The tribune. (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, June 21, 1876, Image 1
r .
The Beaufort Tribune
VOL. II.?NO. 31. BEAUFORT. S. C., .TUNE 21. 1876. $1.50 PER ANNUM.
A Page from Life's Hook. f
I saw two children intertwine
Their arm" about each other,
Like the yonn< ten Irila of a vine ^
About its no.iroe b -other ;
/ And evor and anon, j
As gayly tboy ran on, c
Tboy lookod into each other's face a
1 Anticipating an embrace. E
' I saw tlio-o two when thoy wore men. ^
I wa'chod them meet one day, j
Thcv touched each other's hands?and then
Each went on his own way. a
Thero did not seem a tio c
' Of lovo?a bond or chaiu? 0
To tr ako them turn the hungering eye, v
Or griep the hand again. t
This ii a page in our life's book
Wo all of ns turn over.
The web is rent, 8
The hour-glass spent, ^
And, oh! the paths wo once forsook 1]
How eoldom wo recover. u
- t
rpTTT? riTTT "C f\P T7<TT? XT' f
jlxiju uujur yjr riA?j. s
8
"You are wrong, captain, wrong! ]J
Old wininn yonder," and as tlio crone b
6poke, casting out lier wrinkled fore- o
finger, in token of disdain, toward tho tl
lowlaud country at tho base of the great c
spurs of Etna, she looked weird and f'
wild enough, with her ragged gray hair ri
and fiery eyes, for the Sibyl of Curua?
"old women yonder, I say, may not be b
worth listeniug to. But I was cradled t<
up hero in the very lap of fire." si
" Well, well, mother," I answered, b
soothingly ; " I am far from doubting ?3
your skill. In the three months of m\ *'
stay I have learned something of theun- ?
certain humors of the burning inouu tl
tain, aud, trust me, I'll not veuture too w
far from the safe track." fi
"Ah, Tnglese! You are just like the fi
rest of the young men," said old As w
sunts, with somewhat, of a rude pity in a
her tone; "won't be warned ! Had J ?
not three hold fous? Two were coral b
fishers. Ou9 followed Garibaldi to u
Naples and Gaeta. He, at any rate, is n
laid in dry earih?not like Beppo and
Totti. _Hhvo a care lest your grave be f<
not a hot one!" And with a nod of her o
lie id and a wave of her hand she was n
gone.
Tho old woman's words made an im- n
MV<V:amti nn mn nrlnMi T ttoinlxr frio.l ll
shake otT. Let m? explain how matters b
stood. In tho first place it was only Sl
under the pressnre of wisfortuqp that I,
George Clements, lately second officer of t
a first rate clipper ship, had become a a
sub inspector, or moro correctly, an act- a:
ing sub-inspector, in tho sulphur works a
on Mount Etna. My ill luck had ai
brought mo there. In an evil hour I y
had been talked into investing my h
savings?some two hundred pouuds? J?
in becoming part owner of a Maltese f<
coasting vessel, on board of which I was ti
mate, the skipper being a Maltese named
Antonia, a worthy old fellow in his way, d;
but obstinate as a mule and niggardly ^
to a degree. m
So long as wc met with average d
weather our voyages were prosperous si
and wo netted dollars. But a three days' tl
storm, a rarity iu tho Mediterranean,
sent us staggering, dismasted, leaky, si
and with a frightened crew, under the ni
cliffs of Sicily. I was the one English- si
man on board, aud it was only by tho
utmost exertions that I could force the tl
olive skinned southerners to leave off b
telling their beads and invoking the f*
saints, and keep tho pumps croinc. As P:
it was, the schooner laid her bones on d;
the beach near Catania, and though no
lives were lost the wreck of property was A
complete. The skipper had relations in ic
Malta who would take him in, but I, the ?'
English mate, who now owned nothing na
but the sailor's suit I came ashore in, tc
might have starved, had not the vice- ?<
consul kindly recommended me for the ?
petty post I now hlled, and which in- ol
sured mo a bare subsistence, and no ol
more. <1
Those sulphur mines, wlionce comes
by far the greater proportion of the raw pl
sulphur of commerce, have always been ?
a government monopoly. Indeed I nn
have heard that King Bombn, at a critical
point of the Crimean war, had it
thoughts of prohibiting the export of cj
the Sicilian sulphur, without which the I):
- powder mills of England could not tl
furnish ammunition, and the present ftl
rulers of the island could not neglect K
such a sourco of revenue. The collec- g
tiou of the sulphur naturally deposited P
by the volcanic forces, over restless beneath
the noil, does not require much w
skill, but the occupation is a toilsome o:
and unhealthy one, poorly remunerated, w
and not always exempt from peril. fl
Sulphur gathorers are not, as a rulo, n;
native Sicilians. The majority were, at a'
the time of my sub-inspectorship, immi- g
grants from the mainland, whoso ante- a
oedents it was perhaps quite as well not o
to pry into. A fierce looking set of sal- k
low, ragged ruffians they were, with ft
unkempt hair and. boards, and haggard a:
faces innocent of the touch of soap and ci
water, always gambling, now with a pack it
of greasy cards, now, in Neapolitan
fashion, with dirty fingers uplifted, and s]
quarreling as savagely over infinitesimal tl
flfilknfl flu flwiltrvli > l?o/1 Ixunn in if
? ? vdvupii %m ivi iiuuo unvi uwu iu ii
jeopardy. As for old Assupta, she was a
the widow of a charcoal burner, and n
still, with the help of her grandchildren, L
# managed to sell a few loads of fnel in r;
the city below. The family, however,
bore an ill repnte for poaohing, pilfer- n
ing, and, I believe, sorcery, and I am f:
afraid that Assunta herself encouraged t
this last roport as a sonrce of protlt. a
Her regard for rae wa3 merely duo to a
' the fact that I had prevonted some of 1
our rough workmen, who insisted that I
she was a witch and had the evil eye, e
rorn lliugiug her, body and bones, into
he wintry torrent that rushed roaring
mst our huts, and ever since that day
he had been patronizingly polito to 11
lupitan, as she called me.
Mine was not, as sub inspector, a very
losirable position. The inspector, save
>n pay day, did not often show himself,
,nd when he did visit the scene of his
lominal dnlies, would have been poweress
to enforce any sort of discipline
rnongst our black sheep, but for me.
ly the combined effects of coaxing,
[ood-humored bauter.and tho occasional
rgument of a knock-down blow, I had
outrived to establish somo ascendancy
iver the wild spirits around me, and
ras rather popular than otherwise, al
hough at first my orders had been met {
pith scowling glances and fingering of i
:nivos. The work t) he done was none 1
if tho pleasante-it. The crude sulphur, f
eldom quite cold, and often "glouing 1
lot, had to be raked with hoes and iron 1
looks from the brink of some of the
lumerous small craters on the crest of 1
he volcano, in the midst of poisonous i
nmes and eddying clouds of smoke, t
howers of red-hot ashes, and even of
tones. i
It was necessary to convey the sul- ^
iliur, when a sufficient quantity had
een gathered, to the plains, along tracks y
lily fit for the gont or tho hill fox, by *
he aid of rude hand barrows, or sledges 6
onstructed of boughs, through dense g
irests and over broken and -jagged 2
ocks.
Our huts were mere booths, hastily 1
uilt of logs and branches, and ill fitted 1
o keep out tho rough weather, the '
now, hail and wind, which lash tho I
leak heights of Etna when tho lower
ouutry seems still to bask in its goldeu ?
unsliine. Tho pay of the workmen
ras small, enough to provide them with e
ho black bread, garlic, and chestnuts, 3
nth perhaps a Sunday repast of stank- e
sh cr eels, on which the poor of the *
ir south contrive to exikt. Frugal as I
rero their meals, however, coarse wine i
nd coarser spirits were somehow afford- t
d by them, and, as I have said, of gam- t
ling for " grani," or perhaps for a panikiu
of fiery "aguardiente," there was
o sliat. t
I hud been made iwmewbat uncom- t
ortnl >le by the half enigmatical words s
f Assunta's warning. The part of the s
wuiiiuiu uu wiiu-u we were encampea 1
ras clothed with thick forests of cheat- I
lit and live oak, with here and there a
arren track of scoria), spanned iu places e
y what might have been mistaken for a c
nlid atone causeway, the remains of t
[ raw ancient lava stream long cold, c
Lore were many small apertures, whence I
roM jets of steam and puffs of smoke, li
ud Hiouud which hissed and simmered t
cin-t of sulphur, heaving, crackling
nd glowing, of every color from pale n
elluw to ruby red. From these solfa- a
iras, as they were locally called, we a
leaned the chief portion of the mineral s
)r tbe sake of which we passed our a
me iu such elevated regions. n
Now it was only for some four or five t
ays that the old charcoal burner's v
idow had taken to uttering her half- t
lystic predictions of coming evil, and c
tiring that space I had myself obtained s
gus of a greater activity than usual in 1;
le volcano. The smoke was blacker r
ad more frequent. Hissing columns of
;eam rose often into the air, and were 8
ot seldom followed by a volley of red-hot a
one s. The earth was in many places fc
) warm as to cause pain to the hand h
lat touched it, and in two instances the n
rushwood niar our camu caught fire, t
om tho foiling of heated ashes amid the i
arched grass, and the fire was with I
iificulty extinguished. t
Without reposing unlimited faith in a
ssnuta's croakings, I was still of opin- 8
?u that we should do better to remove i
tir temporary dwelhngs before tho a
louutain plateau grew literally too hot f
> hold u?, and accordingly I onlv await
1 the inspector's arrival with tho
icnthly pay to mention to my superior
llieer the condition of affairs, and to
btain his permission for n change of
narters.
Pay day arrived, and with it the inoector,
but not alone. With him came
party of travelers, most of whom rode
uiles, while their guides, porters, serints,
and interpreter made up quite an
uposing cortege. None but the wealthy
in afford to bring, with them so much
araphernalin, and I could easily believe
10 inspector that tho new-comers wore,
i he said : 4,Illa8trissimi Inglesi," who
ad boon especially recommended to his
ood offices by the' governor of the
roviuce.
There were several ladies of tho party,
hich consisted, as I aiterwards learned,
f more than one family, and I think it
as tho sight of their plumed hats and
uttering dress, and the sound of their
terry laugh, that made mo hang back
nd keep aloof, ashamed of my rough
orb and weather-beaten aspect, while
ly ohief, nothing loath, did the honors
f tke sulphur mine, about wisich he
new so little, descanting glibly to his
lir listeners on the marvels of the plaoo,
nd smirking as they grew enthusiastic
oncerning the Lively tints of the glow>g
sulphur.
TIia wpftf.hor TOoa nf fit a flnacf IK** /
pring sky was of the purest blue, and
tie balmy air seemed to caress the cheek <
; funned. I overheard one of the ladies 1
ay to another that the climate seemed 1
erfection. I wonder how she would ]
,ave enjoyed the whistling wind and t
att ling hail of the winter storms. i
Then came the dinner?a sort of pictio
on a splendid soale, for the cooks <
rora the Hotel Reale at Catania had
een busy in their improvised kitchen,
nd the hampers had been unpaoked, i
nd rare viands and good wine were '
landed round in lavish profusion. ]
5ven our tatterdemalion sulphur work- <
irs were not forgotten, and the poor i
fellows got choicer food and daintier f
liquor, from the superfluity ot tho banquet,
than had ever glnddened their
palates.
I,'perhaps from a sentiment of falso
pride, had held myself aloof, and hud
leeliued a good natured invitation on the
part of tho traveling "excellencies" to
bo a partaker of the banquet. But, I
KJarcely know why, I hovered around
ike blithe party, aud, myself unseen,
gazed upon them from amidst the everyrnrn
nnl-a nnrl tYioffo.l K?nol>TTf^ev-l
W- M V....... ??uvt AUUVW14 L?1 UOU1TUV/VI. J
there were present two or three young 1
ladies who were pretty aud attractive, j
out tbe face that riveted my attention i
vas that of a little child?a girl six or 1
leveu years old, with loose curls of pale
jold, and a complexion of delicato pink i
ind white?merely a plump little smiling t
oab.v faco, but so very, very like a littlo f
lister of my own, long since laid to rest i
aeneath the daisied turf, that I felt it <
jalf paiuful to look at her. f
" Hist, capitan !?how?I've run 1? <
veil, I've found you,"said a husky voice I
n th ; Sicilian patois, as a hand plucked (
it my sleeve. I
I trrnod, and saw beside me a ragged {
mp of a girl of somo twelve or thirteen t
rears, with bare feet and uncombed c
>lack hair, like the mane of a horse, 1
vhora I knew to be a granddaughter of s
he reputed witch Assunta, and who t
leenu'd to own no Christian name, sinco n
ihe was always spoken of as tho " Qaz- 1
ai." i
4i Tho grandmother sent me. How 1
['vorun !"?and the quick panting of 1
ler young lungs confirmed this. 1
Make tho best ol your way to Catania c
jofore it catches you."
"Beforo what catches me?" asked I, v
astonished. n
"Tho gulf?the gulf of fire!" return- *
id tho girl, impatiently. "She wishes a
rou naught but good, signor, so she 8
lent me, but don't tell those hounds v
villi the heads of swine," and she shook a
ler list, with a stealthy hate, at a carous- ^
ug group of bur sulphur seekers, and *
hen before 1 could demand an explanaion
was gone. *
What did this portend ?
I turned my eyes toward tho barren v
rack that lay, cinder 6trewn, beyond c
ho greenery of tho forest, and saw v
ometliing like a fiery serpent come ^
lowly creeping along the ground, in an
rregalar course, the black and gray ash c
leaps reddening as it advanced. ^
alow una siient, on it crept, and pres- 8
mtly I saw the dry moss and dead leaves 8
>u the outskirts of the wood suddenly c
ake lire, as though the flaming breath 8
>f the giant serpent had kindled them. v
!nd then I felt that mischief wus inleed
at hand, and uplifted my voice to 8
he utmost to give the alarm. v
A mightier voice than mine drowned ^
ay feeble accents. There was a roar
s if a thousand cannon had been fired J
t once, and then thero soared up to the f<
ky a cloud of red-hot ashes, falliug in a
, tiery rain on lawn and wood, while a
uoss, grass, and brush, and even entire ?
rees, begun to blaze and crackle. Nor 8
ras this all, for the treachorous crust of 8
he volcanio mountain heaved and n
racked, opening out into flaming fis- M
ores which, in the form of a circle rude- ^
y traced, seemed threatening to suronnd
us. n
An indescribable period of panic en- ?
ued. The gay picnic party broko up,
nd its members, mixed pell-mell with ?
ho terrified sulphur workers, hurried
teadlong down the hillside, some on
anles, but most on foot, abandoning ?
he lato scene of festivity, and absorbed ^
u the one impulse of self-preservation,
t was to no purpose that I endeavored "
0 preserve something like discipline f"
moDg our own men. Fear was too .
trong for my efforts to be availing, and ls
nspector and visitors, guides, servants
,nd miners seemed to contend in the
rantio race for safety.
" The gulf!?the gulf of firo !"?such
pero the words that repeatedly -reached \
ne as the crowd hurried down the steep h
md winding road, and I knew the tl
iliraso to indicate one of those occa- t
ional outbreaks of the volcanic forces tl
>elow by which a fresh crater is estab- t
ished. A
My first intention had been to pro- t
erve tho money and stores which be- ii
ong to government, but already tho v
iuts were burning, and the disorder so a
general that none heeded my summons, b
L should have followed tho retreating o
nob, when, turning my head, I beheld o
1 spectacle which caused my very heart v
o cease beating, so great was the horror I
>f it. Borne fifty yards off, on the other v
lide of a fiery chasm, that seamed the d
artli like the gaping mouth of some e
nonstrous beast of prey, stood alone the t
>retty English child, with golden hair a
rnnging in wavy ringlets, who hail pre- 11
riously attracted my notice. She had fi
itrayed, doubtless, from her frionds in
he confusion, and now stood to all ap- t
icarance amused, but not alarmed, us p
ihe gazed at the bright hue? of the in- '1
sandesoent sulphur, now cherry red, ii
low saffron, then palest pink or darkon - t
ing amethyst, that bubbled at her feet, h
[t was fearful to see the innocent young C
hing, so unconscious of her danger, J
uniting as it were in the verv iaws of t
Icath. 1
Had the risk been a greater ono, I J
maid not have resisted the impulse J
which prompted me; and almost Ik fore ]i
[ had time to realize what I was doing, 1
[ had bounded across the glowing fis- i
jure and snatched np the child in my t
iruis. t
Then for the first time she began to I
jry aloud: I
" Oh, mamma, mamma, help me !" v
Hastily I did my best to soothe her, r
rod the sonnd of the familiar English i:
words and voice, and my assurance that
[ had oomo to take her to her mother, e
juieted her; but as I turned to retrace t
tny steps, a dense oloud of suffocating c
*moke nroso, cutting off all view of the 1
plateau, anil when it dispersed I found
ihe chasm had widened to an extent
mch as precluded all hope of striding
3r leaping across it, while another roar,
ind a shower of hot ashes mixed with
alocks of pumice-stono warned me that
;o lirger was as perilous as to fly. Only
3no mode of escapo seemed practicable,
md accordingly I skirted the chasm,
naking for a spot some three hundred
pards away, where a rock appeared to
rorm a natural bridge over the red-hot
issure. Wrapping my shaggy sailor's
jacket around the child, to screen her as
rar as possible from the hot ashes that
ell at intervals, I pushed resolutely on.
I shall never, to my dying day, forget
what I underwent .in the passage of
;hoso three hundred yards. Gasping
ind half suffocated by tho pestilential
rnpors, blinded by the smoke, and with
>yes seared by the glare, and feet
icorched by tho almost intolerable heat
)f tho earth, I staggered on with my
jurden in my arms. Twice tho thin
;rust that heaved beneath me seemed to
30 breaking under our weight, and 1
jave myself up for lost; but at length,
iizzy and breathless, I reached the rock, f
ind saw beyond it a broad space cleared f
3y woodcutters, probably, for only the t
if. 11 mV.i! of frnna loxirr oinon fnlln.l '
[' V* IV/ug U1UOU IVJUWt JJIW ?
ruded from the soil. As I did so, with (
i crash tlio rock fell in, and the flames t
capcd np like splashing water; but I r
uuuaged to plant one foot upon a cor- c
icr of the great stone, and, with a des- a
>eraie bound, cleared the chasm, with I
he child in my arms, and fell exhausted \
in tho turf beyond.
It was late at night when, spent and
porn, I descended the mountain road,
ud passed the Cantania, still carrying 1
he child, who had sometime since fallen
sleep with her fair little head upon my
houlder. All that shev could tell me 1
ras that her name was Emma Harding, I
nifthat her family were lodged in a largo 1
totel fronting tho sea, and which from c
he description I conjectured to be the g
Llber$o Reale. So it proved to be, and f
had tho satisfaction of restoring the 1
ost lamb to her sorrowing relatives, t
rho had mourned her as dead, so utterly s
ertai.i had her fate appeared when she s
?as known to have been left on tho ?
turning mountain. I
While tho child's mother, weeping, 1
aught her darling to her heart, Mr. t
larding approached tho spot where I t
tood, footsoro and weary, with hair and I
;arm *nts singed, and shoes that had t
rumbled away piecemeal ~from the I
corelied feet they had sheltered, and j
ming my hand. 3
" I am not a man of many words," he c
aid, "but you have laid me under a c
ery deep debt of gratitude, Mr. '
Jlements, and "? i
I did ilbt hear the rest, save as a con- I
used hum like that of a hive of bees, t
r?r now the floor seemed to slide away E
nder my feet, and tho walls to revolve, p
nd then all grew dark. They laid mo ii
T1 n Iwil fnr T ha/1 foin^/1 on,l 1
prinkled water on my forehead, and P
ave me cordials and wine, and gradually o
ly strength came back to me; but for *
'eeks I was too lnme to be ablo to walk o
ithont the support of a crutch. F
I am well enough now, and they call c
10 Captain Clements, for am I not com- a
lander of a flte ship in the Australia ^
rado, to which Mr. Harding, her owner, I
ave the name of the Emma, in honor a
f the dear little thing thut I hid beneath t
ly rough pea-coat, when the fiery rain
f Etna fell fast and thick around us? a
I liavo cliildron of my own now, <
lithely sporting in the garden of a t
retty cottage near the Mersey, and c
ausing in their play now and again, as 8
ill ships pass, to ask when " papa" i
i coming back from sea. <
An Old Time Fete. a
A writer tells ns of a fete, given by
^ashingtou, on the Hudson river, ia ^
onor of tho Jiirth of an heir to the | t
urono 01 ine rencli monarch, who Lad
eon the active ally of the AmericnuH in t
beir struggle for independence. It
Dok place on the 1 ist day of May, 1782. ^
l beautiful arbor was made, moro thau ^
wo hundred feet in length and eighty
a width, constructed of evergreen trees, ^
fhich formed a colonnade of more than <.
hundred pillars. It was roofed with ^
loughs and tout cloths. Branches curi ^
usly woven formed a sort of podiment,
n which were displayed emblematic deices,
the fleur-de-lis being prominent.
ivcry column was encircled by muskets j
rith bayonets; and the interior was
lecorated with festoons and garlands of j
vergreeus, with devices significant of
he alliance. Prominent among these ^
lsn wiifl thft flrnr- tip I'm Annrnni-i'nJa
1,,vv r
aottoes wero scattered about the edi- ^
ice. * ' j
At five o'clock in the afternoon more
ban five hundred ladies and gentlemen
tartook of a grand banqnot in the krbor.
?heso represented the elite of civil and ^
ailitury society in America. Early in t
he afternoon General Washington and
lis wife aud suite, Governor.Goorgo ?
llinton and his wife, Generals Knox and j
land with their wives, Egbert Penson,
he Attorney-General of Now York, Mrs. *
dargaret Livingston, of the Lower r
danor, and Janet, the widow of General j
dontgomery, and a large number of _
adies and gentlemen from the Btatos of
Jew York and New Jersey, had arrived I
n their barges. They wero conducted
hrough tho grand arbor, sit ated ou *,
ho g- ntly rising ground in tho rear of
?ort Clinton, ou which tho West Point
lotel now stands. It was on the npper d
ergo of tho plain, with tho magnificent a
iver ami mountain scenery at the north t
n full view. a
The Continental army was paraded on j:
acli side of tho river. At the signal of li
hreo cannon discharges tho regimental i
iflleerH left their oommandsand repaired t
to the quarters of General M'DougaL
When tho banquet was on the table,
General Washington, with his wife and
suite, left those quarters, followed by
the invited guests, and went to the arbor,
where a martial band played sweet
airs during the repast, suggestive of
peace and reconciliation. After the
banquet of meat came a banquet of
tvine, when thirteen toasts were drank,
sach followed by thirteen discharges of
jaunon, accompauiod by music. Then
he regimental officers returned to their
jommands, and as night came on the aruor
displayed the splendors of a grand
illumination by scores of candle-lights.
\t that moment cannon and musketry
hronghout the whole army gave a feu
ie joie which, like peals of thunder,
iwoke a thousand echoes among the
grand old hills. This was followed by a
sonsentaneous shout of the wholo army
?a wild huzza, with the benediction:
Long live tho Dauphin 1"
A ball in tlio arbor followed these
loisy demonstrations without, in which
he commander-in chief heartily joined.
' He attended the ball in the evening,"
wrote an eye-witness, " and with digniiod
and graceful air, having Mrs. Knox
or his partner, carried down a dance of
wenty conples in the arbor on the green
pass." That partner was the wife of
Icneial Knox, tho Boston bookseller?
he "beautiful Lncy," as she was faniliarly
spoken of, the belle of the
amp, and then about thirty years of
ige. The festivities ended toward midlight
with a brilliant display of fireworks.
THE ART OF PRINTING.
rhr PrempN nt tlie Centennial Exhibition
?The Old Franklin Preta, etc.
At the end of the United States' long
ino of printing presses, in Machinery
in.ll on the Centennial grounds, stands a
roken down, dilapidated piece of mahinory,
whose only present outward
[lory consists in a brass plate, which is
ar from being polished to too high a
aster. Its homely appearance forbids
he supposition that it ever slept the
leep of the aristocratic just in Wardour
treet, Soho, and yet, in spite of its
want of outward attraction, some one
ias taken measurable care of it. The
>rass plate alluded to furnishes the key
o tho humble mystery. Let every visior
who approaches this relic of the past
\rn alt n n liia li l cfrvi'vT an/1 nolioU V?I?
utu Utuwij (Uiu UJLO
ramp of veneration, for it is before tbe
mutiny press at which honest old Benamiu
Franklin toiled and sweated 148
rears ago that ho stands. Speaking of
me of the incidents of Franklin's Donlon
life in 1768, this brass plate records:
Tbo Dr. at this time visited the printing
office of Mr. Watts, of Wild street,
Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, going up to
his particular pross, thus addressed the
c>en who were working at it: * Come,
ay friends, we will drink together. It
3 now forty years since I worked like
ou at this press as a journeyman
irinter.' The Dr. then sent for a gallon
if porter, and he drank with them,
Success to Printing.'" How easily
me can picture the doctor gently reducing
the pewter pot upon the bench
>r handing it to his nearest neighbor,
nd then, with a sigh of satisfaction,
piping the foam from his lips with his
>ig bandanna before proceeding to give a
eries of contented rubbings to his
>road forehead.
Franklin's press, says a Times correpondent,
is only a little leas rude than
laxton's; it is only a little more rude
ban Stanhope's, which is to-dny reproluceu
with more or less elaboration in
ill the hand presses known to that world
n itself?the job printing trade. This
>ld press of Franklin's is only behind
Jtanhope's inasmuch as it does not pos
less iue toggle joint, a joint n ringing
ibout ft pressure somewhat similar to
hat induced by the sudden straightenDg
of the human knee. It is a wooden
raniework, about seven feet high, with
wo uprights and two cross-heads, one
itatiouary and the other sliding, by
neans of which the lever, working the
icrew, forces tho platen down. The
able moves backward and forward, the
ravei sing being worked by an <&dinary
trank handle, which runs two small
viieels furnished with reverse straps.
Inch is the simple machine by whose
low aud labored means the book educaion
of the world was carried on a hunIred
and forty-eight years ago.
Walking along the line of presses we
ump over a century and a half, and we
ind the progress made in printing
iresses most wonderful. It is only a
ew years since the old hand press was
liscarded from the large printing offices
o make room for the firpt power presses.
L'ke London Times was first printed by
iteam power on the twenty-eighth of
November, 1814, and tho issue of the
mailing day, tho twenty-ninth, contains
\ Relf-congratulatory comment on so
mspicious an event. "Our journal of
l.in " onTTn ilin 7T.'?v?nn II
UIO Ulljr, D?JO tuo JL t/SfCO) (fU
ho pnblio tho practical result of rhe
greatest improvemont connected with
>rinting since tho discovery of the art
tself." Wonderful to relate, this press
triuted 1,100 sheets per hour. It was
, wonderful thing in those days, but
iow in the same lino with the old Frankin
and the llamago stand presses that
vill turn ont 17,000 fully printed papers
>er hour, equal to 34,000 impressions,
ferily, the art of printing has kept
>aeo with the wonderful things of the
entury.
A wealthy Boston woman and her
laughter are iu Indianapolis in seorch of
young German to whom the daughter
eoame greatly attached, while spending
, few months in Europe with her
>arents, some two years ago, and was
ast heard from in Indianapolis. K he
s found, a wedding will doubtless end
ho romantio affair.
Items of Interest.
The best tea for a weak person is
charity.
A fat man with a thin voice is always
comical.
There are many minds which appear
to have been oat bias and made np that
way.
A bnzz-saw item: Henry Stonaker of
Palestine, Texas. In his life he was lovely,
and in his death he was divided.
Not always when the poor are helped
True charity is meant ;
Load talk txpectB its dollar back, *
Bat eileDce gives a cent. *
A number of American girls in California
have married Chinamen. They
get husbands who are economical housekeepers
and willing to do their own
washing.
Sixteen hundred young women in
Cleveland are pledged not to associate
with men of tippling habits. Other
v>i?tco UUTO inigo uuuiuuiovi nuuiou Wiiu
have made the same vow.
There in a tide in the affairs of men
Whioh. taken at the flood, leads on to a fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
A Kemper's Bluff (Texas) young
man named Thomas acquired the habit
of tossing a cocked and loaded pistol in
the air, and catching it as it fell. The
last time he caught it was just before he
died.
In Franoe, particularly in all the large
cities, the women in nearly all classes
take particular pains with their hands,
so much so that they go regularly to
what is called a manicure?that is a person
who makes the care of hands a
specialty.
Says the Burlington Hawkeye : There
is a growing feeling among American
people that the man who can hear a fellow
mortal complain of a cold in the
head and a be tain from telling him what
to do for it, is the man who should be
the next President.
In Binghampton, N. Y., there is an
insane man whose ailment is a symptom
of a lingering type of hydrophobia. He
was infected by being bitten by his wife,
who died of hydrophobia about four
years ago. See was bitten by a dog
when she was a girl, and lived fifteen
years without any symptoms of the
disease.
Mary K. Dallas writes: "The moment
a girl has a secret from her mother, or
has received a letter she dare not let her
mother read, or has a friend of whom,
her mother does not know, she is in
danger. The fewer secrets that lie in
the hearts of women at any age the better.
It is almost a test of nnritv. In
girlhood do nothing that, if discovered
by your father, would make yon blush."
A Canadian senator of French extraction
has resigned his seat for a peculiar
reason.^ He has never been willing to
trust himself on a railroad train, and
last winter traveled from Quebec to
Ottawa in his own sleigh to attend the
session of Parliament. The fatigues and
hardships of the trip were so great that
ho will .not encounter them again, and
so has determined to retire from public
life.
Wiping Out a Bully.
The Los Angeles Herald says : General
John Goahwieler, one of the lead*
ing capitalists of California, tells a
thrilling story. One day in the early
times he was standing in a pioneer
shanty saloon, in company with a great
big fighter who was the terror of the
camp and town. There was nothing
that this giant could not whip, and. V6ry
little that he had not whipped. The big
fellow was sitting near the bar when a
stranger entered. He was a new comer
in town. He was not moro than twentyfive,
slenderly built, pale, big eyes, delicate
features, and a hand like a girl.
He stepped quietly np to the bar and
asked for a glass of brandy. The glas
was placed before him, whereupon the
bully rose from his chair, put his big,
brawny hand in front of the youngster,
took the brandy and 'drank it. The
young man said nothing, but quietly
laid down four bits and said :
44 Give me another glass of brandy."
Tho brandy was put out, the glass was
filled and the bully again reached forward,
took the brandy and drank it.
The youngster pnt four bits on the
counter and said, easily :
44Give me two glasses of brandy."
The two glasses wero pnt out, filled
and the bully the third time reached
forward, took a glass and drank it. The
young man paid no attention even to
the giant's. pistols and knives, but taking
tho other glass drank it and put
down a dollar. Then, with easy manner,
he left the bar for the door, walked
five or six steps, turned like a flash
of lightning and shot the bully through <
the heart. As he walked out of the
door he said to one of the bystanders :
44 That fellow might have hurt somebody,
yet."
A Hairdresser's Trick.
Owing to the hne and cry which haa
boon raised about'diseases contracted by
wearing hair cnt from corpses, the ladies
at Paris refnse to purchase any hair
unless from the head of tho living, and
they insist on being present at the
shearing. So the hairdresser brings to
his shop, at great expense, a beautiful
peasant from Brittany, in her national
costume. He takes off her characteristic
cap; she sheds a few tears when
the oruel scissors do their work, and
still more when the fastidious purchaser
receives a splendid braid?which has
been in the store a long while, but has
been adroitly fastened, for the occasion,
on the head of tho girl, who generally
has never been outside of Paris,