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1 " , - "jjtfS :_. VOL. XLVIII. CAMDEN, S. C? THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1890. NO. 41. THE BIRTH OF SPRING* AH night the sobbing wind kept pace "With the snti rain's unmeasured tramp; All night nature's patient face Gleamed lightning's weird and fitful lamp. But sunbeams rent the clouds in twain; A soft brrexe kissed the expectant morn; A bluebird sang a witching strain, A crocus bloomed;?and spring was born ?Emmet C. Vowel, in Youth's Companion, Joseuh Kendall's Brother. BY AKTHl'K MERRICK. There was a snow storm on the morning of the day fixed for the execution of Jonas Toms, who had been convicted of the raurdrr of the old farmer, Joseph Kendall. The down train on the branch from X to the county seat had come through without great difficulty, and the up-train?with a lead of morbidly-curious men. who had taken passage for the purpose of witnessing; the hanging?was at last reported having reached the county seat, So the road was open, and if the suow did not drift into the cuts, there would he no need of sending out the snow plow. Jonas Toms was looking through the grating of his cell when the whistle of the up-train reached him, and, for a half hour, he waited expectantly, hope not ^ failing him until the Sheriff came to the cell door and shook hands with hiui in silence. "She did not come?" the condemned said, desparinglv. "No. She was not on the train, but there are two hours yet and I have put a deputy at the telegraph office with orders to run here at once, with any message." "You arc very kind, Sheriff," Jonas faltered and turned away from the grated door. "It wouldn't be human not to try to make an ugly job like this as easy as possible," muttered the Sheriff, "and I never was sure Jonas was guilty, though he couldn't prove he wasn't." The Sheriff's opinion of the case was shared by a gTeat many citizens of the county of and they had signed a petition to the Governor for a respite for the prisoner, and a commutation of his sentence. if the Governor could not see his way clear to grant a pardon. With this petition Mrs. Jonas Toms had gone to the capital to make use of it in pleading for her husband's life. That morning the prisoner had looked for her return with definite information concerning him? whether he was to die or not. As no word had been received from her, he was not hopeful, and ho had really expected her to come back to him only for a final leave-taking. Yet, when the Sheriff spoke of the telegraph, hope asserted itself again and Jonas was buoyed with imagining his devoted wife wrestling still the Governor and refusing to abandon the struggle for her husband until it was useless to plead longer. ? And while the condemned was thus catching at ;? straw, and his heart was overflowing with love and gratitude to his devoted, tireless wife, the deputy left ? the telegraph office and hastened to the jail. The Sheriff seeing him coming, ran to meet him but paused abruptly when he could see clearly his subordinate's face. "The operator can't git X ," said the deputy. "The wire must be down." The Sheriff groaned and trembled .as if shsken by a strong wind. "Go back," he said, "go back and wait, for if there's word to come it will get here." The Sheriff spoke as if he expected a miracle to be wrought to deliver him mr - from the awful legal duty of taking a \ man's life to satisfy the vengeance of the r law, but yet he, having once more obtained control of his nerves, walked firmly back to jail, where he proceeded at once to conclude the preparations for the solemn act. Meanwhile a crowd of men was surging about the jail entrance, and some boys had climbed a tree to look over the wall at the scaffold. The deputy in charge of the door admitted those who had passes, and kept back the others, who nevertheless clamored to be let iu. Those who were within the gates by permission trampled the snow in the yard and impatiently wished the Sheriff would "hurry up,'' while the other prisoners in ?- their cells were silent and curious and ^ glad?not glad because one who had been with them in compulsory association was to be hanged, but glad because their crimes were not so heinous as his; and they all vowed to reform lest they, ^ too. should end on the gallo ws. But at X the telegraph operator gwM* was frantic. He had called the operator at the county seat and could not get a reply ?he was in despair and he thumped the key. There before him lay a message from the Governor of the State. m&Ba "To the Sheriff of County. "Respite ot' ten (lays granted to Jona? Toms." The telegram was .signed by the Gov w ernor's Secretary, but apparently it wa? as useless as if it had never been written The county seat was thirty miles distant, and there was but an hour to get won of the respite to the Sheriff before i would be forever too late. A restless man stalked up and dowi the long platform?he seemed to be wait ing for a train and impatient because i was delayed. He noticed the telegrapl operator's agitation and made inquiry c mcerning the cause. The operator ^ showed hiin a message and the man' face blanched as he demanded trcraul ously. "Why don't you send it?" "I can't, I say, for the wire is no working." The man paused a moment irresolutely and then said: "Give the message ti * me, seal it in an envelope with wax. will take it to the Sheriff.'' "How?"-"On that engine." He pointed to a lo Icomotive that was standing on a sidinj with steam up, but was not manned? the engineer being at his home, and thi fireman having made a trip to the roun< house. "Give me a switch key," the strange said, nervously," and be ready with th telegram when I come pust the platform." The operator gave the man the key, but instantly reachri for it again as he exi claimed: "The gravel tram?it is up the | road." j "Nevermind. I'll scare it on a siding. | You have the message ready," Quickly the stranger ran to the switch and turned it for the siding. A yard man noticed him. but at the distance thought him the station agent, who, at the time, was away from his office, fortunately for the stranger's plan. The engine responded to the throttle and came out on I the maiu track slowly?the yardman j looking after it in astonishment, then ! startiug ou a run to see what mad man's i impulse seemed to control the man at the lever? The telegraph operator was rapid in his movements, and when the engine steamed past the platform on the track that. lefl to the ronntv seat he delivered i to the man, whom he now regarded as a hero* the message properly sealed and authenticated. "God bless you," he called after the unknown, "and save you from the gravel j train." The road to the county seat was a single track and the gravel train sent out to keep the roHd-bcd clear of drifts was liable to be collided with upon any curve ! by the engine running without schedule j or orders, but the stranger merely smiled ! as he pulled the throttle lever further ! back. The engine dashed up the track, ' the engineer standing in the door-way of I his home and looking at it aghast, while j the sta.ion agent and train dispatcher hastened to the telegraph office to learn the reason of the engine's departure on a "wild cat" trip. The engineer rushed up to the platform ; where stood the operator explaining to ! the dispatcher how it happened that the j stranger took out the engine. "But he will not get through," said j the dispatcher, "for he has no fireman." "Yes, he has," exclaimed the engineer, | "he's doi.Y the tirin? too. He's just lettin' I her run, he'll just fire and whistle." | And, as if to confirm the engineer's statement, the scream of the steam reached their ears?the whistle shrieking a frantic demand for a clear track. At the jail the Sheriff's jury were drawn un in the corridor, solemnly waiting for the conclusion of the last conference of the condemned with his spiritual adviser. The Sheriff restlessly paced the flagging, while one of the deputies nervously fingered a black cap and the other toyed with the cords to he used in pinioning the prisoner. The Sheriff, who had repeatedly looked ' at his watch in a way that seemed to ! hffr time tn an mm-p slnivlv trlaneed at | '-? -- 6"- J i o j it at hist with a heavy sigh and went to I the jail entrance for a final look toward I the telegraph office. The deputy staI tioued there was not in sight and the ' executive official turned with a heavy j heart to the prisoner's cell, j "Come." he said, and the heavy foot, falls of the jury sounded dismally through the corridor. "It is time,'" he said gently to the prisoner, who courageously stepped into the corridor and bravely faced the jury while the deputies bound his arms and 1 slipped the cord of the cap over his head. 1 He was ready, but just when the word to . move to the yard was given, he turned a ' longing glance toward the main entrance, as if he hoped to sec his wife appear there , suddenly. | Slowly the procession moved, the j prisoner leaning on the arm of the clergy man, his back toward the main entrance, i his temples throbbing many beats bcj tween the footfalls of his executioners, who stepped heavily and in time with i him, as if to deaden to him the sound of I his own feet, which shuffled in spite of : him. the nails in the heels of his boots \ rasping on the stone floor. ! And then came shrieking through the I :.i ..I? ?u:?4.i? ..r ? ; turrmui tut wuisuu ui <t luwiuuuvc? ! strident scream on scream rising higher j each second and indicating that the en| ginc was approaching at terrible speed. The heart of every man in the jail leaped. ! The prisoner stood still and his lips I moved as if in silent thanksgiving, for to him the shrill sounds were trumpeting 1 his freedom. The Sheriff rushed to the j jail entrance, a commotion rose among j the visitors who had grown cold in the ' snow, and they began to crowd into the j jail. The deputies momentarily forgot I the prisoner, while they contended with | the impatient and excited spectators, | forcing them back to the yard. I The conductor of the gravel train was j startled when the whistle penetrated his i ears with its cry for a clear track, and he ! was glad that he had reached with his I train the safety of the siding at the j county seat when he saw the engine leapI ing toward the town on a steep down j grade. The deputy statioucd at the telegraph I office ran out on the track to learn th<;! meaning of the terrible shrieking. The operator ran with him, and the crowd . j around the jail stampeded toward the ; station. The; whistle ceased its screams 1 and a mar was seen standing between j the cab and the tender, as the engine, 1 ivJtli nnnhnfprl cnnnrl fnrrrpr! tntrarrl thr? , , ...v.. ..J.. t i station. The crowd stood still in silence as the j man lowered himself on the step to the - : cab. t 1 "Heavens! he is going to jump," said i the deputy, and the crowd fell pell-mell j 1 back out of the way, but every one r heard the man cry; s j "Take this to the Sheriff." . 1 He waved his hand in which he ! clutched something yellow. * "A man's life depends on it," he t ; shouted again. Then he jumped and rolled to the feel p ; of the deputy, who wrenched an cnvel> | ope from the grasp of his twitching fin I ; gers. Without pausing to sea whethci the man was alive or dead, the crowd rat after the deputy, amd no one looked . around when the engine crashed into th< r dump and was totally wrecked. _ j The Sheriff in trembling, eager haste, e | opened the envelope and read aloud ttu 1 telegram. The crowd shouted and returned to th< r ! station where a physician with the calm c i ucss due tr his profession was endeavor ing to icstore the senseless man to life. At last he succeeded. The stranger opened liis eyes and looked in n bewildered manner at the crowd of curious men and boys. But presently his eyes lighted with intelligence and he asked in a whisper: "Was I in time?" "Yes," said the surgeon. "Thank God. I killed Joseph Kendall and this is ray expiation ? I am Joseph Kendall's brother." With great presence of mind the physician wrote the confession in his uoto book and then read it aloud. "Is that correct?" he asked. The stranger nodded and his lips moved, but they uttered no sound. lie died while the doctor was having one or t wo reliable witnesses sign his confession. ? The Eporfi-. The Human Hair. _ I In man, says Dr. Henry uiddods, 01 j San Francisco, almost the whole of the j body is covered with hair. Hair is dc! veloped in minute closed sacs before j birth. First hair is shed like first teeth. | The saying that "Fright made his hair ! stand on end" is net founded on imagU I nation, but is u physiological fact. The poets, as far back as the author of the book of Job, are full of references to this phenomenon. In the lower animals the muscles that erect the hair arc more highly developed than in man. The manufacture of the hair take3 place in the follicle. The hair has neither circulation nor blood vessels. The finest j pointed needle is dull compared with j the point of a hair. Hairs do not rise perpendicularly from the crown of the head, but at an acute angle. Blonde hair " ^ x 3 | is usually tnc nuesi. umi maun. u? icvi j the coarsest. A black-haired girl averI ages S8,00U hairs and a blonde 140,000. | A Michigander is on record who had a i beard 7 feet inches long. When cut frequently, hair grows at the rate of half an inch a month. The statement that hair grows after death has no scientific foundation. A hair twenty iuches long can be stretched to twenty-four or twenty-five inches. One of the dangerous properties of the hair is that it encourages sparking?electrical and of other kinds. Hair absorbs moisture, as many a lady who goes to a party on a foggy night knows to her cost. A hair from the beard will sustain a weight of six ounces. A good head of hair, made into a rope, will sustain a weight of nine or ten tons. The hair can be preserved by a good shampooing once in ten days or two i weeks; this should be followed by vigorous brushing, to restore the oil lost in ' washing. The style of men's hats and | the constancy with which they wear : them are responsible for much baldness. Hair, like everything else, flourishes best when it has plenty of air and sunshine, i Gray hair is often a hereditary peeuiiar; itv. and is not necessarily a sign of old age. Gray hair developing slowly is the ! I result of the hair follicle failiog to secure i coloring pigments. : The chances of failure for a blonde in the matrimonial market arc as three to ; two in favor of her dark-haired sister, , The Teutonic races seem to be losing ; their fair-haired characteristics. Peroxide of hydrogen (ameoline) is the most I recent preparation for producing beauti; ful blonde hair and is harmless. Wood as Human Food. I Probably no modern science presents a i wider field for speculation than that of 1 chemistry, and more especially, perhaps, that branch of the science which treats of organic compounds. Since the day j when Wohler overthrew for ever the noI tion that organic substances were exclu. sively the products of the operation of a i so-called vital force by his discovery of j the synthesis of urea, a great number of ! bodies, hitherto only obtained in nature's ; laboratory, have been successfully built | up, as the result of a careful and most minute study of their exact nature. The /li'pnAWAnt> flio rvr/jnamfinn nf RiihsLanrpq | U.CVV by artifice, more particularly the dyes, j has, as a matter of course, influenced very ! considerably home and foreign indus- I j tries. What shall be said, then, when j chemistry promises to solve hard problems of political and social economy ? In an address delivered at Heidelberg by ' no less an authority than Victor Meyer it is announced "that we may reasonably hope that chemistry will teach us to make : the fibre of wood a source of human food." What an enormous stock of food, i then, will be found if this becomes possible, in the wood of our forests or even in grass and straw. The fibre of wood | consists essentially of cellulin. Can this I he made to change into starch? Starch has exactly the same percentage composition, but, as every one knows, it differs l very much in its properties, and the naI ture of its molecule, is probably much ! more complex. Cellulin is of little or no i dietetic value, and it is not altered, like starch, in boiling water. It readily I gives glucose when treated with strong : sulphuric acid, as is easily shown when j cotton wool, which is practically pure I cellulin, is merely immersed in it. Starch ! gives the same product when boiled with weak acid. The author further quotes I the researches of Hcllrcigcl, which go to show beyond dispute that certain plauts transform atmospheric nitrogeu into al! bumcn, and that this process can be im1 proved by suitable treatment. The proj Juction, therefore, of starch from cciiuliu, together with the enforced increase ' of albumen in plants, would, he adds,in : reality signify the abolishment of the j bread question. It. must be borue in : 1 mind, however, that theory, fascinating ' and promisiug though it may be, is not i alwavs capable of beincr followed up by a ; practical result.?Ijondon Globe. i. . I Not, a Leap Year. Nineteen hundred will not be a leap ' ! year, because the length of the year is not i j exactly 365J- days. It is really a little 1 j less (eleven minutes aud fourteen sec! I onds), and as the difference keeps inI creasing from year to year, it is necessary ' to drop out the extra day every hundred 5 | years or so, so as to' bring the calendar : right. Even this correction is not quite i j tsact, but it will serve for a great many | centuries, so there is no pressing need of | reform. VALLEY FORGE. THE HISTORIC HEADQUARTERS - OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. A Hallowed Spot ill Danger of Desecration?The Grounds and Headquarters Described?An Old Mansion Restored. In patriotic circles the announcement J that h large tract of land in Valley Forge is to be sold, with the probability that a brewery or distillery will be. erected <>n j .he spot; hallowed as few places iil the Union ate, has excited much attention} and strenuous efforts are being made 1o save the famous old ground. This tract comprises the entire site on- ; cupied by General George "Washington . and the Continental Army during the j winter of 1777-8. It covers 190 acres of , beautiful land, broken up here and there I with abrupt wooded hills, and the whole . locality is rich in patriotic mementos, j The property belongs to Mr. J. B. Car- ^ THK HEADQUARTERS. ter, or rather Mrs. Carter, the daughter of Benjamin Mather, once President of the Senate of Pennsylvania. It has been in the family for close on to a century. ! In a circular Mr. Carter, who is a hard- j ware merchant in Philadelphia, an- I uounces the beauties of the land which j he is about tosel'. j This circular Mr. Carter has addressed to every member of Congress and I the Senate and to every Governor and prominent man in the United States. Accompanying it is a map of the tract to be sold. Spcakiog of the circular, Mr. Carter, whose patriotism is unquestioned, said.: "T hate to part with t.he property, but I am compelled to do so. and the reason why I got up these circulars was for the purpose of quickening action on the part of Congress. J have received an offer from a New York brewing concern which is desirous of utilizing the pure water and the water power for their purposes. But to think that a brewery should be erected on the property is exceediugly repugnant to me. I would much rather that the property were cut tip into building lots, | or that some magnificent hotel were buili ! there and the historic old ground kept as a park in good repair tor pleasure parties ; and sightseers. It is a crying shame that the famous grounds should be lest to the country. I would rather, of course, sell j it to the tiovernraent tha* to any privato : individual or syndicate, not knowing to what uses the latter would put it. My wife and myself find the property too costly to keep, and wc are forced to part with it. I have written personally to ENTRENCHMENT HILLS. members of Congress and to Mr. Cleveland when he was President and to Mr. Harrision, urging them to take some steps toward the preservation of Valley | Forge, but beyond the bill introduced by Seuator Daniel Voorhees, of Ind iana, to h?vc an aonronriation of half a million set aside to purchase the grounds, the j bill, by the way, being lost in committee, nothing has been done in the matter. I would like to have the historical sanctity of the grounds preserved, and oaly the Government can do so.''' That the grounds are well worth preservation there can be no doubt. Mr. Carter's tract embraces the famous forge, alter which the valley is named, and the tract now before the public for sale has the famous spring from which Washington drew his morning draught of the pure sparkling fluid. Near the spring is the spot, where the headquarters of the '-greatest American" stood. In that camp, as every well informed American schoolboy knows, or ought to know, was passed the gloomiest and saddest period of the war for independence. There it was that :he patriot army, ragged, half starved, disheartened. without shoes or blankets or proper clothing, slept at night during the whole of that dreadful winter on the bare earth, and in the daytime, while providing firewood for their rude, comfortless huts, left foot tracks ol blood on r.he frozen Washington's chambes. ground, hallowing the very soil by th< severity and heroism of their sufferings There is an order sent, at that tryini time to J. Lacey Darlington, Sr., of West Chester, great grandfather of General J. Lacey Darlington, "by His Excellency George Washington, General and Cornmandcr-in-Chief of the forces of the United States of America By virtue of the power to me specially given. T hereby enjoin and require all per sons residing within ten miles of my headquarters to thrash one-half of their grain by February 1, and the other half by the 1st day of March next ensuing, on pain, in cass of failure, of all t hat shall remain in sheaves * * being seized by the commissioners nnd quartermasters of the army and paid for as straw. Given under my hand at Headquarters, near the Valley Fo rge, this 20th day of csmber. 1777. George Washingtox. By His Excellency's command, Robert H. Hickory, Secretary It was because of such privations as few soldiers arc called upon to go through that such orders were given out, and out of their bitterness of want and famine grew the savage byword, "No bread, no soldier," that was forced from tho lips of the famished, struggling patriots who suffered for their country's independence. The site of the camp is but a few yards south of the Schuylkill River, and commands an extensive view of the lovely scenery along the course of tliat stream. The old stone mansion occupied by "Washington and his personal statf fronts the station of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and southward a quarter of a mile is the spot where "Washington's original headquarters stood, the building now removed, occupied by him in December, 177". Less than a stone's throw away is the bubbling spring, named after the famous General, whose waters, unless Congresjional action intervenes, will be turned into the plebeian beer. It is on the right bank of Valley Creek, and on the other ride of that, a step below, is the site of ;hc old Valley Forge, buiit. in J.757, and probably tho oldest rolling mill in tho L'nitcd States. A few hundred yards southeast, extending in a zigzag line approximately north and south for a quarter )f a mile, are the remains of the old en:rcnchmcnts and breastworks, still easily iistinguishable by the irregular and scat;ered heaps of stones and the uneven derations of the green sward. On the right jf these remains are the foundations, stones Hhd decayed timbers of Fort Washngton, which served as the eastern bulwark of the camp, while southwest of ;his, a quarter of a mile further, is tho aeadqitnrteri! of General Knox and the pfficers of his command. A short dis:ance below, on the other side of the valley creek, is the site of Lafayette's headquarters. The railroad station near Washington's -stone house, which was :hcn owned by Isaac Potts, is four mile3 rastof Ph<rnixville, thirty-live miles from Philadelphia. ""* 'i jf RECEPTION ROOXf. Residents in the neighborhood still poiDt out to visitors the place under an Did oak tree on the left bank of Valley Creek, where "Washington was discovered by Isaac Potts on his knees in prayer, his I cheeks wet with tears, beseeching the Almighty for guidance and victory for the army intrusted to his command. The Potts's residence, adjoining Washington's headquarters, was recently purchased by the Patriotic Order, Sons of America, and it has been converted into i national museum. The old mansion was restored to its original style of architecture and some of the old furniture of the Washington residence at Mount "Vernon placed within it. The museum also eontains a small arsenal of armorial relics of the Revolutionary War. The village of Valley Forge covced the sight of the artificers' headquarters and gun1 'PU- ???i.mKrani>P unnn this 3D Opt?. i ui; vuui tuii/twMvw property was entirely obliterated by voluntary contributions of the Patriotic Sons of America, aggregating $3370.98, during the Pennsylvania State camp term of 1885-6, and not one cent was taken from the State camp treasury for this puroose, although due authority had been given by the State Convention of 18S6 1.0 make up r. balance then due, but vhich was immediately thereafter made ; up by the camps. A free title was thereupon acquired by the Centennial and Memorial Association, the inalc members HALLWAY IN THE OLD HOUSE, j of which association are all earnest memhero of the Order of Pennsylvania. An ; appropriation from Pennsylvania State 1 was received in 1887, and the interior j and exterior of the headquarters was at I oace completely repaired and restored to their original condition, and nearly $5000 j nas expended in this work of restoration ! aid improvement. The building at that time began to show evidences of decay; it had also been used as a tenant house. This has been discontinued, and the association has made it its aim to furnish it thoroughly with furniture and relics of th 2 Revolutionary period, much of which has been gathered and put in place. A I janitor has charge of the headquarters an 1 occupies a lodge adjoining with his family. rionorress will be memorialized by the I Women's Christian Temperance Union of Philadelphia to preserve the historic J grounds and heirlooms, and that association is taking active steps to interest members in the purchase and preservaj tioa of the ground from the hands of the j land grabber and boomer, and to judge j from the active interest taken in the mati tcr, the indications arc that no brewery will waft the odor of hops over Ike j famous ground stained with the blood of the nation's martyrs. Valley Forge may yet be a national park, and one of greater historic and na! tional interest than even the Yellowstone ! Park. It lies entirely with Congress : whether the next generation will go to Valley Forge to drink beer or view the spot where Independence bled and suffered.?ifey York Herald, Tumbo Parties. Wc have had the donkey party, and. enjoyed it hugely; now. for the Jumbo party, If you possess the skill to draw an elephant free hand, you will not need the assistance of Fig, 1. You will observe that the space is marked off into squares, tjie length of the elephant being drawtf inside of eight squares, while his height is included within^six squares. ^ Ml M ka. FIG. 1. OUTLINE KOll JUMBO. To draw an elephant ten times as largo as the oue pictured, first work off a space ten times as large as that illustrated and divide it into squares, making eighty souares on the length and sixty on the width of it. Then estimate the increased size of each portion of the animal, remembering that the length, which is now bounded by one square, will be extended through ten squares, and proceed to draw. You can mark the squares on heavy, light colored mapping paper; over this spread your drawing paper. For the drawing use a heavy pencil, a crayon or charcoal. FFO. 2. JUMBO REPAIRED. Jumbo's trunk must be cut off before his friends arrive. It must be cut off below the tusk, as shown in Fig. 2, and then as many trunks as there are to be guests are shaped by it and laid in a basket ready for the fun. Jumbo is pinned upon a sheet, which, is hung smoothly upon the wall. Every one present is then blindfolded and given a trunk to pin on. Fast grows the fun, r.ud how keenly the little folks enjoy it! - " -1-1?? Ah, one of ttie en own up peopie Mas lacicu the booby prize by pinning the trunk upon one of the elephant's hind feet. Tncre poor Jumbo""*"stands, wits' Trunks pinned all over his body?everywhere but where the trunk grew.?St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An Unexpected Transfonnation. "1?"Snyder, stop your fooling, or you throw mc down." 2?"Derc, you done it." 3?"G-r-reat Scott! vot is it!"?Afvnity Weekly. Four Very Old People. The village of Dafia, on the island of Lesbos, has a woman said to be 135 years old. who still has the complete use of all her senses. The same island contaius three other inhabitants who are said to have passed their hundredth birthday, Ismail Apa, 130 years old; Khalil Apa, in his 119th year, and Aschik Baba, aged 115. All three of these centenarians, it is said, earn their living by daily work. CURIOUS FACTS. A bcc raiser in Virginia says that bit bees have been making honey ever since Christmas. , Hotel keepers say the demand for hot water as a beverage lt superseding the demand for ice water. In F.ngland all dcgs have to be muzzled. A lot of thieves make a business of stealing the muzzles. At Melbourne. Australia, on January 22, the thermometer registered 156 degrees in the open air at noon. ? The Russian Czar bought a farm about the size 01 the State of Texas the other day. He is now the largest landowner in the world. Several recent cases of the grip in [talv have been followed by a lethargic sleep which' the doctors are unable to . overcome, and the patients' lives are in , danger. , The wettest place iu the world is Cherrapongee, in Assam. The average anaual rainfall there is 610 inches.* The . iverage annual rainfall of the world is thirty-six inches. At La Harpe, III., two lads, Clarence Bainter and Sammy Matthews, engaged in "a banana-eating contest." Clarencs ite sixteen, Sammy sixteen and a-half. Then the doctor was sent for. During the year 18S9, no less than 108 persons loss their lives through gas in ihc United States. This is a greater aumber of deaths than have been caused by electricity during the last ten years. The theme of the Japanese national luthem as recently rendered into Enjr lish is: "Oh, that the reign of our Emperor might continue for thousands and chousands of years?until oyster shells become rocks." ^ ? XT /I o M. iNear uoiu opnuga, j*. v^., ,?.? ? markable old -lady. Her name is Mrs. Phoebe Wilson, but far and wide she is Icnown as "Granny Wilson." She is one hundred and nine years old and has been twice married. There is in the Paris hospital called the Hotel Dieu a woman who can see two different sets of objects at once and the same time. Wbile one eye is gazing at a given point the other remains perfectly Kill, and vice versa. , A nest of mice was found ija. a Penobscot County (Me.) man's overcoat after he had hung it up in a Bangor hotel. When called on to explain the man said ho hadn't put on the overcoat for two years till he took it down to wear to Bangor that morning. In the Government of Kieff, Russia, there exist 12,000 burial mounds, ot which only 566 have been investigated. These mounds are of three separate types: the first kind belongs to the stone age, the second to the Scythiau, and the third to the Slavonic. m A kind-hearted woman at La Crosse, Wis., bought five cords of wood and three buck-saws and gave all tramps a chance to earn a meal. They stole the jaws and boys stole the wood, and one day a tramp entered her house, scared her almost to death and stole her watch. . .. Women Warriors. Dahomey, on the west coast of Africa, is again at war with a European power, and some of the famous Amazons or fe I male soldiers of the King Have been Kiuea | in a battle with France's Sengalese ! troops. The King's regular army is a permanent establishment, all the soldiers being enrolled for life or until incapacitated for further service. For special needs the regulars are re-enforced by large auxiliary bodies, but these irregular troops are disbanded as soon as the particular occasion that made them useful has passed. The Amazons belong to the regular army, and they are recruited in a remarkable manner. If a woman in Dahomey has an acrid temper or fails to have children, or if her hasband wants to get ri^ | of her, he honors himself by presenting her to the King,, who, if she has the requisite physical qualifications, turns her over to his army officers to be drilled as an Amazon. The Amazons accompany the King on all bis expeditions, but they do not usually play a very active role. They guard the baggage and the camp, but are not often taken into action if it can be avoided. The garrison of Aghome, the King's capital, is composed almost exclusively oi Amazons. A recent visitor to the capital says there were only thirty male soldiers in the garrison. The Amazons are also trained to fill the peaceful role of dancing girls. One )f the big j sights of Dahomey is to see the Amazons ! on gala days frantically brandishing their weapons, uttering their war cries, | and going through their dances before the King. > Twenty-four years ago the Frenchman, Beraud, estimated the number of the Amazons at about 1560. Since then the number has increased, and the German traveler, Zoller, in 1885 was of the opinion that there were at least 6000 of these interesting females. It is not unlikely that this estimate is too large, but it is certain that there are a great inany of them. In view of the very peculiar qualifications that secure the admission of most of thcra to the army, tney are undoubtedly far from being an attractive lot in aDj sense of the word.?Ntw York Sun. A Judge's Humor. In his address on Judge Usher, Hon. A. L. Williams related the following: For the purpose of showing the character of his humor, which sometimes? though not often?had a caustic tone, I will mention one anecdote. One of the brightest young men of the State, whoso untimely death we all deplored a few years ago, was the proprietor of a hotel. He got into a controversy with the judge, and denounced him as "haughty and fastidious/' The judge wrote him a good-natured letter, in which, among other things, he said: "I do think I am I haughty, for I always ride in the smoking car; and I know I am not fastidious, for I oucc stopped three days at your hotel."?Washington Star.