The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, January 14, 1886, Image 2
Contentment.
We war gittin' on tol'ablo well?
Matildy, the childera an' me?
If we didn't cut much of a swell,
We war snug as we wanted to bo.
Ther war plenty to do in them times,
An,' a'though 'twa'n't so very big pay,
We managed to save a few dimes
On our dol'ar'n a quarter a day.
But there came a rich banker along,
An' ho built a house over the way.
Then cv'rvtbing seemed to go wrong
With Mati'dy an' tnefra that dayOur
cottage got dreadlully small,
An' we wanted, as never before,
A porch, an' bay-window, an' hall,
An' our nnmc on a plate on tho doo
Now, I never was much on advice,
But there's one thing I reckon I know:
When a man's got enough to suffice,
He'd better just keep along so,
An' mind his own business alone,
An' not give his jealousy vent,
Tor the best thing a poor man can own
Isn stork ofVood-nntured content.
?Chicago .Yews.
CURED.
Peter Patterson was ill?at least he
thought so?and depressed; he had a
headache and he hated the dusty
streets,' in which the summer heat
burnt and the summer sun shone before
the green leaves had draped the
trees, and potted geraniums, which
had come to.be so blessedly popular in
New York, lent their summer freshness.
"What shall I do. doctor?" ho said.
"You say nothing .ails me, but I can
tell what my feelings are better than
you can. I know 1 snail ue uown
with something soon. I rode in a car
with a half-dozen dirty children the
other day?to the small-pox* hospital,
I haven't a doubt -very red and nastylooking,
all of them; and while I was
buying something in a store down
Broadway the other day a horrid old
woman begged of me because her husband
was sick with typhoid fever.
No doubt I have caught both diseases,
and it's the complication that puzzles
you. Couldn't relish my coffee this
morning; left my milk toast untouched.
Hateful life, that of a bachelor at a
hotel. Oh, dear me!"
"Why don't you marry, then ?" said
the doctor.
"They need so much courting," said
Patterson. "You spend six months or
so, at least, dangling at a woman's
apron strings. *You must go to the
tneatre ana opera 11 sne is gay, anu 10
church if she is pions. At fifty a man
likes his slippers and dressing-gown and 1
chair of an evening. If it was just i
stepping over to the clergyman's and j
getting married, putting a ring on her
linger and saying or nodding yes two
thre^^nes, why ^ I woi^nj^nij^l
robbed the orchard like a scnool-bov,
and reclined over the strawberry shortcake
after a fashion that would have
made his reputation at the bar. Then,
too. Mrs. Muntlc did not smile at his |
aches and pains and insist that he
must be perpetually well because he had
a fresh complexion and dimples on his
cheeks. She had savory herb teas and
potions which she produced when he
complained of feeling miserable.
For two months and more, Mr. Patterson
boarded with Mrs. Muntie, and
happier months he never lived through.
Then he went back to the city for a
few weeks, returning in urgent need
nf mnrfi pellets from the medicine ,
chest, and staying until the last pink i
chrysanthemum was blooming on its
withered branches. He bad grown so
fond of his little room, with its white
curtains and fresh grass-bleached linen,
of the country good things and of the
buxom Mrs. Muntle, that he could not
bear the thought of parting with them
altogether.
After all, why could he not buy a
house and get Mrs. Muntle to keep it
for him? Perhaps she would. He
would offer a high salary, and she
could have plenty of servants. Then,
indeed, he might have friends to dine
with him. and be as karmv as nossible.
If only he could approach his hostess,
showing her as he did so that he considered
her his equal and a lady?and
all that she certainly was; a clergyman's
daughter and the widow of a
country doctor.
After much consideration he finally
mustered courage for the effort, and
walked into the front parlor and sent
the servant to ask Mrs. Muntle to
please step there for a moment.
"Gracious 1" thought Mrs. Muntle
to herself; "what can he want?"
Then she blushed brightly, settled
her necktie, took off her apron and
walked demurely in.
"Be seated, ma'am," said Mr. Patterson.
"Sit here please. Allow me
to sit near you, as I have something to
ask which may require some consideration."
"Oh, dear, it is coming !" thought
Mrs. Mantle.
"I suppose you know I'm a man of
considerable means, ma'am," said the
olcl bachelor, "able to buy a nice
house, furnish it well and live in it
comfortably ?"
"So I've understood, Mr. Patterson,"
said the widow.
"And of course it is pleasanter to
live that way than at a hotel," said
Mr. Patterson.
"I should judge it might be," said
Mrs. Muntle cautiously.
"You judge rightly," said Mr. Pat
AMONG THE ABYSSINIANS.
Their Civil and Religious Mar- >
riage Rites. c
)
Curious Superstitions Which Prevail s
Among the Peopla
Romance is rare In Abyssinia, writes 1
0. A. Bierstadt. "When a girl has 1
reached the discreet age of 8 or 9 she 1
is considered to be in the matrimonial 1
market. If she owns a few cattle or ]
some other desirable property, a boy
with half her wealth generally propos- 1
es to her father for her, and a bargain '
is driven over her quite as if she had '
no more sentiment in her than a cow, 1
which doubtless is often the case. The '
engagement last usually three or four |
months. Though the groom often sees '
his prospective father-in-law, he never '
lays eyes upon the bride unless he can !
bribe some female friend to allow him J
a stolen glance. The bride-to-be may 1
previously have romped with her in- 1
tended for years, but she would run (
screaming away if he were now to apnear
before her. 1
As the wedding-day draws near, the
girl is washed, an event so rare as to
call for special note, in a pond where a
certain saint's day is celebrated for
being the epoch of the sole annual
absolution of most of the inhabitants
and a dass or bower of green branches :
over a frame of stakes is erected. In
this a great feast is given on the day
before the marriage. All the hungry
idlers round about strive by hook or
crook to get in, and, squatting down
on the ground, they gorge themselves
with the quivering raw meat of the
cow that has just been killed, and
with other Abyssinian delicacies. The
distinguished guests bless the bride,
putting their hands upon her head
and getting them well greased for
their pains.
Meanwhile a similar feast is given
in the groom's abode, and next morning
lie starts out with his friends, and
from six to twelve arkees or bridesmen.
They rig themselves up in all
the plumage they can possibly borrow
and, on approaching the bride's house,
tire their guns and have a sort oC
sham fight with a view, perhaps to al
lay the groom's nervousness. When
the happy man has taken the seat of
honor in the bridal bower his bride is
brought in, wrapped up in a cloth almost
like a mummy, and placed upon
a stool. Then the groom is asked
whether he wishes to marry the woman
before him; they crook their fingers
together under the cloth, or, perhaps,
kiss one another, and, after any priest
t
?
I
A Vaccine Factory.
A Greenwich, Conn., correspondent
vrites: In a cow-house at the side
>f the old turnpike road, in the quaint
Milage of C03 Cob, two calves can be
leen on almost any day strapped to a i
jench, their feet sticking up in the
lir and lots of quills protruding from
,heir bodies. Around the room are
azors, knives, bundles of quills and
opes. A man is usually in attendmce.
This is a vaccine factory, one
)f the first established in this country.
The quills remain for a short time in
;he flesti of the calves. As soon as
they become filled with mucus?vacjine,
as it is called?they are pulled
uut, sealed up air tight, and in time
lo duty all over the world, finding
their way to Germany and Australia.
Some people imagine that the calves
are killed by the process, or are
30 injured as to be unfit for use. This
is not the case, but it is claimed that
they are made more healthy by hav
LDg these sores, ior mat is au me nunu
done to thera. They seem to suffer
very little, and after a few days frisk
about as lively as ever. Calves of two
colors are preferred at the factory,
white and red, and only strong and
healthy ones are. selected. "Oftentimes
people come to the factory to be
vaccinated," said the attendant. "They
are afraid they won't get the right
stuff?pure calf vaccina I am not a
doctor, and the doctors don't like it very
well. I just take this knife that I cut
the calves with; so I cut the arm as I
cut the calf. I pull a quill from the
calf and put it in the cut or scratch.
They smile, take a look at the calf, and
go home, sure that it's took." There
is more demand for vaccine at the present
time than at any previous time
during the five years past
Church of the Preat&ent.
For a great many years St. John's
of Wnahinr?fnn hna liopn
VUU1CU) (IV VV (?W>l4UgVWU, 44MW ^w?..
known as the church home of the
presidents. It is a quaint little structure
on II street, directly opposite
Lafayette square and the White
House. Ever since the church was
built a pew Was reserved for the
Chief Magistrate. In cases where the
Presidents happened to be of some
other religious faith it has been customary
for the president to pay the
pew rent as though he attended.
Grant did it, although he was a
Methodist Hayes was also a Methodist,
but he did not burden the financial
officers of the church with the
trouble of cashing any of his checks
whue he was the occupant of the
White House. GArneld was one of
the old-fashioned belli tea, b_ut he
BARTERING ON THE CONGO
Produce and Ivory Sold for
Muskets and Cloth.
Great Aptness for Bargaining Displayed
by the Natives.
An article which appears in All the
Year Round, gives this interesting description
.of the primitive methods of
trade which still obtain in the new
Congo Free State, South America:
When a sufficient number of the
men have crowded into the room to fill
the space before the rail, they aie admitted
through it by the headmen, and
squat in squads upon the floor befure
the weighing machine, at which the
trader takes his seat, while his assistant
stands at the shelves, ready to redeem
the little chits or 'books," as
they are called, which the senior man
will give for the number of "longs"
which he may agree to pay to each
man for his produce. The producein
little mat bags containing from ten
to thirty-two pounds (an arroba), and
sometimes but a handkerchief-full of
rubber, peanuts or gum copal?he puts
into the scale. If it is satisfactory in
quality it is bargained for in the
"Jongs" referred to?so many for so
many pounds of peanuts, rubber or
gum, according to the value of the
produce. On tbe first bargain made
there depends much, a3 the most ex
? .1 1 ?;i_ u..i.
perienceu anu wn/ uiu uiauiv uauuujr
offers the first bag of produce of each
Jiind. By the price he obtains all the
otheis are guided, and, where there are
more factories than one in a station,
where he goes they all follow.
After the bag of produce is bought
or "passed in," as the term is, it is paid
for in the various articles of the trade,
at the discretion chiefly of the trader?
that is to say, no native can have his
produce paid for solely in one article
of trade. lie cannot have all cloth, or
all muskets, or all powder; but he
must take a selection of articles, the
relative values of which are fixed bv
the "long," the standard of quantity
and quality. This consists of six yards
of common cotton cloth, or panno tui
costa; less of finer cloth, according tc
quality; more of coarser cloth; and sc
on until every article of the trade, tc
muskets and gunpowder, the most
valuable in it, are disposed of in relation
to the "long."
As the bags are rapidly passed in
the contents are emptied out in heap:
on a clear space of the floor, and ther
the ivory men, or "bushmen" as thej
are called, knowing they have the mor<
valuable articles to sell, though smal
' ' 1
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. f
The London Medical Times remarks
that the treatment of snake bite by ^
putting gun-powder on the wound
and touching it off with a match,
though rough, is often successful. ^
The recent assertions by masters of
vessels, that refined petroleum in tin
cases exerts an influence on the compasses
equal to the same amount of *
iron or steel, has attracted much at- I
tention, and it is expected that means c
of protection will in a short time be ^
devised. 1
Experiments are making in Phlla- j
aeipnia wicu tuo icicpucm^c ojowlu.
The object is to transport packages, up 1
to eight hundred or one thousand
pounds' weight, upon cables strung on
wires, by means of electric motors. 1
Two cables are used, one above anotk- '
er, the package being suspended on .
the upper and steadied on the lower
one. It is an English invention, and
has been used in a South American
mine.
In a paper on the size of the brain,
in extinct animals, Prof. Marsh, of
Yale college, has brought forward the
remarkable fact that in the race for
life during the past age3 the survival
of any particular group of animals depended
on the size of their brain as
compared with that of tlielr contemporaries
of the same class. Brains
won then, as now, and the brain of
animals crushed out of existence was
always found to be relatively smaller
man mat ui muse uuuiyiujj uicuh
A wild aquatic plant, .called the
Elodea Canadensis, first discovered in
the rivers of Canada at the beginning
of the present century, has recently
been found on the banks of the Oka
river, near Moscow. In Germany the
plant is called the "Wasserpest," (wa
ter plague,) its vegetation being so
rapid that, under favorable conditions
as to soil and climate, it soon forms
such a dense tangle of leaves and
stems as to make navigation impossible.
The curious question has been asked,
1 why oaks and elms are especially lia
1 bie to De strucK oy ngniumg. xi, ?y<?3
1 declared in 1787 that tbe elm, chesnut,
? oak and pine were the trees most ofI
ten struck in America; and in 1860
II Mr. G. J- Symons stated that the elm,
' oak, ash and poplar were the most
frequently struck In England. A
. Madgeburg record reports injuries to
} 265 trees, 165 being oaks, 35 Scotch
1 firs, 22 pines, and 20 beeches. It has
r been suggested that the frequency
* with which oaks are struck is due to
HEAP LODGING HOUSES.
/Vhere Many People Find
Shelter in the Metropolis.
Jso Some Facts of Interest About 'the
Oostlier Kind of Acoommodation.
A New York letter to the Rocheser
Democrat- Chronicle says: Tbe ap>roach
of winter brings a great inirease
in the straggling portion of
Srew York's population, and this leads
;o a brief notice of the accommoda,ions
which await them. These are
;he lodging houses for those who have
noney and the station house for those
trho have none. Cheap lodging
houses abound in the vicinity of the
great arteries of life, such as Chatham
jtreet and the Bowery, and in some
instances they are very profitable.
For a dime a bed may be obtained in a
room with others?often ten beds being
in one room. For a quarter yon
get a room by yourself with a rear
/tanfa orMIHnnal
WIL1UUW, ttUU 1UI LOU OOUWO auu*wiv?w.
a front room may be had. Of course,
guests at places cannot expect clean
linen, or escape from the inevitable
vermiD, but the men who have no
homes must accept the alternative
and there are manv obliged to sleep
at such places who in eddcation might
be worthy of a far higher, lot Hugh
Miller refers to similar scenes in London
in the following painful manner:
"I remember in crossing Westminster
bridge that the Poet Crabbe
wiilkfld there all niorht when his last
shilling was expended, and these were
the very streets which Samual John*
son had so often tfalked from night
till morning, having no roof in which
to find shelter."
A still lower depth is found In the
five cent lodging honses, in which an
army of homeless miserables
seeks nightly shelter. They are
chiefly basements which jare
hired for $200 a \ year. The
tenant fits them up with?benches and
straw and a bit of carpet for a^cover--^'
ing, and this is much better than "taking
the plank" at the station house.
A dozen lodgers are ehough to pay
the rent, and then the average crowd
yields sufficiently to clear $3 or $4
a day, which is a good business, i'ne
five cents lodgers includethie wretched
of all classes except the newsboys, who
have a lodging house of tbteir own at
the same rate. This is a superior institution,
endowed in. a permanent '
manner, but its advantages We limited
to this class. I
When you rise to $1 per \night, a