sufficient to account for much that rs we have stated. Before the' introducI tion of the art of printing the state of to knowledge among the people was not iir more favoruble in this country than it i3 of in Persia now. There is also another :r- less obvious circumstance, which would er have great influence even were the manu-V, script books much more common and ix' cheap than they are. This is the difii;s. culty of reading manuscript. of An Oriental manuscript is a sort of ?y shorthand which many more persons are ly able to write than read. The words are ie | abbreviated, as in shorthand, by the it omission of vowels, and when the words or are deciphered the want of punctuation i.-i? I rpndprs ir. often difficult to discover at le once the meaning of the phrases. A stranger is very iiable to be deceived in er estimating the competency of a Mohamer mediin to read. A very large part of a ig common education consists in learning at by heart a very considerable portion of ij the current literature, particularly of the iu Ivoian. He. is, therefore, able to repeat ty by rote the most striking passages of alip most ajay of the very limited number of er I book* which are likely to be placed beid fore him. He will turn over its leaves to until he can tiud some passages with ie which he is acquainted, and will repeat s- it correctly as if from the book; but, if id suddenly interrupted, he is afterward m tjuite unable to indicate the part of the i. page at which the interruption took nt place. id ? as A Chinese Parable. u" Joaquin Miller has been translating for the New Vork in-lrjjendent some 13 quaint stories from an old Chinese history 3r in his possession. Here is one of them: as "In the Chinese dynasty lived a boy named Wu Ming, who at eight years of age furnished a wonderful example of filial piety. k -His parents were poor; indeed, such J was their poverty that they were unable t to provide themselves with mosquito (l* uetting, and so found themselves exposed to the cruel assaults of those "t ferocious little animals. The filial heart Ir[ of the sou would not allow him to look with complacency upon the restless, sleeple-s condition of his revered parents, and so every summer's night he retired early, long before his father and mother, 'x and allowed the mosquitoes to take a lull meal of his tender Uesh and pure bl.tod. Although they wf-re very many, t hi- would not drive them away iest, their I hunger being uusatisiied. they go from A him to disturb the rest of those he loved better than he loved himself. ? "Truly he excelled all others in filial ^ piety and the love he cherished for his er parents." to \n Ecccntric Interment. John A. liobinson, a wealthy and ec* ecntric citizen of Norwich, Conn., died c? recently. 11 is will provided that his | body be kept three days before being Fe I placed in the grave. It was further orin dercd that the grave be o made that an ? exit from it would be easy. A hammer was to be placed near his right hand, and a lamp kept burniug in the grave d j for three days and nights. These direcis | tions were carried out to the letter, but i with no startling result. ????? ? POPULAR SCIENCE Natural gas is being used for a great variety of purposes. A Spanish astronomer thinks he has seen it snow in the moon. It is very injurious to eat cologne on sugar to brighten the eyes. M. Babiana, a French scientist, claim* to have discovered organs of sight in the vegetable growth called pandorina. James Wallack, an Australian engineer, is at work upon a steamship which he says will make sixty miles an hour. England claims the largest electric light in the world. It is in the lighthouse at St. Catherine's, and its capacity is 00,01)0 candle power. Some people are inquiring why M. Pasteur, tiie originator of innoculation for rabies, does not devote his attention to studying yellow fever germs. A late invention of Thomas A. Edison is an electrical meter by which the flow of electricity can be measured with as much ease a? gas now is by a gas meter. ""The editor of the Vis lievolkeruj, Ger mun, estimates tue population ot tne -world to be 1,4:5-4,0'JO,000. M. Levasseur, . ;4?jjj French. puts it at 1,43:3,000,000,a difference of 4u,000,0u0. Tobacco, being a narcotic, naturally benumbs the nerves. When the nerves j are thus beuumued people do not see as 'J distinctly, and this defectiveness of vision tends to increase and become permanent. French physicians are reporting great success with the prompt internal use of antiseptics in cases of typhoid fever. Alter disinfection of the intestines, according to this method, the disease runs a short course. Dr. Younger's plan of implanting natural teeth in place of those lost has proven less successful than was hoped,as the roots gradually undergo absorption, causing the teeth to loosen and fall out after a year or two. A curious fact revealed by the phono- * graph is that people generally do not know their own voices. The huabaatf ^ will recognize his wife's voice in a > phonogram, and tne wife will recognize ; the husband's, but neither will recognize their own speech. The Brazilian pottery tree contains 10 large an amount of silica that the bark is much used tor pottery-making. The ashea of the bark are mixed with claT ' in varyiug proportion, producing" ft superior and very durable ware. The fresh bark cuts like soft grindstone. Professor Pickering, of the Harvard College observatory, regards the so-called canals of Mars as areas of vegetation? possibly immense cultivated tracts. The canals are usually some 30 to 150 miles broad by 2000 to 3000 mile3 long, and most of them appear in parallel pairs. At the Council of Electricians, an essayist stated that an alternating current is more likely to destroy life than a direct current of double or triple the strength. The number of volts by which the alternating current is usually measured is no criterion in regard to its dangerousnes3. A specimen of volcanic ash collected ?:.x recently on the coast of Ecuador, South , A ?ma?!aa 1 OA ?mi)aq fnam OnfAnnvi KttO X\UlCi lift, 1M'; 1UIICO liUiU uuw , pi been analyzed. The ash fell in July, 1835, and formed a deposit to the depth of several inches. The interesting feature in the composition of the material was the presence of a small amount of silver, ; probably as silver chloride; the result o 1 several experiments showed that silver was present to the extent of one part in 8:J,0u0 of ash. This is believed to'b? the first instance in which silver hai been identilied in material ejected from a volcano. , Vegetable Lore. According to the Toronto Globe, the ) word pea comes from the Greek city, Pisa, J in Ellis, where they were grown in large quantities. The mess of pottage for which Esau sold his birthright was a dish of peas. They were called leutilla then, and it is said that in Middlesex and Oxfordshire, England, the common people still call them "tills," dropping kn "Ion ? Tn tliA rftlnrn nf Marv thav fcUV 4VU' *"w wo~" *"?* . cj were called Reason,1' and 111 the reign of Charles I. "pease." The uses of beans were anciently rather more sacred than culinary. Among the Egyptians it was held to be some sort of a crime to look at them, and Pythagoras forbade them to be eaten. In Athens a-v.' judicial as well as a sacred character is 7V attached to them, and they were used in gatheriug the votes of the people in electing magistrates and in drawing lots. In-England they were unknown until 1300. ' Asparagus, brought to Erg'and in Elizabeth's reiqn, was cultivated so assiduously by the Iiomans that Plin? says in his time three heads weighed one pound. It was cooked by rapid boiling, and Augustus, in /equiring haste on any business, is reported assaying: "Let that be done quicker than you would boil asparagus." ''0 m ?? Always Say "Arkahnsali." The proper pronunciation of "Arkansas" is "Arkahnsah," accented on the first and last syllables. This was the old Indian pronunciation, which the early French traders expressed in letters as "Arkansas." The French a is always broad, and the final s is silent; so "Arkansas" to the French was pro- v, nounced "Arkahnsah." Cong-ess spelled the name, in the act organizing the . i Territory, "Arkansaw," aud for some years the name continued to be so spelled. Finally, as every one knew the pronunciation, the original spelling was brought again into use. Then, however, came a people who knew not the history or the pronunciation of the word, who called it "Arkan/.ass," with the accent on the second syllable; and this mispronunciation throve, and was accepted by many. In 18*0 the State Historical and the Eclectic Societies jointly investigated the name and its pronunciation, and on tholr report, the substance of which is given above, the Legislature of the State decided that the legal pronunciation was "Arkahnsah."? Xt'C York Sun. . . The Infant King's First Command. The Iving of Spain, who is barely in short dresses, has already distinguished himself as a spe iker. Although he has finished with his wet nurse, he is very much attached to her, and objected strongly, as she her.<elt did, when the order arrived that her services were to be dispensed with and she was to return to her husbaud and child in the country. The Ouecn Regent refused to interfere on behalf of her royal baby or his nurse, and the nurse app'ied to the Kiag himself. She was at that time teaching him to say a few words, and evidently trained him in one particular sentence. When, a few days ago, he was taken into a room where great dignitaries of state were assembled to meet their sovereign and see that he was going on well, the latter shouted in very pure Spanish: "The nurse must stay. I want it so." In Spaiu a direct order from the King, even if he can hardly talk, must be attended to, and so the artful nurse, according to the story, is to be retained, at least for the present, ~2feu> Yvrk Sun* - V :<r<M