Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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dw9 fR"'LI-WEEKL EDITIQN. WINNSBORO, . , JANUARY 27,81 O.I.N.19 ROUGH I While passing by the old horse trough I heard a hackling hollow cough. And, turning, met my neighbot Gough. The wind was blowing raw and rough; Baid 1, "Old fellow, rather tough ?" "Ah yes," wheezed he, ''tin tough enough !" lie limped along perhaps a block, Thou said, "Aharp pains afflict my lough; Would I wore by some sunny lough ; "Or managing the well-yo'sed plouch, Or resting 'neath the rustling bough, Lulled by the gently murmuring sough. 'But va'n are all these wishes, though," Quoth he in accents sad and low; "Alas, I fear my cake is dough I" With pain I heard my old friend through, And when at last we bade adieu I felt his fears would soon prove true. Caught. There had been strange times In the Roseville Seminary. Two or three of the girls In the junior class, and a few in the senior, bad been in open revolt, though the cause ot this singular behavior was not generally known among the scholars. The facts were these: Julia Fessonden, one of the girls living in towli, had given a birthday party, and a dozen or more of the students had been invited, and the in vitation submitted to the faculty. After a little delay, Prof. Montrose called the girls together. They know very well what was coming, and if the truth must be told, there was but one sunny face among the group, cnd that belonged to Kitty Bache. "Young ladies," said the professor, "while I dislike to stand between you and any apparently rational enjoyment, I shall be compelled to request you all to return your regrets to Miss Fessenden. I beg you to remember that I am not only responsible to your parents and guardians for your in tellectual Improvement, bit tor your social and moral welfare. Miss Fessenden's party may or may not be a good place for tile students of Roseville; but so long as there is the slightest fear in my own mind in regard to the acquaintances you may form there, the nature of my office compels ie to the course I have mentioned. I feel sure, young ladies, a little reflection will enable you to appreciate the very delicate position in which I am placed." "Isn't it ahameful?" said Laura Cary to Kitty, as they tiled out of the professor's study. "I thought I should like to go," replied Kitty, "but of course the professor lWhows best." "W ell my father and mother would never think of saying no if I were at home," continued Laura. "The idea of a girl seventeen yeart old being tied up in this style I We all ought to have high citairs and bib-aprons." "Yes, and nurses," said another girl, "and baby-carriages and blanketa, aud blue quilted htods. Prof. Montrose is an old stick 1" I "That's just what lie is," said another, "a perfeet fossil. lie's so old he can't en joy anything himself, and he thinks no body else can. I mean to go,.anyhow." "I think you might have said something, Kitty," put in Carry Dykeman. "If you had teased a little, and promised that we should all behave ourselves, I'm sure he would have consented. He just acted as if lie expected you to speak." %I never' want anything enough to tease for It," replied Kitty, pleasantly. "I felt a good deal more sorry for him than I did for myself. 1 know it hurt him to refuse us." "0, pshaw I" exclaimed Laura Coery. "Prof. hlontrose has never granted me one favor since I have been In this seminary. It just tickles him to torment us." It was on the end of -Kitty's tongue to say to Miss Laura that If she had received no kindness from the professor, there could * - be but one -reason for it, which was because - - she had never deserved any. But so many things that had been on the tip of this little unruly member had dropped off before * ~ now, and madec her trouble, that she de - .cidled to keep a tight rein on it now. Kitty had had a good deal on her mind lately, and just at this time she doubtless * felt the disappointment much less than she * might have at some other. One of the town scholars, a young and very lovely girl, had been taken suddenly and strangely Ill. Her maady was a baflikng one, from * the fact of its being wholly of the brain. 'Tlie was known only to the mother, the matron of Roseville, the minister's wife, * ~ and Kitty Bachie. The report once started that Ethel Lee was crazy, the mother well knew that were her daughter to live a hun * tdred years, she would always be called crazy by the inhabitants of Roseville. 80o this feature of the Illness was kept a secret, T1hen there was another reason. Mirs. Leo wvas a widow, and possessed of small * means. By great, economy, she had been able to educate her daughter, in the hope that sho night support herself by teaching. it lacked now only six months of her grad nation, after which she had been promised a good position in the State normal school. T'his promise had only been secured in advance to Ethel by the greatest pains and liuiluenice. Mirs. Lee believed her daughter would permanently recover. The doctor thought she might; and Kitty Bache, the only human beig. who could calim her distressing pamoxysmes, was sure she would. The matron of Rosovuhle, whose power in certain respects was quite equal to the professor's, had given Kitty permission * ~ to go to the Leeo's whenever she was senut for. Twice had the kind heat ted woman sum monedl Kitty from her studies to this or rand of mecacy, ami once, when sent for In the evening, had escorted her herself. 'The cdays roiled on, and at last the nmght * of Mises Fessendhen's party arrived Strangely enough, all the excitement in re gard to It hiad died out; and so coin pietely I. ad it passed from Kitty's mind that she had actually forgotten its dlate. This evening, aibout, half-past, seven, Kitty was sunimoned to the miatron's roomr. 'There she found M1rs. Coleman, the nin-. * Isater's wife, waiting to take her to the Lees'. When Kitty returned to her room for her things, Cathiarine Lyndhurst, her room mato, had stepped out, and she could leave no message. Of course Catharine was not in het confidence about Eitheh, for Kitty hanpomied not to tell anyone. 'Ih all nthtthe girl was ille and that Isity 'isited her, but nothing but the facts of the case would have answered as an excuse had it been known how much Kitty was with her friend. This evening Ethel was very wild, and Kitty's efforts to caln her were unsuccess ful for a long time. For more than an hour the brave girl struggled with her in sane companion, and not until they were alone together was there the slightest abatement in the intensity of the cerebral spasms. Ton o'clock, and the sufferer was quiet; hall past, and she was sleeping peacefully; eleven, and Kitty could withdraw-her tired arm from under the burning head, audpre pare to return to the seminary. The minister had joined his wife, and escorted by these kind friends. Kitty walked slowly home, being very much ex hausted and frightfully pale. She had just bade her companions good night, and was about to step up on the porch leading to the servants entrance, where she was about to admit herself with the matron's night-key, when a group of girls rushed around the corner of the house and ran up the stoop. They were so disguised by their water proof capes and hoods that Kitty could hardly have recognized one of their num ber. Suddenly it flashed upon her that this was the evening of Miss Fessenden's party, and that these girls had attended it. Then the leader, whom Kitty strongly suspected was Laura Cary, opened the door. It was found afterward 'that they had bribed the cook and obtained her pass key. As they all crowded into the hall, still as mice, Kitty bringing up the rear, there stood Prof. Montrose in the door of his study, the bright light from within shining full upon the girls, and making each face perfectly distinguishable I As the profes sor threw up his hand, there they stood, looking like so many monks in their long black cloaks. "Where have you been, Miss Cary?" inquired the professor, in tones that made even the bold Laura tremble. "We have been to Miss Fessenden's party," she replied, after some delibera tion. There were seven in this group, and three of the number were so frightened or so conscience-stricken, that they began to cry. Then the professor's eyes fell upon Kitty. "Miss Bache I" he exclaimed looking like a man who had been struck, and start ing forward a step or two, as if to make sure his eyes had not deceived him. For a moment Kitty's self-possession en tirely deserted her, and she looked the guiltiest one of the party. She was so completely tired out thatshe had nostrength left for this trial, and her heart sunk within her as she found-probably for the first time in her life-that she was actually un able to speak a word. She leaned against the door for support. One of the girls, who saw how pale and weak she was, .took hold of her arm, and tried to lead her away. She was afrold she was going to faint, and doubtless thonahi lritL y iiad "o good a reason as the rest of them for desiring to keep her own counsel. Several times Kitty opened her lips to speak, but was powerless to articu late a single sentence. Then the profes sor spoke again. "Young ladies, go to ygur rooms. I will see to you in the morninar." Oh, how sad and grieved his voice sounded) Then Kitty tried to move along with the rest; but there seemed to be some thing right before her all the time-some thitug tall and dark, that would certainly knock her down if she took another step. flow she ever climbed the stairs and reached her own room she never knew, but Catharine was aroused from a troubled dream by something falling on the thresh old, and when she hastily turned up her light, there was poor little Kitty in a dead faint. For an hour or more, Catharine did everything in her power for the girl's res toration, and waa just on the p~oint of sum, moning the matron when Kitty recovered a little. "How can I ever live till morning and have the professor believe me such a bad girl?" she sobbed. "But, Kitty, how was it possible for you to go oif with those girls, anyway ?" said Cathiarine,~ sobbing too. "Et tu, Brutus!" said Kitty, raising herself on her elbow and looking Catha rine full in the face. "I steal away to a party I--I/ Why, Catharine, you have broken my heart I" "But wiiere have you boon, dear?-' in q'ilred her companion, tenderly. "F~thel Lee was niuch worse, and Mrs. Coleman came after me." "I wonder if you can ever forgive me, Kitty," said- Qathiarino. "Of course, it seemed impossible, but when tea o'clock struck and the monitor camne around as usual,-and told me with tears in her eyes that she feared she should he obliged to re port you with the rest of the runaways, I was nearly frantic. She finally promised ame that she would wait till to-morrow, and see what account you would give of yourself." Then Catharmno made a hasty toilet, and before Kitty knew what she was about, left the room. She ran clown stairs quicaly, determined if she saw a light in the pro. fessor's study to ask permission to make an explanation. There was no light there, and Gather inc concluded that the professor had re tiredl. "lie has gone to bed, I suppose," said she, on her return, "and we must be pa tient until morning." Tfhero was very little sleep for either of the girls, but Kitty was able to rise, though still looking very pale and worn. Arfler breakfast, she sought the professor's studly to) make an explanmation. Tihiree times she went, but there was no answer to her timki rap. Then she wvent to the matron's room, and found her Out, Then receiving no sum mina's to thme p~rofessor's p~resence, she waited until It was time for the acometry class, and entered It as usual. Thle truants belonging to the class did not appear, and it was some thume before time professor came in. When lie (lid, and his eyes met Kitty's, lie seemed for a mo meat quite undeled what to do. Then lie said1, very slowly, but very distinctly, the rest of the class looking on In mute as tonishimenct, "Miss B~ache, how dare you present yourself in my presence this morning un announced ?" Kitty's fingers pressed her book like lit ts clamps as she anhwcred : "Because, professor, I am not guilty of the disobedience with which you accuse me. I have endeavored to see you all the morning, but failing tv Io this, I could not see why, having connitted no sin against you or the institution, I might not go on with my classes as usual." Then the girls clapped their hands, and the professor's eyes brightened. "E~thel Lee was much worse last night, and I went to see hr with the matron's pi mission, and under Mlre. Coleman's es cort. I was not able to leave her until that very late hour, and then I was too ill my self to say a word," "If I had only been informed," said the professor, more to himself than to Kitty and then: "The cikconstances were very much against you, my dear, but I should have known better. There is such a load taken from my heart, Miss Bache, that I don't know-" "But what you could forgive the runa ways?" put in Kitty, archly; and then the girls all clapped their hands still louder. "[ don't think they will ever do so again, sir. It, was a very great temptation." "To you, Miss Bache ?". "No. I should like to have gone, had you thought it best; but then, God has nade us all with such very different dispo sltions,-it was no credit to me not to go, because I prefer to obey. They might have struggled harder with temptation go ing than I did staying home." . Then there was more applause, and the professor said: "The class is dismissed. Miss Bache, I would like to see you in my study." So it caine to pass that the seven runa ways were pretty thoroughly disciplined, but not one expelled. Three weeks after, Ethel Lee was able to resuie her work in school, and no one knew she had ever been "crazy." Journeying on iriday. Conductor William Coulter, of the Penn sylvania Railroad, has been running on trains between Jersey City and Philadel phia for about forty-Live years, and he seems to have twenty years of work in him yet. One of the thousand of travelers that he kncwa remarked to hin the other day that his train was lighter than usual. 'Oh, well," said Conductor Coulter, "it's Friday you know." "What difference does that make?' 'ask ed the passenger. "Why, there is always a falling off of travel on Friday. It may seem strange, but the old superstition that Friday is an unlucky day to make a journey on, still keeps many at home on Friday. Any rail road man will tell you that.' Captain Dennis. who runs another train to Philadelphia, Conductor James Fields, who takes a night train to Washington, and Conductor Thomas Gallagher who runs to New Brunswick, are the oldest conductora ot ,he rennsylvama Hailro4d. Tfh rvj] ,Oa1lauiL11r, Vt:UertLu V0hductor Coulter's averment about, the falling off in travel on Friday, and share his opinion that it is caused by the popular superstition that Friday is an unlucky day to start on a jour ney. Superintendent MicCrea, of the New York Division of the Pennsylvania road, was disposed to disbelieve the theory of the old conductors. lie thought if there was any falling off of travel on Fridays, it was explainable by the fact that Friday falls lute in the week, and many people re turn to their homes on Saturday. Super intendent, MicCrea, however, courteously procured from the general office a series of tabulated figures showing the numbe- of passengers carried on each day of the week For two nionths. The htures show that there is probably some slight ground for the theory of the old conductors. Of the p~assengers carried on the six week days, 15 per cent, are carried on Friday, while there is an average of 17 per cent. carried oii each of the otner live week days. In other words, there is a falliing off on Fridays of nearly one-eighth as compared wit~h the average of oilier weelt days. The dlays of heaviest travel (givinig the 11gures appioxinmately) Mionday, with 19 per cent., i'nd Saturday with 18 per cent., there being many persons going to aind returning fronm business on those days. The percent ages shown on other week days arc: On Tluesday, 16.25 per~ cent.; W ednecsday, 15.75 per cent.; Th'lursdaf 18 per centi., tad Friday 15 per cent. Lihrietmab in Norway. In the mountain districts the day is kept with hearty hospitality. All work is sus pended for thirteen days. Trhe entrance of svery h1.ouse is decorated, and the wails of the kitchen are roughly adorned with gaut dly pictures, fantastically painted in water colors. Tlhroughiout Christmas Eve and Ohristmas Day, the merry making is en Lirely (domestic, restricted to thme members of each household. Not even a friendly visit is paid(. On the following days the neighbors assemble at each other's houses by turns, for carousing. No regular meal is provided, but open house is kept, the tables richly spread for all comners. No stranger is permitted to leave the house until he hias partaken of the strong Yuile tile, which is served up in true Norwegian fashioni, cask following cask in rapid suc cession. On these occasIons the servants sit at the saime table with the host, his wife and family. All arc dressed jn their gala attire of rich colored cloth, trimmed with go:(d and silver braid, the women wearing caps and aprons of brilliant lhues. It was the Powdeor. A lady's change of color at Avon Springs was accounted for quite too easily the other day. She had gone f rom Rochester with a party for a day's pleasure. While she was shipping mineral waters at the springs her face began to assume a mothed appear ance, black and white alternating. She was askcd if she was not sick and replied in the negative, but her face became so discol ored, that her friends insisted on sending for a physician, who on arriving and ex anming lis supposed patient, smiled and asiked her what kind of paint she used. The lady tartly replied that she did not paint, but only used a powder similar to that used by her daughter, who was present and whose face was bloorbing, The phy sicIan attributed the discoloration to the powder, and it Is supposed that it contain ed some chemical that changed color on contact with the suiphurous vapor from the spring. le U ised Not. Not long ago two utlemen were look ing out of the windo of a house on Mar. kut street, San Fra deco, observed a cab bage roll ol a marke wagon that was pass. lug. Instantly over dozen webl-dressed and apparently sano ersons began yelling after the wagon as t ough the vegetable bad been a gold wat i or i thousand-dol lar bill. The driver topped about half a square off, looked ba k at the cabbage, pawed and drove on. "What an absurd uSs people in the street make over triv I occurrences," said said one of the gea lemen, "Now, I'll bet a silk hat that 1 uild get a crowd of five hundred persons ound that cabbage in side of thirty min es and yet not leave thio room." ''I'll take the bet," -mid his friend, pullhig out his watch. "At you ready ?" "Yes; give the wo .' "t is now 11:30. 'ol" The proposer of Ilt wager led his friend to the window, thr w up the sash, and, taking a cane, pointe t arnestly at the mud covered cabbage will a terrilhe expression. Preseuily a hack dri r noticed the action, and begun to stare it the vegetable from the curbstone; then ibootblack stopped; then a billposter, a tessengerboy and a merchant. "What's the nmatt ?" inquire( a Ger man, approaching ti innocent base of his national dish. "Don't touch it Look out there! Stand backi" shout d the gentleman at the window. At hi horror-stricken tones the crowd lell back I ecipitately and forni ed a dense circle aro nd( tne innocent cab bage. Hundreds ct ne running up, and the excitement incre sed rapidly. "Look out, there 1' fIran tically screamed the better, waving bib cane. "Take that dog away, quick I' Beverul stones we-e thrown at a cur that was shilling arotind the cabbage. "Take care I" said a car driver to a policetia, who was shouldering his way through the mass. ".'s an internal mach ine, nitro-glycerine--or something." Meanwhile the sidewalk was blocked, the street became impassable, women screamed and rushed into shops, and a storekeeper underneath began to tie a bucket on the end of a long pole with which to pour water on the fiendish inven tion. The crowd by this time pumbering over one thousand, the two gentlemen moved away from the window and sat down. In a lew moments there ws a hurried tap at the door, and there appeared a man who had been sei, as a delegate from the mass-meeting outside. "I should like to know, gentlemcn," lie said, "what, the facts ore ?" "What facts?" "Why, what there is peauliar about that cabbage out there1" ".Nothing in the wdrid," was the soft reply, "except that it Seems to be surround ed by about, one thousand of the bige .t fools in town. Do ay "' - '.1 he man reflected a moment, said lie "guessed not," and retired. Before lie handed in his report, however Captain Short's wiatch had dispersed the mob and clubbed two hundred and cleveri separato persons for creating a disturbance. The ihetionary. Several legal lights were warming their shins arouna the stove In Judge LaRue's ollice, Lafayette. Indiana, one day last week, and all was quiet as a house on Christmas Eve, with the childrea an ticipating a visit Irom Santa Clatus. The stilness was finally broken by a gruff dis ciple of Blackstone, Who sententiously said: "The dictionary, as far as its words are concerned, has passed into decay and disuse." "Hlow so?" asked all in chorus. "Why? I'll tell you wvhy. Society has become debased, anud the speech or its miembers is saturated with tihe slang of the slums. T1his remark woke up a young attorney who prides himself on being a society man, andl ho defendedt himself amid his "society" friends. "You can say what you like," continued the first speaker, "-but 1 attended a society gathering last night, and 1 tedi you the slang used by the young ladies, waus just, such as I had heard in places 'where nioralhy is not, and where plea sure is the omay ob'ject. 1 wvas in conversation wvith Mims , when up stepp~ed a giddy creature, who cried out: 'it, wouldln't work.' 'They tumbled to time racket,' 'got on to mae,' and, 'I had to cheese it.' it seems thait site wantedl to p~lay a joke on some one of the company, out, they had discovered lier before shmehad time to carry out, her designs. Btit I was simply horruiled when the young lady with whonm I was conversing upb~raided her friend for her stupidity, in language like this: 'Well, I must say you're a 'pretty plum,' to let thbem 'guys' 'twig' our little 'scheme.' Why didn't, you 'douse the glim'? You just, fell right over yourself.' "'Why, gentliemen, .1 terd mnore of that kindi of talk ini an hour than I could iepeat Ia a day, and I repeat, my assertion that, thme conversation of soci ety is soaked clear through with 'salang 01f the slums,' and the dictionary is obso lete." Theo Origin of Whiint,. Whlst 18 a wvell-known game at cards, wIch requires great attention and sIlence; hence the name. To lie a good whilst liayer requires not only very high mental and intemlectual power, bust considerable study andl long practic. This fIne game has always cousnaded the attention of men of the first order of mind. WImst is unquestilonably of English orim, though to the tinmo andi place os its birth we (10 not possess any precise evlen~ce. Whilst, Is not mientionmed by Shakespeare, nor by any wrier of thme Elhzabethan era, from which we may. infer that thme gamne was then scarcely in exlstence. Th~e game seems to have manifested seductive powers in 1680, for Taylor, the water poet,, mentions whist as Inducing thme prodigal to "fihng hIs money free wihs caeesns. It us prob able that at this period thme character and friends of whist t5ero decidedly low. Whilst oven appears in the "lock-up" in the questionable company of Jonathan WIld. Fielding recordls that when the ingenious Count ha itusso was domiciled with Gecof fery Snap (who enjoyed ofice under the Sheriff of London), his countship spught to beguilo the tedium of his la-door exIstence by recourse to the amusements of the day. A Wonan Blacksanlth. At one forge later on, between nine and ten o'clock, in fact, I discoverod a female nailer working under disadvantages that might have daunted an anchor smith. Whether she had a husband whose absence was accounted for by his being addicted to beer-shop fogging, or whether she had no husband, I did not ask her, and she did not tell me. Anyhow, she was working alone, and she spoke of having "all these brats" to pr ovide for, as though the whole responsi bility rested on her poor narrow shoulders, the bones of which were so sharp that they threatened to cut through the flimsy mate rial that covered them every time she tugged at the heavy bellows. There were four little children, the oldest about seven, the youngest at baby in "long clothes"-in a calico bedgown, in fact, and nothing else. This solitary article of rainient had once been white, but was now approaching the complexion of a coal-sack, Tihe two children who came between the eldest and the youngest were disporting in the ashes, anid puninielling each other's awfully dirty little bodies in a fierce strug gle for the mnuigled remains of a woodi doll. There was only its carcass let, and its hair was singed off its head, and the paint on its face all rcorched and blistered bnt the two infant nailers could not have fought for it more furiously had It been the choicest prize in Mr. Creiner's collection. The other two children-the oldest and the youngest, the former acting the part of nurse to the latter-were de posited in a kind of wooden cradle that shared with the bellows the hearth where the fire was. The baby was shrieking, and the boy was shout ing out. a hymin in a vain endeavor to quiet It. One way and another, the mother, poor soul-she was quite a young woman-seined well-nigh distracted as she banged away at her work,Ibent seemingly on getting some set task done; the perspiration streamed down her face as though she was crying. She stuck to her work, however, and kept the sparks flying, showers of them be sprinkled the occupants of the cradle, but without producing the least effects on those young salaianders-until a shriller thriek than hitherto caused the woman to throw duwn her hammer and take the child on ic lap as she sat dow n on the nose of the anvil. "Hard world" "It is just that, master," she remarked, in reply to an observation of mine; "and often I wish I was in heaven, and out of it all, 'pon my soul and body, I do; I raloy get, so sick of iti" And as she took the 'sooty handkerchief from her head and wiped her wet face with it, a milderform ofasseveration would have satisfied inc of the probability of the change suggested being tolier advantage. It was in vain she tried to pacify the squalling child at her lean bosom. "iush, then, and inammy'll spare a pen ny for half a pint of beer presently, and said the poor soul, as protesting against tle nockery offered it, the little rebel stiffened itself out, and ref used either to unbend or leave olf shrieking. "11aven't I got no help in working 'em all? No, master, I've got no help. How inuch can I earn? Well, its right-down sla% cry to earn a penny anhour at it. More often-especially when this young tin o' mine is cross -it isn't more than *muepence for the whole day. No; we don't quite live on that, sir, I'm 'lowanced two lonves a week, but it's nigh on four miles to fetch 'em, so I don't know, reckoning the loss of time, that I'm much richer alter all. I'm sure I don't know what's coming to the work, and the priee they're giving for It. It's almost as bad is chain -making." "Is that, worse than nail-making?" "For the women it Is. Just you go to Cradley and ask 'em." it was too late to follow her advice that night but I did so next day. A Courtiing in the Oldon Days. Thirty years ago, Michigan people were a frank and truthful set. fitrangers could conie here and trade horses with their eyes shut, and breach of promise cases were uniknown. F"olks meant what they said, and when they gave their word stuck to it. Exactly thirty years ago this month, a man alpeared in Lansing oni business. Tihme same business carried hini over to D~eWitt, eight miles away. While on the way he steppled at a log farm house to warmi his cokil lingers, ie was warmly welcomedl by the pioneer and hits wife, both of whomi were well along in years, and after sonie general talk, the woman queried: "Anm I right in thinking you are a wid ower?" CYs." "Did you come out here to find a wife?" 'Partly." *"Did any body tell you of our Busie?" "Well we've got as bouncing a gi of twenty-two as ever you set eyes onc. She's good lookmng, hea.tthy and good tempered, and I think she'll like your looks." "Where ms she?" "Over in the woodls, there, chopping (Iowa a coon tree. Shall I blow the horn for her." "No. If you'll keep an eye on my horse I'll find her." "Well, there's nothing stuck up or af fected about Susie. She'll say yes or no as soon as she looks you over. If you want her, dhon't be afraid to say so." Tnae stranger heard the soundt of her axe andi followoui it. lie found her just as the tress were readly to tll. She was a stout, good-looking giirl swinging the axe line a an, and mi two minutes lie had decided to say: "Susie, I'm a widower from New York state; i'mi thirty-nIne years old, have o~ne child, own a good farm, and I want a wife. Will you go back home with moe?" She leaned on the axe and looked at him for half a minute and then replIed: "Can't say for certain. J ust wait till 1 get these coons off any nmind. She sent the tree crashim( to the eartl., and with his help killed live coons whicin wee stowedh away in a hollow. "Well, what uo you say?" lie asked, ei the last coon was stopped iromi kicking. "I'm your'nl" was the reply; "aiid b~r the time you get back fromi DeWitt I'dh have these pelts off ai'.d tacked up and c ready for the proachierl" .lie returnedi to the hbuse, told the iolks that lie should brioc a preacher back ':ith imu, and at dusk tuat evening, the twain were mrrrkd. hardly an hour had been wasted In courting, and yet he took home one of tho best girls in the hState of Minhigan. The Wonders of siaicry. A very striking illustration of the possibility of mimicry without drollery was afforded once by the famous Coulon, who may be described as at once the fool and physician at the Court of one of the Louis. le actually mimicked the deceased Minister Villele with such accuracy as to afford the means of painting what has been declared to be a wonderfully faithful por trait. It appeared that after the deatt of the minister his friends were grieved to find that there wete no satistactory por traits of him in existence. Coulton was present when expression was given to their regret at the circumstauces, and agreed with them that no likeness of the deceased stateeman represented, as lie said, "the profound subtlety of his character and his evanescent expression." As he spoke he assumed the leatures, exlression, attitude, and toii of voice of tie depirted mua with the most staitling acuraey, and was at once requested to sit for a portrait. As to the feaures something, we suppose, must be accredited to the imagination of the beholders. The artist probably was satistied to catch the expression from the nihnic's face and to rely on hii memory or interior portraits for the delineation of fea tures, unless the two men bore a resem blance to each other to a degree which would have robbed the perloriance of uch of its merit. One oi the most re inarkable facts about the most skilful of mimics is that they are able to overcome the apparently insuperable difliculty pre seated by the endless and radical varicey of feature, and will give to a face an aspect, and expression which have been character istic of tome visage totally different in every respect. There can be do doubt also that this is the real secret of much of the power of anuiusing possessed by the mimic. 'I he vagaries of expression, voice, tone, attitude and utterance, present a constant series of striking incongruties. That which in one person requires a very keen obset vation to catch, and is not particularly st.iking when caught, is no sooner donnut by sonie totally dibsimilar person than it becomes ludicrously inccn1ruous and is found to be irresistibly aniusing. There was nothing, so tar as we are aware, specially odds about chantry, the sculptor, yet Sir EIwin Landscer once put a dinner party in a roar of laughter by cleverly per sunatng hiim. The sculptor put Landseer in his cnir at the head 01 the table, and Went hiic'seli ant stood by the lire. "Come young nnin, " said Landauer, ininitatiug to a nicety the tone and manner of the mdi vidual whose chair he occupied, "you think yourself ornanmental; now make yourself useful and ring the bell." Land seer was one of the clevereAt minics that ever lived. His slnulations were described as perfect in every particular, displaying the nicest, discrininatilon in points of char acter, and the nost astonishing accuracy. The bewildernient of the butler who, on the occasion just referred to came into whilo he heard his niastei's veice at the head of the table orderiuig more wine, was very amusing. A Straniger's Mistake, A few days ago a western merchant who wanted to do sonic sight-seeing and buy his fall stock at the same tue, entered a dry goods jobbing house on Broadway, New York, and accosted the first person lie met with : "Are you the proprietor here?" 'Not exactly the proprietor," was the re ply. "At present I am acting as shipping clerk, but I am cutting my cards for a partnership next year by organizing noon prayer-meetings in the basement." The stranger passed oi to a very imnport. ant-looking personage with a dianmond pin, and asked. "Are you the head of the house ?" "Well, no; I can't say as I am at pres ent, but I have hopes of a partncrship ini January. Fin only one of the travelers just now, but I'm laying for a $200 po0w ini an upi town church, amii that wvill man a quarter Interest here in less than six months." Thelm next man had lia feet up, lis lint back and a twenty-centsegar in his mouth. andi looked so solid that the stranger said: "You must run this establishment? "Me? Well, 1 may run it very soon. At present I'm the book-keeper, b~ut l'mm expecting to get into a church choir with the old muan's dlarliug and become an equal partner here." Th'le stranger was determined not to make another istake, lie walked around till lie fotund a man with his coat off and busy with a case of goodls, and said to him: "T1he p~orters tire kept pretty busy in here, I see." "Yes," was the brief reply. "But I suppose0 you are planning to in. vent a gospel hymn-book and sing thie old nman out of an eighth interest, aren't you ?" "Well, no, not exactly," wan the quiet reply. "I'm the 01(d man hImself." And all that the stranger saId, after a long minute spent in looking the merchant, over, was : "'Well, dturn amy butltons." An A wini Look. One day recently a boot-black stood at the south door of thme Postoilce lookIng across Larned street, Detroit. A woman camne out of the ohlica anid banged the (loor against lis head andt back and htecha and lifted hin clear oft the steps by the con cussion. "I dlon't care-you had no buslness there I" she snapped, as lie picked himself up. "Say, that was real mean," ho said, as lie -rubbed his head. "Well, then, keep away from the doors." "I was goen' to make you a Christmas present," lie renmarked as lie followed her up Larned street.. "I dlon't want anmy. "Yes, I was goin' to buy you a fifty paund sack of flour and p~ut It, in your stockin'." 'I Uon't carol''" "That's what I was goln' to do, but I've co:'cluded not, te. Yer see, it would slip dowii into U' . foot of yer stockla' an' lit so chis that ye couldn't git it out without bumldin' a stagin' an' hiirin' carpenters an' goin' to amore trouble than the flour was worth?". Bhe gave him one awful look and lie fell back, but she had no sooner turned the corner than she halted before a window for no other purpose than to get a sly look at her feet and see If they had swelled any since she left honeo. NEWS. IN BRIEF. -There are 35.000 more females than mates In Philadelphia. -There are at least 100,000 Idle young men lu Now York city. -There are abotit 3,000 Indians in extreme southern Caliornia. -.'he earl of Beaeonsaield Is visit ing the Queen at Windsor cast1e. -The Reading Railroad rolling mill is turning out 90 tons of rails per day. -During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1880, 75,430 Canadians c.ame to the Uited States. -Buenos Ayres has been eelected as the definite capital of the Argentine Catnfederation. -In England there are ]00 science and art schools, with an attendance of 00,000 students. -Mary Anderson purchased $5,000 worth of diamond3 during a recent visit to St. Louis. -There are in the United States 727 paper wills, making 1,800 tons a day of-* all kinds of paper. -Te Government of the Argentine Republic offers to make a lanid-grant for an Irish colony. - -Nearly one-eighth of the commer cIal pOpulatlon of the city of Boston Is composed of shop girls. -Washington Territory posse~sos 20,000,000 acres "of the finest tLimber land on the face of the earth." -Tiei total value of the property oc. cupied by the religious orders in Paris amounts in all to 110,500,000 franes. -The Boston an d Providence Rill road made $422,179 the past year above expenses, and paid 8 per cent, in dividends. -The first settlemea t of Mennonites in Minnesota was made in 1876. Three years latter the community iumbered 2,841 members, -Buddhism is rapidly losing its hold in Jaipan. Since 1873, in a single district, 71 temples have been diverted to secular uses. -Senator Thurman, it is reported, intends to live permanently in Wash ington and practice at the bar of the Supreme Court. -There are in the United Stales 343, 888 wiles of postal routes, which, Iu. ciiding all expenses, cost annually about $22,000,000. -The geographial center of the United States is at 95 (log. 47M mib. west longitude, which is about the vicinity of Omaha. -Carriage building has become one of the great American industries. The trade employs 75,000 men and they hold an annual convention. -Tiffany & Co., of New York, hava just recelyed a yellow diamond valued it $30,000. It is beautifully out, ind land 5000 reaping machines, and mioro than 1000 thrashing maohnes, of which :174 are worked by steam-po wer. -Olikosh has the largest match factory in the world. In one year 2, 000,000 feet of logs were consumed u.nd $300,000 worth of revenue stamps used, -''le number of yearly thorough breds from the great breeding eitab lishmuent of England sold during the past year aggregated 451, the progeny of 112 sires. -it is said that the British I'oreign Oflice has ordered Colonel Synge to re fund the ?12,000 advanced to him as his ransom from the brigands who had captured hmin. -The remains of Simon Snyder, who was governor of Pennsylvania from 1808 to 1817, lie in a church-yard ia Seilngsgrove, in that Stite, unmarked by monument or tablet. -Tie Mormon temple at Salt Lake City hase been in course of construction b r twenty years, and is not yet finish Cu. It it built of Usth granite and its total cost wvill be over $28,000,000. -T.ihe Nuns in the convent at Manilla spe'mt one year in the making of a piece of lace from theo fibres of the pineapple, and their wvork is on exhi~. bition at the Art Lean in Washington. -The Patent Office has a surplus revemnue of' $200,000 annually. Tu tun is extent there is a tax otn Inventions. As the number of patemnts taken out last year was 20.000, the average tax was $10. -In the last week of Oatober the wrecks in Europe were almost unpre cedented in niumber. The apprexinate - value of the property lost is put ait $20,000,000, of which $15,000,000 was iBritishi. -Thle Emperor WIlliam of Germany has been during the past year earning time gratItude of tihe archmelogists. lHe has defrayed from his own private purse the expenses of the excavations ait Olympia. -A silver vault, to be 18 by 12 feet, and to cost $7000, is to be built in the. Baltimore Custom Hlouse. TIhero are al present in the Sub-T'reasury there $1, U44,235.28 in fractional silver, and but $179,610 gold coin.. -Thne Prince of Wales rides about a great doini in a private hansom cab whleh has many comfortable improve ments. Among these is a. travelling clock with a luminous dial-face sot ila the contre of the splash-board. -Blaltimore 18 to have. a direot line of six steamers to Liverpool for the development of her cattie trade, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad agreesing to furnish thne freight, while Eamglish capitalists will provide the steamers. -Tihe registration of women cuali tled to vote for a school conmuitteo at the liostont municipal election shows that interest in thne suffrage qustion 1w declining. Th'ie number this year is 772, a failing off of 217I from the regls, try of' 1879. -According to statistics made by one who has an opportunlty of knowlitg, there are 13,)0,000l milkc cows in the United States, 54,000,000 acres of land to furnish toed I or that nualbor, it4e milk produced by the oows annually at 12 cents a gallon is worth $095, 70, --The first ,lhghthiouse' ini loa4~ was built at B~racllint, thai d to Nantuckos Imr bor, In 174~~s# light was nmain'eained tl ere fo~ri \i liye years, - througfip Ate ads~~pU~ tions of the iertian jio fore 1lt passed iid 1 of the United Stat*YjMA