The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, February 01, 1887, Image 2
It is alleged that moro than 5.000
cheap pianos aro worked oil in New
York and Boston every year at sales of
household goods, and each one is advertised
as "belonging to a lady who is
obliged to dispose of this magnificent
instrument on account of financial difficulties."
A pumpkin grew to weigh 250 pounds
at Newburg, N. Y., by being fed ou
milk. One of the roots was allowed to
rest in a basin of milk, and it consumed
a pint cf the liquid each day. It strikes
us as rather an expensive way to raise
Dumnkins.
Tho colonics of Australia and the
neighboring islands havo soma twenty
Bcicntific societies, with a membership of
between 2500 and 8000. These organizations
aro to meet in 1883 for tho purpose
of forming an Australian association
for the advancement of science, similar
to tho important associations now
existing in England, Frauce and tho
United States.
For ways that are dark and tricks
that are vain the old world gambler,
perhaps, discounts his enterprising
brethren in America. A correspondent
writes that in a gambling saloon in
Moscow the walls and ceiling were
covered with paper on which stars wero
Btamped. Among the stars in the ceiling
holes were cut, and a man lying on tho
floor in tho room above saw the hands of
thoso playing cards and telegraphed
them, by means of wires connected with
his shoes, to his confederate.
There is lots of coal to be mined yet.
According to the calculations made by
a scientific writer lately, it requires a
prodigious amount of vegetable matter
to form a layer of coal, tho estimato being
that it would really take 1,000,000
years to form a coal bed 100 feut thick.
The United States has an area of between
800,000 and 400,000 square miles
of coal fields, 100,000,000 tons of coal
being mined from these fields each year,
or enough to run a ring around the earth
at tho equator five aud a half feet wide
and five and a half feet thick, the quantity
being sufficient to supply the whole
World for a period of 1500 to 2000
years.
The people of Oregon are looking, |
Bome day, for an eruption from Mount
Hood, an extinct volcano in the Cascade
range, eighty miles east of Portland.
Simultaneous with the earthquake at
Charleston, strange sounds were heard in
thn rrntnr r?f TTanrl -f nr cntrnrn 1 /I OTTO 1
? w AJL"VV* AW4 kJU TUtUl UUJOJ UUV4
parties of tourists in tho neighborhood
*"**" "became alarmed and returned to the city
for safety. Geologists are convinced that
it will resume operations some time. The
last eruption occurred so long ago that
the Indians have no memory of it. They
have a tradition, however, that Mount
Hood and Saint Helens were once close
together ?one on the north, the other on
. the south bank of the Columbia river.
They lived in peace for thousands of years.
One day they quarrelled, throwing fire,
ashes and stones at each other. These
fell into the river and blocked it up,
causing the great cascades of tho Columbia.
"W. A. CrofEut, editor of the "Washington
Post, tells the following story of the
return of tho remains of the late A. T.
Stewart. He says he had the story from
a member of the Hilton family at a dinner
party. He says: ' 'It was a couple
of years anterior to that, I think my informant
said, that the bones were finally
ransomed. Judge Hilton persistently
tefused to consent to it, and at last,
when Mrs. Stewart declared herself unable
any longer to carry tho burden of
the ghastly thought that the remains of I
her husband were beint? carted around I
the country by a gang of thieves, she
defied her lawyer's scruples and concluded
negotiations. Mrs. Stewart gav
$25,000 instead of the $50,000 at first
demanded. The bargain was made
through a lawyer who seemed to have
110 other briefs, and who probably got a
good fraction of the 'swag.' The ghouls
insisted that the money should be delivered
to them on a lonely hill in Westchester
county at the dead of night.
Thither, in accordance with their directions,
a relative of Mrs. Stewart journeyed
alone in a wngon, which ho drove himself.
At a spot in the country road j
which had not been designated or described
the driver was suddenly halted |
by a masked horseman. This mysterious j
messenger led him through a by lane to
the hilltop, whero, after certain precautions
to insure thcif safety, they received
the $25,000, examined it, and then dragged
a bag of bones from unothcr buggy
near by and surrendered it to the keeping
of the solitary traveler. Before they
disappeared down one side or the hill
they commanded him, on peril of hia
life, to turn about and descend tho nthnr
slope, Ho did as ho was bidden nod
got to New York before morning. The
next night the bones wero committed tc
the vault under the great cathodral at
Garden City, which had already been
connected by a socrct wire with a chime
of bells suro to ring and alarm the town
if it was disturbed. So now the mortal
remains of the great rocrchant-millionaire
and those of his patient, enduring,
frugal and nffectionate wifo of sixtj
years rest side by side."
j Woman suffrage is apt to bring about
a strango state of affairs, snys a Tacoma
(Washington Territory) paper. An illustration
of this was afforded not long
since in a convention in one county,
where a lady delegate in several instances
voted in opposition to her father, who
was a delegate from the same precinct,
i But a still more peculiar case is that in
. Lincoln county, where Mr. Frank M.
Gray, editor of the Davenport Times,
who is a member of the Territorial Republican
convention, is a Republican
caudidato for the Legislature, while Mrs.
Gray, his wifo and associate editor, is a
candidate on the Democratic ticket for
school superintendent.
j There has never been a time, remarks
a metropolitan paper, when persons who i
are too fat were more anxious to get rid
of their superfluous fatness. Divers
theories and practices are held and emi
ployed for this purpose. Medical authorities
claim that a large quantity of water
will not, when the same"amount of solid
food is eaten, make a man thinner or
stouter. Frequent experiments have
demonstrated this. Scalding hot water,
so much used nowadays, unquestionably
injures the teeth, stomach and other
organs concerncd in the early stages of
digestiou. A fat man may easily lose
much by injuring his health, as the
banting and similar systems provo. Tho
problem is to reduce weight without reducing
strength. A skilful trainer will
bring a man down to the best condition
for violent exercise, but as soon as
tho training has relaxed the obesity, if
natural, will return. Continuous and ;
severe training is destructive. A good 1
rule for physical diminution is to eat
less, sleep less and walk more, if the
rule bo followed with moderation.
Liquor, wine or beer is particularly injurious,
unless sparingly taken, to stout
persons desirous to bo les3 stout.
oays uie xncw xorK commercial A.d- j
vertiaer : "Ex-Scnator Hunter, of Viri
ginia, is now collcctor of customs at the i
[ little port of Acconiac, on the Potomac,
where tho salary is only about $300 a
year, and the place was given him as a
mark of respect by the present administration.
He is now over 80 years of age,
and lias had moro history crowded
into his life than has been experienced j
by many men. Forty years ago lie was i
one of t^e ablest statesmen of the time, |
and although since the close of the war J
he has not been an active participant in
politics, he still retains much of his early J
vigor and ability. In 1830 he was a :
member of the legislature of Virginia, in '
1837 a member of congress; in 1810 he
was speaker of the house of rep esentatives;
in 1848 ho was elected to the
United States senate, and continued to
hold a seat in that body until he was
expelled in 1801. During the war he '
served in the confederate senate, and was !
captured after the evacuation of Richmond.
Then he was sent to Fort Lafayette,
and remained in prison until par/l
?? /i i T> :,i ? J. T-I * ' I
uuutu uj x luuuvui ouuusuu. tie ii a a
since been living at the little town of
Acconiac, about sixty milc3 from "Washington,
conducting a plantation. Most j
people who have not forgotten him sup- j
pose him to be dead, but he is still halo I
and healthy, and has a constitution that !
bids fair to outlast the century."
A 91 mtana Dag-Oat.
A* correspondent of the Washington
Star, who has been roughing it in Montana,
says: The house that we hastily
put up hero, until wo could build our
permanent cabins, was a sort of a dugout.
First wo dug down into the ground
about five feet, and then on the sides and
back placed two logs; this gave a height
of about seven feet at the eaves and nine
to the ridgepole. The dimensions insido
were fourteen by sixteen feet. The
front was made entirely of logs, and in
it we had two windows twenty-two by
twenty-four inches each. For a roof wo
placed poles each side of ^the ridgepole,
and then covered them with hay and
dirt. When finished wo had a dirt roof,
dirt walls, dirt floor, and lived in and
almost ate dirt. In the rear of the cabin
we had a fireplace, which was our only
heating apparatus, and on it we did all
of our cooking, with utensils which consisted
of a coffee pot, frying pan, iron
pot and dutch oven. In tho latter we
made bread and did all our baking.
Our bill of fare was not likely to induce
dyspepsia. It had a surprising same*
ness, and was made up of bread, coffee,
bacon and beans, with a little rice for a
changc, but plenty of deer meat helped
us out amazingly.
?? I
Soldiers Who Mast Fast.
It has been dccidcd that Russian soldiers
in futuro must observe Lent in
the most rigorous way. They will have
to fast not only during the four "great
Lents" yearly, but also Wednesday and
Friday, and the six great days of prayer
and repentence. This is the calculat
on: The great Lsnt (of Easter), 79
days; Petroffki Lent, 80 to 50; Usspenski
Lent, 17; Filippoffaki Lent, 89; 6
days of prayer f and repentence, 6; 81
Wednesdays and 31 Fridays, 62; total,
170 to 200 days; on which dates neither |
meat nor fish (during the Easter Lent)
nor eggs, nor inilk, nor evon sugar ii
allowed. Tho officers assort with much
force, that tho physical strength of the
soldiers must inevitably suilur from the
new regimen.?Chicago Times.
* %
A Kan I L ke.
I like a man who all mean things despises,
A man who has a purpose firm and true;
"Who faces ovory doubt as it rise-,
And murmurs not at what he flads to do.
I like a man who shows tho noble spirit
Displayed by knights of Arthur's table
round;
Who, face to faco with life, proves his real
morit,
Who has a soul that dwells above tho
ground.
And yet, ono who can understand the worry
Of some chance brother fallen in the road,
And speak- to hm a kind word 'mid the
hurry,
Or lay an easing hand upon his load.
Largo-hearted, bravo-souled mon to-day are.
needed,
Men ready whon occasion's doors swing
wide;
Grand~mi-n to speak tho counsel that is
heeded,
And men in whom a nation may confide.
Tho world is wide, and broad its starry
arches,
But lagging malcontents ca not hold;
The way of life to him who . .ght marches
Has onding in a far-off street of gold.
? Meredith Nicholson.
MAN ORJPHANTOM?
A WAR CORRESPONDENT'S STORY.
During the Franco-German war I represented
a leading English journal,
which, by the way, exchanged its reports
with an American paper of national
nrnminnnnn oa wnron rnonnn
V<tA(MVUVVj Uk> IT Ut VU IVO|iVUVIUUit V pv/U
my arrival in Germany soon after the
declaration of war I presented my credentials
to tlio proper authorities, nnd
after much delny was attached to the
Royal Saxon Army Corps, as brave a
body of warriors as was ever gathered
together for purposes of destruction and
carnage. I followed the fortunes of the
gallant corps through the fall campaign
and was with them at tlio siege of Paris.
It is unnecessary to pay a tribute to the
bravery of the noble Saxon lads who,
after repelling the savage attacks of the
courageous enemy, shared their 6canty
allowance of pea-sausage and rye bread
with the half starved French guards
who had been fortunate enough to bo
captured.
As might be expected my constant
presence at headquarters and my unvarnished
reports of the doings of the corps
secured me the friendship of some of tlio
officers, while others found it hard work
to conceal the pique excited by my let
tcrs. Among my dearest friends and
defenders was Lieut. Baron Ludwig von
L , nn adjutant to one of the regiments
attached to the corps. It had
been my good fortune to render a slight
service to the lieutenant during the
opening days of the war, and with an
enthusiasm which was inexplicable to
me, he defended my every action and let
no opportunity pass by to sound my
praises. It was but natural that such
disinterestedness challenged my admiration,
and soon our friendship had ripened
into an intimacy sufli as can only be
established amid the surroundings in
which we were placed. Nothing marred
these pleasant relations until Christmas
Eve, when a stray shell from one of the
forts struck the tent in which the lieutenant
and I were celebrating the great
German holiday. In a moment I realized
that he had been severely wounded,
while I had escaped unharmed. An examination
of the wound proved that his
life was in imminent peril, and the stall
surgeon concluded to send von L to
his home in Saxony. In pursuance o2
the doctor's directions wo pnrtod then
and there, and the early morning train
bore my friend to the arms of his anxious
family, while I continued my exciting
life among the sanguine soldiery.
The week following this incident was
devoid of interest, owing to tho inactivity
of tho French, but on the ninth
day tho forts opened fire, and from whispered
conversations at. headquarters' I
gleaned that the morrow would sec a
sanguinary conflict. In order to be prcprepared
I left the tent of the most advanced
Saxon outpost at 4 o'clock in the
afternoon for the purpose of preparing
topographical notes concerning tho probable
field of carnage. My work was soon
comp eted. Silence and solitude, interrupted
at rare intervals by the cheery "Qui
vive?" of tho French outposts or the
gruff "Wcr da?" of the German sentinels,
tempted mo to rost under a protecting
shed, and before I realized
it I had settled down for
a little nap. When I awoko the darkness
told mo that the evening had far nd
yunceu, ana loosing around 1 saw that
a terrible sno.w storm had covered my
tracks. Escape was impossible. I knew
not how to reach my friends, and to fall
in the hands of the French meant disgrace
and perhaps dishonor.
Making the best of an ugly situation,
I drew my heavy fur overcoat closer
around me, pulled my cap over my ears,
and retreated once more within the shed.
Scarcely had I settled into a comfortable
position when I was appalled. Was it
possible 1 Ye?, there at the rickety door
of the shed stood, real as life, Lieut, von
L , his right arm extended, his left
hand resting upon his sword-belt, and
speaking 'in a low but distinct whisper;
"Beware of tho Franctireursl" Sud
denly as the apparition appeared it
vanished.
Imagine my feelings; I cannot describe
them. I verily believo that my
hair stood upon end. A stupor followed
this fear and a trance-liko slumber.
IIow long I remained in this condition ]
knew not at tho time, but well do I remember
the awakening from the trance.
My ncrvou3 system was totally deranged,
my hands refused to do service; in fact I
I had not the strength to light a match
to look at my watch. With a groan I
same uacK upon my ocu 01 snow. J
tried to sleep, but in vain. All I could
do was to think. Had I seen Ludwig
von L , or his spirit? the real man 01
a phantom?
At last relief came. I could not be
mistaken. I heard the footsteps of o
6mall body of men. They approached
the shed. Yes, but not with the steady
tread of the soldier. Heavens! could it
bo the Franctireurs, those bloodthirsty
guerrillas and hyenas of the battlefield I
1 tried to fortify myself for an attack.
I tried to arouse my physical self. Before
I could rise or make a move the
door of the shed was rudely opened.
A rough faco showed itself. It was that
of the leader of a noted guerrilla band.
The Franctireur entered. Ho approached,
cocked his revolver, and said,
with mock politeness, in broken German:
"Monsieur, prepare to die."
Making an effort to reach my own
n 4- ?? ?^ T *
ivuupvii, uu bins muuiuuii x was
startled by the words; "Not he, but J
you I"
Looking up I saw the pallid and
frightened fncc of tho Franctircur, and
by his side?could it bo possible ??
Lieut, von L , pointing a pistol at
tho heart of the assassin. Tho excitement
proved too much for my shattered
nerves, and just as I heard the explosion
of a pistol I lost consciousness.
"When I revived it was 8 o'clock in the
morning. By my side stood Maj. M ,
commander of the advanced outposts,
and a detachment of Saxon infantry.
'Well done, my lad," said tho Major*
and with that he pointed to an object
lying by my side covered with a field
blanket.
"What do you mean, Major ?" I inquired
faintly, not understanding his remark.
> "Well, I mean that you have dispatched
the worst hound of a guerrilla
who ever disgraced a country."
Like a flash the mysterious apparition
presented itself to my mind, and hastily
calling a Corporal I bade him extract the
bullet from the dead Franctireur's
wouud. Then I produce^ my revolver
and found that not a shot had been fired
from it. I compared tho bullets used by
me with that extracted from the wound.
They were of different weight. The
mystery was unsolved. Who had shot
my enemy ?
Tho battle predicted by the staff officer
was not fought on that day, and I
was glad of it, J'or the exciting scenes of
the previous night compelled me to rest
for some time. On the fifth day after
my adventure I received a letter from
Saxony. litre it is:
"My Dear Sir,?Our dear son Ludwig
breathed his last at four this mo:ning.
Upon his arrival here the doctors
pronounced his case hopeless. Up to 8
o'clock lust evening his recovery seemed
assured. At that hour he suddenly grew
restless, called out your name three or
four times and exclaiming, "Bjware of
the Franctircurs!" fell into a deep slumber
or trance. Ho remained in this con- (
dition until 3 o'clock, when ho arose up ' 1
with ii start, fell back upon the bed uu- j t
conscious, and at 4 o'clock died in his 1
mothers arms. '
"With best wishes, t
"Your obedient se'rvant, j
"George Alexander Yon L \
My story is finished. I need only add ]
that the ball extracted from the body of (
the Franctireur corresponded in weight ,
with those in the revolver of my deceased ,
mcna, ana tuis uiscovery maue tnc mystery
still darker.
Up to this (lay I cannot explain the
strange trauspirings of that night before
Paris. Can you??Detriot Free Press.
Whore Beer Huns in Kills.
Hurtman says in his new book: "What
would Munich be without beer?" As u
ship stranded. The capital of Bavaria
floats on an ocean of foaming beer. People
do not in common conversation speculate
over the weather, but ask at once:
"How is the beer to-day?" The Bavurinn
(1 nns nnt rlrinlr lwinp ho/timcA V*n ?e I
thirsty, "but becauso he cnjoy9 it, and *
bficnuse he enjoys it he drinks much.'1 j
Every rnan in Munich guzzles his four
quarts per diem. There aro thousands ^
who swallow their eight quarts and ^
many who will swill their ten and
twelve quarts. I knew ono man who
told me he had been drinking sixteen ^
quarts daily for year*. A student will j
manage at one sitting from ton to sixteen
quarts, which would fill about six- j
ty of our glasses. A congross of staid
scientific fellows met at a Munich festi- j
val and each one drank 8 0-10 quarts
during a short sitting.
Bhmarclc an 1 the Borgom ist r. "
Prince Bismarck, delayed at a railroad 8
station between Frazcnbad and Berlin,
at Iicichonbach, inquired of tho burgo- *]
master of tho place if the sausages and ^
the beer wero good. Having been c
answered in tho affirmative, the burgo- ^
master said: "There has been a fear of ^
war, but it is not yet so near, is it vo;ir
Excellency?" "God prcservo us far n
from it," said tho chanccllor; "you n
have timo enough yet to read Goethe's li
'Faust.' ? j,
ST. K1LDA.
A. Curious Island Off the Scottish
Coast.
9l Place Wliere Sea Birds Form the
Support of the Inhabitants.
"A curious bit of land is St. Kilda,"
says the London Ncies. It lies sixty miles
jeyond Harris, and is 140 miles distant
from the mainland. Near it are the
Dird-infested isles of Soay and Boreray,
jut St. Kilda alone boasts human tenints.
In 1831 the island contained
lineteen families, or seventy-seven perions,
thirty-three males and forty-four
females. They live in a little green valcy
which slopes to the sea. The island
itself forms part of the ancient estate of
Dunvegan. Once upon a time the village
of St. Kilda looked like a Hotten:ot
"kraal." The houses were huts
auilt of loose stones and turf, and filled
with an atmosphero of parennlal smoke.
Now things are better ordered. The
louses arc built of stone with roofs of
galvanized iron, an improvement due to
;hc generosity of Maclcod of Maclcod,the
lereditary possessor of the land. No
part of the world is more famous for its
jird inhabit'inta than this desolate
oceanic patch. Here the solan geese
lestle in thousands. The fulmar, the
jannct guillemots, puffins, eider ducks,
md other sea fowl exist in countless
.warms. These birds form, in fact,
.he stay and support of the St. Kilda
'oik. The islanders say that the fulmar,
)r stormy petrel, gives them oil for burnng,
down for their beds, wholesome
neat, and an ointment or salve for their
nfirinities. There are no hens ou St.
[?ilda. The sea birds supply the place
>f the domestic fowl ccmpictely, and
he housewives of the lonely isle are reieved
by nature from the cares and
vorrics of bird-tending. The women
ook like "feathered Mercuries, for their
ilioes," adds this writer, "are made of
jannet's skin." The feathers arc
ralued at 7s per stone (14
rounds) for the black puffin
rariety and at 5s for
jrays. The fulmar oil sells at Is a pint,
hec'oth made by the inhabitants at 3s
M.T Scotch ell, while the cattle are
ipecially rated. For eight or nine
nonths at a time St. Kilda may have no
ntcrcourso with the outer world. Life
>n the island wags slowly and peuceully,
if monotonously along. The storms
>f the outside world affect not tho St.
?ilda folk. The islanders are exempt
rom consumptive troubles?a fact held
jy some enthusiastic doctors to be due
;o the atmosphere of peat smoke amid
vhich St. Kilda at large lives and
jrcathes. But their babies are liable to
>c killed off by a mysterious ailment
ibout the eighth day of life, and tho
people are said to be subject to a species
)f influenza, which only appears when
Grangers visit the isle. Nobody knows
low this ailment is conveyed or what it
3. $To infection is presumed to be
:arried from the visiting steamer to the
ihore; but, nevertheless, the St. Ivilda
oik begin to snufllj and to sneeze
vhenever the tourist season sets in.
It appears that the inhabit ants arc acmstomed
to send messages inserted in
jottles, or in extemporised boats, to the
nainland. They commit their -wishes
;o the waves, and trust to favoring gales
;o waft their desires ashore. A stratagem
of this kind was recently put in
torce by the Froc church minister who
ins taken charge of the spiritual affairs
>n the island. lie sent a sea message
vhich, after some weeks or months of
pandering, contrived to be cast ashore
ind to be brought under the notice of
iome benevolent person, who forwarded
.he message to its destination in Edinjurgh.
The reverend gentleman in this
lommunication to the principal of the
Free Church college in the Scottish
netropolis spoke of lh<f disastrous
icriod through which his people and
limselfhad passed in St. Kilda. They
,vere out of everything, in fact, if the
nessage was to be believed, and were
inxiously awaiting help from the charity
ind benovolcnco of the mainland. This
lelp was duly dispatched to them. Tho
ruckal, a government vessel, was
icnt to the island, aud an oflicial of the
joard of supervision was deputied,
ilong with the surgeon of the ship, to
oport upon the state of things in the
sland. Th"! information in question has
low como to hand. The reporter tells
is that he found from four to six liun- '
Ircd fulmars salted and stored as provisons
in each family. As a single lulmar
fiords a full meal for an adult, it folows
that from eight to twelve hundred
neat rations are contained in each house
n tho island. Then follows a record of
altcd mutton similarly laid by for future
ise. There are eighteen cows on tho
3!and; thero arc potatoes in plenty; and
, certain Mr. Muckenzie, who is said to
mport and to letail the luxuries of life 1
a the shape of tea, sugar and tobacco,
s reported as doiug a brisk trade. In .
ncli family circle, the reporter tells us, ;
ie found capital to the extent of ]
!20. One rcccnt emigrant from the
There is one pathetic sentenco in the i
aval doctor's report on St. Kilda which 1
nust i:ot be omittetl from a recital of the 1
ifc of the northern islet. After recountng
tho liking exhibited for tobacco and
spirits, the absenco of condiments?
scarcely required where salted food is so
common?and the want of vegetables,
the doctor advocates the institution of
simple and lively games for the children,
of the island, the cultivation of singing,
and the practice of instrumental music.
The worthy medical man speaks in the
innocence of a kindly heart. He docs
not know that instrumental music, bagpipes
excluded, is the horror of tlieso
northerners, that "human hymns," as tho
ordinary poetic compositions are called,
are eschewed in tho churclics of tho
highlands, and that the very mention
of games for tho bairns will be regarded
with grave suspicion. "At present,"
adds the doctor, "whistling is strictly
forbidden" on St. Kilda.
No Snnlpipor.
Dctectivc John Webb wiis passing tlio
Bates Street end of the vegetable market
three or four days ago when a stranger
accosted him with:
"Say, I came in town tlio other day t?
git my boots fixed, and I was looking
around this placc a little and lost a
silver dollar out of a hole in my pocket.'
"But you didn't come back to look'
for it, did you?"
"Yes, I did. I think I lost it right
over there, where I dodged a wagon.
Have you heard of any one pickining up 1
a dollar?'
"No, sir."
"Seen any advertisement in the
paper?''
"No. You'd better save your time."
"Why?"
"Why, man, you aren't green enough
to expect to get that dollar back, are
you?"
"Of course I ami Wasn't it mine!
Didn't I lose it?"
< 'Wol 1 I Woll I ??? o.lrrVlt
II v>4 * || V41 KJVIilU VUW WW
sandpaper your head I"
"They had, eh?" queried the man as
he searched around the street. "I lost
it just about here, while I was jumping
out of the way of a waijon. If anybody
tries to rub any saudpaper on my head
I'll !"
He made a dive into the dirt and
fished up a silver dollar, and as he held
it between his thumb and finger and
danced around ho cried: 1
"Here she is?this is the very one! I
know it by the nick I cut on the edgel
Ought to have my head sandpapered,
had II Well, you just bet I know my
gait, and I'm a dollar ahead! It's lucky
for me, though, that you didn't find it.
You look just like a man wlio'd have
chucked it into his pocket and let me go
to ruin. Sandpaper 1 How would you
like to bite a file!"
And the abashed detective couldn't
say a word in his own defence.?Detroit
Free Press.
The Farmer's Boy.
The country boy or girl is face to face
with practical realities. lie sees how
slowly money is made on the farm; he *
is taught from youth up the need of
economy; lie has the nature of saving
first explained to him every day in the
week; he is not exposed to the temptation
of the saloou or ball-room, and he i9
not so much of a lady's man before he
has occasion to use a razor on his downy '
cheeks. lie may be a trillj rude; he
may not feel easy in company, but in
the lonji, closely contested race of life it
is tho chap that trudges to school
barefooted in summer and stogas in
winter, whose mother cuts his hair with
the sheep sheers, who leads the chap
that goes to the city school with the
starched shirt front and fancj' slippers,
and whose head is shaved with a lawnmower
at the barber shop. Such has
been o*r observance, and wo think we
know what we aro talking about.?
Iowa Homestead.
Too Much or a Good Tiling,
The story is told of a good MetliO-list
brother, an itinerant, who sought shelter
for the night at a certain farmhouse. The
woman demurred, but there had been a
long drought, and when the mini&tei
suggested that his prayers might move
the Lord to send the rain, she consented
to let him stay. During the uight the
floods came, and when the good woman
came down in the morning and found
her fences and chickencoops had sailed
off for parts unknown, she was much
cast down. "I might have known better,"
said the poor woman, as 3he cast a
rueful glance out ot tho window; "]
might have known better than to let a
Methodist come into my house, for they
always go into everything with all theii
might, and I don't want any of 'em tc
pray any more for rain for my benefit?
no, nover?if tho land dries up till it
cracks open."?Harper"a Bazar.
Co.int and No Account.
Some of thoso quiet ranches contain
people who disdain any claim to humility.
In tho ccntral part of Kansas
lives, on a wcll-stockcd modest ranch, t
tall, soldierly, white-haired gentleman,
with grave, elegant manners and a fluencj
with which his limited English cannot
1rg*i\v\ *\nnn T-T5o ze 2a. * 1
,1VV(/ UOI1U, tYKU 11 lb couta
bo remembered, is much too long t<
print in a paper where the space is valuable,
but ho is a Frenchman who says o1
himself, with a vivacious toss of hii
hands:
"In Franco I was a count; in Amcric*
I no account I"?ChiciQo Tribune.