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c jrra - m V<. [THROUGH A TORNADO A Tale of Adventure on a Louisiana Plantation. ; ' ' I BY MAURICE THOMPSON CHAPTEK I. "We of this day cannot even Imagine, pouch less realize, the loneliness of the jLoulalana plantation mansions of 60 or l70 years ago. Those homes were Bet in tthe midst of a wilderness whose "conjtlgulty of shade," as Cowper expressed Ot, was broken only by intervals of marsh still more dreary and desolate. For miles and miles, even now, the solemn, moss-draped woods stand somber and silent, given over forever to i reptiles and wild beasts, and for league 1 opon dreary league the tall grass covers i the cosy, slimy marshes where no living thing is visible save the wide' winged birds and the wallowing aliii gators. The effect of this strange country i upon a vivid imagination is remarkable nnder the most ordinary circumstances. In the case of Martin Lawrence it had ft triple emphasis. To begin with, his business enterprise was of the most unusual and exciting nature; a Philadelphia bank had been swindled by two sharpers supposed to be clever repre: eentatives of the Murrell organization, and the affair apparently involved the honor of two or three citizens of prominence in Louisiana. John A. Murrell ' was a man who exerted great personal 'influence in a most mysterious way, but *8 our story has nothing to do with him we cannot turn aside to sketch his methods It is sufficient to say that all accounts, together with the biography written by Virgil A. Stewart, agree in Snaking it clear that he was the greatest highwayman and leader of lawless men that America has ever produced. To tamper with any of his schemes or to meddle in any way with one of his affairs was a most dangerous thing. Lawrence realized this, and, lo?er of adventure that he was, enjoyed it to the ifull. f Young Lawrence had been guided almost by chanoe to the residence of Col. v .de Vigny, the very man whom his business errand concerned; and on the very [ eranda, while being hospitably welcomed by the Colonel, his eyes had fallen on a young girl whom he had met in the old world. j "What hurled the thought of legal duty iclear out of his head for a time was see<fcg Mille. Lucie once more, and away out therein that lonely plantation house jamld the cypress swamp and live oak hummocks of Louisiana. | Lucie was, if possible, still more :beautiful than when she was a mere slip of a girl in Switzerland and in Paris. rHer face had taken on with its slightly increased fullness a quieter, richer exjpression, as if life were somewhat more .serious to her now. | He saw at once that she remembered him and that she desired him to treat feer as a stranger. In an obscure, indirect fashion he divined her reason for wishing to be left unrecognized; at 'least he felt sure that some barrier would have to be broken between them greater than any mere reserve of conventional prudence. * jr One's mind works with lightning rwiftness under such oircumstances. 'Lawrence felt that, in some way, everything depended upon the adroitness with fwbich he might turn the key in the lock of this mystery, and ne at once set ms (will like a strong brake upon his impulses. She stood before bim but a moment. At first ho was on the point of stepping toward her and letting go the whole, long pent-up volumo of his feeling. To eee her again was like regaining sight ,after long blindness, like stepping forth to freedom after resting for years in a noisome dungeon?no, a thousandfold more thrilling than any other experience could just then have been, was that one Assured look into her beloved face, i She made some slight but significant sign with her eyes and lips. It .was scarcely a movement at all; but it said, more urgently and forcibly than words could have done, that it would be fatal to all his hopes?and, ohl sweet thought! it meant that her own heart felt the mighty need of prudence and of wise forbearance at this crucial point in their two lives. > Lawrence quickly glanced at Col. de Vigny to eee if he had' noticed the little t>y-play. That facile creole was evidently quite unaware that in the space of five Beconds a stroke of fate supremely important had rung out clear and strong echoing from heart to heart. His dark, somewhat mysterious face was suave and amiable, with hospitable suggestions in its mobile features. Lucie hurried away to summon servants and to superintend the laying of a supper for the guest. Meantime, her heart leaped wildly and fter Drain was in a happy whirl. How long she had 'Waited and dreamed, feeling sure that some day he would return! Now he was here, and how bold and strong and handsome! "Wha' de mattah, chile?" Inquired the old colored housekeeper, only she spoke in the French patois of the Louisiana laves. "Wha* de mattah wid yo* now? To' look so comflustlcated!" "Nothing, Zilla," replied Lucie, "but isn't it too bad that we must set a guest ? cold, meager little supper like this?" "Oh, g'long, dahlin'; come late; save light, you know." "Yes, he did come late," and there was something in Lucie's voice that gave peculiar emphasis to the word late; "but we must do our best." "Walt twell brekfus', Miss Lucie, an' en we feed 'im." Certainly Lawrence did not think the supper light, or meager when he satdown to it opposite his host. Cold venison with jelly, French bread." rice cake. roast pig Willi baked sweet potatoes and patties of maize, preserved figs, good butter, and syrup as clear as Honey? these were the dishes before him, and besides there was coffee and claret. Lawrence did not mention his business till next morning, and, tired as he was, he could sleep but little duriDg the night, eo full was his brain of stirring emotions. The chamber assigned to him wa9 largo and airy, with windows looking right into the great wood tangle, out of which Tom, the runaway, had led him. I In one direction he could get a glimpse of the silvery bayou sparkling in the moonlight. HIb slumber was so fitful and scrappy that he could not be sure whether it was while dreaming or waking, but he heard the old panther scream far away in the jungle, and the words of Col. de Vigny kept ringing in his ears: "Whenever once the old fel, low chooses a victim he never fail? finally to eat him." Never before had ho felt that words could possibly have the mystery of prophecy in them. Half asleep and half awake he let this take a HB^^^^^H|^rbythmio swing back and forth till they came to be a part or sub-conscious !r, lying before Ms beautiful r dream of Lucie. ipining camet gray and foggy, I Lawrence arose with the contused impressions of the night not In the least ( obliterated. Ho carried them, in spite , of himself, along with him to the break- . fast table, where, to his surprise, he did not meet Col. de VJgny, who. as Mme. de Vigny informed him, had been com- , pelled to set out early in the morning on a long journey; he would be gone more than a month. Mile, de Vigny was looking serious and a trifle pale. "I had most urgent business with Col. de Vigny," said Lawrence. He could not entirely repress his disappointment and chagrin, and it is probable that the flash of suspicion which leaped into his mind was visible in his face: for Lucie glanced quickly from him to her mother, i and the latter showed uneasiness. "But you said nothing to father about it?" Lucie inquired, with the sweetest 1 of rising inflections. "Unfortunately, no," said Lawrence. "It was so late when I arrived, and I did not wish to be in an unseemly hurry." Something in Lucie's face was warning him to be on his guard. It confused and bewildered him all the more. "Your horse ie gone," she said. "Some one has stolen it." \ This very simple announcement sent the blood in upon Lawrence's heart. In a \winkling he grasped to a certain degree the truth of the situation. That is, he understood that there certainly must be 6ome connection between the sudden departure of Colonel deVIgny and the disappearance of his horse. In a word. Colonel de Vigny had killed two birds with one stone. By going off he had escaped the disagreeable task of explaining some illegal doings of his < partners in New Orleans, and in taking 1 away Lawrence's horse he had mado it i impossible for that young man to reach ? the city befofe certain evidence could c be destroyed. Indeed, our young friend c was not in the least surprised when, in t answer to an inquiry, he was told that i there was not another riding horse on t the plantation, or, for that matter, within 1 twenty miles of it. I He stood there looking at Mile. Lucie, t and on the moment the whole affair ob- a truded its ludicrous side. He laughed r in spite of himself. / . 1 "A pretty kettle of fish," he exclaimed, t with a droll shrug of his shoulders and h a humorous lifting of his brows. "You c will have to entertain me for a few days, ( mademoiselle. It seems that I am a a prisoner." 1 . "Not exactly a prisoner, monsieur," F DUO ivpiicut icauiiig UTOl VUO lauiug ui *the veranda, her lovely face framed in s the rich foliage of the vine. "But you c must be "wise and careful. Take my t advice, and there will be no danger to t you." She spoke very low, and her voice be- d trayed the depth of her feeling. 8 Lawrence felt a great impulse toward 6 taking her bright little head between a his hands, but he did not dare. t "I have not come so far to be afraid of e any danger that may threaten me," he 8 said, as lightly as he oould. "Things o usually go my way." ? She assumed a barkening attitude for 8 a moment, glanciifg around meanwhile ' I as if to assure herself that no one was d \ near, then motioned him to come oloser. u He obeyed, lifting himself so that she s could stoop to his ear and whisper. ti a I tl "MY FATHER KNOWS WHO TOU ARK.n a: "My father knows who you are," she fl said, "and has gone on your horse to n New Orleans. He'is innocent of what you accuse him of, but he wishes to save tl his brother, who is guilty. When his finrlo wah Aiif Ko will aof r*\art tv UIVIUCJL UUUO J VU VUV UV 11 MVM ;A upon you to kill you. L "But com^in, monsieur," said Lucie lc ih her irresistible way; "come in where ei I can speak with you, please." a It was the same sweet, peremptory tl voice that so long ago had allotted to U him his share of the hotel veranda in d , the mountains of Switzerland. His mind tugged hard to keeD him in the ^ line of duty; but his heart dragged him t( perforce to his love. All that a man ^ nath will he give for his Bweetheart. Before an hour had gone by Martin Lawrence .was as happy as a bird in a ? cherry tree when the ruby fruit is ripe, tj Lucie convinced him, and it was true, B( that to think of pursuing her fathter under ^ the circumstances would be idle; and then she began to speak of the past, : when he himself had feared to call up the subject. All day long they were together nearly every moment of the time. She sang __ for him, played the guitar divinely. showed him the wonderful flower gar- _ den, took him from room to room of the curious, spacious mansion to let him j see the pictures, and, indeed, did not k permit him to think of the defeat he was 0 suffering In his business affair. ^ If ever a man fell, under the spell of \ enchantment, it was our young lawyer from Philadelphia. He looked at the antlers hanging in the hall and at the antique guns, the dark, rough walls, the paintings, tne old-time curtains ana rugs, the black mahogany chairs and tables, the gold-framed mirrors and the quaintly carved sofas in the parlor, and then at Lucie, sweet, inscrutable, charming?looked and felt himself a part of some mysterious and powerfully f*ecinatjns romance. "The dus"k of evening came on, the mocking birds sung their vesper phrases in the orange tangle behind the blooming garden, the breeze leaped over the t bayou cool and sweet and the perfumes . of a semi-tropic wilderness lllled all t space. It was very different from the night before. t CHAPTER 11. Mme. de Yigny, Lucie and Lawrence t sat on the veranda till moi>nrise. It j. would have pleased the young man better if the mother had been away, for he had made up his mind to declare his ^ love to Lucie at the Urst opportunity; t still the privilege of sitting near the beautiful girl was, under all the clrcumBtances, much more than he could have ^ * m expected, utter stranger 10 jume, uu Vigny as he was. The reader roust re- j member, however, in this connection, c that wayfaring strangers who ask for o hospitality in a thinly populated coun- f try generally receive all the attention due an honored guest. This was the rule in the South during the earlier days of slavery, when the plantations were far apart ^nd the means of travel mostly private and slow. "I must set out for New Orleans in the morning," said Lawrence, "even if I have to ro on foot." 'lhe thought had come into his mind abruptly and he spoke it without re- s flestion. - - - t . " >* ' f&& jy&fcs . > " 'i "But no, monsieur," exclaimed Irfme. de Vigny, "it would never do. You could not do it. You would starve on the way; and then there is that dreadful panther, that terror of the Teche." "I have not the slightest fear, ma dame," the young man responded. "A panther is a cowardly brute. I have killed more than one. This one Is no worse than any other. Who has he ever eaten?" "A great many people, they say," replied Mmo. de Vigny. "The negroes tell the stories." "But do vou know of any particular person?" "A traveler, I have heard, was found mangled and dead a few miles from here Bome years ago." "Mme. do Vigny," said Lawrence,, "your husband told ma last evening that this wild beast had killed his son, :me of his brothers and his cousin Fe;ixd'Antin, besides two other relatives." "Mon Dieu, Monsieur Lawrence!" It was Mmo. de Vigny who spoke, 3ut both the Indies were greatly excited. Lucie, especially, was painfully igitated. "We all know that it is a trait of human lature as deep-seated as the roots of ife for us to take strong delight in prob- , ng the secret wounds of tlioso we love, ( Lawrence did not pause or falter when wee he saw the way to wrench from Lucie tne mystery after which he was enching. In the first place* Col. do Vigny never rnd a cousin living'in Louisiana, much 1 ess one by the name of Felix d'Antin. Is for the brother and the son, both ; vere myths. The De Vingy family had 1 )een a slender one in the male line; the Doloncl was the only one that had come rom France to America. The brother n. New Orleans, of whom Lucie had ipoken, was of the half blood, the. Col>nel's mother having married the sec IDU HDJB. JjttiMeuue lull tuuw uusuuio win gee of consolence while thus drawng out the skeleton from the closct of his Isolated homo. The main fact was, lowever, that (^lonel de Yigny's mind iad been recently showing signs of breaking, or rather what had onoe been i light hobby for it had become a mononania. Some years ago the panther iad chased him one night and ever since hat terrible experience the impression iad been growing upon him that sooner ?r later the boast would destroy him. Gradually his talks on the subject had assumed the proportions of romance and lis stories touching the panther's exiloits took the form of family history as ias already appeared. On every other ubject he was perfectly sane, and even m this one his obliquity was more like he play of a vivid imagination than like he effect of disease. Now, as Lawrence sat there in tho lusk with the drowsy influence of tho emi-tropic air coming over him, and aw Lucie's beautiful lace shimmer like , star, it is no wonder that, with all he strange impressions of his recent , xperiences weighing upon him, he ( hould feel like one in a dream, or like ne suddenly drawn away from real very day life to the region of old-time tory. < The three oat there chatting in a 1 esultory way, while the moon climbed < p the sky and dimmed the flare of the I outhern stars. Once, twice, three imes Lawrence thought he heard, far j way in the woods, the long wail of , be old panther. If the ladies noticed ; they gave no sign. Perhaps they rere so accustomed to the sound that 3 t no longer attracted their attention. 1 Presently a heavy, booming sound 1 oiled around the western horizon arc, 1 nd they all saw for the first time a j lack cloud tumbling up the sky. ,, "It is a hurricane!" exclaimed a scared ( ervant. Lucie sprang to her feet. "And father!" she cried, "father will \ e out in it!" ] Mme. de Yigny was greatly excited, 1 >o, and Lawrence saw in a moment or [ no that there was in fact a great wind 1 oming, bearing before it a torrent of ] tin, accompanied with a wild network i f boon elanriar liehtninEr flashes. -hose reverberations grew in force 'ith startling rapidity. Lawrence arose and stood bewildered, hen the panther screamed near by in le woods. Down came the first wave of the wind nd churned the bayou into wreaths and akes, at the same time jarring the lansion from roof to foundation. Mme. de Vigny screamed and ran into le hall. A heavier throb followed, almost liftig Lawrence off his feet as he caught iucie up in his arms in the midst of a 1 vel rain stream. He had enough presace of mind to leave the house at once, nd bear his precious burden away from le crashing walls. There was no time ) think of saving Mmo. de Vigny. Inced, the next surge of the bellowing ind-flood swept the mansion away as If had been a wisp of straw, and scat;red it through the woods where the ees where snapping everywhere or ending almost level along the round. The lightning blazed continuasly, but the thunder could not be disnguished from the general roar of the torm. Distinctly enough, however, was eard the savage yell of the old manater, repeated at short intervals, and il the time coming oloser. Lawrence was sent spinning along, carcely touching the ground, in what iroction he knew not, bumping against "HE CAUGHT LOCIE UP." \ his or that and struck by flying wnd t fhlrling things. After the flrst dash ? here was no more rain; but the bayou ras lifted and borne off in spray through he crashing trees. With the arms of 3 ove the young man held to his dear E oad, trying to shield it from all the < errible force of the storm and amid the t >linding, crashine, howling whirl of it g ill he was remembering how she looked ( tn that rainy day at the Swiss hotel . vhen 6he walked away from him along . he veranda. [TO BE CONTINUED. | . Year of Diplomacy. ? J lie past year nas ueuu cuamumi^uu m ( Lmerica by numerous international compli- ( ations. They overtopped in interest every ; ther topic. The leading subjects were the J ollowing: ' The Venezuela question. E Armenian massacres. The Cuban revolt. The Allianca affair. f The Blueflelds incident. ? The Waller case. ? Manitoba school question. Kiel Canal opening. J Massacre ot missionaries in Cbina. .. J " American Locomotives (or Itnggla. " 1 Twenty oil-burning locomotives were { hipped by the Baldwin Locomotive Works 'j o the Russian Government. . SPONGE FISHING. A THRIVING INDUSTRY OFF THE FLORIDA COAST. Hundreds of Men at Work? Searching for tbe Sponges in n Sailing Veseel?3Iethods Employed in Other Places. TIM SCANLA.N, with his bad to the stove in a warehouse on the river, was telling the group of lake sailors how he had fished for sponges off the Florida Keys. "Yon see, boys," said he, "yov stick your head in a bucket over thf side of the dingy, and you can see th? sponges hard fast to the bottom. Ther you put down your hook and haul away, ana get a Deanty. "flow can you see through a bucket, Tim?" asked one of his friends. "Because, d'ye see, the bucket hae a gloss bottom to it, and that's no lie. When the light is on the water yon can't see below the top, can you, because the water ia a sort of a looking' glass, but you can see under water, unless you are blind, if you keep your eyes open. So what do those chaps do but clap a piece of glass in the bottom of a buoket after knooking out the wood, and t*hen they stick their heads in the buckets, with the bails around their necks, and shove the buckets until the glass is under water, and they can see down ten fathoms or more." "I mind the time when I was sail SPONGE flSEimOFl ing on a fruiter in the Mediterranean, seeing some Greeks diving for sponges," said another sailor, "But they dived, they did, and did not fish trith hooks. They carried a full diver's outfit with them, pump and all, and the diverwa3 let down over the side md filled his basket with the nasty things." Then Tim, who had been a sponge fisher for more than a year, spun his parn. Said he: "We worked the fishing grounds just off Anclote Keys, moving from there to Cedar Keys, and we worked in from three to six fathoms. Some of the finest sponges in the world come from that coast and hundreds of men ire worked there. We coasted up and iown in a thirty-ton schooner-rigged :raft, with a broad beam and drawing but little water. We carried ten men, including the cook, and four dingies, irhich, you know, are small yawls. Fwo men to a dingy was the way we ?<r ? J ~ ?OIO kUlU UU) UUC LU OAUU auu UUO IV iiook. The dingies were eighteen feet ong and five feet beam, light and strong. They are made light beoause two men handle them, and they mast be strong and seaworthy because we worked sometimes in a heavy sea. "The sculling notch was to one Bide jf the centre of the stern, and it was jut in the end of a short bit of plank irhich could be taken off if it was in the way. The sponge hooks are made }f iron, have three prongs and are curved. They are about six inches ivide, and a long pole fits into the socket. One man, as I said, sculled she boat slowly along, and the other tiunted for the sponges. He used the sponge glass and motioned to the man in the stern to go this or that way. When he saw a good sponge he shoved the hook down over it and fastening the prongs of the hook in it pulled it from the bottom and into the boat. "When we got a boat load we sculled to the schooner, and the sponges were piled up on the deck until the 'gurry' ran out of them. The , looking fob sponges. Iried-up sponges that are sold in the Irug stores are the skeletons of ;he sponges. When they are palled from the water they are covered with i glue-like staff and filled with elimy natter. This slimy matier is the jurry and the sponges are kept on the leek until this gurry runs a-wav. Sometimes they are kept aboard two lays, and the man who cannot *ork n a smell which is worse than any lown at the stock yards will never be ible to make a living fishing ior ipougee. "But you get used to it in time, and rou get so you can tell just when the iponges should be taken to the sponge srawls. A sponge crawl is made by itakiugout a space about twelve feet iquare in shallow water. The partly sured sponges are put to soak in the :rawl and are beaten with clubs and ;hus washed out. The water of the jrawl is only two or three feet deep, 'ound, the old method of diving is md the men who wash them use flat jiubs. Then they are taken out, strung )n strings, packed in baleB and sold, sometimes sponges are bleached. Chat makes them white, but hurts the iponge. "The sheep wool sponge is the best iponge. It is soft, just like velvet, md strong. Sheep wool 6ponges are lold for bath sponges, but most of ;hem are used for washing carriages. Che yellow sponge is a good sponge, ?ut it is not so soft and strong as the iheep wool, and the grass spoDge is j-asrest and cbeflpssi." |gp; : ' ' i#- '"': V'' . ' '^'-^I'XZ' '* The sponge belongs to one of the lowest orders of animal life. Its skeleton is a strong fibrous substance, and : the animal part of it is a gelatinous , matter whioh fills the pores and cot- } ers the entire surface. If this matter , is not removed within a few hours af- ] LCI llio MVWM WWIU UUUI 4/IJO j rock or stones to which it -was fas- , tened it is almost impossible to purify j \ it. The hooking or harpooning meth- ] ods used in the Florida and Cuban ' fishing grounds are useless when the , ' sponges lie in deep water. > In some parts of the Mediterranean * Sea, where very fine sponges are i used. The diver fastens a stone to bis i feet and with a long rope i$ his band s goes down feet first. Some divers can remain under water for three minutes t at a time. They snatch the sponges 1 from the bottom, working rapidly as possible. If lucky, the diver fills the little basket he carries, tugs hard at the rope and is drawn to the surface, i Another method employed in spongefishing is dredging. The dredge is a strong, heavy net, from six to eight yards long and about one yard high. It is made of hair cords, with the moshes about four inches square. This is dragged along the bottom by a rope attached to the bowsprit of a small sailing vessel. As it passes over the bottom it tears the sponges from their anchorage and they fall into tho net. Of late years divers clad in armor have become common off the Greek coast. ?ney descend in thirty and forty fathoms and bring np the fines? 1 THE FLORIDA COAST. a "j : " . , ~ f snrgeon, nursery and toilet sponges ? and rare cup sponges. After the sponges are brought to the land they i are buried in sand and kept there an- <j til they are decomposed. Then they ( are washed in a running stream of t fresh water, carefully dried and ^ packed in bales for the market. If the ? sponges are not perfectly dry when \ packed they are liable to catch the ? "cholera," whicH means that they be- p come heated and are discolored with orange colored blotches. The demand for fine sponges always exceeds the supply, and some particu- ( larly fine cup spongts have brought $100 a dozen. The prices of Florida sponges have doubled in the last twenty years, and sponge experts declare 8 that they, will be still more expensive. * As sponges are sold by weight, dis- 1 honest dealers frequently fill the ? sponges with sand to increase the t{ weight, but this practice is dying out. P The practical value of the sponge lies P in its great absorbing capacity and b also is due to the fact that water soft* b ens the tissues until they become soft ' and pliable. Although sponges are found in all tropical or semi-tropical 8 watflTH. thfl rnrnmercial snoncres are 4 confined almost exclusively to the ' waters of the southern and western * coast of Florida, the Bahaman archi- * pelago and to the Mediterranean and * Bed Seas. The! sponges, as they are fonnd in their native waters, vary in 9 form; some are cnp or vase shaped, ? others half roand, others globular, & some are fan-shaped and some cylin- & dricai. * ^ fa A Royal Marriage From Fiqne. t An interesting story is being told as -1 to how the King of Portugal became _ engaged. Prince Carlos, who waB ? known at that time as the Duke of 0 Braganza, was on the way to Venice c to celebrate his betrothal to the Arch- f duchess Marie Valerie, daughter of 0 the Austrian Emperor, when, upon ^ his arrival at Paris, he received news ^ that Her Imperial Highness had changed her mind. The Prince was J" unwilling to return without a bride, and sought the advice of the Marquise de la Ferronay, an old friend of the family. Her Ladyship showed him the picture of a young girl, who she said was rich, talented and his equal in rank. "I will have her, whoever she may be," exclaimed Carlos. "Where can she be seen?" "According to this morning's paper," replied the Marquise, "Her Royal Highness, the Princess Amelia of Orleans, arrived yesterday in Nice." Three days later the Duke and Princess met for the first time, and shortly afterward their betrothal *as announced. ?Galignani Messenger. : -M- t Blackbirds With Appetites. t If any one has just cause to desire t the total extermination of destructive birds, E. D. Smith has just grounds t to detest the blackbirds, as he has lost 9 through them at least $1000 this year, c fimifk V>ad rvrrthftKlv t.llfi befit CTOD t of. Egyptian corn this year ever grown a in Butte County. He planted fifty ii acres during the proper season and c almost every hill came up, and the ? corn grew and flourished until it was 1 as high as a man's head, and every i stock produced fine heads; in fact, good judges claimed that the yield would average forty bushels to the acre. i Mr. Smith waited patiently for the j crop to mature, well pleased with th e j o V?A?nfifnl vioM T^tlt ^JX UJjJCCllO U1 ( > RJITUAA V** M* J V'WI ?? ? W judge of his chagrin when he went out to view the corn a few days ago to find the field the feeding ground for myriads of blackbirds and the whole field devastated. The birds had taken the entire crop as completely as if it had been run through a threshing machine. Biggs (Cal.) Argus. Deai and Dumb L'onplc Converted. It seems to be a striking compliment to fervent eloquence, or some other peculiar power of psrsuasion, that among the converts made by a revivalist at Tekonsah, Mich., recently, were iwo deaf and dumb persons?, a aiRQ and } his wife.?New York Sua. ; v. - . t ' 1 v: V - '* :4? ' . WEIGHS 715 POtJNBS. Leo Whitton, With a Seven-Foot 41 Walat,Claims to Be the Fattest Man. The fattest Man in America" fe the I pray in which Leo Whitton announces fin< himself. Up to a year ago Leo had ing oeen growing broader* rounder and ynx sore uncomfortable for the past thir- ?nn iy-seven years. He weighs 715 pounds. reL Daniel Lambert, the Noriolk giant, wa: tipped the beam at 729 pounds, scor- gai mg the world's record. ab< ? ha^ ^St\ of W1*A "E LEO "WHITTON. ] est Mr. Whitton had only just arrived pr*j n town when he was met by a Re- t,e noraer reporter yesteraay. in ap- agj jearance lie is remarkably like Grover j8 , Cleveland. tin Whitton's tremendous girth is not oa{ 10 apparent when he stands, but when ma le sits he is startling. His measure-' <pii< uents are: Height, 5 feet 10 inches; the teck, 26 inches; biceps, 28 inches; aD >hest, 6 feet; waist, 7 feet; thigh, 49 the nches; calf, 26 inches. He comes of jy j ..cook noted for fleshiness. He was ^h( lorn in Northumberland County, On- BO , ario, Canada, of English parents. Up __ ill the age of twenty-one years he worked on the farm, at home. Then le went into the butcher business at Brighton, Ont., which he attended to ip to three years ago, when his extraordinary girth rendered it impossible . or mm to nancue tae cnopper. t When asked if he had endeavored to \ void growing so fat Mr. Whitton re- * tlied that he had tried all remedies, le has never tasted alcoholic drinks u hi* life. He loses from ten to fif- , een pounds during the summer, but [oes not feel much relief from the ^ osfl. In winter he regains the amount bat was missing. He is married to an ver age-sized woman, and has five *-7 hildren, the eldest of whom is seven- *ni een years old. None of them shows ny signs of abnormal stoutness.? ^ few York Recorder. Ben H P?F INTERLOCKED ANTLERS. ^!l eao furious and Valuable Trophy of a eac Michigan Hunter. pre In a taxidermist's window in Madi- aQc on street a pair of antlered deer heads jac re displayed. The taxidermist says hey form tho greatest curiosity ever een in that line. The antlers are inerlocked, and, ho says, it is the only ^ iair in existence with the heads well has reserved. Other pairs of antlers *>7 lave been found tangled togetner out | "B1J e says it was after tho animals to rhich they belonged had long been ead and nothing bat the whitened c^r keletons remained. The theory has oatl lways been that the animals had died k?c hus fighting. The deers of which 11611 bis exhibit originally formed a part tha -ere discovered in combat, and with ^ heir horns inseparably tangled. reif H. L. Brown, of Albion,, Mich., 11111 ras hunting . near Bismarck, North Jakota, November 15 last, when ie came upon two Virginia deer neks looked in a mortal tangle, low long they had been thus ie could not Bay, but it must have icen some time, because they had lowed up about two acres of ground- ^ q their struggle. They could not _j un away and Mr. Brown ended their i straggle by shooting them. He cat &| >ff the heads and sent them to this as ity to have them mounted as he onnd them. N. Slotkin, the taxiderlist who prepared them, say the lorns could only be untangled by ireaking them or loosining them from caQ( ___ . . __ | DEER WITH HORNS IN DEADLOCK. ^ A ha skull, and this was never done, so hey remain as the hnnter found hem. tral The deer were young bucks of about wa? he same age, probably two years old. co? ?he taxidermist said if they had been 9 :? ttbunted full figure they would have P " teen worth more than $5000. As they is now, he says, the p3ir of heads crai s worth $500. They belong to the aan who killed them, aud who will :eep them as a trophy of his rare good rj ack as a sportsman.?Chicago Chron ele- Tl Hod The Sawdust Industry. Pa^ easi A growing industry in this city is ver .he sawdust business. There are at by east five hundred men who make a ties iving selling sawdust. They have in- swe rested a capital of over two hundred wh< housand dollars and are now doing a not >usinessof $2,000,000 annually. Forty Bos rears ago the lumber mills here were jlad to have sawdust carted away; wenty-five years ago it could be jougbt for fifty cents a load; now it T )ring8 S3.50 a load at the mills. It is of a ised in hotel?, eating houses, grocer- whc en and other business places. It is nes: ret and spread over the floor in order *fte o make the sweeping cleaner work, sen Plumbers use it a great deal about "N< M'noa and hnildincs to deaden the ing vails and floors. Soda water men and this jackers of glass and email articles ox spei ivery kind use it, and dolls are stuffed Wil ritb it.?-New York Adverser. 'i ."v.v ' -r^r' ^ ^ 5 'wt? Hvn "HEAD, B0D1 AND LEGS." I (Winter Night's Game That Will ford Amosement. n 3ood games, the Washington Patfl| ler thinks, are always worth knovfl B about, especially those innoceB lter-night games that, with the^H^^I inj consequences, offer such, reB B tef from the day's cares. No otB ats to make a business of playin? nes, but the greatest minds are niB )ve simple diversions, say,they srafl re them. One of the best padtims^BjHl the kind iB the old English game cH^BB lead, Body andLegs,'' the o ich is lost in the past. .. B 3fet a Blip of brown paper abont t ihes wide and four in?!:-? long?sayfl B t the first player draw at the'ta^fl^^H i slip a head, using only the ttppd^m^ rd of the paper. This head may,b? it of any imaginable or nnimagxaalA^H^H a tore. If its something' mongzdfl 1 absurd it's ail the fnnnieryH^H it player then foldB the paper dow;H H as to cover up what he has dz^jrqfl t leaving the neok extending'WB ow the fold. He then Tin fir mi > on to the next player, who iniui^H^^M i.wb a body on the middle third;ajHMH ) paper, joining it to the neck andfl in folding the paper justso u ve enough of the body showing t<fl licate where the legs should join oofl ihird player then adds legs and feefl the strange being, to suit hiafancjB will add to the fan to have a fouttfl yer name the portrait. finally the paper is unfolded. Tfl H the least the company will be sed at the queer composite. It mafl that the head and the legs will ee over the direction the creator? supposed to be fronting. OfteaH^H tes one of the members will be sB^BH ; of proportion with the rest as tfl ke the whole effect very ludierotu^HB9| 2 best way to see the possibilities cH game is to try it. You needn't bfl artist to make a success of most awkward band mil irequenM^nn produce the most laughable resnltaM j combinations may not aiwaW b A H dazei^^^H kls there are sure to be several roar-B ?hen there is qnite a company as-B iblei each may be given a piece of 9 >er and a pencil; each draw a head ; I the paper; pass to the next; then h draw a body; fold; pass; thcsn h draw legs; fold: pass, and t&eh^^H| ;t name it In this way all those sent will be occupied in the spor^H^H I the larger variety of portraits will? rease the entertainment fl m Moving a House by Water. just beeu successfully accompiish?$l & Pacific coast firm. An attornqjfl^H aed Ernest Sevier is the ovra6if$^HB|fl '-story house at Areata/ tweJifl es from Eureka. Owing to a ^DB te in the value of property at i Sevier determined to have .66 moved to Eureka, where heijjfl ded having it set up on some t he owned. . firm or contractors undertook? love the house intact and.set it fHHHH njured, for the sum of $1200.:3^^HS M ' S * ' 1 THE HOUSE APLOAT. H ~ ~~ ~~~M 3 it was unfit for occupaser arrival they were to receive thHj elling as their compensation. .lie trip was made principally bfl B ier. To remove the house to ;e of the bay was the first difliouF^^^^H be overoome, as it necessitatedtakfl H the building over a large dyj^^HH [ a marsh. This was accomplisheSBH isfactorily and the house wastrant^^^H red to two railroad lighters than I I been lashed together in readines^H^H the trip. he journey by water was coluH^Nfl ted with the aid of a tug withou^H^^| ident, and an immense crow^^^H| ambled at Eureka to welcome inge craft. 91^^^ .mid the cheers of the spectatoi^^^^H t the tooting of steam whistles thfl|BH iters were made fast and the honfl B Qsferred to land once more. i a comparatively easy matter vey it to its new site and tl^^HH inge engineering feat was acco^^^^H ihed without any more dsToa^^^H^B og done to the house than a eking of the plaster. ? Difrcstibility of Apples. 'here is great difference in the tibility of different kinds of appl^^^^^H ae are very rich with hard and p, -while others are juicy and ily. The Spitzenberg apples h&H H 7 fine flavor, bat it cannot beea^^^^^H some who can eat at will of vax^^^H^H i like the Famense. Most of et apples ate hard to digest. m cooked they are tough and break down as sour apples ton Cultivator. ''Respect Old Age." lie Rochester UN. i.) union i seven-year-old boy of that ) recently got even with s. She was obliged to punish r which she administered a sole^^^^^fl non for the youngster's bene^^^^^H 3w, Willie," she sfrld, in concli^^^HHj the lecture, "you must rememl^^^|^H :?that at all times you ehould :t your teacher." Yes'm," soblfl^HNH lie; "I s'pose I'd ought to resf^^HB^H . on a?:3nut of jour eg;."