Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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? lewis m:. grist, proprietor. J ^n Jjnbcjpbtnf jfamiljt ftetospjicr: Jbr tjie * promotion of fjje political, jlotial, ^jrinilfnral aitb Commercial Interests of f|jt Sontj|. j terms--$2.50 a year, in advance. VOL. 34. YORKYILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1888. NO. 22. Jtotg Irlle*. SNIVELY." Trom the Times-Democrat.] One cold, drizzly day several of the boys were seated around the tire in the rear office of the Work Eliminator Sewing Machine Company. They had been discussing the state of the weather, the state of the roads, and the state of trade, all agreeing (an astonishing thing for a number of sewing machine men to do) that a worse outlook never was seen. Having at last united in this cheerful view of matters, they gradually elapsed into a gloomy silence. Nelson was a man of some twenty years' ? * l ?. TT.. 1 3 experience in ine iraae. ne imu seen sewing machine corporations bud, blossom and bear fruit, or wither and die, as the case might be. He had seen a new family machine selling for $100, and the factory overrun with orders. Twenty years later he had seen the same machine seeking buyers?almost vainly seeking?at $40. Many changes he had known in the business from which he still drew his sustenance, therefore he was looked upon by the younger fry about him as a veteran of many battles. Nelson looked up at the ceiliDg and made a sort of smacking noise with his mouth, which was a sure indication to the boys that he was about to give birth to some thought of more or less importance. Then he looked down and strecthed his legs out to their full length toward the fire, and smiled as though his thoughts were pleasant ones. None of the boy3 spoke; they knew the game was coming their way. At length he said: "Jones, did I ever tell you of a queer old chap who used to live near Houston, Texas, that the boys in the W. & W. office used to have so much fun with?" "I've heard you speak of him, I think, but I never heard any particulars," said Jones. The fact was, Jones had heard the story, but as he wanted to hear it again he was somewhat evasive. "Put on your belt and let her whiz," said Bob White. "Yes, oil her up and let her rack out," said a representative from Hoosierdom. "Have your attachments all handy, so you won't make any break in the thread of your discourse," said a young man with just a perceptible lisp. "That last isn't so bad, replied Nelson, smiling at their guying. "I have known fellows to get half way through their story and then have to anchor and hunt around *"" in their mind for a starter. I'll try not to do that. It'ssome time now since we used to carry out a machine that was liable to tangle up the thread on the bobbin or rotating hook on the slightest provocation, as if it had taken a fit of the sulks and refused to show off before company, to the great exasperation and discomfiture of the operator?and get five twenty-dollar gold pieces for it all the same. "Yes, yes; I see you fellows are willing to make due allowance for the latter part of that statement. That's all right, but tweuty years aguscwiug uinuuiucs m as were on a tremendous boom. It was soon after the war, and cotton, the staple product of the country, was worth twentylive cents a pound. That means $125 per bale, and that means $125 to $140 per acre, in many parts of the State! See? Well, money was as plentiful as in Mark Twain's flush times in Nevada. But all this is a side issue, as it were,-and has nothing to do with what I was going to tell you. "I was working with the Carters at that time, and the head office was in the Masonic building at Houston. The boys were flush in those days?" "Alas! what a change," said he of the lisp, 80tto voce. "And put on a heap of style, and they loved a joke better, if possible, than their modern representatives. "There was an old fellow who lived about five miles down the bayou, by the na,me of Capt. Moody. I don't know what he had done to be called captain; nothing, most likely. He was a bushy-bearded, bluff old fellow, and exceedingly fond of playing a practical joke. The old man had in some way got acquainted with us at the office, and seemed to like the boys very much. One day a canvasser by the name of Williams stopped at the captain's to see if he could sell him a machine. The old man had never laid eyes on Williams before, and when he saw him go into the house, he took it into his head that he would give him a scare ; so he came from the lot and strode into the house where the unsuspecting Williams and Mrs. Moody wereserenely chatting. Thecaptain stood glowering in the doorway a moment, and then broke forth : " 'Umph! another d?d sewing machine man! I'll just teach you fellows, once for all, not to make this house the headquarters of all the concerned sewing machine peddlers in Harris county! Hang me if I don't! Come down here, Bet.' "And the captain reached up to the wall where a villainous-lookingshot-gun hung. Williams did not wait to hear anything more. He rushed out of doors like a house afire, expecting every second to be filled with buckshot. He wasn't, though, and he got safely into his wagon and drove off at a terrible rate; the old man standing in the door with his gun, pretending that he could not get it to go off. "After Williams had vanished, Moody sat down in a chair and laughed until the MAM /I Kin />U AAlm tcaia lau \a\j? 11 nis uuccttzu 44 4Didn't he scoot, though !' he said at length to his wife, as soon as he could get his breath. 44 4 Yes; you ought to be ashamed of yourself to scare a man so,' she replied, laughing. 44 4'S' more fun than ridin' a buckin' pony,' said Moody, and then another fit of laughing seized hriro. 44In a few days Capt. Moody came into the office and told us about the joke he had played. We called up Williams, who wasn't much inclined to see the fun at first; but Capt. Moody shook him and laughed him into a good humor at last, and made him promise to come out in watermelon time and eat watermelons with him 'an' the ole woman.' 44So it came about that we boys had an understanding with him that we would initiate all the new hands in the business by sending them out to sell him a machine. "Well, we sent cut Watson, and he came back with only one tail to his coat that originally had two, the other having got caught in some way in old Moody's gate. 44We sent Brooks out, and he got back all right enough, but left a brand new hat on the bed at Moody's, which the captain subsequently brought to its owner. "When Hemphill, a new man, asked vohiph u'rx? wa thmifrht tip hnrl hpttpr on tn find a sale, with his fine new turn-out and fine clothes and plus: hat, we of course, told him that Capt. Moody wanted a machine. ' "In about four hours' time Hemphill came back with his new hat looking as if it had been in a letter press over night. He reported Moody had concluded not to buy. "We sent out Thomas, and Odell and Smith, and many others whose names I have fotgotten, with satisfactory results? to ourselves. Capt. Moody came in at regular intervals, always perfectly hilarious, and if the victim was in, netfer failed to have the drinks and cigars./ I never saw a man enjoy a thing as bloody did his jokes on our new men. "One hot, sultry day when the boys in the office were working in their shirtsleeves behind their desks, a meek-looking, red-faced, red-headed young man came in. He was shabbily dressed and seated himself awkwardly. Then he took off his hat, and fishing out a bandana handkerchief mopped his perspiring face. "He remarked that he 'bleeved it was the hottest day he ever seen.' No one seemed inclined to dispute this interesting meteorological statement, and he was allowed to go on fanning himself with his straw hat, while he gazed around the office. "He presently unbosomed himself to the effect that he 'bleeved he could sell sewing machines.' He had a squeaky sort of a voice and his grammar was enough to make Lindley Murray turn over in his grave. It was a good deal then, as it is now; any man who fancied he had a mission to sell sewing machines was given a chance to see wnat he could do, so the manager put him through the catechism, as customary, giving him an opportunity to divulge certain information as to where he had been employed last, the nature of the business, and his reasons for quitting; where he then lived and how long he had made it his home; also, whether he had ever been convicted of manslaughter, felony, arson, embezzlement or treason, and lastly whether he were a citizen of the United States? "Snively seemed to sb w up satisfactorily on all these points. \ He. said he had 'canvassed fof books son*, and 'lowed he could sell machines!' "The manager told him to call again next day. He showed up promptly on time, and was duly installed as a canvasser. The clerks in the office were not favorably impressed with Snively. The cashier gave him one week to throw up his job.' The bookkeeper thought when they 'got to hiring tramps, the business must be getting in a bad way.' The note clerk thought he had better go out and make his headquarters among the 'sana-ioppers in the post oaks.' But Snively was ignorant of these gratuitous comments and suggestions, and during the few days he stayed around the office learning to operate the machine, he was happy and contented, humming to himself bits of some old tunes. "He learned quite fast and was soon ready to go on the road. He had been out on the Nueces and the Rio Grande in his travels, and when the head clerk asked him if the people in those sections were not a dangerous lot of people to travel among, he said he 'wasn't afraid of men mostly.' "Well, as a matter of course, we sent Snively straight out to Capt. Moody's to sell him a machine. One of the boys softened a little, to the extent of telling him that Capt. Moody was a 'kind of a rough old cuss, but he guessed he'd get along with him all right.' Snively "lowed he could get along with most anybody,'? and drove off softly singing to himself: " 'Bu-ti-ful cit-e-e-e be-ilt a-bu-u-uv,'? and the boys watched him with some remorse of conscience as he headed down toward the bayou. "Snively had been instructed that one of the principal points in effecting a sale was to get his machine into the house the first thing that he did ; so, when he reached Capt. Moody's he took one out of his wagon and carried it right on to the front gallery and set it down. There he asked Mrs. Moody, who had come to the door, if she didn't want to buy a sewing machine? "Of course, only a novice would have done that, and the whole proceeding amused Mrs. Moody very much, for she was up to the ways of the ordinary sewing machine man, and so she told him she would buv a machine if thev could agree upon the price. "Snively assured her that there was no agreeing to do as the price was $100. "They were getting along first-rate, however, until, all at once, Moody stood 1 in the doorway. He was, to all appearances, in a terrible rage. "'Ah! what does all this mean? An- 1 other one of that contemptible tribe of 1 pusillanimous d?d machine men!" and 1 for two minutes he poured it into poor Snively like hot shot. "Snively sat quietly with his hands in his pockets, hiseyes fairly bulging out with surprise, but showing no signs of fear. "'I'll fix you, you son of a sea-cook. Come down here, Bet!' "As his hand grasped the barrel of his gun, a squeaky voice behind him said quickly: "'Put'erup! Put'erup! I wouldn't take it down 'f I's you!' "This was a novel state of things, and in wonder old Moody turned his head. Snively sat there in the same position, but the gleaming barrel of a six-shooter was held steadily in his hand, and it pointed squarely between Capt. Moody's eyes. It was the perfect composure of the man behind it more than anything else that caused Capt. Moody to exclaim : " 'Hold on ! hold on ! I wasn't goin' to shoot; I was just in fun. Put up your shooting iron!" "Mighty queer" way to have fun ! I've got the drap on ye -and I'm goin' to keep it!" said Snively. " 'Mebbe you wouldn't mind puttin' that machine in my wagon,' he continued, lowering his weapon a little, but still keeping his enemy covered. "It occurred to Moody that Snively was master of the situation, and the situation wasn't pleasant to contemplate. He would almost as soon have been shot as to have been compelled to carry the machine out to the wagon, but there was a gleam on thn horrol r\f that, eiv-shnntpr thai, hrnnked uo expostulation, and perhaps some of his own misdeeds arose, ghost-like, before him, as they are wont to do when we get in a close place. "And so Capt. Moody was forced to pick up the machine, and the procession moved out to the wagon, Snively bringing up the rear. When the machine was fastened in to his satisfaction, Snively got in in and prepared to leave. "As Moody's scare wore off anger commenced to take its place. The fact was plain that he had been beaten at his favorite game. It also occurred to him that, there was collusion, and that the whole j thing was a put up job 011 him. "To say that he was annoyed would be I the merest milk and water way of expressing it: to say that he was angry ! ! would convey but the slightest idea of the | I state of his mind just then. His wrath j 1 and frenzy grew unbounded, and he wasn't J slow now in pouring forth a torrent of it | upon the man who sat calmly in the wag-1 on. His language was not choice nor I hand-picked, and it was as full of explosives as a dynamite bomb. "Snively did not remember to have ever j I heard anything like it on the Texas frontier, but he sat quietly through it all, as j I though he were listening to an oration, j I He did not seem in any hurry to go, ei-1 ; ther. He was not the man to engage one ; | in conversation, and then run off and leave I j him in the midst of his peroration. I ! ! would like to say that Snively with one ; sweep of his revolver bade this storm j ; cease; but I must deal truthfully with him. The revolver had played its part j and was not to be ushered in again. "Oh, I'll get you for this day's work: never you fear about that! You made me I carry that machine out at the point of a i 1 Tliat'e nil ricrht! The irinn dnn't. i {juu . j-?jcav ^ . I walk the footstool that can get away with ; j Capt. Moody like that! I'll give you a ! little taste of the law before you are many days older!" "When his fury showed some faint ; signs of ebbing, Snively took advantage of this lull, and remarked, in a firm but j | squeaky voice, 'Capt. Moody, I'd buy that! ; machine of I's you.' "This seemed an unfortunate remark, I | for Moody's ire was at a white heat again : instantly. "'By Hades!' he thundered, 'why, young man, you have more unadulterated j gall than any man I ever saw! What do you think 1 want with your infernal sew- j ing machine?' " 'Yes, I'd buy it 'f I's you, and I'll tell you why. "Snively had the floor now. " 'l)o you remember when Watson came out here to sell a machine and you chased him clean out to the gate and snapped your gun at nim ?" "The recollection of the fleeing Watson and himself hard after him was too fresh to be soon forgotten, and the Captain inwardly smiled. " 'Well I wasthar,' said Snively, 'leastwise I was goin' along the road, and seen it all. You maypos8iblv recall what fun you had with Brooks, and White and Odell and them other fellows, but Watson hasn'l got over it yet. He's been talking to the county attorney, and he says he can get a case agin you sure, if he only had a witness. As I just remaiked I seen it all, but the attorney don't know that, ana i mink we might fix it up maybe so it would save you some bother.' "The Captain seemed to be going over the situation in his mind. "'Well, if you don't want this 'er machine I'll jist mosey on. Gettin' mighty hot ain't it, Captain?' " 'No, I don't want to buy itand I'm not goin' to buy it,' said Moody, 'but if you and the old woman can make a trade I don't care. Jane!" and he strode off toward the lot. .- * -* v' ?"Moody had thought quickly and to the point. True, he was only in fun, but there wasn't a shadow of a doubt but that some of the fellows might make him a little trouble, for some of them might not look at it from his point of yiew. He knew that Snively must have the drop on him about being a witness, else he would not have known so much about it. Jane, as he called her, understood his wink, and when he had disappeared, she and Snively soon came to an agreement and she became the owner of the machine. It was unloaded a second time, and having slipped five twenty dollar gold pieces into his pocket, Snively drove off softly singing to himself. "Mrs. Moody stood and watched him until he disappeared among the hanging moss and magnolias that fringed the borders of the sluggish bayou. . "It was with some twinges of conscience that we saw Snively walk Iflto the office. The cashier spoke to hhn pleasantly, and asked him if he had ffitmd a sale." "He said yes he had made a sale out at Capt. Moody's. "There were many winks and raising ol eyebrows, and smiles exchanged among tho boys in pantomime expressions of surprise and doubt; but when Snively produced the 'yellow boys,' he was a sureenough hero in our eyes. It was with much difficulty that Snively was induced to tell what happened at Moody's, but little by little it came out, and the mirth ol the office was uproarious. "Capt. Moody didn't come near the ofrt i.1- _ ^ J U ^ uce iur ujuuLiis. wiic uuy, nuvtcvci, ue was sighted across the street, and the hoys crowded to the door and motioned to him to come over, but he replied by shaking his fist at them and in forcible language consigning them to the lower regions. "In time he learned that the office boys had had nothing to do with his discomfiture, and he accordingly made friends. "He has long since 'crossed the bayou.1 Peace to his ashes!" "And what became ofSnively?" said Jones. "He married one of old Moody's daughters, is living near Houston, and is superintendent of a Sunday-school, and I suppose, still, he 'ain't afraid of men, mostly.'" Eugene Clay Ferguson. Bryan, Texas. HOW TO GUESS THE SPEED OF TRAINS. There is not one person in one hundred of the millions who travel on railroads in the course of a year who has any idea ol the speed of a train. A large per cent, ol even the regular trainmen of the country cannot tell with any degree of accuracy how fast a train is running. Frequently engineers are dispatched on a trip over a line of railroad with instructions to run at a speed of a certain number of miles an hour. The engineers do not carry a speed indicator, but have learned by various methods to gauge their engines so as to make only the slightest variation from their orders. Many engineers use their driving wheels as a gauge. They know its circumference, and by counting its revolutions with a certain time can tell very accurately the speed at which they are running. Another method is to time the run between mile posts, and still another is to make calculations from the number of telegraph poles passed in a certain time. These poles, in a level country and where four or five wires are used, are spaced so that they are thirty to the mile. If only a single wire is used they are spaced from twenty-five to twenty-eight to the mile. The most accurate method, and the one most in use by experienced railroad men, is to count the number of rail joints the train passes over in twenty seconds. The rails in nearly all cases are thirty feet in length, and the number passed over in twenty seconds is the speed per hour a train is running. For instance, if a passenger sitting in a sleeper can count thirty clicks of the wheel on a rail joint in twenty seconds the train is running at the speed of thirty miles an hour.?Kansas City Times. An Old Highland Story.?A curious discovery, which recalls a tragic story in the history of the Mackintosh of Borlum family, has just been made at Drummond Hill, near Iverness, the residence of Mr, William Burns, solicitor. While workmen were engaged in laying out a tenniscourt they came upon the remains of a skull and the shoulder and thigh bones ol a man. At first the remains were sun posed to be those of a soldier of one of the early Highland regiments which were encamped in the vicinity, but?the discovery of several buttons of a chequer pattern without figures, and resembling those worn on the dress-coats of Highland gentlemen about a century ago, leads to the belief that the remains are those of Alistair Mackintosh, a foster-son of the Mackintosh ol Borlum, who was convicted of robbery and executed at Muirfieldin 177;1, and was condemned to be hung in chains. His clansmen, who believed him to be innocent, succeeded in removing the body and burying it near Aultnaskiah, but it was discovered, and they secretly moved it and had it interred at Campfield, which forms part of the land now owned by Mr. Burns. The remains were found about three feet below the surface in easily turned sand, which seems to indicate that they had been hastily interred. It is worthy of note that the last laird of theBorlum family, Edward Mackintosh, who was said to have been concerned in the robbery for which his foster-brother had suffered the last penalty of the law, was proprietor of the estate of Bait, near Kingussie, which afterwards passed into the hands of "Ossian" Macpherson, and is now known as Belleville. ? How Shoes Weak Ott.?There are a number of small cobblers in basements and hallway stands off the main thoroughfares who make a specialty of "repairing while you wait," and who derive a profitable custom from the passers by who need a heel tipped or a sole renovated to put their foot goar in good condition, whom the tores or more pretentious shoemakers would compel to wait at least a day. There are few men who do not wear off the right heel sooner than the left, because Hie majority put more force on the right foot when walking. Women walk much more evenly than men, especially in the high heeled shoes in vogue, and, not walking as much, do not need so often the attention of the cobbler.. Women wear their shoes out sooner in the sole of the foot, -1 ? ?it* 11.: wnere me posmou 111 uieir eveu warning; is greater, and the work in their shoes is finer than these cobblers can perform, and so they are seldom customers. The prevalent style of the men to walk with toes outward is very severe on the heels, and a good sole will outwear at least two heelings. ! ^UotcUaitroits Heading. ORIGIN OF A NEW RACE. The ship, Bountyf December 23, 1787, sailed from Spithead, England, bound for the South Sea. To many of the present generation the story of* the mutiny that followed is a vague tradition: and that the lineal descendants of the mutineers are now living, entirely by themselves, on an island in the Pacific Ocean, yery few have any knowledge. The island is known as Pitcairn's Island. The ship was under a commission from the British Admiralty to visit the Society and other islands and collect a number of the bread fruit plants, which were to be taken to certain of the British West Indies for the purpose of stocking those islands. The vessel started on her homeward voyage with Lieutenant ; Bligh in command. He was of an unusu-11" At?ft?kAoi?}?/y on/I tnanlHnrr/Honnotfinn I ailj UVCIUCftXUJg ftUW niBw?uug UIOJ/ujiuvu. He accused Fletcher Christian, the mate, ; of having Btplen some cocoanuts which he had bought at Otaheiteji bna of the islands , they had visited. Christian determined to ! get away from the ship, and was informed , by the boatswain the crew were ready to | mutiny. He surprised the Captain in his ' berth, made a prisoner of him and took ; possession of the ship. The Captain and [ eighteen of his officers and men were then sent adrift in an open boat. [ Christian, with the twenty-four others ' who had remained in the ship, steered for ! Society Island, and sixteen of them finally , decided to remain at Otaheite, while Chris] tian and the rest, taking with them twelve [ Otaheitean women and seven men, set sail in the ship for any place that chance I might take them. Nothing was heard of Christian and those who had gone on the Bounty for , twenty years. At the end of that time ; an American ship, happening to touch at Pitcairn's Island, found there an English, man called Alexander Smith (his name was afterwards changed to John Adams), I who said he was sole survivor of those who had sailed on the Bounty, Christian, thinking the island a place where there would be little chance of their - being discovered, had landed there and ; burned the ship. Things went smoothly ; for two years, when one of the men, hav' ing lost his wife, insisted on taking one of | the Otaheitean men's. The Otaheiteans rebelled and killed three of the whites, j The rest of the whites, with the aid of the women, then killed all the Otaheitean men. Only four men were now left on the island. One of these succeeded in making an intoxicating liquor and drank himself | to death, another one was executed by his ! companions, and a third died of consumption. Adams, now an old man, became at last , impressed with the responsibility resting upon him of teaching the descendants of ( himself and companions the truths of the Bible. The result was a model community. In 1830 the inhabitants moved to . Norfolk Island, but in 1853 a part of them returned to Pitcairn. This colony has since been remarkable for the purity in which it has retained the principles inculcated by the patriarchal Adams. Between the years 18G0 and 1880 a num] ber of ships called at the island. In 1883 the American ship Harry Mills visited the 1 place, and one of the inhabitants named MnPn\r Qnortmnoniofl fhn chin in T .i vor. auvvvj uvvviu^/uiuvu iiiv giiip juj tv* pool. In the same year another American ship, the Wandering Jew, stopped at the Island, and on leaving, Captain Talpey, took with him another- one of the inhabitants. This was Earnest Heywood [ Christian, the great grandson of Fletcher Christian. Until his arrival at Hull, England, Earnest Christian had never seen a house, a horse, or any quadruped. His delight and astonishment when first ' he saw a steam engine and train were unbounded. Christian spent three years on the ship, visiting San Francisco and going comi pletely around the world before he re1 turned to his island home. On her second visit toPitcairn Mrs. Talpey had with her ' a young English girl, seventeen years old. She was the youngest person who had ever visited the island, and great was the interest and admiration she excited among ! the girls of her own age. One in particu1 lar, Miss Emily McCoy, kept close to her ' all the time, asking her all manner of ' questions about the outside world. "You are the first girl of my own age, ' outside of this island, that I have ever 1 seen," she said. "Tell me all you can. What do horse cars look like? And the churches?do you haye people enough to fill them?" Among the ^sland women who visited the ship on this occasion was Miss liosalind Young, one of the most attractive and enterprising on the island. She was at this time about 23 years old, had never had a shoe on her foot, swam like a fish, played the organ in the little island church, assisted in the "village school" and was the leader in everythingamongthe women on the island. She has written an account of the island for the Century, and she told Mrs. Talpey that she never had an idle moment. Another curious vein of modern civili1 zation that has cropped out on the island 1 is a desire for some place where one can get rest and change from the ordinary rou! tine of life. On an isolated island only a few miles in circumference, in midocean, ' and containing only one village of less ' than a hundred inhabitants, "summer resIrlnnnnull urnnlrl cnnm fn Ko li o rrl I ir rvrootl- : ' lUUIIVtO H V/U1U OtUUJ IV/ UU 4UV1U1J ptuvvi cftble or desirable. Yet these people have | already begun to build, a little way from the main settlement, a small "summer ! colony," where the older ones may go away for a little while every year and be j more retired than they can in the village. ! They have named their retreat "Happy ! Valley." ' The condition of the islanders has lately been considerably improved by the numerous visits of English and Auiericau ships. The population is increasing slowly. In ! 187!) it was ninety-four. In December, j ' 1882, it was 108, of which number two ! were shipwrecked sailors who had settled | | there. The colony consists ofabout twenty . families, who live in the single story cot- J tages formed of bamboo, with thatched j roofs. The islanders are still noted for their j strict religious conduct, grace being said j ; before and after each meal, and'swearing , or anything of a similar character being: absolutely unknown. , When any dispute arises among them | the settlement of it is laid over till the | next arrival of a man-of-war, when it is; referred to the captain, and his decision is ' final.?New York Press. SLANDEK. 2so serpent distills such fatal poison as that which drips from the tongue of the slanderer. The former may be counteracted, and at; i the worst, only brings a temporal death which ends sensation, the latter lingers to the end of existence and is a living and ! continued torture. How easy tostart a slander! How little ! we think of the hurtful hints and damaging inuendoes which come out during an ordinary conversation ! How little do we j refiect on the dimensions to which they ' will be magnified by repetition. Our hearts bleed at the sufferings of i those whose bodies are destitute of cover; during the cold winter nights, but we j deliberately uncover reputation which is I incalculably more sensitive, and uncover , it to a colder, bleaker night than auy j which glooms over the desolation of winter. | The sufferings endured through the long, I dark night may pass away as the sun rises I to warm and gladden another day ; but the ; freezing power of evil words is thawed out j by no tnoruing beams, and the chilblain of a blighted character sends its victim crippled and limping to the end of his journey. The charity which protects the body is brief and of the earth earthy; the charity which protects reputation is spiritual, enduring, eternal. It is so easy to refrain from expressions that may be slanderous; so impossible to kill a slander once in life. Evil report goes faster and grows faster than good report. Good report moves gently along without noise or demonstration ; evil report is advertised on the streets, and like many other advertised things, is advertised for more than it is worth. Every imagination magnifies it and every mouth puts more to it until a very small amount of dark matter often develops into three well grown crows. The mian who is seen to take a single drink is heard of at the other end of town as a confirmed and ruined drunkard; the man who was seen to mildly chastise his erring child is heard of as a brutal and unfeeling father ; the man who gives to the poor out of his abundance is preparing to beggar his family, and the man who withholds from the poor on account of his ne cessiues is a miseraoie miser. Thus it will be seen that there are Cains in the brotherhood of man?Cains who mercilessly destroy all of life that is worth the living. Is there no way to prevent this? Is there no way to educate public opinion to a higher sense of duty? Is there noway to strengthen the laws which govern speech ? While every heart and every house is open to the work of protecting those who are exposed to the rigors of a bleak North wind, would not heaven, which smiles upon such benevolence, smile as approvingly upon an organized charity for the protection of character ? Can no association be formed that will guard the portals of the lips and hedge criticisms with restrictions like those which govern the introduction of testimony in court ? May no steps be taken to arrest, or at least check, an evil so small at the first that it depends for life on a single breath, and yet so great at last that it threatens with remorseless ruin the happiness of all who are happy, and the characters of all who have character? Let the press, the pulpit and the social circle take up these questions and repeat them until they are answered.? Evening Capitol. MEDICINAL QUALITIES OF FRUITS. The following is from the Journal of Health: "Of all the fruits with which we are blessed, the peach is the most delicious and digestible. There is nothing more palatable, wholesome and medicinal than good ripe peaches. It is a mistaken idea that no fruit should be eaten at breakfast. It would be far better if our people would eat less bacon and grease at breakfast and more fruit. In the morning there is an acrid state of the secretions, and nothing isso well calculated to correct this as cooling sub-acid.fruits, such as peaches, apples, etc. The apple is one of the best of fruits. Baked or stewed apples will rrPTiprnllv poprpp with thp most rlplipntp stomach, and are excellent medicine fu many cases. Green or half ripe apples stewed and sweetened are pleasant to the taste, cooling, nourishing, laxative, far superior in many cases to the abominable doses of salts and oil usually given in fever and other disease. Raw apples stewed are better for constipation than some- pills. Oranges are very acceptable to most stomachs, having all the advantages of the acid alluded to; but the orange juice alone should be taken, rejecting the pulp. The same may be said of lemons, pomegranates, and all that class. Lemonade is the best drink in fevers, and when thickened with sugar it is better than syrup of squills and other nauseants in many cases of cough. Tomatoes act on the liver and bowels, and are much more pleasant and safe than blue mass. The juice should be used alone, rejecting the skin. The small seeded fruits, such as blackberries, figs, currants, may be classed among the best foods and medicines. The sugar in them is nutritious, the acid is cool and purifying, and the seeds are laxative. We would be much the gainers if we would look more to our orchards and gardens for our medicines and less to drug stores. To cure fever or act on the kidneys, no febrifuge or diuretic is superior to watermelon, which may, with very few exceptions, be taken in sickness and in health in almost unlimited quantities, with positive benefit. But in using them, juice should be taken, excluding the pulp ; and then the melon should be fresh and ripe." Morality in Little Things ?A railway conductor, passing through his train, recently remarked, "If all were like that gentleman yonder, I would have far less trouble in my work. Every day, almost every hour, some one tries to ride on my train without paying for it." The gentleman to whom he referred was uncertain as to the value of an excursion ticket, thinking the time for using it under the regulations of the corporation had possibly gone by. He, therefore, submitted the ticket to the conductor, calling his special attention to it, and expressing a desire to fulfill the exact conditions under which he had purchased it. He not only wished to relieve a faithful employee of possible embarrassment in his report to the company, but also to be strictly honest, doing every thing openly. This incident points a moral. It is wrong to allege that corporations defraud, and, therefore, they may be innocently defrauded. The moral sense of an individual ought not to be stultified by any known wrong, however trilling it may. seem, or however successfully concealed from view. We are not sure but that here is just the cause for close self-exami Uiinun uy iimuy a uuc, wnu juuiica mm- i self occupying secure moral standing. Christian morals have to do with fundamental truth ; with the smallest, as well as tile greatest volitions. And the way to reach integrity of character is i ot so much to regard the conspicuous acts of fidelity to the right, as to be sure that we are really true in reference to those innumerable matters which make up our daily life. It is well to cultivate a tender conscience in every thing; well for the individual himself; well for his influence over others. In the end of life, it shall be well with them. Peace will adjust the pillow in life's latest hour of that man who acted in all things with a conscientious regard to even-handed justice toward others, with a strict sense of duty to his God. "You Nevek Said So Bekoke."?An old Virginia minister said lately : "Men of my profession see much of the tragic side of life. I have seen men die in battle, have seen children die, but no death ever seemed so pathetic to me as the death of an aged mother in my church. I knew her first as a young girl?beautiful and gay, full of joy and hope. She married and had four children. Her husband died and left her penniless. She sewed, she made drawings, she taught, she gave herself scarcely time to eat or sleep. Every thought was for her children ; to educate them, to give them the advantages their father would have given them had he lived. She succeeded. She sent her boys to college, and her girls to school. When they all came home they gave themselves up to their own selfish pursuits. She lingered among them some three years, and then was stricken with mortal illness brought on by overwork. The children gathered around her bedside. The oldest son took her in his arms. He said : "You have been a good mother to us." That was not very much to say, was it ? It was much to her, who had never heard anything like it. A tlush came sweeping over her pallid face, and with a husky voice she whispered, "My son, you never said so before!" BENEFITS OF THE MOON. The moon ministers to human wants in several ways that are not so apparent as its light-giving function, although some of them are much more important. It is by observing the position of the moon with reference to the fixed stars that the navigator determines his longitude. Upon the revolution of the moon about the earth is based a convenient division of time, the month, intermediate between that furnished by the earth's daily rotation and its revolution through its orbit. Doubtful points in ancient chronology have been frequently settled by means of eclipses of the moon, the dates of which could be accurately determined. The intervention of the moon in eclipsing the sun gave astronomers the opportunities for obtaining their first knowledge in regard to the solar envelope. But the largest effects on human welfare are procured by the moon through the agency of the tides. Twice a day the decomposing organic matter brought down to the seashore by rivers, or deposited along the water's edge by human ia swepi uwuy uy we uuui wave in its course around the globe. This sanitary service which the' moon performs is of inconceivable value. In many hafbors, large ships and heavily-loaded rafts and barges are moved from the entrance to their wharves, miles above, by that slow but powerful tug, the flood-tide. An amount of work is thus done which, if it had to be provided by artificial means, would cost for such a port as London thousands, perhaps millions, of pounds yearly. Popular Science Neics. Concentration of Power?To do one thing at a time is a wise method of doing, but to do only one thing all the time is a most unwise method of doing. Concentrating one's powers on the work of an hour, or of the moment, one has his highest efficiency in and for that work for the time being. But an unintermitted strain on the powers in one and the same direction, for an extended period of time, would tend to render one ineffective even in that one direction ; hence a change of work is desirable as a means of success in work ; and, moreover, such a change is necessary in view of the inevitable variety of demands on one's time and energies, in this world as it is. A change of work must be a complete change, or it is no change at all. The same' concentration of power which was shown on the one work must be shown on the other work in order to the best doinr* rsf fho nonr vtmrlr whinli fnr fho being is the only work worth living for. This concentration first on one work and then on another work involves an utter letting alone of the one while the other is put foremost. Therefore it is that the higher efficiency of a worker is gained through his turning away at the right moment from the work for which alone he seemed to he living only the moment before. Taking hold of one's work at the right time with wholeness of being is a mark of rare ability. The ability both to take hold and to let go with like wholeness of being is a mark of rarest ability. He is the master man who can change rapidly and entirely from one thing to another \\ ithout ever carrying the burden of one work into the sphere of another work. So it comes to pass that in learning how to take hold of our work aright, we must learn also how to let go of our work aright. The Need of Patience.?If it is true that for many only a little alleviation is possible, a little more justice, a little better apportionment of such good as they can comprehend, it is also true that something better is within the reach ot all. How then shall we define it, and what possibility of alteration for either lives or conditions lies before us? Nothing that can be of instant growth, and here lies the chief discouragement, since, as a people, we demand instantaneousness, and would have seed, flower and fruitat the same moment. Admit patience, capacity to wait and to work wnile^waiting as the first term of the equation and the rest arrange themselves. For the greater part of social reformers co-operation has stood as the initial and most essential step as the fruit that could be plucked full grown, and experience in England would seem to have demonstrated the belief as true. It is the American inability to wait that has proved it untrue for us, and until very lately made failure our only record; but there is a deeper reason than a merely temperamental one. The abolition of the apprentice system, brought about by the greed of master and men alike, has abolished training and slow steady preparation for any trade. An American has been regarded as quick enough and keen enough to take in the essential features of a calling, as it were, at a glance, and apprenticeship has been taken as practically an insult to national intelligence. Law has kept pace with such conviction, and thus the door has been shut in the face of all learners, and foreigners have supplied our skilled workmen and workwomen. The groundwork of any better order lies, if not in a return to the apprentice system, then in a training from the beginning which will give to the eye and hand the utmost power of which they are capable. Teaching Humanity in School.?A boy in school was having a very funny time, by sticking a pin into the legs ol the boy who sat next him, and laughing at his antics. The teacher caught sight ot the proceeding, and taking a pin, went to the first mentioned boy and said: "Would you like to have a pin stuck into you like that?" He laughed as though he thought it might be a capital joke, whereat the teacher used the pin rather freely, and his jumpings and squirmings, accompanied by his "ouch !" and endeavors to save himself by the use of his hands, attracted the attention of the whole school. The teacher finally asked him what was the matter and why he did not sit quietly, when he said that he could not, "it hurt," so, the teacher said: "Well, that is just the way it feels to other people. Have you had enough of it?" He was very decided in his opinion that he had, and the teacher took occasion to say a few words to the school in regard to their treatment, not only of each other, but of the lower animals. She said : "1 saw a boy kill a toad last night, and I wondered if he knew the toad is a help to us, and if he thought of the toad's suffering." Most of the boys looked thoughtful, a few laughed, and the very boy that killed the toad raised his hand and said: "What good can a toad do?" Upon the teacher's inquiry among the scholars she found that only a few knew anythiug _ C xl 1 xl.. X ~ x. 3 01 me guuu mm u luau uuea 111 me gtuueii. It was the means of reform in that direction, and a talk on the use of birds revealed the fact that very few of them knew that a bird is of any use whatever.? Philadelphia Call. An Unparalleled Migration.?English sparrows were first imported into this country at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1850. They did not thrive, and two years later another colony was imported. They multiplied and spread, until, in 1S70, the sparrow was diffused pretty generally through the Eastern States, the race being increased by importations at several sea-ports in 1858 and following years. Since then these birds have extended widely, until they are the pest of all country east of the Mississippi and of a wide area beyond that river. It "goes West" steadily, and leaping over intervening regions beyond the ninetyseventh degree of longitude, finds first a habitation in Utah, an then passing to the Pacific, is met with in and around San Francisco. Everywhere it is prolific, and rears its five or six broods a year with the most reckless disregard of consequences. The sparrow reached New Brunswick and Montreal by a tramp ride in box cars, and had no sooner arrived than he set up his household gods and began his fearful mission of propagation and diffusion. In 1850 the English sparrow in America occupied the area of a single tree or tree-box. Now he disports himself over an area of 885,1 000 square miles in the United States, and of 150,000 in Canada. The Earth's Support.?In the early gropings of the human mind probably no problem was more perplexing than that of the earth's foundations. One of the most primitive ideas represented the earth as a vast flat island, surrounded by an interminable ocean; and this view was subsequently modified by giving the ocean a circular boundary, with endless roots stretching downward beneath the whole. The priests of Veda asserted that the earth was supported on twelve columns, between which the sun passed. Anaximander re i~J i.i i.u I: ~ garueu ine earui us a eyiinuer iiuauug in compressed air. The idea that the earth floated long prevailed, even the early Hindoos, who supposed the hemispherical earth to rest on the heads of four elephants , standing on the back of a tortoise, maintaining that the tortoise rested on the universal ocean. Aristotle and Strabo conceived the sphericity of the earth, but , what supported it as the motionless centre of their universe puzzled them. Cosmas, A. D., 535, propounded the system of a square earth, resting on nothing, and supporting the heavens on solid walls. The venerable Bede, who lived in the eighth century, regarded the earth as a floating egg, and this notion lasted many centuries. These crude theories have come down to a surprisingly recent period?so much a thing of to-day is our modern science. How Soon* We Are Forgot !?A picture of a handsome young man is stowed away in a neglected corner of a portrait painter's studio. The artist was asked whom it belonged to. "Just before starting on a trip across the water I received an order for that picture from the young lady to whom the original was betrothed. As there was apparently no hurry about the work I suggested that it should be done at my leisure while abroad. This hmnr* onrrnn/1 iinrvn T Viorl r\r\ furfhor nnm ci? i upuuf jl iiuu uu jui vtJV/* wta~? munication with the parties until my return a year and a half later. When I called upon the lady and informed her that the picture was ready she seemed slightly embarrassed, but promised to call at the studio and see it. A few days later she came, and, after gazing steadily at the canvas for some time, she sighed and said: "Poor Phil! he's dead and gone!" Then, with a sudden look of relief and inspiration, she added: "But I think if you could change the expression slightly and alter the mouth it would be a good likeness ^f Mr. C , the gentleman I am now engaged to!" I kept the picture, as you see. To have allowed that cold-blooded, heartless woman to take possession of it would have seemed an insult to the dead man's memory. So there it always hangs, a sort of illustration of poor old Rip's words: "How soon we are forgot!" AST*A pastor who notices the children, ! addresses them by name, speaks kindly to 1 them and shows a real interest in them, will secure their confidence and love, and ' will be able to influence them for good. Children have quick discernment, are good judges of character, and are not long in forming an opinion of those with whom they are brought in contact. Haifa minister's success depends upon gaining the good will of the children. If he succeeds in doing this, they will speak many a kind word for him, and will influence their parents and others to think well of him. We once heard a little girl, almost a child, say: "I don't like Mr. So and So." She \v?s asked the reason why. Her answer was: "He don't like little girls; he never speaks to me." Pastors should not only feed the sheep, but also the lambs; they should not only care for the old, but also the young. Even the little children can be favorably impressed by proper attention to them. The Master took the little children into His arms and blessed them, and so should those who go forth in His name to gather men into His fold.?Methodist Recorder. Fabled History of the Riddle.? The ancients believed that the monster Sphynx was the inventor of riddles. The one she proposed for solution is this: ; "What animal is it that goes upon four legs in the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?" Many persons strove to explain it, but failed and were f AHM f A AAAO Klf V* A>? A f 1 Art/?f U IV/UtMIO LU1U IU piCLCO UJf liCl. iCUgtll VJljUipUO solved it by saying that the animal was a man, who, in infancy, or in the morning ?of his life, creeps upon all fours; in the noon of his life walks on two feet, and in the night of old age requires a stick and so totters upon three legs. The Sphynx, enraged at the discovery of her riddle, threw herself upon a rock and died. Such is the fabled history of the first riddle ; the true history is not known, as riddles are of remote antiquity. But we find from Plutarch that in his days the Greek girls often amused themselves with proi posing them for their companions to un' ravel. Force of Conviction.?Conviction is in itself a power. The man who is sure of what he says, gives assurance to those who hear. With the world as it is, most men do not know what to believe, nor do they care to be at the trouble to find out for themselves what they ought to believe. When, therefore, a man comes before others with a conviction of his own, and asserts it with a positiveness akin to inspiration, those of his hearers who are , hesitating, or who are unconcerned, are likely to be swept along by his intensity, and to believe what he believes because he more than believes it. A man may have a wrong conviction and may do harm by his power of impressing it upon others; but if a man has no strong convictions, either right or wrong, he must not expect to inspire others to a belief any stronger than his own. The elemental power of a preacher is an overpowering conviction. Unless a man believes a truth so firmly that he is willing to live or die for it, he has no fitness to be a preacher. There is a silent grace in a bow when given with ease and pleasant expression. It should be a graceful bend, not a stiff jerk. A gentleman should raise his hat, not with a flourish or as if it had received a knock and tumbled into his hands, but with a gentle dignity, yet without stiffness. A mistake often made in social greetings is that of introducing a lady to a gentleman, which is the reverse of correct. Whon tho env ic fliQ oomn infrnrlnnQ tha I ? IIVU kllVy ! } kliv> 0(V UJ V. | 1 U 11 VU ULU ttlU one you consider inferior in point of social position or by reason of youth, to the superior or older. When introduced it is etiquette to bow but not to shake hands, and it is optional with a lady to recognize the gentleman at the next meeting. I think I can easily tell a flirt if 1 saw her shake hands, for the method of that character is to linger over every hand as if that particular one came nearest her affections. In fact there is much to bo learned of human nature in the methods of social greetings. _ What is Electricity??Electricity is another substance concerning the nature of which we know absolutely nothing. To the question: What is electricity? there is but one answer. We do not know. We do know what it will do, and can make it serve us in an infinite variety of ways ; but the most learned electrician is only in the same position as that of a little child who can move the lever which controls a great engine, but knows nothing of its construction, or how the motion is produced.? Popular Science News. I take Christianity as I take bread? because I feel and know that it supplies a want of my nature, the deepest want of all.