Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' s* 7- ;"t " *- -3 ^ $ - *> k5t '< ^ ' ^ <> t ~ -? ? ~ - ~" ?~?= ~ ~ 7 * Y70L. XLIX. CAMDEN, S. C? TIIURS D AY,0?EPTEMBER 11, 1890. NO, 11. PATHS. Fhe paths that lead to r? Loaf of Bread Winds through the Swamp of Toil, And the path that leads to a Suit of Clothes Goes through a flowerless soil. And the paths that lead to the Loaf of Bread And the Suit of Clothes are hard to tread. And the path that leads to a House of Your i Own ' Climbs over the bowklered hills, And the path that leads to a Bank Account | Is swept by the blast that kills; ? But the men who start in the paths to-dn7 [11 the Lazy Hiils may go astray, t fn the Lazy Hills are trees of shado ^ By the dreamy Brooks of Sleep, And the rollicking River of Pleasure laughs, j And gambols down the steep; But when the blasts of the winter come, The brooks end the river are frozen dumb. Then wo? to those in the Lazy Hills When the blasts of the winter moan, Who strayed from the path to a Bank Ac, count. And the path to a House of Their Own; These paths are hard in the summer heat, But in winter they lead to a snug retreat. ?S. IK. Foss, in Yankee Blade. A WOMAN OF SPIRIT, BT LILY TYNER. My poor, dear husband had been dead two years and over and, though I still wore my mOurniDg, tempered with the most becoming of heliotrope, I had begun to feel quite reconciled to my widowhood. The dear man had been ever generous duriDg his life time, as well became one more than thirty years the senior of his wife, ann, dying, had left me well provided for. There wa? my city house and my rent roll, my various securities and my cottage by the sea. ! Many a young woman had greater cause ' for discontent. So I reasoned and forthwith determined to cheer up and^take a more active interest in life. I was down at my cottage for the summer. My chaperone was with me, but I began to long'for companions of my own age. It occurred to me that I might ask some of my girl friends to come and stay with me. I picked out two of my bridesmaids and wrofe them. Not long after I received two letters and was overjoyed at their contents. One was from Edith Westcott, a Boston friend. It said: "Your most kind letter received. It will give me great pleasure to go to you ' next week. I will let you know by telegragh. Mother wishes to be remembered. Your most loving friend,"etc., etc. The other was from Charlotte?or Charlie, as she liked to be called?Foster. It was to the first as prestissimo is to allegro: "Tou dcoiest darling! 1 "will fly to you. Iain dyiugtotell you of all my latest triumphs. I will talk you to death. Jt seems a century since we last met. Meet me day after to-morrow morning. Your own," etc., etc. Edith was two years Charlotte's senior, but it was not all a difference in age. However, they were both children of fortune aud my very dear friends. And how they would brighten up the cottage I could very well imagine, for the cottage was a little sombre, though I pride myself on its general arrangement. The interior was just as I could wish it. A wide passage through the center; a goodsized room on the right, with polished floor for dancing and a piano; back of this the dining-room; on the left a sitting-room, rather luxuriously furnished for the seaside; back of this and connected by a doorway draped with a portiere of antique lace, a small library reading-room, well stocked with summer fiction and the like; beyond this a breakfast-room. The upper chambers were mostly sleeping-rooms. I spent the afternoon seeing that everything was properly arranged and next morning went down to meet Char-. lie Foster. "Is Edith coming?" she asked, almost the first thing, for I had written her I should ask Edjth. "Yes," 1 answered; "she'll arrive later." "Did you know she is engaged?" "To be married? No; to whom? and when?" "I den't know bim," said Charlie, tossing her pretty head. "He is a Mr. T-Tn.? !"?* ?! 1 - e n jLiaciYCU KJl DUMUU, ui course. Charlie was a perfect little beauty." She stood about tive feet two inches and weighed 125 pounds. Her eyes were hazel and danced like sea water in the 6un; her hair was a splendid mass of golden chestnut. She was a precious lump of vivacity. Four days after arrived Edith Westcott. Edith was very tall and slender, exceedingly pale, with black-lashed, 6erious gray eyes. Her hair was black, without a thread of color. She was the quintessence of grace, moving deliberate' ly, laughing softly and speaking always in a low tone. We three were happy enough during the first few days, chatting together about old friends and old times. Then solicitude came to me. Edith, I found, had some peculia- notions of her own. Being engaged, she discouraged cveu the slightest attention from gentlemen other than her betrothed. Of course there were maDy young men in our circle of acquaintances, but perceiving Miss Westcott's lack of interest they would naturally all turn to Charlotte, and 1 feared WAIll.l ?a*sl if ! /-!?. f iAutu " vuiu umi ib 6tupid iu consequence. "Why don't you write Mr. Haskell to come down?' jl /nally ventured co ask her. Edith colored delicately. "I believe I will," she said, and Mr. Haskell, whose first name was Harold, in due lime presented himself at the beach. He was a'charraing blonde of thirty-five or more. I liked him very much; so did Charlie. "Oh, Edith!" she sighed. "Wnatau elcgaut fellow! Rich, too, isn't he? You're a lucky girl!" Edith's betrothed, in turn, took a great fancy to Charlie. She had such buoyancy, such glowing health. He could got keep his eyes from her. There! I might stop it. once and let h you guess at the sequel; but you would j: probably not guess it quite right. Some things come to pass .curiously. v I It did not trouble me, as time passed, that Mr. Haskell evinced a great liking ii for little Charlie. Perhaps I did not give v it much thought it the time, though afterward I remembered that he danced ( with her a good deal and was very fond ' of licr singing. n Nor do I kuow what Edith thought. I * only know of the awakening. A month had gone and Haskell was 1 still at the beach. One morning five of 11 us?includ'ng a Mr. Marshall, whom I had intended as Charlie's escort, but who 1 had chosen to attach himself to poor old matronly me?went for a long walk 5 back into the country away from the sea- * shore. Returning we took a short cut to desend a rather steep hill. How it hap- s nened T do notouite know, but it seemed 11 I ? m 1 that Charlie m.ule a misstep, fell and a rolled downward for some little distance, until her dress caught on a shrub or stone e and stopped her. It all transpired in an c instant, but Harold Haskell was quick to * lift her in his arms nud insist that he * should carry her home. r But, Charlie though trembling, man- I aged to laugh. "I am not hurt," she quavered. "Put me down quick. I'm a terrible weight!" We all laughed hysterically. But t Haskell was still pale with fright. t Immediately we had reached the cct- t tage Charlie sank upon a sofa. 1 "I'm awfully shaken up, you know," t she said. "I shall not stir a step for an r hour," she said. o Edith was going to her room before i luncheon. Charlie called after her: "Would you mind tossing down my i book, Edith, dear?" c " "I will bring it down," Edith an- t swercd. f Neither of the girls had brought maids. Charlie always preferred to dispense t with hers when she could, and Edith i had my owu at her service. t . A few miuutes later I was in the break- ^ fast room giving some orders about I luncheon and talking to Mrs. Webster, 1 my chaperoue. Mrs. Webster, good t soul, turned from the room out through ; a rear passage and I turned to re-enter the s I library, when the sight I saw through I I the antique portiere beyond transfixed ? ' me. Harold Haskell, the betrothed of Edith Westcott, had clasped Charlie i Foster to his heart and was kissing her a passionately. "My darling, I love you!" he murmured. f I slipped from the breakfast room into the main passage, feeling cold with hor- ? ?i -i :.? ? T T 1U1, WUCU, ^lauvillg up, loan uuiwi unuway on the staircase, white as death and supporting herself by-the handrail. Had she seen or hiiard? I felt I must say something. * "Are you coming down?" I asked. "I was coming down," she replied in a strained voice, "but I don't feel well. I think the sun has affected me. I will go back and lie down. Here is Charlie's book. Will you give it to her?" She dropped it to me and crept cn up. "I am so sorry," I said, vaguely. "Shall I send you anything?" "No; I will be better presently," she answered in a weary way, and I heard her door close with a sharp sound. Lunclicou was announced then. The others must have thought me unusually quiet. I felt as if I were the guilty one aud dared not look in their faces. Ami yet I was not angry, only sorry. It seemed like misfortune. After luncheon they went out on the piazza together. I waited a little, then went up to Edith. She was lying down, with her hand to shade her eyes. The room was darkened and I could barely sse her face. ] "Yes, I am much better now," she , said. "Where is Charlie?" , "Gone out with Mr. Haskell," I au- , swered, a'most painfully. Somehow I 1 felt almost as if the fault were mine. Edith spoke abruptly then. "Charlie is iu love, I believe." I I started. "In love! You think so?" , "Yes, I am sure of it. It may sur-t ( ! prise you when I toll you." "Surprise me?" I repeated, within-. , j decision of tone. "Yes, because Charlie is in love withi . I Mr. Ilaskell." ; "Edith," I said, with a shocked ac-- j cent which was not all assumed?for it ; i seemed really horrible to bear the fact j announced in cold-blooded English? ( j "Edith, your Dance?" "A few words will alter that," she rej plied, calmly. "You see, Nora, we are; all apt to make mistakes." "You do not love him," I interrupted. Edith forced a laugh. "You see, it will be all right eventually I ?right for all of us. They love each other, and I?I never could marry him." I sighed with intense relief to hear this. "I shall want, a little conversationj with Mr. Ilaskell alone," she went on. "After dinner will do. If you will take Charlie out, you know?" I promised promptly. rni. i. J! t CI II T / i. t i nai ujnner: otiau i ever iorgcc now silent we were?all of us? How paiufully j the time dragged? Charlie went out afterwards during i the evening to walk with ine, but we | had not much to say to each other. It I is almost impossible for fne to dissemble. ! Charlie liually strayed off and stood ! alone, gazing out upon the sea. I myself I turned back to the house, not intending j to enter, nor for a moment supposing I should see or hear aught of that final in tcivivn* i But Harold ITaskell's words came floating through the open windows: "I j thought?I feared " Then Edith's voice stopped him. "The woman who perists in loving n ! man who docs not love her, but loves another, is fallen very low, indeed. Am I not right?" 4 Yes, you arc right," lie answered quickly. Edith stepped to the window and called Charlie's name. Charlie ha- i already turned come rnck and continued at the same not rapid nice. I did not go in with her, hut stood rithout, gazing through the window. Edith stood before the door into the ill!ary. She had reached behind her nth one hand to part the curtains. "Charlie," she said, smiling faintly. I could see her looking very pale.) 'Charlie, 3Ir. Haskell and I have been nakiiig a mistake for some time past, have just been explaining myself on the object nnd (returning his ring) I think terhaps you arc interested in knowing bout it." Charlie burst out laughing and crvng at the same moment: "Oh, you dear Edith! I am so glad ou don't carc for him !*'aud rushed to icr arms. Edith moved slowly backward. Ihavo ceil just such motion in plays?the slow notion of one suffering yet concealing inguish. The lovers looked in each other's yes, but I?out in the night?looked inly at Edith, moving slowly, with pale ace and piteous smile, backward through he parting draperies, back >ato the dimicss of the library, whence she might >nss unobserved.?New York Mercury. Throwing 01T tho Scent. "When Bismarck represented Prussia in he Diet at Frankfort, says a writer in he Ne<o Review, he strongly suspected hat his letters and despatches were tamicred with in the interest of Austrian liplomacv. At last he discovered a emcdy, the ingenuity and perfect detail if which is illustrative of bis way of dong things. On one occasion, after a stormy meetng, lie and an officer of the Hanoverian rubassy walked away together, and as hey walked, spoke of this grievance roin which they had suffered. C. Presently the Hanoverian remarked hat Bismarck led the way out iif the aorc fashionable quarter of the town ino dingy and yet more dingy by-ways. Is they entered a particular dirty steeet Jismarck drew out his gloves, which isually remained in his pocket, drew hem on and buttoned each carefully. This done he entered one of the little hops where th3 poor buy cheese, nckles, dried fish, lamp oil and other lommodities. "Boy," said Bismarck to a dull lookng lad behind the counter, "do you ell soap?" "Yes, sir." "What soap? WTiat sorts have you rot?" "This and this, and here's auother," :aid the boy, putting before Bismarck a mriety of strong-scented cakes. "Well, how much is this?" the diplonatist asked, handling one of the cakes; 'and how much this?" fumbling with mother. A piece was selected, when i 3ismarck, as if suddenly recollecting limself, plunged his hand into a brca9t locket una drew out an enclosed letter. Vppareutly annoyed at his own forget- I ulness, he cried, "Do you sea cnvei- i >pes, boy? bring them out!" Envelopes?wretched things?were iroduced, the letter placed in one, and Sismarck began to address it. But with t thick glove on and tightly buttoned lp, this was not easy to do. So ho lung down the pen impatiently and said, 'Here, boy; you can write I suppose?" ind gave the address, which the boy iwkwardly scrawled upon it. Then Bisnnrck took the letter and left the shop. "Now," said he to his friend, when hey had passed outside, as he pot the ettcr to his nose, "what with the soap, he herring, the candles and the cheese, [don't think they'll smell my despatch luder that!" A Royally Paid Substitute. In the year 1814, when the Emperor Napoleon made his last levy of troop3 to resist the invasion of France by the powers of Europe, one Peter .Julian Laurent, x poor knile-grinder, was employed by a rich citizen named Ulysses Gaudin,whose name was more war-like than was his disposition, to go to the war in his place. Substitutes were somewhat, hard to find in those days, and before Lnurent would zonscDt to serve in Gaudin's place, ho exacted a payment of eight hundred francs down, and an agreement that, in case he, Laurent, should lose his life in battle, three hundred and fifty francs a year should be paid to his widow as long us she should live, and after her death, three hundred francs a year during his life to his son, then four years old. Peter Julian Laurent was killed under the walls Df Paris within four months after his enlistment. His widow received her three hundred and fifty francs a year regularly from Gaudin and his family until 1832, when she died. The Gaudin family then | sought to evade the payment of the an- ' nual amount of three hundred francs ; agreed upon for Laurent's sod, but the matter was carried into court, Laurent I won his case. The Gaudins were ordered j to pay hi in the amouut each year as long , as he lived. Laurent is still living, in the best of health, and promises to live 1 ten years longer. The Gaudin family remain solveut.and have paid him regularly, since 1832, the amount which his father stipulated to give him. Those who arc curious in arithmetical matters can easily compute how much money Ulysses Gnudin's substitute has cost, all told; also, | if they like, what the amount, capitalized | in 1814, would have been, and also what the capital, at compound interest, siucc j 1814, would have amounted to by this : time.?-Argonaut. The Land of Ducks. There are more ducks in the Chinese Empire, says an authority, than in all the world outside of it. They are kept by the Celestials on every farm, on the private roads, on the public roads, on streets of cities, and on all the lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and brooks in the country. Every Chinese boat also contains a batch of them. There are innumerable hatching establishments all through the Empire, many of which are ! said to turn out about 50,000 young i ducks every year. Salted and wnoked ducks and duck's eggs constitute two of the most common and important articles of diet in China. ] AN OSTRICH RANCH. . *'* * RAISING THE QUEER BIRD 18 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. ? 2\ He Fights Like a Wild Cat "if Hli Home Is Invaded?Harmless With a Stocking Over His Head ?Plucking the Feathers. * ??*. AYS ? SanS Ant /F* (Cal ) letter to (the \ New York Worhb No On tlA sloping 'side /f [ jl of a ihotUill in the Saq V Bemandino range df -mountains, ln Southern Califor^3^2; n'ft' *s r^6 queerest ,, little ranch in all the I'l" t*0^en ?tate. A * 'wmKb^' i'1 '' ^ence ?t Hemlock planking, with every crack stopped up, massive, iron bound gate3, of the V 1 1 _ 1*111^ J* same neavy maienai, ann n ui?i? jpnuu house occupied by two sturdy nod determined looking men, guarcLtho secrets of that odd looking inclosure on the side of the little maintain. To the sightseer or casuai visitor who, passes the great plank inclosed fields, aft array of moving heads, -tfith bulging eyes and gaping mouths of immense size, convey very little idea-'of whal; sort of stock is being reared there. Those heads, numbering dozens anci even scores at times, seem to be lifted up out of uothingness, poked high into the ai:r and lunged swiftly over the top. of the plank fence in the direction of the visitor. A sharp hiss emitted just as (the glaring ?yes and wide-open mouth, come into sight might prove a very effective object lesson to a hard drinker. But the heads are not those of monstet serpents. The eyes .riiich glare and never blink or move are not the eyes of intediluvian reptiles, but belong to bd inoffensive bird. The gaping mouth is he mouth of an ostrich, and within that flanked inclosure are more than a hun3red of them fully grown. But the array >f heads and bare necks, twisting and writhing to and fro, cannot fail to conjure up before the mind' of a visitor a ocst of gigantic serpents, w&rgling and kissing in their endeavors over the ligh fence to devour him. Once within these iron-bound gates thn lightseer will witness sights which " canlot be seen elsewhere ou this continent :nd nowhere else on the globe save in .he vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa The ostrich industry was begun in thii lountry eight years ago, but the birdt iben brought from Abyssinia did nc| ihrive, and after a year or roore, this at?' -empt to raise them for i#ejA*pUu;&es wai. tbtfndoned. But other persons wen juick to see that if birds of a suf. Iciently hardy nature could be imported ;o stand the climate of Southern California, there would be a large revenue of profit in the business. The gentlemen who own this farm determined to try the 3outh African ostrich and young birds were imported under the skillful management of the foreman, who still has the farm in charge. There were twenty of these ostriches and they first saw the farm near Fullerton, a little more than ii.t years ago. .Of the original birds imported, sixteeu still survive and of the four dead, only one died from sickness, the others having injured themselves fatally, by falling into ditches in the hight time. From the flock of twenty birds, 140 have been reared, but owing ;o death from accident, only 124 of them were on the farm when the World party visited it last week. A COVET OF YOUNG OSTIUCFTEfl. "If you will walk this, way,'' said the Superintendent, "I will show ycu the youngest ostriches ever exhibited inl America, here or anywhere else. I have a number iu a little inclosure down here,j which were hatched only day before yes-i terday, and they arc well worth seeing." We walked toward a little brook on the bank of which stood a framework of boards which looked something like a hot-bed in a vegetable garden. It had a roof partly of boards and partly of glass, and underneath the panes were several birds about tho size of half-grown goslings. They were as lively as sparrows, jumping hither and thither, pecking at the gravel in one corner of their cage or nibbling at the tcudcr shoots of alfalfa clover growing in auothcr. Tho sash was lifted off and tho Superintendent A - ???? Aofnlt Ann f Tin went 11UU tueil tuyii IU Ultbii KUV lit >UV covey. lie lind a prettly lively chase of it around the narrow limits of the incisure, but finally succeeded in catching one of the largest. The young ostrich was covered with down soft as satin and as glossy as if it had been oiled. Thcro was a slight moulting of ivhite-tipped, Huffy feathers all over its body, and down the back of its neck was a broad stripe of jet-black color, merging into shaded brown and very pretty. There were ten in ;>.ii, ranging in age from three days ic three weeks. The Superintendent dropped the one he had caught and picked up another and a smaller one :i moment, later. The rapid growth of the ostrich can he imagined from the Super intendent's assertion that in sixteen months the bird will have reached a stature of eight or nine feet when standI ing erect. "What is the value of a young ostrich?' I asked. "We value them at $100 each when they are hatched, and their value io creases with their ago. They yield their first crop of feathers when thty are sixteen months old. Atter that wo get at least two crops of feathers every year from them." "And for how many years wih a bird continue to yield a paying auaouut of plumes?" "Oh, they live to a good age, and so long as they live yield first-class feathers. The male birds?all those big black fellows you see up there on the hillside are males?of course pay the best, for it is from them thnt we get the finest plumes. From the female birds wc get the brown and gray feathers. These have to be dyed before they can be marketed, and v,hcn they are shorter and lighheriu body) than the plumes from the males. The) feathers from the female birds arc made Into tips and short plumes, and bring much less, comparatively, than the long, heavy plumes of the males." "flow do you Dluck the feathers?" I iskecl, desirous of seeiog the operation, if possible. "I cannot pluck a bird for you now, because we are through with that work for this month, but if you will walk up into the main corrals I'll show you how it is done." Up on the side of the sloping bill are sixteen small squares within the main inclosure. These little squares nrc about forty feet each way and accommodate a male and female bird. In them the young are raised, and into them it is very dangerous for the keepers to go during the breeding season. In one corner of the inclosure was a triangular pen of boards, just largo enough to admit, the body of an ostrich. A stout bar standing by the feuce could be used to drop into place as soon as the bird had beeu driven into tho pen. Then a stocking slipped over his head shut off his sight and he wns as effectually a prisoner as if he Lad been thrown upon the ground ' and tied. When an ostrich is thus imprisoned one of the keepers reaches through the bars of the pen, lifts up his wings, and with a pair of kecu-edged nippers clips off the plume quills just above the skin, allowing the stumps to remain in the flesh. These are subse- I quently shed by the bird, and immediately thereafter a new plume continues to grow. From six to ten plumes of tho finest quality are obtained from each side of the bird twice a year, to say nbthing of the smaller plumes and tips from tho back and tail. > The devotion of the male bird to tho female amounts almost to adoration. He guards her nest day and night and will fight furiously to protect her from on imaginary danger. He relieves her oa tue nest at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and iemajus there until 8 o'cliik the next -r ^ EXPRESSING HIS INDIGNATION, morning, taking his "watch" with almost clock-likc regularity. He does twothirds of the duty of setting and therefore two-thirds of the labor of hatching a brood of young. I had an opportunity, in one of the smaller corrals, of witnessing the building of a permanent nest. The femalo bird trotted around the lot in a peculiar | manner, now and then pecking at the I ground with her bill. Finally she found I n spot to her liking and scratched up the j sandy loam a little with her foot. Then she walked away, proud and happy in the knowledge that she had found tho proper place for digging the family nest. | ohe retired to a further corner of the lot ---1 ?J. Tlmn tKn mnlp bird. a sua Silt (lint 11. 1IM/U iuu , -handsome, black-plumed fellow, strutted over to the spot whero the bend of the house had scratched away the turf. Ho went to work with a will and soon his big, two-toed feet, armed with their 1 heavy claws, had dug out quite a hole in ! the soft sand. He did not stop until he had made an excavation fully as broad as the body of his beloved mate and about a foot in depth. Then he spoke to her 1 in ostrich language and she immediately came to the nest. There were some modern' improvements which he had overlooked, perhaps, for she wasn't pleased with it exactly. She gave him a I l'cw more instructions and sat down ti watch the progress of the work. Thi old fellow went to work like a dutify | ) AN OSTRICH TWO WEEKS OLD. husband, scratched a little more dirt here and dug a little deeper there, until . ho had apparently carried out the orders of his spouse. She then sat down in tho nest, ruflled her fenthcrs, kicked and ] scratched a little and finally pronounced 1 the nest a fit. Then they both went gossiping around by tho fence, letting tho inhabitants of the ostrich village into the secret that they had the latest-improved and best-appointed nest in all ostrichdom and were about to hatch a brood which should be the envy and wonder of all beholders. 1 In an adjoining inclosure an ostrich hen was just going on her nest. She had told her better half that he might take a little stroll, and ho was cantering toward the feed-trough at the further side of the corral as fast as a horse could run. The female in this particular instance was a very mad hen. The Superintendent had taken two eggs from the nest, and she had caught him at it. He had tho eggs outside of the fence, but ho couldn't put them back for tho bird would kick him. So, as the only alternative, he laid theiu down carefully just inside tbe mclosurc and tne nen rouea them back one by one, using her head a? a lever. Then she fluffed her feathers ft little, uttered a defiant hiss at the impudent visitors who had caused her nest to be disturbed, squatted down over her eggs, tucked her head uuder her wing and went to sleep. ' Come this way now," said the Superintendent, "and I'll show you the fullgrown.birds, not yet mated off, over in the big paddock. They are- a bad lot just now, for they are mating and the males like to >how off. Don't get too near the fence, for they will kick you if they can." As soon as we stopped they came up to the fence and snapped at our hats in a friendly sort of way. The Superintendent took up a stick and rattled it between the boards of the fence. Instantly there was a crash ns of a heavy blow, accompanied by a shrill hiss* Crash after crash followed as one of the ostriches kicked at the stick held in the Superintendent's haud. He thrust his great foot forward with lightuing-Iike rapidity and every time his horn-shod great toe struck the fence it left an indentation almost an inch deep. It was an exhibition of kicking such as I had never seen elsewhere, and I had much rather See that ostrich practise on the plank fence than on any part of my anatomy. The feeding of the giant birds is interesting. In the evening they cat grain, principally oats and rolled barley, butior their other meals they are'" fed finely chopped green alfala. The fields of al-v." falfa on tbo ranch afford an unlimited nnnnW nf nmiriahinor fnod for the birds uw^rv .. 0 and they thrive upon it perfectly. It 13 the food the ostrich gets in South Africa, And he does as well on it^ia'California as fhero. The alfalfa'i? brought in front* the fields by the wngoi^>a<htljen chopped' innr -feed-cutter vcrJ^W^IfcaiKl fhrowu into the fecding-boxc3 in the various incisures in unlimited quantities. The birds sat little at a time, but eat often., They are not gluttons nor gourmands, though they will eat and swallow anything. They drink large quantities of water and spend their time in chasing one another around the paddocks. A Telegraph-Polo Bore. | The woodpecker and portion of telep-aph-post here represented were recently exhibited to the Cardiff Naturalists' Society by the President, John Gavey. In the course of his official dum II "Sfir ''hfelili11 I ,1'I R?J' 1 VlP i,l|,P JIW TITE WOODPECKER AT WORK. lies as district engineer of postal telegraphs, several instances of injury to poles in the neighborhood of Shipton-ouStour, caused by large holes being driven into nud almost through theui, were brought under his notice. A watch was set and the depredator discovered in thn form of what the watchman de scribed as a "stock-eagle," which, when shot, turned out to be a poor little woodpecker. The bird is thought to have been misled by the humming noise conducted through the wood from the wires, into the belief that a store of insect delicacies awnited extraction from the interior, and with energy worthy of a better result it i "slogged" away until it had arrived within half an inch of the opposite side, i Then the fatal shot terminated tho work. An Indefinite Term. Visitor?"IIow long arc you in for, : Of my poor manI ' Prisoner?"Duuno, Ma'am." Visitor?"How can that be?" ^ I Prisoner?"It's a life sentence."?Pick, UNCLE SIDNEY'S VIEWS. T hold that the true age of wisdom is when IVe are boys and girls, and not women and men: When, as credulous children, we know things because We believe them?however averse to the laws. It is faith, then, not science and reason, I say, That is genuine wisdom?and would that, to-day. We, as then, were as wise, and ineffably blest, As to live, leve, and die, and trust God for the rest! So I simply deny the old notion, you know, That the wiser'we get as the older we ?row, For in youth, all we know we are certain of; ? now The greater our knowledge the more we allow For skeptical margin; and hence I regret That the world isn't flat, and the sun doesn't < ? set, And'we may not go creeping up home, when we die, * - Through the moon, like a round, yellow hole in the sky. ?James WhitcombRiley. PITH AND POINT. Lay figures?An estimate of the egg crop. Made out of whole cloth?Mosquito netting. A sharp advance in edged tools may be looked for.?Picayune. We might boast of our native cyclones, but unfortunately they leave nothing to olow about.?Philadelphia Timet.. Wife?"How can I make a cake, John? We are short of flour and sugar." Husband?"Sure? Then make a shortcake." " * "Troubles never come siAgly," as the young father remarked when they told him it was twins.?Burlington Free Press. The rhetoric of convicts is abominable; at all events they have a great aversion to finishing their sentences.?Philadelphia ' Press. "Business failures seem to come in waves," remarked Cumso, "No," replied . Fangle, "they come in bill-owes."? Epoch. **? "Why Brown doesn't Know enough to come in when it rains." "He doesn't need to, he has my best umbrella."? Bazar. The bunco man seems to have a streak oT benevolence about him. He is always willing to take a stranger in.?Boston Cohujiercial. ' . . He amied,,.of coarse,^at the maiden's heart, B^^^8"W1'- jj ' 'T^ho wrote the Psalms?" asked the v superintendent, severely. And then a little girl iq the infant class began to cry. "It wasn't me. sir," she said.?New York Sun. Mistress?"Bridget," I wouldn't hang the clothes on that electric wire. You may get shocked. Bridget?"Sure, mum, I've seen'em all before."?Munsey't Weekly. Ho (at the baseball game)?"Do you know what a muff is, sweet?" She (blushing)?"Why, of course I do! It is something your hands can meet in."? Burlington Free Press. Crimple ? "Don't you think Miss Doxey plays better than she sings?" Miss Trumble?"I don't know. When I hear her sing I think she does. When she plays I think she sings better."?New York World. / Photographer (to young lady) ? "There is no need of telling you to look pleasant, miss. Such a face cannot be otherwise than pleasant." Young Lady (srraciously)?"I will take two dozen, sir, instead of one dozen. ? Botton Courier. "Is your building a frame?" asked the insurance agent. "No," said the owner, "it is of iron and stone and warranted perfectly fireproof." "Perfectly flieproof, eh? "Then it comes in the extra hazardous class, and the rate is much higher than if it were simply frame."? Norristown Herald. "Do you know, my dear," said Mr. Darringer, as ho smiled fondly upon his young hopeful, "I believe that our boy has inherited my amiable disposition?" "That explains it," remarked his wife with a demure smile. "I've been wondering for some time what had become of it."?The Key- . itonc. "My friend," said the dignified, clerical-looking man to his seat mate in the ? i.t fmm flip character of fill) JL ?Ui uimiu nviu ?mw the book you arc reading that you haven't enough thought for the future." . "Thought for the future! Great Scott! I. a member of the Chicago Bourd of Trade? Dou't I deal in futures!"? Wathington Pott. "Do you know," said one tramp to another, "that the old duffer who has just gone up the street had the impudence to tell me that if I hadn't spent my money for whisky I might be owning a brick house." What did you say?" "I reminded him with great sarcasticness that brick houses is not fit tcr drink."? Washington Post. Boy?"Please, sir, may I have the afternoon off? My grandmother is to bo buried." Employer?"This is the eighth grandmother you have buried since the baseball season opened." "Boy?I know it, sir, I came of a very old family, ana my ancestors can't stand the excitement of two leagues. They're dying ol! fast." ?New York Herald. "You want to know the reason why I did not take the pledge, Helen?" "Yes; you promised to do it as proof of your love." "Hut I couldn't, because if I swore that nothing intoxicating should touch my lips, darling, how could I kiss you? Sec?" And he acted as if he would take a great deal of lip from her before he would sign anything like a pledge.?Philadelphia Press. The anaconda and the boa constrictor arc uot poisonous and do not bite.