The Aiken recorder. [volume] (Aiken, S.C.) 1881-1910, August 22, 1882, Image 1
U<J
IHE
Recorder.
' i
BY DRAYTON 4s McORACKEN,
AIKEN, S. C., TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1882.
VOL. I. NO. 45.
Everythin*? Old.
Why talk bo much of the ‘ ‘old” in art J
There’a nothin« new in the land:
The eame old earth, the name old sea,
And the eame bright yellow eand 1
There’s no other way than to dig, and dig,
For the silver and the gold;
And the nt w but eeeineth, to him who dream*
eth,
For the new is but the old.
For centuries, green ; immortal green,
Has man led the monnUin sides;
While ships go out and ships come in.
With the oldest of old tides.
There’s no other love but the old, old love,
With its bitter-sweet unrest;
The eame In form, through calm and storm,
That stirred old Adam's breast.
The same old moon, with its shining face,
Repeated o'er and o,er;
The same old stare that sang for joy
When chaos wj i*- no more.
There’s no other way to live end learn,
But the way of eye and ear—
As th ■ prophets learned, when the spirit burned
In their hearts while dwelling here.
The fire we bni t upon our hearths—
It is only now in name;
Though it leaps aud leaps in a youth ul way^
’Tis part of an ancient flame,
There’s no other way to get orb's bread
But to plant in the dusky mold;
8o the new but seejp/jih, to him who dream-
eth—
Aye, th® hew is but th- 1 old I
—Urs. M. A. Kidder.
“THE KINfi’S BUSINESS."
Slowly and aimlessly ou of the vil
lage wandered poor, half-witted Nut
that pleasant summer afternoon, lie
had no particular destination, “ only
goin’ somewhere ”—hi* rsply always to
any question in regard to his move
ments. Daring the morning he had
been parading tbo village street, his
hat trimmed luxuriantly with feathers,
while ho sounded forth his own praise
through the medium of a tin horn. Of
coarse he had attracted attention. A
small army of urchins had surrounded
him, front and rear, and he had taken
their shouts and teasing remarks for
applause and admiration. But n ow his
grandeur was gona One by one his
followers had forsaken him, until at last
he was “left alone in his glory,” and
with poor Nat, like tho rest of ns, what
does glory amount to when there are
none to witness ?
And so he moved onward in his drift
ing, uncertain way across the creek at
the edge of the village, up the hill, un
til his stalwart form stood out against
the sky—for Nat was strong in body
though weak in mind ; then he passed
down on tbo other side to where the
road entered a forest whioty stretched
for miles away. It was hen® quiet and
lonely, but Nat fancied this. He ooca-
nonallv liked to escape fr<
voices Vud. human habitati.
away by himself and talk with tire birds,
the trees and the flowers. Here in the
wood the wild vagaries of his brain
found full play. Here no one disputed
his claims to greatness, no one denied
his being a noted general, a gifted ora
tor or mu-ioian, when the fancy seized
him to be such. In fact Nat always
had “greatness thrust upon him;” he
was never an ordinary man in his own
estimation, and ho was not now.
But on this occasion a new fancy had
taken possession of him—he was on
business for the King. What King, or
what was the particular business he did
not precisely know, but he had derived
his idea from varions sermons he had
heard at the village church and Sunday-
S hool, which he attended with scrupu-
ua punctuality through all weathers,
aud although he understood but little
of the pioceedings, yet chance sentences
had fastened themselves on his sluggish
brain.
11 I’m on business for the King,” he
muttered, rescuing up his great strong
hand and wrenching a huge overhang
ing branch from its place and speedily
converting it into a wa!k : ng stick.
“Yes, I’m on business for the King, the
Kirg of all around here, the birds, the
trees, the flowers and the bnmble-bees.
He sent me, Ho did. Parson said so
t’other Sunday. He said the King sent
out his messengers to do his work. He
sent out twelve on ’em once’t, an’ they
wasn’t to take no money in their purse
nor nothin’ to eat. He sent me, ’cause
I hain’t got no money an’ hain’t had
nothin’ to eat all day.”
He strode onward, murmuring his
thoughts as he went, nntil after a time
he came upon a public road which rau
through the wood. A placard fastened
to a tree by the roadside attract
ed his attention, aud he paused
to consider it. He conld not
read, but as his eyes were fixed
upon the printed characters the tinkle
of a cow-bell was heard down the road,
and presently a cow came into view, fol
lowed by the short, sturdy figure and
round, freckled face of Tommy Brock.
Tommy was flourishing a large stick and
shouting at the cow in his efforts to
keep her in a proper homeward direc
tion. As he came np he exclaimed:
‘ Hello, Nat! What are you doin’
here ?”
“ Fm on business for the King,” re
plied Nat, with dignity.
“ On business for — who ?” asked
Tommy, in surprise.
“For the King. He sent me,” said
Nat, again. “That’s his orders there, I
take it,” pointing to the placard. “What
is it, Tommy V”
“That? Why that’s only an adver
tisement,” answered Tommy, hip eyes
opening wider in his astonishment. “ It
says, ‘Go to Tiacey’sHalf-Way ho^use for
a square meal.’” \
“ Yes, I know’d it 1 I know’d it!” ex
claimed Nat, exnltingly. “The King
said take no money nor nothin’ to eat,
an’ He’d take keer of me. He says ‘Go,’
an’ I’ll obey orders,” and instantly his
tall figure was moving swiftly down the
road.
Tommy gazed arter him a minute in
bewildered silence, and then exclaimed
emphatically as he turned away:
“ My! but ain’t he cracked 1” (
With rapid steps Nat hurried forward,
swinging his hage stick and talking to
himself. He had taken the placard as
a veritable command to go to Tracey’s,
and thitherward he directed his steps.
It was not the tirst time he had /been
there. On previous occasions when he
passed that way he had been kindly
treated by Mrs. Tracey, and pe if haps
that bad something to do with theVlao-
rity of his movement, and ha hastened
down the road till it brought him [to a
small stream, on the back of which
stood a sawmill. Mr. Traoey.i the
owner of the Half-way house, was en
gaged at work here, and he turned Aside
to speak to him.
“ I’m On business for the King, and
I’m going’ to your house,” heannounoec
with the dignified gravity that belongec
to his royal commission.
“ On business for the King, and goin
to my house, eh Y' answered the person
addressed, a good-natnred smile cross
ing his kindly face. “ Well. I reckon
that’s a high honor to me. You’ve got
a tramp af jre you, though, Nat—a good
seven miles.”
“ T must obey orders,” replied Nat,
simply.
'■ luxi'a right-obey orders. Well,
if you do go tell Mrs. Tracey I’ll be
home to-morrow night. Tell her, too,
not to bo nneasy about that money bein’
in the house, ’cause 1’il see to it when
come.”
“ What money’s that?” a?kedn fellow
workman as Nat turned away.
“ My pension. My claim was allowed
last week, and I got my money—five
hundred dollars—■yesterday. I was
foolish not to put it in tho bank right
off. but I didn t, and as I didn’t have
rlin© to go to town yesterday I had to
leave it at home. I reckon it’s tafe
enough, till to morrow night, and
then—’'
“ Hist!” interrupted his companion,
suddenly. “What’s that r”
Tracey paused to listen.
“ I didn’t hear anything,’’ he paid.
“ I thought I heard some one over
there,” pursued tho other, pointing to
a large, high pile of boards u few feet
distant—the beards being piled in form
o; a square, with a large cavity in the
center. “Most likely it was rats,
enough.”
“ More likely to be rats than anything
else, there s so many about here,” an
Swered Tracey. Then he added,
jocularly t “ Maybe, though, it’s them
burglars that’s been plajin mischief
’round these parts for the last week or
so—maybe thry’ro stowed away in that
pile of lumber. My 1 if I really be
lieved that l ! d be uneasy myself, for
the chaps would have heard all I said
about my pension.”
“What burglars is that?” inquired
the other.
“ What burglars ? Why, man, don’t
you read the papers? Why, only yes
terday the sheriff and his deputies rode
by my house on the hunt for ’em. Last
Saturday night they broke into Lawyer
Burke s house in the village and carried
off about a hundred dollars, and then
on Sunday night thay got into the rail
road station, broke open the safe, and
made off with about three hundred
more. That’s the biggest of their hauls,
though they’ve entered several other
places.”
The conversation w*as continued on
this topic for a few minutes, and the i
dropped. Neither of the men thought
it worth while to investigate the cause
of the noise, and they pursued th-.-ir
work for a short time and were then
called over to the other side of the mill.
Just as they disappeared a face peered
over the top of ths baard pile from the
inside, followed a moment later,
and prcsSJIj two rough, vuiaiuuiis—
looking men came into view, and seeing
they were unobserved, sprang quickly
to the ground and hastened into the
forest.
“Close shave that, as bein’ as we was
hid there all lasltnight and all day till
now,” said one, as he pushed through
the underbrush.
“ Yes ; I thought as once them mill
chaps was a cornin’ to look,” responded
the other. “Good for ’em as they
didn’t, an’ took us for rats ; ’cause the
p’iicfc be on the lookout now an’ we
don’t want to use no shootin’ irons an’
make things too hot. We must move
out lively from ’ere, Bill.”
“ Not till we get that ’ere pension,”
answered B.ll, significantly. “ That
lay-out were as good as pitched at us,
an’ it’d be a pity not to take it. ’Sides,
the gov’ment owes me a pension for all
the time I’ve lost in jails and prisons,
an’ this ere’s a good chance to get it. I
knows where the crib is, ’cause we
stopped there last week for somethin’
to eat, don’t you mind? This fellow
that owns it was there at the time.
There is nobody bat a woman an’ two
little uns, an’ they’re easy fixed, an’
there ain’t no other house nigh.”
“ Bat there’s that ’ere other chap as
said as he was goin’ there ?”
“ Him ? He’s crazy, an’ if he goes’
there at all he’ll only stop a bit an
move on. A tap on the head T1 settle
him, anyway, if he’s there—but then
he won’t be there.”
Daring this time Nat was not idle.
His tall form, with long and steady
stride, was hastening forward “on busi
ness for the King.” It did not occur
to him what he shonld do when he
reached Tracey’s and had been sup
plied with food. At present he was
“obeying orders”—and beyond that his
thought did not go. It was indeed a
long walk he had undertaken, and it
was just at dusk that he reached his
destination. The Half-way bonse was a
lonely hostelry, situated at the inter
section of two roads, with no other
house in sight, and was a common
stopping-place for persons passing to
and from the city. Nat stepped boldly
upon the broad piazza in front, and
with fall consciousness oi his right
walked unhesitatingly into the pleasant
sitting-room. Mrs. Tracey came for
ward to meet him.
“ Why, Nat, is that you?”
“Yes’m,”he answered, gravely. “I
was told to come here an’ get a square
meal. The King sent me.”
“ The King sent you ? Well I guess
I’ll have to give you a supper then,”
said she. “ And by the way, Nat, did
you see my husband on your way here ?”
“ Yes’m ; and he said for me to tell
you he’d be home to-morrer night, an’
for you not to be uneasy ’bout that
money.”
“ Oh, dear 1 I did so hope he’d come
this evening,” she sighed.
She was indeed uneasy on account of
the money in the house. She had slept
but little the preceding night for think
ing of it, and had worried, about it all
through the day, and now another
lonely night was before her. As she
was preparing supper for her guest
another thought came to her. Oould
she not induce Nat to stop there for the
night ? His notion of wandering made
it an uncertain request and even if he
remained, with his beclouded intellect,
he could not be depended on in case of
trouble. Still he wonld be company,
and perhaps he might aid her—she
prayed for that—if she needed help.
“Nat,” she said, as she poured out a
glass of milk for him, “won’t you stay
here to night ?'
“ I don’t know whether it b® orders,”
he answered, uncertainly. “ Parson
said the King sent out His messengers,
an’ they wasn’t to take no money nor
nothin’ to eat, an* I don’t know if it be
right to stop.”
“ Oh, yes, it is,” replied Mrs. Traoey,
catching at once an idee of his thoughts.
“ I heard what the parson said, too.
When the King’s messenger entered a
house he was to abide there— that is tr
stop. Don’t yon remember f’
Nat considered the proposition.
“Yes’m, that’s His orders. I’ll stop,”
he said.
“And, Nat,” pnraued the lady, ren
flered eager by her success) “ there’*
another thing the King said—you heard
it at Bund ay-school. He«aid, ‘ Buffer
little children to come unto me ’—that
is such little Children as mine there,”
pointing to them as they stood at her
side. *• And the King said, too, ‘ Who
soever shall offend one of these little
ones it is better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and he
were cast into the sea.’ The King
doesn’t wish any harm to come to His
little ones, in any way—you remember
that?’
“Yes’m,” replied Nat, absently.
“Well, then)” continuedMrs.^Tracey,
driving the concluding nail into her ar
gument, “ if any bad, wicked men
should come here to-night and try tc
hart me or these little ones
that belong to the King, you would
help us, wouldn't you?”
She waited anxiously for the reply.
Nat looked at her vaguely for a mo
ment, and then his eyes wandered aim
lessly about the room, and then back
to her. Finally he said, quietly :
“ The King sent me. I’ll obey or
ders.”
How far he nnderstood she did not
know, and all her effort could draw out
no more definite reply, and with that
she was obliged to be content. As the
evening grew late she provided her
guest with a sleeping place, in an ad
joining room, by throwing a few quilts
on the floor—for Nat would sleep no
where else—and then she lay down,
without cmdressing, on a bed beside
her children. Bat it was a long time
before slumber visited her troubled
spirit.
As for Nat, no thonght of worry or
anxiety for the fntnre was on his mind,
and he “slept the sleep of the just” and
uis dreams were peacefnl. Bat after
time those dreams became dis
turbed and discordant — a voice
seemed to be calling him from his King,
and presently he awakened with a
start.
“Nat! help! Nat, the King wants
you !” came in smothered tones from the
other room.
In an iratint he sprang lightly to his
feet, and grasping his stick he strode
forward and opened the door. A fearful
struggle met his view as he entered.
Two rough, evil-looking men were there
—one holding Mrs. Tracey, tho other
the children—and the villains were evi
dently trying to bind and gag their vic
tims. As Nat witnessed the scene his
tall form seemed to tower yet higher,
and a strange, fierce light gleamed from
his eyes.
“I belong to the King!” he thun
FACTS AND COMMENTS.
The St. Louis Glob*-Democrat
that the number of women who
vote is rapidly increasing, and
the constitutional justice of —— —.
mands, but believes that “» work of
evolution must go on within the JMC
before the requisite growth is attaiisdj
even to enable it to be said that wo own-
kind wants to vote.”
How immense are the transportation
interests of the United States. There
are about 100,000 miles of railroad^ in
the country, the investment value of
which is $4 600,000,000. In 188» it
carried 250,000,000 tons of freight, wfife*
out counting passengers, mails, baggpC*
and express goods. According to cen
sus of 1880 the railroads employ 410,240
persons.
A number of speculative merchants
of Norway have obtained the right of
cutting blocks from the great glacier on
the Senjen island. The glacier is abont
120 miles square, and the distance from
its border to the sea is only two miles.
It is believed that th# ice can be profit
ably exported. Blocks have been ear*
ried to the city of Bergen, and Mm
quality of the ice is said to be good. It
can be advertised as of the crop of phe
year 1.
More than one thousand deaths an
reported as having resulted last yeat
from accidents in mines in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The average of such deaths during the
last eight years is one to every 464 per
sons employed. Fall of rook from the
roofs, but more particularly from the
sides of workings, continues to be the
most fruitful source of these disasters;
and there seems good reason to beliave
that a large proportion might be nre-
vented by a sufficient provision iOf
timber supports.
BEGGABS >N'D TBAMPS.
An Egyptian correspondent giveethe
f jllowing interesting gossip about 4he
present khedive of Egypt and his
brothers: “ Ismail Facha, the fonher
khedive of Egypt, brought up his
eons, of whom he had five, in a pecu
liar manner. Tewfik, as the heir ap
parent, and now khedive, was educated
in Egypt and is a bigoted Mussulnfui-
The second son, Prince Housman, was
brought up in France, and is a thorough
Parisian in all his tastes. Prince HaUm,
the third son, graduated at the Berlin
anivemty and loves his lager beer ind
tobacco as well as any German; indeed
he is an officer of the Gorman army. He
is said to be the ablest of all the sons of
the late khedive. Prince Ibrahim % a
thorough Englishman. He studies at
Woolwich, eats roast beef, drinks Bias’
ale, and affects bulldogs. The fifth pon
is a boy of thirteen, and is at a college
in Turin, Italy. Such is the polyglot
family of the late khedive.
Hi./or
At this unexpected intrusion one of
the burglars released his bold of Mrs.
Tracey, and sprang forward with an oath
to meet him. But it was in vain. The
great stick was whirled in the air, and
then oame down with fearful force on
the head of the villain, and he sank
senseless to the floor. The remaining
rurglar hastened to his comrade’s as
sistance, but he was like a child in the
rands of a giant, and in a moment he,
too, was helpless and motionless. Nat
stooped and drew the two insensible
or ms toward him.
“Now bring them ropes, and I’ll
rang a”—he pansed, and left the sen
tence nnfinished. “ Bat there ain’t no
millstones ’boat here to hang ’round
their necks!” he added, looking up be
wildered. “Do you b’lieve a big rock
would do? I must obey orders.”
“ No, I don’t believe a rook woulddo,”
replied Mrs. Tracey, smiling in spite of
rer alarm. “ But they will be coming
o presently; I would just tie their
rands and feet and leave them until
morning.”
“Yes’m, so I will. Tbo King said tie
em hand and foot—that his orders.
They won’t offend His little ones any
more,” and in a few minutes Nat had
them safely secured.
I need not tell of the night that fol-
owed, of how Nat kept sleepless guard
over his captives, and of how, when
morning oame and help came with it,
the burglars were safely lodged in the
county jail. All that is easily surmised.
But at last Nat was a hero—not only in
ris own eyes but in the eyes of all
others. He bore his honors meekly and
with dignity, as a right belonging to a
servant of the King. He accepted the
numerous congratulations and hand
shakings, wondering, perhaps, what it
all meant, and replying to the questions
heaped upon him with the simple state
ment: “1 just obeyed orders.” Nothing,
however, conld induce him to accept
any reward for his services. The royal
command was to take no bread, no
money in his purse, aud he would not
But Nat did not lack for friends after
that. He still continued his wander
ing, and, as tho story spread, hom^s
and hearts were open to him every
where. But it was at Traoey’s that he
was more especially welcomed, and as
the years came and went it was noticed
that his visits became more frequent
and his stays more prolonged. Indeed,
as Tracey expresses it:
“ He’ll get his orders to come here
and die yet, I reckon ; an’ he’s welcome
to all the care we can give him. An’ I
just believe that away up in that other
world we read about he’ll be as clear-
beaded as anybody, and in genuine
earnest will be forever ‘on business for
the King.’ ”—Erski/ia M. Hamilton,
Our Continent.
artificial sea in the interior of Ah ice
has been abandoned. The commisa on
appointed to investigate the project >as
reported that the inevitable cost wot ild
be out of all proportion to the proble
matical advantages, being somewhfere
in the neighborhood of $250,000,000.
Aside from the impracticable nature oi
the enterprise it was reported that sev
eral positive losses might be expected
to result from it. One savant declared
that by the influx of the sea an immense
number of fresh-wafte wells would be
filled np and rendered useless, to the
great detriment of the people on the,
neighboring slopes who are now in the
habit of resorting to them. Another
maintained tha. when the sea was
formed tho breezes and spray from it
would destroy the vegetation around,
and prove specially hurtful to the date
palm trees which are nowa great source
of profit and give the most agreeable
shade in those arid regions.
When the Duke of Sutherland was
visiting the United States recently he
went to the remarkable line of farms
owned by Colonel James Yonng, Middle-
town, Pennsylvania. He was delighted,
and admitted that he had expected to
see no snch agricultural perfection in
the United States, The colonel’s crops
now out embrace 310 acres of wheat,
410 of grass, 280 of corn, 270 of oats,
twenty-four of tobacco, twenty-one of
potatoes, etc. There are eleven farms,
and full sets of farm buildings, thirteen
barns, and the whole body embraces
1,440 acres of land, running along the
pike two and a half miles. The last
i ear there wers 243 head of fat cattle.
’he herd of Alderney embraces forty-
six pnre-bred animals, a number of
them imported. Colonel Young has
recently been offered $3,000 for five
cows. The animals are groomed and
cleaned like race-horses. The duke
gave a cordial invitation to Colonel
Young to visit him in England and par
take of his hospitality.
t/i
Slow Work.
As an illustration of the slowness
with which public business before Con
gress sometimes goes forward the
Washington correspondent of the Bal
timore Sun tells the following : Some
time since Philip Reich, of Frederick,
Md., came to this city on a visit. He
is eighty-two years of age, though well
preserved. In talking with Represent
ative Urner he said ho thonght that Con
gress was abont as slow now as at any
time in the past. Paid he: “When I
was in Washington before, in 1814, the
claim of R K. Meade, the father of
General Meade, who commanded at
Gettv sbarg, was under consideration.
It was a Spanish claim of some kind
for damages and losses he sustained in
Spain. After being away for sixty-
eight years I returned, and whatcasedo
you think was under consideration when
I got into the capitol ? The same claim
of R. K. Meade.”
That which ie better to be endured
may be sweet to be remembered.
The White Man’s Bi? Moon.
Mr. H. E. Thompson, electrician, of
St. Paul, has jnot returned from the
Missouri, where he went to mount an
electric light on the Rosebud, of the
Conlson line of M ; s6curi and Yellow
stone steamers. Mr. Thompson tells
some interesting stories cf the effects of
the white man’s electric light medicine
on the noble red man at Fort Berthold.
Upon arriving at the post a large assort
ment of redskins, their sisteis, their
consins and their aunts were assembled
on the shore in fine shape. While con
templating the new-fangled light,
which seemed to eclipse the full-orbed
moon, Mr. Thompson turned the light
full upon the gaping crowd with s weird
and picturesque effect. The astonished
aborigines were paralyzed fora moment,
and they set np a dismal chant, laydown
and rolled over and pawed up the sage
bush, and made the ambient air tremble
with their antics and articulations.
They were finally assured that the big
medicine of the white man was harm
less, and then they assumed an
attitude of quiescent bewilderment.
They congregated upon the shore and
gazed npon the illuminated surround
ings with mingled emotions of awe and
admiration, expressing their feelings in
deep, guttural accents. At a wood-yard
np the river the light was turned in
fail force npon the pile, and the dusky
owner sought a hiding-place, from
which he oould not be induced to
emerge to negotiate with the clerk fur
the sale of his stock on hand. He,
however, ventured to hold up hie hand
with three fingers un flexed, to indicate
that $3 per cord wonld take the truck.
The machine mounted on the Rosebud
was 6,000-candle power, and it ie no
wonder the superstitions natives were
stricken with terror.—8t. Paul (Hum.)
Prm$.
suit of what they term a day-swora. j cliff of rookg( whose wall* we-e i burning, and upon two square pedestals
tl,wtr T .— i—^'""-t s'* the altar,
0MM ef tli* iBseDl*** Tricks Resarted to
fey Woll-Known Phlladplpblo Cbaractera
—Hew the Vooabonda Live.
While the more aristocratic beggars
and tramps are taking their yearly sum
mer sojourn at the seaside and enjoying
the cool delights of the briny breeze,
their town-abiding brethren, says the
Philadelphia Times, are not by any
mooiio having such a bad time of it as
any one unacquainted with the business
might suppose. The ordinary man
takes his two or three weeks’ vacation
and then returns to the simmering
houses and feet-blistering pavements for
the rest of the hot season. The men
dicant, however, has his time at his own
disposal, and can practice his avocation
in the cool parts of the aay and remain
in the park or a pleasant cellar when
the sun is at its height.
This city is the home of about five
hundred persons who have no visible
means of support, but who depend on
casual charity for a subsistence. These
some under the head of beggars. In
addition to this number there is a
regular floating population of abont
seven hundred, namely, tramps whose
stay in the city rarely exceeds one week-
The native beggars, whose methods are
various, for the past few years have
been steadily decreasing. Three years
ago a census was taken which showed
that they numbered sixteen hundred.
This remarkable diminution is said to be
due to several oanees. First, the steady
opposition and legal action taken
against begging by different societies,
among which the charity organization
has been prominent. Secondly, the
general sentiment against indiscrimi
nate almsgiving which now pervades
the community. ’J his is shown by the
fact that a pleader for charity who for
merly reaped a rich harvest in coin of
the realm, instead of this now collects
in a day several qaires of cards on
which ar printed notices advising him
if he is a bona fide starveling to apply
at the office of a ward society, which,
after thoroughly investigating his cuss
and becoming convinced that he is de
serving, will see to his wants.
The third reason assigned by those
who know for tho decrease of the sub
jects of pauperdom is ^remarkable, and
of a nature likely to conflict with the
average understanding. It is that the
relief by the board of guardians, which
formerly cost $50,000 a year, has been
done away with. This snm is said to
have been mest swallowed np by per
sons who were able to work aud who
would not. Since its abolition they
have had to. The la^t aud possibly the
best reason is that the general prosper
ity of the city has been < f late ou the
rise. With regard to tho beggars them
selves, a great many adopt the branch of
the trade of blind men or alleged blind
men. These reap the harvests, often
bringing home from $4 to $5 as the re-
what they term a day’s work.
sight, but as a general rule they are
merely afflicted with some disease
which, while materially affecting the
appearance of the optics, does not to
any extent encroach on their sphere of
usefulness. The “twilight beggar” is
just abont this time of the year thinking
of opening an account with tho savings
bank, so great are his earnings. This
gentleman, or child, as he more fre
qnently is, just about the supper hour
knocks at the door or rings tne bell of
some fashionable house and with
a tearful face asks assistance, not only
for himself, but for his mother with
consuiaption, his father with a
broken arm and dll his various sisters
and oonsins and aunts suffering from
every known disease. As a rule he is
successful, for he chooses the most op
portune time for his visit. The hearts
of the inmates are soft j ust at that par
ticular hour, because they have just
been or are in the process of being gas-
tronomically satisfied. The best reason
of all, however, is that he cannot ba
referred to some charitable society, as
he pleads that their offices are closed.
Sometimes he is told that if he leaves
his address the proprietress of the
house will call on him that evening
with plentiful supplies of the good
things of this life. Immediately his
abode is inquired after he sees that to
get anything in that quarter is hope
less and gives an address most remote
from his neighborhood.
Very often the number tendered is
one which does not. exiat.and as a curious
coincidence it is related by Dr. J. W.
Walk, secretary of the society for or
ganizing charity, that in two instances
numbers were given on Fairmount ave
nue which if extant at all wonld be in
the very center of the penitentiary. In
some cases nuobers are given where
there are churches or police stations.
Besides the ordinary class of beggars
who beg on the street there is the g^te-
beggar, who is usually a deserving child
or woman. Sae applies at the gates for
cold pieces, which as a general thing
she eagerly devours. Some of these,
however, are regularly chartered by the
proprietors of emporiums on Alaska and
Si. Mary streets, and what they collect
is assorted and suld at a very cheap
figure per plate. Taking the be^gais
all around, they make a good deal of
mrney and are often thrifty. It does
not pay them, however, to wear their
parses on their sleeves, end their di
lapidated appearances are merely put
on.
Dr. J. Walk, speaking yesterday in
regard to the charity organization of
whiuh he is general secretary, said that
the idea of that body is that in an en
lightened community begging should
be abolished. The able-bodied mendi
cants should be placed in the house of
correction and the sick in hospitals.
Nearly all the beggars have fixed
abodes and regular hunting grounds.
Wilnelmina Rousseau, a deformed
French woman, who hawks pencils on
Arch street, near Thirteenth, is one of
the most incorrigible of the class who
usually beg under the pretext that they
are doing business. Her stock in trade
consists of three lead pencils and a
small saucer, in which she often collects
as much as $3 in a very short time with
out giving anything in return. Her case
has often been referred to the French
consul, but he refuses to send her home
as he claims that she cannot be classed
with beggars, it is hopeless to prose
cute her, and she will have to be leit
in future to her own devices. Philadel
phia does not boast of any millionaire
beggars, like London or New York, and
any of them possess money they keep
it remarkably quiet. Antonio Oidella,
a blind Italian, who trades on his afflic-
it ie said owna a farm of two bun-
ed acre#. He resides on South
th street, in the neighborhood of
betoh of mendicants who have small
in savings banks.
There is a man named Henry Stirling,
a well-known impoeer on phyridan*.
His only capital is a rare affliction. He
has besides imposition been guilty of
tricks to get money which have .caused
the police lately to be on bis trail. Wil
liam Eagard, who changes hisresidencj
every few days, is tolerably known as a
begging letter writer, and he inditts
more than half the epistles in use in th-;
city. He is gifted with a versatile pe i
and a happy, appropriate style Pet
Murphy, who reaps harvest of dimes
and dollars in the Twentieth ward, is
said to have accumulated plenty of
money through parading the etreefr
with a glib tongue and plenty of as
surance.
There ie a wide field for investigation
when one comes to tramps. They are
nearly all unskilled laborers and quir«
all intemperate. They commenced lifo
as carpenters, bricklayers or mechanic*,
at which they were not successes, and
when there came a period of business
depression they were naturally the flr«t
discharged. They tried probably to
get work, and, after failing, they drifted
into idle habits and gradually became
what they are. Emigration is also a
good deal to blame in this respect.
Men land here withont acquaintances
and soon take to the road. Most of the
tramps come here from Wilmington and
Baltimore, remain a week and then
make for Pittsburg or New York.
They chnoee tho railroad lines
to walk on chiefly because
the bustle aud passing traffic touches
the romantic part of their composi
tion. They steal rides either by laying
down flat cn the tops of freight oars or
standing on the buffers. A great many
are annually killed or maimed through
their choice of this mode of travel.
As soon as a tramp arrives in Philadel
phia be looks aronnd for a good square
meal, after sating which he is a gentle
man till the pangs of hunger once
more prey on him. Directly* he has
dined he looks around for a drink.
Sleeping a tramp finds difficult to
provide for. People, as a general
thing, don’t like tramps lying aronnd.
At the Catherine honse of indastry be
can get a bed for one night, but he is
never allowed to return. There are
also a good many flve-cent lodging-
houses in the Twenty-third and Twenty-
fourth wards. The last resort is the
station-house.
A Fearful Swim for Life.
A correspondent, writing from El
Dorado Canon, Nev., savs : Another oi
our old-timers has been swallowed up
by the treaehprons Colorado. Barney
Coleman and Benjimin Gooch, accom
panied by two Indians, started up the
river one morning recently in a skiff for
the purpose of catching drift-wood.
After reaching a point between twelve
and fifteen miles np the river the boat,
becoming unmanageable, was drawn
into an eddy and disappeared in an in
stant. The skiff at the time was near a
-two hundred feet in height, and the
Indians, observing that the eddy was
about swallowing the boat and crew,
jumped out and clung to the rocks and
Gorch endeavored to do the same thing
after them. He secured a slight hold
to the perpendicular sides of the cliff,
clung to it only for a moment, then fell
into the water and was seen no more.
Coleman sprang from the stern of the
skiff out into the river and got beyond
the eddy, where be watched for the ap
pearance of the boat. He had not long
to wait, but it seemed to him ages,
when he caught sight of it, bottom up
ward, a few yards down the river, when
he swam after it, overtaking and cling
ing to it.
In this condition, for three milea,‘-he
went shooting; past rocks, plowing
through breakers and whirling about in
eddies, when he came face to face with
one of those roaring rapids and treaoh
erous eddies so numerous and so dread
ful in the Colorado. There was no time
to lose. Another chance between life
aud death, and that chance perhaps was
the only one in a thousand. The resolu
tion was formed one moment and ex-
eeucod the next. The skiff was in the
midst of the rapids, standing on end ;
another breaker and over il, went.
This was an indescribable moment
to Coleman, whose sole reliance
had deserted him, as he felt a
prisoner in the hands of death, and
thongh he had scarcely known his
strength before here was a desperate
opportunity for its test, and he says that
he felt that he was a mere straw at the
mercy of a wave one second and an eddy
the next.
Here was waged a fierce and pro
tracted straggle for life between a
powerful man and skillful swimmer,
weighing 225 pounds, and first a whirl
pool and then a rapid, whose force and
size and danger can never be realizad
except by the man whose life was
trembling in the balance, but courage
and human strength at last prevailed,
aud the brave man swam on
over rapids and through whirl
pools for the distance ot
three of as perilous miles as was prob
ably ever won by man. Who can ima ?-
ine his feelings as he reached in safety
and crawled npon the mer bank,
where he lay for some time completely
exhausted ? As soon as he bad regained
sufficient strength, Coleman set out for
tho canon, and, shoeless aud naked,
after a tramp of six miles over the bar
ren, rocky mountains and through dee;>
canons of bumiug sand in the heat of
a broiling snn, he arrived, his feet
bleeding and fearfully lacerated by tho
hharp rocks.
The Diet Fiend.
There is a man who has made up his
mind to keep his health good by eating
the right sort of food iu proper quan
tities and with the right kind of masti
cation. Resolution sits upon his brow,
his eyes turn scornfully on his fellow
men and he deliberately and with mal
ice aforethought sits with superbly
folded arms in the restaurant, painfully
working his month as if he were a type
of Sampson's celebrated jawbone en
gaged in the duty of slaying a bit cf
brown bread. He becomes a nuisance
to his landlady, or Lis wife; he buys
fish, which he eats for his brain, and
straggles iu the morning with harsh
oatmeal aud sour baked apples, chewing,
chewing, chewing, while casting con-
temptuons glances aronnd upon the dis
gusted people who are not so good and
are not going to be to healthy as he i:*
going to be. He even turns his toes
out, abhors butter and walks on the
healthiest side of the street. His chil
dren receive no candy and his wife re
ceives a scolding because she does not
live up to the laws of health. ' He
becomes pale, fretful and morose, and
says of a hegthy man, '‘He lives for h ■
stomach,” Wnile he is dying for his.—-
Nme YorTt tier aid,
Chinese Babies.
Let us suppose that the solemn bath
appointed for the third day is over,
which would seem to be almost a Chi
nese baptism, and the mother to be
convalescent. If the offspring be a girl
there will probably be no rejoicing, but
if a boy the mother will go in state to
the temple frequented by her family
and offer thanks to Tien How, the queen
of heaven. The only time it was our
fortune while in China to see a natiye
lady of any standing was on such an oc
casion. A wife of Howqua, the eon of
the celebrated Hong merchant, had gone
to the temple of Honam to return thanks
for the birth of a son. The shrine in the
temple which she was visiting had been
founded by the elder Howqua in honor
of his ancestors; it ie a lofty hall, with
roof open to the beams, closed in the
rear and at the sides, but in front open'
ing with richly carved doors on a raised
terrace surrounded by a stone balustrade
and overlooking a square turfed inolo-
sure containing two or three fine speci
mens of the Chinese banyan, or Ficus
religiose, and a pond of water covered
with the bread green leaves aud rose-
tipped flowers of the lotus, the sacred
plant of Bnddha, who is often repre
sented as seated on its open flower.
Crossing this pond and skirting it
were a bridge and gallery of massive
stone carving corresponding with the
balnstrades, and communicating with
the terrace. On the opposite side of
the gallery was seen the roar of another
shrine, colored of a deep vermilion
like the one in front, with its high
arched roof sweeping down like the
carved ontline of a Tartar tent (from
which the Chinese style of arohiteoture
is supposed to be borrowed), and
adorned with dragons, birds and dol
phins in glazed pottery of the brightest
colors. Down either side stretched a
line of gloomy cloisters communicating
with the rest of the building. At
one end of the terrace were two or three
small tables arranged with viands placed
npon them, and Hurrounded by a con
siderable party of Chinese, among whom
we noticed several females standing, ev
idently in attendance npon some lady,
as in China the servants are almost in
variably of the other sex. Knowing
the scruples of the Chinese against ad
mitting fbreigners into the presence of
the female members of their families,
we turned back, and were on
point of leaving that part
temple, no little disappointed
being nnable to see the whole of the
building, when two members of the
group, one of whom was a son of How
qua, oame forward and requested us, if
we wished, to continue dur examination.
We did so. The shrine at which the
ceremony was going on had been decked
with flowers, whilst on the long counter-
like altar in front of the figure of the
goddess, between the jars of porcelain
and brocze half filled with sandalwood
ashes in which sticks of incense were
in front of the
amids of fruit and sweetmeats.
On either side of these pedestals were
two of smaller size, on each of which
was placed a book apparently of re
ligions service, and by its side a small
wand and a hollow, red, kidney-shaped
gourd, which when struck gave a hollow
and not nnmnsioal sound, each blow
npon it marking the repetition of a
prayer. These, as it were, formed the
lecterns of the officiating priests, and
between them, lacing the central vase
on the high altar, was placed a.
cushion and a mat on which the
fair devotee might kneel and perform
the kotou, or ceremony of kneeling and
touching the ground with the head at
certain periods during the service. At
either side of the central ^oor of the
shrine stood a large bronze vase heaped
with silvered paper formed into boxes
abont the size and shape of steel-pen
boxes, and emblematical of bars of
Sycee silver, which is horned at the
conclusion of the ceremony as an offer
ing to the Queen of Heaven.
On passing out of the shrine, still ac
companied by the two Ohinese who had
joined us, we passed near the banqute-
ing party, when the lady rose, supported
by two of her servants, and, crossing her
hands, saluted us in the Ohinese fashion.
Of her beauty lean say nothing; neither
my companion nor myself oould remem
ber anything save a face painted a la
Chinoise, and hair tied np in the usual
tea-pot form, dressed with magnificent
pearls, jade ornaments, aud natural
flowers. The golden lilies, as the in
habitants of the flowery kingdom call
! the crippled feet of the higher classes
of their women, and the splendidly em
broidered robes, attracted onr attention
far more than the eyes and features,
which doubtless ought to have been our
only consideration:
It is after this festival—not always,
of course, celebrated with the magnifi
cence we have described—that the rela
tives of the child present it either with
plate or bangles of silver or gold, on
which are inscribed the characters sig
nifying long life, honor and felicity. It
is also at this period that it receives its
“milk name,” or the pet name by which
it is known in its family, the name by
which it is known to others being only
given to it at tha completion of its
ionrth year, when its education is sup
posed to commence.
Wasted Heroism.
If DeLong had died for an eternal
principle, and if from his icy grave there
conld spring the seed of the martyr, the
diary found by his dead body would
not be less heart-breaking, but it would
have a most tremendous power. As it
is—a here is the use of all this? This
little company, starving, sick, frozen,
dying, struggle day after day over hnge
tracts of endless snows. The winds
drive them, the sunshine blinds them.
The surgeon’s knife cuts away parts ol
their frozen bodies. They drag each
other over these vast and cruel fields.
They break through the ice on frozen
lakes. Their food sickens them, and
then it fails. Far off in these Arctio
regions, one by one they lie down and
die, and with broken voices the group,
growing smaller and smaller, reads the
service, not for the dead, but for the
sick. They bury their dead under the
ice in the water, but at last, too weak
to even do that, they stagger with them
out of sight and lay them down. And
what do these heroio men—Franklin
and Kane and Da Long, and all this
company dead in the snow—leave but a
memory of bravery, of heroism, all spent
in a frutile search for a shadow!—Our
Continent.
After being thrown from his berth as
the steamer Wilder struck a snag near
Chattanooga, Tennessee. John L Dot.
ten, who had been deaf and dumb for
sixteen years, recovered his speech and
hearing.
The Judge and the Tanner.
About thirty years ago Judge Cincin-
natus Peeples found it necessary to or
der a tanner out of his law office in Hal]
county. The tanner was a poor, shift
less fellow, named Wilson, and shortly
after drifted to Atlanta, where he so-
cured work at fifty cents a dav. In 186$
Judge Peeples went to New York on im-
E ortant financial business for the State.
[e was directed to the great banking
house of R. T. Wilson A Co. He sent
in his card and after waiting a while
was ushered into an elegant office. A
fine-looking man introduced himself as
Wilson and reminded the jndge that he
was the poor tanner he had ordered out
of hie office manv years ago. Judge
Peeples, thoroughly astonished, never
dreamed that this ex tanner was at the
head of the bank, but thought he was
probably related to the proprietor and
had secured a clerkship.
Mr. Wilson invited the judge to dine
with him, and at 5 o’clock the judge
found himself in one of the finest
houses on Fifth avenue. While await
ing his host a superb Isdy entertained
him, and Judge Peeples was over
whelmed with the consciousness that the
day laborer had really become the great
banker. He then became nneasy for
fear he shonld drop some allusion to the
hnmble- origin of the husband of the
splendid lady to whom he was talking. At
length she said: “Judge Peeples, where
do you think I spent the two happiest
years of my life ?” The judge thought
of Paris, Saratoga and Venice,| but was
hesitating, when Mrs. Wilson said:
“ Why at Papa Wilson’s log cabin in
Hall county, where my husband took
me when we were first married.”—At
lanta Constitution.
Carieos Case of Somnambulism.
A curious psychological study IM
afforded by the case of a young lad of
fourteen years, whose performances
when asleep are certainly marvelous.
Tho lad's name is Martin Frobifeoher,
and it is s»id of him that from hi* earli
est boyhood he has been the subject of
somnambnlism. He has a decided
talent for drawing, in which art he ha*
lately become quite interested. This
exei cise has taken nob a hold upon the
boy’s mind that he rises in the niffpt in
a complete an con scions state, s&d will
continue to work on an unfinished piece
of drawing with as much skill and dex
terity ae though he were awake. The
other night he got np and drew a head
from a cast which he had drawn on paper
during the previous day on the wall of hia
chamber. In conversation with the
boy’s father he said: “I can understand
how a somnambulistic subject can go
through certain mechanical motions,
but it is inconceivable to me how. the
boy is able to draw with such perfect
attention to every detail—to put expres
sion into an eye, for instance, and spirit
into a face. He exhibited some very
clever drawings by the boy, partially
-dor*, as he dsolarrf. whitaRfcMsMMfas
fellow w*s in this remarkable condition.
He is very desirous that the case should
have the light of a scientific investiga
tion.
Smoking and Shaving in Japan.
Smoking in Japan, says a correspond-
eat, ie a national custom, followed by
men, women and children. Thev smoke
on all occasions, even as the man at the
crematory did. Do they transact busi
ness together, the bargain concluded,
they sit down aronnd a charcoal br«zier
and draw forth their pipes, which hold
a piece of tobicoo the size of a pea, and
allows them abont two good whiffs.
The filling and refilling, the knocking
of the little balls of lighted tire into
their hands to relight the new pipeful
with, affords them occupation for th-.ir
hands while their tongues run unceas
ingly. Shopmen, bookkeepers, work
men and officials, one and all, mnst
smoke, and one never sees Japs in the
street or moving aronnd anywhere
without their pipes and tobacco
pouches, which look, like wallets tacked
in their girdles. The tobacco is native
and very poor indeed.
In Hiogo we noticed more of the
shaving of heads than in Yokohama^
Passing along the streets one sees
children with a single tuit of hair on
the middle of the head, others with ^
clean-shaven patch, and others again
with little tufts on each side of theix
heads. This universal shaving of the
children’s heads is to make the hair
grow thicker and better.
Leading Annies and Navies.
STANDING ABXIES OF THE LEADING NATIONS.
Annual Ex
nations.
Russia
France..............
Germany
bpain
Austria
Italy
Great britain
British India, Natives
in British Service....
United States
Enlisted
Men.
788,000
471,000
420.000
323,000
296,000
200,000
192,000
123,826
27,976
pense.
1134,216,00(1
100,000,000
92,674, OOflf
49 147,00fl|
60,680,000
37.984,000
83,800,000
100,000,000
30,250,000
Total 2,768,838 $ 688,641,000
STANDING NAVIES OF THE LEADING NATIONS.
NATIONS.
3reat Britain..
Prance
Eiusaia
Spam ...
Italy
United States..
Germany
Austria .......
Brazil.... ....■
Bvreden
Total.
No. ofli-
icers,ac a-
No.
Annual Ex-
men, etc Ships.
pens®.
68,800
4C0
$52,935,000
47.600
226
40,799,000
42,163:
150
20 000,000
12,038
138
6,536.000
10,800
66
7,544,003
8,250
139
15,022,000
7,365
66
11,165,000
8,014
68
4,000,000
6,184
63
9,994,000
6,141
141
1,853,010
_ 207.271
1,451
$ 169,948,000
Djspepsla Among Fanners.
Professor Goodman Kays: Aside fron
other evils, dyspepsia is only too com
mon among farmers and families, when
one would think they are the very per
sons to be free from it, living as they
are supposed to do in the open air and
withont the harrassment of exciting
business and confinement to close labor.
The medical experts declare that the
great prevalence of this complaint and
affections of the liver among farmers
North and South, West aud East, are
owing mainly to too great consumption
of salt meats, pork especially, badly
baked bread, and the constant use of the
frying pan—an American institution co
extensive with the spread eagle and star-
spangled banner 1
The Belgian government is about to
adopt pulverized neat for an army
ration. One pound of the article is said
to be equal in nutritive power to six
pounds of fresh beef.
The great seal of Great Britain and
Iceland is affixed to yellow wax foe
p.ngiiah documents, red for Scotch, and
green for Irish.