Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I- W E D I T I O N - W . .PE,.TD 1 TIWEEKLY EDITION. WINNSBORO. S. C., SEPTEMBER 2,18.~D s~ THE MEADOW-LARK'S COLORS. One lovely norning In the bright September, A meadow-lark rose gayly singing with the sun, And took his flight o'er plains and hills and va'leys, To where the reapers had their work begun. Over the golden field a breeze was creeping, Moving its masses in a gentle swolli And many a brawny husbandinau was reaping The grain that laughed and nodded as it fell. Iligh.polsed lit air the meadow-lark remaining, Watched with a sigh the blooming rye laid low, Till a dark cloud across the sitn's face passing, Robbed the still-dying grain of half its glow. Then up front out his little heart came welling, A song so full of pity and of love, As pierced the perfumed air of early morning, Ascending even to the throne of Jove. The warrior god heard with a deep compassion The song that imarked the bird's o'erwhelming grief, And vowed that he should ever wear a token, That he had sympathized and sent relief. lie spoke. The cloud, the mighty word obeying, Changed to a rainbow floating In the sky, While sunbeams all untrammeled now come troop ing - Up the sweet valley to the field of rye. One,the inost brilltaipt,thro' tie ripe grain bursting, On a scythe lighted for a moment's rest, Then upward glancing, the great Jove obeying, Fell with warm kisses on the lark's dark breast. Anti to this day the meadow-lark is wearing The richest color that o'er greets the eye, A merry sunbeam's radiance, tempered By the rich bloom that blossoms on the rye. NELMIE'S MILSTAKE. Nellie Graham stood leaning against the casement of an open window leading on to a sloping lawn, at whose base flowed a sunny, rippling stream of wa ter. Near her, reclining on a low, easy chair, sat a young girl of about her own age. At first glance the exquisite goul-lovo liness of her face paled in Miss Graham's more brilliant beauty, but there was more to love itri possessor and fewer to envy her. Something like indignation was in her voice as she addressed her friend. "I cannot believe that you mean it, Nellie," sho said. "You have been en gaged to Carol Stanley i year, and how can you say so carelessly that your en gagement shall be brokon-" "Bog pardon," interrupted the other, in low ironical tones. "I have not yet been engaged to Carol Stanley twenty four hours. It was to Lord Carol Stan ley I gave my pledge." "Oh, but Nellie, because he has lost title and estate, must lie also lose the woman of his love? Think a minute. You surely will not give him up so easily? Think better of it, dear. I know you care for him. Do not so lightly renounce your life's happiness. "You plead his cause eloquently, my doar. Really I did not know I possessed a rival in my fair cousin. Perhaps a heart caught in the rebound. You know the rest of course, and can point the moral." "Nellie, you are cruel-cruel I I-" But the late speaker had passed through the open window out of hear-. ing, and advanced to met a man quick 'y approaching on the green sward, while the young girl left behind fell back in her chair, the great tears cours ing down her cheeks, on which the crim son color signal flamed. "I must leave this p)lace. I cannot meet him again. I must go home 1 Butt, oh ! how can sihe give him up ?" Myra Lynne and Nellie Graham were cousins. The girls, however, had been closely united, more by the tie of friend ship titan cousinship, since the latter was a distant bond, and Graham Court was almost as munch Myra's home as her Now, however, the p)laiiner charms of her own humublo home were very grate full to her. Here no one could probe the discovery so neow to herself-coldl trace the scar let blusht which semed so often to hurn her eheek, until she wondered that it did not leave its brand. She had b)een homoe six weeks, and twvice Catrol Stanley had ridden over to see her, lbut alto always denied herself to him oni some housoltold p)retext, un-. til one mo rning he overtook her in the road. "So I am to find you at last," he said. His voice sounided the same as of old, thme bright checery tone was unchanged. "Hfavan you seen Nellie lately ?" she at last found courage at ask. ''No," he answoeredl, and then she saw time frown gather on his brow, and an expression of p)ain Comoc about his lips. "I s30 as little of your cousin as possi ble unow. You know, Miss Lynno, I am do longer a subject for congratula "'Yes, I km.ow," site said. "'I-" "'Don't pity me," he intterrup)ted. "'I can't bear that quite yet." "'I dra nmot mean to p)ity you," she re And thon the conversation drifted into other channels. "'Oh, if Nollio had not spoken of the heart caught iln the rebound 1" she thought, when week after week Carol Stanley wouild find his way to their gar (1en, ot the pIarlor, to spend long hours vith its'fair young mistress. She understood so wvell why lhe came, because now and( thten Nellie's name drifted inito the idle talk, and because as he grew strongetr hie dared speak of her and the love he had borneo her. It was a mningled pain and pleasure to liston. If only alhe hadl not loarnda her own heart, thme paiin would have been 1068. But she was destined to learn it more fatally yet, as pne morning, strolling through the wpods together, the sharp report of a hunter's gun close beside a them startled them both. The next instant her companion sank. white and senseless on the sw.,rd loesido C her, while the affrighted hunter, whose mis-aimed charge haL..__ered his arm, hastend forward. "Bring assistance quiolkly I" exclaimed Myra, while she raised the heavy head to her lap. "Carol, speak to me I" she moaned. "Carol, Carol !" He opened his eyes with a half-wan doring look, as though delirium must have overtaken him. t At this instant the hunter returned with assistanco, and a half hour later the wounded man had boon borne to Myra's home, the wound dressed, and the 0 knowledge given that it was merely a flesh hurt, painful but not dangerous; i yet his recovery was a tedious affair. g He grew moody and abstracted. It gave him more time to think of Nellie and his loss, Myra thought, even while she wondered why his eyes fol lowed her with such a strange, question ing look. Once she entered his room with some freshly-cut flowers in her hand. "Where shall I put them, Mr. Stan ley ?" she questioned. "Mr. Stanley," he answered. "bid f I not once hear you call me Carol ? Or t was it a sweet fancy wafted from dream land ?" . "Don't," she said, as though he had hurt her, and hastened from the room, bearing with her the flowori, and it seemed to him tfle light and sunshine. Had he boon blind all this time, and was he just beginning.to see ? A grand ball was to be given at Gra ham Court, at which Nellie insisted that f, Myra should be present. 1 The invalid was fully recovered now, t and he too was summoned to the feast. 11 Miss Graham had piniged into con- 0 stant gaiety since the breaking of her c engagement to Carol Stanley, but it had d all failed to fill the empty place in her a heart. I On the evening of her ball, she picked d up the paper sent down by the after noon's mail. Glancing idly over its pages, she sud denly started at seeing the name of the man to whom she so lately had been be trothed. . It was a published decision of the i, court that, owing to some disability, the title could not descend to Carol a Stanley's cousin, but, together with the estates, must remain in his posses sion. He was, then, Lord Stanley still. Fool that she had been ! But the decision had been made pub- t lie but a few hours. He would never dream of the acci- 0 dent which had biought it to her know- d ledge. s To-night, while he still thought her in 1 ignorance, she must win him back. t It was late when he entered the spa cious drawing rooms. r "I have been waiting for you," she 1 said, in her sweetest, lowest tones. "You honor me too gr.eatly, Miss Gra- C ham," he replied. I "Lot us go into the conservatory," ~ she addcd. "It is cooler there." C He offered his arm. C From a distant corner of the room, Myra saw them. "She need not- have feared," she ~ thought, b)itterly, only the next moment to reproach herself with her selfishness. C "I wvill not begrudge him any happi- ~ ness," she said t'o herseolf. "Have you forgotten the last time we wore here together, Mr. Stanley ?" Nel lie was asking at this moment. "No," lie answered, gravely, looking ~ quietly but surprisedly into the beauti fuil face beside him. "Can one ever retrieve a mistako," ~ she a.sked, "'when one finds it out ?" "I do not know," lie replied, toying with an exquisite rose beside him, as lie continued: "Can one cause the rose blighted in ~ inidaumimer to bloom again in the frosts of winter ?" An hour later Carol Stanley 1l(d Miss Eyinno to the samie spot. "'I love you, Myra," lie said, simp~ly. "I thought my heart was dead whein I met you. I know now that it has never lived. My darling, will you he my wife ?" "Oh Carol, nre you sure, sure of your self ?" "'I have been' made sure to-night," lie answered, drawing her close to his heart, and breaking off the splendid rose with I which he had toyed an hour before, to I place it in her hair. She was too happy to question his words or their imeaning--to happy even to let Miss Graham's congratulations sting, when she saidl, scornfully : ''A heairt caught in the rebounnd. Did I not tell you so ?" Too happy even to be made happier wvhen she learned she was to share no10 humble lot with the man she loved, but that her wedding day made her Lady Myra Stanley. Beware of bosom sins. Brevity is the soul of wit.1 Business is ,tho soul of life. As you sow, so shall you realp. Be always at leisure to do good. At a great bargain pause awhile., Theatrical Effects. Many of the peculiar offects produced pon the stage, imitating moonlight, unlight, thunder, wind, rain and other atural phenomena, are a puzzle to those utside of the business. How such re listic representations of these things as ro often witnessed upon the stage can 10 made is a question that often enters he mind of the spectator, and is seldom nswerod in a satisfactory manner. It ; always the ambition of the scene paint rs and stage carpenters to deviso im ,roved methods of imitating these things, nd hence the stage may be said to try :> hold the mirrar up to nature in a ma 3rial, as well as moral sense. Years of xperience have tended to bring these nitations to a high state of excellence ; ut the limits do not yet scem to be reach d, and new are continually appearing. he electric light is not yet used, but as a pale bluish tint would be serviceable i particular offects, stage machinists are ow deliberating how it can be best em loyed. All of the operations mentioned )gotler with som, which will be do 3ribed, are classet' under the goneral )rm, "stage effects." Authors, in writ ig plays are always on the lookout for n opportunity to produce a telling effect. 'ho amount of work bestowed upon tioir production in a theatre is simply stonishing to those unacquainted with tat mysterious realm known as "behind hle scones." Thunder is a common stage efrect, and i used with great advantage in many lays. In former days it was produced y shaking a large piece of sheet iron ung immediately abovo the prompter's esk. This contrivance produced a good nitation of sharp, rattling thunder, but tiled to give the dull roar which is iways heard in storms. A contrivance )r this purpose was soon invented. A envy box frame is made, and over it is ghtly drawn a calf skin. Upon this the rompter operates with a stick, one end f which is padded and covered with hamois skinl. A flash of lightning, pro ted with magnesium, and a sharp rack of the sheet iron, followed by a mg decreasing roll upon the "thunder rui," produces all effect which is start ugly realistic. Traveling conpanies re compolled to be satisfied with the hoet iron alone ; and the tragedian who uters a theatre provided with a com loto thunder apparatus always is happy > think that his battle with the elements i "King Lear" will be worth fighting. The rain machine in largo theatres is fixture placed high up in the "flies." cylinder is made of half inch wood. t is usually five feet in circumference, nd four feet in longth. Upon the in [de are placed rows of small wooden 3eth. A lot of dried peas is placed in 1c cylinder, a ropo belt. is run around no end of it and down to the prompter's eak, and it is ready for a drenching liower. By turning the cylindor, th' ens roll down between the teeth, and le nois produced by them makes a ood imitation of rain falling upon a >of. A sudden pull of the rope, accom anlied by i gust oil the'"wind machine," ives the sound of the sweep of a blast f wind during a storm. Traveling com anlies often meet theatres where there lien wind machine. A suflciently good lno, hloweier, is easily pJrodiucd. A omnmon child's 1hoo1 is ob)tainled, and a hooet of hleavy b)rownl paper is pasted p)on it after tile manner of a circus idier's balloon. A hlandful of birdshot placed upon01 the p)apor. Tihe ''ma hino" is canted from one side to tihe thor, and( tile shot rolls arounid the pa icr, producing a fairly good rain ofTet. Wind is ani item thlat is very useful in ceightening thle effect of stage storms. It of ten dispemksed with ini theatres where trict attenitioni is not p)aid to details, b)ut ot withouit a loss of ''realism." It hafl, Lmoreover, a great iniflulence over the aelings of tile spectators. The11 blindl ~ouise in the "Two Orphlans" is muchl sore pitied wheni the audience can hear lhe pitiless blasts that make hecr shliver. lence in every large theatre the wind nachiine plays an imp)ort.ant part. It is Lot a staitionary app)aratus, but, can be nioved to any quarter of the compass r'om which it is desired that wind should1( slow. In the last act of "Ours," every ime tile door .ofgo hut opens sno0w flies n amnd a shriek of wind is heard. Tile vind machine iln that inastance is laced ulst outside tile door ; and tile propert,y nan works it wile his assistanit amuises iimself by trying to throw his p)aper now down Lord Shendryn's back. Tile vind machlino is constructed in this man icr :& heavy framoe is made, in which a set a cylinder provided with paddles Iua resembling very muhl the stern vhieols soon on Ohio River tow-boats. icross tile top of thlis cylinder is stretch das tightly as possible a piece of hleavy gros-grain silk. This silk remains sta ionary while tile wheel is tuirned b)y a rank. Tile rap)id passage of the paddles ucross the suIrfaco of tile silk p)roduces he noise of wvind1. Of ten traveling comn ~anies are in thleatreus where there is no vind nmachline. T1henl the p)roporty manl groans auldibly,anid proceeds to (do whlat, ni thleatrical parlance is called "'faking'' ho wind. He selects a heavy picce of gas ho0se, called by stago'gasi-meni "flexi >lo," and finding a quiet corner whore ~here is sulfilicnt space0 to swing a cat Aithout danger-- to the cat--he whirls it round 1his head with the greatest possi )le rapidity. This method produces very satisfactory results-to every ono but the property man. He is a long suffering person ; but the extraction of wind from "Ilexible" causes him to find life tedious. Every one has heard the startling crash that is produced when the hero kicks the villain through a four-inch oaken door. One would think that not only the door but the villain must be completely shattered. This noise is pro duced by the crash machine, one of the oldest implements of imitation still used on tho- stage. It is similar to the wind machino in construction. A wheel with paddles set at an angle of about forty fLvo degrees to the radii is the main part of the machine. Upon the top of the wheel one end of a stout picao of wood is pressed down by f-Astening the other end to a portion of the framework. When the wheel is turned, the slats passing under the stationary piece produce a rattling crash. The principle of the ma chine is illustrated by the small boy who runs a stick along a paling fence and is gratified by introducing into the world an additional morsel of hubbub. There is nothing that can be so well counterfeited on the stage as moonlight scenery. And yet there is nothitig which requires more work. The artist begins the task by painting a moonlight scene. In daylight such a scene is a ghastly sight. It is done in cold grays and greens, in which Prussian blue and burnt umber play an important part; and the lights are put in with white slightly tinged with emerald green. The strong moonlight of the foreground is produced by a calcium light thrown through a green glass. The winter light upon the scenery at the back of the stage is obtained from "green mediums," a row of argand burners with green chim neys. These are placed upon the stage inst in front of the main scene, and are "masked in" from the view of the audi ence by a "ground piece." A row of them is often suspended from tho"flies," in order to light the top of the scene. This upper row is masked in by "sky borders." Thus a soft green light is thrown over the entire distance, while its sourco does not meet the view of the spectator. A usual feature of stage moon light scenes is water, because it affords in opportunity for the introduction of the "ripple"-a charmin gly natural stage effect. The main scene in a moonlight view is always.painted on a "'drop"-that is, a scene made like the curtain let clown between the acts. The 'position of the moon being determined, imnmedi rtely under it. beginning at the horrizon, L number of small irregular holes is cut in the drop. These are then covered on lie back with muslin and painted over :n the front to match the rest of the water. Behind these holes is placed an 3ndless towel, about eight feet in length running around two cylinders, one at the top and one at- the bottom. The lower cylinder has a crank by which the towel is turned. In this towel is cut a number of holes similar to those cut in the drop. A stron,' gas burner is placed between the two sides of the towel. When tIe machine is turned the flashing of the light from the passing holes in the towel through the stationary ones in thes drop produce a fine riplel. It is always b)etter to turn the towel so that the holes pass upward, as that helps to make the mi,nic wavelets seem to dance up toward the sky. Instead of a towel a large tin cylinder has been used,but it is cuimber some and noisy. It is necessary to turn this towel wvith great steadiness ; other-. wivie thme ripplhp will go by fits and starts and entirely lose their natural appear anlce. Stars alrc easily p)ut into the sky. Each twinkling orb consists of a spangle hung upon a pin bent into a double hook. The slightest motion of the drop causes these stars to shake and the flash ing of the light upon01 them produces the twinkle. Tomn Ochiltree',, Hat. I was sitting in tihe court yard of the United States IIotel talking with the ma nager of a Now York newspapcr. Colonel "Tonm" Ochiltree, the veteran horseman, walked past. "I will tell you a goodi story about Ochmiltrec," said tile newspaper man. ''There are two things that lhe is 'Very Iondl of-a small fancy hat is one of them; the ether is telling a whooping yarn, inducing his hearers to believe it, and then letting them know it is all gain. mon. TJnere are two rival hatters in New York, as everybody knows. We will call thenm Smith and( Briown. I saw a p)ara graph gomng the rounds of the press about Ochiltree goimig imto thme 8t. Charles Hotel inm New Orleans wearing a very handsome and very far.cy little embroidered smoking calp. QO of his friends asked him where he got it. 'Why,' said lhe, 'one of the prettiest andi sweetest young ladiea you ever saw made It for me.' Presently one of the friends managed to get the hr in his hand, and saw printed on the insidt of it, In big gilt letters, 'Smith, the hatter,' an advertisement that at once exploded the pretty young ladIy story. I clippedt the paragraph out and printed It," the newspaper man continuied, "but changed thme naime of the hatter fronm Simith to Brown, for Brown was one of our patrons and Smith wasn't. The (day after the pa ragraphi appearedl Smith rushed up to me and asked, 'How the dleuce (lid that para graph about Oshiltree's hat happen to get into your paper with Isrown 's name put in?i Why, do you know I pani $1 a line to have that put in the other papers, and here you have knocked all the wind out of It for me and ruined my advertisement I" -Cork trees are raised in Georgia. -Nevada has fifteen daily newspapers. -Cato loarmed Grcek after his six centh year. The Arctic Probisisn. Captain Delaney, of the Arctic mail ,teamer Kite, says : Since we loft Nain, a vast body of prodigiously heavy field ice has swept southward from Bailln's Bay, through Davis's Straits, extending eastward on the one hand toward the shores of Greenland, and westward on the other all along the coast of Labra dor. Between Independent Harbor and Dumpling there is a fleet of over 400 fishing vessels literally imprisoned in icy walls and unable to effect an escape either in a northerly or southerly direc tion. The Kite broke through the ice nip pressing tgainst the land only after a continous ramming of the smallor floes during twelve successive hours. When leaving Battle Harbor to proceed on his northerly courso Captain Delancy ox pressed a decided opinion that he would not b able to advance any further north than Holton Harbor, which lies about twenty-five miles South of Cape Harri son. Although the Kito is an Arctic whaling and sealing steamer she is not fitted, even with all lier enormous strength, to cope with this terrible sea of floe ice that is now precipitating itself into the North Atlantic basin. Captain Delaney describes as a continent of ice the unbrokon, pallid, congealed ocean that stretches away eastward from that portion of the Lal;rador coast where the four hundred vossels are more complete Ly blockaded, than if they were detained there by a hostile naval squadron at liat tle Harbor. The weather is described is of absolute wintry coldness down to the 25th ultimo. There was frost every uight sufficient to solidify congealed water, and on soveral days previously the atiosphere and water were so bit terly aini intensely cold as to obstruct the fishermen very materially in their lshig operations. Toking, thon, the two reliable reports of Captain Delaney into considoration, the one written at Nain and published in the Herald of the 20th of July, and the other at Battle Harbor, separated, too, in poiit of time by an interval of sonio fourteen days, we cannot but rea sonably conclude that a condition of things almost the very opposite of that now < escribed obtains in the region at present being traversed by the Arctic exploring steamer Protons. Ice and frost are the ruling phononemnobserved dlown to within one bare week of the pro sent dato and as far south as the fifty second parallel of north latitude, while on the other hand, northward of Nain and b)low Cape Chudbergh, ice fields tormed tile exception Oven as early as the first weeks of June, and the atmos phere was of genial summer mildness. Animals In War. Men and animals are able to sustain themselves for long distances in the wiater, and would do so much oftoner were they not incapacitated, in regard to the former at least, by slicer terror, as well as complete ignoranco of their real p)owers. Webb's. wonderful endurance will never b forgotten. But there are other instances only less remarkable. Boio years since, the mate of a ship fell overboard while in the act of hoisting a sail. It was blowing fresh; the timo was night, and the place some miles out in the stormy German Ocean. The hardy follow nevertheless managed to gain the English coast. Brock, with a dozen other pilots, was plying for fares by Yarmouth; and as the mainsheot was blayed,a sudden puf of wind upset the boat, whlen all perished excep)t Brook himself, whlo, from four in the afternoon of an October day to one the next morn ing, swamn thirteen miles b)efore lhe was ab)le to hail a vessel at anchor in anl oft ing. Animals themselves are capable of swimming immense distances, al though unable to rest by thle way. A dog recently swamn 6hirty miles in order to rejoin his master. A mule and a dog washed overboard during a gale in the Bay of Biscay have beenu known to make their way to shlore. A dog swvam ashore with a letter in his mouth at the Oape of Good Hope. Th'le crewv of the shipl to whichl tile dog belonged all perIlhed, which they need not have done had they venturedl to tread water as the dog did. As a certain ship wvas laboring heavily in the rough of the sea, it was found need fuil in order to lighlten the vessel, to throw some troop horses overboard, whaich had boon taken taken in at the Corunna. The poor things, my infor mant, a staff Burgeon, told me, when they found themselves ab an doned, faced round and swam for miles after the ves sol. A mnan on the east coast of Lincoln shire saved quite a number of lives by swiming out on horseback to vessels in distress. He commonly rode an 01(1 gray mare, but when the mare wvas not to hand lho took the first horse thlat was Thet Vellow WVater LHly. John James Audubon first discovered the yellowv water lily in Florida, and mentioned it ; but none of the b)otanlists of tile time could ever find it, and it was conciluded that Audubon must hlave been mlistaken. A few ycars aLgo, however, Mrs. Treat redliscoveredl the plant in Florida. Since then speciecns of it have beeni sent to variouls p)arts of the world. 1t is, however, a rare p)lant, and until this summner hans neover been known to bloom away from its native home. There is another specimen now in bloom at the Kew Gardenu, London. In shape thlis rare flower resembles the well. known white water lily. It is smaller, hlowever. Tho blossom is of a bright canary yellow, measuring nearly two inches in diameter, The Toaves are very becautiful. They are hleart-shaped and variegated in color, The top i green, flecked with purple, and the undler sidoe ia bright nurlO red.? The Eagle. The original bird chosen as the syn bol of the United States always had a bad reputation. Franklin said its adop tion was a mistake. It was not a dis tinctly American bird, to begin with. The turkey would have been more ap propriate, and was a product of the soil. Audubon always lamented the selection. To him Franklin wrote that the bald or American eagle was a bird of bad moral character. "He does not get his living honesty,land,liko those mon who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor. Besides, he is a rank coward; the little king bird, not bigger than a spar row, attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district." . On the other hand, there is a distinc tivo txait of the eagle which will satisfy and gratify those who hold that the United States is tho field in which, woman has assorted her superity to man, and sucoceded in governing him, even when he does not know it. In this re spect the American eagle is a fit emblem of the people whose symbol he is. For observers say that the bald American eagle is under propor subjugation to his spouse. "The females are even braver and florcer than the males," just as the American women on both sides woro du ring the war. She also stretches her wings to the utmost extent over the nest, a1nd all that the male brings to put into it, as if she were the sole pro prietor of it. And even the most casual obsorver of American life will recognize in this correspondence deterinination of the American woman to run her house and household largely to suit herself, leaving to her husband tho duty of pro viding for it and paying the bills. Considering, too, the tendency of the American imale to prematuro baldness, which is universally attributed to fenimalo supremacy,the bald eagle is an especial ly appropriato symbol. It is true, the naturalistssay,lhe is whitc.headed rather than bald, but the general ofet is the same. And if the American eagle is cow ardly and allows a smaller bird to bully him, yet this is not so foreign to tho American people as might appear at first glance. In Franklin's timo it was not so perhaps, but in these days when a Jay Gould or a Vanderbilt, a gas coi pany or any other corporation can take all it wants by putting on a bold front, the ratio between any of these and the American people, is very much the Ramie as that betwoon the small bird and the big American eagle which is able to bully. So that Franklin to the contrary,those who choso the American eaglo selected better than they know. Major Max. "I do so pity those mon on the Rod gors," remarked Mrs. Mfax, passing the Major the honey, which he always in sisted upon having with his rice cakes. ''Yes, indeed," replied the Major,who was a triflo cynical that morning, hav ing scalded his mouth with coffee. "Yes, indeed, my dear, the life of an Arctic explorer must be hard. They are so isolated from the wo,rld. Jiust imagiino, if you can, the horror of living three years out of the dust an(d wind and fog arid raiin of our glorious climate ; of riot meetinig all that time the man at your clumb who thinks thme of tener a story is told the better it is ; of being without the consolation afforded you by the bursted stock operator who knows you are glad of an op)porturnity to lend him a twenty ; of being where millinery and Japamnesc deeoration stores do riot dlaily entralp ones wife ; of being-" ''Why, Major, how you (10 talk I I was only thinking of tire horrid things the Rodgers crew will have to do to get their bear steaks." ''How's that ?" asked the Major, in stantly interested over tIre subject of steaks, which he ho'.ds of much greater importance than the Irish land trou, blos. '"What I know about it," resumed Mirs. Max, "'I read in a fashion panper, andl it ought to be true." "It certainly ought to be, Mrs. Max, if only on account of its age." "'Well, the article said," corntiinued Mirs. Max, protondling to ignore then Major's slur on her favorite reading, "that Arctic exlorers, when they want to kill a Polar bear, p)lant a b)ig knife in the ico wvith the blade sticking up. They daub the blade with blood, aind the bear comes aloiig and licks it and cuts its tongure. It is so cold that ho doesn't feel the cut ; tasting his owvn blood, lie continues to lick the knife until his tongue is all frayed, and lhe b)leeds to death. Isn't it dreadful ?" "Quiet your fears, my dear," said the Major, when his wife had finished. "That is thre way they killed thre bear when thre story wvas first published, but ini the last twenrty years an improvement has been made, which I will tell you about, if you will kindly give me just a drop) more of coffee, with cold milk this time. Thie way thme thing is doino now is as follows :Whon Captain Berry, of thre Rodgers, wants a P'olar b)ear for dinner he gives a midshipman a cppper bedl spring arid a chunk of salt p)ork. The midshipman compresses the spring p)erfoctly flat, wriaps the pork around it tight and( holds it so until it freezes solid Then thoe frozen pork, stuffed wvith tobed spring, is thrown out to the nearest iceberg, where it is p)romp?t Ily swallowed by a Polar bear. When thre heat of the bear's stomach thaws out the por1k it releases thme spring, which flies out, and tIre bear soon (lies from a pain in Iris side." "Major," said Mrs. Max, with warmth. "I don't believe thait story is true." "No, my dear', and you won't, until, in a few years, you see it in some fashion paper, and then you will swear by It "Them Doctors." I had just unfolded the daily and set tied back in the seat for a pull at the news, when she reached over and poked me in the neck with her yellow parasol and called out: "Has them tarnal doctors killed the President yet ?" She was an old-fashioned, motherly woman, nevc r traveling without a vial of peppermint, and having a hawk's eye for every patch of smartweed and bunch of catnip along the line. "The President is ablo to sit up." "I don't believe it-don't believo one end of no such story I" she said as she left her bundles and boxes and parcels, and caie over to share my seat. "But the papers say so." "I don't keer two cents for no paperst I tell you the President hasn't bin doe tored right any of the time, an nobody kin make m believo that he's gettin, better. Young man, are you a doc tor ?" "No, mna'am." "You needn't 'mam' me, because 1'm a plain woman. It's a pity you ain't a doctor, for I could prove yo a humbug in about tw o minits I Do you know what is killing off so many folks in this country ?" "It's death, isn't it ?" "Of course it's death-death and the doctors I And them doctors have done their very best to kill the President I Do you remember what they done the day he was shot ?" "Un. Let's see! Probed for the ball and gave him morphine, didn't they ?" "Tlhey did," she replied, as she jammed the parasol in my ribs. "That's just what killed my nephew in the army. H1e was shot by a cannon ball and them doctors probed and probed and probed, and when they had got around to decide that the ball had gone clean through him and knocketI off the roof of a barn half a mile away, the poor boy was dead. Morfeon ! I have saved over 100 nay burs from tho grave, and I never sot eyes on morfeen ! How much I have pitied the poor President, and how I have wislied I was there I" "What for ?" "What fur? Why, to turn theni tar nal doctors out doors, and have the President ont chopping wood in four we(ks ! It makes inc biling mad to read their way of treating him." "What would you have done ?" "1)on't ask mo-don't ask me I I feel like spanking tho hull crowd I Have you read the papers every day ?" "Yes." "Well, have you read that they have soaked his feet ono single time since the day ho was shot ?" 'No. "Of course you haven't I Did they put horse-radish drafts on his feet ?" 'Not once." "Have they given him a smartweMd sweat ?" "No." 'Or tried mustard poultices ?" "No." "Has he had a single cup1) of catnip tea since the day he was shot ?" "No." "Have they used any flaxseed about him ?" "No." "Haven't heard of them digging any gingscn, sarsaparilla, wild turnip, sweet flag, burdock or sweet sicily ?" "'No." "No you haven't !" she exclaimed, as she just missed my nose with that ami able parasol. "All they've done is to talk about his p)ersp)iration being up to 102, his normal p)ulso and his temper ature from 90 to 98. If it was me my tempjerature would be up to 300 and I'd make things hummm I It's .thec shame facedest ease I ever heard of, and you just mark what I tell ye-that thorm tarnal doctors wvill sniff at lobelia and mnber six and turn up their noses at mustard plasters till all of a sudden the Presidlent will begin to sink, and even cold1 tea and mutton tallow won't save him !" The, Weodakeng of Steel by IIeat. Examples of the mysterious failure of steel are not uncommon, and although much of the mystery which used to at tend the qualities of steel is disappear ing before modern research,it cannot be said that increased knowledge always leads to be better confidence. One of the peculiarities of spring and tool steel which has lately been investigated by several ob)servers--Mr. Adamnson among the nunmber--is the knowvn liability of steel that is very flexible when cold to break wvhen at the b)lae annaaling tonm peraturo. It has sometimes been sup p)osed that only inferior metal is subject to this tendency; but the workers in Ural iron, which is re.markably pure in quality, have often observed the same action. Mr. Adamnson has found that steel of this kind becomes actually"pow dory" at a jemphlerature of between 500 ag. and 700 dg. Fahi., or the poihit at at which willow twigs take fire; and lhe has decided that this is the point when the metal is at its wveakest, possessing little or no coherence. This phenome non, if it can be sub)stantiated as univer sal or eveni frequent, is suggested as a p)ossib)le explanation of a large number of accidents, such as the breaking of steel tires, shafts, and parts of machine tools which may be strong enough when cold, but being raised to the stated tem perature b)y the effect of friction, eto,, they are not able to withstand the slight est strain, and, in fact, drop into pieces by their own weight. The quickness with gvhiich broken parts of machinary or tools would, under ordinary circum stances, cool down, and therefore regain their strength wvould naturedly lead an ordinary observer away from the truth which Mr. Adamnson claims to have dis covered. She grieves sincerely who gieves whan alne..