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lewis m. obisTi Proprietor.| Jin Jndcpciulcnf Jamitt! $tepapfr: cJfor the promotion of flit folitol, Social, ^jritultural and fl-ommtrtial Jntcrtsts of the $outft. ]TERMS?$2.00 A YEAR IN ADVANCE. I VOL. 35. ~ YOBKYILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1889. I^TO- I ? elected f flctrg. THE SIN OF OMISSION. It isn't the thing yon do, dear, It's the thing you leave undone Which gives you a t>it of heartache At the setting of the sun; The tender word forgotten. The letter you did not write. The flower you might have 6ent. dear. Are your haunting ghosts to night. The stone you might nave lifted Out of the brother's way. The bit of hearthstone counsel You were hurried too much to say. The loving touch of the hand, dear, The gentle and winsome tone That you had no time nor thought for, With troubles enough of your own. These little acts of kindness, 80 easily out of mind. These chances to be angels WhifK Avon mort.nla flnH They come in night and silenoe Each child reproachful wraith, When hope is feint and flagging, And a blight has dropped on faith. Tor life is all too short, dear. And sorrow is all too great, To suffer oar slow oompassion That tvrfctuctll too lute. i, v - AadAfa not the thing you do, dewiwtr- It's the thing you leave undone, Which gtyee yon the bitter heartache At the setting of the sun. ?Margaret E. Songster. jgfotg IfUcr. CONFUSION OF TITLES.' 'And so fields had a wife and six children I" Mr. Scott smiled gently to himself as he thought of it "And not only a wife and six children, but he had baen married twice?he had had two wives." There was nothing absurd nor remarkable about these facts, except as Mr. Scott chose to make them so. He had known Thomas Fields for ten or fifteen years on Wall street, and he had always fancied him an old bachelor, while in truth he was mourning one wife and courting another. "I wonder if he made love I" said Mr. Soott to himself, and again he smiled. Then be wondered if the six boys looked like their father. And there was no rea1 son why they should not have been willing to look like him, for be was by no means ill favored, although he was tall and spare, and had. the anxious, worried < look of a man whose anxieties and responsibilities outrun his resources. Bat as far as money goes this was not true of Mr. Fields, who was a very rich man in deed. Perhaps it pleased Mr. Scott to be facetious, and to take a lively and con- i trarv view of life. It was late afternoon ; and near train time, and all the young' people and the wives whose husbands went to the city every day had gone to the station, so that the two men were ; almost alone under the tree on the lawn where they had placed their chairs. They were smoking, and Mr. Scott wss toying with a tennis racquet left in his care. ? After a while Mr. Scott spoke, not the substance but the shadow of his thoughts: "Your boys ought to be a great comfort to you. Fields. Six sons! They ought to carry on your business and perpetuate j your name." "They will not carry on my business ?not one of them. When Dick made up his mind that he wanted to go to West Point, and Bob determined to study medicine, I didn't care, because there were the four left; but Logan has taken to farming, Fred has gone into law, and Harry has a perfect craze .about becoming a minister; so you see tbe business will go into other hands. It is not right ?not at all right." "But there are six of them? How about the sixth?" "Phil? He is the greatest disappointment of all. The brightest boy I have, Mr. Scott." "Well?" 'Phil has very reprehensible ideas. He writes verses, and will not go into business nor into a profession. He says he can live on his allowanoe. And he does, I'll say that for him?and on his salary." 4'His salary? Why, then, he is in business?" Just now he is. In a brewery. He is a clerk in a brewery, and gets $050 a year. That is like Phil. Obstinate?a perfect pig headed fellow for obstinacy." But I don't understand," said Mr. Scott. "Don't you want him to be in a brewery, or does he do it to spite you?" Not to spite me, but he is very aggravating. I have talked to him a good deal, and I have said some plain truths to him. One day he told me that he would prove that he was not lazy, and that he could earn his living at a tread miil if he chose, and so he found this situation and took it. He says he means to stay a year." Why, I like that," cried Mr. Scott. "The boy has grit." "I don't like grit," replied Mr. Fields, < "when it gets between my teeth." "Well," said Mr. Scott, "I've often wished we had a son, but six of them can make life lively. My daughter is as good a girl as any one need desire, but she has her vagaries." "Your daughter is a very nice girl," Mr. Fields warmly responded, "and a very pretty one too. I have noticed her a good deal. If 1 had a daughter I should be perfectly satisfied to have her e> actly like your Regina." She is a very good girl," repeated the father, with modest pride: "but it is a great responsibility to have a marriageable daughter." Mr. Fields grimly smiled. "She seems to have her choice. All the young men here have eyes for her only." "It is the poor quality of the young men, Mr. Fields?the men of today. Why, there is not a man at Oak Hill to whom I would give Regina No, nor in New York, us far as I know. It is a serious matter, and one to be looked at from every point of view, this choosing \ oi a husband for a girl. She gives up everything when she marries?name, home everything into which she has gro vn. To choose for a girl means to t blindly take for her either misery or hap . _ piness." "You are fortunate if you are allowed to choose," Mr. Fields dryly answered. "Logan married well, and Bob is engaged to a very nice girl, one of the Hookers?Hooker, Hood & Co.; but here comes another of Phil's perversities. He wants to marry a professional." "A professional? Is the lady on the stage?" "Worse than that?she?Bhe is an athlete, a sort of female prize fighter." Why, that is horrible I I'd send him away. I never heard of such a thing! I ' suppose she is pretty?" "I do not know. I have never spoken to him on the subject He told Mrs. Fields, his stepmother. I told her to say to him from me that I would never hear a word about her. In such matters it is wise to be decided, and he had best understand that we?that I?will never countenance nor condone such a match. If be marries her he will have to keep to the brewery." "You are quite right," firmly replied Mr. Scott. "A prize fighter 1 I never heard of such a thing." "Our sons marry with too much freedom;" and here Mr. Fields took breath and lighted his cigar. "It is a matter of wide importance who it is a man mar* ries, because his whole family is involved. When a man brings a woman into a I family, gives her his name?the family pnmfl?and she becomes the mother of the new generation, the family should have a voice in the matter. Not every" woman, not every, other family should be admitted. Marriage is more than a merely personal matter." "It does not matter so much to the man, but the woman?there's the puzzle 1 But Regina and I agree about everything, except that she wants to marry a business man, and I am sick of business men. I should like her to marry such a man as an English country gentleman, if we had such a class?a man with landed property and human responsibilities; a man of affairs. But Regina says that her father's trade is the one for his daughter, r .#. and so I am to go to "Wall street ancl loot for a husband for her." "I wish you would find one of my boys there, then; but you won't Oh, what a fool a young man can be 1 And Phil isa fastidious fellow, quiet and well behaved ?not at all the kind of boy you would expect to lite loud, unfeminine women." "She must be pretty," replied his friend, summing up the matter. That night PhiJip Fields was the subject of two midnight conversations. His father and his stepmother talked him over, and they decided to ask him to come and spend a few days at Oak Hill. "A counter irritant," said Mrs. Fields, who consorted much with doctors, "is sometimes the best, the only remedy in cases of this character." Mr. Scott told his wife and daughter the story of Mr. Fields and his six sons, and he made it so absurd that Mrs. Scott rptta animator! hv ft mrwt Hvp.lv CUliOsitV I to see them all. Bat Regina didn't think the story funny. She said the Fields boys were all stupid. She had met two of them, the divinity student and Phil. Still she lingered in her mother's room, and talked about them until it was after 1 o'clock, and the next morning, when Mr. Fields managed to secure her tew-minutes, she listened wtth much politeness to all he said of his son, assuring him of her sympathy with him in the trials he confided to her. "She is a flirt," said Mrs. Fields; but Mr. Fields did not agree with his wife. He pronounced Regina quick and kind hearted. That Bhe was so pretty was a factor apart from her mental and spiritual character. And so it came to pass that Mr. Philip Fields came to Oak Hill, and met the 1 household delegation at the station, and found his own committee, in the shape of his father and stepmother, waiting for him. And he was not stupid in his appearance. He was a very good looking young man, tall, like his father, but better built and muscular. He was also a very easy person to become acquainted with, and ho at once proved a most desirable acquisition to the young ladies, because he proved to be so good a tennis player that he was able to enter against( Miss Scott, and thus the games became more equal and spirited. Before he came Bhe had had it all her own way, and consequently the games were growing dull i for her as for the others. "You play better than you did last 1 Rummer." Rhe said to him one mornine. ' as they sat alone down by the creek. "I meant to," he replied; 4 'and when I . have not been brewing or keeping brew- . ere' books I have studied tennis. It has , kept up my nerve." "And how about your poetry?" eaid the young woman. "Who told you I wrote poetry?" asked be. j "Oh, I know. I know a good deal about you, Mr. Philip Fields, and if you \ please, I should like to have my racquet when you go back to town; the one you took last year, sir." { "It is broken," ho said. "You knew 4 you could never use it again. 1 "I want to have it mended. It was ' the best I ever had. I played the Rich- 1 haven game with that one." "I know that," said Phil. 4 Then you will send it to me ?" 4 4No, I will not You gave it to me." "But I want it I really do." "Young ladies should not be Indian givers." "Young ladies may bo what they please." "No, they may not." 44You think they may." "Indeed I don't" "Now come," said she; "I do not know any one who allows women the latitude you do." < At this Phil flushed up. "I do not see 1 how you can say such a thing. You < know I dislike women who step out of < J what I consider is womanly." ] 4 'That is the very point," urged Regina, 1 who seemed more in earnest than was 1 necessary. 4,Your definition of4womanly' ' is so wide, it takes in so much!" j T horr vnnr iwrrinn '* . "Oh, but it does I" 1 "I do not see why you say so, Miss i Fields." j Regina bit her lip. She meant to say ' no more. 1 "Have I ever given you reason to be i so unjust to me?" he persisted. | "Oh, no." "Then why do you say such things to me?" "Oh, because," said Regina. "You are unkind;" and Phil lookedas J though he really thought she was; "you make cruel, unauthorized charges against me and refuse to explain them." "Indeed I do not," retorted she. "I , have very good authority for my opinions 1 and your taste in young ladies is very pe- < culiar. It may be excellent but it is peculiar." "It is very modest in you to say so." ] "You like professional women." "I would, I am sure; but I don't know ; one, not even a woman doctor." 1 "Oh, a woman doctor! Some of them are lovely. Nobody would wonder if you 1 liked them. "Pray tell me at what any one may wonder." "Well," said Regina boldly, "a young man who likes women prize fighters must be considered as having odd tastes." I "Women prize fighters?" i "Yes." "What on earth are you talking ' about?" 1 So then Regina was committed, and she told him all his father had said, and gave him a sharp little lecture, in which justice was very little tempered with mercy, on his duty to his parent. She professed a good deal of regard and sympathy for Mr. Fields, and indeed it was ' pleasant to see this pretty girl taking the side of the father, and preaching the Fourth Commandment. To all this the young man listened in silence. He was hard to impress, it seemed, for he made no reply, and then suddenly he asked: "Who said all this?" "Your father." "But who told him?" "Your mother?Mrs. Fields." "And who told her?" "You told her yourself, and you told 1 her more than I have spoken of." "Nonsense!" "But you did. You told her you were engaged to marry this person. I insist on having my racquet, Mrs. Fields." "And this person is?is?a?prize fighter?" "So you said." "Oh Lord!" cried Phil, and he lay back on the grass and laughed until Begins was so offended she arose and walked back to the house. After that she saw no more of Phil until after supper, when he came to her as she finished a most stupid game of tennis, there being 110 one engaged in it who could contest it with her. "Miss Scott," 6aid he, "Mrs. Fields would be glad if you eould come to her for one moment." Regina hesitated, and then said that she would come presently with pleasure. Would he be kind enough to say 60 ? "I think she wished me to bring you," replied Phil, boldly ; and 60, not wishing to expose their quarrel to the public, she was constrained to go with him, but she did not speak to him, and indeed he did not ask her to do 60. He was perfectly silent, and seemed humbled and quieted enough. Mrs. Fields was not in the house, but over by the well?a forlorn and weedgrown place, where only the servants went. She was sitting on the stump of a tree. She turned when she heard footsteps. "I have waited ages ioc you, Phil," she said. "Miss Scott was engaged," replied Phil, "and I waited for her. You must pardon me." said he, turning to Regina, "for my mother did not send me for you, but I wanted to ask her a question before you, and I had no alte.-native. You would not have come had I ask: -J it." "Certainly not;" and Regina turned to go. Phil laid his hand gently on her arm. "Surely," he said, "you will not be unfair to me?" And then, all in a breath, he turned to his stepmother. "Do you remember," ho said, "when you onco asked mo about a glove you found in my room? You teased me." Mrs. Fields laughed. "Certainly. Do you.waft me to tell you what you said?" "I do." "It wouldn't bo polite, Phil." "Indeed you are mistaken. It would be very polite?and true." "You 6aid it belonged to the prettiest girl in America." "I cannot see," said Regina, "how this interests me." Phil made no answer to her. "Then you asked mo who she was." "Yes, and you said she was some sort of a professional character." "A prize fighter?" said Phil. "Mercy 1 no. Your father calls her that, because he is so indignant with you; but you never said so. I understood you perfectly. Some kind of athlete; not a teacher of calisthenics, but something like it." Again did this young man burst into laughter, hut he controlled himself, and it would not have been wise to have irritated Regina much farther. "Oh, mother," he said, "now that Mrs. Partington is dead, why do you -> ? i-? i? rn:.i?o t want 10 piay uer jdjaimi jl/xvx x ooj tiienics and professional?" "I do not care what you said," cried Regina; and again she turned, and this time ran away, leaving poor Phil looking like the stupid she had called him. . 'Now ifir. Fields always sard when he was congratulated on his daughter-in-law that he had made the match. He certainly never made the explanation, and convinced Regina that Phil had said the glove belonged to "a champion," and he never Bhowed the glove to Regina and made her confess it was hers, and she had missed it. It was very true that the old gentleman knew that Regina had played match games of tennis, and had carried off the title nnd honors of a "champion," but ho never confounded her with a "prize fighter." He always held to a vague belief in the existence of a reprehensible young woman from whom Regina had won Phil, and that he had induced her to do so, and when Phil called her, by way of a pet name, a Synonym, he asked for no explanation of the joke, if joke he considered it. It was Phil only who could have told what an uphill task he had in convincing Regina that if he loved her now, so had he loved her always. How many times before the summer was over did he hold his breath thinking of his stepmother's imagination and his father's credulity. To have said he was engaged to her was aver Regina's grievance, and it was difficult to persuade her that what was once a fiction of others should be a fact of U11CXJL VWJLU ?U1U iUUUUU UW UMAUW UVMV headway until he found out that she liked men in business after she found he was in a brewery, and that Wall street was not enticing to her. But of course it all came right at last, md every one was satisfied. And when Phil went into politics and made a short, brilliant campaign, both the fathers were ielighted, and Regina in Washington was more charming than ever to them. And so Mr. Fields' pride and complacency over his feat always remind me of Tack Horner. It is all very well to be proud of your plum, but where should cne look for plums if not in a Christmas pie??Louise Stockton in Harper's Bazar. A Queer Bridegroom. A funny story comes from the village cf Crumpton. where the gossips aro discussing the marriage of Miss Mattio ^landing, the principal of the school, md Dr. C. T. Cahoon, the vjjlage physician and druggist. When the ministerial olessing had ocen given and the beneiiction pronounced, the happy pair stepped into the finest rig the town could ifford and drove to Ralph's wharf, twelve miles away, to take the steamer Emma A. Ford for a wedding trip to this city and Washington. When the steamer was reached, however, the bridegroom concluded tliat he could not desert his practice and his drug store, even for the*, pleasure of a bridal tour, so placing his cride on the steamer, with many emphatic injunctions to the officers to look ifter her comfort, he slowly and sorrowfully wended his way home, while the lonely bride came on to Baltimore. Mrs. Daho'on visited friends here and in Washington, and enjoyed her lonely redding tour as best sho could. After three days' absence she returned, and yesterday morning was met by her husband at the wharf. The little house was ready for her, and the happy pair have rone to housekeeping.?Baltimore Cor. North American. A Notable Tree. A remarkable and notable tree in Chicopee has lately fallen beneath the blows of the woodman's ax. It stood on the old Parson McKinstry place, at the upper end of the street, the present owner of the place being Mrs. Tait, of this city. The tradition has always been that either Mr. or Mrs. McKinstry set out this tree when they built their house, which was about the time of Mr. McKinstry's settlement there as the first pastor of Springfield, in 1753. But since the tree was cut down it is believed that it must have been very much older than the house, and it is thought that it was fully 200 years old. It was a remarkably beautiful tree of the buttonwood variety, and the residents of Chicopee Btreet are all cherishing as valuable keepsakes pieces of the wood of this famous tree. It had changed very little for the last seventy-five years, having been "hollow" as long as present octogenarians played under it, and hid themBelves in its protecting hollow. The circumference of the tree where it was cut down was thirty feet, and sons and' daughters of Chicopee will miss the familiar landmark.?Boston Herald. Women In the Dentist's Clialr. Said an Albany dentist recently: "Women are my best customers. I think that two-thirds of the persons I operate on are ladies, and they stand the work fully as well as, if not better than, T rvt'AP?tv?A if io onf a fl^Arr frtrtl fl*nf ui^u. jl wuiuo ii xo uuvuuoc wit; LIXCXU they must have it done, because nothing makes a woman look homelier than decayed or unclean teeth. You know a gentleman's mustacho will cover his teeth so that nobody will notice their appearance, but a lady has not this advantage, so she feels in duty bound to take care of her teeth in order to preserve her beauty. When sho gets into the chair Bhe has determination and will power that no p.*in can overcome."?Albany Journal. Novel Defense ami Verdict. An Alabama man, charged with stealing a calf, made the following statement: "i was always teached to bo honest, an' most always have been, but when I seed kiat calf I caved. I never wjinted a calf 8t bad in all y life, an' you all know that when a man wants a calf lie wanes him." The jury returned the following verCict: "We, this jury, air satisfied that Steve stole that calf. but. as the feller that owned the animal is considerable of a slouch, we agree to clear Steve an' make the owner pay the costs."?San Francisco Argonaut. To Paris by Itall. The Russian government proposes to build the longest railroad in the world. It will extend from St. Petersburg to the Pacific ocean, a distance of 7,000 miles. About one-fourth of the line has already been constructed. It has been suggested that a road be built up the Alaska coast to meet it, and that Behring straits be bridged by means of tho many islands it contains. Stranger things have hap?;ned, and wo may yet go from New ork to Paris by rail.?Leadvillo Democrat. A Horse Problem. Readers of The Chicago Journal are puzzling: their head over this problem: A sells B a horso for $80, and afterward buys it back for $70, and then sells it to C for $100. How much does A make by tho two sales? Tlio original cost of the horse does not enter into tho proposition. A community in Nebraska opposed to lynching recently, to teach a lesson, gave a desperado what might be termed an introduction to Judge Lynch. They put a rope around his neck and nulled him into the air a few times. Then he was told to go and never return. He went. Warnings havo been issued that Raphael's "Entombment of Christ" in tho church of St. Peter's, in Perugia, has been stolen. The grave of William Penn is reported to bo in a sadly neglected condition, only a flimsy slab of stone stuck in the ground marking it. jpswUanttmsi grading. ROGUES AT THE GALLERY SCENES IN THE POLICE PHOTOGRAPH ER'S STUDIO. Dciipcratc Men Who Refuse to Give thi ArtUt a Oulot Sitting?The Method Adopted to Prevent a Good Likcnes from Keltic Secured. Next to being Bent to prison, tho pro fessional criminal dreads being photo graphed for the rogues' gallery. He wil resist sitting before tho camera witl every means in his power, and nothinj short of a terrific beating will bring hin to terms. Even this fails when tin criminal lias made up his mind not to b< "mugged," as it is quaintly termed ii the argot of this country. Instances have been known where five /vffinnvo Knvift nn/lfto **Ai?nr clUU CVUiJ iliUlU, viuvcio nave vuueawiu to hold a refractory thief 60 that th< photographer could secure a successfu 'likeness, and their efforts have failec through the copstant struggling of th< determined criminal. T6 meet'this dif ficulty and surmount it some depart ments have arranged concealed cameras so that a photograph can be obtained o: any one desired without tho knowledg< of tho latter. In this city this develop ment has not been uttained, and the oil process of taking the criminal througl the streets to a public gallery and photo graphing him in the ordinary way is ir every day use. TWISTING HIS MUSTACHE. Three clever thieves successfully re sisted all attempts to securo photographi of themselves by distorting their features when placed in the posing chair at Krug's gallery. The first was Norris, the jewelry ant dry goods thief who was captured ir Miller Bros', store in tho act of stealing a number of silk mufflers. He wore i cunningly designed coat with huge pock ets concealed in the skirts, in which h< stored his plunder. After being arrestee it was discovered that he was tho sam< man who robbed Henry Teems, a Coving ton jeweler, of ajptof diamonds. Dining the week ho was sent to the gallerj to be photographed. Seating himseb quietlv, he waited until the operatoi placed the plate in the camera. Then a sudden revolution took place ir his features. With a ripid motion h< drew his mustache insiue of his mouth and, closing his eyes, screwed up hi: face. The detectives tried every possibk means to make him assume a natura expression, but he doggedly resisted al efforts in tliat direction. His ruustacht was forcibly pulled from between hi: ieeth, and a few vigorous slaps adminis lered upon his cheeks. These had nc effect, however. t Two days-later the safe blowers, James .? nr?/l TTVnnlr TVitrrl trliA tPOW JDUIIUl* J1 auu I Xttiia A/VJ V4) ?* *iv *T V*? captured at Gerdes' hotel with a fine out fit of tools, were taken out of their celh it police headquarters, placed in a patro wagon and driven to tne gallery. They had no intimation of where they wen being taken, nor did they ask. The pri vate entrance to the operating room lie: through a labyrinth of back yards and hallways known only to the police. UNMOVED BY BLOWS. This was traversed, and the two criminals were suddenly ushered into th( glass roofed room. Like lightning i look of disgust crept over their faces, and the tallest, Boyd, broke out profanely: "What in h?1 does this mean?' "Can t you see what it means?" answered the detective, as ho pointed to the camera. Drawing himself up the safe worker rejoined: ' Well, if you think you arc going to get my face and send it all ovei the country you're d?d badly mistaken. I won't stand it." "You sit-down there," came the stern order as he was forced backward intc the chair. "I'll sit down, but you don't get thy picture. I'll stand a beating and you can start when you please," he muttered between his teeth. "You'll get it if you don't sit still." replied the detective. "Blaze away!" was the response, af the subject closed his eyes and steadily refused to open them. During this episode the other subject sat in a corner of the room under guard of a policeman, quitly smiling at the efforts of the officers to make his partner tractable. Once in a wliilo a low chuckle indicated that he rather enjoyed the scene. After Scribner was done with he was marched away and Bovd placed in his recently vacated seat. He made no remarks, but quietly awaited the preparing or the camera, even budmitting to the fixing of the focus upon his face. But at the moment that the plate holder clicked into his place his wrinkled, yellow faco changed like magic. "Smack!" came the detective's hand on his cheek, with tho order, "Open your eyes!" Without a moving of a muscle the fellow hissed back a request to go tc eternal perdition. The photographer waited silently with his finger on the camera cap, expecting tho thief to become tired and then to catch him oif hif guard. But it was of no use, and the developed plate showed a hideous picture.?Cincinnati Enquirer. ORIGIN Cl: ALPHABETS. Tlio Letters A, 11 and O Survive A1 Changes?Interesting Historical Items. When a child cries, the lips are apart and form, at each sido of the mouth, i sharp angle, with sides of about equa length. The sounds of the crying an those assigned to the first letter of alinos every alphabet. The arrow headed oi wedge shaped characters in use among tin old Babylonians and Persians till the Lime of the great Alexander's Asiatic conquest! were copied from the human mouth. B\ means of different combinations thes< wedges or A's were made to represeni consonant as well as vowel sounds. Bui the entire alphabet is made up of these wedges. It required many generations probably to advance from A and B. Now, look at achild's face, sideways, when tin lips are shut, and you see a natural B Put theso two letters together and we have ah, which by being doubled gives abba, tho old eastern word for father. A slight modification gives am, then amma, the old eastern form of mama or mamtn; in tho west, just as abba was cliangec into papa and pope or holy father. The arrow heads had served to record the history, the literature, tho religion oi ^1,1 A vuij?uco, tiiu uiu noay i mil Median, and Persian. They were tracec mostly on bricks. Paper had not yet beer so much lis dreamed of. From A and B (Alpha and Beta) ! comprehensive scheme of phonetic char actors must be worked out before tin leaf or rind of papyrus can be used foi writing on. The lip letters M and P softened into F and V. which last wai vocalized as U, are modifications mereh of B. We may safely say tho same oj the dental D, softened intoT. which gav< rise to S. A series of characters wai gradually worked out, and the time canit when Cadmus, the man from the East brought an alphabet of sixteen letteri from Phoenicia into Greece. Cadmus looked at as an individual man. dwindles to a myth?a shadow. He expresses ir legendary form the outcome of a Ion/: train of almost forgotten facts. Thesi sixteen letters were expanded by tin Greeks to twenty-four. Light woodei tablets covered with wax for writing or were adopted. But tho pen was still o: solid iron, like a pencil, sharp at one end with a flat circular head at the other foi blotting out, when desired, what hac been written with the point. Thesi tablets were fastened together at tin back by wires, so that they opened anc shut like our books. For importan uocumems uju euges in uie lauies wen pierced with holes through which a triph thread was passed and then sealed. I is to this custom that allusion Is made ir the Apocalypse? close scaled with sever seals." This Apocalyptic lxxilc was "writ ten within and on the hack." The an cients used to wr'te on the front sid< only?even after they had given uj wooden tablets in favor of papyrus am parchment. The. back was generally stained saffron or yellow. The old Italians, too, of pre-historic age got an alphabet from the eiist. Th< letters were extended and modified unti they became very different in form Iron those of Greece. But it is remarkabli that A, B, and O survive all changes They are copies of the mouth when emit ting the sounds assigned them. Modern typography has no doubt greatly im proved the rude, early scrawl, such as may still be seen on old gravestones. The , old Phoenician and old Hebrew Aleph has not the same position as our modem A. They are almost horizontal, with a nearly perpendicular line drawn across the angle formed by the sides of the letter. The later Roman alphabet was spread by Roman conquest. Our Anglo-Saxon foreB fathers at length adopted it. They nians aged to get up a 6ort of literature. But the ago of pocket dictionaries, handy volumes, the daily otfeven weekly newspapers was still a long way off. Art and discovery have still a long apprenticeship 7 before we can inundate our postoffices j with valentines or photograph instantaT neously on paper the tail of sorno mighty j comet.?London Stationery Review. 3 T * OUR ENGLISH COUSINS. The Cordiality with Which Guests Are ' Received?Making Themselves at Home. a On arriving, the host and hostess greet j us at the door very cordially, and lead j the way to a spacious reception room, 3 where refreshment*';.^ served in true - English* style, *Wewere then told that - the dinner hour was 8 o'clock. There , are fully fifty rooms on the second and f third floors, and the very courtly house* keeper escorted us in turn to those as* signed us. Promptly at 8 o'clock all 1 meet in the drawing rooms, and without 1 special introductions treat each other as j acquaintances. Such is the freemasonry of English society, although I much prefer our American custom of general introductions, which commits one to noth3 ing in future meetings and yet for the 3 time being puts one on velvet with one's 3 neighbors. When the butler opens the doors, the host assigns the gentlemen to I the ladies, who walk arm in arm into 1 the banquet hall. Behind each guest ? stands a serving man, silent as a mum1 my, in fine livery of gold and purple [ (sometimes scarlet); pumps with largo [ 6ilver buckles, silk stockings and garters, 3 and powdered hair. The dinner is often . of twelve courses, and appropriate wines. There is no fixed hour for the mornr ing's repast?from 8 to 10?and no servF ants stop about the breakfast room, the * gentlemen serving themselves and ladies, in most part, from the sideboards. Tho i aristocracy and middle classes do not eat ; much at their first meal?eggs, toast, - muffins, cold meats, pasties and tea, 5 rarely coffee. That over, every one is s free. Each spends tho time as inclined. \ The host and hostess let their guests do 1 .1? v?? .??? | JUbt Ub uiejr picubc. iuu uiav uo oluu 3 that your host will not put himself out 3 for you in the least, unless you expressly . desire it. Everything in the house goes > on as usual, just as if you were not there. But, per. contra, the house and all that is 3 in it are practically yours while you stay 3 within its walls. Your host puts his ser" vante, his wine cellar, his larder, often j his horses and his game preserves, abso| lutely at your disposal. You are at lib, erty to act, and are expected to act, pre_ cisely as if you were in your own house. , You can order a sandwich, a bowl of I broth, a glass of wine or spirits whenever you please; you can announce your intention of going off shooting the very morning after your arrival, and guns and > dogs are waiting for you. It is the comi monest occurrence for men, arriving in the afternoon at a friend's house, to send ; their dress suit down to the laundress to be pressed before dinner. In England | guests are not only told to "make them| selves at home," but are actually allowed j to do so. Each, then, does as he or she pleases. In the first place, there is reading and answering letters, of which letter the i English woman is especially fond. She > writes well and she writes often?whether 6he has anything qf moment to say^pr not,'and oftentimes axroZen letters are 1 exchanged over an invitation to an informal dinner, and these letters are usually so long and always so bright and chatty that they not unfrequently tax ( heavily the traveler's time and mental powers that she may bo equally courteous and brilliant I ; rne dailies ana various magazines ana [ reviews of the day are liberally distribi uted in the sitting room, while visits to che library, picture galleries, hot houses, conservatories, gardens, park and stables 1 form part of the daily occupations. The * gentlemen generally go shooting in the preserves, where the peasants beat up | the game?partridges, pheasants, hares, rabbits, etc., and they stand in the opening showing their skill in marksmanship. , If they stay after 2 o'clock the servants | bring luncheon, or they return to the i mansion and join the ladies who have gone driving or horseback riding, at a I very generous lunch, t The guests, I repeat, conduct themselves as if at home, without restraint oc > ceremony; the host and hostess never in1 trude, or worry,.leaving you in perfect freedom to pursue your humor. Every' body is supposed to know best how to ' enjoy himself. Acquaintances formed j thus are like those of the ballroom, and do not warrant their renewal; of course, friendships and intimacies often come of them. During the day all are in plain dress, to be laid aside at the sacramental dinner hour, for although you are left , undisturbed to follow the bent of your own will and pleasure during the day, and breakfast at any hour you please, it j is de rigueur to be at hand in regulation I toilet as soon as dinner is announced?an , hour after the dressing bell is sounded. ^ Charades, impromptu tableaux, readings, t. music, etc., help to pass the evening.? 3 Mrs. Frank Leslie in Kansas City . Journal. t 3 Eatlnc by the Alphabet. 7 "Have you got anything here begin1 ning with 'k' that's good to eat?" in1 quired a new customer in a well known t local delicacy market, last Tuesday. - "How will pickled kidneys answer?" 3 replied the clerk, after a moment's , thought. 3 "Krst rate. Give me a dozen cans. , Hie kitten's life is saved," exclaimed the * strango natron, with enthusiasm, j "I tola my wife," he continued, "that if I failed to send home a kangaroo, dead or alive, before 2 o'clock, I should expect ' to find the kitten served up for supper in | the latest Chinese style. But your happy 1 thought'saved her. 3 "You see we all got tired eating the 5 same things day after day, and so last f month we agreed that cluring December , we would begin and eat up (or rather 1 down) the alphabet, taking one letter a i day, with bread, potatoes, tea and coffee tin own in as staples. t "So Dec. 1 we inaugurated the dietary . system with a bill of faro consisting of j apples in many forms, apricots pickled, ' asparagus, almonds and tlie staples. The next day's menu was beef, beets, beans, ' biscuits, buttermilk, bacon and bon bons. 5 "The following day we feasted on 7 chicken, codfish halls, clams, celery, cuf cumbers (fifty cents each), crabs, cheese, 3 cake, crackers, crullers, carrots, canned s currants, canned cherries, citrons, cider, 3 catsup and candy. And so it has gone , on. i "The fifth day would have been a fast day had it not been for eggs, but wo I made an Easter of it. Yesterday we j dined, breakfasted and supped chiefly on r jellies. Today your kidney suggestion saves us from starvation, while to-mor3 row we will grow fat on liver, lamb, 3 lobster, lettuce, etc. 1 "A queer thing about our new food 1 departuro is the number of things it f has led us to put in our mouths which , we never thought of before."?Buffalo r Express. Thread Spools. ^ j Among the peculiar industries which \ flourish in western Maine is the making . I of thread spools. They aro cut from ! smooth, white birch timber?a wood 3 which works easily?by various kinds 3 i of improved machines. There aro nu I - ?MI_ .i 4-1... i. * j merous II11I1S liuuu^nuut mu lumuuiii^ i I region, where the birch is sawed into 1 i strips about four feet long and from one - ; to two inches in width and thickness. - I These strips then go to the spool facto2 S ries, to bo converted into spools. The , i processes they are put through are nuj j merous, and one of them, tho method of 7 j polishing them, is Quito interesting. A oarrel is filled nearly full of them and , then revolved by means of machinery ' and belting until the spools are worn i smooth by rubbing one against another. 1 Spool manufacturing is tho most im1 j portant industry in several of tho vilJ | lages of Oxford county, and will doubt. less continuo so until tho supply of - I whito birch timber is exhausted. Jho manufacture of shoe pegs is another peculiar Maino industry, though shared in to some extent by other New England states. These are cut from maple and white birch by machinery, and are worth ' at the factory from thirty-five to ninetyfive cents a bushel. The compressing of sawdust is also a flourishing business in Bangor in that stdle. There is a firm there styling itself a "compress company," who convert sawdust and shavings into solid bales by compression, which finds ready 6ale in the large eastern cities.?Timberman. Horsemanship of Mexican Boys. One of tlio finest and most inspiriting , sierhts of small town life in Mexico is the horsemanship of the boys from 8 to , 17?perfect young Centaurs, as mucli at home in the saddle as Arabs. How they , go thundering through the Btreets, what marvelously short turns they make, and how instantaneously they come to a , short, sharp stop in a headlong gallop! These country towns of Mexico are tno nurseries, so to speak, of the national cavalry, an arm or the service in which Mexico excels. The finest sight in the world, one on which the gods must look down approvingly, is a high spirited lad astride a good horse. A Mexican boy takes to tlio back of a horse as a Cape Cod boy does to a boat. At no age is a rider bolder than in that enchanted period of existence lying between childhood and manhood. A Mexican lad, in default of a saddle, will enjoy himself hugely bareback. He early learns to use the rope or riata, and, beginning with lassoing dogs and pigs, he advances to mules ana cows, and finally essays the roping of a lively bull. So expert do they become that in war they frequently drag their enemies from their saddles by a skillful cast of the rope. Some of my younger friends here seem to me to live on horseback. They come home at noontime to snatch a bite, as most boys will, but off they are again ,on their tireless horses. They have the good fortune to live in a country which enjoys a climate which makes out-ofdoor life possible all the year round, and the country lad, continually on horseback, grows up straight, robust and daring.?Boston Herald Mexican Letter. And Ho Still Has Hope. "I have been shipwrecked, been baked in a railroad accident and fired out of a foundry window by a boiler explosion. I was shot in the neck at Gettysburg, suffered starvation in Libby prison, fell overboard from a transport off Charleston, and left four of my fingers in the mouth of a shark. I had my right arm broken in two places in a New York riot, r?/-I ofartrl ar? o norrnl vrrifVv a y*ahtm1 OUU DtWU UU U> k/tUAWi TTAma U(UWt AVIUAU my neck in a southern town at the outbreak of the great rebellion from sunrise to sunset. I was buried under the ruins of a building in San Francisco during an earthquake and dug out after fifty hours of imprisonment. I have been shot at three times, twice by lunatics and once by a highwayman. I was buried two days by a gas explosion in a mine, and narrowly escaped lynching last year in Arizona, through mistaken identity. And though I am over CO, and have nearly lost the use of my right leg, have just had, as I understand, all my property, on which there was no insurance, destroyed by fire in a western town; and the doctor in New York to whom I went last week for an examination assures me that I will soon be ridden from rheumatism; nevertheless," he added cheerfully, "while I undoubtedly have met somo obstacles in the past, I still refuse to believe that luck is against me."? Daylight Land. ( Htnre of tlio Engine. The present efficiency of the best noncondensing engines "is probably not greater than at the rate of two and a naif pounds of coal an hour a horse power, and of a good condensing engine about two pounds of coal an hour a horse power, or not materially different from James Watt's engines of fifty years ago. It is my opinion that with our present knowledge of machinery a steam engine can bo built that will produce a horse power with three-quarters of a pound of coal an hour, if of sufficient size to reduce the percentage of loss by radiation to a minimum. Under those circum-^ stances your fuel expenses would be less i.i aui-.I ...h?A ;a man oim-iauu ui ?imi n/ i?u?v 10. Tho future before men of your profession is brilliant indeed. The uses of electricity are now only beginning, and in a short time it will be the docile com5anion of man's labors, where now it Is readed as the treacherous slave. Study tho laws of nature, which are the thoughts of God, and do not attempt to rebel against them. We cannot create new laws nor produce force.?E. N. Dickerson to New York Electric Club. Professional Detectives. Detectives arc oftener over than underrated. The detective business is like any other calling, It requires application and constant push and energy. It is not so much keenness as bull dog tenacity that goes far toward making the successful detective. Tho day has long since passed when a detective is regarded as a sort of supernatural being, with an all-seeing eye, from whom it is impossible for tho culprit to escape. The fact , of the matter is, that the commission of crime, nowadays, rarely goes unpunished owing in a great measure to the 1 system employed in tracing criminals and the joint action of the authorities 1 all over tho country, or, one might say, 1 the world. Crime generally leaves its stain somewhere, and give any faithful i officer a clew and he will, in the majority 1 of cases, get his man. Where there is j nothing to start on it is different. But the chief requisite is industry and untir- , ing effort to succeed. Genius can be t utilized, but hard work accomplishes most.?St. Louis Globe-Democrat. j Let the Water Circulate. Many devices are suggested by plumbers for guarding against tho danger of house traps being emptied by evaporation or siphonagc whilo tho houses are ' closed for the summer, and thus allow- 1 ing the escape of noxious gases into the 1 dwelling. Somo go as far as to say that there is no safety short of disconnecting I the fixtures and securely closing the ends of the pipes. Others recommend i shutting the water off and filling the closets and traps with oil or glycerine, i whilrt still others favor an adjustment of i the valves so that there will be a con- J tinual dripping of water. One of the | most sensible suggestions wo have seen is made by Tho American Artisan, which is that whero a house is to remain closed for some time tho best plan is to arrange 1 for some one to go into tho houso once a ' week or so. let tho water circulate 1 throughout the houso, and take a look around to see that all is right.?Boston i Budget. 1 Wo Arc tlie Saints. Among a multitude of 6ago utterances of tho Bible, tliis ono deserves constant attention: "I say to every man that is among you, not to think more highlv of 1 himself than he ought to think." It is ' wonderful what a mighty agent self is, ^ estimated by its own standard. It is the < hero of every exploit, the center of every 1 evept, the oraclo of all opinions. It in- J terprets tho purposo of tho universe. < We aro reminded of the two resolutions ( the settlers in New England aro said to < havo passed when they landed: "Re- i solved, first, that God gavo tho earth to | tho saints. Resolved, secondly, that we | aro the saints;" and they kicked out the Indians. . Tho chances aro as a hundred to one that you are not half as great nor nearly J as important as you think you are. 1 Then reduco yourself to your proper 1 dimensions. Don't leave that for others ' to co.?Clergyman in St. Louis Republic. 1 ( Hunting Lobsters. 1 For a seaside sport tho visitors to a i Cuban watering placo havo devised tho t safe pursuit of lobsters. Tho author of I i "The Pearl of tlio Antilles" describes the I j chase: i For this sport a big barge is secured, i ( and after having been furnished with ? carpets and rugs for the ladies' accom- I moaation wo proceed to navigate tho j shores and creeps of tho harbor. Threo | J or four black fishermen accompany us x and bear long torches of wood, bv tho j light of which tho ground beneath tho I 1 shallow water is visible. I 1 Our prey is secured by throwing a net, j t in tho meshes of which the lobster be- ' i comes entangled; but should this provo t ineffectual a long polo forked at ono end is thrust over tho creature's back, and as ho struggles to freo himself from tho pronged embrace a nimble negro dives into tho water and captures him alive. c Great excitement prevails when a lob- s ster comes on board and bounds among c our crew and passengers.?Youth's Com- i panion. t AT THE STAMP WINDOW. iUEER STUDIES IN HUMAN NATURE ' AT THE POSTOFFICE. rhoHO Who Know What They Want and Those Who Don't?Inquiries Which Belong: Properly to the Depot?Bother Over the Special Delivery Stamp. There is a broad and fertile field in the postoffice for those who are given to making character studies. A man has only to stand near one of the stamp windows for a few minutes to see more , odd specimens of man perhaps than are ! ; to be found in any other one place in the j city, and that means in the country. One has only to watch the hurrying, nervous, ! j pushing line of people rushing in one ! , door and out another to realize what a \ peculiar world this is. There is the ; dapper young lawyer s clerk. He knows | . what ho wants and how to get it with the least trouble. Ho falls into line, impatiently tapping his foot until his turn comes. Thenlie puts down a dollar, says shortly "Fifty twos," snatches up His stamps and darts through the crowd. Behind him, perhaps, is an old, bent, gray, haired man, dressed in a jumper and a pair of overalls. He asks for one stamp, and when this is laid down before ! him on the thick pane of glass, he goes down into his pocket and pulls forth a greasy, dilapidated looking leather wallet. He hunts around in this for a couple of pennies, and finally, when he nas found them, takes his stamp and goes off to the side carefully to paste it on the letter. FOOD FOR THE WOMAN HATER. The office boy comes in like a flash, buys a great roll of the little green, hideous things, tears it rapidly into 6trips, and, skillfully running nis tongue along the under side of them, slaps them on to a pile of letters, tearing each one from the strip with a quick, ripping sound. Some girl hovers on the outskirts of the crowd for a while, and then, watching for a clear field, goes up to the window. "When does the next train leave for Farmington?" she asks. "Don't know; this is a stamp window." She blushes and begins to 6tummer. "Couldn't you lind out for me?" "Time table over on the wall," gruffly; and'she goes over to look at tho schedule, which no living man could figure out. Meanwhile the short man, in a silk hat, with large glasses across his nose, has been snorting and fussing about "women." He makes his purchase, follows her over to tho wall, and, casting a withering look at her, grunts out, "Hum!" He slams the door in a disgusted manner behind him, still muttering about "women." In ten minutes the girl comes back to the window and Bays timidly: "I can't find Farmington." "Well, that ain't my fault, is it?" says the man sharply, peering over the glass at her. She llees in dismay. And so they come and go, men, women and children^ not more than half of them knowing how to buy stamps, and one slow one delaying a dozen more business like and energetic people. The reporter asked the stamp clerk to tell him some of the more amusing experiences he went through in tho course of a week. AN ODD LITTLE MAN. "A week," he said grimly; "I couldn't tell you all that happened in a day. Did you notice that little shuffling man, whoso head scarcely comes up to the window? He never comes here less than six times a day and he never buys more than one stamp at a time. I asked him once why he did not get twenty or tmrty in a lot. 'Oh,' he said, with a shrewd air, 'people like to borrow them too much.' Ho is the queerest one of all the queer ones .who come here. His office is several blocks away from the postoffice, and yet ho will hobble down liere again and again in a day rather than take more than one stamp. I have tried to get him to buy more, but he won't think of bucIi a thing. He always comes to my window. I have seen him go to the end of a line of ten or twenty before my window when there wero not five at the next one. If I happen to be away at dinner or off duty when he wants a stamp, he goes out and comes in again every minute or two until I return. He is a queer one, he is. "Tnen," he went on, "there is the special delivery stamp. That makes a good deal of trouble. Only one man in fen can remember the name of it. I have had it called the 'hurry up' stamp, the 'get there' stamp, the 'quick,' 'rush,' 'special,' 'extTa' stamp, and a dozen other names, but seldom tne right one, while about twenty times a day some funny man comes in and asks with a big grin for a 'P. D. Q.' stamp. I have got so tired of that stale old joke that I always pretend not to know what he means. I can stand anything but that. Oh, yes, this is a good place to see strango people, but it isn t worth your while to listen to me. Just stand here and watch them for yourself."?New York Tribune. Cheap Food in London. For a penny the London bfjggar may buy a bowl of beef or pea soup and a large piece of bread, enough to keep off starvation for a day. The spoon he eats it with and the bowl he eats out of are chained to the table. Nothing is left lying around loose in that style or restaurant. Two kinds of soup constitute the pntii-A bill of fare for the uennv SOUD house. For a ha'penny there is always a fcot roast potato ready on the sidewalk. These potato roasting ovens are trundled about on wheels, and are built to resemble a small locomotive. They are known as "Murphy busters." Another style of street ^kitchen deals in kidney and eel i pies, smoking hot, and two pence each. The "ham and beef shops" are ready i with their cooked wares at noon?corned i beef at two pence, for the lowest amount weighed out, and for a ha'penny each a paper cone filled with freshly boiled potatoes or turnips. "Winks," a 6pecies of ' salt water snail, are boiled in quantities and sold 011 the streets. , The fried fish kitchens about 10 at ( night are filled with people, plate in hand waiting for the well browned sole from 1 the great frying vats at 4 pence the plate, with a generous quantity of fried potatoes added for a ha' penny. Six pence buys the supper for a small family and 2 pence more pays for the inevitable pint of porter. The 10 o'clock supper is the Englishman's most enjoyable meal, and twenty odd millions of people over there oat it and do not suffer so much from iniligestion as we do. It looks odd at first though, when you make a call, to see at 10 o'clock the table spread as if for dinner and the roast beef hot from the oven brought on.?Prentice Mulford in New Tork Star. Chickens Sold by Piecemeal. That economy which is so great an element in the French character is very ovident in the marketing of fowls. In Paris half birds can be purchased, both , cooked and uncooked, but at Bordeaux ibis division of the fowl is carried out to 1 much greater extent, and in the octagonal market of the beautiful city on the Sironde can be seen peculiar looking carcasses offered there for sale?carcasses 1 whose leading characteristic seems to be ;he absence of meat. Legs, wings, 1 breast, all are gone. Theso limbs and portions are offered ' :or sale separately, and thus a Bordelaise 1 -L.1- ?1I EV?.,n|, ( juuauiv^upcr ciuiir, as an x icuv,u vuvxxo ire, to make a fine dish with very little < neat, can buy a leg, or a wing, or a ' Dreast, without any of the other por- ' dons; or, if the purse is not well lined, :hen the carcass can be taken, from (vliicli a splendid dish of soup may be made. Even the blood is sold, showing ;hat here at least the proverb, "Waste lot, want not," is understood and observed. IIow different, says an English .vriter, to the wastefulness in the kitchen if a Yankee millionaire, of whom it is >aid the breasts alone of the fowls are looked and sent to the table, the carcasses, including legs and wings, being lirown on to the dunghill. The secret of French success in poultry culture comes rom the attention paid to the little things, ind from a practical belief in the imporanco of this branch of live stock as a irr "itable portion of agricultural operaions.?Boston Herald. Mistakes Concerning Deodorizers, Attention is being called by Dr. Roose, >f London, an eminent authority on the ubject, to some mistakes concerning deKlorizers and disinfectants. It is simply iselesB, ho says, to place saucers conaining chlorido of lime, carbolic acid, v ^ A etc., in a contaminated atmosphere, with the expectation that tho germs floating about will be caught and killed. Tho chlorine doubtless will remove some offensive odors and rapidly diffuse itself through the room, but to act as a truo disinfectant it must be so much concentrated that the air in the space containing it would be quite irrespirablo by human beings, though it is, when used scientifically. the best of all disinfectants for purifying the walls of an empty room. For deodorizing in sick rooms and passages Dr. Iiooso thinks euchlorine gas very efficient?produced when a few crystals of chlorite of potassium are dropped into a little hydrochloric acid; bromine is even more powerful as a disinfectant than chlorine, and both are far superior to sulphurous acid; as to carbolic acid, it is stated that the spores of the micro-organisms discovered in cases of splenic fever have been found to be absolutely unaffected after lying for upward of three months in a 5 per. cent, solution of carbolic acid in oil.?Philadelphia Record. A Detect! vc'h Dilemma. Cornelius Price, the Tacoma detective, whose work among the opium emugglers of Puget sound is well known, can stand on Market 6treet in the rain longer, and tell longer, more probable and more interesting stories than any man in San Francisco. "Did you ever hear that I had served my time in the chain gang?" he inquired of Detective Handley one day last week. ''No? Well, I'll give it to you so that you will get it straight. It was when these men were running in so much of their opium all around the sound that I finally located some of the workers at a little landing about twenty miles from Tacoma, where there are about a dozen houses. My wife was there at the time visiting friends, but I did not have time to apprise her of my coming. I made myself up as the seediest kind of a tramp, and footed it into this little place just at dusk, and nearly the first person I met was my wife. I forgot about my disguise and the effect it might have upon her; so I braced up, and, taking her by the arm, said, 'Hello, ray dearl' "When 6he gave a jump and screamed I thought I had simply startled her by speaking suddenly when she wasn't expecting it, so I Btarted to take her arm again, and bless me if she didn't go up the street screaming at every step. About that time the constable grabbed me for insulting ladies on the street, but when my wife declined to appear and prosecute they put an additional charge of vagrancy against me and locked me up in a little 'calaboose.' Next day I was found tmiltv and sentenced to eicht days in the chain gang with no alternative, and I didn't dare let the officials know who I was, because I had reason to believe they were concerned in the smuggling operations. I sweated it out breaking rock on the road. But I got even. The justice of the peace and constable are pegging shoes in the territorial prison now for smuggling."?San Francisco Examiner. "A Man" In Capsule. The problem of being able to "see a man" curing the play without being obliged to walk on the toes of half a dozen gentlemen, and, perchance, on the dresses of several ladies, has been solved. Those to whom the drink in the entr'act is an essential part of their enjoyment of a performance can now, without leaving their seats, indulge in their libations. A clover Boston chemist has struck on the idea of having whisky handy and other strong liquors put up in gelatine capsules like those used in administering nauseous medicines, only considerably larger. The capsules are colored so as to resemble large hot house grapes. They are easily broken in the mouth and the contents swallowed without attracting attention. The capsules are sold in boxes containing a dozen each. The box is of convenient size for the pocket, and the quantity of liquor contained in the capsules sufficient to make the ordinary man feel comfortably happy by the time the curtain falls on the last act. The idea is not altogether an original one. About two years ago similar capsules were sold in all the leading drug stores in this city, but instead of being gelatine the capsule was of very thin rubber. It was soon found that the rubber conveyed the reverse of a pleasant taste to the liquors, and they rapidly went out of fasnion. The new gelatine capsule imparts no flavor whatever to the liquor, and it promises soon to become a boon to the gentleman seated in the middle of a row of orchestra chairs, and to earn for its inventor the gratitude of the ladies, whose plaints over their ruined dresses and crushed hats lately filled so many columns in the papers.? New York Graphic. An Old Young Man. One of the pleasantest old young men of Washington is Harvey M. Watterson, the father of Henry Watterson. Imagine to yourself a tall and slightly built man, with a large head of gray hair, a white hoorrl fnllino- nvpr his r>hpst,. and n. nnir of the brighest and kindest blue eyes you will find anywhere. Imagine this man to be 75 years old, but at the same time to move about with as firm a step as though he was but 35. Listen to his voice, and it comes forth in strong chest tones. Talk to him and ho will tell you that he feels younger as the years grow older, and that ue hopes to last for many years yet. Said Mr. Watterson once m response to a question: "The first sign of a man's failing faculties is seen in his voice. I can go on the street and speak in such tones as can be heard 300 yards away. I spend my winters in Washington and my summers at Louisville, and while there I look over the exchanges in the newspaper office and scan about fifty papers a day. I am glad that I am alive, and I feel that my good health at this age is due to temperance and in not allowing myself to bo worried about anything. I am very careful of my eating, ana I have not had three unhappy hours from worry in my wholo life. When I have stubbed my too I have not cursed tho universe because of my carelessness, but thanked the Lord that I did not break my neck."? Chicago Herald. Animals That Arc Disappearing. The establishment and maintenance of a zoological garden is as nm?h a part of the proper work of government as building schools or sending out scientific surveys. It is a source of instruction to the people and an aid to the development of science, especially in this country, by preserving many species of wild animals from extinction. The buffalo is already regarded as an extinct animal. Not one, it is said by competent authority, remains in the British possessions on this continent; aud in this country there are two small herds, one in Texas and the other in tho Yellowstone park, numbering together not more than 125. The leading scientists, not only of America, but of Europe, have been calling upon our government for years to preserve the bison from extinction, as the Russian govern ment ha3 done with the European bison or auroclis. It is said that, at the present rate of progress, the remarkable Rocky mountain goat will bo extinct within five years. Among the quadrupeds that are fast dying off are the elk, moose, antelope, caribou, black tailed deer, grizzly bear, wolf, beaver, otter and wolverine, rhe delay of a few years may mean the :omplete disappearance of some or most 3f these, and a gap in the history of the mirual life of this continent that can never be filled.?New Orleans Picayune. Concerning Charms and Amulets. A recent writer in an English magazine ;ells of the superstitions among the gypsies and other half civilized races concerning charms or amulets. "A coin or i pebble carried long in the pocket, or mound the neck, is supposed to becomo mbued with the personality of the vearer." These amulets are believed to lave a will of their own, to feel affection or their owner, and to cherish a hatred ;owarct 111s enemies. ->oc oniy mo jypsies but Indian, Asiatic and African ribcs wear little tokens "for luck," beioving in their jjossession of a dumb, half onscious intellect. In some savage tribes i man is known by his '-charm," or etich. Our ancestors were not altogether free rom this superstition. The pouncets carried in gold and .silver boxes in tho lockets of fine ladies were withered ap>les stuck full of spices, which, after long ise, were supposed to become imbued vitii tho vitality or animal strength of tho vearer, and to ward off disease from her. Pop the Yorkville Enquirer. REMINISCENCES OP WESTERN YORK. The first field thresher ever operated in York county, was owned and run by Mr. Robert Whitesides and his sons. These machines were what are now called "ground hogs." .The first of these we re-# member seeing was in 1853. At that time they were quite an improvement on the old fitvle. though verv laborious to work with. Seven hands and six mules was the force necessary to operate this machine J successfully. The forces that were engaged to run those machines were not like you find them now-a-days?every man "boss." j One man did the planning and the others i executed, and the grass didn't grow under 1 their feet, either. Those white boys laid hold, arid no negroes in the county could i or would do more work than they did. ! "Big" Anderson Yearwood used to be their feeder. The sun was never too hot for them. From daylight till dark, and often in the night, they were running. In the year 18f>2 they threshed upwards of 6,000 bushels. There was hardly a plantation in Western York, of any size, they did not visit. The first accident I ever knew was in 18o4, when James Bryant was killed by a spike from the drum, which struck him in the inner angle of the eye and killed him almost instantly. He was the son of Jincy Bryant, who afterwards married Mr. Jas. Cobb. The accident referred to took place on the plantation of Mr. Thomas M. Whitesides, on Guion Moore creek. For several years Mr. Whitesides and his sons served the public by threshing thoir VL'hoaf nuta onH rita Tho nnnnlar v?v?? f? I4VUV) VI*VO MUU X J X 11V y "separator" of to-day was unknown in those times; and every bushel of wheat in the chaff was gathered up and poured into a fan turned by hand. In the hot July sun this was a laborious work. Mr. Whitesides, though one of the wealthy men of Western York, yet he put his sons to work and they were not afraid to do it. *Mr. Robert Whitesides married Miss Mary Brown, sister of John Brown, deceased. She died some years before the < war. She was an excellent woman and as we have already said was kind to the . poor, many of whom are living to testify J to the truth of what we assert. 1 Mr. Whitesides's second marriage was to Mrs. Elizabeth Whisonant, whose maiden name was White, a sister of Dr. Aleck and Moses White, both of whose 1 names have at' times been incidentally mentioned in these chapters. Mr. Whitesides was an elder and his family were members of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church, with their membership at Smyrna, where his dust, with those of his deceased family, now rests. Mention has been made that Miss Elizabeth Sherer, at one time, was the belle of Blairsville section. So Miss Kate Whitesides was the belle, or one among the prettiest young ladies in the Smyrna congregation, and her familiarity with those common people gave her the universal esteem of all classes. Her unostentatious demeanor toward less fortunate girls of her day secured a fondness and an attachment for her that can only end in death. Miss Katie married Mr. Thomas Castles. They were both consistent and useful members of their church. j. l. 8. THE SAMOAN IS *For some weeks events in The small group of South Pacific Islands called Samoa have excited much attention, both on this side of the Atlantic and on the other. These events have especially given rise to a serious discussion between Germany and the United States, in which England has also had some share. At first sight it seems strange that the affairs of a small cluster of islands, lying five thousand miles from our western coast, and twice five thousand miles from Europe, should provoke a keen dispute between three great powers. Yet each of these three great powers has interest in the islands, which they deem it of high importance to secure and defend. Gradually nearly all the island groups in the South Pacific have been seized by England, Spain, France or Germany. Samoa is one of the three groups which remain unannexed. The islands are very fertile ones, and are above all provided with some excellent harbors. They are inhabited by a sturdy and warlike race who are kindred to the Malays. The Samonan men are generally handsome and intelligent, and the women are comely. They live under a monarchy, while their goverment is said to rest partly on popular rights, as well as upon hereditary power. The efforts of tne missionaries, who, for many years, have labored among the Samonans, have resulted in converting a large majority of them into professed Christians, and outside the towns, at least, ^ said to lead honest lives. ' The Samoan Islands have been for twenty years a seat of German commerce, and from time to time Bismarck has evidently entertained the idea of making them a German Colony. JtJUtroiniS me UUlieu oitues una aiwojfo objected, and has insisted that the independence ofthe Samonans should be maintained, and that America should have equal rights on the islands with the Germans or any other power. Our national interest in Samoa lies in the facts that we need the use of the harbors for our commerce and our navy, and also that, by a treaty, our goverment has given theSamonans the assurance that it would endeavor to prevent their indepenence being violated. As long ago as 1878 the United States' made a treaty with them, by which it received authority to establish a coaling station, with wharves at Pago Pago, one of the best Samonan harbors. In return the Samonans received a virtual promise of protection from the aggressions of Europeans. Later, in 1887, the goverment came to an understanding with Germany and England, that Samonan independence should not be violated, but this was not made in treaty form. Of late, however, the Germans have seemed to be aiming at taking full possession of the islands. They deposed and sent away the rightful king, Malietoa, and sustained Tamasese, a rebel claimant of the throne, who pledged himself to support German interests. They have several times, moreover, landed German marines from their ships, who have given battle to the adherents of Mataafa, the chief chosen king by the opponents of Tamasese. Accounts of these conflicts are confused, but at least serve to show that the Germans were the aggressors. At last the German authorities at Apia, the principal Samoan town, declared martial law, and assumed to take temporary charge of the goverment. But these acts were disavowed by Prince Bismarck, just before a protest against them was forwarded to him by the United States. The Samoan question at the time this is written, is still unsettled. The United States has sent more war-ships to the Sa moan waters, ana ine *jrovt>riiieui/ sccujo resolved to maintain Samoan independence, and to secure the rights it has acquired there by treaty. An approbation of one hundred thousand dollars is devoted by Congress to the building of wharves and the establishment of a coaling station at Pago Pago; aud five hundred thousand moreare to be used in maintaining our position with reference to the islands. The danger of going to war with Germany on account of Samoa is a remote one, for Bismarck has his hands full iu Europe, and would scarcely involve himself in a i conflict with the United States for the sake j of a little group of islands in the far-off | South Pacific. I The probability is that the question will finally be settled by a treaty, and that the rights of each of the powers interested will be defined and guaranteed. j