Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i ' 35 VOL. XLIX. CAMDEN, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1890. NO. 19. i BEAR AND FORBEAR. Be careful, ye whoso wedded hearts Are lovingly united; Be heedful, lest an enemy Steal on you uninvited! A little, wily, serpent form, With graceful, luring poses; Or. coming in a difFrent guise, A thorn among the roses! Be careful, ye whose marriage-hells Now merrily are ringing; Ee heedful of the bitter word. The answer keen and stinging? The shart retort, the angry eyo Its vivid lightning flashing; The rock on which so many hopes ..Arc daily, hourly dashing! 'Bear and forbear"'?the only way To tread life's paths together. Then come, and welcome, shining sun, Or come, dark cloudy weather: Two wedded hearts conjoined in one That cannot live asunder! Have put love's golden armor on? Oil, world, look on and wonder! ?Mrs. 3/. .4. Kidder. The Quicksands of Toro. BY Cn.VItLES HOWARD SHINX. The story properly begins at midnight, on the San Luis, Obispo coast, California, twenty years ago, when the September moonlight shoue down upon Stoner's cattle ranch, near the Pacific Ocean, in the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains. Stonerhad been a Texan Ranger, and could hold his own extremely well in f?">? %finv nAmmiinittT TTn Karl Iliac lUU^U UUUtlVi vvuiiuuuivj, "V uuu carried off a pretty Spanish wife from the Chihuahua region years before, had brought her to the rocky Californian coast, and had purchased a settler's claim and an old adobe house built by a Spanish hidalgo half a century ago. Here he farmed, raised cattle on the unused Government lunds. aud kept a sort of rude hotel; for several mountain trails joined at that point the broad highway which led from the county seat, twenty miles south, to the northern settlements in the pineries. He had five daughters, too, the youngest, Theresa, known as Tessa, a girl of seventeen. That added to the attraction, and almost every night the dark-eyed, half-Spanish girls sang and danced, and old Stoner managed to hear all the news that was afloat, and somehow, most of the loose coin of the region ultimately found its way into his pockets. He was a deep one, that same Ephraim Stoner, quiet, sly and patient, secret in his methods, deadly in his blow. Stoner's wife and his four elder daughters were uneducated and in complete subjection to his will. But Tessa had more brains and energy than all the others put together, and quite as much beauty, so that the old Texan Ranger tcok a certain pride iu licr, and had even allowed her to attend a distant school for two years. This midnight, when, as I have said, the story begins, a person of a prying disnosition nuVht have discovered sev eral interesting performances in progress around the Stoner abode. On the north side of the house, quite in the shadow, Tessa was leaning from her window, conversing in low tones with a blond, fair-baired and sturdy young man on horseback. "Tom, you do not know my father. He is not the careless, warm-hearted man you suppose. I must admire his ability, but that is all. I warn you, Tom, there never was a more dangerous man. He may be where he hears every word you say, but if he is, he will r>ot speak to you or to me about it. But if he knew that you cared for me he would be your enemy. He has other plans for me. lie wants me to marry for money." Tom Warren had once been a schoolteacher in the mountain district, miles away, where Tessa had been one of his pupils. Thrown upon his own resources from his childhood, he had developed a strong, earnest character, aud was already so popular in the county that lie had just been elected sheriff, although the youngest man on the ticket. While Tessa and her lover were talk , , log, a scene or a iav amereut nature was been enacted on the soutli side of the old ^ adobe, which overlooked a deep ravine, and a cauip of five or six men in a field below, For several years these men had v. spent their summers there, ostensibly hunting, fishing and exploring the country with their degs and guns. Everyone knew them, and most persons liked them. Tessa did not. Stoner, though it was midnight, sat in the moonlight on an old rawhide chair, outside the door, smoking his pipe aud meditating?a tough, sinewy, grizzled night-owl of a man. "That chuckle-head at the camp ought to have reported before now," he thought to himself, as he smoked. A man came out of the brush and spoke deferentially! "Capt'n, good-eveuin\" "You're late." "Dick was shot." "Well?" "Just as the driver throwed off the box. Shot by a passenger in the neck and shoulder." "He mustn't stay here to get us into trouble. Take a boat and carry him to the Point, and leave him in the -Cuve there." "Yes, capt'n." "How much was aboard?" "About two thousand dollars for the Josepniue miners." "Send it over the cliff before morning, am. I'll divide it up soon. But you be extra careful; that new sheriff is a smart one. ' AH right, capt'n," and the man went back to the camp. A moment later, just as Stoner was going iuto the house, there was the slow thud of a horse's hoofs, and Tom Warren, the young sheriS, rode down the trail, around the corner of the old abode building, into the main county road that lay to the west. He had at last yielded to Tessa's entreaties to ''Go, go, this minute, Tom.'' Impassible as Stouer was, he felt a littl? startled by the sight. "Whore did you come from, sheriff? Auythiug up in this part of the country?'' ''Oh. no; not a particle. I've been visiting my old school in the mountains, and took the short, trail home, down Carucos." This was plausible enough, for there was a blind trail that entered the canon just east of the angle of the house. Stoner felt a little relieved. "Won't ye put up, arid stay with us all night?" "No, Mr. Stoner, I must go down to Kestral to see friends there. It's only an hour's ride." "That settles it," thought Stoher. "Plenty of stout fellows to use as sheriffs deputies there. He lias probably stumbled on traces, and is goiug for help." He sat and smoked, and slipped his hand back under his coat. "Easy to shoot the fellow," he said to himself. "Well, good-bye, Stoner," said Warren, suddenly, "I suppose the beach road is as good as ever?" "Perfectly safe, only when you cross Toro Creek, keep on the sandbar. It's as hard as iron. I crossed there to-day." "Thank you. Adios." Simple, smiling speech, those words of Stoner's, and yet they were intended to send Warren to his death mure surely aud safely than by bullet of pistol or pellet of secret poison. Stouer took an extra swig of brandy and went to his rest. Warren rode down the rugged hill to the bottom of the ravine, then turned seaward, and at last the wide gulch opened broadly to the shore of the Pacific. The cliffs were from fifty to three hundred feet high, and full of wave-worn caves. Warren drew rein on the beach, and for fully ten minutes watched the ocean sway nnd rise. Ilis thoughts throbbed Avith di earns of Tessa. He would take her away from her narrow aud hurtful surroundings. He would lift her into happier and better circumstances. He would force Stoner's consent, marry her, and make her happy. lie rode rapidly south, and in half an hour the mouth of the Toro appeared, in the midst of sand-dunes, breakers rolling in, and the steady river flowing out. Here was the long sand-bar, ten feet wide, and stretching across hardly an inch higher than the watery surface. Warren was beginning to have 6ome suspicions of Stoner, but not such as to lead him to doubt the simple directions he had received. The sand-bar looked safe, bat within a few days the sea, as Stoner knew, had swept it mightily, torn out the long-compacted bar, aDd placed instead a quivering mass of quicksand, so treacherous that not even a lightfooted rabbit could cross without being swallowed up and dragged bodily down. Warren "rode swiftly forward; he had crossed sandbars hundreds of times. Some horses would have been wiser, but the animal he rode had been bred in the vnliey. The approach to the bar was hard for a few rods as he galloped on. Suddenly, in one heart breaking, breathless descent, noiseless but unutterably dreadful, Tom Warren's horse went down, down; and the soft, slimy sand came up to his mane. He shrieked out that ghastly cry of appeal and agony that a deperate, dying horse will sometimes utter. Tom knew the peril. He had thrown his feet from the ttirrup3 and drawn them up at the first downward throb, but the sand began to grasp him also. He threw himself flat on his breast and tore himself loose from the poor animal, over whose back the mingled sand and water were running, as it rolled from side to side in ineffectual struggles to escape. Tom spread himself out over as much surface as possible, but slowly, resistlessiv, the mighty force drew him downward. The hard beach was only ten feet distant, but practically the chasm was impassable. He felt his horse sink out of sight; the sand gripped his owu nnrl nt?mo hio i rrV?O o n/1 cKnill. Jiutw ?uu ui uic, mo but^ug au\i uuvmders. Two inches more and the end by suffocation was inevitable. Up to this time he had not shouted; only his horse's wild deatli scream had told of the tragedy. What was the use? Who would be passing along that lonely road? Then he thought of Tessa, and of life. lie raised his voice in a clear, strong shout for help, again and agaiu repeated. Far oil, along the deep ravine, came a cry iu response, and a horse's huirying feet; and hope awoke iu his heart. The margin of life was five minutes now? not longer. Faster, faster, oh, fearless rider. "Tom, where are you?" "Here, Tessa; don't come too near." But the mountain girl knew the danger. Creeping down-stairs for a drink of water she had heard her father's words to Warren, had thrown a shawl about her shoulders and run ro the pasture. Then she caught her pet horse, sprang upon his unsaddled back, seized a riata as she passed the stable, and galloped at the utmost speed down the ravine, hoping against hope, for many minutes had necessarily elapsed since Warren started. She sprang to the ground and tissed the rawhide rope to the one arm b*1 held tnp siind Shf> fnlflt'd h/>r .lhawl and put it over her horse's shoulders, and tied the riata around like a collar. Then she led him slowly away from the quicksands, and Warren thought his arm vrould break; but slowly, reluctantly, painfully, the saDd gave up its prey. "Your father told me to take this road, Tessa," said the young sheriff. "Yes, I know that, and I heard one of the men tell him to-day that the bar was sweot out." There was a long silence between them. "Tessa, go with me to San Luis," said Warren, "aud iet us be married." And Tessa went. Old Stoncr heard the news a few days later. Within an hour he had "retired from business." The camp was broken up, the hunters disappeared, nij-stcrious lights flashed at intervals all night from the points of the cliff, and the next day old Stoner himself disappeared, leaving his family, the ranch, and the U.vc-stock. It was said that he made the test of his way to Mexico, and finally to South America. The world is large as yet, atrd men who have money can ramble over a good deal of it without finding a past they wish to escape from. But Tessa lives in her San Luis, Obispo, cottage, with orange-trees over it, and La Marque roses on the porch, and she thinks herself the happiest woman in California.? BelfonVi Magazine. I'oison in Ten. The cablegram from London stating that 100 persons had been poisoned by tea, and several fatally, furnished a topic of conversation to many tea drinkers in this city. Several of the leading tea importers wcrt interviewed on the subject hva Chronicle runorter. "J " I "How can a person be poisoned by drinking tea?" was the first question asked. "With absolute^ pure tea and a clean teapot," said a prominent dealer, "one cannot be poisoned. The danger must, come from some chemical impurity in the tea or the pot. The Prussian blue used to color dark green teas i3 known chemically as cyanide of iron, and taken in sufficient quantities is a deadly poison. Most teapots are not made of block tin, but of sheet iron coated with tin. Every housekeeper knows that if stroug tea stands any length of time the interior of the pot becomes a deep yellow. This is caused by the coloring matter of the tea or tannic acid acting chemically on the iron body of the pot. If the housekeeper had a quantity of low grade tea colored with Prussiau blue, aud having boiled the tea and allowed it to stand in such a pot, a chemical reaction would take place, in which the Prussian blue, the tannic acid and the iron of the pot would be combined, resulting in the formation of a poisonous sort of iron. "Small quantities of this substance would not cause death, but if the tea were highly colored aud of cheap quality and the infusion had been allowed to stand a long time, it would form a potion very sickening and fatal to some constitutions. To prevent poisoning many tea drinkers have taken to the use of uncolored teas, but the fact remains that a large proportion ol' low-priced teas sold as uncolored are really as much^ colored ?? - i?.il i:_: as ever, men aampu:a?ine rcau nmug of the chests produces poisonous salt3, which are absorbed by the tea. So injurious have these brands of tea sometimes proved that the Russian and German Governments prohibit the importation of teas iu lead lined boxes. Many of the most advanced tea dealers are seeking to avoid the use of chests lined with lead. Some of the San Francisco dealers have invented tea chests in which lead is not used."?San Francisco Chronicle. ^ - ,.a The Ocean Cables of the World. According to the latest report of the International Bureau of Telegraph Administrations, the submarine telegraph system of the world consists of 120,070 nautical miles of cable. Government administrations own 12,52-4 miles, while 107,546 are the property of private companies. The total cost of these cables is in the neighbohood of two hundred million dollars. The largest owner of submarine cables is :he Eastern Telegraph Company, whose system covers the ground from England to India, and comprises 21,SOO miles of cable. The East era Extension, which exploits the far East, has 12,95S raile3 more. Early in last year the system of West African cables, which started from Cadiz only six years ago, was completed to Cape Town, so that the dark continent is now completely encircled by submarine telegraph, touching at numerous points alcngthe coast. More than 17,000 miles of cable have been required to do this, and several companies, with more or less aid from the British, French, Spanish and Poituguese Governments, have participated in carrying out the work. The North Atlantic is spanned by no less than eleven cables, all laid since 1S79, though I think not all are working at the present time; five companies are engaged in forwarding telegrams between North America and Europe, and the total length of the cables owned by them, including coast connections, is over 30.000 nautical miles.?Scribner. Blindness at Birth Can be Cnred. Statistics taken from the reports of Fuchs, Magnas, Howe and the committee of ti c Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom show that at least thirty per cent, of all blindness in Europe and in this country is caused by preventable disease at birth. The cencusof 1880 gives a total of about 50,000 blind iu the United States. Of these at least 15,000 have been blind from birth. And yet this disease is well nigh absolutely preventable, aud in its incipiency easily curable. This statement is borne cut by fact3, as will be seen by reference to th** reports of the large lying in hospitals, where the methods of prevention have been in operation. After these means were put in operation there was practically au entire disappearance of the disease. The method consists in wiping the face and the lids clean and dry immediately after the umbilical cordis tied. The lids are then opened and one or two drops of a two per cent, solution of nitrate and silver are instilled. Except in premature children the reaction from this treatment is very slight.?Hall't Journal of Health. Sparrow Slaughter. Tobe Lobe, township clerk, has paid out $121.50 to the boys this summer for cadavers of the English sparrow and our foreign friends seem even more numerous than ever. The law authorizes him to pay a bounty of twenty cents per dozen for all of these birds killed, and the price paid would indicate that the small boy has been on the warpath to the extent of 72'JO Britishers. Tobe says that an English sparrow will decay inside of two hours after being killed and that some of the overripe lots brought to him have almost made him throw up his position.?Lima {Ohio) Gazette. ! GERMAN DUELS. I ?!? HOW STUDENTS' FIGHT ON THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION. . ! Insults Not Necessary to Provoko a Sword Contest?Proof of Courage Not a Sctulcmcut of Dilficultics. \J MONG the y many peculiar's itics of Gcrmaa student 1/ m ca^ ff lM for comments If II from the visBj iting foreigner ]a *hc duel. What I purffl P03e in trying j the duel is not so much to do ^ yPfayt* fend the custorn, which seems not to come up to the standard of civilization, as to explain it. We must distinguish between two kinds of duels j fought in German universities. One j kind, which is not peculiar to students | nor to Germans, is a contest for life and ! death to settle some serious difficulty on some point, of honor. This is common to all nations on the European continent. Even in this country such duels have not yet quite disappeared. In Europe they will qot disappear as long as society thinks it beneath the dignity of a gentleman to briug certain offenses into court or considers a man's honor stained by insults for which there is no redress in law. How powerful a hold this code of honor has upon society is shown by the fact that no military officer can keep his epaulettes who declines a duel or who, under certain circumstances, does not challenge. To take a single instance, a man like Ferdinand Lassalle (the Socialist leader), who personally was greatly opposed to the duel, felt himself obliged to submitto the custom and died its victim. This duel to the death may have originated in a desire for vengeance; in manv cases it was undoubtedly an invo cation of a higher power to prove the falseness of the charge implied in the insult. The modern duelist, though the baser feeling of revenge may often guide his deadly weapon, has another philosophy. It is not the destruction of bis opponent which he desires; he tries, by exposing himself to the danger of being killed and wounded, to prove his couiage, which is the first of manly virtue*, and thus to clear his honor. This is the reasoning of society, which will not accept anyone as a gentleman who declines to show his courage in this way. Most duels arc fought for this reason; it is the condemnation of society which is feared more than the weapon of the opponent. In fact, the weapons commonly chosen, pistols, do not call for much courage. The danger is over in a moment; there is not much chance for a display of skill, and experience shows that such duels very seldom have a serious ending. As a rule a duel with pistols is a game of hazard; aiming is not permitted, and one may be sure that often the witnesses fail to put bullets in the murderous Weapons. So it is generally considered a very harmless affair: The start in the dust of the morning, the pretended secrecy, the romantic spot generally chosen, bring every participant to the agreeable delusion that something extremelv inter ! esting is going on, and the contestants are led to believe themselves real heroes. But there is hardly more chance for inj jury in a pistol duel than in a journey . over a well-managed railroad. Besides this hazardous character of the pistol duel, which is due to the way it is mani aged, the weapon itself lacks another quality for chivalrous contest: It offers I no possibility for defense. Fencipg duels with any weapon are of ( a more dangerous character and there' fore require more courage. Even when, as in certain notorious French duels, the I first drop of blood drawn, no matter how I slight a wound is inflicted, ends the contest, one has to look his enemy in the face for some time and see the blade, ! ready to punish him, flash before his i eyes. The most serious duel is that | fought with heavy curved sabres (Kruinm1 saebel), which mostly inflicts severe j wounds. The duel is generally continued until one of'the contestants is unable to go on. Many die in consc A STUDENT DUEL i quencc or are crippled for life. The ! successful handling of the weapon rci quires coolness, presence of mind, skill = of hand and an eye both sharp and ! quick. The last-named weapons or pistols arc chosen by German university students in case of a serious duel. The challenged one generally has the privilege of choice. If lie is trained in fencing he will, as a rule, choose the saber. If his adversary . cannot handle the -saber he may either 1 change to pistols or else time will be given to train himself to fencing. Older students, however, who belong to clubs whose members are pledged to the aeceptaucc of any challenge ("unbedingte satisfaction'-') are supposed to need no , training, but one must not think that , such duels for life cr death arc entered | upon lightly. Before the adversaries are allowed to cuter the field of honor, a court of honor, composed of representatives of both parties, must have decided that there is sufficient cause to justify a serious contest. To satisfy the law, which requires tiie seconds to do their best to prevent the duel, when both partics stand ready the seconds on the spot advise the duelists to be reconciled. This, however, is a purely formal demand, and a duelist would expose himself to the greatest possible ridicule should he follow this advice. Although many things here said about the serious duel hold good also for the commou students' duel, the latter, in Germany, is not regarded as a duel at all; indeed, it is not called so. Its Gcrmau name, "mensur," of Latin root, originally means the place measured ofi for the duelists to stand upon so to keep the right distance. At present most people take it in the sense of a contest in which the contestants measure their relative screugth. In fact it is not any thing more than a fencing match There need not be any ill feeling between the adversaries. The challenge is brought about in different ways. Two bands of students come from different quarters, where they have had u jolly night. Their heated spirits easily enough bring about a quarrel; a look, a meaningless word, failure to give ample room to pass, being sufficient to start one. Instead of engaging then and there iu a free fight, visiting cards arc most politely exchanged and the parties separate quietly to meet again, weapons in hand, on the fencing ground. A student who does not care to wait for such an occasion, meeting another whom he regards as about his equal, will politely inform him that he desires a fencing contest with him. The custom of causing this contest by inflicting a slight insult, a so-called "touche," is more aud more disappearing. There arc certain conventional forms which clearly show its purpose, namely, to provoke a challenge; for instance, ouc student says to another: "You arc a dunce," (sic sind cim dummer juuge). The one who is addressed in this way lmrdly thinks of the meaning of these words; he simply understands that he is wanted for a duel. As it has often happened in this method of challenging that the contestants were of unequal skill and strength, the provoked ouc became the victim of a brutal superiority. To-day most of the 9tudeuts' clubs send a list to their y vals containing the mnmlintv no nrn Tvillinnr fft Ul>lilW Ul OUVfU lUVUl'/l/IO (?>J 1*4 V ?? ????" Q ??? light. The challenged cllib then chooses out of its own number such as arc regarded as the equals of the others to meet them. This list may be corrected several times until, in the judgment of both sides, the couples are evenly matched. All necessary provision is macic to prevent serious consequences. The arms are rapiers, long, straight blades half an inch wide, sharp on both edges lor about eleven inches from the point. Only the chest, the face and the skull arc open for the blows, every other WOUNDED. part, especially the eyes aud the throat, being protcctsd. The contest take3 gen1 crally fifteen minutes of uctual fighting | if a wound is not sooner inflicted whicL I calls for the immediate attendance of the ! surgeon. The latter is always present ! with his professional utensils ready foi use. As no pauses arc counted the time the contestants staud opposite each other often exceeds an hour, j As an educator this duel affords a test of courage. In it the contestant showi his mettle and comes out of it with strengthened self-reliance, which often in later life distinguishes him favorably from those who have never g^nc through such an experience. The pride that some of these young men take in the scars which deface their countenance hardly deserves the sneer they so often get. It rather shows their chivalrous mind. They are prouder of those marks of manly charactv" uian of effeminate beauty. It is a fact that cowards, afraid of the scorn of their fcllow-studcnts, overcome thcii fear of pain and after lighting two oi three of these duels wonderfully improve in their character and may be placed afterward in the same rank with their most courageous comrades. For it takes s great amount of self-control for a man, especially when he is bleeding with painful wounds, to stand unflinchingly foi over an hour before his antagonist. "Un> j flinchingly" is used here in its strictest : sense, for the slightest sound of pain or | movement of the haud or even of the j head under a heavy blow will bring disI grace, both on him who bears himself so J 1 1 ? i-!- r_! ? r? ? unmamy auu oa ins lneuus, iui wuu&v colors lie fights and who surround him with anxious and tcudcr looks. Besides testing courage, these contests foster self-control, presence of mind, self-reliance and a feeling of solidarity and so serve as useful discipline for later life. Duels of cither kind never gain the character of an exhibition. It is hard for an outsider to gain permission to witness them. Students who boast of their vlotnpJno in rlnnle orn nnf tlio mnef rn. spectcd and no one who is not considered a gentleman is allowed to take active part in them. It may seem strange that these duels and many other things that students do are more or less connived at by the authorities. But we should not forget that in Germany the young man, until he goes to the university, that is, until he is eighteen or nineteen years of age, is considered a mere school boy, without any freedom at all; after the university life is over the dignity of his odice or profession leaves him far less freedom of movement than men of any other calling. Therefore, the few academical years arc the only outs given him in which he may enjoy life to his heart's content.?L'nual Richard, in Washington Star, B POPULAR SCIENCE. The largest gas engine so far built has icveloped 100-horsepower. The balloon proposed for polar explorations is ninety-nine feet in diameter md 500,000 cubic feet in volume. An electrical paper points out that in Europe bronze has in a great measure tuperseded iron and copper in electrical ippliances. Electrical endosmosis to accelerate the passage of drugs through the skin has for some time been regularly practiced jnder medical sanction. French physiologists have found that dcohol produces the same effects?intluding a derangement similar tp delirium tremens?on dogs as on men. Electric currents of 500 horsepower will be supplied the International Elecirical Exhibition at Frankfort, Germany from generators 140 miles distant. Experiments prove that the Atlantic areakers have a force of three tons' to j :he square foot; thus a surface of only | ;wo square yards sustains a blow from a j aeavy Atlantic breaker equal to fifty-four ' tons. "VT?1_ onnn I nuunjr cicuniu uaio am tuuuiu^ in the United States. Boston alone has j ibout 100 miles of electrically operated i roads. Several systems have been de- i reloped to a perfection that insures smooth and regular service. Other systems are still more or less in the experimental stage. The eyes of insects are immovable, and many of them seem cut iuto a multitude of facets, like the facets of a diamond. Each of these facets is supposed to possess the powers of a true sye. Lenenboeck counted 3181 of them in the cornea of a beetle, and over 81)00 in that of a common horsefly. Cowhide horse shoes are reported to be growing in favor in England and othsr parts of Europe. They have the advantages of lightness, great durability, superior adhesion and avoidance of split hoofs. The Japanese are said to have used straw horse shoes for centuries, the straw being treated by an unknown chemical process. Professor Cohn, of Breslau, has found that the heating or hay to the point ot spontaneous combustion is due to a fungus. lie first studied heating barley, finding that the tempeature of this is raised about forty degrees by the process of germination,and that a rise of more thau sixty degrees is caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, which nets as a ferment. The effort to obtain electricity direct from heat, without the intervention of boilers, engines and dynamos, goes on, | but without satisfactory commercial re- . suits as yet. Edison and Berliner did j something on parallel lines of investiga- i ! tioii several years ago, but as their ex- j periments gave only a small fraction of ! . the power that would be obtained in the old way they were not pushed. A Pitts- 1 burg inventor, working along a different line, claims to have accomplished more, j Trente, in Austria, claims to bavo the cheapest public supply of electric light in Europe. The station is owned by the j municipality and has at its disposal a | large motive force from a waterfall un- j der excellent conditions. The light is furnished to private consumers at the j rate of fifty kreutzcr (about twenty j cents) a year per candle power, no reg- | ulation being made as to the number of hours. To put the electric light within the reach of the poorer inhabitants the j house wiring, done by the town, may be ' paid for in annual payments. The sta tion also supplies motive power. I llints for Yegetarians. We were talking about good dinners j at the club the other night and one of , the party regaled us with a story about an elaborate meal he had had at the home | of a vegetarian. Then the Doctor broke i ' in and said: "It is all very well for vegetarians to claim that [their diet is more cleanly, 't more refined, more economical and more ; healthful than ours, but you will find i ' that very few of them thrive on it. In ' j fact, obesity and diabetes can be traced directly to living on potatoes and cereals, which are the unsuspected cause of much ' of the illness of modern life. Brown ' bread sets up an inflammation of the intestines, and, if constantly eaten, slowly produces a permanent derange[ ment of digestion. Hominy and cracked wheat?mainstays of vegetarian diet? cause a strain upon the vital powers, end' ing at times in the breaking down of the ' nervous system. Cereals arc laden with earthly matter which finally stiffens the 1 joints. In fact, a proper diet would include these articles in comparatively small proportions, but meat and fruit in abuudance." This is the opinion of the physician; there may be others who would tell you something entirely different. You pay i your money and you take your choice.? j ( New York Telegram. Signs of Olden Times. It seems no risk to assert that in our State there are not ten men Dorn witnin the Commonwealth, of New England pareuts, who cannot read and write. I ! have heard it suggested that the curious signs above the doorways of taverns and | shops, which were so common 10!) years ago, were really aids to those who were unable to rcac says a writer in the Bos- . ton Advertiser. The "Green Dragon," the "Blue Lion," the "White Horse" and the "Bunch of Grapes" over the doors of the colonial inns of Boston rendered them easily identified, whereas a signboard would have been unintelligible to the i mass of the people. In like manner shopkeepers were wont to murk their doorways, doubtless for a similar reason. A relic of this custom is seen occasionally even to-day, conspicu- [ ous examples being a gilded ostrich j over a milliner's door, a kid above a ! glover's and a spinniug wheel above the ! door of a linen shop. But the real significance of these signs has passed away, J and the signs themseives have disappeared before the advances ox the schoolmaster. THE RIbHI, An ardent Rishi, legends say, A Buddhist of an early day, His pack of early chres laid down, And hied him from Benares town. A chosen spot he found Where naught but nature stretched aroPnd, Where silence reigned supreme, and where Might penetrate no earthly care. Content with this the Hindu sate Him on the earth to contemplate: To think away as Buddhists do, All passions and all feelings too. And then, that nothing might surprise His mind through medium of his eyes, ^ Ho fixed those eyes in restful pose Upon the apex of his nose. How long he sate there none can tell, But that he contemplated w^ll From minor details may bo gleaned, Though ages since have intervened. For instance, over him a bird Flew all unnoticed and unheard, Dropping an acorn as he flew, Which sprouted as he mused, aad grew. Until his straddled legs between There stood a shrub of lusty green, And finally about his head A mighty oak its branches spread; Above him squirrels reared their young, And feathered legions loved and sung, While all around him, for and wide, Snakes dug their holes and lived and died. Of all these things, immersed in thought, The Bishi knew far less than naught, Because his vision never rose Beyond the apex of his nos9l So, wide and far the rumor went And many folk in wonderment Cried, when they saw that face of his, "How wise a man the Risbi is!" Tis but a legend, I confess, Exaggerated more or less, And yet within it lurks a seed Of truth, which all may see who read. Have we not thinkers, e'en to-day, Pursuing that old Rishi's way, Who, deeply learned though they be, Beyond their noses never see? ?George Horton, in Chicago Herald. PITH AND POINT. If men would set good examples they might hatch better habits. Startling discovery by a three-year-old ?"Whv. m. there's a hole in your * * * 1 hair." J Why is it that people With, good im- , pulses are generally lazy??Jtilwaukse Journal. The glass filled to the brim at night will fill the hat to the brim in the morning.?Statesman. A young lady of our acquaintance who is very fond of a miuister says that her love is for reverend ever.?Binghamton Leader. ' ~ Mrs. Spendthrift?"Algernon, do you know that silver is up?" Her Husband ?"I ought to. I put ours up while you were at the seaside."?Jeweler. Old Soldier?"When I die I want the old flag wrapped about me for a shroud." Daughter?"Horrors, pa! people will think it's a blazer."?Good News. "Well, what do you want?" asked the aeronaut of his assistant, who had begun tr> whiqnpp. "I want the earth," wailed kw "?"I the young man.?Terro Haute Express. "Heigho," sighed Cynicus. "Life is nothing but cut. cut, cut. In infancy we cut our teeth, in youth we cut our way, in age we cut our corns."?Epoch. "What is that you are using on my face?" "Bay rum." "Is that all," sighed the customer. "I was in sort ot hopes it might be chloroform,"?Philadelphia. Times. Sunday School Teacher (sternly)? "Where do boys go to who lish on the holy Sabbath day?" "Very Small Johnny (triumphantly)?"I know. Down to McCulluni's Cove." Highway Robber?"Hand over your watch." Obliging Traveler?"Here it is, but I ought to tell you betore you take it, that it gains five minutes a day."? FUcgende Blaettcr. "I suppose buekboards are named so from the young bucks who go driving in them?" "Of course; and dogcarts arc named so from the puppies who go driving in them."?Racket. Mrs. Benson (shocked)?"I saw that TT/Mmrr law student. Careway, to-day, and I am afraid he was intoxicated. He acted so queerly." Mr. Benson (carelessly)? "Oh, he has evidently been adinited to the bar." Mamma?"I hope my little boy while dining with friends remembered what I told him about not taking cake the second time?'' Little boy?"Yes, mamma, I remembered, and took two pieces the first time."? Chicago Post. First Actor?"Did you hear about De Rante? He was playing in Kansas a few nights ago, and the house fell upon him." Second Actor?"IIow fortunate! That's the first house he ever brought down. I "*<>? n hi'or one."?Eoock. UUJJO .. ..... .. ~.a "Speaking of poker hands," said young Pecan, of Texas, "I once played in a three-cornered game in which one man held five aces and the other man a six-shooter " "And you?" "Aud I held an inquest."?St. Joseph News. Watchmaker?"The first time I cleaned your watch it was iu a gold case, the next time in a gold-filled case, and now it's in a silver case." If. A. R. D. Uppe?"Yes, sir; 'circumstances alter cases,'you know."?Jewelers' Weekly. He?"Do you think you love me well enough to he my wife?" She?"Yes, George." lie?"Well, I only asked to ascertain how you felt on the subject, so in case I ever should want to marry I would know where to come."?Epoch. The shortness of life and the liollowncss of all thing:' are touchingly expressed by the Welch poet, David Evans, who says: "Yin Eistcdfodd wycli limp grymweh, Dryw gwydd diw llwrg mipyddweh." It is a solemn thousht? weird and pathetic.?Norrisiown Herald.