The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 22, 1890, Image 8
A DANDY CRUSTACEAN.
I
ALL ITS TIME SPENT IN OUTGROWING
ITS OLD CLOTHES.
The Life of ? Shedder Crab?How He Increases
and Winn the Favor of Fishermen
and Epicures?Where He is Caught.
Man and Fish Are His Enemies.
The shedder crab is known to fishermen
equally well as an excellent bait and a
costly article of merchandise. The rest of
mankind is not so well acquainted with
liim, yet he is a very interesting fellow.
All kinds of lish show a high appreciation
nf his fine analitics. which noes a long way
toward proving that fish know more than
we are disposed to give them credit for.
Nor is the crab at all ignorant of the active
demand, for as soon as he reaches the shedder
stage* lie seeks the strictest seclusion
which his surroundings grant.
The crah is the Beau Brummel of crustaceans,
and indeed no living creature gives
so much time and attention to his wearing
apparel. Compared with him in this regard
the extremest dude leads a careless
and easy life. If hewer? a member of the
human family his tailor's bills would consume
his entire earnings. All of this may
sound ridiculous, but it is seriously said,
lorthe metamorphoses of the crab are extraordinary.
From the time he leaves the egg till he
arrives at maturity he passes through more
and more frequent transformations than
probably any other member of the animal
kingdom. In his infancy he is so unlike
himself that for centuries he was mistaken
for a nondescript, and it was not much
more than fifty years ago that his identity
was even suspected.
JIOW HE LOOKS.
The female crab carries her eggs, thousands,
probably hundreds of thousands, in
dumber, in a great semi-spherical bunch
lander her belly until they are hatched.
From that time the you ng crab has to look
out for himself, and that he is moderately
successful in this regard is attested by his
presence in vast numbers along our shores
from Maine to Texas. On emerging from
the egg he looks somewhat like an impossible
combination of those omnipresent
products of New Jersey, the flea and the
mosquito, or, to speak more definitely, he
has a flat, irregular shaped body, with a
long proboscis, a longer tail, long swimming
appendages, with spine covered, toelike
branches at the ends, and proportionally
enormous eyes, not attache^ to stalks
as in later life, but fixed flat upon the
heart.
All of these peculiarities are compressed
within a minute fraction of an inch. In
this stage he swims around mostly at the
surface of the water, and was for a long
time called zoea, for want of a better name
and position in the animal kingdom. Like
the nicknames of human infants, it has
stuck to him, and his infancy is still called
the zoea stage. I
But this is not all. In his early youth he |
was the victim of another zoological mistake.
Having shed his skin a few times he
has increased in size, his eyes have appeared
on stalks, legs like those of shrimps
have been developed, and nippers have been
added to the pair of front legs, but his
family likeness is still undiscoverable, and
he was therefore regarded as a distinct and
solitary genus, and therefore called
megalops.
UIS RAPID GROWTH.
This, in which the tail and proboscis
have nearly if not entirely disappeared, is
even now called the megalops stage. After
more shedding of his skin and further
growth he finally appears as a miniature
crab about an eighth of an inch long.
Beiug ready to begin business as a crab he I
abandons swimming as a profession and |
takes to the bottom, goes foraging along
the shores, or attaches himself on floating
seaweed.
The crab literally grows by shedding. As
fast as his garments become too small for
him he casts them off and appears in a
larger suit. He is familiar to salt water
fishermen in all sizes, from that of a tack
head to a silver dollar, but how often he
- u:_ ?i?11 l.ic
fcllfUS Ulb bUCll III UUCOt tttX1J ouu^ca Vi
growth is not definitely known. It must,
however, be very frequently, for even after
ho has reached the edible size he sheds
once a month. Men who make a business
of hunting him say that his time of shedding
is the full of the moon. After he attains
his full growth he ceases to shed, and
indications are not wanting that he reaches
a ripe old age, as specimens have been
taken with full grown barnacles and oys- j
ters attached to their shells, showing that '
they had been wandering about the deep
for some years at least.
When a crab is about to shed his shell he j
seeks shallow water, and secretes himself |
in the roots of the grasses or under bunches j
of sedge, so as to be as much as possible
out of the way of the fish, which, as before I
intimated, are very fond of hiin at that !
stage, and know when and where to look j
for him. The striped bass and other large
fish taken aloug the margins of bays, rivers j
and creeks are there, looking for shedder j
and soft crabs. Sharks are also very fond '
of them. One day the writer saw a shark j
at least ten feet long carefully searching a
mud flat in Barnegat Bay for crabs. There '
was very little water on the flat, and the
dorsal and caudal fins of the big fish were
both several inches above water.
HOW HE SHEDS.
Fishermen have coined a number of ex- !
pre.ssive names for the different stages i
through which the crab passes in shedding i
his shell. A "comer" is a crab in the first ,
stage, when a new shell is a mere filament :
or thin membrane under the old. In the |
"shedder" stage the new skin is a thick,
soft, elastic envelope to which the old
shell has ceased to adhere, and from which ;
it separates readily, even on the claws and
ieet. When ready to shed the old shell j
separates nearly all round the body at the j
base of the legs, and the crab withdraws j
itself.
The shells of the claws and legs are not
broken or cracked, but the new skin "is so
SOit anu yielding, uuu me iuuscies m sucu
a flaccid condition, that the limbs are
drawn through the small openings at the
joints much jus a sack nearly filled with
tome lluid may be drawn through an opening
much smaller than the sacl: itself."
When he is ready it takes the crab only
about five minutes to get out of his old .
shell. Then he is the "soft shell" crab, so
suitable for fryiug and so dear to the palate
of the epicure.
It is not generally known that the shed- j
der is even superior as an edible to the soft
shell. lie is then in his finest condition,
Laving fattened himself to the highest (
point for the purposes of subsistence while
Lis new shell is too tender to admit loco- ,
motion or the catching and eating of prey.
After boiling his old shell is easily removed,
even from his legs, and his internal j
anatomy, and he is lit to be eaten as he .
stands or fried in batter.?New York
JSimes.
A City of Bowlegged Men.
"Are you bo-aiegged? Nearly everybody
J else in Tacoma is."
Such was the remark of one gentleman
to another as they stood listening to the
music on the Tacoma hotel porch the other
evening. The person addressed had his
lower limbs encased in extra wide trousers,
and therefore the crookedness or straightness
of those articles could not be gleaned
by a superficial glance.
Acting upon this remark of the apparently
observing gentleman, who was a vis1,5c
wnv tn Alji?t;L n T.'ioomii I-tee
ord reporter started out to investigate the
subject for himself. While walking up
Ninth street he kept his eyes open, and
what he saw indeed surprised him. Hardly
a man or youth trod up the hill from
Pacific avenue to Railroad street who was
not affiicted with a bow in either or both
legs. The victims were in all stages of the
terrible affliction, and the eye of an obj
server could easily detect he who had but
i recently started to curve underneath aud
1 nlso he who had "been there" for years.
Out of fifty men, youths and boys who
I struggled up that hill just thirty-five were
bowlegged, some much so and some just a
| little bit so. In every group of three
j or more the majority carried with
t them bent lower limbs. One man almost
! tread one foot upon the other as he walked,
I while another, a handsome young fellow
| with a beautiful blonde mustache, stepped
j out in a curious way, apparently conscious
of the fact that his limbs were beginning
I to turn, and evidently seeking to hide the
j fact from the general public.
j The cause of so much crookedness in the
I Lilty 01 jjesuny IS <1 Iiuiurui uue UL1U suiri^
j an insurmountable one?the hills. To
i climb them, and Tacomans can not do
I without climbing them in some degree, is
! a strain on the nether limbs and gradually
i they give way, and in some cases bring humiliation
to their owners. There are plenty
of handsome young men in Taco"ma today
who would give anything to have their
legs straightened, and as much can be said
of plenty of the young ladies in Tacoma.
Iron from Sea Sand.
Among the numerous magnetic separaj
tors which have lately been put before the
public one of the most remarkable is that
for the extraction of iron from sea sand.
It is stated that ordinary sea saud contains
from 5 to 7 per cent, of iron, enough in
fact to give a large excess over cost of extraction.
The machine is very simple, consisting
of a cyclinderf whose surface is
composed of electro magnets, revolving on
the inside of an endless canvas belt. The
sand is fed to the belt, and a spraj of water
separates the particles, the iron being reI
tained by the powerful electro magnets,
and carried off on the belt to a receptacle
at the other end, while the sand falls into
the trough below. It is claimed that the
iron can thus be extracted for about oneeighth
of its value.?New York Commercial
Advertiser.
j>
A Fine Place.
An um brella maker has worked 'or rather
over two years for a firm in London. She
was a machinist, and was paid by the piece,
so that any loss of time was no loss to her
employer. Like most women in this trade,
she was often kept hours waiting for her
work, and was of course paid nothing for
the time thus spent, though she was fined
if she did not arrive punctually. Her fines
' it-l J -4.1 oil +V.OCO
lur tills ttllU UbliCi Li i v iai mai/vci9?an iuvqu
things being of questionable legality?are
shown in her wage books to amount in the
two years and a little over to the sum of
?6 fis. 9d. No account of the sums thus
l deducted is rendered by the employer. The
overage wage of this woman was about 10s.
a week. Comment may very well be dispensed
with.?Christian Union.
A S2.000.000 Cheek.
The largest check ever given in this country
wa3 that given by Jay Gould to Thom;is
Allen for the Iron mountain. He paid
$2,000,000 for it, and he handed Allen a
check for that amount upon his acceptance
of his offer. Allen looked at the paper that
represented this vast sum and said, "Isn't
this a good deal of money for one man to
have in one bank?" "I don't know," replied
Gould; "perhaps it is. Let me have
the check." Allen then handed the check
back to Gould, and he handed it over to his
office boy, saying, "Here, boy, take this
check to the bank and have the cashier
certify to it." And the boy went out and
did it.?Frank G. Carpenter's Letter.
Mirrors of Wood.
In Germany wood with a mirror polish is
coming into use for ornamental purposes
in place of metal. The wood is first submitted
to a bath of caustic alkali for two
or three days at a temperature of about 175
degrees Fahrenheit, then dipped in hvdrosulphate
of calcium for twenty-four to
thirty-nine hours, after which a concentrated
solution of suiphur is added. Alter
another dip in an acetate of lead solution
at about 100 degrees a shining metallic
surface is given by polishing when di*y
with lead, tin or zinc.?New York Telegram.
Demand for Intelligent Machinists.
A loirlinrr irrtn innmal fitfttps that im
provements in the new navy are bringing
young inou to the front in all department1;,
not the least of which is steam engineering.
In the modern ships, in addition to
the great triple expansion main engines,
with all their complicated parts, there are
dynamos, blowers, steam steerers and
auxiliary engines of all kinds and sizes,
scattered in widely separated parts of the
vessel, and with the small number of engiprer?
carried, a large ami intelligent
force of machinists is a pressing necessity.
Corlc Trees.
Few trees are more worthless than the
cork oak as it stands, untouched by man.
The wood is heavy and coarse grained; it
shrinks and warps in seasoning, and decays
rapidly when exposed to the air. Its
bark is rough and woody, and useful only
for tanning purposes. Treated by the hand
of man, however, the tree produces a bark
which supplies the world with stoppers for
its bottles, and is, in the aggregate, immensely
valuable.?Garden and Forest.
Eastern and Western Wisdom.
Knowitall (looking up from the paper)?
What utterly hopeless barbarians the Chinese
are! They tore up a railroad because
they considered it responsible for the recent
floods there.
Levelhcad?If the railroad company cut
dowu all the timber along its line, as railroad
and land companies in this country
often do, it was.?New York Weekly.
JSad for liubics.
Tom?Outrageous state of affairs! Here's
an account of a New York ikaler who got
$100 for a fur Jiued poodle basket, and in
the next column is a story of two New
York babies that died of starvation. What
do you think of that?
Jim?Only that New York is a better
place lor poodles than for babies.?Pittsburg
Bulletin.
' #
?
ANCIENT PLATE IN BROOKLYN.
Rare and Valuable Pieces Possessed by
an Episcopal Church.
Among the relics preserved by the officers
of St. Ann's Protestant Episcopal
church, on the Heights in Brooklyn, N.
Y., is an old communion service. It consists
of two plates of solid silver, nine and
a half inches in diameter, with an engraved
inscription around the rim of each, "St.
Ann's church, Brooklyn, 1798." These
were given, it is believed, by Joshua Sands,
who, with his wife, was a liberal donor to
the church. A massive silver flagon ten
and one-half inches high is inscribed, "St.
Ann's Church, Brooklyn, the gift of Ann
Sands, 1805." These three pieces are not
used, and seldom see the light of day, but
they were taken from the vault in which
they were kept a few days ago by the veteran
sexton, Thomas Lawrie, and shown
to a reporter. The plates were first used
in the small church which stood on the
Episcopal burial ground, on Fulton street,
between Concord and Tillary streets, and
the flagon was used for the first time in
the stone church at the corner of Sands
and Washington streets, which was partially
destroyed by the explosion of a powder
mill in 1808.
Another old piece of silver is a plate for
the communion bread, which bears the inscription,
"St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn,
1816." It is 5 inches high and 9% inches in
diameter. This is occasionally used in connsctiou
with a cup 8K inches high, remodeled
in 1879 from two silver cups which
were presented to the church at Christmas,
1S50, by Mr. and Mrs. George D. Morgan.
The more modern service consists of a
magnificent solid silver flaeon 17 inches in
height, and a plate 6% inches high and 10
inches in diameter. These two costly
pieces were presented by Mary C. Waterbury
in 1879 as memorials of her husband,
Chauncey A. Waterbury. The following
year the same lady gave, also in memory
of her husband, a massive silver alms
basin, measuring 18 inches in diameter,
and made by Tiffany & Co. The inscription
upon it is, "Honor the Lord with Thy
Substance and with the First Fruits of All
Thine Increase."
St. Ann's is the mother of Episcopal
churches in Brooklyn. It antedates the
revolution, but owing to the destruction
of its records during the war its earliest
history is obscure. In 1778 the Rev. James
Sayro was sent to Brooklyn, and remained
until the evacuation of the place by the
British troops. He is said to have been an
adherent of King George, and held serv
ices for the soldiers.?Jewelers' Weekly.
Getting Bid of Buzzing in the Telephone.
The Central New York Telephone and
Telegraph company of this city has devised
a plan by which the induction to its lines
by the electric current on the wires of the
Belt line street railroad is in a measure
overcome. When the electric cars were
first operated, and at times since, patrons
of the telephone company have complained
of a buzzing sound in the instrument when
the receiver was placed to the ear, making
it difficult to understand the person at the
other end of the line. Trouble was also
occasioned in the exchange by the frequent
falling of the annunciator when no one
had sent in a call.
Investigation by the company's electricians
revealed the fact that the trouble
was occasioned by the electric cars. The
current from the underground wires of
ii ;i 1 ,i *.,,4.
I<llt3 rajiruou ojjicuu uui auu iutu lucu nitu
the return circuit of the telephone company.
The difficulty can never be entirely
obviated, but a plan has been hit upon by
which the service is greatly improved. A
large copper wire has been run from the
central office between the line wires on
which the 'phones are connected, and
thence into the ground, thus establishing
a balance between the two currents.?Utica
Herald.
Couldn't Fool the Editor.
I heard such a funny story about a
famous poetess of passion, whose poems
ought of course to bring tremendous
prices, but sometimes are rejected like
those of less gifted mortals. A young
editor received one from the lady, with a
note stating that she would sell it to him
for 510, but that from any other editor she
could easily get $20. When the young
editor, who is as wise as a serpent while
looking as harmless as a deve, received
this note he waxed sarcastic and laughed
with merryscorn, for he had chanced to be
in various other sanctums where this very
poein had been read and rejected.
He realized that his paper was a dernier
resort, and carefully folding up the spasm
of emotion he returned it, with a polite
note to the effect that he couldn't think of
taking the poem at such low rates when
the author could so cjisily get double her
price elsewhere. The fiery poetess tells all
her friends that the editor is no gentle,
man.?New York Cor. Chicago Herald.
The Russian "Hire List."
An order has been promulgated by the
Russian ministry of the interior that every
laborer must carry with him, besides his
passport, a "hire list," in which the conditions
under which he takes employment
are recorded. Both the passport and the
"hire list" must be kept by the employer
as long as the laborer is in his hire, even in
cases when the two parties have an oral
agreement between themselves. But still,
in order to facilitate the employment of laborers,
the courts shall recognize a verbal
contract as valid if it is satisfactorily proved
and attested by witnesses.?St. Petersburg
Letter.
Victoria Wcttlnt
Row many readers can give tlu\ surname
of the royal family of Great Britain? Nearly
every one that thinks himself well informed
will say Guelph, but this is not
true. When Victoria married Prince Albert
she dropped her own family surname
and took that of her husband, just as any
ordinary woman in a lower station in life
would have done. This is a fact seldom
taken into consideration. The family name i
of Prince Albert was Wettin, and so is that j
of all the kings of Saxony.?St. Louis liepublic.
"VVIuit a Cow l'icketl Up.
Thomas Addison, of Fairfax count}', Va., '
took from tlic hoof of mi old family cow '
the other day, it is related, a handsome
gold linger ring, with a large green stone
setting. Un the seal \v:is engraved a Mex- i
ican coat of arms, and on the inside was >
the name of D. J. Hunt and a Mexican i
cipher, aud dares showing the ring to have 1
beeu in t lie .Mexican war. now it got 011
liis farm and in the hoof of bis cow Mr.
Addison does not know.?Philadelphia
Ledger.
Experiments by means of photographic
plates iii the Mediterranean sea show that
in the middle of a sunny day in summer
the rays of the sun do not penetrate the
waters of that, sea a depth of more than 150
fathoms. In September the distance penetrated
is much reduced, the depression 011
the platet at the above depth not being
greater than that made by starlight.
A SENTIMENTAL VAGRANT.
A Man Who Loved to Lie A-basklng In
the Snn and Read Poetry.
A (M'.rious incident occurred the other
night while the detective police were scouring
the Bois de Boulogne, with the object
of ridding it of the many suspicious characters
who had recently made it a place of
resort. A poorly dressed man, seeiDg the
police give chase to a gang of roughs, took
to his heels and fled. The fact of his running
away induced the police to follow in
pursuit, but the man, reaching the lak<>
before them, plunged bravely in and swam
to the opposite bank in the expectation
of eluding them. Unfortunately for him,
other detectives witnessed the scene, and
quietly arrested him when he stepped out
of the water.
Taken dripping wet to the police commissary's
office he was of course searched.
In a canvas bag strapped over his
shoulder were found, first, a little case containing
needles and thread, a zinc drinking
cup, a pocketlcnife, two pocket handker
chiefs and 460 francs in notes and gold. On
the sight of this money the police commissary
at oncfe concluded the man hud stolen it,
and began to question him and to call him
a thief; but at that moment the official
was surprised by his subordinate drawing
out. of the inexhaustible canvas bag twc
well worn volumes of poetry, one by Alfred
de Musset, the other by Victor Hugo.
The "thief" said he was neither a rough
nor a thief, nor anything but a hard workin#,
but perhaps eccentric, individual. He
was not a vagabond, because during the
winter he always bad a lodging at a house
he named, but during the summer his
great delight was to live in the open air,
baaking in the sun in the day and enjoying
the coolness of the night. He neither stole
nor begged in his wanderings, for he lived
on the savings he had put by in the winter,
during which he worked night and day as
a porter at the Central market. As he
never drank anything but water he was,
by great economy, able to live on a franc a
day, and to save at least two francs,
While at work he always carried his
money every week to the savings bank.
He was never weary of his wandering life,
for his greatest delight was poetry.
His favorite authors were de Musset and
Victor Hugo. The volumes found in his
pouch had, he declared, been read by him
over and over again, and every time with
increased pleasure. Every one of the va
grant's statements was, on inquiry, found
to be absolutely true. At the Centra]
market he had the reputation of being one
of the most hard working and honest oi
porters. At the house where he lodged ic
the winter his reputation was equally
good.?Pall Mall Gazette.
Antiqnity of Gloves.
The antiquity of gloves is very great.
They doubtless antedate history, for the
earliest literature alludes to them. They
have been known and worn from the remote
ages of the world. Homer, in the
Odyssey, describes Laertes, the farmer
king, the father of Ulysses, in his retirement:
"While gloves secured his hands tc
shield them from the thorns." Xenophon
jeers at the Persians for wearing gloves as
a protection from the cold. "Not only did
they have umbrellas borne over them in
iLie summer, uu uut iu winter it is
not sufficient for them to clothe their heads
and their bodies and their feet, but they
have coverings made of hai r for their hands
and their fiugers." The Romans scorned
such effeminacy at that time, but we are
told that at about the time of Christ the
amanuensis of Pliny, the historian, wore
gloves to keep his fingers nimble in cold
weather.?St. Louis Republic.
,t Uses of CoflV-e.
It is assorted by men of high professional
ability that when the system needs a stimulant
nothing equals a cup of fresh coffee.
Those who desire to rescue the dipsomaniac
from his cups will find no beter substitute
for spirits than strong, newly made coffee
without milk or sugar. Two ounces of coffee,
or one-eighth of a pound, to one pint
of boiling water makes a first class beverage,
but the water must be boiling, not
merely hot. It is asserted that malaria and
epidemics are avoided by those who drink
a cup of hot "coffee before venturing into
the morning air. Burned on hot coals coffee
is a disinfectant for a sick room, and
by some of the best physicians it is considered
a specific in typhoid fever.?Chicago
Herald.
Brides of Tender Years.
Sebastiano Pietropintoand Maria Donata
Grieco, two young people from sunny
Italy, made an application for a marriage
license at the recorder's office. The recorder
at first demurred because Miss
Grieco was but 12 years old, but her father
gave his consent and the recorder could
see no way of getting- out of issuing the
license. Pietropinto was 23 years old. Just
after issuing the license to the two Italians
another young couple applied. They were
13. Li. Piercy, or excelsior springs, ana
Mies E. M. Gibson, of this city. Piercy
was 21 years old and Miss Gibson 15 years
old. Miss Gibson having the consent of
her parents this license was also granted.
?Kansas City Star.
Where Artists Come From.
"A curious statement," says a London
daily, "has recently appeared to the effect
that the majority of a natiou's painters are
born in the country, while the architects
spring from the metropolis. At first sight
such an assertion seems plausible enough,
and quite in accordance with the nature of
things; but, as a matter of fact, the exact
contrary is the case?so far at least as LonvJc.n.
?,nd Paris are concerned. We believe
we do not overstate the case in saying that
in England CO per cent, and in Paris 75 per
cent, of the natiou's artists were born in
the capital, and we are prepared to support
our contention with statistics."
A Plucky Reporter.
Peter Finnerty, the parliamentary re
lw> .........if.w.H, ,. nf Willm,..
JJUriCl| ? UO nig uiiuiumwi/uiti Wi II14WW1force's
famous "potato speech." For a
libel upon Lord Castlereagh Finnerty was
imprisoned for eightjen months, and upon
his release Lord Castlereagh, seeing him
upon the street, went up to him and bluntly
aslce<l him how he was. "Well enough,"
Finnerty replied, "to hope to live to see
the day when you will cut your throat."
Some years alter the hope was realized.?
Sun Francisco Argonaut.
A Glass lieilstcat) to Get Sound Sleep.
To secure thorough sleep insulate each
bedpost with glass. An Englishman who
insulated his bedstead by placing under
each post a broken oil bottle says that he
had not been free from rheumatism or
gout for lifteeu years, and that he began
to improve immediately alter uie application
of the insulators.?New York Journal.
An interesting fact ascertained by government
observers is that at the extremities
of Long Island sound the tide begins
to ilow inward near the bottom an hour
and a half before it begins to How in the
same direction at the surface of the water.
A Glacier Dam Burst*.
The Marjelen lake, which lies at the foot
of the Eggischhorn, in the upper Valais,
had bunt the glacier dam which lay across
the valley, and spreading over the glacier
had poured a black mass of mud, stones
and broken ice into the Rhone below. Fortunately
there was little water in the river
at the time, otherwise the consequences
might have been very calamitous for the
people of the upper Valais. A peasant
who was close to the lake at the time de'
clares that tlie scene was most terrible
i i and indescribable. When the ice dam
i ' gave way the vast mass of water came
i tumbling out, sweeping away the huge
frntrmAnts nf thp. erlarier. with the rocks
[ upon it, tumbling into the crevasses, burst;
ing them up in turn, and rising over the
: glacier, in gigantic waves, again to carry
. I all before it.
. j Just at the end of the glacier the valley
i i had narrowed into a little defile, while tli6
j face of the glacier was some hundreds of
j ' feet high. The water seemed to have tun
! neled under the ice, which attacked above
i ' and below, gave way at last with a deafen.
i ing crash, while the flood hurried down the
| mountain side into the Rhone. The lake
i j was nearly 8,000 feet above the sea level,
[ i and usually discharged its surplus water
; j by subterranean channels, occasionally
i j bursting its ice barriers, as on the present
! occasion. The cantonal government are
I constructing an overflow canal, which it is
i hoped will put an end to these periodical
outbursts.?Swiss Yaterland. ,
Gen. Butler's Ways.
! A prominent public man who was one of
1 the thousands of visitors in Boston during
"Grand Army week" has written the fol'
lowing of Gen. Butler in a letter to a Plain!
field (N. J.) friend:
' "I had just secured ray accustomed place
in f lm etrmlrinrp no** rr-h 1 T5 nn ' Diif Ion f Via
1U UAIC VAll >? UUK1U| IU5
1 old veteran, entered the car and lazily
! threw himself in the seat just in front of
> me. Of course there wus no difficulty in
1 recognizing his individuality, and I was
much interested in the old man's eccen1
tricity. He produced from the innermost
recesses of his pocket a cigar. To judge
> from its appearance I should say it was
what is technically termed a 'three for,'
and proceeded to do with it just as a small
1 boy would a stick of licorice.
1 "Without lighting it he would fondle it,
1 inspect it, then bite at it as tenderly as
only the old war horse could do. He then
' demanded a paper, which the accommo'
dating conductor hastened to secure for
! him. I was amused to %ee the old gentle'
man turn over the pages until his eye
1 rested upon the baseball column, and he
' scanned the scores with as much interest
as the most devoted 'crank' who causes
the bleacheries to tremble by his uproar
and excitement when his favorite makes a
home run."?New York Tribune.
?
His Reason.
There was a very nice dish of watercress
on an uptown restaurant table the other
day. A pretty young woman saw the cool
and dainty dish and appropriated the
whole of it. It happened that a young
man seated at the end of the table had also
cast covetous eyes at the watercress, and
he gave the waiter a quarter to steal the
dish from the young lady. When the latter
discovered her loss she looked angrily
around the table and saw the watercress
slowly disappearing down the young man's
throat.
"Excuse me. sir," she exclaimed, with
heightened color and infinite sarcasm.
"Can you tell what you took that dish
for?"
The young man stopped chewing for a
moment. Then, with a graceful inclination
of the head, he replied:
"Pardon me, madam, but I took the dish
because it contained watercress."?New
xorKJouruai.
Sournl at Different Angles.
! in some recent experiments on the range
of human hearing the ticking of a watch]
was distinctly audible at a distance of 1C
feet on a line at right angles to the head.
On moving the watch 15 degs. in front of
the line the tick could be heard 14 feet
away; at an angle of 40 degs. only 6 feet,
and at 55 degs. only 3 feet. Placed 25
1 degs. back of the line the watch could not
be heard beyond 6 feet. The total range of
hearing was about 95 degs., the direction
of greatest acuteness being 15 degs. in front j
of the imaginary line through the ears, i
Descending from the horizontal, the hear- j
ing distance increased from 10 feet to a j
maximum of 12 feet at 35 de^s., and then j
decreased until reduced to3 feet at 50 degs.!
On carrying the watch upward the sound j
decreased steadily until at an angle of GO
degs. it could be hei;rd only 3 feet away.?
i Arkunsaw Traveler.
Klysinn Weather.
There is nothing the matter with the*
weather in Washington now or at any time. |
Here the summer days are strings of silver
pearls, which hang translucent In the cool,
sweet air; the red rose kiss of June falls
like a benison on every breeze that wanders
down from the blue Virginia hills and,
like a cooling hanfi, drops softly through '
the sunshine upon the eyelids of the rest-!
ing town: the long, low lines of rustling!
trees, dew laden morn and eve, bring fresh-1
tiLJL'U UiC lUOCij uwiig UUJU^, r.uu etui; ,
I nerveand fiber is filled with that rare tonic'
I power which makes age youth aud over- j
! comes all ills that may be heirlooms to the i
I flesh. And our winters are our summers'
j' in duplicate, and our springs aud uutumns
j will discount the other two seasons with
I one hand tied behind them.?Washington
Star.
The Investigating Boy Ay,rain.
I The 3-year-old son of a certain clergy-'
i man came home from church the other
| Sunday with something puzzling his young
j soul. He was unusually silent all day, and ,
j it was not until next day that he appealed
i for light aud help from his elders. At
j dinner on Monday he broke forth:
"Papa, they was two ladies sanged in
j the choir. One lady had a wail tied back ;
I around her head, so (illustrating!, and
! anther lady had a little bonnet flat down
i on her ears, so (palms on ears). One lady
sanged MI is name is King,' anil nut her
I lady sanged Mlis name i.s Lord.' What is
i his name, papa?"
1 The choir, it appeared, had "sanged'' an
! anthem substantially as set forth in the
i young man's report.?New York tiun.
Ills Wife's Art.
| Bachelor?Still growling over your do-!
] mestic expenses! Haven't you often said '
I that your wife can make a dollar go furi
ther than any other woman you knew?
Benedict (gloomily)?That's just the trou- j
j ble. She makes a dollar go so infernally
far that I never hear of it again.?Pitts- '
i burg Bulletin.
E. P. Sargent, the head of the Brother- i
hood of Firemen, was formerly a Vermont!
i photographer. Then ho became a United
States cavalryman in Arizona aud finally a '
fireman on the Southern Pacific railroad. :
He now rules over 3S4 lodges, and is said 1
to be well off in this world's goods.
\
OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Over and over again,
No matter which way I turn,
I always tod In the book of life
Some lesson I have to learn.
I must take my turn at the mill,
I must grind out the golden ^raln,
I must work at my task with a resolute will.
Over and over again.
We cannot measure the need
Of even the tiniest flower,
Nor check the flow of the golden sands
That ran through a single hour;
But the morning dews must fall.
And the sun and the summer rain
Must do their part, and perform it all
Over and over again.
Over and over again
The brook through the meadow flows,
And over and over again ,
The ponderous mill wheel goes;
Once doing will not suffice,
Though doing be not in vain,
And a blessing failing us once or twice
May come if we try again.
The path that has once been trod
Is never so rough to the feet,
And the lesson we once have learned
Is never so hard to repeat.
Though sorrowful tears must fall,
And the heart to its depth be driven
With storm and tempest, we need them all
To render us meet for heaven.
T T>sxMAW4 5r% Vrnoki.,n^n Cfn.
?wvocj/umo x uuaiu tu n aoui
"Delikit." \
A stout nnd exceedingly robust looking
colored woman went to the office of a physician
to ask him if he could give her something
that would "kind o' build her up."
"What seems to be the matter?" asked
the physician, failing to see any indications
of weakness.
"Well, doctah," was the reply, "I'm jess
natchelly delikit."
"Delicate?"
"Yes, doctah; Ise alius been delikit, en it
peahs like I'm gittin delikitter all de time."
"You look very strong."
"Dat's hit, doctah. I don't look delikit,
but I am. I cayn't bar to git up in de
mawnin', en I don't want?r do anything
arfter I am up; en I'm so narvous hit puts
me all out ter be asked to wuk."
"Is your appetite good?"
"Va'y good, doctah, va'y good. Nothin'
I eat seems to hu't me, en I kin eat all I
wanter of it, but when it comes ter doin'
anything I'm that delikit I jess cayn't do
hit. Hit's turriblo ter be so delikit."
The doctor had had similar cases of delicate
constitutions before, and, as usual,
prescribed a trip to Europe.?Youth's Companion.
"No Man's Land" in Brooklyn.
Every schoolboy can give you the exact
location of the curious strip of land lying
south of the state of Kansas popularly
called "No Man's Land." A description
and history has been given of the original
"No Man's Land," lying between the states
of Maryland and Delaware. Now comes
il x / - 1 J. -i? ~M 1 1_?
me story wt a lost yivw ui retu iyiug
in the heart of Brooklyn, N. J. It lies at
the head of the Wallabout: canal, and
abuts on the wall of the Navy Yard cemetery.
The United States government cannot
claim the tract, as it was never ceded to it.
The city has no title to it, It having been
omitted from the plan made after the United
States acquired the Wallabout lands.
The spot is 10 by 4 feet, but small as it is
is quite valuable. An enterprising squatter
has erected a small shanty upon it, and
put out the sign,"This is No Man's Land."
?St. Louis Republic.
"Annie Rooncy'a" Claswical Origin.
"Little Annie Hooney" is Wagnerian.
Its opening measure is to be found in
Wagner's "Die Walkure." It forms the
motif of the Feuerzauber movements, and
as such pervades the whole scene. It is
especially prominent just at tho point
where Siegfried steps into the flame. Although
consisting of only seven notes covering
one measure with one note over, it is
exactly the same as the beginning of Annie,
even to the tempo. It is hardly likely
that the author of "Little Annie Rooney"
has plagiarized from Wagner, as it is
doubtful if he is sufficiently familiar with
the Music of the Future to be able to do
this.?Cincinnati Times-Star.
PuIliDg Against a Horse.
A curious wager, with' fatal results, was
recently decided at Siepring, in Bavaria.
A notoriously strong man. named Freytag,
bet that a horse could not move him
from the door of his house. The horse
was brought, and Freytag put his hands
and feet against the door posts, while
Stern, the man with whom the bet had
been made, fixed a ropo around Freytag's
neck. At the first pull the rope broke. A
new rope having been brought, Slern plied
bis whip with all his might, when Freytag
gave a scream and, letting go, was dragged
along for some yards. Ilis neck was
broken.?Vanity Fair.
You Can See the Sc?ne. but Not tlie Crowd.
An ingenious device bus just been adopted
at the Hippodrome in Paris for tho production
of scenic effects in the central oval *
space, without the spectators opposite being
seen at the same time. An ellipticaL
screen of fine steel netting is let down in
comparative darkness, so as to bo about
twelve feet in front of the benches. This/
is painted on the inner side with any desired
scene, and as it is strongly illuminated
at a given moment from the center, a
spectator from any point lias an excellent
view of the scene without seeing anything
of the crowd beyond.?Paris Letter.
Events in Mr. Deau's Career.
Frank Dean, a respectable white farmer,
lives at Steep Creek, Louudes county. lie
is now w years or age. tie mis uesr. married
four l imes, and three of his wives were
sisters. lie is the father of thirty-seven
children. Twins have been horn to him
three times and triplets have gladdsued
liis heart on two different occasions.?
Cor. Dallas News.
Evil Doers Will Say Amen.
A St. Ixmisgenius has invented .1 rubber
billy for policemen and watchmen. It is
made of heavy rubber, such as is u>ed in
hose, is flexible, yet very solid, and h.-.s the
merit of stunning a person without breaking
the scalp and causing a flow of blood.
It is also guaranteed not to fracture the
skull. If this be true it is an improvement
upon the sandbag.?Exchange.
Evening Things Up.
They were talking of bowling. "Aren't
you afraid, Henry, dear," she said softly"that
such excessive exercise will make
your right arm larger than your left?"
"T imw-p thontrhfc of it in that licht." ho
replied thoughtfully. "Perhaps you had
better change around ou the other side."?
New York Sun.
A Division iu the IIouso.
"Don't talk so loud," said Mrs. Binks.
"The baby is asleep."
"Go on. TnJk as loud as you please,"
put in Mr. Btnks. "Your conversation
wouldn't keep anybody awake."?New
York Sim.