The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, February 16, 1886, Image 2
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MY OLD HOME.
It stands upon a sunny slope,
( And fronts the beechy hollow
Where glossy vines have ample scope
The wanton brook to follow;
Witch-hazels drop thoir ruagio wands
In search of golden treasure;
And, lying in the silent ponds,
Tbe trout find quiot pleasure.
The oson torn thoir patient eves
Upon me; the bay Ally
Neighs softly in her glad surprise;
The tender lambs are chilly,
And nestle in my apron wide;
The apple blooms are sifting
In eddies on the laughing tide,
To yonder river drifting.
The snowy dogwood stars the copBe,
FernB nod in froDded beauty,
The violet has modest hopes
To pay her fragrant duty,
The arum darts a mottled tongue
To Indian-pipe, and vying
"With every flower the muse has sung
Arbutus pale is sighing.
Mna. Rich
LIFE AT WEST POINT.
ClnM Standing No Criterion by which to
J U(l|(t' VI iTftllkltll J AUII1IJ*
"It is impossible to judge of a person's
military ability by bis standing at West
Point," said an old cadet yesterday. "If
a young fellow is a trifle careless and
forgets to invert his wash bowl a few
dozen times a year, and go to parade
with a spOt on bis trousers, or with his
boots unblacked, be may pile up demerits
that will give him a poor place in
his class, though he may have a good
standing in his studies. The boys who
avoid any kind of fun that might lead
to black marks are far from favorites at
West point.
"One cadet, who spent the last two
months of his cadet life in light prison,
was found at graduation to have more
than 100 demerits for the proceeding six
months. He passed his examination in
studies, but his deficiencies in discipline
caused his discharge. Had it not
been for them he would have stood second
in a class of sixty. He managed to
get an appointment in the army from
civil life, and is now a Lieutenant of infantry.
"The opportunities for being reported
for breaches of discipline at West Point
are very numerous. There are a dozen
chances during the day for him to get a
bad mark for being late. At the inspection
of quarters the cadets gets demerits
if he is found in his room coatless, if the
floor is dirty, if his overcoat hnngs on
the second nail in the alcove, or if the
shell jacket has changed places with the
night shirt. The wash bowl must be
bottom up, the soap dish clean, the
water pail full, and towels immaculate.
"My roommate and I once smuggled
into the barracks a basket of fruit which
a friend had sent us. We placed the
basket upon a board wedged far up the
chimney, where it was to remain until
we had a chance to invite a few friends
to the feast. My chum was at the section
room and I working at my mathematics,
when a little flaxen-haired Lieutenant
of cavalry came in and I stood at
attention during his inspection. He
found nothing out of the way and started
to leave, when suddenly he stopped,
8niiTed a little, and said:
" 44 'There is fruit in this room is there
not?'
<<4I decline to answer, sir,' said I.
My refusal to criminate myself, a right
that I was at perfect liberty to exercise,
made him angry. He turned everything
in the room upside down, until his attention
was directed to the chimney,
where the fruit was found. He ordered
if +><*.? swl ! ? i ~ J1 1 i.1..
IV 1111 utu 1ULU 111C ^uuiuiiuuac, 11I1U IIIU
next day, being called to the Commandant's
office on business, I saw the last of
the fruit, disappearing down the throat
of the officer in charge."
The Steeple Jack.
DOW AN EXPERT MEMBER OF THE CRAFT
TAKES DOWN A CHURCH SPIRE.
[From the Chicago Tribune.]
To a reporter Mr. Aubin confided a
few of the mysteries attending his ascent
to the top of St. Paul's Reformed
Episcopal steeple, which explains pretty
much how his work in general is accomplished.
The total height of the steeple
from the ground was 200 feet, the
spiral portion which rose from the tower
being 125 feet. Placing his block and
tackle and his Bwing stage in a convenient
position on the ledge of the
tower, he climbed to the highest possible
point in the inside of the spire from
which he could gain an exit to the open
air. Emerging from the interior, he
winds a rope three times around the
spire in a mysterious and unexplained
manner, and fastens the two ends together.
He then winds another rope
once around the spire, fastens its ends
together, and attaches thereto a belt
which is bound around his body. This
pari 01 me apparatus is designed to
keep his body from falling back and
afford general steadiness in the ascent.
He then grasps the lower coil of the
triple rope with one bund and the higher
with the other, and walks along the
centre rope, changing at every step his
hand grasps on the other ropes. He thus
winds his way around the spire, getting
higher at every step, steadied meanwhile
and kept in position by the rope
to which the waist belt is attached. As
he gradually gets higher the support
rope tends to get loose, and this is
remedied Vy_ drawing on it by the
Kl.nb'l/.a """
uut,mvs ui uic wnuib-i>uii. vv nen a
height is reached where the spire is sufficiently
narrow to permit the climber
to grasp it around with his arms he lets
go his hold on the ropes and clambers to
the top. Once there, by means of a
small clothes-line he lets down a hammer,
the claws of which seize the block
and tackle on the tower below, and both
are then raised to the top. A descent ia
then made for the swing-stage, which ia
attached to a hook of the block, and the
steeple-jack is now ready to begin
work. He starts in to remove the
boards of the wooden spire about eight
or ten feet from the top. and then saws
off in sections the posts above The
same process is carried on in the descent
by block and tackle, until after e
week's work the steeple is a thing ol
the past..
!?&& t*-' '_/ - '*}. "V -.' ?*{' -j* V 1
r'- -V- ' t
MlKSiWai:** -v.?
T&lmage in the Pulpit.
NO CIIAUCE IN TIIE NEXT WORLD.
"If the tree fall toward the south or
toward the north, in tho place whore
the tree falleth there it shall be." This
was the text of Rev. Dr. Talmage Sunday
morning, and he preached to a
crowded congregation a sermon about
the question whether the wicked will
have another chance in the next world.
In the course of his sermon he said:?
"There is a notion in the minds of a
vast number of people that there may
be an opportunity in the next world jto
; correct ine misraKes 01 uns. i nat, nowovcr
complete a shipwreck we may make
of our earthly life, the shipwreck will
be on a beach, so that we may walk
thereon to a palacc.
"The object of my sermon is to show
that common sense declares that by a
review of the past such expectation is
chimerical. There are those who say
that if an impenitent and unforgiven
man enters the next world he will see
the terrible disaster of his sinfulness and
will refrain from any further sinfulness.
There are ten thousand instances around
us of disaster coming upon sinners of
this world, but still they go on sinning.
This is true of drunkenness. What is
true of one sensual indulgence is true of
all. Then the prospect of reform.in the
next world is more improbable tbr.n
here. Don't you recognize the fact that
a man starts in this world with the innocence
of infancy? In the other world
he starts with the bad habits of a life
time. If a man starts with comparative
innocence and does not become good, is
it possible that he can start with a load
of sin and from that a seraph can be
cvolutcd? There arc people who believe
that a man can start in the next
world with a dead failure and make a
success of it.
"But some people say we ought to
have another chance because of the
brevity of this life. My friend, do you
know what made the ancient deluge a
necessity? It was the longevity of the
antediluvians. Those men were worse
at the second century than they were at
the first, and still more at the eighth
than the first. They got so bad that the
whole world had to be sunk into the
tfiifnr fa Kn enrnnnrl
nuvvi) *. v Iiv ov>! U| (L.V4 unvt V'lVUHVAl J UC"
fore it was made fit for decent people to
live on. (A murmur of suppressed
laughter.)
"I wish further to notice that another
chance in the next world means the ruin
of this. Now, suppose a wicked man
was assured that after a lifetime o^
wickedncss he could fix it all right in
the future; that would be to demoralize
all society and the whole human race.
There are many men who are kept within
the limits of sin by their fears. A
wickcd man with such a hope says, 'I'll
overtake the righteous before long; I'll
only be in heaven a little late; I'll come
into heaven via Gehenna or via sheol!'
Another chance in the next world means
license and demoralization in this. My
friends, why should you have another
chance in the next world when you have
declined innumerable chances in this?
All heaven has been offered to us for a
lifetime, and yet we importune God for
another chance. There ought not to be
another chance, and there can be no
such thing as a posthumous opportunity."
A Pretty Story.
A very tough story which is vouched
for, after a fashion, is going the rounds
and given for whut it is worth. It is
related that a Mr. S M was sitting
in his backyard talking to some
friends, when his attention was called to
a hen with a brood of young chickens
and a large rat that hud emerged from
its hole, and was quietly regarding the
young chickens with the prospect of a
meal in view. As the rat came from
its hole the house cat awoke from her
afternoon nap and caught sight of the
rat. Crouching low, she waited develojiements,
and stood prepared to spring
upon his ratship. At the appearance of
his ancient enemy, the cat, the Scotch
terrier, which had been sunning itself in
the woodshed, pricked up its ears and
quietly made for the place where the cat
stood. At this moment a boy came upon
the scene. The chickens were not cognizant
of beinar watched by the rat, nor
did the rat see the cat, nor the feline the
dog, who had not noticed the coming of
the boy. A little chick wandered too
nigh and he was seized by the rat, which
was in turn pounced upon by tho cat.
and the cat was caught in the mouth by
the dog. The rat would not cease his
hold upon on the chicken, and the cat,
in spite of the shaking she was getting
from the dog, did not let go the rat. It
was fun for the boy, and in high glee he
watched the contest and the struggle of
the victims. It seemed to him that the
rat was about to escape after a time, and
getting h stone he hurled it at the rodant.
The aim was not good, and the stone
struck the dog right between the eyes.
.?.i ? ?a ?
liic lUlliLl 1 t'lCilMJU UP ^Il|i Ull IIIU Ull
and fell over dead. It had breathed its
last before the cat in turn let go the rat,
and turned over and died. The rat did
not long survive the enemy, and beside
the already dead chicken he laid himself
down and gave up the ghost. The owner
of the dog was so angry at his death
that he is said to have come near making
the story complete by killing the boy
that killed the dog that shook the cat
that caught the rat that bit the chicken
in the y?rd on street.?San Francisco
Pout.
Great (!un?!
It has just beea ?tit?roverid that in a
number of lK.ir"' -nora'S ht Woolwich,
j ....n?,i
UU^iaUU) IliC *"? T.ltt l wcrii I ' 1IUVI UUiJ
to h depth of three 01 'our inches, leaving
a barrier of solid metal about-eight
inches- deep between the friction tube
and the powder charge. It has therefore
been concluded?probajjly with
sufficient reason?that they are not 4'fit
for'service." But it is, nevertheless, the
fact that they were received, inspected
and parsed into aiore as "thoroughly
< serviceable." An explanation is duo
from the man who says that "they
always do these things better abroad."
"And how does Charlie like going to
school?" kindly inquired n good man of
a six-year-old boy. "I like gom' well
enough," replied the embryo statesman,
F ingenuously; "but I don't like stayin'
after I get there."
' fifty1* ^ntr
" v ' ' "
THE WHITE INDIANS.
White Aim Acqnlrins Indian UUihu by
.Marrying Rod Women.
[From the Milwaukee Sentinel.]
An intelligent Indian recently, in reporting
the marriage of an Indian octoroon
to a white man, said: "If this
process goes on, we will ?oon have the
whitest race of Indiaus you ever did
see." The accomplished daughter ol
the old missionary, Dr. Robertson, married
a full blood Creek. Her sister lias
sccurcd money at the East to establish
a seminary among tnc iun bloods, :m<l
it has been a question where the seminary
could be located to meet the object
aimed at. Parties stepping from t lie
train at Vanita, within the Cherokee
nation, the only railroad crossing tlu
Indian Territory, commonly ask, "Where
are the Indians V On being tolel that
those about them are Indians, they reply,
"No. They are not Indians. These
are white men.''
By marrying an Indian maiden, the
white man secures all the rights of Indian
citizenship. The "hcadright*1 o!
the girl helps the matrimonial contract.
To hunters for land, those looking l'oi
wide ranges for cattle or agriculture, the
temptation is very strong to take this
short cut to obtain an extent of soil they
could never hope to secure in any otliei
way.
The encouragement, given to the
whites on the part of marriageable Indian
females is quite observable. They
think that by marrying white men they
gain socially, and have a prospect of an
easier and bcttcr-carcd-lor life. And
they think rightly. In all depressed
civilizations women have a hard time of
it. The Indian men do not like, this constant
raiding through their land and
capturing the most attractive of tlieii
race, whom they would woo and wed,
but they cannot help themselves, ami
retaliate by stealing the affections ol
white girls anel marrying them. White
gins entering nil Indian reservation arc
very soon picked up; not so often by full
blooded Indians, but after the process ol
intermarriage has commenced, not so
seldom by half-breeds, quadroons and
octorooDB.
White persons who marry into Indian
blood almost invariably remain on Indian
soil. The white man, in defense of Indian
ideas of communal interests and
Indian questions as relat ed to the whites,
becomes more intensely an Indian than
the Indians themselves. I think the
fiercest defenders of the tribal systems
are white men who by marriage have be
come Indian citizens and arc making
money out of it. The large crops oil
Indian lands are invariably raised by
white men. Four-fifths of the mechanics
are white men, brothers-in-law tc
the Indians. So on both sides the process
of dilution of Indian blood goes on
until it becomes very thin, white Indian
habits and Indian characteristics still
remain.
The common notion among Indians if
that Indian blood never runs out, and
that wherever the slightest trace of il
can be found, there the fullest rights ol
land and privilege follow. For a mai:
who has one-sixeeenth or one thirtysecond
part of Indian blood, the clain
for his right as an Indian is assured a^
strongly as for the full blood. A white
man has married an Indian girl, a light
blonde, of one-thirty-second Indiar
blood. Ilis children will be one-sixtyfourth
Indian. The family consists ol
five members. On account of that one
thirty-second Indian blood, that fatnil]
of five, living on the border of the In
dian land, is entitled, by equal divisior
of the tribal land, to five times 90f
acres, or 2,975 acres.
Justice in Russia.
During my four months' inquiry, says
a visitor in Russia, it was revealed to nu
hpw our Judges trample the laws undci
i<>ot; how cynical ana wanton is the be
havior of our police; how savagely brut?
force is brought to bear upon the weal
and friendless. I lived in an atmosphere
of appalling groans and heart-breaking
sighs. I liberated innocent persons wlu
had been kept in prison by the executiv<
several years after they had been publicl]
acquitted in open court, and who hat
been secretly tortured. * * * I con
vinced myself that there was absolutely
nothing in common between myself ant]
the local authorities. A black and bottomless
gulf lay between us. Theji
trafficked wantonly with our laws, converting
them into instruments of extortion.
"Words lail to describe the impressions
made upon me by my first visit tc
the State prisons. Hundreds of humai:
beings find a premature grave in thest
loathsome dens. They die lingering
deaths therein, . or emerge from then
crippled for life. It was horrible to b<
compelled to acknowledge that thcs<
semi-animate, wasted, filthy, and dun
colored objects, draped in a few rottei
rags, were, after all, men and women
The confined atmosphere, poisoned b]
exhalations from every sort of abomina
tion, absolutely stopped iny breath, s<
rank and fetid was it.
A Maine Character,
The Lewiston, Jit., Journal say
Miss Prcscott. a llallowell is maiden
probably the most pronounced advocat
of "woman's righto1' in Maine, aw
dresses most like a man, and her od<
costume forms a figure familiar to Ken
ncbcc county people, and they long ag<
were done staring at her, but she make
the eyes of strangers open. She ha
worn the "Bloomer" rig i01 a quarter o
a century. When I saw her, a few day
ago, she had on cranberry-'olored calic<
trousers that reached to her ankles, i
frock of the same stuff, that reached t<
her knees, and over this a short sack o
the same material which came down a
far as her waist and was full of pockets
On her head she had a broad-brimmet
straw hat, which she took off as shi
came into the car, showing that he
short hair was parted a little to one side
Her only ornament was a short woolei
scarf, which was attached to the back o
her ncck and hung down in two straigh
ends. In the winter she wears mon'i
woolen trousers and a man's hat. Shi
is Very keen in business transactions, am
has a pleasant face, indicative of mucl
intellectual strength. She c oesn't asl
odds of anybody.
Ax untried friend is like an nncracked nnt
-; - v ? "v"r>
.
. r "7 . " ? %
STI"->Y OF TORNADO US.
KRCIONH IN WHICH THESE I>ESTIMJCTIVE.8TOKMS
PREVAIL.
Thr Sisnnl Hervice Moon to bo Able Ifl
(tivC TrilHt WOrt liv Wn?t.l.<~? ?? ??
('(fining?How Tltey are Formed In the
Upper Air.
The phenomena of tornadoes, to the
( scientific study of which Lieutenant
[ John P. Finley, of the Signal Corps,
( has devoted about eight years, ure now
so well understood as to warrant the
belief that trustworthy warnings may
, soon be sent out to the inhabitants of
| localities which may be threatened with
disastrous visitations. Daily predictions
are, in fact, being made at present,
having begun lust year and continued
' during the tornado season, and resumed
recently upon the return of Lieutenant
Finley from an inspection tour in the
, West. The percentage of verification
is already gratifying, though the predictions
arc as yet largely experimental, and
are embodied in the daily published
. bulletins of the Signal Ottice only when
the conditions favorable to the creation
| of tornadoes are very pronounced. In
such cases "severe local storms" are
noted as probable.
To a reporter of the Asssociated
Press Lieut. Finley recently described
the known phenomena of tornadoes and
the ends toward which present researches
are directed. These storms have distinctly
marked characteristics, and a?e
bj- no means to be confounded with hurricanes,
blizzards, cyclones, or nortli
eastcrs. Their tracks are never more
than a few hundred yards wide, and
their forces arc generally exhausted by
the time they have travelled a course of
forty or fifty miles, though in this latter
respect thev arc quite variable, some
t having been traced by their lines of devastation
more than 100 miles. Their
rotary motion, which is greatest toward
j the centre, sometimes reaches the enormous
rate of 2,000 miles an hour, while
tliliir forward ninvmnont nlwiii-o
southwest to northeast, ordinarily does
not exceed forty or fifty mile1. They
are usually unaccompanied by electrical
disturbances, and are believed to be uninfluenced
by electrical conditions,
though violent thunder storms sometimes
follow them a few miles away. There
is a distinct and curious relationship between
the tornado and the general storm
centre which is always apparent in their
uniform relative positions, the tornado
always occurring southcastwardly from
the centre of low barometric pressure
and at a distance of from one to six
hundred miles. The shape of the general
storm centre, the direction in which
its longest diameter lies, and the appearance
of the upper and lower clouds,
enter as minor elements into the problem
out of which the weather experts
hope to work a complete system of tornado
warning.
! The visits of the tornado are com'
monly between the hours of 2 and G in
t the afternoon. Its home is an area
1 which includes the whole of Iowa, all of
' Missouri except the southeastern corner,
the northern corner of Askansas, the
1 northeastern part of Indian Territory,
1 eastern Kansas eastern Nebraska,
; I southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin
- und western Illinois. Here its season
1 extends from April to August inclusive.
It is u frequent visitor to two other re'
gions. One is a strip along the Gulf
and south Atlantic coast, which takes
' in the central portions of Alabama,
Georgia, and South Carolina, with
' termini in Mississippi and North Caro'
lina, over which its devastations arc confined
to the months of January, February
and March. The other includes a
portion of southern and central Ohio, a
large part of Pennsylvania, a small area
? in Maryland, a strip across New York,
> and a corner each of Massachusetts and
r Connecticut, where it is in season only
. during the months of August and September.
; Tlie conditions which are favorable to
i the creation of tornadoes are present
; when a cooj dry current of air meets a
) warm moist current, bringing wide exj
tremcs both of temperature and humidity
j into close proximity. The cold dry curl
rents come from the north, but such as
flow over the great lakes pick up in
j their course both moisture and heat, und
I ! their destructive forces are thus neu
| trali/.ed. Those blowing from the far
' j northwest down over the dry plains of
Manitoba and Dakota carry something
- of their arctic characteristics far south,
and if in their course they meet one of
> the heat and vapor laden breezes comi
ing up from the Gulf, the war of the eles
mcnts begins at the point of contact.
r The storm always has its birth in the
1 upper air, its I rst visible manifestation
i being the ominous funnel-shape cloud,
j whose pendant trunk is in form not un
like that of an elephant. Within it the
i furies are continod, and when and where
its point touches the earth the path of
f destruction begins.
When the isotherms of the morning
3 signal map thow the advancing colums
of air with their wide contrasts of
temperature in proximity ; when the general
storm centre is in that relative position
which seems necessary to the cxer
eise of its mysterious influence; when
the pressure is iow toward the earth,
? disclosing a vacuum into which the de?
fleeted currents may advance without
* obstructions; when all these conditions
* combine it should beoome but a simple
" problem for the experts to determine
5 with reasonable probability from the
s wind velocities whether the threatening
8 line of contact will have advanced to or
* beyond the tornado's accustomed haunts
8 by the time of day when the powers of
0 mischief shall be loosed.
? The chief remaining unknown quanti0
ties in the problem consist of duta oi
* time and place, a great store of which i*
s already in hand, and only awaits diges*
tion and tabulation, while fifteen liun*
dred special tornado observers are gathB
ering additional facts respecting current
r storms, and from all available sources
the stories of long-past tornadoes known
1 to the earlier settlers as windfalls. Thus,
f while a host of interesting scientific
fc questions respecting the origin of tor8
nadoes, the laws which govern them,
J and their relationship to other meteor*
ological phenomena remain to be an1
swered, the more practical questions at
z to when and where they are likely tc
appear seem to be advancing rapidly toward
solution.
The interests which are subject to <lis- ]
aster from tornadoes are alive to the i
importance of the work in progress. In- j
tending purchasers of farms apply to ; I
the Signal Office for information respect- i ?
ing the liability ol their selected locality t 1
, to disaster. To such are sent the records <
> of the past, as far as they are known. ! i
i Whenever Lieut. Finley travels in pur- \ i
suit of his studies, farmers and villagers J I
press for information. To these he sa\s j
i t hat nothing raised by the hand of man j '
above the surface of the earth can with- |!
Muinu inc snock or the tornado. lit' ad- ! <
vises them to seek thcr. dugouts upon 1
the appearance of the portontous signs i
of disaster, and there await the passage j I
of tlie storm. For their property he ad- .
vises insurance, so that the losses of the 1
individual may be shared by his more j
fortunate neighbors. The insurance i
companies, which last year "wrote" |
forty millions in tornado policies, are j
eagerly awaiting the completion of a j
map now in progress of making, which
will, it is expected, greatly narrow the
so-called tornado regions, and perhaps
show that large portions of them have
never experienced a disastrous storm, i
Upon this map Lieut. Fin ley proposes to
show from the complete records of sev!
eral years, and the data as far as obtainable
for many previous years, the average
number of tornadoes for each locality
per annum. Already, he thinks, the ;
study of the material in hand has shown '
that there are comparatively narrow '
! belts of country which are the habitual |
paths of tornadoes.
THOSE EVIL INFLUENCES.
IIo>v IJ nd Com jinny NIiivh 1(n TIkiiinuikIh.
[From the Youth's Companion. J
Bad company slays its thousands; possibly
wc must confess that bad literature ;
slays its tens of thousands, as the more ;
modern, secret and easiest means, but ;
the following story of a young mini's tin- j
timely end dates back a quarter of a I
pentury, when very few bad books had i
found their way to the quiet town in |
northern New England where the victim
had his home, but where the influences
of evil thoughts, in a more primitive
form, were the same.
The boy, whom for the present we will
call John Davis, grew up in good habits,
in a good famiiy, cheerfully aiding his
Ijarents in laboring for an honest livelilood,
and attending school at least one
term in the year, and church regularly.
One would think there could have been
nothing in the surroundings of his country
home to mislead his imagination, but
as in so many other "safe and sheltered"
places, the evils that breed discontent
were there.
Living sufficiently near to be almost
daily acquaintances were several men
and bojs of loose morals, who were
ready to corrupt him with evil stories,
and put lawless desires into his mind.
From hearing their stories of sin, at
first witn dislike,- he became, before
j he fairly grew to man's stature, an eager
j listener.
I Tlicvn niiiiiipintm nmcniwul liiu
*" ???
made him dissatisfied with his home,
and filled him with useless ambitions.
Every little disappointment or privation
or unpleasant incident at home was
taken advantage of by those pretended
friends to weaken his loyalty and nntural
affections, and make him unhappy
and ungrateful. Every occasion was
seized to infatuate him with notions of
'his own smartness, and the possibilities
of a forbidden freedom.
The result was what too commonly
follows when boys listen to bad advisers j
?a desire for adventure became a ruling j
passion. At the age of seventeen John
Davis ran away. j
It must have been a sort of insanity that ;
possessed him. What plan or plans the
youth had in his mind, no one can know. '
It was in the d<*ad of winter wheii he i
secretly packed a bundle of clothes, and |
stole away one cold afternoon on snow- j
shoes. Traveling across the lields, lie |
escaped observation, ami a fresh snow, ,
that was already falling, covered his i
tracks.
That evening, at the supper-iable, his |
absence excited concern, and when it
was found that lie had taken away his
clothes, the concern deepened into real
alarm. Messengers were sent in every
direction to make inquiries, and parties
searched the surrounding country, but 1
the winter passed, and no hint came of
the young man's whereabouts, or his
fate. Why he should have left, and in
such a way, a pleasant home, was the
wonder of the town?until it was fully i
known what wicked influences had been |
at work upon him.
Six months after his disappearance,
some' hunters in a piece of woods not
four miles from his father's house, found
the disjointed bones of a human skeleton.
Searching further, they picked
up a snow-shoe, a boot, a jack-knife,
and some shreds of clothing. The relics
were easily identified. John Davis had
met his death there alone.
Pity tried in vain to hide the tragic
particulars from the stricken father and
mother. The cry of their hearts went
up like the wail of old; their son was j
"without doubt t:>rn in pieces."
"He that walkcth with wise men shall I
be wise, but a companion of fools shall |
be destroyed." "Little foxes spoil the j
vines," and it is not great crimes alone, \
but often the results of evil influences, j
that mislead the imagination and ruin |
1 the soul, and the ways of such in- |
1 flucnce3 are often dark and mysterious, j
j
! A Marseilles merchant who started :
! in business with $5,000 and became a j
' millionaire, left his property to a friend ;
l with tli?> rnnrlitinn tViut lin oliAiild I
buried with the sum of $5,000 in his |
coffin. The executor bewailed the reek- i
; j less wftste of money, and was at his wits
I end to know how to defeat the whimsi- !
! cal clause in the will. At length a hap- |
I py thought came. 4tI will put a check,"
he said. uinto the coffin for $5,000. It*
will be duly honored when he presents
it."
A Gkeat Gun.?The immense gun
constructed at Elswick for the British
Government has a total weight of 200
tons, being considerably in excess of
previous undertakings. Its length is
stated at some forty-four feet, though
with an extreme diameter at the breech of.
but five feet six inches, a very elongated |
chase or barrel tapering down to twenty- ;
eight inches, with a slight swelling at'
the muzzle.
?
' <V " !
^?a???
Great Salt Lake.
Great Suit Lake is in fact not a
branch of the sen at all, but a mere
shrunken remnant of a very large fresh
water lake system, like that of the still
3xisting St. Lawrence, chain. Onco^
;ipon a time, American geologists, say,
i huge sheet of water, for which they
have even invented a definite name,
Lake Bonneville, occupied a far larger
valley among the outliers of the Rocky
Mountains, measuring IJOO miles in one
direction by 1?0 in the other. Besidethis
primitive Superior lay a great second
shed?an early Huron?(Lake Laliontan
the geologists call it) almost as
l>id and equally of fresh water. By and
by?the precise dates are necessarily indefinite
?some change in the rainfall,
unregistered by any contemporary, made
the waters of these big lakes shrink and
evaporate. Lake Lahontan shrank away
like Alice in Wonderland, and there
was absolutely nothing left of it; Lake
Bonneville shrank till it attained the
diminished size of the existing Great Salt
Lake. Terrace after tormf-o rnnnimr
in long parallel lines on the sides of tlie
Walisatch Mountain? around, mark the
various levels at which it rested for a
while on its gradual downward course.
It is still falling indeed, and the plain
around is being gradually uncovered,
forming the white, salt-encrusted shore
with which all visitors to the Mormon
city are so familiar. Hut why should
the *vater have become briny ? Why
should the evaporation of an old Superior
produce at last a (2rent Salt
Lake ? Well, there is a small quantity
of salt in solution even in the freshest of
lakes and ponds, brought down to them
by the streams or rivers, and, as the water
of the hypothetical Lake Bonneville
slowly evaporated, the salt and other
mineral constituents remained behind.
Thus the solution grew constantly more
and more concentrated, till at the present
day it is extremely saline. Prof.
Geikie (to whose works the "present paper
is much indebted) found that lie
floated on the water in spite of himself;
and the under sides of the steps at the
bathing places are all encrusted with
short stalactites of salt, produced from
the drip of the bathers as they leave the
water. The mineral constituents, however,
differ considerably in their proportions
from those found 111 trim,
lakes of marine origin, and the point at
which the salt is thrown down is still
far from having been reached. Great
Salt Lake must simmer in the sun for
many centuries yet before the point arrives
at which (as cooks say) it begins
to settle.
London Horse Car Drivers.
Men who know a little about horses, fc
and of intelligence and integrity sufficient
to act as tramway guards, must be
a good deal more plentiful in the labor
market than domestic servants are, or
they would not be called upon to slave
through such terribly long hours. It
seems to be a perfectly well authenticated
fact that the London tramcai
drivers are often compelled, week in, and
week out, to be on duty for sixteen
hours a day, with no interruption of the
toil on Sundays, exposed to all sorts of
weather, and allowed no regular hours
for their meals. This is white slavery,
indeed, and it is hardly wonderful that 1
an agitation has sprung up on the subject,
which, it may be hoped, will
tnnpli tl\P nrmcoi??nr?/?e if it rlnoc n?-\f mnlf
the hearts of the directors of the tramway
companies. As to the neglect of
any provision for meal hours, the truth
of the charge is obvious to every passen- J
gcr. A car will stop a moment at u I
street corner, where no passenger is to 1
be set down or taken up. A bright
child who has been waiting will dart
from the pavement, needling her way '
through the s'reet traffic, and, with a
smile of recognition, hand a little bundleto
the driver or guard. During the rest
of the journey the poor man will be seen
munching the food thus provided foi
him. The tram-car drivers are a remarkably
patient and, considering all
they have to bear, a wonderfully goodtempered
class of men. It is a pity that
the market for their labor should be so
PAtll al/tf AV/nvt Arlrn/1 tliof tlin ff ?? * \* n
which hiis been recommended would be
absolute folly. Domestic servants, on.
the other hand, seem to be difficult to
procure. One of tlio agencies advertises
a reward of a jrolrt watch to every girl:
hired through their office who can be induced
to stay in her place for two years.
A Hindu Funeral. fl
A bed of straw was spread close by I
the bank, ar.d the corpse laid, upon it. I
The body was wrapped from head tc fl
foot in a red cotton cloth. Then mot*
straw was piled upon the body and c ^
very little ?vooci upon tint, alter wincfe
one of the relatives touchel a lighted
match to the straw. The mout i sat
down upon their heels in a gmup to
windward of the pile, and chatted sociably
while they watch to it burn. The
wind was strong, and it burned fiercely
for about three min 'Its, and then very
moderately for about ten more, by the
end of which time the fuel was all consumed.
Then the mourner* arose,
dipped water from the river, and drowned
out the fire; the corpse lay tLore ?1most
intact, ana we all eaw that t was a.
woman. The limbs were dm?ru ??o and
the face contorted, the liair wa? burned
away, and the entire remains were black
uiiu juueous, yet onty me skid aaa nair
was burned. Preafn'ly -i.o mourner.
put n stou*. atlrk under the neck, another
put another stick under the hips,
and at the word the carcass was tumbled .
over the edge of the bank, and fell into* H|
the water with a loud splash. A few HI
yards further down it reappeared at thesurface
for a moment; upon which one
of the cremators, rcached out with his.
stick and pushed it under, after which
we saw it .no more. Not more than teifc
yards below that we saw the heads of
two large gavials that floated at the surface,
watching the proceedings With
evident interest.
* 'My love," said a wife, fondly; "an*
I not to have that beautiful dress pattern
I spoke of ?" "Be patient, my*'
dear, "he replied; "I will only say there isk
surprise in store for you." 4'In store
for me!" she snapped; "that's where it
will stay. A real surprise would
omething at home." >