The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, August 03, 1886, Image 6
1 Companies that insure against loss by
iwind storms are fast being organized in
'the West. One of them has this adyertisement
in a Kansas City newspaper;
"The black monster of the air has already
appeared in 1886. Take out a tornado
policy in the Pioneer Cyclone and Windstorm
Company."
Of the twenty original families in the
Dunkard colony, Norton county, Kansas,
only five remain. They are rolling up
wealth. The colony now covers a territory
of eight square miles. Each farmer
has on an average 100 acres under cultivation.
Some have 200 ncrns. A wind
mill may be seen on nearly every farm.
Meteorologists, it is said, have found
that there can be no thunder and lightning
without rain. When thunder is
heard beneath a clear sky, the report
must either come from distant clouds or
be the result of some other cause than a
discharge of electricity. Harvest or
heat lightning is produced by a distant
storm.
Texas has a new industry. The Clear
Creek Crab Canning Company has been
organized in Galveston county, and is
doing a big business in catching and
canning crabs. The shells are removed
entire except the claws, ground in a mill,
and shipped to France, where they are
manufactured into a dcntrifice. The oil
that arises on the vats where the crabs
are boiled is used in making soap, and is
said to be equal to cocoanut oil for this
purpose. The crabs themselves aro
packed in five-gallon cans, and are reckoned
good.
A United States Treasury expert says
that it is very difficult to detect counter
feit gold coin. He says: "Those, filled
with platinum have a fair ring and the
joint in the edge is effaced by remilliug.
Platinum is worth only about one-third
of the value of gold, weight for weight.
I have $20 gold pieces out of which $14
worth of gold had been taken and replaced
by platinum, making an exceedingly
dangerous counterfeit, which only
a good judge of coin can detect. The
ring is good and the weight is there,
while the whole outside of the coin is
genuine."
A.t the meeting of the Presbyterian
ministers of Philadelphia recently the
Rev. Dr. W. D. Roberts delivered an address
on "Suicide, its Causes, Laws and
Cures." He said that the publication
of the suicides of the world by the newspapers
caused weak-minded and sick
persons to tend toward suicide. In
France the first part of the week predominates
largely over the latter part in
number of suicides, because Saturday is
pay-day, Sunday drinking day, Monday
repenting day and Tuesday the day of
suicide. The remedy, he argued, against
the suicidal inclinations is for all people
to become devout Christians and fully
believe in God.
An animal whose identity is at present
jnknown there, was landed in San Francisco
lately from the interior of Japan,
where it first saw the light of day. At a
glance the curiosity might be taken for
either a dog or a monkey. It is shaped
like the former about the head and neck,
IVI if. olhoruriun oniyi/inrKnt ? 'v-1 ? it
~ W*MV? ?T?WW ov/uiuuuuu luaciuuius ILLC
monkey. The animal's favorite position
is on its haunches, but with a little urging
it stands on its four feet, the body
sloping downward from the head like a
giraffe. The claws on the four feet are
like those of a dog, but two extra pairs
are furnished on the hind legs a couple
of inches above the balls of the i'eet.
The animal appears to be gentle, but has
a strong, high-keyed bark, which it
gives when spectators attempt to stir it
up' The
tongue, says a medical writer, is
the indicator of the system. A white- 1
coated tongue indicates febrile disturbance;
a.brown, moist tongue indicates i
disordered digestion or overloaded prima} 1
tin; a brown, dry tongue indicates depressed
vitality, as in typhoid conditions
And blood poisoning; a red, moist tongue
indicates debility; a red, dry tongue in- |
dicates pyrexia, or any inflammatory
fever; a "strawberry" tongue with prominent
papill? indicates scarlet fever or
.rotheln; a red, glazed tongue indicates
debility, with want of assimilative power 1
of digestion; a tremulous, flabby tongue
indicates delirium tremens; hesitancy in
protruding the tongue indicates concussion
of the brain; protrusion at one side
indicates paralysis of the muscles on that
side. _____
One of the small, rocky islands of
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, is alive with
rattlesnakes. It is supposed that the
progenitors of these snakes were wafted |
to the island on bunches of floating reeds I
or rafts of driftwood. There are thousands,
if not millions?the people about
the lake say millions?of the rattlers on
the island, and their right to it there is
"none to dispute." The reptiles have
their homes among the rocks and feed
upon the eggs and young of waterfowl
and dead fish that are cast on the island.
Stories have been told of these snakes
rushing forth in a body, hissing and
rattling, to attack any one landing upon
the island. The rattlesnakes of the
island, when disturbed, glide away and
)' hide themselves in the crevices of the
rocks, just as would similar snakes on
%. ... the mainland, though they halt and show
fight when hard pressed.
In the city of Pesth, Hungary, practical
scientists are engaged on an experiment
which should be regarded with the
utmost interest in this country. It is to
supply the city with warm water derived
from subterranean sources. An artesian
well, the deepest in the world, has been
bored to a depth of about one thousand
yards. The work was undertaken by
two Hungarians, the city of Pesth contributing
$200,000 toward expenses. Already
there is a supply of 175,000 gal
Ions a clay at a temperature of 1G1 degrees,
rising to a height of tliirty-five
feet above the surface, and the work is
to be continued until the temperature,
which progresses regularly as the borings
descend, rises to 178 degree?, and then
no doubt is felt that there will be a bubbling
perennial stream sufficient to meet
all the wants of the city and to convert
the surrounding region into a tropical
garden.
The judges of the United States Supreme
Court are thought to be among
the sleekest, most contented, most urbane
and most esteemed citizens of
Washington. Their gluces arc for life,
and they receive $10,000, having the
privilege of retiring at 70 with a continuation
of the same salary. This freedom
from an uncertainty about the future and
removal from any temptation to dabble
in politics doubtless have much to do
with their amiableness and serenity.
Judge Bradley is 73; Judge Miller is 70;
Chief Justice Waite and Judge Field will
be 70 in November, so that President
Cleveland will have it in his power to
appoint their successors, provided they
retire. This fact causes the Supreme
Court to be a source of unusual interest
just now to many lawyers all over the
land. The judges enjoy excellent health
?they average 200 pounds each, Bradley
being the only thin man among them?
and have, as a whole, been remarkable
for longevity. There have been but
forty-three occupants in all of the Supreme
Bench, and but seveu Supreme
Justices. The government has already
paid thom more than 1,000,000 in salaries,
one-third of the entire number having
served beyond thirty years. For
ease, comfort and dignity, no political
position in the republic equals that of a
judge of the Supreme Court.
Speaking Through the Eyes.
Prof. Hugo Maguas recently delivered
in Berlin a lecture on "The Speech of
the Eyes." First he showed how various
thoughts and emotions may find their
expression through the eyes, how rage,
joy, sadness, sympathy, all may be indicated
by one look, and how a question
may be asked or be replied to simply by
one scarcely observable movement of the
eye. But the most interesting part of
his lecture was a point with which many
a physician may not be acquainted, not
iium iguvjruucc, ?ui simpiy uecause
he has never given the subject any
thought, viz.: the fact that all the various
expression of which the eye is capable
aro not all made by the
eye itself, i. c., by the eyeball, but ;
by the movements of neighboring
parts. The eye itself may be stationary,
not the least motion may be observed
in it, and yet this rising of the
lids expresses our surprise, half closing
them together with contraction of the
1 \HAtir lnrl 1 -T ?
utun luuaawa uui iiit-piUUSUr';, UI1U U I
peculiar abrillar-like movement of the
lids, the orbicularis palpebrarum, and
the parts around the nose together form
what we are in the habit of calling ' 'a
merry twinkle." Many a one who will
read these lines will at once acknowledge
that such is the case, and that the f&cts
are as stated, but at the same time he
will acknowledge that he had never
thought about it, and had never imag*
incd that as all the manifold expressions
which we ascribe to the eye?the mirror
of the soul?the eye itself has no share.
When a criminal has his character pictured
in his eyes, it is not they that tell
us the moral depravity of tho man, but
the play of the neighboring muscles,
which, perhaps for years, always obeying
the impulse of the brain, form together
the group wo call physiognomy.
?Medical Reporter.
Misunderstanding About a Flag"I
tell you, Darringer, the red flag's
got to go. We've had enough of it.
"Bromley, I'm with you there. It has
cost me a heap of money. My wife may
protest, of course, but?"
"Good gracious, Darringer, your wife
isn't on Anarchist, is she?"
"Why, of course, not."
"How does it co t you a lot ef
money?"
"She spends it, don't you see? Buys
things she's no manner of use for, and-"
"Bakes, alive, man, what red flag are
you talking about?"
i <mi? A! -
iuo uuuuuucers. weren't youi"?
CaU.
She Wag Busy.
May and Edith are sisters, four and
five years respectively. May had been
very naughty and mamma had taken her
over her knee to adminstcr corporal punishment,
when Edith suddeniy pushed
the door ajar and peeped in.
Turning her chubby face as far around
toward her sister as the peculiar position
would admit, May said very gravely:
"Go right out, Edie! Don't you see
Fm busy?"
It is needless to -pay that mamma
granted a respite.?Bottom Record*
0l- 1. ' "Vv, ..>?'* ' Vs 1
/v.?* *V'?* > i 0*'
hhhbhbh
'" 'V ' '; ' V>.
V;;^'i:-.-^VV:v ;" ' '. ' v '
Thus Would I Leads t
Come, little love, lot us go f
Where the full throat of tho woo I warbles A
on in its devious singing,
Where the soft chime of tho brook on tho
bolls of tho pebbles is ringing, '
Where tho faint hum of tho beo on the breeze I
of a perfume.is swinging, e
Higher and low. c
Come, little sweet, let us roam t
Far to tho s:iade of the oak that beckons
with bows that are nodding,
W hotv^ fl?<% #?* ?1 - ?* ? ? * ? - A1 * ' * _ *- *
uro na, iuiuun.ing uee witn mo weignt (
of his plunder is plodding,
Where tho woodpecker, so liorce with the 1
drumming delight of his prodding, c
Taps his brown houie.
Under the boughs of the green? i
Sweet with the fragrance of woods and the n
murmur and rustle of^flowers, | (
Cool with zephyrs that played through tho ^
ancient Acadian bowers?
There are tho minutes found that are only tho s
hearts of the hours, a
Throbbing unseen. I
Come, dainty one, at my need, 8
Fatm would I show you the way where the ^
fern-leaf in shadow reposes, \
Whero tho bland buzz of the boo is hushed in
the pause of his dozes,
Where you can seo tho half-shy, half-petulant
face of wild roses? ?
Thoro I would lead. 1
f
Thus would I tako you through life;
Giving you only, my love, tho honoy and 1
roses and singing, n
Only tho smoothest oE paths whero tho scent c
of wild flowers is clinging, r
Noarer and nearer to peaco, and ever your ,
innocent bringing
Fur. her from strife.
?1>. fll. Smith in Chicago Nawa.
THE BENDERS. '
A PEDIJIjEU'S ADVENTURE IN KAN8AS. J
"I have been a pack peddler for more ^
than twenty years," said the old man, as j
he whiffed away at his pipe to get it
alight, "and you may suppose I have met
with some stirring adventures. I have
travelled a great deal in Missouri, Kan- ^
sas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, and for
weeks and months I have been on the
alert, not only to preserve the contents
of my pack, but to defend my life. My j
line of trade has been Yankee notions, ^
with jewelry added. I have had with
me at one time as much as $2,000 worth ^
of gold and silver watches, ear rings, ^
finger rings, &c. I have sat on a log ^
beside a highway in Kansas and sold q
$400 worth of stock to three or four ^
men, and I have disposed of $50 worth
of ladies' jewelry at a pioneer cabin ^
which had neither floors nor partitions.
* 'On two different occasions I ate din- ^
ncr at the cabin of old Bender, the Kan- ^
sus fiend. On the first occasion the old
n
man was away, and I saw only two women
about the place. Six months later,
when I called again, it was about 11 ^
o'clock in the forenoon. Then I saw old
y
Bender for the first time. I havo heard
him described as a pleasant-faced old ^
man whom no one would suspect, but I
tell you the very first look at him put ?
me on my guard. For the first time in a ^
year I felt that my life was in danger.
The same two slatternly women were .
about the house, and there was a young
man whom I took to be old Bendor's ^
son. This young man disappeared soon ^
after I arrived, but whether he hid in
the house or rode off across the prairie I
never knew. Bender's women purchased
about $2 worth of notions, and the old
man dickered with me for an hour over
a gold watch. It seems he had but a
small stock of cash, but he offered me ^
personal property in exchange. He had
three or four silver watches, all of which *
had been carried, two or three revolvers, ?
two bosom pins, made of lumps of pure
gold, and three or four pairs of valuable ^
cuff buttons. We had nearly effected
on AV/iVinnivn utTi ?-?? 1.** n.. ? ? I? J ! -1 - ^
uu vivuiiu^u n uvil 111; 9UUUCIIIV UCCiUCU
? J ?
to leave the matter open until after din\
nor.
"Months afterward, when the discov- ?
\
eries of his crimes came out, I thought ^
the matter over, and could remember
just how nicely he played me. Without 0
seeming to interrogate me for informa- ^
tion, he asked how long a trip I had
made, what success I had met with, who ^
I was, where I lived, and whom I knew
in that locality, The old murderer was ,
... ./ - - ? h
ngunng up mo cnances ot my being
missed in cose he put an end to me, and
he had a curiosity to know beforehand
what the harvest would be. While I K
told you that I did not like his looks,
and that I had a creeping feeling in his
presence, I had no idea of an attempt to e
murder by daylight and in the manner c
he was planning for. I had a trusty re- f
volver and I had the courage to defend I
myself. Had I met him out oh the t
prairie, or had we been jogging together
along some lonely highway, I should f
have been prepared to pull my pistol at
his first movement.
"Dinner was announced soon after 12 o
o'clock. I took my pack with mo into
the dining room, where I found the table
set for one. There were three rooms
in the house. The front room was a I
general sitting room and office com*
bincd. Bender kept a sort of tavern,
you know, and travellers had this front
room. The next room back was the din- f
ing room and family room combined.
There was a bedroom leading off. On j
the walls of this family room were a few
old-fashioned prints in old-fashioned
frames, a shelf bn which stood a clock,
and a few scant evidences of women** i
presence. The back room was the t
kitchen.
"I had my eyes wide open when I en- t
: . . . % V -.r. . . C- M ' '
v } :'y .]'' ' ' '*
?red that dining room, and tho verj
irst thing I noticed was that tho tablo
vas set lengthwise of the room, and that
ny chair and plate hail been so placed
hat my back would bo toward tho
citchen door, which was not over five or
lix feet away. Had it been at the other
md my back would have been toward
he office door. Tho first move I made
vas to turn the chair around to the side
ind sit down. I now faced the bedroom
ioor, and had the other doors to my
ight and left, where there was no winlow
behind me. The younger woman
vas in the room, and she looked at mo
n a queer, strange way as I upset the
irrangements she had perfected. Bender
lid not look into the room for two or
nree minutes, una tncn retirca without
peaking. A minute later lie passed
iround the house and catered the kitchen
>y the back door. "While I could not
ec him, I heard him and the woman
vliispering together, nnd I caught tho
vords as spoken by her:
" 'I tell you he did it himself 1'
"I could not catch a word from him,
ind directly he went out and she came
n with the rest of the eatables. Her
ace was Hushed and her manner very
icrvous. She put on a plate of bread
md a platter of meat, and then went
>ut for the coffee. As she set the cup
md saucer on the board, she partly upset
the cup and spilled half the contents
>n the table.
" 'Excuse me?I'm sorr}\' she said, as
' shoved back to keep the hot liquid
rom dripping on iny legs.
" 'Never mind?no harm done,' I redied.
" 'It was so careless of me. You had
tetter change your scat to tho end while
sop it up.'
" 'Oh, don't mind. I'm not hungry
,nd shall eat but a few moutlifuls any
T t * i ll
mj. x luigui id icu yuu mai x prcerred
water to coffee.'
" 'But?you?you'
" Tin all right.'
She gavo me one of the queerest looks
ever got, first flushing up and then
urning pale. Spilling that coffee was
, put-up job to get my back to the
:itchen door. I suspected it then; a
cw months later I had plenty of liorri?le
proofs. Before the meal was finished
Id Bender looked in from the kitchen
loor and drow back, and when I shoved
way and entered the oilicc he was not
here and did not show up for five minttes.
"When I went to dinner a double arrelled
shotgun stood in a corner of
he oflice. When I came out it was
;onc. The old man came in after a
Aile, and it was easy to see that he had
o force himself to couverse. I paid him
or the meal and was ready to go. It
ras a lonely road I had to travel, with
10 other house for miles, and it suddenj
struck me that the younger man had
;one on to lie in ambush and shoot me
n ease I escaped assassination at the
iousc. For a minute or two I quite lost
? a ?i ? -i? ?i--- - -
ij buiiu, uuu )uu tail juujju willtL U rcief
it was to mo to see a team drive up
fith three men in the vohicle and room
or one more. They stopped to water
he horses and chat a few moments, and
cadily gave me a lift on my way. I
lid not impart my suspicions to them,
nd it was not until the horrible stories
ame out that I felt sure in my mind
srhat a close call I had had.
"Do I know what became of old Bonier
and his family? You remomber that
hey fled the country, or that the paper,
o reported, and for months we used to
iear from one locality and another of the
ugitives being seen or captured. I
lavo reason to believe they never got out
T (Kn Qh o fo nni? vnf o /I
>* n?v WW.* w\_ j "V/I JV? ? liUUMiWU U1UU3
rom that lone tavern on the prairies
vith its horrible cellar underneath and its
graveyard in the rear. Bands of men
rere riding in this or that direction,
>ent on vengeance, and one of these
overhauled the party. I have been told
his on the best authority. As Bender
lad shown no mercy toward the unsus>ecting
travellers who were shot in the
>ack from that kitchcn door as they ate
,t his table, none was shown to him or
lis. They were wiped out and planted
rhere their bones will never be turned
ip to the light of day."?Neva York
?un.
His Reason.
A jury composed of eleven busines3
nen and an old fellow from across the
reek retired to the jury room. The
oreman, when selected, remarked that
ie thought the prisoner ought to be sent
o the penitentiary for five years.
"That ain't long enough," said the old
ellow. "Let's put it on him fur ten."
"Oh, no, that won't do."
"Wall, then," stretching himself out
m a bench, "I'm with yer."
"What, you going to hang the jury?"
"That's about it."
"My dear sir, we are anxious to get
>ack to our business."
"Then send him up for ten."
"But that would be a great injustice."
"Then squat an' make yourselves comortable."
"Ilave you any special reason why tin
>risoner should go np for ten years?"
"Think I have."
"Will you please name it?"
"Yes, fur it won't take me long. H
s my son-in-law an' I have been suppo
in* him ever since he was married."
He went up for ten years.?Arhantau
Traveler.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Two human vertebrae found at Saraiota
baj are regarded by Prof. Hcilprin i
as conclusively proving the existenco of
prehistoric man in Florida at a very re- l
period. ^
An Italian physician recommends the
daily administration of about seventy- t
five grains of borax fis n nrovcnHwo nf I -
t T J
cholera, his observations having shown
that "workers in borax factories in chol- ^
era districts always escape the disease. ^
An ingenious astronomical theory is
that of Mr. Monck of Dublin, who suggests
that as shooting stars are known to
be dark bodies rendered luminous for a 1
Bhort time by rushing through our at- 4
mosphere, new stars are dark or faintly
luminous bodies which acquirc a short- ]
lived brilliancy by rushing through <
Bome of the gaseous masses. J
An insect "never before seen by orange i
growers" has appeared in Florida. The
new-comer is very small, and is found t
under the leaf, which it saps so quickly i
that it (the leaf) turns yellow in a few i
days and within a week falls. Some of <
the groves are badly infested with them, j
but it is believed that they will not stay i
long and the damage done will be small. 1 ^
A lioness' brain was recently dissected \
and studied by llerr Familiaut at the ! *
Anatomical Institute of the Berne Vete- .
rinary School. Among other results he :
Onds (Mitthcilungen of Berne Natural- (
ists' Socicty, 1885), that in form it is in
many rtspects intermediate between the
dog's and the cat's brains; from both it
is distinguished by a relatively small i
projection of the cerebellum and narrowness
of the lobus pyriformis. i
Fish lizards have been found in large 1
numbers in the vicinity of Rock Lake, i
Manitoba. The lizard is about eight to
ten inches long, has a smooth, scalelcss
skin like an eel, a month and a head like 1
a catfish, gills like a fish, but the cover- i
ing furnishe l with extensions at each
side fully an inch and a half long, four <
weak legs like a lizard, with webbed ?
feet and a long tail like that of a tadpole.
The head is large in proportion to the
body.
Capt. II. Toynbee, of the London
Meteorological Society, has arrived at the
conclusion that clouds of less than 2000
feet in thickness arc seldom accompanied 1
by rain, and if they are it is very gentle,
consisting of minute drops. With a ,
thickness of betwonn 200ft nnrl 4nnn f?nt
? *VVW I
the size of the drops is moderate. When
increasing thickness comes increasing j
size of the drops, and at the same time
their temperature bccomes lower, until, ,
when the thickness is greater than 6000
feet, hail is produced. (
The best opinion now is that the
"flying fish" do not fly. The average ,
weight of the muscles doing this work in
birds is one-sixth that of the whole ]
body, and that of bats one-thirteenth, .
while that of flying fishes is only one 1
thirty-second. The impulse to the propulsion
of the flying fish is probably de- 1
livered while they are still in the water
by the powerful masses of muscles on ,
both sides of their body, which are of ,
much greater breadth than in the ease j
of the herring or any other fish of their (
own size. The visible flickering of tho
fins is, therefore, only a vibration akin ,
to the flapping of a sail.
A Surprised Soldier.
A Baden Baden letter tells this story
about the Empress of Austria: The Empress
Elizabeth has been in the habit of
taking long walks every day some fifteen
or twenty miles, generally accompanied <
by only her maid of - honor. A short
time ago they were going to Rastadt, a
little town about twelve miles from here,
containing a royal school and barracks,
when they lost their way. They were
in despair, but were relieved by meeting
two private soldiers, whom they took as
guides, not telling whom they were.
The empress walked with one of the
soldiers, the maid of honor with the
other for the whole afternson, conversing
very pleasantly. The Empress told hei
companion that she was an Austrian, and
would like to see him again, inviting him
to call upon her the next day and giving
him her address. The day arrived?so
did the soldier?he was ushered into a
room, where he met the Colonel of his
regiment, who questioned him about his
behavior the day before. The poor soldier
was struck dumb with horror when
he found with whom he had chatted in
such a friendly manner, as her Majesty
dresses very simply when she goes on
these tramps, and had simply told him
that her name was Elizabeth; he, of ?
course, had no idea of her exalted rank. c
She presented him with twenty marks. 8
Out on the Fly. *
"Say, look here, waiter," demanded a x
commercial-looking man at a Ha 1b ted
street restaurant, this morning; "say,
what do you call that?" pointing to a
dish on the table. c
"That?why, sir, that's butter." e
"Youdon't say sol And can you teU t
me whether it belongs to the Boston, the
Philadelphia, the St. Louis or the Chica- r
go nine?"- I
"I don't understand you," replied the
amazed waiter. "Please explain."
"Well," continued the guest, "I judge t
it had better go out on a strike,' or a c
short stop, or a foul, or in some other c
manner, and deuced quick, 'too?it's the
best 'fly' catcher I ever saw."?OoodalVt ^
Bun. t
4
PEARLS OF TMOUUHT.
Set not too high a value on your own
ibilities.
lie that will not look before him will
lave to look behind him?and probably
vith some regret.
The appellation of gentleman should1
lever be affixed to a man's circumstances
)ut to lii? behavior in them.
Those who sneer habitually at human
mture. and get to despise it, are amongts
worst and least pleasant samples.
If a man's religion is pretentious on>
3unday and obscure on week days, you
vould better do business with him on a
:ash basis.
Happiness does not consist in our
aossessions, but what we are in need of
>urselvcs. The person who has a clean,
leart and conBcieuee is far happier than
f he was the owner of untold millions.
Goodness is beauty; and beauty cannotstay
inside; like the sap in a tree, it
uust come out in fresh leaves and buds
md blossoms. Good, pure, kind i*ener3us
thoughts light up the plainest face,,
md make it beautiful and youthful.
Idleness is the hotbed of temptation,
the cradle of disease, the waster of time,
the canker worm of felicity. To him
who l as no employment, life in a little
while will have no novelty; and when,
novelty is laid in the grave, the funeral
of comfort will soon folllow.
Forestry and Cyclones.*
The only means of which we can conceive
within human power for the prevention,
or at best the rendering less frequent,
of cyclones, is in the covering of
the face of the country as much as possible
with trees and verdure. Let there
be ascending moisture instead of ascending
currents of heated air. In the great
timbered valleys of the Amazon cyclones
are unknown, yet when we look at theformation
of the land it is probably one
of the most monotonously level regions
on the face of the earth. In the vast
area drained by the Amazon in its tributaries
might be packed the whole United
States and not one of its boundaries
would anywhere be touched. Seen from
any of the eastern spires of the Andes,
this whole region is a sea of verdure.
The boundless and unbroken forest give
it the appearance of an illimitable meadow.
From the grassy steppes of Yenzuela
to the treeless pampas of Buenos
Ayres expands this sea of verdure. In
it we might at almost any point draw
a circle of eleven hundred miles iu diameter,
within which all would be an u*>
broken evergreen forest. And so matted,,
corded and festooned with vines are all
the trees of this forest, and such is the
exuberance of the undergrowth, that a
"macheta," must be used with which tohew
a way into the wall of vegetation
the moment the voyager on one of theseput
a foot ashore from his canoe.
Such is the steaming moisture within
these great forests that salt soon becomes
brine, the best refined sugar becomes
syrup, epsom salts and many other kinds
of medicines deliquesce, and the best
gunpowder becomes liquid in a few dayo^
even when enclosed in a canister.
Take awav the forests and verdure.
? " T
and leave this region a vast desert plain, >
and it would no doubt at once become a
rery playground of cyclones.?Salt LaJce
Tribune.
The Dend Sea of the West,
The famous Dead Sea of the "West,
Mono Lake, situated in Mono county,
California, is thus described by a writer
in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Itswater
is so strongly impregnated with
alkalies that the hand held for a few
minutes in it will crack open and the
skin be eaten off. No living thing exists
in it, though it is said that often,
ifter strong winds have blown across
its surface, there is a layer of worms
several feet wide on its leeward shore,
[t cleanses clothes dipped in it almost
instantly, and if they are not as speedily
removed does worse. Its shores are barren,
bleak and lonely in the extreme,
^ordered by a soil that will grow nothing
but the scrubbiest of sage brush. In ;
;he prosperous times of Bodic a steamer
ilicd on the lake, but it is now laid up
n ordinary. The length of the lake is
iDout yu mues, ana its greatest width
ibout 18 miles. Seen from this magniicent
point, surrounded by the walks of
Bloody Canyon, it is one of the noblest,
riews on earth, but at the same time it
>nly proves to one who has been about
ts shores and toiled across the deserted
ind sandy interval to the welcome foot
>f the Sierra, with even no better way
icross than the Bloody Canyon, that
ruly 'distance lends enchantment to the
riew."
?
Taking Hlra Down.
They had just been introduced. Shevm
a pretty country girl and ho a wheelnan,
who was very vain of his personal
ippearanco when clad in 'cycling cosume.
He?I assure you there is scarcely a
nan who does no find the wheel suit
nost becoming;
Sbo (doubtingly)?Indeed I
He?As for myself, everybody insists
hat I look 100 per cent, better in abi- .
ycle costume than in an ordinary busiless
suit. ' 1
She (innocently) ? Dear me. How
wfuily you must look in an ordinary
tusiness suit.---Boston JRccord.