Aiken courier-journal. (Aiken, S.C.) 1877-1880, January 24, 1878, Image 1
m
' Into ftll Utm
Decreed.
i rain
, fall,
Into nil ayea some teardrops start.
Whether they fell as a gentle shower
Or drop, like fire, from an aching heart.
Into all hearts some sorrow most creep,
Into all souls some donbtings come.
Lashing the wares of Life’s great deep
Frhm dimpling waters to seething foam.
i lower,
utter
1 brows rough wfu^^HQ^Bow,
,11 shoulders a crmSWustTR lain.
Bowing the form in its lofty height
Down to the dust in bitter pun.
Into all hands in some duty thrust,
Unto all arms some burden given,
Crashing the heart with its dreary weight,
Or Hfung the soul from earth to heaven.
Into all hearts and homes and lives
God’s dear sunshine comes streaming down,
j the ruins of L fe’s great plain—
Weaving for all a golden crown.
Items of Int
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tot'll
OUttWl
A ringing bell, like an onion,
upon peal.
bnt there
VOL. in. NO. 1BI.
OLD 8LK1E8. VOL. Yll. NO. 3B3.
AIKEN
JANUARY 24, 1878.
$2.00 per Annum, in Advance.
JP!
1 over <
I’ntouched by Time.
Time sallies forth with scythe in hand,
To reap his harvest off the land,
Ana leave his fpotsteps in the sand.
He maits his progress with decay,
Streaks the dark mountain side with gray,
: yuth holds regal sway.
ity’s cheek hf-^faves his trace,
i deeper wrinklee on the face,
i what he can np’er replace.
food’s home, the haunts of youth,
£$ur later pleasure grounds, forsooth,
rks offTime’s corroding tooth.
46 drapes the r Ids with fringe of gloom,
Makes of the ck.. .-mighty tomb.
And earth goes mournfully to her doom.
May, Time may have a monarch’s power,
With cruel greed our realms devour,
But Love has its^Auinphant hour.
Time enters not within the soul,
O’er faith and hope has no control,
Nor marks the btwudary of the goal.
Though palaces sad temples fall,
And underneath the funeral pall
la laid the dearest one of all,
With songs immortal and sublime,
Love lifts ue to a loftier clime,
For Love is still untouched by Time !
WINNIE’S FORTUNE.
The handsome dining room in the
Mayberry mansion was all a glitter with
floods of gaslight and the genial glow of
- fire—for Mr. Josial Mayberry was a
very “queer man,” according to his
wife’s opinion, and this fancy of his to
have nasty, ashy fires all over the splen
did mansion before the weather became
cold enough, was one of his “eccentric
freaks,” Mrs. Mayberry called it, with a
curl of her lip, a toss of the head and a
smile, almost of contempt, directed at
the hale, hearty, honest-faced old gentle
man who had married her for her pretty
face, ten years ago, when he was an
immensely rich widower with his hand
some half-grown son for a not very de
sirable incumbrance.
They were sitting around the hand
some table, discussing their seven
o’clock dinner, with the solemn butler
and his subordinate, in silent, obse
quious attention—these three Mayber-
rys, father,-son and the hanghty, well-
dressed lady who was wearing a decided
frown of displeasure on her face—a
frown she had barely power to refrain
from degenerating into a verbal expres
sion of anger, while the servants were
in waiting, and which, as the door
finally closed on them, leaving the little
party alcne, burst forth impetuously :
“ I declare, Mr. Mayberry, it is too
bad! I have gone over the list of invi
tations you have made, and to think
there is not one—no, not one—of onr
set among them, and such a horrid lot of
people as you have named. ”
“I told you, didn’t I, Marguerite,
that it was my inteution to give an old-
fashioned dinner ? And by that I meant,
and mean, to whom it will, indeed, be
cause for thankfulness. As to making a
grand fuss, and seeing around our table
only the people to whom a luxurious
diuner is bnt an every-day occurrence—
I shall not do it. And as to the guests
on my list being ‘ horrid ’ and ‘ common,’
you are mistaken, my dear. None of
them have any worse failing than pover
ty. There is not a’ ‘ common, ’ vulgar
person among the whole ten names on
that paper.”
Mr. Mayberry’s good old face lighted
up warmly as he spoke, and Ernest
Mayberry’s handsome face reflected the
satisfaction and pride which he felt in
his father’s views.
Mrs. Mayberry flushed, but said noth
ing.
She knew from experience that, kind
and indulgent as her husband was, there
were times when he suffered no appeal
from his decision ; and this was one of
theec times.
ZL >1 We will have dinner ordered from
. twelve o’clock, as it used to be when I was
rp^oy. We will have roast turkey, with
-"-J- bilberry sauce and mashed potatoes
t*jd turnips, boiled onions and celery,
'iT ^ on The table at once. For dessert,
, ^ • lOr cheese and cider and nothing more.
f'-^■.T-arjjuerite, shall I give the order to
> -fjorton, or will you attend to it?”
"■A Mrs. Mayberry twisted her diamond
almost roughly.
* Oh. don’t ask me to give such an
<sane order to him ! I have no wish to
pear as a laughing stock before my
- vants, Mr. Mayberry. It will be as
. y "e a strain on my endurance as I am
^Apr°f, to be forced to sit at a table
' • - 1 P 00 ?*® 118 the Hurds, and the
-.ujfe oi/.;. and that Thyzra Green and her
lame b&ther, and that little old Wil
mington, and his gran J-daughter, and—”
Mr. Mayberry interrupted her gently—
•> av- vx7;i~; i ? ■ ; .
want many, for I think contented, honest
labor is the honestest thing in the world,
and the best discipline, but somehow, I
can’t tell why, but I do want to go. T
can wear my black cashmere, and you’ll
be so proud of me.”
“ Proud of you, indeed, my child, no
matter what you wear. Yes, we’ll go. ”
And thus it happened that among the
ten guests that sat down at Josiah May
berry’s hospitable, overflowing board
that cold, blue-skied day, Winnie Wil
mington and the little old man were
two—and two to whom Ernest Mayberry
paid more devoted attention than even
his father had asked and expected.
Of course it was a grand success—all
excepting the cold hauteur on Mrs. May
berry’s aristocratic face, and that was a
failure, because no one took the least
notice of it, so much more powerful
were the influences of Mr. Mayberry’s
and Ernest’s courteous, gentlemanly
attentions.
“ I only hope you are satisfied,” Mrs,
Josiah said, with what was meant to be
withering sarcasm, after the last guest
had gone, and she stood for a moment
before the fire; “ I only hope you are
satisfied—particularly with the attention
paid to that young woman—very un
necessary attention, indeed.”
Mr. Mayberry rubbed his hands to
gether briskly.
“Satisfied? Yes, thankful to God I
had it in my power to make them forget
their poverty for one little hoar. Did
yon see little Jimmy Hurd’s eyes glisten
when Ernest gave him the second tri
angle of pie ? Bless the youngsters’
hearts, they won’t want anything to eat
for a week. ”
“I was speaking of the young woman
who ”—Mrs. Mayberry was icily severe,
but her husband cut it short.
“So you were—pretty little thing as
ever I saw. A ladylike, graceful little
girl, with beautiful eyes enough to ex
cuse the boy for admiring her. ”
“ The boy ! You seem to have forgot
ten your sou is twenty-three—old enough
to fall in love with and marry—even a
poor, unknown girl, you were quixotic
enough to invite to your table. ”
“ Twenty-three ? So he is. And if
he wants to marry a beggar, and she is a
good, virtuous girl, why not.”
A little gasp of horror and dismay was
the only answer of which Mrs. Mayberry
was capable.
V Jgxr
' Old Mr. Wilmington was a friend of
| “in® before he went to India. Since he
•'2 cyie home with his son’s orphan
y jghterjmd lived in such obscurity—
y '-'y -“ale although plain, for Winnie
" V 8 enough as daily governess to snp-
- • -rt them both cheaply—I regard him
ah more worthy than ever. Ernest, my
^ ~ boy, I shall depend upon you to help
entertain our guests, and especially at
— ^® table, for I shall have no servants
about to scare them out of their appe
tites.”
And Mr. Mayberry dismissed the sub-
juct by arising from the table.
* * * *
“ Would I like to go? Oh, grandpa, I
should ! Will we go, do you think ?”
The little wizened old man looked
fondly at her over his steel rimmed
glasses,
“So you’d like to accept Mr. May
berry’s invitation to dinner, eh, Winnie?
You wo' .»n’t be afraid of your old-fash
ioned grandfather, eh, among the fine folk
of the family ? Remarkably fine folk, I
b'>ar, for all I can remember when Joe
was a boy together with myself. Fine
folk, Winnie, and yon think we’d better
R>?”
“I would like to go, grandpa. I
don’t have many recreations—I don’t
“ Grandpa!”
Winnie’s voice was so low that Mr.
Wilmington only just heard it, and
when he looked np he saw the girl’s
crimson cheeks and her lovely, drooping
face.
“Yes, Winnie, you want to tell me
something ?”
She went np behind him, and leaned
her hot cheek carelessly against his, her
sweet, low voice whispering her answer.
“ Grandpa, I want to tell you some
thing. I—Mr. May—we—Ernest has
spoken—he—wants me to—oh, grandpa,
can’t you tell what it is ?”
He felt her cheek grow hotter against
his.
He reached up his hand and caressed
the other one.
“Yes, I can tell, dear. Ernest has
shown his nncommon good sense by
wanting you for’his wife. So that is
what comes of that dinner, eh, Win
nie ?”
“And may I tell him yon are willing,
perfectly willing, grandpa ? Because
I do love him, you know.”
“And you are sure it isn’t his money
you are after, eh ?”
She did not take umbrage at the sharp
question.
“ I am at least sure it isn’t my money
he is after, grandpa,” she returned,
laughing aud patting his cheek.
“ Yes, you are at least sure of that;
there, I hear the young man coming
himself. Shall I go, Winnie?”
It was the “young man himself,”
Ernest Mayberry, with a shadow of deep
rouble on his face as he came straight
up to Winnie and took her hand, then
turning to the old gentleman.
“ Until an hour ago I thought this
would be the proudest, happiest hour of
my life, for I should have asked you to
give me Winnie for my wife. Instead,
I must be content to only tell you how
dearly I love her, and how patiently and
hard I will work for her to give her the
home which she deserves—because, Mr.
Wilmington, this morning the house of
Mayberry & Thurston failed and both
families are beggars. ”
His handsome face was pale, but his
: eyes were bright with a determination
i and braveness nothing could daunt.
Winnie smiled back upon him, her
■ own cheeks paling.
“ Never mind, Ernest, on my account;
I can wait, too. ”
Old Mr. Wilmington’s eyes were al
most shut beneath the heavy frowning
forehead, and a quizzical look was on his
shrewd old face as he listened.
“Gone up, eh ? Well, that’s too bad
You stay here and tell Winnie I am just
as willing she shall be your wife when
you want her, as if nothing had hap
pened, because I believe you can earn
bread and butter for both of you, and
my Winnie is a contented girl. I’ll
hobble up to the office and see your
father; he and I were boys togethor; a
word of sympathy won’t come amiss from
me.”
And off be strode, leaving the lovers
alone, getting over the distance in re
markable time, and presenting bis
wrinkled, weather-beaten old face in
Mayberry & Thurston’s private office,
where Mr. Mayberry sat alone, with rigid
face and keen, troubled eyes, that nev
ertheless lightened at the sight of his
old friend.
“Im glad to see you, Wilmington.
Sit down. The sight of a man who has
not come to reproach me is a comfort.”
But Mr. Wilmington did not sit down.
He crossed the room to the table at
which Mr. Mayberry sat among a hope
less array of papers.
“There is no use wasting words, May.
berry, at a time like this. Did you know
your son has asked my Winnie to marry
him?”
Mr. Mayberry’s face lighted a second,
then the gloom returned.
“ If my son had a fortune at his com
mand, as I thought he had yesterday at
this time, I would say, ‘ God speed you
in your wooing of Winnie Wilmington.
As it is—for the girl’s sake I disap
prove. ”
“ So you haven’t a pound over and
above, eh, Mayberry ?”
“There will be nothing—less than
nothing. I don’t know that I really
care so much for myself, but Ernest—
it is a terrible thing to happen to him
at the very beginning of his career.”
Mr. Wilmington smiled gleefully.
“ Good. Neither do I care for myself,
but for Winnie, my little Winnie. I
tell you what, Mayberry, perhaps you
will wonder if I am crazy, but I’ll agree
to settle a quarter of a million on Win
nie the day she marries your boy. And
I’ll lend you as much more if it’ll be of
any use, and I’ll start the boy myself, if
you say so. Eh ?”
Mr. Mayberry looked at him iu speech-
ess bewiLlerment.
Wilmington went on: “I made a for
tune out in India, aud it’s safe and sound
in hard cash in good hands—a couple of
millions. I determined to bring up my
girl to depend on herself, aud to learn
the value of money before she had the
handling of her fortune. She has no
idea she’s an heiress. Sounds like a
story out of a book, eh, Mayberry?
Well, will you shake hands on it, and
call it a bargain ?”
Mr. Mayberry took the little dried up
hand almost reverentially, his voice
hoarse with thick emotion.
“ Wilmington, God will reward you
for this. May He a thousand fold !”
Wilmington winked away a suspicious
moisture on his eyelashes.
“ You see it all comes of that dinner,
old fellow. You acted like a gentleman,
and between us we’ll make the boy and
Winnie as happy as they deserve, eh ?”
And even Mrs. Mayberry admits that
it was a good thing that her husband
gave that dinner, and, when she expects
to see Mrs. Ernest Mayberry an honored
guest at her board, she candidly feels
that she owes every atom ot her splendor
and luxury to the violet-eyed, charming
girl who wears her own honors with such
sweet grace.
Eating Apples.
The following notes on this abstruce
science are taken from an interesting
little book called “ Winter Snnshine ” :
“ Not a little of the sunshine of win
ter is surely wrapped up in the apple.
How is life sweetened by its aroma ! It
is a natural autidote of the many ills
that flesh is heir to. Full of mild acids,
what an enemy it is to jaundice, indi
gestion, torpidity of the liver, etc. It is
a gentle spnr and tonic to the whole bil
iary system. A dish of apples on the
center table in the winter supplies the
place of a vase of flowers in the summer
—a bouquet of Spitzenbergs, Greenings
and Northern Spies.
“ The boy is indeed the true apple
eater, and is not to be questioned as to
how he came by the fruit with which his
pockets are filled. Whether he be full
of meat or empty of meat, he wants ap
ples all the same. He goes to the great
bin in the cellar, and sinks his shafts
here and there in the garnered wealth of
the orchard, mining his favorites some
times coming plump upon them, or
catching a glimpse of them as he turns
the heaps from right to left.
“When you are ashamed to be seen
eating them in the street, when your
neighbor has apples and you have none,
and you make no nocturnal visit to an
orchard ; then be assured you are no
longer a boy either in heart or years.
I sympathize with that clergyman who,
in pulling out his handkerchief in the
middle of his discourse, pulled out two
bounding apples with it that went roll
ing across the pulpit floor and down the
pulpit stairs. These apples were, no
doubt, to be eaten on his way home, or
to his next appointment. They would
take the taste of the sermon out of his
mouth.
“ Iu planting a homestead, what a
help it is to have a few old maternal ap
ple trees near by—regular old grand
mothers, who have blossomed and borne
fruit until the very air abou them is
sweeter than elsewhere, and who have
nourished robins and wrens in their
branches till they have a tender, brood
ing look. There is a crop of sweet
reminiscences, dating f/om childhood,
and spanning the season from May to
October. ”
Relative Strength of Wood and Metal.
The Cincinnati Gazette contains an
interesting report of recent experiments
made at the Ohio Agricultural and
Mechanical College, with their mam
moth testing machine, for determining
the strength of different kinds of metal,
timber, etc. ‘ ‘ The first six tests were
of tenacity. A quarter-inch annealed
wire broke at 2,160 pounds; another
piece of annealed wire, of the same size,
broke at 3,860 pounds; a piece of bar
iron, half-inch square, broke with 13,-
660 pounds; a bar of Bessemer steel,
scant half-inch square, only gave way
under 30,320 pounds, the two latter tests
showing clearly the comparative strength
of iron and Bessemer steel. A piece of
hickory, one and a half inches square,
broke at 10,460 pounds, and a piece of
black walnut, same size, at 3,270 pounds.
The arrangement of the machine for
transverse tests was illustrated by break
ing a bar of apple wood, one inch square
aud one foot long, supported at the ends
and weight applied in the middle, with
only 960 pounds. A two-inch cube of
white Waverly sandstone was crushed
with 12,560 pounds. Such cubes of oak
stood a test of 7,000 and 8,300 before
being crushed. The last experiment
was the breaking of a 15x16 inch iron
screw bolt, which was accomplished by
a pressure of 25,850 pounds. All speci
mens of metal could be seen to stretch
very materially before breaking, becom
ing of less diameter near the place of
rupture. It was interesting to note the
heat generated when this stretching took
place, which is ascribed to molecular
friction. The tests followed each other
rapidly, and the gentlemen present, who
included rolling-mill operators, practi
cal engineers, and manufacturers inter
ested in the experiments, were delighted
at the prompt and accurate working of
the machine. Prof. Mendenhall is
desirous of making tests of the com
parative strength of the various
materials used by manufacturers,
builders and others, and will be very
glad to receive any and all specimens
which may be offered. The result of
those tests would seem to be of great
value in many building and other enter
prises, yet Professor Mendenhall states
that he was actually obliged to buy
specimens for the tests above described.
A Rich Man’s Economy.
The late Sir Titus Salt, the famous
alpaca manufacturer, though immensely
rich and generous, had the habit of eco
nomy. He was always careful not only
of his money, but of such trifling things
as blank leaves of letters, which were
not thrown into the waste basket, bnt
laid aside for use. When he began to
make money he thought of buying him
self a gold watch, but be resolved that
he would not buy it till he had saved a
thousand pounds. How proud he was
of that watch in his after life! It was
worn by him till the close of his life,
and when his own hand became too feeble
to wind it, he handed it to others to be
wound in his presence. He had little
knowledge of literature and little love of
it. “ His library,” as his biographer
records with pride, 1 ' was large and well
selected; but his knowledge of books
was limited, and the range of his reading
confined to religious publications and
the daily press.” In his old age some
one asked him what books he had been
reading lately. “Alpaca,” was the
quiet reply; then after a short pause he
added, “If you had four or live thou
sand people to provide for every day,
you would not have much time left for
reading.”
A Little Rumpus.
In appearance he was a genteel man,
but a look of care had taken a permanent
lease of his features, and wouldn’t vacate
for any consideration. He was walking
briskly down Central avenue, with head
down, buried in thought, looking neither
to the right nor left, with eyes bent in
an absent stare upon the pavement.
Suddenly he gave a start, a quick cry,
and jumped backward several feet, up
setting a fat woman who was hurrying
home with several links of “ Wiener
wurst,” which flew out of her hand and
lodged around the neck of n sbop-giyl,
hurrying by, who screamed, “ The hor
rid things!” and landed them in the
middle of the street just in time to say
“ good morning ” to a dog that had sat
down to scratch his ear, which had
parted company with a boot-black’s
slipper a moment before. The dog at
once forgot all about his sore ear, and
began to think about breakfast. As the
fat woman tumbled, she landed against a
boy who had just picked up ten pounds
of ice to take inside. He laid the ice
down on the foot of a portly gentleman,
who was so much pleased with the atten
tion that he gave the boy a cane—across
the back—making at the same time an
impressive little presentation speech,
full or d’s and dashes. The boy, feeling
unworthy of so much attention, made a
dive to escape it, and upset a glazier who
mourned over his broken glass, and
swore he would leave this crazy country
on the first boat for Louisville. His
falling box had scraped a good deal of
red hair and a small percentage of
cuticle from the top of the fat woman’s
head, aud looking upon the poor glazier
as the author of all her trouble, she
pitched into him with tongue and fists;
and taking advantage of the confusion,
the genteel man, who had set the muss
going by getting scared at a dangling
string from an awning rubbing against
bis nose, quietly stole away. The fat
woman put in more pains for the glazier,
with her feet and fists, than he had done
for a week. — Cincinnati lircakfast
Table.
A Cheerful Woman.
What a blessing to a household is a
merry, cheerful woman—one whose
spirits are not affected by wet days, or
little disappointments, or whose milk of
human kindness does not sour in the
sunshine of prosperity. Such a woman
in the darkest hours brightens the house
like a piece of sunshiny weather. The
magnetism of her smiles and electrical
brightness of her looks and movements
infect every one. The children go to
school with a sense of something to be
achieved; her husband goes into the
world in a conqueror’s spirit. No mat
ter how people annoy and worry him all
day, far off her presence shines, and he
whispers to himself, “ At home I shall
find rest. ” So day by day she literally
renews his strength and energy, and if
you know a man with a beaming face, a
kind heart, and a prosperous business in
nine cases out of ten you will find he has
a wife of this kind.
A Wrestle with a Bear.
A writer in Frank Leslie'* Newspaper
gives an account of an adventure he and
two hunters had with a large bear, in
northeastern Pennsylvania. Bruin had
been caught in a huge steel trap
attached to the trunk of a tree, but had
succeeded in getting away from the tree,
with the trap still hanging to his paw.
After following the bear a long distance,
the hunters at length came np with him,
and the scene that followed is described
by the writer:
Peering through the laurels, we saw
an open space in the swamp, not more
than fifty feet in advance of us. A
larger growth of timber surrounded it
than characterized the general configura
tion of the swamp. The space was thirty
or forty feet wide, and about the same
in length. On the further edge of it an
immense bear stood erect on its haunches
in the snow. Both massive paws were
raised aloft, and on one the heavy trap
was fastened by its vise-like grip. It
looked like a weapon held in readiness
to be hurled at an advancing foe. The
bear’s great jaws were wide open, and
from their flaming depths masses of
foam fell in large flecks upon the beast’s
shaggy breast. His eyes glared fiercely,
and every motion warned his pursuers
that he was wrought to the very height
of fury. Quick and Jonas stood on the
side nearest us, like gladiators ready for
the fray. The situation did not remain
long unchanged. The old hunter’s rifle
came mechanically to his shoulder. For
an iustant the polished barrel flashed
back the rays of the sun. Then a sharp
report rang out upon the winter air, and
leaped from hill to hill. The bear
dropped with a dull thud to the ground.
“Plum through the beater!” exclaimed
Quick, as he sprang into the opening,
knife in hand, to cut the throat of the
prostrate bear. As he stooped down,
the tenacious brnte sprang to his feet,
and rushed upon the hunter. Instantly
both men were upon the bear. We
crouched spell bound where we had
stopped; knives glittering in the
sunlight. We saw the bear with blood
streaming from the quickly inflicted
wounds, and dyeing his black coat with
crimson streaks, rise up three times
against his foes, and rush upon them in
a savage frenzy, that it seemed must
carry them down before it. Once he
hurled Jonas to the snow, and we held
our breath as his enormous paw was
raised to deal the blow that nothing
could have withstood; but the ax of the
other hunter fell with irresistible force
ou the mad brute’s skull, and the bear
tottered and went down beneath it.
Jonas was on his feet in a second, and
both his and Quick’s long-bladed
hunting-knives were buried almost
simultaneously in the animal’s heart.
The men stepped aside. The bear once
more rose upright, made two faltering
steps towards them, struggled for a
moment to retain his poise, and then
fell heavily to the ground, and was
dead.
How to Preserve a Piano.
It is evident that if the piano is to
remain in good order for many years
good care must be taken of it. The
instrument should be closed wheu not
in use, in order to prevent the collection
of dust, pins, etc., etc., on the sound
board; however, it must not be left
closed for a period of several months or
longer, but be opened occasionally and
daylight allowed to strike the keys, or
else the ivory may turn yellow. Any
hard substance, no matter how small,
dropped inside the piano, will cause a
rattling, jarring noise. It is in every
case desirable that an india-rubber or
cloth cover should protect the instru
ment from bruises and scratches. The
piano should not be placed iu a damp
room, or left open in a draft of air—
dampness is its most dangerous enemy,
causing the strings and tuning-pins to
rust, the cloth used iu the construction
of the keys and notion to swell, whereby
the mechanism will move sluggishly, or
often stick altogether. This occurs
chiefly in the summer season, and the
best pianos, made of the most thoroughly-
seasoned material, are necessarily affect
ed by dampness, the absorption being
rapid. Extreme heat is scarcely less
injurious. The piano should not be
placed very near to an open fire or a
heated stove, nor over or close to the
hot-air furnaces now in general nse.
Moths are very destructive to the cloth
and felt used in the pianos, and may be
kept out of it by placing a lump of
camphor, wrapped in soft paper, in the
inside corner, care being taken to renew
it from time to time. Many persons are
unaware of the great importahee of
having their pianos kept in order, and
only tuned by a competent tuner. A
new piano should be tuned at least once
every three or four months during the
first year, and at longer intervals after
ward.
Keeping up Appearances,
A Detroit widow owns and occupies a
Centenarians of 1877.
During the past twelve months no
less than twenty-six centenarians died
I in the United States, whose aggregate
age was 2,692 years. The oldest among
them—though his claims were stoutly
disputed—was Captain Lahrbush, who
died last April, in New York, at the age
of 111. One of the most interesting
cases was that of Augustin Picard, who
did at Rochester, N. Y., at the age of
109. His father is said to have lived to
the age of 108 and his mother to 104,
Quebec. Picard was an inveterate
smoker, and scarcely ill for a day in his
life. Fifteen of the twenty-six were
women, and of the eleven males one was
colored.
cottage under the shadow of a church while a sister, 109 years old, is still alive
steeple, which is supposed to be in in
danger of falling when a high wind
blows. At midnight, a few nights ago,
when the wild winds blew fiercely, she
got up aud dressed, called the children
up and dressed them, and folded her
arms with the remark: “ Now, then, if
that steeple falls and hills us, people will
know that we were a respectable family,
anyhow. George, you brush up your
hair a little more; and, Sarah, you
your feet of the stove-hearth and
your collar more to the left.”
Not the Kind She Wanted.
“ Are these young chickens ?” asked
a lady of a market woman.
“ Oh, yes, indeed, lady. They’re
nice and tender—as fine as any you ever
saw,” said the woman.
“They don’t look like it,” remarked
the customer, pinching one of them
critically.
“ It’s the honest Christian truth I’m
telling you, lady. I raised ’em myself,
and could give you their age to a day if
my old man was here, for he put it
down in the almanac the self-same day
they were hatched. And they’re nice
and fat, too, lady see,”—holding up the
choicest in the lot.
“You’re quite sure they are not
tough, then ? Young chickens are some
times nearly as tough as old ones, you
know.”
“ Yes, yes; very true. But I’m
certain you’ll find these tender. I had
a couple out of the same brood for
dinner, Tuesday, and they were as nice
as could be.”
The customer opened her purse and
took out a brand new trade dollar, as
she placed her basket on the stall, and
the market woman bustled around with
a feeling of charity in her heart for all
humanity, as she brought out a fresh
quire of wrapping paper, and prepared
to fill what she believed would be the
biggest order of the morning.
“ You’ll stand by what you said about
those chickens?” queried the lady,
pausing with the coin in her hand ;
and I believe you are here every
market, ain’t you ?”
“Oh, yes, lady; I’d sooner have
every one of ’em spile on my hands
than to say a single word that wasn’t
true, and if you don’t find it just as I
told you, come back and get your
money. ”
“ They won’t do for me then,” said
the lady, patting back the money and
picking np her basket, “I want a fowl
that’ll do to make soup of for a couple
of days without falling all to pieces, and
then do for pot-pie afterwards. Times
are very hard, and it takes close figuring
to keep boarders now-a-days without
losing money.”
The market woman watched the
landlady in speechless wonder until her
figure was lost in the crowd, and then
she huddled down again over her char
coal furnace and muttered :
“Why didn’t I stick to the truth aud
close out the lot to her. She may search
this market over and not find anything
that ever wore feathers that can stand
bilin’ like these old roosters will. Well,
well; honesty’s the best policy after
all, bnt it don’t always look that way.
Here you are, lady—chickens ? Jnst
the thing for boarders. Three years old
last fall, and tongher’n a boot-black.”—
Cincinnati Breakfast Table.
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
A Chinese Dog Story.
Siu Chun nourished iu his household
a dog to which he was much attached.
One day as Sin Chun was sleeping heav
ily in a thicket, the governor of the
province, who was out on a hunting ex
pedition, chanced to pass, and ordered
the grass of the thicket to be fired in
order to frighten from it whatever game
it might hide. The dog tugged at Sin
Chun’s clothing, but could not arouse
him ; then running to a stream hard by.
plunged into it, and returning to where
his master lay rolled himself over and
over, wetting the grass. This perform
ance he repeated several times, till he
had so saturated the ground that his
master was safe from the flames ; then,
exhausted and cruelly burned, he laid
down by his master’s side and died.
Sin Chun, awakening, was not slow to
comprehend the danger to which he had
been exposed, and the means by which
it had been averted. With many tears
he carried home the body of the dog,
wrapped it in a costly shroud, and placed
it in a handsome tomb, which the gov
ernor caused to be called ever afterward,
‘The Tomb of the Faithful Dog.”
St. Louis was behindhand with its
baby-show swindle, but it was a large
one when it came. The manager adver
tised lavishly, and promised to give
away $3,000 in prizes : but on the last
day of the exhibition he left the city,
and the mothers got nothing.
Mr. Somers’ Fortune.
“Fay,” writing from Washington to
the Louisville Courier-Journal, narrates
the following curious story:
A lady who was counting money sent
to the treasury for redemption copied
this from a $5 note:
“ This is the last remnant of a fortune
of $50,000, All of which I have lost
gambling. Beware of faro banks.
April 1, 1873. Charles F. Somers.”
The next person who received the note
wrote beneath:
“ Well, you fool, you must be anxious
to have the world know what an ass yon
were.”
Still another gives vent to his feelings
upon this poor,persecuted piece of paper.
He says:
“How exquisite! How refined! How*
really much more than altogether de
lightful, delicious!”
These choice bits of literature are a
sample of the varied experience of a
national bank note from the time it
leaves the treasury until it returns and
is consigned by fair hands to the tomb
of destruction.
A Queer Suit Decided.
A queer suit has just ended at
Bradford, Me., by the plaintiff, Ira
Melendy, receiving damages of $5,500
from the town for injuries received on
a highway. He asserted that his acci
dent resulted in paralysis of his legs, so
that they were dead as far as movement
and feeling were concerned. The efforts
of the defence were to show that he lied,
and so medical experts were called, pins
stuck into his legs, cuts made and
ammonia applied and either given, yet
he did not wince and his muscles did not
contract. Some of the physicians testi
fied that such a paralysis as he claimed
was impossible; but the jury did not
believe that a man could have nerve
enough to stand such tests if there was
any feeling in'^J r 'arts experimented
upon, and gave Mi . ly the dam
ages named.
Aiirlrultiiral Exhibit at Pat-la.
From the arrangements making for the
purpose, it is evident that the United
States will have a large and creditable
display of farm products at the approach
ing Paris exhibition. The commissioner
of agriculture has the matter in charge,
aud has made such progress that it is
safe to make an enumeration of many
articles that will be included in the ex
hibit of the “ Universal Yankee Nation ”
at an exposition which is to receive con
tributions from most if not all civilized
countries. For example, it is already
announced that, in forestry, cuttings of
every useful variety of timber which
grows in this country will be so prepared
that each cutting will show as far as
practicable a section of the wood with
the bark and grain, and also the finish
which it is capable of receiving. The
fruits and seeds of the same will also be
exhibited. Special products of the
forest will be shown, including the
Southern moss, which is used in uphol
stery, the palmetto and other woods,
the fibres of which are used in the
manufacture of paper. The list of ex
hibits likewise comprises the dairy pro
ducts of the North, with a model of a
New England dairy ; honey, illustrating
the improved method of bee culture ;
tobacco in all its varieties, with illustra
tions of its culture, curing and methods of
preparation for use; maple sugar, with
the sap and the syrup ; samples of all
the varieties of essential oil manufactur
ed in the United States ; nuts of every
kind, indigenous as those which, having
been brought from abroad, have been
found to thrive in our soil.
Fruits and their products will abound
in the display—not only the common
kinds which are grown in abundance,
but also figs, oranges, citrons, raisins
and persimmons, with the most approv
ed methods of drying, preserving and
canning both fruits and vegetables, a
matter in which our people are far in
advance of those of other countries. That
“this is a great country for corn ” will
be demonstrated by the exhibition of
Indian com in all its features, from the
South and West, with stalks ten to
twelve feet high, to the Northern spe
cies, which attains a height of only three
or four feet, together with samples of all
com products.
Let us hope, therefore, that the pro
posed display our American products at
Paris will prove both creditable and
beneficial, elevating the United States
in the estimation of other nations, and
opening new avenues and causing a
greater demand for those staples which
we can supply in abundance.—New York
World.
Recipe*.
Apple Short Cake.—To cue quart of
sifted flour add two teaspoons cream
tartar and cue of soda, half a teaspoonful
of salt, quarter of a pound of butter,
sweet milk to mix it. Have a dough
rather stiff, roll and bake in a sheet. As
soon as baked split open the whole cake,
spread one piece quickly with butter,
cover with well-sweetened apple sauce,
pour over some thick sweet cream, grate
on nutmeg, place the other half on this,
crust side down, spread with butter,
cover with apple sauce, cream and nut
meg.
Vegetable Soup.—Take four potatoes,
three turnips, one carrot and three
onions ; cut them into small pieces and
put them into a stew pau with a quarter
of a pound each of butter aud ham and
a bunch of parsley ; let them remain ten
minutes over a brisk fire, add a large
teaspoonful of flour ; mix well iu, moisten
with two quarts of broth and a pint of
boiling milk ; boil up, season with salt
and sugar, run through a hair sieve, put
into another stew-pan, boil again. Skim
and serve with fried bread in it.
Csacker Pudding.—Pour one quart
of boiling milk over six soft crackers, let
it stand till the crackers are very soft;
then add four beaten eggs, half a pound
of raisins, and salt, sugar and spices to
taste. Steam three or four hours. Use
brown sugax-.
Potato Fritters.—Grate six cold
boiled potatoes ; add one pint of cream
or milk, and flour enough to make stiff
as other fritters; the yolks of three
eggs, then the beaten whites ; a little
salt, and fry in hot lard.
Mutton Chops.—Cut the saddle of
mutton, separating each bone ; trim off
the thin fat ; rub them over with yolk
of egg and bread crumbs ; broil or fry
them. Serve with gravy as for other
chops.
A Gambler’s Varying Luck.
A gambler told this story to a Cincin
nati reporter : ‘ ‘ There used to be an
actor here who was a great gambler.
His name was Johnny Mortimer. He
was a member of the stock company at
Pike’s in 1862. He was a magnificent
dresser, and prided himself on being the
best dressed man in town. One Decem
ber night I saw him, after the play was
over, come into a house at the corner of
Vine and Fifth. He was dressed to per
fection—overcoat, shining plug, cane,
watch, big chain—everything gorgeous
and the best. There were no players
and the game was idle, but he made
them open up for him. He bought $20
worth of chips, and lost. He changed
in $20 more, and lost. He lost all his
money and then offered his clothes. He
was allowed $200 for his overcoat, and
lost that. He passed over his coat and
got $10 worth of chips, and lost. He
played in his watch and chain, his vest,
his hat, his cane—even his shoes and
pantaloons—and got desperate. He
asked me to go and get something for
him to drink to keep him warm and get
an old barrel for him to walk home in.
He then offered his necktie as his lost
chance, and was allowed fifty cents for
it. His five chips won, and he struck a
streak ; won his clothes back and came
near breaking the bank. ”
Care will kill a <
living without it.
Three Presidents lie buried in Ten
nessee—Jackson, Polk and Johnson.
The father, and not the husband, of a
Russian woman, has supreme authority
over her.
Russia estimates that next year’s
campaign will cost her about $400,000,-
000 in gold.
In Mason county, Texas, sirloin steak
is retailed for five cents per pound ; fiu$
fat turkeys, twenty-five cents per heath
The poet was thinking of the bottom
of an oyster stew when he wrote “ Little
drops of water, little grains of sand. ”
“I’ze right,” ahonted a military officer
to his company. “Well,” grunted a
green private, “ nobody said you wasn’*
right.”
The German faimers are complaining
of large importations of Russian grain,
which are swamping German markets
and depressing prices.
Messrs. Flood & O’Brien, the great
mind owners of Nevada, propose to send
to the Paris exhibition one solid brick of
silver four feet square.
It is suggested that one reason why so
many marriages turn out so unhappily
is because the bridegroom is never the
“ best man” at the wedding.
When it was said that Mars had three
moons, it was remarked: “Think of
young people living in a planet where
there is no shady side of the street at
night.”
Hereafter the “ysung-man- who
didn’t-know-it-was-loaded ” should be
incarcerated in the penitentiary with
the kindly sentiment of “ didn’t-think-
you’d-mind-it.”
The horseshoe at Niagara is now a
right angle, rather than a cuTve. The
rocks in the center have been eaten away
from year to year, and now the side
walls are crumbling.
Russia’s captures during the war, as
complied from official sources by Le
Mende Basse, aggregate twenty-nine
pashas, seven hundred and four cannons
and 73,128 officers and men.
There is an iron safe in Cincinnati
which lay for six years on the bottom of
Lake Erie with $20,000 in it. It was
got by diving bell process, and now
serves its old purpose in an express
office.
In Queen Victoria’s crown there aro
1,363 brilliant diamonds, 1,173 rose dia
monds, and 147 table diamonds, one
large ruby, seventeen sapphires, eleven
emeralds,, fonr small rubies, and 237
pearls.
To remove foreign bodies from the
throat an English naval sturgeon recom
mends blowing forcibly into the ear.
Powerful reflex action is produced, dur
ing which the foreign substax.ee is ox-
polled.
Blessed is the man who had ratheis^
subscribe for a newspaper than borrow
one, aud blessed is he who when he bor
rows one will return it without getting
it soiled and bom.—McDuffie (Go.)
Journal.
She said it was a very bright idea. He
said he knew a brighter one, and when
she asked him what it was he answered,
‘ Your eye, dear!” There was silence
for a moment; then she laid her head
upon the rim of his ear and wept.
Ht. Louis is to have a ten foot high
statue of Shakespeare. The city fathers
merely asked the sculptor if the deceas
ed Shakespeare was a Chicago man, and
when he said “ no,” they replied, “ All
right, scnlp. the old stat. ”—Detroit Free
Press.
Henry Frederick, Earl of Arundel,
born in 1608, was the first recorded Eng
lishman with two Christian names, and
it is probable that the practice of giving
children two Christian names was utterly
unknown in England before the acces
sion of the Stuarts.
The Wisconsin Teacher says: At a
recent teachers’ examination in this
State, an old teacher being asked wheth
er this country was a Democracy, re
plied: “No; but it wonld have been if
Mr. Tilden had been elected. Since
Mr. Hayes was elected it is a Republic. ”
The Russians sent some seventy
wagons with Turkish wounded to Erze-
roum the other day, with General Hey-
marm’s compliments to Mukhtar Pasha,
and the message: “You kill my
wounded, here are yours. Send back
the wagons, as I need them.” The
wagons were all sent back after discharg
ing their load.
In the old burying ground at Newport
is a curious headstone, which chronicles
the death of a son and daughter of Wil
liam and Desire Tripp, “ also his wife’s
arm,” ^amputated February 20, 1776.
The age of the arm appears to be
omitted, but it was doubtless interred
with decent ceremonial. A portrait ol
the arm is cut upon the gravestone.
THE NEW WAY.
Let rogues of low degree delight
The old way to pursue,
The master thief, a crafty wight,
Will always choose the new."
No Bourbon he, bnt quick to learn
In Roguery’s modern school,
And keen his interests to discern
According to this rule:
First, steal enough—of that bo sure—
For margin ’gainst ill fate;
Skedaddle to some spot secure,
And then negotiate.
When yon see a man with a long wil
low switch in his hand, sneak cautiously
down to the back fence, and stealthily
pull himself up until his head is above
the top of it, and then look anxiously,
longingly, and with a disappointed ex
pression withal, np and down and all
around a vast, lifeless, uninhabited scope
of vacant lot without a sign of human
life abont, you may safely bet your little
pile that there is a broken window in
that man’s house and a twelve-year-old
boy about a thousand miles away and
still going.
A Paper DueL
A hot-headed Frenchman, who felt
himself insulted by the remarks of a
friend, wrote as follows :
“ Dear Sir: Your remarks personal to
myself are sojoffensive that I wish yon to
consider your ears well cuffed. I expect
to give satisfaction.”
A few days afterward he received this
reply:
“ Dear sir: My ears tingle and I am
mad clean through. I regret the provo
cation, but I wish yon to consider your
self run through the body with a broad
sword, and laid out for immediato
burial,”
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