Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, August 27, 1885, Image 1
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"VOL. 31. YORKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1885. ISTO. 35.
ihe ftotg ieUct. j
THE" CONJURER'S BRIDE.
Professor George Sholbaeh was a magician.
He was not a commonplace conjurer with
blocks and balls and canes and trick tables.
He appeared before his audience with no
; stage trappings of any kind, and borrowing
rings and handkerchiefs, he amused the audience
with really wonderful feats. The
second part of his entertainment consisted
i of "mind reading," and it was with that he
' most astonished and confounded the minds
of the Western and Southern people among
whom he oerformed. He had a circuit of
towns, in each of which he appeared at regular
intervals. He never went off his beaten
track, and yet he always had crowded
houses, for at each reappearance he announced
some startling new illusion, which
proved to be more astonishing than any preceding
one. Some of his tricks he imported
from foreign countries ; quite as many
were of his own invention. His personal
Appearance was of some assistance to him,
for he looked like a magician. His hair was
jet black, long and wavy. His complexion
* was pale and bloodless. His forehead was
low, and under his sharply marked black
brows burned a pair of coal-black eyes, brilliant
as diamonds and restless as flame.
In Montrose he was a great favorite. He
had given his entertainments there a number
of times, and was admired much by the
townspeople. He had never, however,
made any friends among them. He was
courteous to those who addressed him, but
he repelled all attempts at intimacy.
Among those who constantly attended his
entertainments was Irene Washburne, the
daughter of the only editor in the place.
She was only nineteen years of age and was
remarkably handsome. Her dark brown
eyes and hair, coupled with a complexion
in which the blood came and went like
waves on a summer sea, her rosy lips and
milk-white teeth were the loadstones that
attracted many of the village beaux to her
father's house. She was a very intelligent
girl, but was given to too much reading of
the sombre tales of Poe and the weird fancies
of Shelley. Night after night she sat
in the town hall when Sholbach was giving
his performances, chained by a strange fascination
which she could not explain. She
shuddered with horror when the magician's
keen, restless eye lighted upon her, and
when she found him gazing at her with a
strangely steady, burning look, as he often
did, she wanted to cry out with horror, but
could not. After each entertainment she
vowed that she would never again visit the
hall when the professor was there, but when
his bills appeared in the town she found herself
irresistibly moved to go and see him.
This had been the state of matters for
some time, when suddenly Sholbach threw
off his reserve and began to make friends in
3I6ntrose. Twice, after performing in the
town, he invited several young men to his
rooms at the hotel, and there opened bottles
of wine and served them with cigars until
they vowed that he was a royal good fellow.
At last he asked one of them, a great friend
of Editor Washburne's, to introduce him to
the newspaper man. The introduction was
performed and Sholbach made such a pleasant
impression on the editor that the latter
invitea the magician to visit his house when
acain in town.
When Sholbach next performed in Mont- j
rose the editor gave a little reception to him j
after the entertainment. Once in the house
of Washburne, Sholbach appeared to have
eyes only for Irene. He devoted himself to
her, and attended to all her wants with a
grave and tender courtesy that could not
fail to make an impression on her. But the
impression was not such as the magician
wanted. While he fascinated her, he filled
her with horror. He reminded her of a
snake.
"Why do you shrink from me?" he asked
her.
"Do I shrink from you?" she asked timidly.
She was afraid to acknowelede it; she
would not have dared to acknowledge anything
that might offend him, for her mind
was completely subservient to his. He
could have mesmerized her without a perceptible
effort, had he desired to do soi
"Yes, you do shrink from me," he said
gravely.
They were alone on the piazza, where the
cold moonlight lent an additional keenness
iffov nuoc
IU VllC IVi kjiiviwwvn u vj vc?
"I?I?am sorry," she said, trying to drop
her eyes, but finding them irresistibly fastened
to his.
"Do you know," he continued, "that I
perform in this town oftener than in any
other?"
"Is that so ?"
"Yes. And why do you suppose I do it?"
"I do not know."
She did know. She knew what he was
going to say, and she would have given her
^ life to stop him ; but she was powerless.
"I love you," he whispered in a hoarse
voice.
She shuddered and clasped her hands.
"Why do you not answer me?" he said
bending closely to her. "I tell you I love
you."
"I know it," she said in a faint murmur.
She could not move hand or foot.
"Then, why do you not answer me?" he
asked.
She was silent.
"You love me, then. This silence comes
from your shyness. I might have known
it."
And leaning forward he clasped her in his
arms and kissed her lins.
The charm was broken. With a long,
quivering shriek, she broke from his arms
and rushed madly into the parlor among the
startled guests. Sholbach followed her, but
she fled to her father for protection.
"Take him away !" she cried. "Take
him away! He will kill me with his icy
eyes?those serpent's eyes. Take him
away!"
The next morniDg Sholbach had disappeared
from the town, after announcing that
he would never return, and Irene lay in a
fever. * * *
A year had passed away and Irene had
long ago recovered her accustomed health
* and spirits. Sholbach, true to his promise,
had never come back to Montrose. In the
meantime, John Manners, a stalwart young
physician, whose ability was unquestioned,
and whose physical beauty was the envy of
"" every young man in the town, had found
the way to Irene's heart. She loved and
was loved in return, and it had been arranged
that they should be married at her uncle's
magnificent mansion in St. Louis, in
the fall. The days rolled on, and a week
before the day appointed for the wedding
Irene and her parents, together with her
loverand his parents, went to the city.
The first thing which met Irene's eyes,
when she arrived in St. Louis, wasabilfannouncing
that Professor George Sholbach
would exhibit his wonderful illusions for
one week at a certain hall. The bill stated
^ that the magician would introduce his new
feat of cutting off a man's head and restoring
it to its place again without hurting the
man. Irene shuddered and turned pale
when she saw this bill. Her lover noticed
this, and, on being told the cause, laughed.
"My darling," he said, "you ought to be
cured of that trouble by this time. Hemember
that in a few days you will have
a husband to protect you. I know your
horror is only temporary. 1 shouldn't be
LmiTii-inofi 5f \*r?n acL-orl mp tn take vnu to I
see him in a few days."
Was it prophetic? The desire to see Sholbach's
performances again grew upon Irene.
The simple knowledge that she was in the
same city with him had a strange fascination
for her. She struggled against her
growing desire to see Sholbach but found
herself unable to conquer it. At length, in
? sheer desperation, she asked he lover one
evening to take her to see the magician,
lie laughed heartily.
"I knew you were cured of your strange
averson for him. There's nothing like a
light heart and a good digestion to remove
unpleasant fancies."
Accordingly, they went in the evening
to the hall and secured seats near the stage.
When Sholbach's eyes fell upon them he
started as if he had been shot. He fixed a
burning glance upon them, and in a moment
understood their position ; for Irene
clung to John for protection. Then Sholbach
bowed slightly and smiled reassuringly.
From that time until near the close of
the entertainment he appeared to take no
notice of them.
The usual tricks had been perlormed and
he began his concluding feat. A man was
summoned from among the audience to go
upon the stage. Then he removed his collar
and necktie and coat. Then Sholback
appeared with a large knife and suddenly
siezing the man plunged it into his throat.
The man screamed and struggled. The
blood poured from the wound. The audience,
convinced as they were that the man
was a confederate, were silent with horror.
Scholbach whirled the knife around with
a quick movement and then held up
the man's head. A murmur of horror ran
J * *? - is mi? j..
inrougn me uuuieuce. j.ue uuuy wn? jcmovea
and the professor treated the audience
to a three minute lecture. He was interrupted
by the appearance at the other
end of the hall of the man who had been
decapitated, alive and smiling. The audience
heaved a sigh of relief and then
awarded the successful magician a round of
applause.
"You may think," said Sholbach, "that
the man who has just been on the stage
was a confederate. Now, in order to convince
you that he was not, I desire any
gentleman who has the courage to come upon
the stage and I will repeat the experiment."
As he said this Sholbach looked at John
Manners. The powerful young physician
suddenly felt an irresistible desire to go
upon the platform. He arose as if to start.
"John, you are not going!" exclaimed
Irene in a tone of terror.
"Yes," he replied, laughing; "I want to
find out how it was done."
"Let me go with you ?"
And without waiting for his answer she
followed him.
"This is hardly the sort of exhibiton for
a lady to look upon at close quarters," said
Sholbach. "You had better sit behind
this screen until it is over."
"No! no!" said a voice from the house.
"Let the lady see how you do it if she can."
Sholbach bowed and gave Irene a chair
on the side of the stage, opposite to Manners.
As he went off to get the knife he
i i- i?*?4. r ?
paused ior a single lnsiaut m nuui ui nci
and glared into her eyes.
"Don't you move or speak," he whispered.
Poor girl! She could not have stirred if
her life depended upon it. Cold beads of
perspiration broke out on her brow and
shivering chills ran down her spine. But
she was voiceless and nerveless. Sholbach
had brought the full power of his will to
bear on her and she was completely mesmerized.
When the conjurer stood before Manners
he gazed intently into his eyes. The young
physician, strong as he was, felt himself
grow weak before that look. He endeavored
to speak, but Sholbach frowned, and the
words seemed to freeze in his throat. The
conjurer did not take his eyes off the physician
while he spoke to the audience.
"This man is very powerful," he said,
"and I must allow him time to control his
nerves before I begin, or he might do me
some injury."
Then for a time he was silent. The audience
waited and watched the three silent
figures. At length, without taking his
eyes from Manners, Sholback said:
"It is time."
Then with a sudden expression of frightful
ferocity he plunged the knife into the
throat of the man before him. The head
fell forward and the hands gripped the side
of the chair convulsively for a moment;
then John Manners was as still as if he were
dead. Sholback asked some of the men in
the front row whether they could see that
the knife had really been plunged in the
man's throat. They said there was no
doubt of it.
"As the hour is late," said Sholbach, "I
will not prolong this exhibition. I put this
screen in front of this man so. Now in
two minutes you will see him enter that
door."
Xo one had noticed Irene while Sholbach
was performing his teat, but it was now
seen that she had fainted. Two or three
persons made a movement to go to her assistance,
but Sholbach stopped them with a
wave of the hand.
"I can bring her out of the faint in a moment"
he said.
Then lifting her as easily as if she had
been a child he carried her off the stage.
The audience waited until the two minutes
had expired. Then they began to look
for the reappearance of Manners from the
front of the stage. But no one came. There
was a deathly silence in the house, and the
stage remained empty. Three, four, five,
ten minutes passed, and neither the physician
nor the conjurer appeared.
"There's something wrong here," exclaimed
a man sitting in the front row.
So saying he sprang upon the stage and
overthrew the screen behind which the
magician had hidden Manners.
A horrible sight was exposed. The young
physician sat still in the chair with the
knife in this throat, the blood trickling
slowly down his bresist, dead. A dozen
men rushed forward to examine. There
was no doubt about it: a murder had been
committed calmly and boldly, in the presr\T\r?e\
s\f U'l tnoccnc
CUUC \Jl 1/111 Ut UUUV.UV.Vt T? 1 I I1VOOVC7*
The building was searched before and behind
the scenes. Then it was found that
both the conjurer and the young woman
had disappeared. The police were informed,
an alarm was sent out; the news was
telegraphed all over the country, but to no
purpose. George Sholbach and his victim
were never seen again.
It is said that in Germany a conjurer is
traveling about and giving remarkable
second sight performances, his assistant
being a beautiful pale woman, who shudders
continually, and whose eyes are always
fixed in a glassy stare, but who never makes
a mistake in answering his questions. No
one, however, has been able to identify the
two as George Shol back and Irene Wash
burn.? IP../. Henderson in Jnter-Ueeun.
A Remakkabe Tomb.?One of the most
remarkable tombs of the ancients was that
carved out ot rock, by order of Darius for
the reception of his own remains, and
which exists to this day at Persepolis, after
a duration of twenty-three centuries. The
portice is supported by twenty-four columns
twenty feet in height, and in the center is
the form of a doorway, seemingly the entrance
to the interior, but it is solid ; the entablature
is of chaste design. Above the
portico there is what may be termed au
ark, supported by two rows of figures,
about the size of life, bearing it on their
uplifted hands, and at each angle, a griftin?
an ornament which is very frequent at Persepolis.
On this stake stands the king,
with a bent bow in his hand, worshiping
the sun, the image of which is seen above
the altar that stands before him, while
above his head hovers his feroueher, or disembodied
spirit. This is a good genius that
in Persian and Ninevite sculpture accompanies
the king when performing any important
act. On each side of the ark are
nine niches, each containing a statue in basrelief.
No other portion of the tomb was
intended to be seen, excepting the sculptured
front, and we must therefore conclude
that the entrance was kept secret, and that
the avenues were by subterranean passages
so constructed that none but the privileged
could find the way. We are told by Theophrastus
that Parius was buried in a coffin
of Egyptian alabaster; also that the early
Persians preserved the bodies of their dead
in honey or wax.
?a?- Never ridicule sacred things or what
others may esteem as such, however absurd
they may appear to you.
fjtote;s on foreign Ignite.
SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN SCOTLAND!
BY REV. R. JiATHAN.
[Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.]
In going from the railway station at Stirling
to the Castle, the street, or streets perhaps
I had better say, lead in a west or
north-west direction, through the new cemetery.
The streets are not, by any means,
beautiful. They are narrow, dirty and up a
steep hill. In some places the streetway is
dug down and has the general appearance
of a railroad cut. On the north of this valley
is the rock on which the Castle stands,
and on the south there is a high rock called
the Ladies' Rock. The distance between
them is about three-quarters of a mile. The
valley which intervenes is not half so wide
and was used during the reign of the Stuarts,
as a tilting ground. On the high rock
the ladies of the Court sat and watched the
tournaments. From this circumstance the
rock was given the name, "Ladies' Rock,"
which name it still retains. A grand view
is obtained from the Ladies' Rock, of the ancient
royal gardens, of the King's park, of
Bannockburn, and of Gillies' Hill.
At what time the valley between Ladies'
Rock and the Castle was converted into a
cemetery, I do not know, but it is of comparative
recent date. In this new cemetery
there are a number of memorial monuments.
The most attractive is the "Monument to
the Virgin Martyrs." This consists of a
granite pedestal, on which are seated a lady
in the bloom of fresh womanhood, and a
young girl with an exquisitely sweet face.
At their feet and to the right a lamb, with
its head turned toward the martyrs, is lying
resting. To their right and a little behind
is an angelic form, standing with the right
1 -1 1 -1 U -- ;i? r*ZAr\ 4*V* r\ Iftff Vionrl I
I1HL1U SUSptMlUfcJU Uy IIS S1UC, Hie itiv iKiiiu
placed on the top of its head, its wings are
folded and its eyes are fixed on the martyrs
in its front. The whole is covered with a
glass-globe or shade, such as is used in covering
flowers. This monument to the Virgin
Martyrs displays wonderful artistic skill.
The marble is made to speak, and although
the individual who gazes upon it may not
be able to decipher its language, he is conscious
that it repeats a saa story. The angelic
form which stands viewing the scene
with grief, was executed in Rome. The
other sculpturing was designed by Handyside
Richie, of Edinburgh. On the marble
die of the pedestal there are several emblematical
designs, none of which I was
able, for want of time, to interpret, and all
of which I have forgotten except one. That
appears to be the astronomical sign of the
earth between what resembles the letter m
and one prong of the letter n. Below this
emblematical design is the following inscription:
MARGARET,
Virgin Martyr of the Ocean wave, with her likeminded
Sister,
AGNES.
Love many waters cannot quench. God saves
His chaste impearled one in Covenant true.
0 Scotia's daughters! earnest scan the page,
And prize this tlower of grace, blood-bought
for you.
PSALM IX.-XIX
Margaret and Agnes were the daughters
of a well-to-do farmer by the name of Gilbert
Wilson of Wigtonshire in the southwest
of Scotland. Such being the case the
monument of the Virgin Martyrs in Stirling
is designed to commemorate the devotion
of Margaret and Agnes Wilson to
Christ's crown and covenant. The particular
event which it is designed to commemorate
occurred on the 11th of May, 1G85, a
few months more than two hundred years
ago. James the Second, and last of the
Stuarts, was at that time king of Great
Britain. He was by education a papist and
"Armed with persecution the sacred code
Of law bedashed thoughtless to the ground."
His progenitor, James the First, was a
strapge medley of contadictions. The one
ii>V>inVi coomc tnirpn nn<;s;pssinn
IUC<V niliVIl OVV.IMO WU 4<MT V ^vwwvw. ^-of
his mind was the divine right of kings.
His descendants imbibed the same foolish
and wicked notion, and they attempted to
do with the sword what James undertook
to effect by pedantic arguments. James the
Second was a persecutor in the proper
sense of that word. He attempted to rob
his subjects of their birth right?the right
to worship God in accordance with the dictates
of an enlightened conscience. Every
body was required to conform?that is worship
God as James and his minions prescribed.
His predecessor, Charles the Second,
was a persecutor. The period embracing
the reigns of Charles the Second and James
the Second is known as The Killing Time.
Gilbert Wilson and his wife conformed to
the prelacy, but their children, Margaret
and Agnes, refused to conform. Both were
young, but they were forced to seek shelter
from the persecutors in the bogs and caves
and hills of their native land during the
reign of Charles the Second. When, however,
James, the Second succeeded to the
throne there was at first an apparent abatement
of persecution. Such being the case,
Margaret and Agnes Wilson ventured to
go to Wigton to see Margaret Maelauchlan,
a relative, at that time in prison. The
two girls were betrayed by one Patrick
Stuart into the hands of the authorities by
whom they were thrust in a place called the
Thieves'-hole. From this disreputable place
they were afterward removed to the prison
in which Margaret Maelauchlan was confined.
Margaret Maelauchlan was a widow
and about sixty-three years old. The
only thing objectionable to Margaret Maclanchlan
was that she was devoutly pious
and refused "to conform" and take the bundle
of wicked oaths proposed by the popish
party.
The three?Margaret Maclauchlan, sixtythree
years old, Margaret Wilson, eighteen
years old, and her sister Agnes, thirteen
years old?were indicted for rebellion at
Bothwell Bridge and Airds-moss, and for
attending field preaching. They were tried, I
found guilty and condemned to be "tied
to stakes within the flood-mark of the
water of Blendnoch near Wigton, and then
drowned."
The battle of Bothwell bridge was fought
in 1671). At that time Margaret Wilson was
about twelve years old and her sister Agnes
about seven. That those two sisters took
part in the affair at Bothwell Bridge scarcely
comes within the range of the possible.
Gilbert Wilson ransomed his daughter
Agnes, the price paid being one hundred
pounds sterling, or near five hundred dollars.
Margaret Maclauchlan and Margaret
Wilson were taken within the flood tide
and there tied to a stake. Margaret Maclauchlan
was taken in a considerable distance
farther than Margaret Wilson. The
result was she was drowned first. The
friends of Margaret Wilson made every
possible effort to induce her to say, "God
save tne iving" aim to uiKe urn uojunmon
oath. When nearly dead she was taken up
and when able to speak asked again to take
the abjuration oath. .She positively refused
and the monsters plunged her down in the
water again and she died. While the tide
was rising Margaret Wilson read'over the
eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans,
sung the twenty-fifth Psalm, beginning
with the words:
"My sins and faults of youth
l/o thou, O Lord, forget:
After thy mercy think on me.
And for thy goodness great."
After this she engaged in prayer and
while praying "the water of Blendnock"
swept over her tender body and released
hor enirit, from it>j olnv tpncmpnt.
West of the Ladies' Rock, a short distance,
is the statue of James Kenwick, the
last of the Covenanters, who was put to
death because of his devotion to the crownrights
of Jesus Christ and his opposition to
the usurpation of James the Second, or as
he was called in Scotland James the Seventh.
James ltenwick was put to death in
the city of Edinburgh on the 17th of February,
1G88. He was scarcely twenty six years
old and had been preaching about five years.
James Renwick and the long list of Scotch
martyrs held and advocated political doc
trines which developed on the west side of
the Atlantic into the great North American
Republic. A number of the Renwicks, relations
of the martyr, came to America.
Two of them preached the gospel in what
is now Newberry county, South Carolina,
and many of their descendants are there
still.
North of the "Monument to the Virgin
Martyrs" is the statue of Rev. Ebenezer
Erskine, who together with William Wilson,
Alexander Moncrief, and James Fisher
founded the secession church of Scotland.
Ebenezer Erskine was born at Dryburgh
on the 22d of June, 1680 and died atStirling
ou the 2d of June, 1754?wanting but twenty
days of being seventy-four years old. In
1G93 he entered the university of EdinTurin
1ftQ7 rrrorlnQfori of thp
UUI^ll tlUU J11 UUUV., Airtsi ^iuuuMWM i.v ?..v
early age of seventeen. On the 11th of
February, 1703, he was licensed to preach
the gospel and was ordained and settled as
pastor of the parish of Portmoak on the
22nd of September of the same year. After
laboring in Portmoak for twenty-eight
years he received and accepted a call from
the High Church in Stirling. He was installed
over his new charge on the Gth of
September, 1731.
In the High Church he continued to
preach until 1780, when he and all who
joined with him in opposing the notorious
corruptions of the Church of Scotland were
thrust out. In the same year, the people of
his charge built for him a church on St.
John's street. In this church he was
preaching when he died and under it he was
buried. The church was afterwards moved
back from the street a short distance, but
the slab which marks the spot where his
dust reposes still remains. One other person
was buried beside him, and near by, I
suppose just at the edge of the church building,
several members of Mr. Erskine's family
are buried. The monument in the new
cemetery consists of a Scotch granite pedestal,
on which is a life-sized statue. On the
die of the pedestal is engraved
EBEX. ERSKIXE,
and nothing more, but this is enough. The
sermons of Eben. Erskine have been published,
both in Great Britain and America
and by various denominations. They were
published a few years ago by an Episcopal
Board of Publication. In the new cemetery
there are statues of John Knox, Andrew
Melville, Alexander Henderson and
James Guthrie, one of the ministers of Stir
ling who, in 1601, suffered martyrdom at
Edinburgh. In that quarter of the new
cemetery nearest the Castle, there is what is
called, The Star Pyramid, or Salem Rock.
It is a strong stone structure of six or eight
sides, fifteen or twenty feet in diameter and
perhaps twenty-five feet high. On each side
are engraved Scripture texts and beautiful
symbolical designs. The intent of this
monument is to commemorate the doctrines
of the Bible. It is a monument erected to
the Bible. This, together with the statues
to Knox, Melville, Henderson and Guthrie,
and also the marble sculptured group, the
Virgin Martyrs, was erected by William
Drummond. This individual was a passionate
admirer of the Martyred Covenanters,
and he not only erected monuments to their
memory, but befriended their descendants.
He died in 1868, leaving five thousand dollars,
the interest of which is to be used in
keeping in repair the new cemetery.
f
The Buoyant Power of Water.?
According to an exchange, the human body
weighs a pound in the water, and a chair
will carry two grown persons?that is, it
will keep the head above water, which is
all that is necessary when it is a question
of life or death. One finger placed on a
stool or chair, or a small box, or a piece of
board, will easily keep the head above water,
while the two feet and the other hand
may be used us paddles to propel toward the
shore. It is not necessary to know how to
swim to be able to keep from drowning in
this way. A little experience of the buoyant
power of water, and faith in it, is all
that is required. We have seen a small
boy, who could not swim a stroke, propel
himself back and forth across a deep, wide
pond by means of a board that would not
sustain five pounds' weight. Children and
all others should have practice in the sustaining
power of water. In nine cases out
of ten the knowledge that what will sustain
a pound weight is all that is necessary to
keep one's head above the water, will serve
better in emergencies than the greatest expertness
as a swimmer.
A person unfamiliar with the buoyant
power will naturally try to climb on top of
the floating object on which he tries to save
himself. If it is large enough that is all
right. But it is generally not large enough
to keep them all entirely above water.
This often happens when pleasure boats
capsize. All immediately want to get out
Of the water on top 01 rne overiurneu ui
half-filled boat, and all are drowned except
those wham the wrecked craft will wholly
bear up. If they would simply trust the
water to sustain ninety-nine hundredths of
their bodies, and thedisabled boat the other
hundredth, they might all be saved under
most circumstances. An overturned or
half-filled wooden boat will sustain more
people than it will carry. It would keep
the heads above water of as many people as
could get their hand on the gunwale. These
are simple facts, easily learned, and may
some day save your life.
Tiik Mounted Police.?The Northwest
Mounted Police, who are now being brought
into prominence by Kiel's rebellion, have a
central station at Fort Ellice, at the junction
of the Assiniboine and the Qu'Appelle,
which commands a fine view of the Assjniboine
Valley, two miles in width and fringed
with willows and small timber. Heretofore
they have devoted themselves to inspiring
terror in the minds of the native Indians
and half-breeds, in which they have
been very successful. Riel's partial successes
before his final surrender dispelled this
native belief in the superiority of the
Mounted Police, and the latter will now
have to hustle to keep themselves alive. It
costs the Canadian government about ?350,000
a year to maintain this police force. The
buffalo having been driven off, other game
hninrr ripetrnvprl nt times these sruardiansof
*'W*"b CD
the peace have suffered considerable inconvenience
in attending to the wants of the
inner man, and have had recourse to horseflesh.
Gig dogs, as they were formerly
called, are valued at from $2.50 to $5, but
when used for food the govefnment is informed
that the value of a horse belonging
to Chief Yellow Sky, killed and eaten by
Mounted Police, is $65. The captain of the
squad pockets the difference. Ahaircutin
this country costs $1, except when it is done
by the Indians, who charge nothing for the
service, being satisfied with the hair. The
police shoot an Indian when at target practice
and then charge the government $2 for
burying him and $4 for digging the grave.
An industrious policeman can thus make
quite a neat sum by the end of the week if
the game is plenty. There is more profit in
only wounding the Indian, however, for
then the officer takes him home and charges
the government $10 a week for his board.
Egyptian Architecture.?The Egyptians,
whose architecture, otherwise so richly
developed, was chiefly restricted to the
interior, made excessive use of painting
and coilanaglyphics to enliven dead masses
of exterior walls. The Assyrians needed
sculpture revetment and painted stucco to
support and hide the weakness of their
masonry, and its incapacity for architectural
treatment within and without. Merely
decorative art thus gained an undue supremacy
in both countries. Among the
Persians, on the other hand, architecture
attained its full rights by important and harmonious
advances, while decorative sculpture
and painting withdrew to their proper
subordinate positions.
4?" A grateful beast will stand upon record
against those that, in their prosperity,
forgot their friends, that to their loss or
hazard stood by and succored them in their
adversity.
fpsfellaiwflttis |Uaditt0.
A VIOLENT SOUTH CAROLINIAN.
In the course of a debate in the House in
May, 18.30, on the fortification bill, Mr.
Cambreling, of New York, speaking of the
prevailing bloated condition of affairs, declared
that "the whole nation was now one
common gambling house." The next day
Mr. Pickens, of South Carolina mounted
the rostrum and in a speech of great ability,
abounding in historical allusions and "odorous"
comparisons, alluded to Mr. Cambreling's
remark, and inquired "Who made it
so?" Then he charged the administration
with the responsibility oi an tne 111s wun
which the country was afflicted. "Sycophancy
and servility," he said, have taken the
place of all the heroic and manly virtues.
The rooks, together with obscene birds have
perched themselves in the high places of
the land, and we sit here beneath surrounded
daily with their filth and corruption.
Office holders (now become miserable dependents)
and office seekers infest every
turn and corner; and let it be known that any
man has influence, from his being the tool
of those who have patronage to confer, and
he is' overwhelmed with the bowing and
cringing of these slaves and beggars. Crowds
of miserable, hungry beings creep and crawl,
in the darkness of midnight, through the
hidden recesses and gloomy avenues that
lead up to the throne of royal favor. These
creatures, generated as they are in despotism,
are pervading the country and becoming
more loathsome than the creeping: lice
or shiny frogs of Egypt ever were in the
days of God's judgments. This, sir, is the
reform with which we are blessed." Farther
on he declared that "this is the reign
of Cfesar," and although he knew of no one
with the fine talents and acquirements of
Mark Anthony, he thought we had "many
with his profligracy and abandoned principles."
For Lepidus he pointed to R. M.
Johnson, of Kentucky, for Octavius to Martin
Van Buren, the Vice President "and
chosen favorite of him who has trampled
upon the liberties of his country."
This, it must be admitted, was rather
strong language for a man who was elected
to Congress as the supporter of the administration.
But those South Carolinians always
were a queer people and ready to boil
over at a moment's notice, as they did at
King's Mountain, and Ninety-Six, and the
Eutaws. For there is in South Carolina
yet, "for all that is come and gone," a great
deal of the fiery old blood of Touraine and
La Vendee, that, in the days of the Froude
under the great Conde and the brave Coligny,
waged such an internecine war against
the church and crown. Add to these a fair
proportion of the descendants of the old
Scotch covenanters and a sprinkling of
Highlanders in the hill country, to say
nothing of the Anglo-Americans pure and
simple, and we can easily perceive what an
explosive mixture is produced. The nitroglycerine
thus evolved generated old Moultrie,
Sumter, Marion and Campbell-, Hagen,
the rescuer of Lafayette, Wade Hampton,
Wigfall and the rest. As a people they
have been full of intellect, full of culture
1 r..ii _r /3-Li ?11 o..mnfnmc
UUU illli U1 llglll Ull J11C11IUU11U1JI ojlupiuiiia
of insanity. When a stranger in Columbia
during the war inquired ot Mr. Pettigrew
the way to the lunatic asylum, he directed
him to the State House, where the Legislature
was in session, with the remark:
"They are all as mad as March hares there,
every devil of them."?Ben. Perley Poore.
"Judge Lynch."?The origin of this
term has been variously accounted for.
Some say that in the early days of Virginia
it became the practice in the western part,
now the Piedmont districts, to refer all legal
controversies to the foremost men in those
Earts. One of these, by the name of Lynch,
ecame quite celebrated for the good judgment
and justice which he showed in these
unauthorized judicial functions, and was
known as Judge Lynch. His name was easily
transferable to the methods he had
adopted. Others claim that Mr. Lynch, the
founder of Lynchburg, Va., is answerable
for the name, though in just what manner
the authoritiesdo not state. Another derivation
comes from one Lynch who was sent
to the American waters to suppress piracy,
and he is thought to have had authority
from the home government to punish summarily
these rovers of the high seas without
any formal legal trial. Still othersstate
that its origin is due to James Fitzstephen
Lynch, the mayor of Gal way, Ireland, in
14911. This man traded largely in Spain.
On one occasion he sent his son thither to
purchase a cargo of wine. The young Irishman
managed to get rid of the money with
which he had been entrusted. He ran in
debt for the cargo to a Spaniard, whose son
fn n/?on?nnon it Kim fn
UI 1JC[)IICW IYU3 LU ?I.V.UItipuuj uuvn >v
Ireland for the money due on the wine.
The young scapegrace caused the Spaniard
to be thrown overboard to conceal his own
defalcation. Great honor was paid the successful
young merchant.
The old saying that murder will out proved
true in his case. A sailor upon his dying
bed confessed the crime. The young man
was tried before his own father, convicted
and sentenced to be hanged. The family and
friendsdetermined to prevent the execution
if possible.
The father, like the old ltoman Brutus,
determined that his son's life should pay the
penalty of his crime, and seeing that he
could not carry out the sentence in the usual
way tried an expedient. He took his son
up a winding stairs to a window overlooking
the publicstreet and with his own hands
fastened the rope about his son's neck to a
:.i fkn moll Qnrl hlmQolf antpfi jld PYP
3UipiC III UIC H (411 j UUVA ?.?w%vv. ??
cutioner.?Cleveland Plaindealer.
Color
Blindness.?Color blindness, like
other defects of vision, affects people in different
degrees of intensity, and like myopia,
or short sight, it is frequently hereditary.
It often becomes more pronounced in after
life, or when the near point of vision begins
to recede.
Among the more highly educated of all
nationalties the average number of color
blind is 4 per cent., an average in excess of
that of all other classes. A man may have
a good eye for form and outline, and yet be
partially or wholly blind. To select an instance
from among many is difficult, but
one impresses more than than the rest?that
of Wyatt, the sculptor, who at the outset of
his career was known as a remarkably good
draughtsman. lie naturally took to painting,
but, as his pictures were observed to
present curious incongruities of color, that
involved him in grievous difficulties, he
with much reluctance was obliged to abandon
the brush for the chisel. He was altogether
unable to comprehend the nature!
of his defect?indeed, refused to oeiieve mat
he was color blind. 80 of men who have
attained to eminence in the world of letters,
and whose writings betray evidences of a
meagre color vocabulary. A striking example
of this occurred in the person of Angus
B. Reach.
He was unable to recognize a difference in
color between the leaf, the flower, and the
fruit of plants and trees. His want of perception
of color was wholly unknown to
and unrecognized by himself, until we sat
together at the table of a Paris restaurant.
He, wishing to finish his letter to the Chronicle
newspaper, requested the waiter to bring
him some ink. As it often happens, under
similar circumstances, the ink was brought
in a wineglass. Reach became absorbed in
his subject, while I, seated opposite to him,
observed him alternately dipping his pen
into his claret glass and into the ink glass.
I frequently checked him, but presently to
my surprise he took up the ink glass and was
about to drink, when I remonstrated, and
he then said he could see no difference between
the color of the ink and the wine.
On subsequently testing him I discovered
that he was completely color blind.
Homer certainly labored under a physical
defect of vision, and this fully explains
the limited use of the terms he employed to
express his sense of color, and to which Mr.
Gladstone has drawn attention.?Journal of
Science.
The Cat.?In Egypt the cat was treated
with great honor. \V e have the authority
of Herodotus for the fact that when a cat
died in an Egyptian home the members of :
the bereaved family shaved off their eyebrows,
and that of Diodorus for the touching
statement that although Egyptians have
been known to eat their fellow creatures during
famines, no instance of cat eating was
ever heard of. If an Egyptian happened
to find a dead cat, says the Sicilian historian,
he was careful not to approach it closely
for fear of being suspected of its murder.
Standing at a distance he made the
sad loss known by cries of distress. During
conflagrations, according to Herodotus,
the Egyptian spectators allowed the flames
to rage unchecked, devoting their attention
to saving the cats belonging to the burning
I U/Mtn/vn A Dnmnn ^onr\Qnflfl nna rlo \7 tr?
IIUU^COi ivuuiau nap^uvu vuv v?uj w
kill a cat by accident. The melancholy
event took place at a time when the Egyptian
government was very anxious to conciliate
Rome. But in spite of the exertions
of the king and his ministers the mob broke \
into the. Roman's dwelling and intention-1
ally did to him what he accidentally did to
the cat. Of this act of popular vengeance
Diodorus says he was a witness. According
to Lenormant the cat does not appear on
the Egyptian sculptures earlier than the
twelfth dynasty (2020 B. C.,) and therefore
its domestication is due to the inhabitants
of the Upper Nile. That process, remarks
Iiehn, must have taken a long time, but
it was thoroughly successful in the end. !
The domestic cat very rarely deserts civilization
in favor of savage freedom, its char-1
acter offering in this respect a strong con-1
trast to that of its fellow Oriental, the gyp- j
sy. How the tame cat made its way into
Europe is uncertain, although it is reported
to have traveled from Egypt by way oU
Cyprus. The period of its arrival, also, is j
shrouded in mystery. It does not seem to
have been known in classic times, and the
early centuries of our era appear to have
been unaware of its existence. In so cat- i
less a period the arrival of such a beneficent j
beast as that which has kept Whittington's '
memory green might well be hailed with :
acclamation. It is easy to believe that the
progress of the cat was very rapid when it |
had once shown itself. Silently, but irre- j
sistibly, it seems to have subjugated the |
European hearth. It is terrible to think of;
how much pleasure as well as profit the ;
world would have been deprived if the cat's
career had been cut prematurely short.
Most fortunate was it, as Hehn remarks,
that its introduction preceded those epochs
in which its associations with idolatry
might have caused it to fall a victim to the
fanaticism of Islam or the ascetism of Chris
tianity.
SHUT YOUR MOUTH.
While the reporter was in the office of a
well known physician of this city, the latter
asked him if he had noticed a young
man who had just passed out. The reporter
answered that he had, because he
thought he had met the young man in !
Brooklyn a short time before.
"That was probably another person suffering
from the same trouble,'' said the
doctor. "This is a curious affliction. It is
more common than is supposed, occurs in ;
infancy, at manhood and at middle age,
and causes a great deal of suffering ; yet it j
is a strange thing that the people in general j
do not pay any attention to this affection i
when occurring in their own families, in j
spite of the manner in which it distorts the ;
face, until some actual disease sets in and
medical aid is necessary. Even the phy- j
sicians do not seem to reflect that this :
trouble may cause any one of a large num-'
ber of diseases affecting the system in gen-1
eral.
"Why," continued the doctor, "you can j
tell one of these mouth-breathers anywhere
the moment you see them. From disease j
of the nose his lips are retracted, his mouth ;
is continually open, his gums recede and i
his teeth protrude, particularly those in the j
upper jaw, the flesn that forms the lower!
part of the nostrils is diminished in size, j
The ease was treated as one 01 venous congestion
of the brain, but there was no paralysis
of motion or sensation, and only
slightly impaired consciousness. A fatal |
termination was not anticipated by any j
one except the patient. lie seemed to feel
from the first that he would not recover,
and manifested not the slightesl desire to
do so. When his son, Custis, spoke of recovery
as probable, he shook his head and
pointed upward. Some persistence was required
to induce him to take medicine. The
mind wandered occasionally, and at one of
these timeshe exclaimed, "strike the tent,"
and at another, "tell Hill he must come
up!" showing that the thoughts of the
great soldier were far away from the
sick room, in the midst of the toilsome
march and the fiercer scenes of battle.
There was no suffering at the close; simply
a gentle falling into that sleep which knows ;
no waking.
4
there are wnnKies at tne outer euge ui uie i
eyes, and deep lines run from the nostrils to
the angles ot the mouth. These all give
the person either an expression of idiocy,
silliness or suffering.
"But the principal thing I want to call j
your attention to," said the doctor, "is the
necessity, of parents and nurses watching
children when they fall asleep, and preventing
them from breathing with their
! mouths open. In grown persons, diseases of
the nose and throat may lead to mouthbreathing
and the resulting distortion of
the features, but it is the other way with
children. They should be taught to use
the mouth for eating and speaking only,
and if they fall asleep with their mouths
open the lips should be gently pressed together.
Thus may constitutional diseases,
such as spinal trouble, pigeon breast, and
perhaps, even rickets may be avoided, not
to speak of the affections of the nose and
throat."
It seems that medical men are not the
only ones who have studied more or less (
carefully the habit of mouth breathing, j
George Catlin, the portray or of American ;
Indian life and customs, claimed in one of,
his works that it was a known fact that a ;
man can inhale mephistic air through the I
nose in the bottom of a well without harm,
but if he opened his mouth to answer a :
question or call for help, his lungs are clos-;
ed and he expires.
Catlin says: "I have seen a poor Indian I
woman in the wilderness lowering her baby
from her breast and pressing its lips together
as it falls asleep." Among 2,000,000
he found that deafness, dumbness, spinal
curvature and deaths from teething and
diseases 01 respiratory passages were almost
unknown. He attributes this exemption
from these ailments, so very common
in civilized life, solely to the habit of
breathing through the nose.?JY. Y. World.
How Lee Died.?Wm. Preston Johnson,
an eye-witness, says: On Wednesday,
September 28, 1870, the beginning of the
end came. In the morning of that day
he was busy, as usual, with official work,
refusing the assistance of which he sometimes
availed himself; and in the afternoon
attended a vestry meeting of Grace
Episcopal Church. He acted as chairman,
and enlivened the meeting with cheerful
conversation and interesting anecdotes.
The weather was chilly and damp, the
room not warmed, and Gen. Lee sat
with his military cloak throvta around his
shoulders. His last public act was eminently
characteristic. The question under
discussion was the rector's salary, and when
the subscriptions were handed in it was
found that a deficit of $55 still remained.
He remarked quietly, "I will give that
sum"?and the company separated, little
dreaming that the most illustrious member
would never join them again. Returning
home, tea was on the table, and, according
to his invariable habit, he stood up to
say grace. But the lips refused to speak,
and he sat down without showing any signs
of agitation, though the expression of nis
face told plainly enough that he realized
what the dumb lips meant. Physicians
were promptly summoned and he was laid
on the bed from which he never arose alive.
THE FAMOUS PONY EXPRESS.
Twenty years ago, settlers starting for the
far West, with their heavily-laden wagons,
knew that the journey would occupy six
months of hard travel, and might involve
many dangers of varied character?chiefly
from hostile Indians, prairie fires, and rattlesnakes.
Once started on that far journey,
many a weary month must elapse ere any
tidings could reach them from the home
they had left.
Great was the excitement when a company
of fearless, determined men, announced
their resolution to carry letters from the
shores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific
in fourteen davs. The feat was deemed
impossible. Nevertheless, the Central Overland
California and Pike's Peak Express
was duly organized, the vast expanse of
country right across the great continent was
divided into runs of sixty miles, and at each
terminus rude log huts were erected as stations
and stables for men and beasts. .
The latter were strong, swift ponies, selected
for their hardiness and great powers
of endurance, and the riders were all picked
men, experienced scouts and trappers,
noted?even in that region of keen, hardriding
men?for courage and good horsemanship
; and many a time must both have
been tried to the uttermost in the course of
those terribly long and awfully lonesome
rides across the trackless prairie, continually
in danger of attack, by day or by night,
by wild Indians or highway robbers.
Once a week an express messenger started
from either side of the Great Continent.
From the first moment to the last, not a
second must be lost. As long as the pony
could gallop he must; and the eager beasts
seemed as keen as their riders, and scarcely
needed the cruel spur to urge them on.
For sixty miles at a stretch they must keep up
their utmost speed; and when at length the
goal was reached, where the next messenger
"'OS wra i ti nor in thp carlrllp rPflrlv tfl Start
*T ?CJ UUiVlU^ 1U VilV WMV?V?*\ J . WW wwww- w
without one minute's delay, the precious
letter bag was tossed from one postman to
the other, and, ere the wearied incomer had
even dismounted, his successor had started
on his onward way.
Then pony and man might rest and feed,
and rest again, till the return of the messenger
with a re-filled letter-bag, which
was warranted to accomplish its journey of
upward of 2,000 miles in 240 hours. (The
railway on the New York side being already
constructed as far as St. Joseph, that
station was the eastern point to which the
pony express had to run.)
The pony express was continued for two
years, accomplishingits work with amazing
regularity, and involving many a feat of
splendid riding and wild adventure. It
proved, however, a ruinous failure from a
commercial point of view, and the company
collapsed with a deficit of $200,000.
t
GEX. FITZHUGH LEE.
The special invitation received by Gen.
Lee to be present at the obsequies of Gen.
Grant, shows well how time has eradicated
the scars left by our late war, and is evidence
that the old sectional feeling of the South
has so far disappeared that they can mourn
over the death of their conqueror. Gen.
Lee is a grandson of the famous *"Light
Horse Harry" Lee, of the Revolution, and
a nephew of the late Robert E. Lee, the
Southern Military Chieftain. He graduated
at West Point in the class of 1856, and
entered the regular army as a Lieutenant in
the Second Cavalry. For three years preceding
the late war he was on duty on the
frontier, ana once, in an encounter witn tne
Indians, was desperately wounded in the
chest. At the outbreak of the war he resigned
from the army and followed his State
into secession. He fought in the Confederate
army throughout the contest, acquiring
distinction as a cavalry leader. After
the war he settled in Virginia as a farmer
and miller. In 1875 he entered political life
and in 1876 attended the National Democratic
Convention, as a delegate. The next
year he was a candidate for the Democratic
nomination forGovernor, buc was unsuccessful.
The same year Gen. Lee attracted general
attention by an address which he delivered
at the Bunker Hill celebration. In
1879 he became a candidate for the State
Senate on the Democratic ticket, but was
defeated by the Readjuster candidate. On
July 29th, 1885, Gen. Lee was nominated for
Governor of Virginia, by the Democratic
Convention, which met at Richmond. He
had for his opponents some of the most
prominent men of the State, and the struggle
was fierce, it being remarked on all sides
that the personnel of the Convention was
superior to that of any of late years and reminded
old politicians of the great gatherings
of ante-bellum times.
+
Spiritualism.?That famous Methodist,
Rev. Dr. D. 1). Whedon, had, shortly before
his death, evolved a curious theory as
to disembodied spirits. His idea was that
the entire nervous system in a human being,
not contents of the cranium alone, constituted
the mind. Therefore, the ramifications
of the nerves, forming in themselves
a shape conforming exactly to that of the
whole figure, made the soul of man just
like his body so far as configuration was
concerned. He believed that at death this
contour and semblance of the dead' body
separated itself and became the eternal
form of the spirit, visible to its fellows, .
and, under some conditions, to terrestial
folks. Dr. Whedon described how the
soul gets out of the body. "Emerging upward,"
he says," "the spirit awakes into
the pure ether?a blessed atmosphere. This
paradisiac ether is an effluence from the
divine essence and the emancipated soul
bathes, swims, lives in its own genial and
native element. Paradise thus pervades
oiir air above and around us, and at death
the spirit enters thereinto as through a
veil." He intimated that apparitions are
glimpses of the beings of this close by but
usually invisible world. "Even the resurrected
body of Christ," he says, "walked
through the solid wall of the house, and
first revealed itself to his disciples at the table."
He called these beings angeloids, and
argued that they leave behind them in the
discarded corpse, the baser attributes. The
pertinency of Whedon's theory to modern
spiritualism lies in its harmony with the
alleged phenomena of materialization. It
has been siezed upon by several of the professional
mediums, and in some of the seances
forms in semblance comporting with
the conditions of his angeloids, have been
? :..u
SUUWI1 IU UdlUUldll Uldl'ipiUa.
? -* - ?- o
&af? It is the young, the idle, the smallminded,
who are the most prone to vex
themselves about small things and outside
things. As years advance and interests
widen, we see with larger eyes, and refuse
to let minute evils destroy in us, that equal
mind which, accepting life as a whole in all
its earnestness and reality, its beauty and
sadness combined, weighs calmly and
strikes bravely the balance of good and evil.