Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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DEVOTED TO POLITICS, MORALITY, EDUCATION AND TO TBE GENERAL INTEEB5T OF TUE UOUNTRY. By D..F. BRADLEY & 00. PICKENS, S C THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1881. VOL. X.--NO, 20 SOUTHERN NEWS. The paid capital of Charlotte, N. C., banks is $825,000. The contract for building jetties at Fernandina, Fla., has been reawarded. In Mooresville, N. C., out of 710 caves of measles, there has been one death. An attempt is to be made in North Carolina to create the office of Railroad Commissioners. Eight thousand logs broke loose in the Lower Pearl river and floated out into the Gulf of Mexico. Subscriptions to start a glass factory at Moss Point, on the Mississippi coast, amount to $13,500. One thousand immigrants7 are expected to arrive shortly in Southeast Missouri and North Arkansas. Four large rattlesnakes, killed recently in Greennel county, Ala., had fifteen, fourteen, twelve and ten rattles. Last year was the most bountiful * known in Texas since the war. The cot ton alone amounted to 1,200,000 bales. A person writing to a Mississippi paper thinks that cotton seed is better for fer tilizing purposes than cotton seed meal. A company is to be chartered to devel op the granite quarries near Petersburg, Va. An alleged petrified baby, said to have been unearthed near Eureka Springs, has been sold at Russeilville, Ark., for $4,600. It is suggested in West Virginia that the State shall appropriate $10,000 to send an agent to the North of Europe to. induce the immigration of families of Swedes and Danes. The estimates of the expense, of the State government of Texas for the year ending February 28, 1882, aggregate $1,357,913. St. Stephen's, in Savannah, is the only colored Episcopal church in Georgia. The twenty-fifth anniversary has recent ly been celebrated. The loss to the Louisiana sugar inter ests by the cold and wet weather is now carefully estimated at 25,0.0 hogsheads, or about ten per cent, of the expected crop. The Swiss colony in North Carolina is said to have discovered that the mulber ry tree grows with as much luxuriance as the cherry, and that the soil and climate favor the production of silk. Thue capacity of the Chariot te, N. C., cotton mrilis is five bales of cottonm per day, there being 3,800 spindlks. The machinery is all on one floor. The walls are very thick and the floor is triple, thus neutralizing the effects of the jar ring'of the heavy machinery. The Birmingham Iron Age report-s a contract with pairties from Ci"ago for 15,000 tons of coal to be delivered on the line of the New Orleans and Jackson road. New Orleans States: Mr. Duncan F. Kenner is the first planter to take the wvise precaution to lay tramw~ays from his cane-fields to his sugar-house. Ihis exarnple should be followed. The soil and climate of souith Florida are saidl to be very favorable to tihe culi tivation of sugar cane. The vieldl is sometimes as much as 4,000 p~ounds to the acre. Mr. Cage told the Sugar-planters' As sociation at New Orleans that ini his opinion nothing could equal a negro as a laborer on a sugar plantation when lie is properly paid and handled. Over 300 p~upils are now in'attendance at the Agricultural and Mechanical C.o1 1lege of Mississippi. This is the limit of its cap)acity at present, andl Gen. Lee has accordingly announced that no more pupils will be received. Wages for good field hmandsm in Abbe-, ville, S. C., range from $50 to $76, some few receiving as much as$100. But f w Scontracts have been made, a majority prefering interest in the crop or rental. The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser re ports the dlepartnre of a considerable number of carpenters for Pensacola, Fla., where they expect to find work in the re building of the burnt district. Thefailure of Welsh & Bacon, at Al 4 bany, Ga., is salid to h)e perhaips the larg est single failure that section has ever known. 'rhe gross amount of assets is raported by Col. Nelson Tift, the as .signee, to be $498,254.17 and the liabili ties $476,269.79. It is said that what is called the Pied . mont region of Virginia, the eastern slope of the Blue Ridlge Mountains, pro Sducing the finest Sou thdown sheep in the United Stats and that the Souh, down sheep gives the fattest and best flavored mutton. It is also said that all Virginia, except the alluvial region, is pre-eminently a sleep-raising country. The oldest living student of the Uni versity of North Carolina is the Lon. Mark Alexander, of Mecklenburg county, Va., who matriculated in 1808, and is now in his eighty-ninth year of life. He is the only survivor, except one, of the Congress of 1819, and the only survivor but one of the celebrate(d Virginia convention of 1829-80,. of which President Madison, President Monroe and Chief Justice Marshal were members. The colporter of the Maury county, Tenn., Bible Society distributed to fain. ilies in that county destitute of the Word of God six hundred Bibles and Testaments (during the past year, is probably the time). The Maury county Bible Society is the oldest in the State, having been organized in 1818. The second annual report of the At lanta Board of Health states that the total number of deaths was 679, an ar. nual death rate of seventeen and eight tenths for each thousand inhabitants. Of the whole number, 288 were wlhite and 391 colored. The death rate for the whites is thirteen to each thousand, and for the colored people twenty-three and eight-tenthis. The following excellent suggestion is made of Gov. Jarvis, of North Carolina, "No court requiring a jury or witnesses' either civil, criminal, inferior or sup rior, sholuld be held in the month of jine. Oar people are eminently an agricultuoral people, and to take a ilarge nulmlber of laborers (out of the fields for a week, Vs is now done in many of tle counities in the busy month of June, is a serious in jury to the farmers of that countv." Rev. T. I-I. Campbell, of Coh unbus Ga., one of the most active philanthircp i-As in the SLate, writes to the Columilibus Times that in all his fifty years' expe rience among the poor, he never I as had an application for charity from an Is raelite. They sometimes give him money for the poor, but never ask charity for themselves. During the recent cold term, when white and colored people of all denominations were cilamoring for wood, he specially notes the standing of the Jews, to whom he says the facts are highly creditable. The New Orleans Picayune reprints the following idvertiseients from the Louisiana Gazette, printed in New OrL leans, andl dated February 17, 1823. "Passenigers for MaI~disonvile-An ele gant sleigh and1( four will leave Basin1 Carondelet this day at 3 o'clock for Madisonville, by way of the Canal and Lako Pontchartrain. It will be p~rovidled1 with b~ufhido robes and other accom moda tionis for eight passengers. Apply to the dlriver, on board, or at Libriskini's stable. Passage live dollars.".S.."kates-A few 1 pairs of Holland- made skates for sale at 111 Custom house street, ready strapped."' Picture Frames. Very serviceable and pretty picture frames can be mnade~ out of pasteboard. For cabinet photographs, cut four strips,i two six inches and twvo eight inches. long. Lap them across the cornera, in the same way as the rustic frames are joined, and punch a hole through the two pieces so that you can fasten them with a button. You can find four of a kind handsome enough in the button box on the shelf. Cut steel are the best, but any kind will (10. Strips of paper on the back will hold the picture in its place. These frames are pretty, made of b)lack card-hoard or covered with black silk.' Little gilt stars, or strips of gilt paper down the center, have a p~leasanft effect on the black. You can cut little pieces of paper to represent gilt buttons if you do not happen to have any in the house. If you can, embroider a narrow vine on strips, with a cluster of leaves or flowers at the corners. Almost any com bination of materials and styles is effect ive for these frames, and they are an| agree able change from the perforated card so long used. Glove and handker chief boxes, and, in fact, boxes of any kind, all lie in this line of manufacture.I What a Coroner's Jury Is Composed of. Confederate Burker arose to a ques tion of privilege in the club. Hle was working in the eastern part of the city with a man who was fatally injured. He saw the whole transaction andk knew all the particulars, and yet when the Coro ner's jury was made up he was ignored because of his color. He felt slighted andl indignant, and he hoped the club would not overlook the insult. "JBrudder Burker, you didn't lose nothin'," replied the President. " It was a complunent to yer intelligence to ignore you. De average Coroner's jury am composed of two loafers, three old b~ums and a fule, and dey would have insisted dat you war do fule. You haven't got any case, sahi, an' de meet ini' will now be declared split up."-New York Arcury. TUEN AND NOW. BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLM&. Dear ancient school boys! Nature taught to them Tho simple lessons of the star and flower, Showed them strange sights; how on a single stem Admire the marvels of Creative Power! Twin apples grow, one sweet, the other sour. How from the lull-top where oar eyes behold In even ranks the plumted and batinered maise Range its long coluimns, in the days of old The livo volcano shot its angry hliaze, Dead since the shadows of Noah's watery days. How, when tho lightning split the mighty rock, The spreading f ury of the shuft was spent; How the young secion j(ined the alien stock, And when and where tho homelessi sparrows went To p-is tho winter of their discontent. Scant were the gleanings In those years of dearth; No Ctivier yet had clothed the fossil bones That sIunhcred, waiting for their tecond birth; No Lyell read the legend of the stonei; Science still po'nted to her cuipty thrones. Dr-aining of orbs to eyes of earth unknown, HIerschel look< d heavenward In the starlight pale; Lost iii th<o, - awful depths lie troil alone. Liplace stvo in ute before the liftei veil; Wh-le i home-bred IIambolt trimiued his toy-ship's sail. No mortal feet those loftier heights had gained Whence, the wide realms of nature ire descry In vain their eyes our longiug fathers strainet' To scan with wondering gazo t he smununits high That far beneal h their children's footstepi lie. Snile at their firt small ventures as we may, The school-hoy'% copy shapes the scholar's hand, Tli-ir gratq ful inemory fills our hearts to-day; rave, hopeful, wise, this bowei of peace they pluanel, While war's dread plowshare scarred the sufiering land. Child of our c'illdren's children yet unborn. When on this yellow patg you turn your eyes, Where the brief record ol this May-day morn In phiase antiqume and faded letters lies, How vague, low pale our fitting ghosts will rise! Yet in our veins the iblood ran warni and red, For us the ihelds were green, the skies were blue. rhougit from our dust the spirit long has fled, We lived, we loved, we toiled, we dreamed like you, Siniled at our sires anl thought how much we k new. Dh miiilit outr spirits for one hour return, When the next cent ury rouius its hiundreth ring, All the striange socrets it shl t-ach to learn, 'ro iear the large truths its years shall bring. Its viser sages talk, its sweeter mitistrels singI Dr. .Jex's Predlicament. It was the funniest thing that I ever saw in my life. Cruikshank would have gloried in it. I wish I had him here to ilustrate that scene with the spirited vigor that only his dancing pencil gives. It was in Kentucky that it happened that pleasant land of blue-grass, and to b)acco, and fine stock, with white-teethed girls. Mrabel, my - sister, had married Dick Hlucklestone, and they had begun life in great contentment and a liltlo three-roomed house scarcely big enough to hold the bridal presents. But they were happy, hearty, healthy. Theyhiad two coWs, iceo-cream every day, a charm mng haby, and Uncle Brimmner. Who itll say that their cup was not full? In leed, they thought it full before Uncle Briamier added; hiiself thereto-a -very )ondrous rose leaf. He was one of our >ld family servants, who fonily believed hat Miss tMahel and her young hushand vould never heo ale to get on without iim. Ho walked all the way from Mis issippi to Kentucky, with his things ted up in a meal sack, and presented imuself before Mabel, announcing affably hat he had conme to ''stay on." "But I haven't any place for you, Uncle Brimmuer," said M% ahel, div'ided >etween h~ospitality and emblarassment. ''Lor' honey, you kin jes' tuck mc trouni' anyuwh ar. I don't take up no :oomn., Maibel looked thoughtfully upon the >ig brownt gray-whisukered old negro, .vhose proport ions wvere those of a Hercu es, and shook hteriead. ''You are not a lPom Thlub, Unucle Brimmer." "Nho, ma'am," said he, submissively "bhut I've got his spirit. Couldn't I deep in do kitchen, honey?". he went on, with insimuatimg sweetness. "'No, ilndeied," cried our young house iceper; "'I putt my foot down on any )ody slooping ini the kitchen." Aunt Patsey, the cook, stood by, bal memihg a pan of flour on her head, one 'at hand on her hip. I susp~ected her of i personal interest in the matter, and iln Ieed she afterwardl acknowledged that <he th ough t Uncle Brimmer's coming w~ould1 prove a "less5in1' to her feet.'' Plhose feet of hers had been saved many step~s through the service of her ten-year (lid (daughter Nancy Palmuira Kate called Nanky Pal, for short. But of late N'anky's services hand been called into reqaisition as a nurse, and Aunt Patsey, who was fait andl scanit o' breath, thought die had too m~uchi to (do; and so she vowed~ wvith eividenit delight the stalwart proporhions of our good-natured giant fronm the south. "Dar's do lof', Miss Mabel," she sug gested(. "It is too small, and is cluttered up with things already." "'Oh, shto, chile, dar ain't nothin' in dat lof' 'eep' de 'tatters, an' do pepp~ers, an' do dried apples, an' some strings o' terbacker, an' do broken p~low, an' some o(dds an' ends o' do chillen's, an' Lucy Crittenden's pups. Lor', dar ain't noth in' ter speak of in do lof'." "Hie can't get in at the window," said Mahel, shifting her grond. "'Lenmmo try," said Uncle Brimnmer. The kitchen was a small log-cabin some (distance from the house- "in good hollerini' reachl," to quoto Aunt Patsey. Above it was a low room, or loft, crowded with the miscellaneous articles enumerated. The only way of getting into it was from the outside. A ladder against the side of the cab~in admitted one, through a little window, no longer, T am sure, than that of a railway coach, imto tlis storehiouse of treasures. Nank y Pal, wvbo was as slim as a snake, was usually selected to fetch and carry thrVour.h1 the smnall aperture. But Uncle Brimm Ler! "i.'ni pretty sho I kin do it," he said, Rqgtinting up one eye, na ho took off his cost and nmnpared to try Wo stood in the doorway as he can tiously went up the ladder; and after an exciting momen t lio pushed himself through the window, and turning, smiled triiimplhantly. Tlis settled the matter. A cot bed was procured for Uncle Brimmer, and lhe soon becaio the mainstay of the family. Cheerfully avoiding all the work possible; indifftrently as ain ostrich cating all lie could find in clpboards or highways; grimly playing hobgoblin for baby; gayly twanging his banjo on moolight nights--memory reealls the) with, a smile, Uncle Uriminer! I can close my eyes now and recall him, big, sh1apless, in(listinct in the semi-darkness as lie sat under the mulberry-tree, sing sig, ' Wish I was Iii Tonnspmne, A-settn' ini iy cheer, Jug o' whifsky bv my side. An' nrms aroui' suy dear!" This was his favorite. Wh1o shall doubt that it expressed to himi all the poetIy, romauce, passion, of life? After a time Uncle Briimer fell ill) and we sent for a doctor. Dr. Trattlei Jex was the medical man of our county. l ived in Middleburn, seven miles away, and he canie trotting over on a great bay horse, with a pair of saddle-bags hanging like Gilpin's bot tle's, one on either side. He looked as diminutive as a monkey perched on the tall horse's back, and indeed he was ''a weo bit pawky body," as was said of Tommy Moore. But, bless me! he was Ls poipous and self-important as though he had found the place to stand ou, and could move the world with his little lever. A red handkerchief carefully pinned across his chest showed that he had lungs and a mnolher. His boots were polished to the last degree. His pink and beardless face betrayed his youth; and his voice-ah! his voice! What a treasure it would have been could he have let it out to nasqueraders! Wfether it was just chatging from that of youth to that of man, or whether, like reading and writing, it '"caie by na ture," I can't tell. One instant it was deep and bass, the next, squeaking and soprano. No even tenor about that Voice! le held oft his hand, with, "Good norning, Mlr'. Hcklestone. I hope the bnl y has not, had an atftaek?" I popped into the dining-room to gig gle, but little well-bred Mable did not even smile. "Oh no," sho cried; "it is Uncle Brim mner." 'I lie (1octor offered to see him at onco. Mabel got up to lead the way. Tn to this moment I warrant it had not struck her as anything out of the way that she must invite Dr. Jex to climb a ladder aid crawl through a window to get at his patient. But as she looked at him, speckless, spotless, gloved, scented, eurled, then at the ladder leaning against the wall in a disreputable, rickety sort of' way, a scono of incongruity seemed borie i) ol her soul. To add to her dist rep and my hilarity, we saw that Un l rimmer had hung out of tho winadow somoI my sterious under-rigging that he wore. Long, red, and ragged, it "'Ihnined ini the breeze" as pictur.. sequiely as the American flag on a Fourth of July. "-am afraid, doctor, it will be a little awkwvard," faltered M\ahel; ''Uncle Brim mer is up there;" and she waved her lily ha~nd. ''An' y'ou'1l have to elime do ladder," put in Nank~y Pal, with a disrespectful cichucle. I thought thle little doctor gasped; bult he recovered himself gallantly, and ''A' a b'oy T hnve climbed trees, and think I can ai<end a ladder as a muan;" and he~ silm hieroically. 'We wat..hedi hiimi. Hle was encumf becred by the saddle-bags, but he man-. agedl very wvell, and~ had1( nearly reached the top,, when suddlenly Uneo Bim mhr's head and(1 shoulders protruded, giving him thle look of a snail half out of it shell. "'11 re's my pulse, do ctor," he cried, blandly, extending his b)ared1 arm. "'ain't no lahce for you up here. 'An here's mny tongu."Tenot et i tnnefor D~r. Jex's inspection. The doctor settled himself on a rung ot the ladder, quito willing to be met half way. Professional inquiries 1began, w~hien "'A dleep) sound( struck like a rising knoll." "G(ood gracious!"' exclaimed~ MabeCl; "what is that?~" Naniky Pl'1 sprang up, with dlistended eyes, almost let ting the hah y fall. Again, "'Nearer, elenrer, (deadlier than before." "'Sakes alive! Miss Mahel," cried Nanky, "'ole Mr. Simmioni's bull1's done broke loose!'' She was right. A moment more, and in rushed the spllendid angry beast, bel lowing, pawing the ground, shaking his evil lowered head as if the devil were contradicdtin~g him. D~r. Jex turned a sac'red face. My lord 11ul1 caught sight of the fluttering redl rags, and charged the side of the house. And Ii give you my word, the ne'xt instant the ladder was knocked from under the dloctor's feet, and lie was clinging frantically rounid the neck of Uncle .Brimnmer. Fearful moment. "Pull him in, Uncle Brimmner-pull hiim in," shrieked Mab~el, dancing ab)out. "I1 can't, honey-I can't," gasped the chiokinig giant; "'I'm stuck." "'Hold me upi," cried the doctor. "'Send~ for help.'' Uncle Brimmier seized him by the arm p)its. The sad1(i1e hags went clattering (own, and~ about thu head of Master Buill a cloud of quinine, enamel, D~over's anid (divers other powders and jells, broke in) lindinig conifusion. "Aunt P'atsey, go for Mr. Huncklestone at once," called Mabel. Aunt Patsey looked cautiously out from the kitchen door. "Ydr don't ketch me in de yard wid ole Simmons' bull," she said with charming independence. "Thou I shall send Nanky Pal." "If Nanky Pal goes outen dat hous. I'll break every bone in her body." Then Mabel began to beg: "Aunt Pat sey, let her go, please. I'll givo you a whole bagful of quilt pieces, and my ruby rep polonaise that you begged me for yesterday." Aunt Patsey's head came out a little further. "An' what else ?" "And a rutiled. pillow-sham," said Ma bel, almost in tears, "'4 and sone white sugar, and I11 make you a hrt-and that's all. Vow?(!" "I reckon dat's about as much as the chile is wuth," said the philosophio mother. "Let her go." "Fly! fly!" cried Mabel. "I ain't skeered," said Nanky. "I ain't dat sort. Manimy ain't nuther. She was jes' waitin' ter see how much you'd give." Nanky's bare legs scudded quickly across tIe yard. Thle bull took no notice of her. He was still stanping and bollow ing under that window. Uncle Brimmer and the doctor clung together, and only a kick now and then testified to the little man's agony. "Su1l)pp.e Uncle Brimmner should let go ?" I suggested in a hollow whisper. "Oh, hush," cried Mabel. "The doc tor's blood would be on our heads." "Or the bull's horns." It was not far to the tobacco field, and in an incredibly short time brother Johl came riding in followed by half a dozen stont negroes. With some delightful play that gave one quite an idea of a Spanish bull fight, his lordship was cap tured, and our little doctor was assisted to the house. Gone w-as the glory of Dr. Trattles Jex. His coat was torn, his knees grimy, his hands scratched, and he looked-yes -as if lie had been crying. "Can you ever forgive us?" said Mabel, piteously. She hovered about himliko a little mother. She made him drink two glasses of wino; she mended his coat; she asked him if lie would not like to kiss the baby. And finally a wan smile shone in the countenance of Dr. Jex. For me. I felt my face purpling, and leaving him to Mabel, I iled with brother John to the smoke-houise, where we-roared. Uncle Brinner got well and went in to see the doctor. He returned with a new cravat, a cane, and several smart ar ticles of attiro, from which we inferred that in those trying moments whci lie supported the suspended doctor, that lit tle gentleiaian had off'ered many induce meits for him to hold fast. When ques tioned lie responded chiefly wi4h a cav ornous and mysterious smile, only say "Master Dr. Tex is a gentleman; starclh in or starch out,, lie's (10 gentle li;mn straight." And brother John), who is somewhat nerpiainled with slang, said, with a great laugh, "Wiell, II I l man, Ion had a bull chancee to judge, so yon must be right.1' -Parjp's8 We"c/dy. Paper Iloxes Substituted for Tin. A fe w years ago a process of p~aper-box manufacturing was invented, which has since placed p~aper, the rival of so many materials, in the position of a stron'g rival of tin in packcages for certain arti cee of commerce. Previous to this in vention the great objection to using round paper boxes for small packages, w~hien in was commonly used, was that the covers, being in two pieces (a disk and a rim), were not durable or safe enough to fill the requirements of fre quent handling. Under the new process the heads or covers of the box are " drawn " from a single piece of straw booard, so that not only is there no sepa rat ing of a disk from the rim by use, but there is n10 seam thru .1hI which the con tents of the b)ox can flid its way. Tihe b~ody of the box is cut from pap'r tubes, made of several thicknesses of a light weight of straw board or heavy straw paper. Almost any desired diameter or len gth of box can be made. The heads are malhde of heavy straw board, from what is known as No. 90 to No. 50, or hleavier if desired, and are "' drawn" undler a peculiar process, with great raipidlity. One of these heads is fastened to the buottom of the box, another of the same kind is adjusted to the top, not fastened, and the box is comp1lete. For these a straw board lined with fancy colored paper~ CanI 1be used ; oftenitimes am tinm-foil pape.r is selected, in which case., with the b~ody of the box covered by a lab~eh, the package resembles a hand some Ma(,i tin box. The boxes have been introduceU nuto a great variety of uses, where, on at mount of chleap~ness, they have already superseded till. Large quantities are used with and without water, air anid grease-pro of p~reparationls, in packing such iarticles ams chloride of limo, paris green, putty, tar, seeds, etc. The same princilo is ap plied to the manufacture of small pill boxes aind toy paper-cap boxes, the hat ter b~eing known now by " Young Ameri ca," almost to an entirety, as his chief Fourth of July delighit. Tis class of boxes is made with astonishing rapidity, as can be imagined from the fact that they are sold, b~y the thousand gross, as low as 7 and 8 cents a gross. MANY 'if the ilindoos still think that the leader ~A the Sepoy rebellion, Nana Sahib, is yet h1inig, and that he is in America, a region as vague to thenm as the dominions of Prester John were to tihe mediievalists. Although his death was announced twenty years ago, the truth or falsity of it was not then, nor has it since' been, ascertained. He alight be alive, so far as his age goes, for, he would not now be more than 60 years old. BITS OF INFORMATION. Tan fiddle is spoken of as early as 1200 A. D., in the legendary life of St. Christopher. CRAMoi1 skins are not derived from the chamois, as Many people suppose, but are the flesh side of sheepskins. The skins are soaked in lime-water, and in a solution of sulphuric acid ; fish oil is poured over them, and they stro care fully washed in a solution of potash. IN 1789, when the Federal Govern ment was organized, heads of depart ments received .3,500 per annum salary. The principal Secretaries who formed Washington's first Cabinet were : Of Stato, Thomas Jefferson ; of the Treas ury, Alexander Hamilton ; of War, Gen. Knox; Attorney General, Edmond Ran dolph. THE heaviest loss inflicted upon the American arms in any battle of the Rev olutionary war was at the battle of Long Island --2,00, in killed, wounded and prisoners. But 10,000 Americans were engaged, and the loss was only 20 per cent. At the Battle of Hubbardton Vt., 700 patriots engaged 1,200 Britisl'. troops, and 324 were killed or wounded -nearly 50 per cent. At Guilford Court House, Gen. Greene lost 1,200 out of 4,400-a loss of 30 per cent. Yonirrow bananas come from Jamaica and Aspinwall, and the red bananas from Cuba. The yellow bananas sell the ii t because they grow more to the bunch. A bunch of yellow bananas averages about ten dozen, and sometimes they average as high as twelve doz-,, while the red bananas seldom run 'ver five dozen. The bunches are sold A about the same price, so theretailerf :an afford to sell the yellow ones' for les and still make a better profit than they can on the red ones. The flavor of the banana depends greatly on the soil in which it is raised. Tia English guinea was so called be cause the gold of which it 'was first made was brought from Guinea by ain African trading company. Originally it was in tended that the guinea should besrth 20 shillings, but, owing to a number errors in calculating the proportion f tho value of gold and silver, it never circulated at that value. Sir Isaac New ton fixed the true value of the guinea, in relation to silver, at 20 shillings 8 pence, and, by his advice, the crown proclaimed that in future it should be current at 21 shillings. Tan hanging gardens of Babylon con sisted of an artificial mountain 400 feet on each side, rising by successive ter races to a height which overtopped the walls of the city. The terraces them selves were formed of a succession of piers, the tops of which were covered by fIlat stones sixteen feet long and four feet wide. Upon these were spread beds of matting, then a thick layer of bitunen covered with thick sheets of lead. Upon this solid pavement earth was heaped, sonic of the piers being hol low, so as to afford depth for the roots of the tallest trees. Water was drawn from the river to irrigate these gardens, which thus presenited to the eye the ap - pearance of a mountain covered in verd ure. Trim day upon which any historical event referring to the Christian era hap p~ened may be determined b~y the follow ing rule :1. Subtract 1 from the date andl divide the remainder by 400. 2. Point off thbe centuries from the result ing remnaindler and~ divide the odd years by 4. 3. Multiply the resulting quo tient by 5 andl to the product add the re nmainder, 4. Fr:>m the sum subtract twice the number of centuries pointed off and divide the remainder by 7. 5. Add the resulting remaindler to the (lay of the year upon which the event happened anid divide the sum by 7. 6. To the last resulltinlg remainder adld 1. T~hien will the sum be the number of the day of the wveek reqiiredl. When the first quotient is zero, or when it is 1 and the (cntuiries pointed off 3, unless there be a remain decr, to avoid negative results, add 27 to the date insteadl of subtracting I from it. (leanllness and H~ealth. The0 alarming sp~read of diphtheria and1( kindred diseases is a warning to the people of the United States, of which t he~y canniot long nieglect to take heed. lii many cities and towns diphtheria now exists ahnost to the extent of be 'omning (epideic, while there are few sectionis of the country eiitirely exempt fromn its rava~ges. 1t is blieved that the first cause of the disease is the preparation of the aya temi by the p.resence of impure air for the germis of theO dliseaso to take effect, whie these germs are believed to be nuit iplied by this implure air. The bes houses of the cities, where there is a Ic id flw, are liable to the disease, be cauI~se the S(ewer coinnections are in the houslr, anid canniot easily be so secure but that the gas is forced by the bellows of the tide ba)ck into them. This is also the (ase with dwellings in cities where high water fills the sewers, or into whuic.h from other causes the sower gas Upomn the farm and in villages the dis 0a e is propagated by the impure air fr~n eesspools and other sources. The germs of the disease are not destroyed by thme frost as with thoso of yellow fever, and thme only safety is in a comn plete removal of all impurities from the vicinity of the dwellings, and not only this but the filtli must be entirely de odorized and rendered innocuous. In the cities the sower may be made a complete carriage wvay to a place of safe ty. In the villages andl upon0 the farm the remedy cani be 1mad(e the means of adding largely to the fertilizing element of the country as well as securinghealth. Theo farmer and the village improve ment societies5 should( take this work in their especial charge.