The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, November 13, 1890, Image 1
VOL>XLIX. CAMDEN, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1890. ' NO.,20.;
r : ?
THE BOOK Or LIFE:.
)
Our lii t's a book?a different page
Is turned each day; '
The mysteries the next conceals
None dare to say.
The binding of Life's book is Hoj>^ j
With Faith en wove;
The golden rim about its leaves
Is human love.
And each event, each deed of ours,
Itself prints therein
blurred type, Sin; while virtue stamps
In letters clear.
Each noble act performed is marked
in blue and gold;
But all unjust or wicked deeds
Black lines enfold.
A bright, illuminated scroll '
Adorns each pago ;
T*Y?r tr?mntAfinn wa with^nn 1
From youth to ago.
Our days its numbered folios are,
And Death its clasp.
The power to mate this volume fail*
Is 111 our grasp.
80 live that when all. work is doao
And laid aside,
Our children's eyes may look upon
The Beck with pride,
Thai, void of shame or haunting fear,
It may be read,
iVhc-n, haply, ive may rest among
The honored dead.
?Lee C. Harby, in Ladies' Home Journal.
AH ENGINEER'S STORY.
ET S. T BURDICK.
I was running the "Old Black Hand"'
on the M. C. & L. Railroad. Let mc
see! It was just sixteen years ago. If
jou ever traveled on that road in those
days, no doubt vou remember the "Old
Black Hand."
She was a fine engine?an M. Baldwin
patent?au c:glit-w heeled driver, and I
loved her as the seaman loved his craft,
or n turfman his horse that wins him the
race. I had ruu on the road for three
years and was perfectly familiar with the
line from oue end to the other.
About six months previous to the time
of which I write, an accident had occurred
on the E. Creek trestle, ten miles
east of C. The trestle was 600 feet in
length, and the greatest depth was near
the west bank, sixty-two feet.
The station man had fallen from the
trestle after the night train had passed
and from appearances, when found next
morning, had been instantly killed.
The next night after the accident as I
was stepping on the foot board?I ran
the night express?the Superintendent
came to me and told me in a few hurried
-wurd.T that hcrvrauted tc place HU?OM. :
man and a young girl on my engine, and
he wished me to make some pretext to
stop at th*> E. Creek trestle and let them
off without letting the conductor know
they had been on the train, and at the
same time be enjoined on me perfect
eecrccy, and positively forbade me asking
any question whatever.
This strange proceeding on the part of
the superintendent puzzled rae greatly.
He was a inau about fifty years of age,
and well kuowu as u thorough business
man, and one of unspotted integrity, and
by far the largest stockholder in the
road.
Why he should place these parties on
my engine aud desire to keep it a secret
from the conductor, who, like myself,
was only an employe of the company, I
could not for my life imagine.
There was a iarge crowd in the depot
at the time, as is usually the case in large
cities, and he passed the parties up to
me without being observed.
Time was up; the bell rang, and the
train moved out into the darkness.
After trying the gauges, aud aranging
things about the engine, I sat down opposite
my two passengers and took a survey
of their persons.
The man was perhaps sixty years old, i
hair and beard as white as snow, sharp
gray eyes filled with energy and an iu- i
describable sad expression of countenance
that bespoke deep sorrow. His i
form ~ns slight, yet well proportioned, j
and his movement was quick and
nervous. i
The girl was perhaps seventeen years !
of age, with eyes as bfack as night and a i
well-poised head covered with shining
coils of hair of the same sable hue. She
resembled the old man in the general I
contour of form and feature, and no
doubt they stood in the relation of parent '
and child, and aa her face partook of the !
same sad expression, it was to be presumed"
she was a sharer of his sorrows, ]
whatever they might have been.
As ten miles on an express train, running
at full speed, is a short ride, and I i
knew wc were neanng the E. Creek trestle,
I rose to my feet and placed my hand
on the lever of the throttle valve.
My compauion seemed to understand ,
the movement perfectly. The old man
cast a sharp glance at me and then at the
girl, adjusted his cloak, and peered out
into the darkness.
I then shut of! the steam with one shove
of the lever, whistled "down brakes,"
and theu commenced a series of short,
sharp toots as though to frighten some
animal off the irack.
The train slowed up, and in a moment
more stood still.
The conductor jumped off at one side
of the train, and came forward with his !
lantern, and my passengers got off at the j
other.
I assisted the girl to alight, and as her J
k. warm hand rested one moment in mine a |
W thrill like that caused by an electric machine
ran through ruy veins.
one pressed my nanus ana jeit id uiv ;
grasp a small card, which I hastily thrust j
into my pocket.
The old mau wrung ray hand and then 1
the two hurried out into the darkness.
I ran forward on the track; in a moment
turned and came hack; met the con- ,
ductor just ahead of the engine, told j
him I thought I saw something on the
track, hut that all seemed right.
This satisfied him, and in a moment
more the train was on its way.
We passed slowly over the trestle:
then I let on steam and brought the train
tinder such spe?d that we could make
the time at L., thirty miles ahead; then
took the card from my pocket, and on it
was penciled in a small, delicate hand:
"Mention this to no one, and I will be
your friend."
I turned the card over and over, but
that was all, and 1 could do nothing but
wonder and surmise with regard to the
matter.
I pictured iu my mind all sorts of
stories aud trains of circumstances that
could have brought such an event about,
but all to do purpose.
On returning to C. the next night I
met the Superintendent on the platform.
He looked at me in an anxious, inquiring
manner. I knew his meaning and
nodded that all was well aud passed into
the office.
The next week I wa3 surprised at receiving
almost double pay, which wages
continued as loDg as I remained on the
road.
Time went on for about six mouths.
ana 1 couia gee no ciew ro me mystery,
but I invariably kept a sharp lookout as
I neared the E. Creek trestle?for what
reason I could not tell, as I certainly
could not expect to see ray two former
passengers at that point agaiu, but still
some unknown attraction compelled me
to look. =.
It was now in the early part of the
winter of 1857. The night was exceedingly
dark and stormy, auu it had been
sleeting all day, aud everything was
covered with ice. AVe left C. live min- j
utes late, being delayed by the storm,
and were ruuniug unusually fast to gaiu
time. !
For once I did not think of the E.
creek trestle until the headlight Hashed
on the icy roof of the small stationhouse
situated about 300 yards from the
creek.
In a moment I was on my feet looking
ahead. I had unconsciously shut off the
steam, and had my hand upon the
whistle cord.
Did I see something on the track or
was it imagination?
Iu a momcut I had whistled "down
brakes," and not an instant too soon, I
for the glare of the headlight revealed a
broken lantern, and a few feet further on
a female form lying prostrate across the
rails.
I sprang to the reverse lever, and
throwing my whole force into the movement,
reversed the action of the engine,
and then let the steam on with a jerk.
A sharp, Imsing sound ensued, and in
a moment the wheels wese spinuiug
around in an opposite direction amid
1,000,000 sparks that fit the scene with
a brilliant glare.
In a moment I had passed along the
running board and was now on the "cowcatcher,"
one foot firmly planted on the
farthest bar. my left, hand grasping one
of the strohg iron ribs, aud my body forward
with au arm extended toward the
inanimate form we were so rupidly approaching.
The wheels crushed the lantern into a
thousand atoms, and were withiu a foot,
of the white, upturned face. I lowered
my hand nearly to the ground and braced
myself for the shock.
What if I should miss my hold? I set
iny teeth and threw my whole energy in
the movement.
A sudden clutch?a terrible strain on
the muscles?and the prostrate form was
beside me on the pilot Then everything
seemed to whirl around for an instant,
and all was oblivion.
When I came to myself I found myself
on a lounge in a small, neat room, and
an old man and a young woman bending
T nf nnrin rprnrnized as
i#vc*r me, mi\jjlx jl .iv 0 ?
my two passeugers of six months previous.
In attempting to move I found I was
seriously injured, aud the old man directed
me to keop perfectly quiet, telling
me ray arm was broken, audi was otherwise
badly injured, but I had, nevertheless,
saved the life of his daughter, for
which he tendered me the most ardent
thanks.
His daughter testified her gratitude in
a glance far more eloquent than words.
Ere I had recovered from my illness the
old man had rehted to me the story of
his eventful life.
Some years be fore he had been a wealthy
merchant in a neighboring city, where
Mr. R., the present Superintendent of
the railroad, was also engaged in business.
In the financial crash of 18?Mr. R.
became embarraased and was on the
verge of ruin. Mr. Collins?that beiug
the old man's name?assisted him out of
his financial difficulty.
In time he removed to C.f became a
heavy stockholder in the road, and finally
became Superintendent of the road.
Meanwhile, by one of those inexplicable
revulsions in the tide of fortune,
Mr. Collins had experienced the most severe
reverses, and his fortune had literally
taken to itself wings and had flown
away; aud added to the loss of fortune
was the still greater one of the death of a
dearly beloved wife.
In his extremity he came to C. aud
called upon his former fnend. Mr. R.
received him cordially, and made him
maGy offers, eveu proposing to advance
him a sufficient sum to set him up in
business.
All these offers the old man refused,
and finally accepted the position as station
mau at. the trestle work, which
position had been made vacant by the
accident first alluded to.
The duties were light, mainly consistnoccinnr
nvpr tllP hriflcrf! aftel' tllC
lug ii. ?
passage of each train.
In connection with the station was a
small, neat cottage, which the station
man occupied, and where, removed from
the cares of business life, the broken
merchant made his home in contentment
and peace.
The conductor of the traiu of which I
was engineer had at one time been very
intimate in Mr. Collins* family, and he
and the daughter were engaged to be
married. At this time he was supposed
to he quite wealthy aud moved in the
best circles of society; but wheu reverses j
visited the family of his betrothed, instead
of coming forward manfully, as a
devoted lover, his visits to the house
ceased and ."g'g'nier.t vas at one.'
broken off. j
Ami not only that, but when bantered
by his coinp&nioDS he declared his iutentions
had never been serious, and that he
had only flirted with the young lady to
kill time, and looked much higher in his
selection of a wife.
Amanda, for this was my heroine's
name, was of a sensitive nature, and felt
the matter keenly, aud bitterly resented
the gross injustice done her.
When, in company with her father,
she was about to step on the train on the
night of our first meeting, she observed
with terrible trepidition that the conductor
was none other thau her former
suitor, and desiring to avoid contact
with him, the arrangement was perfected
of which the reader has already been
made acquainted.
Ou the cveniug of the storm Mr. CoP~
lins was ill, and his daughter had volunteered
to take his place and cross the
bridge. While returning she missed her
* f ?? 1 t 1 A
looting ana icu, suiKing uer loieucau
against tlic rail and rendering her quite
insensible.
The light reflected from the engine on
the broken lantern, which she had
dropped in her fall, had first caught my
attention, and was fortunately the providential
meaus of saving her life.
In lifting her froru the track, which I
had succeeded in doing not a moment
loo soon, 1 had fractured ray arm near
the shoulder, and the pain of the occasion
had caused me to faint dead away.
My fireman shut off steam, and rescued
us froni our perilous situation, and
carried us into the cottage where wc had
beeu properly cared for.
Fortunately a passenger on the train
was a good engineer and took charge of
my engine until I was able to resume the
"care of it myself.
Of course before my convalescence I
had fallen desperately in love with ray
fair Durse, and if the reader were to visit
our little cottage to-day, he would hear
her say, as she bends over me with our
little boy in her arms:
"My dear, why don't you cross yoar
t's and dot your i's?"
And T nn tr? of mt rrentlo
"um * %,r ?j o
wife and say:
'Move* mind, my love; the printer
will fi\ it all right even if he does scold
a little. '?Columbus (Ohio) Press.
Bismarck's Drinking Capacity.
Bisnmrk's promotion to the grade of
Honorary Colonel of the Seventh Regiment
of Cuirassiers gnve currency to a
story far too interesting to be overlooked.
Following the custom in vogue in the
German nriuy, as soon, as he ' was promoted
he went to inspect his regiment,
and the officers iuvited him to the traditional
"dinner of welcome," a meal
which usually wound up with an enormous
consumption of liquor.
The officers of the regiment, every one
of them giants, all promised themselves
a rare bit of fun at the figure their new
Colonel would cut on receiving the.hugc
tankard fi.'led with champagne,which had
to Be drained to the last drop to the
health of th? regiment. They said among
themselves that Bismarck, a diplomatist
and no military man, would never be
able to accomplish the fear. "And we,"
they added, "will show him how to do
it."
But they reckoned without their host.
Whcu the cloth was removed the servants
hrnnrrht the "hisses, several bottles
of champagne, and the said tankard,
whiph they tilled to the briui and placed
with some ceremony in front of the illustrious
guest.
Put on hi? guard by some roguish
glances which he saw directed toward
him, Bismarck begun to see that he
would have to maintain the reputation
which he gained as a student. Rising,
then, at a given moment, he proposed a
warm toast to the welfare of the regiment,
and?presto!?ho emptied the
taukard at a single draught, although it
contained almost as much as two bottles
of champagne. He then resumed his
seat and began conversing in the quietest
possible manner, as if nothing out of the
ordinary way had happened. But his
hosts could not take their cye3 off him
now, for lie had grown considerably iu
their estimation. What was their astonishment,
a fow minutes later, when, in
the calmest voice, he requested that his
little jug might be refilled. The excitement
increased to delirium!?New York
Tribune.
Sold His Whisker to a Covetous Friend.
There is a leather-dealer, in a small
city in New York, who is' noted for the
leugth and luxuriance of his side-whiskers,
says the Brockton Shoe. At one
time, an acquaintance said: "Lethergood,
I would give $2U for your whiskers."
Within au hour, the acquaintance
was approached by a man whom he
failed to recognize, but who called him
by name and thrust into his hand a package
neatly tied in white paper. Something
familiar in the strauger's voico
roused his curiosity, bot he was told to
open the package. He did so, and found
a mass of brown, criukly hnir, and with
it a bill which read as follows "
to Austin Lethergood, Dr. To
one pair whiskers, as per agreement,
$20." Ouc look at the smooth-faced
stranger was enough. It was the leather
...... n/kA??nirtfnn/ia n<ll t A/1 ntif 1\i C
JIMU. l uu uuiunruiuuuv> VUU I&UJ
wallet and handed him a "XX."
A Pet Rhinoceros.
The most unique pet?rivaling even
1 he famous elephant Jumbo, which was
the delight of all the children in Eng.
laud and the United States?is that possessed
by some Singhalese children. It
is nothing more or less than an immense
rhinoceros, with great plntes of tough,
thicic hide like some armored ship. He
is just such a fierce fellow as has often
killed scores of daring hunters who have
' penetrated the jungles. The big fellow,
however, is as gentle as Mary's little
| iamb. Through some mysterious kindj
ncs3 his rough nature was subdued aud
J lie permits the greatest familiarities.
| Little dark-skinned children plav tag
[ over his big back or squirt sweetened
| juice into his capacious mouth without
, causing anything but a gruu'; to issue
from his fcrocioiw-lookiog mouth.?
{Neio York Journal.
I ICELAND/
r
~ 0 I
the northern republic
GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBE!).
f- ^
Geysers, Destructive Volcanoes. Mud
Lakes and Barrens of the Islands
? Domestic and Commercial
Products of tho Laud.
r *
It is an interesting fact that Detroit includes
in its population an illustrious
representative of the sturdy race of Norsemen
who people the far off Island of Iceland.
His name is Ludvig von Dolcke,
who is not only the hardy and stalwart
_mau ivho would be expected to come
froth sucTi TTtrtcak and xaggEiT~country,
but an unusual accomplished linguist, a
close student of affaire nud events nmnnH __
him,a physician of established reputation,
a rare cntertaiuer and it man of faultless
manners. /'
"There is no country," said Dr. von
Dolckc to a representative of the Free
Press, "so little understood and so generally
misunderstood as the Republic of
Iceland. It is far from tlie regular beaten
paths of civilization^ being situated,
according to popular opinion, within the
region of eternal snoiv and ice, has been,
until within a compiratively 6hort time,
unattractive to all bit the most venturesome
of travelers, it is a large island
geographically belonging to the western
hemisphere, situated 650 miles north and
west of Norway, 500 miles north of
Scotland and 160 miles east of Greenland.
It is of volcanic origin, is irregular
iu shape, the coast being frequently
^ j;
MOUNT IIJ&CLA.
indented with fjords, or bays, and its
area is 41,000 square miles, or about the
size of your State of Pennsylvania.
"The natural scenery-of Iceland is the
grandest and roost^ppalling to be found
in the world. In* the interior are vast,
valleys, deep abysses formed of extinct
craters, plains of brimstone,honeycombed
rock and imtncnafc fields of lava which
have filled the beds of lakes and transformed
fertile dales into stony deserts.
These tracts arc thoppands of square
miles in extent,"Utterly /destitute of life,
and the fearful silencc*of .these barrens
is only broken by the hissing of hundreds
of thousands of hot springs and the constant
subterranean thunder of smoking
volcanoes. The whole surface of Iceland
bears the traces of fearful volcanic eruptions,
arid the most appalling of calamities
from its fiery monsters are liable to be
reported to us at auy time.
"Hccla, which stands isolated in the
centre of the island, and visible from the
sea ou clear days, is 5100 feet in hight,
with a circumference of twenty-live
miles. It is well known to you as one
the three grunt volcanoes of Europe, the
others being /Etna and Vesuvius. But
Hecla is by no means the most furious
ou our island, although jt has erupted
thirteen times in the past century. Other
spasmodic volcanoes are the destructive
bkaptar-jokul, Oraeia, Arabia, katlugia
and the ITofs. Each of these latter named
mounts have been the centres of terrible
eruptions. They arc kuown to us as
slumbering volcanoes, and for tha treason
arc all the more dangerous, as men are
tempted into a fanciful security around
their basis, and the character of their
frowning neighbor is only proclaimed by
a sudden outburst of floods of hot water,
ice. stones and mud which sweeps mau
aDd liis property to destruction.
"The lava field of Brideamurk. twenty
miles long, fifteen miles wide and four
hundred fect high, occupies what was
once a fertile aud thickly inhabited
plain.
"About 1853 occurred the worst eruption
in the modern history of Iceland.
For years a wide fissure on the side of
Skaptar had emitted flames and smoke,
but there was no realization of the pentup*
fury which was contained. The winter
had been a mild ccc?a sure indication
of ail approaching eruption?but the
people who inhabited the fatal dales aud
plains around did not heed the ivaruing.
In one day, without any premonition,
Skaptar seemed to split and from it issued
a stream ot lava which flowed eighty
mites to the sea, tilling lakes ami rivers
aud sweeping every thir.g before it. It was
a mile wide when it was confined to the
dale of Skaptar, and 500 feet deep, but
when the plains were reached it would
spread out in vast seas. This stream was
three years in the proeessof cooling. At
the same time the vobauo emitted such
gSm&ar ,
CASTI.E ?'OX DOr.CKF. (ICELAND). i
clouds of dut and ashes that it spread to J
ihe Azores aid even to Scotland, where 1
the suow vns blackened in one night.
There were 1200 lives lost and hundreds
of thousams of ponies, cattle and sheep
killed in t'is eruption.
"Towad the centre of the island are
eneountccd hot springs, boiling mud 1
lakes aucJsulphurous jets of steam,which 1
indicate lainly the molten condition of J
the cnrtl underneath. In this district '
are the treat geyser and the marvelous '
Strake geyser, noted as among the '
wonderof the world. Like their companions
in tho Rocky Mountains, they
are spamodic in their action. When in '
process of eruption the Great geyser a
throwsa column of hot water from a ?
" . I
spout sixteen feet in diameter more than
350 feet in the air.
"Strange as you may regard it Iceland
actually has a summer. It commences
in June, though the days grow
longer from the early part of May.
"From the 1st. 2d or 3d of June to the
10th, 11th or 12th of July we have summer
indeed, and the sun shines day and
night. Then in the winter, which lasts
from October to April, from the early
part of December to within ten days of
New Year's we are never visited by the
sun, and if it was not for the 'nord
hyset' (aurora boreal is), which by some
strange dispensation of Providence constantly
illuminates the northern sky, we
would he in perpetual darkness. We
have gentle rains in summer and heavy
falls of snow in winter. "The snowfalljs,
rarely less than nine to eleven tfvefing
all 8m"H hn""'" ' rTfft^inC sleighing
by your snow vehicles in Detroit a
perilous undertaking. Our sleighs aro
made very low with broad runners, and
the box is canoe-sbaped to form a ruuner
if the crust i3 broken through. Our
wheeled vehicles are also made low,with
a similar box, so that in the spring or fall
wKftftlo normif r\f fmnaimrf-flfinn nvpr
luv; WUtWW |/UI mib V? -
bare ground, and the box forms aruuner
for snow diifts.
"The tomperturo of Iceland varies
greatly with different seasons, owing entirely
to certain conditions. In summer
we may say that the average temperature
is sixtj^seven degrees, and the extreme
uinety degrees, while zero would, perhaps,
be a mild estimate for winter. The
cold is often so intense that the mercury
in the thermometers congeals. I have
seen by a spirit thermometer a registry
of 127 degrees below zero, which is rather
chilly even for Iceland.
"No great dependence can be placed
upon Iceland's summers. The Gulf
Stream lends its balming influence to the
action of the sun, but it may also be the
very cause of many of our cold summers.
Icebergs float down west of Iceland in
summer and striking the west branch of
the Gulf Stream, and also the prevailing
southwest winds, are brought back to
our southerly shore and left stranded
there to keep us company, frequently
during the entire summer. They are
very unwelcome visitors and have caused
us many famines on account of their
chilling influence upon our crops.
" How our people have advanced in
the face of such fearful elemental foes as
those which constantly confront us is a
marvel to me. Do not think me extravagant
in my assertion that the Icelandic
people are distingjuisned for their
intelligence, and there is scarcely a person
UDon our isle who cannot r?ad and write
the language. Iceland now lays claim to
110,000 population, this marking a
steady decrease during the past eighty
years, caused by psstilence (small-pox),
famine, the fiery upheavals of nature and'
an emigration which is constantly upon
the increase. In my opinion, if you will
allow mc 10 any so uuw, invau uiskuruiug
elements in my native country will eventually
depopulate it. The proposition to
transplant Icelanders in Alaska, formed
(; * '*vTFIF.
SOMMIT OF TJ1E SKAPTAIt.
under Presideut Cleveland, was a good
one. By the way, it is not generally
understood that the ' Islcndcktunga ' or
4 Norcsmaal' i3 the oldest of any language
in all Europe. It is owing, perhaps, to
to the fact that it has had less friction
with other tongues that it is so remarkably
well preserved. The people valuo
knowledge and seek after it.
''There are but two divisions of peoplo
there?the Normnus, or Fricdmcn, and
the Bodesmcn or Boender. The Fricdracu
are all members of the nobility, if
you will call it so, and members of this
class believe that they have no equals on
the earth except Americans. Anyone of
this class is placed within reach of the
highest honors of government, and they
believe that ?'> people who do not enjoy
tho same possibilities arc their equals.
The Fricdmcn dc no manual labor, and
either own land or else belong to one of
iim <rentlcr professions, such as ministers,
physicians and musicians. A very few
merchants and no tradesmen belong to
the upper caste.
Rut Bodesnion are in no sense slaves.
They are paid according to law, and if
thev work land they give their respective
master or mistress one-tenth ef their
lnlaor. They are strictly free and enjoy
freedom of religion, freedom of speech
and absolute personal liberty. By personal
liberty, however, we do not include
the right to move from one place to another
without permission, because if they
become impoverished away from home
they would become a burden uoon a
strange community. A child, until it is
seventeen years of age, cannot leave
home. There is an absolute equality
among all members of the Friedman and
the same may be said of the Boendcr.
The latter are very humble to their superiors,
and are profuse in humility wheu
they salute masters or mistresses.
"There is but one city in Iceland
which is worthy of the name. That, as
you well know, is Iieykjavick or Reikiarik.
You must not laugh when I tell
you that it contains but 10,000 inhabitints.
Remember that it has a very long
lume. All other collections of houses
ind inhabitants are known as bvers or
lavns, such as Friederikhavn, Christianslavn,
Sundsvalleshavn, The familiar
Icelandic appellation for villages is
kjodstaadt,' or place of merchants.
"The domestic animals of Iceland are
be reindeer, the most useful of our servile
mimais. It was introduced in Iceland
ibout 300 years ago and is used for all
kinds of work. It i9 of an affectionate
nature aud easily trained to the reiu and
can be gaided by, words; a tew scrub
cattle; some pigs; curious long haired
dimuuitivc statured ponies who seem to
live and thrive with nothing to cat, and
many sheep. Mutton is the staff of life
in Iceland, an 1 its wool, which is very
abundant ha / at times controlcd the
European w<. ol market.
"The commercial products of Iceland
are fish, wool, mutton, moss, creosote,
pumicestone, sulphur, salt, down horses
and wild birds' eggs. The domestic products
are rye, barley, oats, buckwheat,
potatoes, turnips, cabbage, kale, beets,
various other varieties of garden truck,
apples, plunis-nnd berries, the latter in
enormous quantities, particularly whortleberries
and fcnborries, cherries, strawberries
and sloes. Pears are very few and
small, nnd we rarely. see a peach, letnon
or orange, nnd those which are impfir>.d
to us ore considered great luxuries.
Grapc3, though not native to the island,
art grown, but never ripen, nnd arc prc(
served in the green shape.
"One peculiar feature about Jcelaub is
that such a tbiDg as native wood fuel is
unknown. But wc are uot entirely without
wood for fuel and for building pur*
poses. Our wood supply was to me,
when I was a boy, a matter of much
wonderment, and since I have reached
man's estate I am still puzzled about it.
It comes to us as driftwood, but where
it first enters the great and ever-flowing
ocean stream, which is discharged below
Iceland, 1 shall never know. The quantity
of driftwood upon the southern
,shorc of Iceland is so extensive that
patrols are constantly kept along the
shore to recover it. Some of the timbers
are in shape of tree-trunks broken off by
the winds, some sawed off by the hands
of men, some hewed into beams, some,
which by its shape, once formed a portion
of the hull of a vessel, all floating
up up to furnish a people with wood,
who would otherwise be obliged to depend
upon turf and brown coal for fuel.
This is a curious fact and one I do not
remember of over reading about in the
numerous descriptions of Iceland.
"One of tne most extensive industries
of our people, and certainly the most
historical, is that of the catching and preserving
of fish. Of these we have many
varieties, the more important of which
caught in salt water are the clip-fisk,
roed-spactter, fluuder, torsk, herring ind
tunger, while our short, furious and icy
cold rivers abouud with . laxsan, salmon,
eels, caip, pikrellcn and many other unimportant
varieties. There are many
ways of catching fish, some of the meth:
ods being peculiar to Iceland. We.uso
nets, hooks, spears and harpoons and-also
huge baskets, woven of water, willows,
of a flat and round structure which "fish
swim into, but by the .peculiar mesh, aro
caught by sharpened sticks and held captive.
One of our methods for catching
fish will sound very improbable to you.
In fact, if you discredit many of the fish
stories related by your townsmen here, I
do not know bow you will characterize
this story. An ordinary boat, about
fk
811
feii
TITE GREAT GEYSER.
twenty feet long, is provided on one side j
with a wide board which stands at about 1
quarter angle from the edge of the boat |
into and some distauce beneath the
! water, reaching the entire length of the
boat. This board is made very smooth, j
polished, and is sometimes painted white.
In the night the boat is rowed slowly in
such a direction that the northern light
shines and glistens upon the board. Fish '
jump for the board and shoot over its
edge into the boat, sometimes filling it to j
its utmost capacity in one night. This ;
fishing apparatus is called by us a frucju
baad.
"The familiar saying may be true that
Lucifer requested permission to try his
hands at creation, and that from the
I fragments left by the antagonism of tire
and water, the unused and useless remnants
of the volcano and earthquake he
made Iceland, but I will guarantee that
he is very much disappointed over the
civil condition of the people. There is
not a lawyer in the whole land and no
need of them. Every one there is his
own law-maker and law-giver. The
general code of law and liberty is so
simple that it can be readily comprehended
and understood by less cultivated
people than the Icelanders are.
"Theft is almost unknown upon the
island, but in case we have a thief a council
is held by some chosen men, either
the folketing or landting. I personally
know of but two instances of this kind.
Une man?an inborn Icelander?aunng a
very severe winter, while sick and disabled
by ft broken arm from work, had
stolen four sheep. lie was tried, as you
term it, by a jury of thirteen men,
and it was found that lie acted to
save his poor family from starvation.
It was decided that he acted from
necessity, and lie was furnished with
food, fuel and medicine as punishment.
The other case was that of a stranger, a
shoemaker by trade, who had ample
means of subsistence, but had stolen
seventeen or eighteen sheep. He was
tried nnd found guilty of enriching himself
with the property of others and was
sentenced to pay for the sheep?to pay
5500 crowns into a fund for charitablo
purposes and to leave the country binder
pain of being beheaded. "We have jails
but they are unused and the hinges of
the doors arc rusty. Civil disputes are
rare, but adjusted by arbitration;* no
sheriffs, constables or policemen arc to
be supported. Our written law "regulates
lishing, hunting, marriage or inheritance.
We live simply, drink moderately
and hold ourselves up to the
world as a people worthy of imitation
by couutries larger, richer anil more intelligent
than we ?re."
An African Ruler.
The dignified looking individual shown
in the accompanying sketch is a model ~
African sovereign, He is lord of 17,000
square miles of some of the finest country
in south 'Africa, rich in gold, silver,
copper, iron, asbestos, and capable of ' "
sustaining countless heads of cattle.
. -'.r. 3X7
A
This country lies to the north of tho
colony of Bechuanaluud, with the Boere
for neighbors on the east and the Chiefs
Kliama and Lo Bengula on the north.
Since Barthoen?for such is his name?
came to the throne he has effected n
moral revolution in his country. Ho
has encouraged agriculture, , induced
thousands of his people to embrace Christianity
and has strictly prohibited the
liquor traffic in his dominions.
A Wig: for Every Day.
"So you do not believe that Mr. H?
? wears a wig?" he naked.
"Certainly not."
"Where's your proof?"
"Look at his hair?smooth, glossy
and natural."
"Very good wigs are made nowadays."
"Well, did you ever see a wig grow?"
"Not exactly."
"His does, if it's a wig."-- _
- - t<Art"Tou-Buro of it?" * ... .
'.'Of course I am?that is, sure thothis
hair is his own, for I have seen biih on
the day when he has had his hair cut. I
have seen it grow day by day until it
needed cutting. In fnct his hair is wonderfully
vigorous. Hardly a day pesse3
that I do not sec H and once I remarked
to him how rapidly his hair
grew.
, " 'Do you think it's too long?' he said.
! " 'Well, yes, I do, a little,' I answered.
" 'I'll get it cut this afternoon,' ho
said.
"The next morning I met him and his
hair was cut and trimmed almost too
closely. Where in the world did you
get the idea that he wore a wig?"
"My dear young innocent," was tho
! reply, "wigs are so skilfully made now
I that one can't detect tneni. xi una
j a wig for every day in the month.
| When he wants to have his hair cut ho
| puts on his shortest wig. The next day
he puts on a longer one and so on step
by step, as his hair grows. Finally his
| hair gets too long and he has it cut?
that is, he goes back to the short wig
aud begins all over again. Seeing is not
believing."?Neio York Tribune.
A Setback for McAtkln?.
JIcAtkins (very tiresome)?"Want to
hear something funny?"
Old Crusticus?"Not I've heard it before."
Writing on Iron.
An invention by which writing can bo
transferred from paper to iron is tho
work of a Boston man, who has invented
a hard ink with which he writes (backward)
upon ordinary paper. This paper
is placed in a mould, melted iron is
poured in, and when the hardeucd iron
is removed it is found that, while the
heat burned away the paper, it did not
affect the ink, but left the impression of
the writing moulded into the iron. This
discovery was made by noticing one day
that the printing on an ordinary handbill
that by accident had fallen into tho
mould was faintly transferred in this
way. _
"I should think, Mr. Owe lot 3, that
you would be afraid to marry me. I am
so old and have so much money that
people might misjudge your motive."
"3Iy sweet Angeline, I love you so, that
I would willingly marry you though you
were three times as old and had twice a3
much money."?Boston Times.
Bishop BIyth, of Jerusalem, says thcro
arc now in Palestine nearly 70,000 Jews,
whereas in ISS3 there were only 23,000,
aud iu 1841 only 8000,