Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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lewis m. grist, proprietor. J 1 3m Jndfpmlcnt $JeiB5|)aptr: Jtor the |Vno(ion of the political. Social, Agricultural and Commial JnftrijSta of :ht South. 1 { terms?$2.00 a year ix advance. "VOL.41. -~f~ : YOBKVILLE, S. C., "WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1895. ^O- 11. CHICKA A SEQUEL TO ? BY CAPT. F. A. MH Copyrighted, 1894 by American Press Ass SYNOPSIS OF CHATTANOOGA. Private Mark Maynard is sent by General Thomas from the Union camps in central Tennessee scouting toward Chattanooga and barely escapes capture by Confederates through the cunning of a native girl?Souri Slack. He gets a suit of citizen's clothes at Slack's, and Jakey Slack, a lad of 13, goes with him to help disguise his character. Souri gives Mark a silk handkerchief as a memento. Mark and the boy beg supper and lodg ing at the house of Mrs. raiu, a souincrn woman married to a Northern man, who is absent in the Union lines. Captain Fitz Hugh, C. S. A., a suitor ol Laura Fain's, drops in and suspects that the strangers may be Union spies; but Lnura wards off investigation, and the travelers resume their journey undisturbed. Mark reaches Chattanooga, is captured ami condemned as a spy. Jakey sends Souri's silk handkerchief home by friendly Negroes and Souri takes a hint, hastens to Chattanooga and helps Mark to escape jail. Mark reaches the Fains' house and is protected by Laura. The remaining chapters show how Laura decides between Captain Fitz Hngh and Mark, compelling the Confederate to shield his YanKce rival. Mark travels toward the Union lines with Mrs. Fain and Laura, is recaptured and again spared by Captain Fitz Hugh, marries his fair protector, reaches the Union camp with valuable information about the enemy and is rewarded for his exploit by appointment as an officer on the staff of General Thomas. SYNOPSIS OF CHICK AM AUG A. Chapter I.?At the time of the ad vance of the Army of the Cumberland, shortly before the battle of Chickamauga, Betsy Baggs starts to go through the Union lines ir\ thn PnnfoHprMtps. Chapters II, III and IV.?Corporal Ratigan conducts her on her way. .She throws off a disguise she has worn. She carries an intercepted cipher dispatch to a Confederate general. She meets Farmer Slack, son ana daughter, Souri and Jakey. The Slacks stay all night at the house of a guerrilla. Chapters V, VI and VII.?Slack sends Jakey to carry the news of the evacuation of Tullahomaand meets Colonel Maynard. Jakey meets Miss Baggs on the road. Colonel Maynard meets the Slacks. Colonel Maynard and Jakey go to visit Mrs. Maynard, and Jakey becomes Colonel Maynard's orderly. Chapters VIII,'IX, X and XI.?Miss Baggs hides at the Fain plantation and works on cipher dispatches. Colonel Maynara departs for the field of Chickamauga. Miss Baggs attempting to intercept dispatches, is chased by Corporal Ratigan. Ratigan runs Miss Baggs down. Miss Baggs is turned in as a prisoner. CHAPTER XIV. a.n vn welcome prisoner. It was 8 o'clock in the morning. Colonel Maynard pushed back the tent Sap, intending to step outside and go to the mess tent for breakfast The brightness of the morning seemed reflected in bis countenance. His step was firm, his bearing full of youthful, manly vigor. Ho had been rapidly gaining tbo confidence of his officers and was coming to bo admired and beloved by his men. All misgivings as to his fitness for his re? .vi.. nn.uinn u...1 inauoj^ tt'dv j 9p'juniuiv punuiuu IIUU Utvivvu unw n Cnloucl Mark Maynard was the ntfm. j most to bo envied of thoso uoolder tlan j himself in tho Army of the Cun(fccr%J land. ? ^ Ho had scarcely passed from hfs teui j when, glancing down the road besidt which his camp was located, his atteoj tion was arrested by an ambnianco coif* iug slowly along driven by a man iJW soldier's blouse and smoking a shrj( clay pipe. On either side rode a cif- I alryman. Tho colonel pansed to vvMifc j the coming vehicle audits atteudaite. ' Had it not beeu guarded he would Jiito supposed it to contain a sick soldierfoing to hospital As it was, it mtafeither hold an officer of high rank or uck or wounded prisoner. Whatever iuontaincd, there came to the man waning j it an uncomfortable feeling that i was j in some way a link between himsc and misfortune. The bright, happy^Dok of a moment before disappeared, ttho replaced by a troubled expressionjthough he could not hrvo given a repon for j foreboding. When the ambulace stop pe<l opposite his tent, he muttied with a knitted brow: ? "What does this mean?" / Ono of the attendants d|imouuted, , weut to the door of the mbulauco, j opened it and handed out a Ionian, who descended to tho ground vjft some difficulty, as though in a weakened condition. Tho-two then cai? directly to where ColAiel Maynard wi standing. Tho wqprnn was attireo in a stripod calico drtss. Her head uid face were bare. The colonel knew/a glance that he had jeen her befoqf but could not tell where. She walk*slowly, for sho seeraeft scarcely nblsyto drag herself along and lie hud ano to study her features as she came jb. The two stoppedJeforoliim. Thmficlier saluted, and I drafting an tmvcdoJ^nTliiSjJvlt handedit to Colonel M#uard. Tho^polouel took it without luring at it. frC was still studying the features of th*. wornat / "A contuiunjfttioii from / General -7?, colonel," md the mau./rhohanded him the papty As thcjj(>idier spoke Colonel the woman he had met at Mrs.^afm'si. His hand trembled as he gras?f the envelope tnd tore it ( pen. W HeadqcaktkkT-? Division, i - * Abmv o^ rnc Cumberland, r ^ N Jj TOE VIEI.K. Sept. ?, 1?H. ) Colonel Marl; Mavnard. Cora mar (lint the ?th (Rivalry TMgadi : W Colonvl?I Sfnd i'oitj^vonrui who tkvt morning wusiwught tisftij?rlng with the telegraph line, u ft who,fuis evidently Ken talcBeing lu transit and. 'Tv ?ntbis rooming, I take the lib- ! Gtr tfr-eiuHief to you under guard, with the I " - ,v.i ,i? velth her as seeros best ] yjn ycni. I buvA use for the limited number of i incii present fijr dnty on my escort, and this Smy apology for'troutffcur .yon. Yours is the j nearest command to which I can send her. I,1 j miua Tery respectfully your wb??U' at servant. Brigadier General. Coloo^l Maynard read the missiva | ^Pf over/wice, slowly, without looking up. ^9 BruatV not read a dozen words before ^/no know that he held in his possession one whoso hfe was forfeited as his own V lifo had been forfeited to the ConfederW ates a year before. His keeping his eyes I on the paper was to gain time, to avoid I speaking when his utterance was chok ed with a.straage emotion. His thoughts I were far away. Ho stood on the bank of I the Tennessee river below Chattanooga. P It w:is in the gray 0f the morning. H0 BUW 11 SKlir urn W) JUO tfliuiv* UU jump* I ed down to sii/.o it and found himself I - among a group of Confederate soldiers. I Personating a taeniber of General I Bragg's stalt, ho coinniaudcd them to B row him aevoss tberivw> They started I to ol>oy. left th? ^horo suddenly a lioa^*<mig around Moccasin point. full of armed men, jje wus tak. back to Chattanooga, tried and coadenined to be hanged for a spy B All this passal before his mind's eye I as he stood prejending to study tho cotnB mnnication baore him, not n,is ^aro ^B statement of it, but each detail, each KB feeling of hrpo, fear, despair, as thoy H rapidly sucee<|1ed each other fronj tho ^^B moment of li^t capture till his escape 9^B and safe retujh to tho Union lines. ^^B Looking of at last with an expressly ^^^B of commiseijtion which surprised the BBB "Madam Jivi 11 youploaso accept my BB heartfelt sympathies?" ^^B Miss BaJs, who had already rccogBB nized ColJrl Maynard, simply bowed ^^B her bead fh acknow 1 edgmeut without p^^^B speaking, mt fixing her largo dark eyes KBH upon hisf When placed in a similar ^^B position, Maynard had met his enomy's ^Bglonce \Wi affected coolness in a vain BB^Bhope of fception. Not so tho woman ^ i :hattanooga, 'CHEL, LATE U. S. A. ociation. j before him. The tiniefardeception had passed with her. She was a Charlotte Corday, knowing tt*t the guillotine awaited her, a mnrtfr in whoso eyes gleamed the divine Jghtof a willing * sacrifice to a cause (he believed to be sacred. The colonel spokaag""1* "Madam," he slid, "lfc " my duty to report yonr caseto my commanding officer for transmission totho headquarters of this array. ?hero is a little house across the road. If 7oa are abio to go there, yon will )e more comfortable while we are awating tho reply." "As you like, "Perhaps it would be better to use the ambulance. '7 I "I can walk. [ I wtrald prefer it." "Will you accept my assistance?" ' She took his qffered arm, and tho two walked 6lowly;: towyd a farmhouso a few hundred yard* distant. As the colonel passed a sentry ho direoted him to have tho officer of tho guard summoned and sent to hie. On reaching tho house and mountingthe few steps that led up to the door, they were received by a fanner's wife and ushered into a small sitting room./ Bowing to the prisoner, Colonel Mayjard stepped outside to instruct the jfflird. It was not essential that ho shoold hasten, but he did not feel equal hi an interview, j After seeing a sentinel posted on each i side of tbqliouso Maynard turned to go j to his teutf He was drawn by some unI accouiitabfc instinct to look once more I at the aboje of his prisoner. Sho was j gazing out at him with a pair of eyes | mcdanchapr> unresisting, full of resiguaj tion. I What fend had suddenly thrown this J beautiful woman, this queen of marI tyrs, into his keeping, with death starI :.... i-?_ /? ? 111n fnre. and ho nerhans to iiiH uu J? , * inflict mo penalty? Why, if he must 6uffer tins turning of tho tables by fate, could fa the victim have been a man, ' some (parse creature who would die | like a Jrute? And why had it not come upon fim before lovo had introduced bim ? that instinctive delicacy, that gentliess, those finer heart impulses of woumt "CjGodf" be murmured, "suppose? suppose sho were?Laura?" He coahl not bear to look and could not ftit* away. For a few moments the twqgezed upon each other, while the : wonan's natural feminine discernment tolA her that she was pitied; told her 6 ope thing of what Maynard suffered; ttat her enemy was really her friend. ! Sle gave him a faint smile in recogni| ton| ; Tbere was something in the smile that was even harder for him to endure I than had she sued a tear. Hers was a ^'winning smile, and her position was so /desperate. She was so brave, so ready / to sacrifice for her struggling people She bore her trial with such gentleness, yet with such firmness. Sho was a woman, and she must die. p, He turned almost fiercely and strode back to "His tout teaching it, he found I-?1 1 I.* IIJU IIl'lll WUU IIUU UiUU^iib tuo piiauuti waiting for him. Tho soldier salutod and handed him another envelope. "Why did you not give me this with the other?" asked Maynard, surprised. "I handed it to you, colonel, but you did not see it." Maynard stared at tho man without , making any reply. He had been preoccupied, deprived of his ordinary faculties. Opening tho envelope, he took out a small bundle of papers, on the back of which was indorsed, "Intercepted dispatches found on tho person of Elizabeth Baggs, captured Sept ?, 1S63." Without looking at their contents ho dismissed tho man who had brought them, aud turning went into his tent. It was noon before tho courier sent to announce tho enpturo of Miss Baggs rode up to Colonel Maynard's headquar Lnoklmj nt liis prisoner. ters and handed him a dispatch. It was as Maynaru feared. Ho was informed that in the present exigency tho matter could not bo-given attention at general headquarters, but it was deemed important to deal summarily with spies, be they malo v.r female. Ho was therefore ordered to convene a "drumhead" court niart'al; try tho prisoner, and if found guilty execute the sentence,whatever it might be, without delay. When Colonel Maynnrd read this or.der, every vestige of color left his face. Eo could not believe the evidence of his st-ns.-s. -Was it possible that he, Mark Maynard, o::eo condemned to liu <-x?-<-uted for a spy, was called upon to superintend the trial and the execution which would doubtless follow of another for the same offense, and that other a woman? Vet there were tho instructions duly" signed "By order," and only ouo meaning could be attached. Ho held it listlessly iu his hand for awhile and then handed it to his chief of staff. "At what hour shall the court come together, colonel?" "I presume at once. The order so directs, doesn't it?" "How about the witnesses?" "Yon will have to send to tho source from which the prisoner came to us." "In that event I will fix tho hour for 3 o'clock this afternoon. The judgo advocate will require a little time to prepare the charges aud specifications." "As you think best." } Colonel Maynard turned and went into his tent. Honrs passed, and he did not come out. "Tho colonel is iu trouble, " said one. "They say he was once ; in the secret service himself," said ani nihnr "Then ho knows how it is to bo iu such ft fix us tlio woman np in that house." "IIo's been there." "Itwas at Chattanooga ft year ago. They say he brought tbo news of Bragg's advance into Kentucky." "Well, if ho has to ! executo a sentenco of death 011 a spy, and that spy a woman, I wouldn't bo in 1 his boots for the shoulder straps of a major general-" And so tho comments went 011 while tho colonel kopt his tent and MissBaggs ' peered dreamily out of tho window, .[ watched by guards. CHAPTER XV. TIUED. When Corporal Ratigan left Miss Baggs with the general, to whom ho I Had unwillingly conducted lier, ho was t* such a condition of mind that I10 forB?>all about his horso and started to wab toward his camp. When a cavalry ! luiiu 'hows such evidence of absence of J mind, u is a suro sign that ho is in a 1 condition bordering on insanity. Rati; 6an \\alffd souio ilistancu beforo it oc onrrecl to lnin that ho was pursuing an j unusual means of locomotion; thou he j turned back to get his horse. Whon he arrived at tho place from which ho had departed, Miss Baggs had gouo. Mounting, ho rodo to his own camp, and upon reaching thcro ho first went directly to his tent; thou, shunning his comrades, ' stolo away to a wood and threw himself on his face in tho sliado of a largo tree and gave himself up to grief. "O Lord, 0 Lord," ho moauod, "if they'd organized corps of lovoly women to bo attached to each division of tho ! army and tho enemy, there'd be no moro fightin for either cause. Each would fight tho other about the women and tho .causowould hev totakocaroof itself." "Corporal Ratigan!" The corporal put his hands to his ears | and groaned. "Corporal Ratigan, I say." Stril the corporal would not hear. He : knew that some ono was approaching, ! for whether he would or not ho could ' not help hearing his namo called, each j time more distinctly. Presently a sol] dier stood looking down at him. "Corporal Ratigan," he said, "yer ' wanted at the headquarters of Colonel j Mayuard, commanding tho ?th brii gado." "What's that for?" asked tho corj poral without changing his position. " Witiipss for conrt martial. " Why will people ask questions ex- j planatory of disagreeable events or mis- I fortunes, tho answers to which they , know well enongh already? And why, J when tho information comes, will they deny its trnth? "If ye say that again, Conovor, Oi'll break every bone in yor body." "What's the mather wid ye, corporal?" Ratigau by this time had got up from the ground, whero he was lying, and approached his tormentor. "Don't ask me, C'onover, me boy." "Why, Rats, yer lookiu as if yo wcro goiu to ho tried yerself." "Tried? Oi'm to suffer on tho rack as ono of mo ancestors did once in the old Tower in Lunnon." "How's that?" "Oh, don't ask mo, don't ask mo. Oi can niver endure this trial. Oi'll doi, Oi'll doi." "Come, braco yersolf, me boy. Yer in no condition to bo goiu beforo a court. What is it all anyway?" "What is it all? A woman to bo tried for her life. And I caught her. Oi'm to bear witness against her. O God, if they'd let mo off by tyiu 1110 up by i tho thumbs, buckiu and gaggin, car- j ryin a log on mo shoulders, drummed i out of camp with shaved head and feath- I ers behind me ears. O Lord, O Lord, I Oi'll doi, Oi'll doi!" The corporal mounted his horse and ! was soon jogging along at a snail's pace : toward Colonel Maynard's hcadquar- j tors. There ho was directed to whero j the court was sitting. "Corporal Ratigau, you're late," said ' tho presideut sternly. The corporal saluted, but said nothing. Ho was directed to wait till some preliminaries had been disposed of, and ho took position in a comer. It needed all the strength of which ho was possessed to maintain himself on his legs, and ho tried to keep his eyes from look- j inn about tho courtroom. Ho feared j that if they rested 011 the prisoner, even for a moment, ho would sink down on tho floor, a heap of blue uniform and boots. Nevertheless the eyes will not always bo controlled. Despite his efforts, Ratigan's gave involuntary glances here and there until suddenly they rested on tho object they were expected to avoid, sitting opposite, surrounded by guards, pale, but self possessed, and a pair of glorious eyes looking at him with snob sympathymul encouragement that the poor man felt as if tho windows of heaven laid been opened and an angel was looking out to givo him strength. Once his eyes were riveted on j hers there was no getting thorn away until ho was suddenly aroused by a j voice. "Corporal Ratigau!" Mechanically he staggered to a place designated as a witness stand, and holding on to tho back of a chair steadied . himself to givo his testimony. "State how you first saw the prisoner j tampering with tho telegraph lino on I yesterday morning, Sept. ?," said the judge advocate, an officer very tall, very slender and very serious looking. "Oi didn't seo her at all." "What?" "It was too dark to seo anything." "Well, state what you did seo." "I only thought I saw something." "Come, come," said the president J sternly, "wo havo 110 timo to waste, j Tell the story of tho captnro." Thus cojnmanded, the corporal braced j himself to give the desired account. "Oi was ridin to camp?after hav- | in posted tlui relief, and comin along ; tho road?it was tho road Oi was com- j in along. Oi?Oi?colonel, it was so i dark none of yo could havo seen yer hand before yer face." The corporal stopped and gave evidence of sinking 011 tho floor. "Well, goon." "Tlicro was somcthin black in the road or by tho sido of it. Oi stopped to ! listen. Then Oi thought somo 0110 1 might ho tampcrin with tho line? mind ye, Oi only thought it?and Oi ! called on whoiver it was to surrender. I Then Oi heard a 'get up,' and whativer j it was dashed off. Oi followed it as j fast as ivcr Oi could, callin on 'cm to ! stop and firin 1110 Colt. Divil a bit did I ; anyone stop." Tin* /'/irrwirfil rmncnil Tfc InnL-Pfl 1 us if iio wcro not going to get any fur- ; tber. "Go on, my man." "Well, tlicu wo came to tbo camp of i General 's division, and I was halt- | tA l.v ?!.. . 1.1,1 I i seen gut alu-ad. So Ui lo.-t sight of it ' j entirely." "Proceed." "Well, wasn't it the fault of the i guards stoppiu mo and lettiu the oth; er go on, and no fault of mine?" "Go on." "What's t-lio uso of goiu on? Oi lost j ! sight of what was tamperin with the j wires." "But you overtook it." j "How can Oi swear it was the same?" : There was a smile 011 the faces of thoso present. The questioner seemed puzzled at the corporal's device to avoid 1 testifying against tho prisoner. "nirl vi,11 nut. riiln nn nild nvertako what you hurt seen?" "Divil a bit." ' I know better. You went on anrt j found something in the road. What dirt you find?" | "Oi didn't find what Oi'd seen." "What liad you seen?" "Didn't Oi tell vo it was so dark that ( Oi couldn't sco anything?" "That won't do, corporal. You certainly followed something. Now, on coming up with it, what did you find it to be?" "It wasn't whatOi followed. That, whativer it was, had gone out with tho mornin light. Oi reckon it was something ghostly." "Nonsense. Did you not find tho 1 prisoner lying in tho grass?" "Oi did," replied tho witness, as if his heart would break, and ho again showed signs of collapse. "And you had reason to bclievo it j was the person driving tho buggy you | i followed?" "Oi didn't seo any buggy. It was 60 I dark"? I "Well"?impatiently?"tho person ! driving whatever it was you saw." "How could Oi know that?" "It was natural to infer that, thoro ; j being a horse and buggy near, tho pris' oner had been driving it." "There was 110 buggy." "Well, tho pieces." ! "Now Oi would ask tho court," 6aid I Ratigan, steadying himself to impress the members with the probability of his position, "if the person or srhativer it was Oi saw tamperin with the wiro moightcnt have turned off en another road and Oi suddenly lighted on this one?" "That'll do, corporal. You may step out and givo tho next witness your placo.'' The next witness was an officer from tho camp to which tho prisoner had first been taken after her capture. Ho testified that upou a proposition to searcli her sho had voluntarily produced the dispatches, which wero shown to him in court, and lie identified them as tho same as thoso she had given np. A reading of these dispatches was called for, and thev wero read. In addition to thoso Miss Baggs deciphered when at tho Fain plantation wero two others, which wero as follows: CltAweisn Springs, Ga., Sept. 14, 1WS3. Mobile Burton you when on has from other bob from re-enforced Quadroon count us that to wet applause will can your undoubtedly century points orange Benjamin und been coming wo join telegraphs. Pinned to this telegram was a paper bearing- an attempt at explanation in tho prisoner'aduuidwriting: To Burton i nroliahl v BurnsidiO on your coining can we count when can wo count on your coining? Applause (some person, probably the signer) telegraphs been re-enforced from some one telegraphs tlmt Quadroon (probably Bragg) hus been re-enforced from other points. Washington, Kept. ?, 18ft). Potts ready we result condition us if separated goes Jack all badly rapidly attack scattered tho twentieth and doodle D shall but 1 in the but well plaster Arabia are up should present dread the concentrated jet be by should our enemy closing wo to. Thero was no attempted explanation with this telegram. Either'tho prisoner had mado no headway with it, or sho had not sufficient time, probably both, though it was nioro difficult to decipher than any of tho others. These telegrams had been sent to general headquarters and au interpretation of thom furnished, which was read to the court: Crawfish Springs, Gn? Sept. 14, ISft). To Burnside: Hal leek telegraphs that you will join us. When can wo count on your coming? Bragg has undoubtedly been re-enforced from Virginia and other points. Roskcranh. Crawfish Springs, Ga., Sept. 10, 18ft). To tho Secretary of War: All goes well. Wo aro badly separated, but closing up rapidly. If the enemy should attack us in our present scattered condition, I should dread tho result. But by tho present 20th we shall bo concentrated and ready. D. Tho readinn 'of theso disnntches nro duced an impression 011 the court very unfavorable to the prisoner. Sho had held tho very life of tho army in her hands. Had sho got through tho lines with these two ciphers and their interpretations sho would have supplied tho enemy with such information as would put an end to all uncertainty and iusure an attack on tho Army of tho Cumberland beforo it could bo concentrated or supported by other troops. This would have resulted in its annihilation. There was really 110 defense to make, and the defending counsel simply placed his client 011 tho mercy of tho court, hoping that, being a woman, death might not be tho penalty. Tho room was cleared and tho verdict considered. Tho court wero not long in convicting tho accused of being a spy and amenable to tho treatment of spies, but as to tho punishment tlicro was a great diversity of opinion. Some thought that imprisonment in a northern penitentiary would bo a sufficient atonement There wero tlioso who argued that this would not have any effect to deter others from similar acts at a time when tho army was in so critical a situation. Then tho importance of the dispatches Miss Baggs was attempting to deliver to tho euomy, tho fact that thoir doliv Hutlgan addresses the court, ery would have given any general prompt to take advantage of an army's weakness an opportunity to destroy tko Army of the Cumberland, acted serious- j ly upon those who wero disposed toward clemency. Somo members of tho court I argued that tho prisoner had acted as a ' man and must tako the consequences, I the same as if sho wero a man. There was nouo but knew that in this view of j tho caso sho would be immediately | banged. The disputants soon ranged j themselves on opposite sides, tho one in | favor of an extreme course, tho other of j a life imprisonment. But tho critical ! position of the army and tho enormity of tho ofl'eiiso finally won over tho latter, and tho caso was compromised by tho convicted woman being sentenced I to bo shot at sunrise tho next morning. I Tho verdict ami senfenco were approved \ within two hours of tho finding, and | Colonel Mark Maynard was ordered to j seo that tho senteuco was duly carried j out. TO UK COXTIN'UKII XKXT WUKK. I FOR THE CURE OF INSOMNIA. "My old friend, Hiram Gidblo, formerly of Statesville Center, Yt., but now of Xew York city," said Colonel Calliper, "was born and raised on a i '-jitiM- to .the eilv went into trade, got fifth, and retired. 1 After a lifetime of work, lie thought he would try the pleasures of idleness. "But somehow it didn't work; the first thing he knew, he was troubled with insomnia; he couldn't sleep ! nights, lie tried counting a million ! backwards, thinking about pleasant 1 things, and all that; but it was 110 use, ! he couldn't sleep. Then he thought of i something, lie remembered tliut as a boy he used to sleep under a roof, where he could hear the rain. He remembered well how he had gone to his bed in the snug, dry garret, and had fallen delightfully asleep listening j to the rain upon the roof. "Well, Mr. (iidblo had 'em to fix up over his bed in his city house a sheet iron tank not very deep, in the top of which there was fitted a shallow sheet iron pan with a perforated bottom, something like a great nutmeg grater. Mr. Gidblo'sidca was to run water into this upper pan, whence through the many perforations it was to fall musically into the tank below, like rain drops, reproducing the soothing, sleepy pattering of the raindrops on the roof. "Well, it worked beautifully the first night, as far as putting him to sleep was concerned ; hut some time in the night he kicked loose the conductor that carried off the rain water from the tank, and before he could get the pipe hack into place the room was flooded, and he was wet and tired himself. "He tried the rain machine for a while longer; but it never did him any good after that, and he had it taken out. He tried other things, and finally he tried going hack to work again ; and in work lie found, as many another man has found, relief from many ills. He slept again nights, well and restfullv, and was grateful."?X. V. Sun. SfetT" Strike not only the iron when it is hot, but strike until it is made hot. Pfeccllancous Reading. THK OLD FRIENDS The old friends, the old friends We loved when wo woro young, With sunshine on their faces, And music on their tongue! The bees arc in the nlraond flower, | The birds renew their strain ; Hut the old friends, once lost to us, Can never come again. ! ! The old friends, the old friends! Their brow is lined with care ; They've furrows in the faded cheek, And silver in tho hnir ; ! Hut to me they are the old friends still, I In youth and bloom the same, As when we drove the Hying ball, Or shouted in the game. The old men, the old men, How slow they creep along! How naughtily wo scoffed at them In days when we were young! Their prozing and their dozing. Their prate of times gone by, ! Their shiver like an aspen leaf If but a breath went by. Hut we, wo are the old men now, Our blood is faint and chill; Wo cannot leap the mighty brook, ! Or climb the breakneck hill. We maunder down the shortest cuts, I We rest on stiek.or stile, And the-yonng men, half ashamed to : laugh, Yet pass us with a smile. But the young men, tho young men, Their strength is fair to sec; The straight back, and the springy stride, I The eyes as falcon free; The shout above the frolic wind, As up the hill they go ; But, though so high above us now, They soon shall be as low. oh, weary, weary drag the years As life draws near the end; i A nil siullv. sndlv fall the tears For loss of love ami friend. But we'll not doulit there's good about Iu all of humnnkind; So hero's a health before we go, To those we leave behind ! HE OWNED BLIND TOM. The I.ute General Itcthune anil the Won- | (lerfal Pickaninny. The death of General James N. Be- I thune, which occurred in this city I yesterday, removes a man who was a i leading figure in Southern affairs for [ many years. A sketch of his remark- [ able career appeared in The Post, of i January 20, and mention was inciden- j tally made that he had been the owner i of "Blind Tom." Public interest will now naturally recur to this phenomenon, and the question will arise as to his whereabouts. For years he was one of the most familiar figures before the public, aud the source of continual amaze- I ment to the thousands who went to j see and hear him. About two years j or more ago the telegraphic dispatches j | announced that he had been killed in a railroad accident near Pittsburg. There was an apparently authoritative ! deniel of this intelligence, and nothing ' more was heard of the matter. But at j ; any rate about the time Blind Tom i ! disappeared to all purposes as if the j j earth had swallowed him up and has j j never been seen since. He was perhaps | i the most remarkable human contradic- j i tion that ever existed. He was the j child of Charity aud Tom, slaves be- | louging to General Bethune, in Mus- j cogee county, Ga., and his brothers ' and sisters numbered uo less than nineteen. As soon as he began to be able to take notice it became evident that he was an imbecile, Charity, his mother, was a type of the old-time Southern Negress, tender-hearted and sympathetic, and when she discovered that her child was mentally useless her grief was touching. Tom was nearly two years old wheu Chairty made known her trouble to her master. "He kin tawk, Mass Tom," she moaned, "but he don't say nuflin cept whut you say fust. Den he say it arter you." "Bring him to me," said the general. "If I can teach my pointer dog to bring my gloves and whip' and fetch a dead bird, I can teach a Nigger to do as much." Charity brought Tom up to the big . house from the quarters. "Tom, sit down !" ordered the general. "Tom, sit down," repeated the child, ! still standing erect. His master repeated the words, at I the same time taking him by the shoulders and seating him. The next time lie said, "Tom, sit down !" the boy did so, repeating, "however, the words, a habit lie kept up until he passed out of contemporary sight. ' This object lesson of General Bethune's | was followed implicitly by Charity, I and Tom was taught to make his | wants known and to follow instructions given him, solely by the direction of j his instincts; trained, in a word, like a j dog. But hidden in the seemingly shape- j less mass of brain matter was a jewel o f ; genius that was to be uncovered to 1 dazzle and astonish the world. Nature \ had been in her most fantastic mood when she fashioned him, and with an j uncouth figure and an intellect only i one degree removed from imbecility, she had joined her divine gift of music. He was still a baby, when he roamed | away from his parents' cabin one day, | and strayed up to the forbidden pre- j cincts of the big houseyard. One of General Bethune's daughters .was playing upon a piano, which her father had just given her. The child, scarcely out of infancy, listened fascinated and thrilled. The sleeping chords within him were touched. Trembling and writhing, he crawled up the steps and into the parlor and l crept to the side of the player. It was | not exactly proper, according to the t high Southern ideas, for a half-naked ! r\i r?Lr nninnu tr? nnm n tititnvifml into ihp V.W...V. .............. ...... ...? mansion, and the event naturally caused talk. General Uethuuc was j of the occurrence.'?" "The child is mhsic crazy, poor lit- i tie tiling," he said. "Let it enjoy itself, l'erhaps it may learn to play i oue day and make its life bearable." Naturally, his daughters objected to ! such an object as a slave baby in the house; but General Bcthunc prevailed upon them to let Tom touch the piano keys. Charily dressed him up I and he was taker, up to the house. I His little lingers could hardly bear down the keys, yet his touch brought forth harmony?a raint echo of the air that was being played when he first i heard the piano. General Ikthune was a man of strorg impulse and determination. He nade up his mind at once to cultivat; the germs he had j seen, and to ascirtain what they j would bring forth. He was practising law at the time ant editing a paper in Columbus, Ga., aid went into town from his plantationevery morning. He had ample m?ans to carry out any fancy that migit seize him, so, as it was entirely out if the question for I Tom's talents to benurtured upon the [ piano at home, he purchased another i j instrument for the hoy, and had it | i placed in one of his)flice rooms in Col- i umbus. Kvery moning Charity would j dress Tom up and bundle him in his ! master's carryall, nd everyday the ; : little fellow would jiny the piano. Of ! j course, he really dd not know otic j key from another, sad sheet music to ! j him was like Sanslrit to a Choctaw, j but the child was abi to play any tune i that was played in is hearing. (Jen- j eral Bethunc woul hire wandering : j musicians to come ad play for Tom, | and the prodigy wold almost go into f spasms of delight, ."hen lie would be j ! placed on the pianc stool and would } repeat everything that he heard, j ! When Alexander 1 [Stephens, Robert ; i Toombs, Lnmars, aii the other great j legal giants of (Jeoria would come to : Columbus court itwas common to j j hear one of them say I "Come on, let's galown to Jim Be- | thunc's office and hear his little Nigger boy play the piano." Out at home it was with great difficulty that Tom was kept under observation. Sound owned liitn absolutely. He would follow the birds songs out into the woods, and frequent- 1 ly, when, he was lost in tfiis way, he was brought back by the sounds of the flute, produced by one of General Ifethune'ssons, who performed excellently on the instrument. The child's 1 life indeed was based on harmony. ! When it rained he would lie down with his car to the waterspout and j listen to the music made by the patter i of the falling drops. lly the time the war broke out Tom | was 10 years old, and his fame had spread all over Georgin. His mental i cloud still remained, and he knew no | sentiment. There was no gratitude about him, and he was moved only by music. As stated, be repeated every- , tiling limi was snia 10 mm, nnu ne uugan to display the roost inordinate ( vanity. But lie hated women, and could not bear them in his presence. Pretty soon the news of the miracu- I lous character of his performances at- ! tracted attention in the North, and it 1 was not long before Charity, poor, j trusting creature that she was, was approached by wily agents of fur-seeing j managers. Visions of great fortune were held out before her entranced j eyes, and the upshot of it was that she ; applied to have General Bethunc re- j moved as Tom's guardian and another j person nppointed in his place. Judge \ Bond granted her request, and Blind | Tom began that wonderful journey through the United Stated which is so | well remembered by the theatregoers j of a generation ago. Hundreds of ' readers will remember that big, bluck, j nnwnrfnllv mncpiilni' fimire cominir i 1" " " "O ?=> j awkwardly on the stage with a silly | smile illuminating his heavy features, ! and his kinky hair running almost to | a point on the high dome that crowned j the hack of his head. They will re- i member him shuflling to the piano, j trembling like a leaf, with lips moving j rapidly and eyes moving as fast, and l then sec him transformed into a medi- ! um which music chose to be a wondrous translator of her heavenly language. For years he was a central figure in | the amusement world, and the despair j at once of scientists and musicians.? | Washington Post. WEAPONS USED BY THE INDIANS. Tin- .Modern Killen unit Kpvolvers nrp Now Used The writer was camped with a coin- : pany of regular troops, some years ago, in the heart of the Indian country, j There were plenty of redskins about j as we knew by their signal fires, but as ' yet we had seen not one. Late ouc j afternoon, however, the lookout, who , was stationed on a high bluff near the camp announced that he saw objects approaching through the cottonwoods that fringed the creek on whose bank ; we were located. I immediately guess- j ed our red neighbors were about to pay j us a visit, but whether of hostility or ! friendship it was impossible to tell. I Wishing to be on the safe side and yet not appear afraid, I ordered each man to load his rille and place it at the entrance of his tent, with a full belt of cartridges near by, so that both could be seized at a moment's notice. A long file of Indians entered camp in a few moments, and each one, as he halted his pony, put on a broad grin aud grunted "How !" which is the universal Indian greeting. I saw that there was not a squaw among them, which was a suspicious sign. But on the other hand, they had no weapons, except a few bows and arrows. I made no comment one way or the other, but gave the chief some tobacco and sugar, and then proceeded to handle his Navajo saddle blanket with apparent ad- j miration. Feeling it gently as if to test the = closeness of the weaving, I noticed a ! hard body, which could not be the ; pony's back, In an instant the edge j of the blanket was thrown upward and ! a repeating rifle of the latest pattern i was disclosed! The old chief laughed long and loud, J making believe that lie had hidden the I rille just for a joke. But as further search revealed the fact that every i buck had a rifle hidden similarly be- I neath his saddle blanket, aud a revolver in his shirt besides, there can be I little doubt that an attack had been j meditated, should the opportunity ' occur. The Indian of today has discarded his i primitive weapons of war, and adopted ! the white man's. An Indian can re- | load an empty rillc or revolver shell as | well as a white man. How he does it | is a mystery, for the white man needs j a special set of tools for the purpose, j and the Indian has none that arc not ; improvised. The fact remains, how- i ever, and was so well known to (Sen- j eral Miles that, when campaigning i after OJeronimo in 188G, lie published an order directing that his soldiers 1 should turn over to their oflieers all j empty shells, in order that they might ! not he left on the ground and utilized | by the Apaches. The bow is used in war when j a stealthy attack is meditated, and quite generally in hunting, for there it answers as well and is more economical. The degree of skill attained by j the Indian in archery is truly astonishing; but it is the result of long and i constant practice. The Indian boy's I lirst lesson is to shoot with a small bow j and blunt arrow. Finally lie receives the strong bow, and with it fits himself [ for war. These latter are powerful weapons. Ono ihnt. mi Indian would, with the greatest case, draw to tne unim ? head, could scarcely be bent four inch- j es by a white man. They will send an arrow 500 yards, and put it through a board an inch thick. On one occasion a mail's skull was , found transfixed to a tree by an arrow, ' which had gone completely through the bones and imbedded itself so deep- j ly in the wood as to sustain the weight of the head. He had probably been tied up to the tree and shot. The Sioux make the best bows. Cedar and hickory are favorite woods, j The wood is carefully seasoned by be- j ing hung, sometimes for months, just | out of reach of the llanics of the tepee j fires. The bow is 4 feet long, and an inch thick in the middle. A warrior, ! with a sharp knife and a lile, will take ! a week to make a bow, which will sell for about $3 in trade. The Crows make bows of elk horn, each bow requiring four pieces, nicely : Jilted to each other and spliced and wrapped together. When ornamented, j carved and painted, these bows arc beautiful, and readily sell for $'25 or ; $50. It takes an Iudian about three ; months to make one. Before they came much in contact with the whites the Indians frequently used poisoned arrowheads. TheShos- j hones made their poisons of ants, dried and powdered, and mixed with the spleen of some animal. The mixture was then nlaced in the sun and allow- i t'd to decay. The result was such a deadly poison that if the arrow ever broke a person's skin it was sure to produce death. Arrows are made very carefully, for upon their construction depends the bowman's success. Three or four arc the limit of a day's work, even when the rough material is at hand. The branches from which they are made arc cut in the tall, when the sap is not running, and are tied up in bundles, so they will not warp. ; They arc then hung up in the tepee, j in a similar manner to the bow wood. | The shaft is usually channeled, or ty grooved, so as to allow the llow of j Tk blood from the wound. Arrows per- "A taining to different tribes may be dis- ' th< tinguished by the expert after ex- ! coi amination of the feathering, painting ! Nc or carving. Indeed, it is said that in- i ba: dividuals of the same tribe can tell : coi each others' arrows in the snme way. ! ho The tomahawk and war club are for hardly used at all. Their place has th: been taken by the knife, one or more being always carried by a wild Indian ha in a sheath attached to his belt. Used is i principally for skinning game, these thi knives are nevertheless, at close quar- e? ters, deadly weapons of attack or de- ms fense. They qre also used for scalp- th< ing. _ Pr< Scalping is not a religious ceremo- ap ny, as many have supposed. It is pr< simply a proof of killing?evidence les beyond a doubt. . vo It would seem that scalping is fatal; tin but in itself it is not necessarily so. coi Numerous instances of survival, even the when the victim had been wounded in tio addition are on record. One spring inj day in 1S68, Thomas Cahone and Wil- flo lis Edmonston, freight conductors of th< the Union Fncific railway, were fish- alv ing in a small stream near Sidney, Neb. dis They were unarmed, feeling sure that the handfull of regular troops station- bal ed at Sidney would keep off any prowl- bu ing Indians. suj Suddenly a party of mounted Sioux sol swept down upon them. They put br< eight arrows into Cahone, one of oft which passed under the point of the of right shoulder blade and came out an An inch or two under the breast. Four aft arrows were fired into Edmonston. wl The scalp proper of Cahone was ed taken by one Indian, while the second ala took a piece about 4 by 7 inches from 1 the left side of the head. Edmonston em was not scalped, for at this juncture an the soldiers aud citizens from Sidney \ ter hurried out and the Indians took to ed flight. The wounded men were taken me to the town, where the arrows were aw cut out. In 1883 I met Cahone, who sw was then a passenger couductor run- Dii ning east from Ogden, Utah. He said he was in excellent health, having j never suffered from his wounds or the scalping. He wore a skull cap, as T|> may well be imagined. Edmonston was at the same time a passenger con- ' ductor running west from Ogden.? tra New York Herald. of ??? hoi L'NCLK SAM'S MAIL. Some of the postal regulations of our ^ country are very odd. Alligators, eJ. dead or alive, cannot lawfully pass sej, through the United States mails. ' < However, if stufled they are mailable. j|0 Horned toads and other kinds of fee toads, as well as frogs, are in no case 0l,| accepted by Uncle Sara for transporta- t tion. i Live bugs are excluded likewise. t At the same time, all sorts of insects ( are constantly sent through the mail t by entomologists, usually in tin boxes, < living. Many are forwarded to the ( department of agriculture from all i over the country. nc Cocoons, representing insects in one , of the stages of their development, tj1( though strictly speaking alive, are ad- m. mitted to the mails. i A special legislative provision allows an bees to be sent by post in wooden box- ; es constructed in a peculiar fashion, with a sliding lid and a bit of wire a,j screen to prevent the occupants from ^ escaping. In thiw mrv. hom^y lpees are ^ shipped all over the world; and" even n0 as far as from this country to Austra- ajj lia. They are admitted to the United gtr States free of duty, as "animals imported for breeding purposes." tg, Dead bugs of all sorts are accepted by the government for mailing, if dry. a?( For example, dried grasshoppers will pass. If the farmers of the West ever wc learn to utilize grasshoppers for food m( as is done elsewhere in the world, they , may be shipped in parcels by Uncle ja Sam's post. i For reasons unexplained, an excep- jt tion is made against tarantulas, which, live or dead, are excluded. This is simply a name given to certain large ^ trap door spiders in southern latitudes; ' some of which make small birds their jic prey. Ordinarily spiders are permit- an ted go through, if dry and properly SU| packed. All kinds of lizards are unmailable whether alive or dead. If stuffed they are not refused however. je(Eggs are absolutely unmailable. So arc explosives, poisons and intoxica- jn ting liquors. A like prohibition applies , to bad smelling things of whatever description. wc The bacteria of cholera and other rjg disease germs are not accepted for , mailing. Nowadays doctors breed jrr such germs in their laboratories, and send them about by express or other- ?u wise. Doubtless bottled consumption, aQ typhoid teverand diptheria travel over the world pretty extensively by post, 0g undetected by officials. an It is unlawful to split a postal card on and write inside of it. That is to say, i a card so treated is not permitted to ^H] pass for one cent. It is only mailable ,,0 at letter rates. i Two persons in the United States , have the franking privilege for life? er namely, the widows of President Grant jn> and President Garfield. Letters and packages sent by them are free and require no stamps. Also parcels and letters sent to them go without pay- y0 ment and need no stamps. ou Uncle Sam mnkes big money by sending letters to foreign countries. j)e The business costs him only about g_, $000,000 per annum, and. he gets $1,700,000 for the postage. It is very wj likely that the tariff will be reduced to two cents an ounce before long ; il is five cents now. ; -v.. ?.u <v.? al postal system is that registered letters may be recalled by the senders at any time before they are actually de- j cr livercd. Not long ago a German bank j He sent securities representing a large I wil sum of money to a liriu in New York { on city. Soon afterwards the bank learn- j Hi ed that the New York firm was insol- ; tec vent and on the point of bankruptcy, j bei the news being received by cable. A j jus cable message was sent without delay j for to intercept the securities 011 their dei arrival at New York, and the register- arr ed letter containing them was returned ful unopened to the bank, (.treat Britaiu, the however, does not permit this privi- wh lege, holding that when a person has ' dei mailed a letter, it must be considered j Ka the property of the addressee. y0, LANGUAGE OF THE HEX. ten wil Calls to Dinner and Other Methods of Com- jnp munlentlon. jnj] The ordinary domestic fowl affords rio the most positive evidence of the pos- eat session of a language that is under- in stood. There are many decidely dif- be fercnt calls, which, if taken down to in a phonograph and repented in a . wil henhouse or yard would produce in- bee tercsting results. I need but mention t a few calls to illustrate the range of j the sounds in the domestic fowls, (jn a -ire warm day, when hens nre released wit from their coop, when their minds yoi are undisturbed and all nature looks | alb bright and inviting, they sing as they Bol feed?a continuous repetition of kerr- i bat kerr-kerr-kerr, with various modula- ed tions. The rooster never utters it, nor to i the mother hen ; it is the song of the lira happy-go-lucky of hen creation. Now i enc let a hawk appear in the sky or any 1 spe disturbing element; an entirely differ- ' ? cnt sound is heard. The hen stops, ; ne\ stretches her head upward, and, with j on the cock, utters a decided note of j red wamiug in a high falsetto, k-a-r-r-e! I spr And if the enemy still comes on it is | in? repeated, and every bird in the vicini- I con lowers its head and runs to cover. ! ie sound says in the gallus language. ' ill enemy is coming ; run 1" and run jy do, the kerr-kerr-kerr being ; atinued until all danger is past, j )te the joyous cnll of the hen that 3 laid au egg. Cut-cut, ca-da-cut! j lies, oft repeated from the henuse, and other envious hens are in- j med beyond any question or mistake at Mrs. Callus has laid an egg. Now, when the eggs are hatched we ve other and maternal notes. There i deep, monotonous cluck, cluck! it is a warning to others and a gen il admonition of the chicks to re- 1 Lin near, but it is not a call. Note [ ; difference when tho mother or jud cock finds a worm! The cock j pears to be greatly excited, and he itends to peck at it, make the guile- j s hens believe that he is about to de- I ur the bonne bouche himself; all the | ae he is saying cut, cut, cut?come, | aie, come?rapidly, which causes j hens to run pell mell in his direcn, to find, in many instances, noth;, being merely a device to call the uk 11 wity irum suuiu uvui. jjui hi 5 case of the mother the little ones j vays find some tidbit which she has : covered. I will not attempt to produce the I by talk of the old hen to her chick's ! t it exists in great variety, and is ! Sgestive of tenderness, affection and 1 icitudc. When the hen has her i )od beneath her ample folds she ! en utters a sound like c-r-a-w-z-z-e j half warning nnd contentment. j id when an intruder enters the coop i erdark she utters a high, prolonged ; listling not w-h-o-o-e, softly repeat- j , indicative of wonder and slight j irm. [f now the fox or coyote or other smy seize her how quickly comes j entirely different cry?a scream of . ror and alarm, c-i-a-i-a-i-o-u, repeat- j again and again, and so full of | inning that the owner, some distance | ay, reaches for his shotgun and an- | ers the signal of distress.?Pittsburg ; spatch. SHE WAS ALWAYS RIGHT. Is Is Alercly Additional Evidence of the | Fact. Doe day as I was toiling up a rough .ilroad in the Cumberland mountains j Tennessee, I encountered a man on rseback, just as he turned in from i other trail, says a writer in the De- [ it Free Press. As we were going | i same way we jogged along togeth- j and after some general talk he ob- ' veu ; 'Stranger, I want to ask yo' a quesn plumb-centre, and if you don't 1 like answerin' it, I sha'n't be put t." 'Well, go ahead." 'Kin yo' read print?" 'Yes, fairly well." 'Kin yo' read writin'?" 'Yes." 'Kin yo' figger ?" 'Yes." We jogged along in silence for the i xt 40 rods, then he said : 'Stranger, I'm livin' two miles fur- | ;r on. I'd like to hev yo' stop at j r cabin an' settle a dispute." 'I shouldn't like to get mixed in y quarrel, you know." 'Oh, of co'se not. It's a dispute beeen me 'n my wife, and we've been ookin' fur somebody to settle it fur 2 last three months. Yo' won't git ^ trouble about it. We don't spell r figger, nor pronounce words just ke, and I reckon yo' kin set us aight." When we reached his cabin I was idered a sip from the jug and introced to his wife, who was a middleed woman of great firmness of charter. The husband explained that ! had met accidentally, and he asked > tn net as referee, and added r "Now, stranger, bow do yo' spell wg?" "There is no such word as dawg. is dog." "But how do you spell it ?" "Why, d-o-g, dog. How do you spell >?> "I don't go fur to consider to reckon a much of a speller ; but I git a'd' d an 'o' aud an 'r' and a 'g' in thar i mwars." "That would be spelling it 'd-o-r-g.' " "Yes." "And how do you spell it?" I quer- i I of the wife. "I say it's a d-a-w-g," she replied, a "surly manner. "You mean a dog?an animal?" "Of co'se I do! I've spelled it that ' ly for twenty y'ars, and I know I'm | ;ht!" "But that isn't according to the iglish language, ma'am." "I don't keer fur no English lanage," she snapped, as she rose up d entered the house. I was about to say I hoped I hadn't ! ended her, when the husband arose j d pulled the door to and got a grip : the handle, and whispered : "Stranger, I'll try to hold the door 1 yo' git outer sliootin' distance, but I ' must hurry." "Why, what's the matter?" "The matter is that my wife is rath- j sot in her ways, pertikcrly on spell- I , and I kin hear her pourin' shot j d powder into the birdgun ! StrangI'm sorry to hcv yo' go this way, t dawg-gouc my dorg if yo' and ur dorg hain't got to hussle or go j t of the spellin'-book biziness !" When I made the turn in the road was still holding the door, hut I V something that looked like a worn climbing ont of one of the side ndows with a sun in her hand. RIDING ON A WHEEL. ^ W ? ' ? T | I II. Bad Habit*. The proper position for a bicycle ridi?, iiy.no first place, an upright one. > should push nearly straight down- ! -T'lwith his legs?not backward, as e must do who leans far forward. | s arms should not he rigid and ex- | ided to their full length, but a little j it, and the handles can be easily ad- j ited to bring this about. The reason the bent or slightly bent arm is evi- [ ut after a moment's thought. If the n is stiff, rigid aud extended to the ! 1 length, the "pull" which you give s handles on going up hill, or indeed, , ile running along a level road, is a ; id pull. There is no life in it. I ch jar to the machine is a jar to | ur body, your head and neck, and ; isequently, a jar to your whole sys(i. On the other hand, if you ride :h your arms a little bent, and net; as a kind of a buffer to all jarring luences, they will save you an injuus, though unnoticeable shaking-up :h time you go out. The only way which you will notice a change will after you have become accustomed the beat arm method. Then you i 1 find you can ride longer without i loming tired. Vnothcr feature of this slifT arm is j position into which the shoulders j thrust. Try it; grow a little tired h a long ride, and then see where ir shoulders are. You have gradu- j ? come to lean on your arms for rest, i :h shoulders have been thrown far :k ; your head and neck arc stretch- < far forward, and your chest has, so ! ] jpeak, sagged forward out of its nat- ! I 1 position. Keep this up long j : nigh, and you will be a fine looking ( I cimen. | i so; the weight of your body should j 1 er come on the hands and arms, buc * your thighs, and thence be transfer- . \ to the seat with the unconscious I ingy action of your legs, which in a >. usure allows some of your weight to I ic on the pedals. In this position ( 1 your lunula are free to guide your wheel; your body is erect; you do not then get into the habit of swaying from side to side to put your weight first on one side and then on the other; and your whole muscuiar raoveiueui, is regular and normal. Try riding without putting either hand on the handles, and sitting erect. If you ride well you can easily keep your balance, and in an instant you will be in the correct position. Once in this position, place the hands lightly on the handle-bars, and you will be in a healthy and proper situation to gain benefit from your riding. In riding 10 miles, for intance, I should never go the whole distance at one pace. Slow, steady riding has its merits ; so has sprinting for short distances. When a good, clear road looms up ahead, have a brush for two or three hundred yards with the boy who is with you. These little races are good things. They quicken your movements, and they keep you from forming bad habits, or letting your body sag into set, immovable positions. They also bring the muscles into a different kind of play. In fact, in bicycle riding, as in about everything else, you should remember that there is a right and a wrong way; that you need not only endurance, but speed, and that changing from one to another, keeping up variety, is one good way of avoiding bad habits.? Harper's Young People. CATSUPHow Ihl? Delicious Condiment Was Disco vcovered and Got its Name. . J" r , J, . 1 " 1 lie discovery 01 cuisup uuu now me odd-sounding name came to be applied to that common and important table garniture was, curiously enough, due to a blunder by a preserve-maker many years ago, when the canning industry was in its 'swaddling clothes.' " This statement was made by a veteran member of tbe Western Canners' and Packers' association, at the Tremont, yesterday. "It is only another illustration," he said, "how mistakes sometimes lead to important discoveries. In connection with this story I may add that when I was a boy tomatoes, from which catsup is made?or Adam's apples, as they were known in those days?were considered rank poison. They were looked upon only as beautiful aud valuable additions to the flower garden as an ornament. No one dreamed what a delicious article of food they were. '.'In the East many years ago a wellknown preserve-maker, now dead, while boiling a huge caldron full of tomatoes for preserves one day accidentally put the wrong spices and other ingredients into the boiling mass of vegetables. He did not discover his error until sometime afterward, when tasting the mixture to ascertain whether it had been boiled to the proper consistency, he saw something was WlUlJg* luuiuiujncoti *cn iicrti iiwvvu like that. He smacked his lips, puckered his mouth, and made a wry faee as the bitter-sweet and now familiar pungent tlavor of the mixture made itself felt. "Shoving the caldron off the fire to prevent a possible scorching, he made a hurried investigation, quickly discovering that he had used articles strange to preserves and the result was that steaming but not unpleasantly flavored mess before him. "Well, said he, with a rueful expression on his face, speaking to au attendant, 'the cat's up' meauing by that slang term that the tomatoes . had been spoiled. "The whole mess was about to be thrown out, but, fortunately for catsup-loving mankind, a happy thought suggested itself to the author of the trouble. The taste of the new mixture still lingered on his palate and he had to confess that it was very pleasant. 'I wonder how that will taste on a piece of roast meat,' he remarked, and* the suggestion was immediately acted upon, with the result that the caldronful of boiled tomatoos was carefully bottled and it soon became a popular table adjunct and a source of great profit to the discoverer. The nume 'ketchings' was first used to designate the new condiment, and it is yet to be occasionally met with, but the proper name is 'catsup,' from the angry exnl<?Hvp of the ennk. when he exclaim ed "The cat's up!' in discovering what he had done."?Chicago Times. The Falls ok Niagara.?The Niagara river extends from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, a distance of 30 miles. It receives the waters of all the upper lakes?Erie, St. Clair, Huron, Michigan, Superior, and a number of smaller ones. From source to outfall it has a total descent of 334 feet; but a greater part of the fall occurs within a distance of seven or eight miles, beginning with the rapids, two miles above the great falls, which received their name?Niagara, meaning the "thunder of waters"?from the aborigines. Their roar, under favorable circumstauces, may be heard at a distance of 15 miles. There are three distinct falls: The Horseshoe fall?so called from its crescent shape?is by far the largest, and is in the direct course of the river. It is 2,000 feet wide and 154 feet high. The American fall is 660 feet wide, and the Central fall is 243 feet, each having a fall of 163 feet. The water flows on perpetually the same, full and clear; ueither the snows of winter nor the evaporation of summer, neither rains nor drought materially affect it?excepting that about once in every seven years f.hprft i* n, gradual rise and fall, which Is attributed to some undiscovered fits turbance that affects Lake Erie.. This wonderful cataract is 447 miles from New York, within a single day's journey, and is reached more directly by the New York Central and Hudson River railway, of which it forms the western terminus.?I)r. A. N. Bell. Qcite Lkg'AI,.?A certain English laborer who was noted for his great size and strength once thought of an original fashion of avoiding toll. The incident is described in the "Autobiography of an English (lamekeeper: " The laborer was going along the road mounted on his donkey, which was a good sized animal, when he came to a turnpike gate. "How much do you charge for my -1 I II. * ?>** UUIlKCy WillN UHUU^II . Il*i UO?VU the pikeman. "Twopence," was the reply. "And how much do you charge for carrying a parcel through the gate?" "Nothing." "Whoa !" whoa !" cried Joslin ; and quietly dismounting, he deliberately slipped his head under the donkey, seized its forelegs with his hands, lifted him oil' the ground, carried him through the gate and set him down on the other side. "Gee, up, Neddy !" he cried getting on the donkey's hack; and oil" they went well content. Prof. E. E. Barnard, of the Lick observatory, says people make a great mistake in coming to the observatory at night to see tlie stars, tor they can be seen far better in the daytime. People llock there, too, to see the moon when it is full. "That is the very worst time," he said. "They can see a great ileal more when it is only half full, for then the rising sun shines on it, and all the mountains, valleys and even the shadows can be distinctly observed. When the moon is full it simply looks like a blur, or at best a map."'