The Aiken recorder. [volume] (Aiken, S.C.) 1881-1910, August 19, 1892, Image 6
TCcilber Illinois, Wi*cou*iii, Minnc-
•ota, Iowa, Missouri, Kunsas nor Ne
braska has within her borders a mil
lion sheep.
The famous Treadwell mine in
Alaska, which has yielded more than
$3,000,000 in gold bullion, was pur
chased by the man after whom it was
named for $300.
Secretary Rusk says that the De
partment of Agriculture has reduced
the amount of deaths among cattle at
sea from 1C per cent, to 1 per cent,
since the agitation in regard to mis
treatment at sea began some 12 months
Acts.
*T1s good to speak in kindly guise,
And soothe whe’er we can;
Fair speech should bind the human mind,
And love link man to man.
But stop not at the gentle words;
Let deeds with language dwell;
The one who pities starving birds
Should scatter crumbs as well;
The mercy that is warm'and true
Must lend a helping hand,
For those that talk, yet fail to do,
But “build upon the sand.”
A BICYCLE ELOPEMENT.
Br H. c. DODGE.
ago.
An English magazine, devoted to
the interests of women, has taken a
vote among its readers on the queatipn
of woman’s suffrage. The result
showed that 8301 of the readers want
the ballot, while 1158 expressed them
selves as content with their present
political status.
Queen Christina of Spain upon re*
ceiviug the announcement that the
thousandth baby had been named after
her husband, sent the parents a lay
ette, silver baby service, and a hand
some nest egg, with the graceful mes-
s.igc, “To the thousandth Alfonso,
from a woman whom two Alfonsos
lauve made happy.”
From Germany comes to the New
York Sun a talc of criminal genius of
no common order. A stranger pre
sents himself at a life insurance com
pany’s branch office with a visiting
card describing himself as a head t dice
inspector. The docile agent hands
over his keys and cash, and the bogus
inspector and the money make them
selves air. The transaction evinces
audacity, nerve, and an adequate
knowledge of human nature. The
gentleman ought to have in him the
makings of a master at the Araericau
national card game. It is to be hoped
that before landing in dungeon cell he
may make his way to the land of the
free, there to pit his fine talents
against the brave men who sit within
her gates, challenging all comers.
While the total population of the
United States increased between 1880
and 1890 24.86 per cent, the males in
creased 25.66 per cent, and the females
24.02 per cent. The ordinary normal
ratio is perhaps preserved between
the sexes. The figarcs as to foreign
and native born are interesting and
exceedingly instructive. Again, sup
pressing all but percentages, so as not
to burden the memory with figures, it
is found iu the census tables recently
issued that the native born increase
during the past decade was only 22.76
per cent against 41.78 per cent, in the
<Iecade of 1870-1880,while the foreign
born increase from 1880 to 1890 was
38.47 per cent against 19.99 per cent,
for the previous ten years. This
shows a large increase in foreign and
a large decrease in native born popu
lation in the past decade.
It would be a good thing, the New
York News opines, if every person
with an inclination to “go to law”
ehould first familiarize himself with
the facts in a litigation that has jast
reached the stage of “decision re
served” in one of our city courts. The
suit began in 1862, and involved the
sum of $3800. The original plaintiff
and defendant are both dead, so are
four judges before whom the case
came successively, and so is the re
feree. There were forty-eight wit
nesses at the outset, and all but two of
them are dead; so arc two stenograph
ers, who took testimony, and several
lawyers. The case went to the General
Term three times and to the Court of
Appeals twice. But there is one ele
ment in the ca*e that has shown no
signs of decay in all these thirty years
—ihe bill of costs.
The report of a discovery of a
mastodon in Grayson county, Texas,
being received with doubt the Galves
ton News sent to the spot a repre
sentative, who verifies it. Two work
men. it seems, found the remains'in
the bed of a crock. The tusks tneas-
usod five and a half feet in length.
The molars, six in number, range iu
size from three inches at the front to
six indies along the inner jaw. The
enamel on some of the teeth was still
finn and hard. Other teeth were in a
crumbling state. The skeleton stood
bolt upright and was six feet beneath
the surface of the ground. The tusks
were found to be teu feet apart, aad
it was at first suggested that flesh-
eating animals had dUp aced them.
But, on the other hand, each tusk was
exactly the same distance from the
centre of the head, so that the conclu
sion is drawn that the displacement
was not so great as at first appeared
to be the case, and was probably
caused by the actiou of accumulating
deposits from higher ground. Oueof
the shoulder-blades measured five aud
a half feet in length and three and a
half iu width. The beast was appar
ently twelve feet in height aud about
tweuty iu length. Scientists say it
was a mastodou ohioticus—American
mastodon.
The famous Treadwell mine in
Alaska, which has yielded more than
$3,000,000 in gold bullion, was pur
chased bv the mau for whom it was
named for $300.
I loved my wheel to distraction.
Ethel loved her wheel, also, to dis
traction. Consequently the attraction
of this distraction muted our souls in
single thoughts and caused our hearts
to palpitate on the unit plan.
Of course we were “engaged” and
looking forward to a honeymoon of
all wheel and no whoa and in the
meantime enjoying almost daily bicycle
trips through the lovely country about
our rural town.
No earthly sweeteess could surpass
those blissful rides.
The fragrant flowers nodded, the
tall trees bowed, the breezes whispered
and the wild birds sang their most
glorious serenades to us as we two
turtle doves ou wheels passed before
them.
Dame Nature in her gayest dress
smiled every time she saw us, and so
did a good many other folks, no
doubt, but as we were too much “en
gaged” to heed their levity, they
smiled in vain.
It was no wonder that Ethel and I
became romantic and sentimental
when to the purest joy of courting was
added the next best delight of cycling.
Snch a combination was indeed calcu
lated to make love’s young dream too
bright to last.
There seemed no obstacle between
us and perfect happiness except the
consent of Ethel’s parents to our
union. I naturally felt timid about
asking for it and wanted Ethel, who
was much better acquainted with
them, to speak first. But she insisted
that it was my place to make the open
ing address, and utterly refused to do
anything in the matter beyond vig
orously seconding the motion.
“Well, dear Ethel,” I said, daring
one of our cycling trips, “you might
at least tell me the surest way of mak
ing your father like me before I come
to the point. How would it do to
start a little political discussion to be
gin with—taking his side, of course,
aud after gradually drawing him into
an excitement—then while he’s m id at
the other fellows, offer to become his
sou-in-law aud vote against the ras
cals with him?”
“I badly think that would work,’’
said Ethel soberly, “for no one knows
how pa is at present. He has been a
Republican and a Democrat aud a Pro
hibitionist aud a Mugwump. 1 heard
lately he was on a fence—whatever
that means. If you didn't strike him
just right, you kuow we would be to
tally ruined.”
“Suppose I talked bicycles to him
—don’t you think that would arouse
an enthusiasm aud make him want me
to be his companion iu the glorious
sport?”
“O, not for the world,” Ethel cried.
“Pa once took a header and the scar
is on his nose yet. He utterly detests
that superb enjoyment.”
“Then Ethel,” I said sadly, “I’ll
have to come out flatfooted and ask
him to bless us. If he won’t—”
“He shall,” bravely auswerd Ethel,
“oly don’t mention politics nor cy
cling.”
Assuming a boldness that I did not
feel, that very night I sought a busi
ness interview with my fate’s father
in the parlor of his home.
As he entered die room I, nerved
for the awful ordeal, rose and, with
my best bow, wished him a “good
evening.”
“Good evening! Take a scat, sir,”
he said in rather a too dignified tone
for my comfort. “I understand you
want to see me on very important
business.”
•‘Yes, sir,” I, trembling, replied.
“I am here to ask you for, for—”
••For what, young man?” He spoke
pretending not to notice my blushes.
“For your daughter’s hand.”
The old gentleman gazed at me in
evident surprise at my temerity.
“My daughter's hand,” he slow.y
repeated, “which hand, might I ask,
do you want? ”
“Why, both, sir,” I stammered-
“I love her to distraction aud—
and—”
The stern parent eyed me from
head to foot and then solemly shook
his head. “Young man!” he sagely
remarked, “have you given this mat
ter due consideration? Are you able,
wilti your salary to support a wife?
Do you know that my daughter’s
dres-es alone cost, last year, five hun
dred dollars?”
The old gentleman thought he had
me there, but he didn’t.
“Yes, sir!” I answered meekly,
“I advised her to get them.”
“Ah, ha! I see. That accounts for
the young lady’s exiravagance. In
time of prosperity you were pre
paring for adversity—at my expense.
Thought ihe old man a good goose to
pluck, did you? Well, my noble
youth, while I admire your foresight
and business capabilities I must con
fess you are altogether too smart to be
my Son-in-law. I distinctly and de
cidedly have the pleasure of inform
ing you that I intend to keep my
daughter’s hands. But if mine can
be of any assistance in helping you
down the steps—here they are.”
That ended the unfortunate inter
view.
It was a long, long week before I
saw Ethel aud her woful face was a
picture of distress. Mine was more
•o. “Ethel,” I groaned as we de
jectedly rode alongjon our wheels, “bow
can we live without each other?”
“We can’t aud we wont,” she
bravely exclaimed, “pa is just too
horrid for anything. I’m mad enough
to elope.”
“Hurrah!” I shouted. “I’m with
you—raiu or shine. Let’s elope on
our bicycles. Never was done before.
Strictly original. Patent applied for.
We’ll be famous the world over, and
your pa will be proud of us.”
“Yes—but,” thoughtfully spoke
Ethel when she recovered from the
shock, how can we manage to take
my five-year stock cf dresses. You
won’t be able to buy me any till you’re
in the firm you said.”
‘“Easy,” I answered. “You can
smuggle them iu the barn, wearing
one at a time under your every day
dress, and place them iu a trunk I'll
have hidden in the hay. Then I’ll
put wheels on the trunk aud we’ll tow
it behind when we elope. What a
team we’ll make.”
“And what a capital contriver you
are,” cried the dear, innocent girl;
“but you’ll have to pull the hardest
though.”
“Never fear,” I laughed, “only
name the happy night.”
At the appointed time I stood in the
shadow made by the full moon under
Ethel’s window. As the clock struck
midnight Ethel poked her sweet face
out and whistled softly. Quickly I
raised a ladder to her casement, and
with a Romeo’s ardor helped my fair
Juliet to the ground where our glitter
ing, iron steed stood waiting impa
tiently to be off. The loaded-trunk on
well greased wheels was down by the
gate ready to hitch ou behind us and
the minister in the next town was
waiting according to arrangement to
tie the ten dollar knot when we ar
rived. .
Although Ethel said that both her
pa and ma were soundly snoring when
she left her room I knew it wasn’t
saf j to linger so, wasting no time in
saying “good byes” to the old home
stead, up we leaped on our gallant
steeds and away we flew down the
carriage drive to the front gate almost
forgetting the invaluable trunk in our
mad haste to escape. Stopping and
slipping its rope harness about my
waist and working like a steam en
gine to haul it over the smooth, macad
amized road we fled in the direction
of my friend, the parson.
Our brave cycles needed no whip
and spur to make them go. They
seemed to feel the awful responsibility
thrust upon them aud did their leve 1
best.
Still the trunk handicapped mine to
such an extent that soon I wished I
hadn’t urged Ethel to secure so many
new dresses, but it was too late to re
pent.
On we went with a long ten miles
between us aud victory, and a short
one mile between us and Ethel’s pa,
who might wake up at any moment to
pursue and capture the trunk and—
Horrors! a clatter of advancing hoofs
from behind told us the threatened
danger had arrived. Ou the straight
moonlighted road not a half mile ofl a
man on horseback—Ethel’s furious pa
without a d.oubt—was in full chase.
“FlyI Love! Fly!” I cried to my
frightened sweetheart, as I leaped i
from my wheel and pushed the heavy
trunk into a roadside thicket. “Fly
for your life!” I shrieked when 1
gained her side again, “we must gc l
to the minister first.”
How we flew. Our wheels never
touched the ground; they bounded
through the air; like lightning, like
sky rockets ihey whizzed: At the
same time our pursuer—Ethel’s pa to
a certainty—was near enough to yell
for us to stop and gaining, for it was
up hill before us.
But we reached the hill top ere he
caught us, and away we fla-hed like a
pair of cannon balls tired from a
dynamite gun and followed by a tor
nado.
One mile, two miles, three miles
we raced, pursuer and pursed, neither
losing nor gaining, as in silence we
all streaked past woods and fields aud
scattered farmhouses lining the dreary
way.
“Twas the greatest test of speed and
endurance ever known between horse
and bicycle. All reeords were broken
and—hurrah. The wheel kept ahead
as usual.
At the sixth mile the horse began
falling behind iu spite of its rider's
efforts. At the seventh mile Ethel’s
pa was out of sight.
Two miles more of the cycle's
lightning speed and we reached our
temporary haven of safety, the min
ster’s where its sleepy owner was
sitting up and praying for our safe
arrival.
In we rushed and in ten minutes
our matr»"'''nial kn »t was firmlv tied.
Then we went oat on the piazza to
look for “pa.”
He soon came along on his tired
horse and seeieg our wheel at the
parson’s gate sopped to find out what
it meant.
Ethel, aidec by me and the parson,
told him and the sensible old gentle
man not only gave us his blessing
but afterwards traded bis horse for a
wheeL
It is needless to say that he now
loves it to distraction aud thanks his
dutiful son-in-law for the same—
[Chicago Sun.
The Modern Tooth.
Fresh from his recent revelations as
to the iuentable results of higher
edneation on the women of
the future, Sir Janies Crichton
Browne, wno presided yesterday over
a meeting *f the British Dental Asso
ciation, ha; felt it his painful duty to
call attention to the lamentable condi
tion of the tooth of the present. The
picture he draws is truly desolating,
aud it is all the more so, in that it is
founded on the relentless basis of
actual investigation. Out of 1861
children under twelve recently ex
amined, the proportion of those blest
with normal or perfect teeth in need
of neither extraction nor tilling was
only one in eighteen. Even more
alarming are the denial statistics of
Leeds, wlere ninety per cent, of the
teeth of the population are bad. Fur
thermore, Sir Jumes stated that no
fewer th\i ten tniilions of artificial
teeth are used in England annually. Of
the three causes to which Sir James
Crichton Browne attributed ihe pres
ent parlous condition of the human
tooth—soft food, high pressure, and
vitiated atmosphere—the first, at least,
is by no means an inevitable condition
of latter-day life. Ou the other band,
the nervous tension of modern exis
tence aud the growth of large iowus
are factors which cannot beelimiuated
from the great denial problem, and
are bound to exert an increasingly de
structive influence on the type of the
coming aan. We are rapidly tending
toward an era of total baldness, aud
this, it seems, is to be further aggra
vated by toothlessness. There is an
ancient Greek legend of the daughtcis
of Phorcys, who had only one eye and
one tooth among them. This, we take
it, must have been a prophetic view of
the results of culture and civilization
on the woman of the future.—[London
Globe.
New “Siamese” Twins.
That strange freak of nature known
as “the Siamese twins” has, it ap
pears, been riepeated in Orissa. The
“Orissa tviiAs” are described as two
little Urh[B;irls of about five sum
mers old. ■iVhen last heard of they
were leafeA by steamer for this coun
try on theix way to the World’s Fair
at ChicagoJ though they will first be
exhibited here. They are, it is stated,
firmly joined together, and if one is
fed both tare satisfied. When they
were in e«'ly infancy at Hoapara, iu
the interiw of Orissa, the native vil
lagers looked upon them as the incar
nation offllhe devil, aud their parents
were bojlotted by their casie people.
The storlis that the father’s first im
pulse walto separate them by cutting
the sac wlich joins them together, and
the marLiliade in the attempt is still
visible, f A. wealthy tehsilder of the
district, {however, intervened. Ketter
Naick, the, father of the twins, is re
ported to ( be now steadily growing
rich. TiH0Painc.sc twins, Ciiaug aud
Eng, wen^it will he remembered, of
the male sex. They were born in
1811 and died iu America within two
hours of eacli other, in January, 1874.
— [London News.
Great Haul of White Elephants.
New happy hunting grounds have
been found by Mr. Savi, the renowned
superintendent of the elephant khed-
dahs at Dacca, with the result that be
has brought down this season the
enormous number of 266 of these un
wieldy an inals from the heart of the
Garo Hill-. It is probable that they
bad never before seen a human being,
and they were certainly unaware of
the arts by which elephants are caught;
for hitherto this large tract of country
had not been hunted, owing to the
difficulty of making a road by which
to get out ihe new captives. It had
become important that the old hunt
ing districts should have a rest. Now
that the Garo Hills are brought within
reach by Mr. Savi’s enterprise, it is
thought the risk of exhaustion in the
old haunts will be minimized.
The Mandarin Tongue.
The most widely spread language in
China is the Mandarin. It is used iu
one form or another in fourteen or
lifteen of the nineteen provinces com
posing China. There are also North
ern aud Southern Mandarin tongues.
The best Northern Mandarin dialect is
spoken in Pekin, while the best South*
i ern Mandarin is opnkeu in Nankin.
A third marked form of the same
tongue is used in West China,
especially in Tsieu-Kiang. People
who speak the various Mandarin dia
lects, however, can understand one
another readily. If we estimate the
population of China at 360,000,000 of
people, at least 300,000,000 use the
Mandarin tongue. All persons, from
whatever part of China, who desire to
enter political or official life, learn
this toneme.
A LOST CABLE.
How It Was Fished Up From the
Atlantic’s Bottom.
A Marvelous Triumph of En
gineering Skill.
At a dinner given the late Cvrus TV
© •
Field by the New York Chamber of
Commerce, on November 15, 1866, he
told about the recovery of the Atlan
tic cable which was lost iu the ocean’s
bed, in these words:
“After landing the cable safely at
Newfoundland, we had another task
—to return to mid-ocean and recover
that lost in the expedition of last year.
This achievement has, perhaps, ex
cited more surprise than the other.
It was the triumph of the highest
nautical and engineering skill. Wo
had four ships, and on board of them
some of the best seamen in England
—men who knew the ocean as a hunt-
ter knows every trail in the forest.
There was Capt. Moriar y, who was
in the Agamemnon iu 1857-8.
“He was in the Great Eastern last
year, and saw the cable when it broke;
aud lie and Capt. Anderson at once
took their observations so exact that
they could go right to the spot. After
finding it, they marked the line of the
cable by a row of buoys, for fogs
would come down and shut out sun
and stars, so that no man could take
an observation. These buoys were
anchored a few miles apart. They
were numbered, and each had a flag
staff ou it, so that it could be seen by
day, and a lantern by night. Thus
having taken our bearings, we stood
off three or four miles, so as to come
broadside on; and then casting over
the grapnel, drifted slowly down upon
it, dragging the bottom of the ocean
as we went. At first it was a little
awkward to fish iu such deep water,
but our men got used to it, aud soon
could cast a grapnel almost as straight
as an old whaler throws a harpoon.
“Our fishing line was of formidable
size. It was made of rope, twisted
with wires of steel, so as to bear a
strain of thirty tons. It took about
two honrs for the grapnel to reach
bottom, but we could tell wheu it
struck. I often went to the bow and
sat on the rope, and could feel by the
quiver that the grapnel was dragging
on the bottom two miles under us.
But it was a very slow business. We
had storms and calms and fogs and
squalls.
“Still we worked on day after day.
Once, on the 17th day of August, we
got the cable up, and had it iu full
sight for five minutes—a long, slimy
monster, fresh from the ooze of the
ocean’s bed; but our men began to
cheer so wildly that it seemed to be
frightened, and suddenly broke away
and went down.
“This accident kept us at work two
weeks longer; but finally, on the last
night of August, we caught it. We
had cast the grapnel thirty times. It
was a little before midnight on Friday
night that we hooked the cable, aud it
was a little after midnight Sunday
morning when we got it ou board.
What was the anxiety of those twenty-
six hours! The strain on every man’s
life was like the strain on the cable
itself. When finally it appeared, it
was midnight; the lights of the ship
and in the boats around our bows, as
they flashed in the faces of the men,
showed them eagerly watching for the
cable to appear on the water.
“At length it was brought to the
surface. All who were allowed to
approach crowded forward to see it.
Yet not a word was spoken; only the
voices of the officers in command
were heard giving orders. All felt
as if life and death hung on the is-ue.
It was only when it was brought over
the bow and on the d. ck that men
dared to breathe. Even then they
hardly believed their eyes. Some
crept towards it to feel of it, to be
sure it was there. Then we carried
it along to the electricians’ room to
see if our long-sought treasure was
alive or dead.
“A few minutes of suspense, and
and a flash told of the lightning cur
rent again set free. Then did the
feeling long pent up burst forth.
Some turned away their heads aud
wept, others broke into cheers, and
the cry ran from man to man, and
was heard down in the engine rooms,
deck below deck, and from the boats
on the water, and the other ships,
while the rockets lighted up the dark
ness of the sea.
“Then with thankful hearts we
turned our faces again to the west.
But soon the wind rose, and for thirty-
six hours we were exposed to all the
dangers of a storm ou the Atlantic.
Yet, in the very height and fury of
the gale, as I sat in the electricians’
room, a flash of light came up from
the deep which having crossed to Ire
land, came back to me, in mid-ocean,
telling that those so dear to me, whom
I had left on the banks of the Hudson,
were well and following us with their
wishes and their prayers.
“This was like a whisper of God
from the sea. bidding me keep heart
and hope. The Great Eastern bore
herself proodly through the storm as
if she knew that the vital cord which
was to join the two hemispheres hung
at her stern, and so on Saturdav. the
7th of September, we brought our
second cable safely to the shore.”
Firemen’s Nerves.
A training-school system for finer
men is one of the interesting features
of the fire-fighting department of
Chicago.
New firemen are initiated and old
ones skilled in the dangers and neces
sities of their calling at the engine-
houses where hook and ladder com
panies are stationed. At these places
what is known as the “pompier drill”
is gone throagh, says the Tribune,
and here, too, the various devices de
signed to ensure the safety of human
life are tested. And at these places
also the nerve of a new man is given
a thorough trial.
To the lay observer the pompier
drill is a thrilling sight. It stirs one
to see a 200-pouud man run up the
wall of a four-story building by no
other means than a skeleton ladder,
twelve feet long—a device that ap
pears to be unable to bear the weight
of an average youth. Yet this is done,
and done so quickly as to take one’s
breath away.
Attached to each engine-house is a
three-story tower with window ledges
on the sides. The pompier ladder is
curved at one end, and the new fire
man is taught how to rest this on the
first-story ledge so that it will not slip
while he is climbing. After he has
reached the first ledge he draws up
the ladder and hangs it from the ledge
above. Then he climbs again, repeat
ing the process until the roof is
reached. The ladder having no safe
grasp on the ledge, is likely to slip
unless skillfully managed. The fire
man’s weight must hold the ladder
securely in place. A slight shifting
of his weight to one side would raise
one of the curved prongs resting on
the ledge, aud, this slipping, ladder
and fireman would fall. It was by
an accident of this kind that a fireman
lost his life a few days ago at the
engine-house on Pacific avenue.
The object of perfecting firemen in
this drill is to make them skillful iu
scaling buildings to the roof where
time is a valuable consideration. An
expert fireman can get to the top of a
building long before a truck ladder is
iu place.
Another drill is that with the steel
net, a device for catching anyone
jumping from a building. The fire
men are taught how to hold the nei*
aud tests are made by having persons
jump from short elevations. In this
drill a svstem of signals is used to se-
cure prompt and uniform movement
ou the part of the men. This is to
enable thorn to move together at a
captain’s signal so as to catch a falling
body.
What We Owe to Animals.
Those who have read the story of
Robinson Crusoe, the sailor who was
shipwrecked on an Island not inhabi
ted by white men, will remember how
he soon made companions of the va
rious animals he found there, and
with their aid sustained life qutil he
was rescued. If one of us should be
shipwrecked ou a desert island where
no animals lived—no horses to draw
us, no ox to toil tor us, no cow oi
goat to give us milk, no sheep to give
.is wool, no hens to give us eggs, no
dog to be our companion aud guard
us in the night, no cat to lie on the
hearth, no birds to sing their songs,
no living oreature to keep us comj any,
no sound of any living thing by day
or night, only solitude and silence
e\'ery where, with nothing to eat but
such roots as we could dig from the
earth, and nothing to wear but such
bark as we could pluck from the tree
—we should then know how much wo
owe to these creatures, which God
lias mercifully provided for our use.
And ever afterwards, if we escaped
from such a life, how grateful we
should he to God for giving them,
and how grateful to them for the ser
vice they render us!
It lias been said by those who have
studied, that if only the birds were all
destroyed, we could not live on the
earth; for the insects which birds ea l
would destroy all vegetation, and all
human life would perish. — [Twelve
Lessons on Kindness to Animals.
The Universal Mosquito.
“I have been as far south as Pata
gonia, and as far north as Iceland,”
said Capt. Frank Bowers, now at the
Laclede, “aud I have yet to find a
country that is not infested by mos
quitoes. It is the geueral opinion
that these pests are confined to warm
countries, but that is a mistake.. In
the short summers of Iceland they
fairly swarm, aud a man may get all
the bites he can take care of in the
Straits of Magellan if he goes there at
the proper time. Mexico was a terra
incognita to the mosquito until a few
years ago, but lie is plentiful enough
there now. It is said that they were
imported, with much other undesir
able live stock, from the United States.
If that be true I do not wonder at the
dislike with which the descendants of
the Montezumas regard the Ameri
canos.”— [St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
It is estimated that 3,500,000 theatre
tickets are issued in the country every
week at fifty cents each. The total
sum expended every year for this
form of amusement would amount to
$91,000,000.
“The Laud of Little People.”
Yes, the land of little people is a lovelier land
than ours,
With its mine of new-found treasures, mossy
glades and fairy bowers.
Earth, her robe of choicest beauty spreads to
woo the tender feet.
And the angels whispering round them thrill
the air with accents sweet.
Memary brings no pang of sorrow, troubles
lightly pass away, *
Hope's horizon is tomorrow, and the sky is
bright today.
Every moment has its blessing, sweeter
thoughts and fairer flowers;
Yes, he land of little people is a lovelier
land than ours.
But from o’er the silent river comes to us a
purer glow—
Purer even than the sunbeams that the little
people know;
And tne love sons of the heavens steals upon
the wearied ear,
Sweeter than the angels' whimpers that the
little people hear.
And the wanderer, overstriven, humbled as
a little child.
Knows the pa?t is all forgiven, and his God
is reconciled.
When around Lis faltering footsteps comes
the blessing of the dove,
From the fairest world of any, from the
home of trutli and love.
—[C. Willis, in New York Advertiser.
HUMOROUS.
Nothing tires the aoul of a man
more than a shoe peg.
Many a woman who cannot drive a
nail or a horse can drive a man.
• A row of pins amounts to a great
deal to the mau who sits down on
them.
Bob—I don’t see how yen can stand
that fellow Bliukington. Claire—I
can’t; I sit down on him.
“Charley Thwiggins! How dare
you?” “You said you’d be a sister to
me, didn’t you?” “Yes.” “Well I al
ways kiss my sister whenever I feel
like it.”
“There’s only one good thing about
a clam,” remarked young Freddy, as
be dextrously removed a handful of
gravel from his mouth, “he never
loses his sand.”
Mrs. Yottngwife (at breakfast) —
There is no bread on the table, Nora.
Nora—Sure, there's none in the house.
Mrs Youngwifo (severely)—Then
make some toast.
She always used to shake my hand with a
touch as light as a feather,
Last night I said I loved her and she shook
me altogether.
Smith (with effusion) — Hello,
Brown, is that you? 1 heard you were
drowned! Brown (with sadness) —
No it was my brother. Smith (^thought-
lessly) — What a pity!
Miss Drop—Why I wonder what is
the matter with my eye? Do they
seem to have a filmy appearance? Mr.
Swiftleigh—Just about as usual my
dear. They fill me with rapture.
“I have just gained your mother’s
consent, Clara dear.” “But, Mr.
Swift, I am so young, I—really—”
“I don’t think it will make any dif
ference, as I am to be your step
father.”
He had broujfht her a chair, then a
fan, then an ice, and as he went after
her shawl, her friend remarked:
“You sem to think a great deal of
Mr. Slimmins.” .“Yes,” wa s the re
ply, “I like him for his fetching
ways.”
The Vibrating Uoloeusia.
Another botanical curiosity has late
ly been added to the list that was al
ready graced with such oddities as the
“changeable flower,” the “cannibal
vine,” the “jumping bean,” the “cater
pillar plant” and the “snow flower.”
The new wonder is from New Zeal
and and has only been known to
civilized man since 1891. In its native
haunts it is known by a name which
signifies “ague weed,” notwithstand.
ing the fact that it is a true tree and
often grows to be 20 feet high. The
peculiarity of tins shrub is its-trem
bling, a characteristic which gives it
its n ine of “vibrating” colocasia
to distinguish it from oilier species of
colocasia which do not tremble. Wheu
iu a closed room, where the air is per
fectly still, the vibrations frequently
run up to 100 per minute. The
trembling is not in the leaves alone*
but occasionally extends to some of
the largest branches. — [St. Louis Re
public.
A Swell Chinese Dinner.
General Wong, commander of the
Chinese troops in the neighborhood of
Canton, has been entertaining the
foreign consuls, the commissioner and
deputy commissioners of customs, the
chairman of the municipal council, aud
others in the Swatow Guildhall. The
bill of fare was as follows: Bird’s-
nest soup, pigeon’s egg*, sharks’ fins,
fried quail, stewed pigeons, mush
rooms (stewed), ineatcake* and chick
en soup, roast chicken (rolled), white
fungus, boiled mutton and onions,
chicken, walnuts and mushrooms,
roast mutton, dolphins’ mouths, suck
ing pig and roast duck with garlic,
cucumber and patties, crabapple tea
and cakes, congee with ducks’ eggs
and salt turnips, boiled rice and a
variety of sweets. In the matter of
liquids, a variety of “the best sam-
shoos” were served, together with
foreign wines, including champagne.
In America, as in France, the aver
age size of families has been steadily
decreasing for the last half centary.
The average is now 4.94, when in 1850