Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

A DOG'S CHARITY. Remarkable Case of a Hound's Priend Solicitude. Late in the afternoon of a raw da in November, as a doctor alighte from his carriage at the door of h stable, after a long drive over fros bound roads, he was somewhat starle by the sudden appearance of a hount which trotted up to him withou :eremony, and, seizing him by th skirt of his long driving coat, er leavored to pull him in the directio Af a shed adjoining the stable. Tb loctor remonstrated rather vigo: )usly, whereat the dog inimediatel released his hold, but instead of rut aing away retreated in good orde towards the shed, whence he pre! !ntly reappeared and tugged at th oat as before. Having freed the horse from th shafts of his buggy, the doctor wei into the house for a lantern; as b :ame out the hou,:d again approache and repeated his previous perforn inces. - This time, greatly to th :reature's delight, the doctor fo towed him into the shed; and ther in a remote corner, stretched at ru length on his side, and evidently in :ondition of exhaustion, lay what known as a "coach dog"-a shor haired animal of medium size, whoE is thickly covered with small blac and white spots. By the light of the lantern th loctor looked the poor fellow ove :arefully, and soon found the cau: )f his break-down in torn and bleet Iog feet that made travel impossibb Here was a charity case indeed; an to such appeals of charity U physician is ever ready to respond, A comfortable bed of straw and good supper were quickly provide for the sufferer. His feet were the tleansed, anointed with a soothic )intment, and wrapped in bandage: the hound looking on meanwhi] with every manifestation of intere4 and pleasure. He was invited by tt hosdtal doctor t> spend the nigh with his canine friend, but he di :lined the invitation. Jiaving see his companion properly cared for, I hurried away as if on important bus aess, but when the doctor went 1 the stable next morning he found tl faithful creature at the stable ao< waiting for admission. When he was permitted to ente he went straight-to the patient ar [ wish I could report word for woi what passed between the two. have no doubt the hound inquirt Into his friend's condition, congrat sated him on having found an asylu in his extremity, and, in reply to e pressions of gratitude and obligatioi protested that he had done no mo: than any self-respecting dog woul lo under the same circumstance Re remained about the stable fI talfian hour and then left.-O Animal Friends. india a Century Ago. There is a curious Old World G zette that tells us of his life at Ce cutta and gives us strange glim'ses a time that is no more- To make i for the lack of '-khitmudgar at cook," our subaltern provided hi! self with a slave, and dire was his a ger if his human chattel attempted change his condition. He advertisi his loss in hot haste, telling a symp thizing public that for the great security of his rights he had his me ter's initials branded on his arn Would any one to whom the l1 might apply for emplyment send hi back to his owner? Luckless lad and basely defraud< owner! Surely human merchandi must have been cheap to come with the means of '-scanty~ ninety-five It was but natural that the subaltel should follow where his superiorc ticers led the way, and those high in the service kept not one but se eral slaves to do their biddin Lieut.-Col. Call, stationed at Fo William in 1786, advertises for slave boy who has dared to lea him, and says he "wlli esteem hir self par ticularly obliged" if any ge tieman will enable him to recov his lost property. A few .ears lat the East India Company had recc nized that slavery was a blot on o1 social systeh and issued a noti that any one found dealing in th "detestable traffic," "so shocking humanity," would be punished wit the "utmost severity." This notic however, seems rather to apply those who were exporting slaves th; to those who kept them for their oi use. Journeys in those old days we sleepy,lengsby, and withal expensi luxuries. It was naturally a seriol business to get to and from Europ and masters of sailing vessels were, seems, inclined to make their charg exorbitant to their luckless passe gers. The honorable East Ind Company, In its paternal relation its servants, issues warning%, coi mands, and regulations ou the su ject, but apparently with littler sult. At last a table was drawn u wherein it was stated that, whi general otticers should pay 20 I their passage, an ensign should pi ?105, and a cadet ?70. Commande were warned that if by any nmeari directly or indirectly, they shou take or receive furtner sums of mioni for the same tuey should pay to tl company, for the us of the Popi Hospital, treble the sum so taken.. The Cornhill Magazine. Novel Discovery of a~ Comet. Eclipse photographs taken in Ch in April, 1893, showed a comet-li struoture in the corona, near the sui south pole, but nothing of the ki: could be made out on photograp taken in Brazil and Africa. Witht idea that faint objects csa easily found when it is known where to lo for them, however, copies from t negatives hava been compared and is found that the photographs show the object. Its angular distar from the moon's limb, ats p:hu graphed from the diltereut staitim has finally been measured, andi variations of this distance seemn prove conclusively that this intere ing apparition was really a comet .ZQVRaTE FOR THE GREEDT. 1.Mother (returning to the luw ta~ble after a temporary absence) '"Whf, where are the jumbles, Tc my? How many did you eat whil was out?'' -Tommy l(aged seven) - "I. do know, mnamd You told me xt very rude to oount what was eaten am Mla "NewYork Telegram. THE LAST BUCCANEER. The winds were yelling, the waves were awl $Ing. 'zhe sky was black and drear, When the crew with eyes of flame brought I ship without a name Alongside the last Buccanoer. is 'Whence nl'es your sloop full sail before so Be a bale When all others drive bare on the seas? d Say. come ye from the shore of the holy Sal dor, Or the gulf of the rich Caribbees ?" "'from a shore no search hath found, from e lf no line can souid. - WIthout rudder or needle we steer; n bove, bolow, our bark die the sea-fowl and I shairk, e As we fly by the last Buccancer. r ',To-nigbt shall be heard on the rocks of C1 Y de Verde . A loud crash and a louder roar; And to-morrow sha'l the deep, with a he moaning, sweep . The corpses and wreck to the shore." e The stately ship of Clyde secarely now E ride in the breath of the citron shades: e And Sovern's towering mast securely now B 5 fast Through the bea of the balmy Trades. d Frem St. Jago's wealthy port, from Havanna royal fort, 1- The seaman goes forth without fear; e For since that stormy night not a mortal h had sight -' the flag of the last Buccaneer. -Lord Macaulay. a FOOT OF THE SHAf e I was paying .a visit to one of t k largest coal-mining districts in t kingdom. As the friend with whom I V r staying was engaged at business di ;e ing the day, I was thrown on I own resources until the evening. 0 afternoon I was walking in the fiel outside the town, smoking a ciga and rumin ating about things in ge eral, and the gloomy appearance a the whole district in particular. d I leaned against a wooden fen n and looied about me. On every si the chimneys, giant scaffoldings, a mighty wheels showed the whe abouts of the pit shafts. The gri was a dull, dirty, grayish green, t air was thick and smoke lade There were a number of jerry-bu brick houses-small, mean-iookin and griny. te 1 was startled from my reverie the sound of a gruff voice, sayir SEh, mister, have you out a match I looked around and saw an old c< lier standing by me, pressing doi the tobacco in a dirty clay pipe, wi an equally dirty linger. Id He seemed to be a man of abo d sixty years of age, with hair fi turning white, and a weary, to d stained, careworn face. his cloth were covered wth coal dust, and carried in his left hand a bas K_ wrapp-d in a handkerchief, whi had evidently contained his dinno re I handed him my match box, a he lighted his pipe in silence, a . commenced to puff it contentedly. Dr Presently he asked, abrupt] >r "Stranger 'ere, sir?" ir "Well, yes," I replied. "I am s ,a Ing in the neighborhood for a we .or two. You are a native, I s. pose," I added. a- "Ay" he answered. "I was be 'b close by, and I've worked i' th' p f since I was a babby, 'most" ~p "Dangerous work it must be son d times." I said. 3- "Ay, you're right. It Is dangerc - work. Th' most risky all occupatic to and one of th' hardest worked a: idworst paid. IEve 'ad one or two nL a- rer escapes myself, and one or tl r creepy experiences. There's one s- them will live In my memory as lo ll as I can remember anything, d "Poor Jack Wood! It's a s il little tale. sir, as Bad as any I es read in a book, but it's true, eve a word of it. so "You see Jack was a lad that] iknown ever since he was a nippi and when he grew to he a man, al icame to work in th' old pit, we w ~neighbors; and he used to call aroul r at night, and smoke a pipe witha a V- "At first. I thought it was I -. company as he came for, but soon t found that he was taken with I a lass Lucy; and she seemed to il re iHe was a fine, straightforwar a- steady young chap, and Lucy-thout - I say it-was a pretty ai as good r lass as you'd see anywhere; so th' c r woman and me was pleased to Ii 'them two taking to one another. r "For acouple of years : or so th e went on courtin', walking out 1 is gether, and readma' to each othi tO and quarrelin' and makin' It1 h again, as young folks will, till o Snight Jack ups and says, 'Fath< O i'm wantin' to be married to Lu a next month. Are you willin',?' 'Q "Well.' says 1, winikin' at th' c woman, and lookin' at Lucy, w e was hidin' her blushin' face in 1h apron, 'well what does Lucy say?' SAnd Lucy didn't say nothin'-s ,just ran to me and threw her arn t round my neck, and buried her he son my shoulder and laughed and cri altogether. a "-Lucy's wili',' said 1, with a o other solemn wink at th' old woma '- 'and so are we. Go:l bless ye bot b- Jack seized bold of my hand a - shook it like a pump-handle, a .Lucy gave me a very sweet and 10~ e kiss; and then she gave th' old v r man one; and then she went to Jacl 7 blushin' more than ever, and he g rs one ditto, of extra strength. Ah $. was all very happy that night. d '-Well, th' time' soon passed, un 'Y Lh' day grew near as they'd fixed le the weddin'. Jack had pickeod out little house, near us, for them to 11 - in, and he and Lucy had looked aft the furnishin' and beautifyin' of it. "Two days before th' weddii kIwhen I went home at night, I foul eIthe whole place in an upset. 7J rns isses arnd Lucy was busy, tryin' SIth' mnarryin' dress, and hadn't giv he no thought to gettin' my tea read h' However, th' kettle was always neai le ",ilin' on th' hob, so it didn't ta ki. g to make me a pot. bBy and by, in comes Jack, and be was pretty to see Lucy. In her ni ail wyhite frock, stuck all over with pi eand things, run up to him and k cehim so lovingly! It brought th' tes into my eyes then, and It has do so every time I've thought on it sinc " o'I remnemb er I was jokin' Jack, te e wnt uttellin' him that he hve to stick to his work when] was married, and not spend all b time kissing and huggin'. ch" 'Don't' bother yourself, fathe ..says he: -Lucy'll see that I don't g e. o more kissin' than is good for e] ter the weddlin'.' n't "The' next dlay-tb' day afore t ra ,eddin'-I went down th' pit at usuLal. All tni' day I worked hard -lnk! nac! nick! It's not th' Dlei antest work i' th' world, sir, lying on1 your oack, stripped to the waist, chipping out th' coal around yo'., piece by piece; as 1 wasn't sorry when he th' time came to knock oif and ga home. I put on my shirt and coat, took up my lantern, and started ofI, toward th' shaft. 1 was workin' nearer to th' shaft than any ot th' other men, so I got there some min. utes before anyone else. a "It was about 4 o'clock on a cold, wet day in November, and was al. t he ready quite dark, while above ground, there was a thick fog over all. I looked up th' shaft and could bare] ipe stinguish th' top, which seemed t0 oe wrapped In a heavy cloud of mist. vy "1 was about to signal for th' cage to be let down, when I su!denly noticed a dark object lying at th' bot a tom o' the shaft, a few yards away,! from me. In th' darkness . could not fe at once see whether it was a man or a sheep. I raised my lantern, and eS turned my light upon it. With a shudder. I saw that it was a man ly. I Ing huddled up in a heap, face down- I wafds, in the middle of a pool of blood, with a great gaping wound in his head, into which I could havi put my Ust. P. "He lay perfectly still. I opened t the front of his shirt and laid my he hand upon his heart, but it' had be ceascd to beat. Th' poor chap wa! quite dead. as "I turned him over upon his back, r- and held the lantern to his face ay Good God! It was Jack! ae '-Jack-my bonnie lassie's lover! ds th' bridegroom of to-morrow-lying r, there, cold, and stark, and stiff! n. Jack, whom but a few hours before I of had seen strong, and bright, and merry, and now-dead. e, "Dead-th' young and happy de wooeer! Dead-th' joy of my poor ad Lucy's lifel e- "I raised him gently, and carried iss him to th' side o' the shaft. I then te signaled for th' cage to be lowered, n. and, with the aid o' some other men, ilt who had just come up, I lifted him g, icto it, and we were drawn up to th mouth o' tb' pit. by "I don't know bow I got him home, g, and broke the news to his old father. " seemed to be in a fever. All th time I was thinkin' o' my poor lass, rn whos. life's happiness had been th wrecked, jest as it seemed to be be ginnin' in earnest. ut "I staggered home, and crept fur so tively into th' house by the back - door, fearin' to meet my Lucy's gaze, es lest she should see the horror in my he eyes. n -I was glad to tind that she wast ch not in th' kitchen. I called tn' old r. woman, and told her of it, and she ad broke th' news gently-as only a ad woman can-to our little lass. She never shed a tear, as far as 1 know. She never complained, and she went about her work just as )e.; y. fore. But each day she grew paler., ek and weaker, until, at last-do you p- see that little graveyard on the hill side' Well, that's where my Luc; ru lies now. "They held an inquest on Jack's e- body, and it come out in evidence that he had missed his way in tb'. us fog (he was not workcin' that day,' >n, bein' busy gettin' ready for his wed 3d din') and, as there was no guard r- round tb' pit mouth, he had stepj.ed to over the edge, and fallen down of down!I ng "You say there ought to have been a guard? Ay! but that'd cost brass, ad and human lives is cheap nowadays. er in merry England. "-Yankee Blade. '-ORSEPLAY IN ENGLISH SO 'd CIETY. 3d Coarse Jokes and Risky Dancing BeinS: a Indulged in by Smart Girls. 3d Skirt dancing, high play and the e.Derpetration of practical jokes seem to be the leading amusements of country-house parties in England, ac Scording to a recent chronicler quoted ke by the San Francisco Argonaut. He dsays: "November is preeminently ah the month for big shoots, and the lcountry houses are full to overnlow 3ing just now. In quiet houses mod erate hours are kept, gamiling for eheavy stakes is at a discount and a ecertain sobriety prevails from sun rise to sundown. In othber houses, rhowever, the fun waxes fast and furi ous. N'o dancing is considered 'sport' Dunless it be of a nature imported rfrom the Gaity, such as the unforget cy table pas de quatre. A few smart d girls go so far as to take unto them bIselves the voluminous skirts of the en serpentine frock and try to imitate erMiss Lettie Lind's dexterities." he Alter explaining that the serpentine eskirts are made out of "no less than a100 yards of the very finest Chinese e silk or crepe cut in triangular pieces dto give the appearance of an infinity of yards," our authority resumes: "It is regrettable to add that under some roofs pretty heavy gambling is in dulged in, and baccarat and nap with 'jhigh stakes have as many women as 'men votaries, to say nothing of prac tical joking of a suspiciously rowdy sort, such as apple-pie bed-making cbooby-trapningr. A certain most dis ye tinguished lady amused herself one ewhole evening by standing in a gal. til lery and throwing pillows on the bmen's heads as they passed in and or .'ut of the smoking-room * Inairmity. g', Mr. Kornblum-How do you iike 3d "Looking Back ward," Miss Wrinkes? 'h' Miss Wrinkles-Of course I am aware : that .i am cross-eyed, but I am not en accustomed to having my inflrmtyj y. Mr. Kornblum, made the subje t 01 -ly on vensaton by strangers. -Truth. ke__________ it His Native Element. Kitty-Tom is down South, this ns winter, and he has just sent me the e loveliest little alligator you ever saw. .rs Ada-How are you going to keep Ohim? Kitty-I don't know, but i've . iput him in Florida water until 1 as hear from Tom.--Exchange. s Had Him There. "Father, " asked little Tommy, as eyevrsee an echo?" "Why, no, my ue son," replied the parent. "Well, Willie said his sister went to see one, and it returned her call." And the he trong man bowed his head to hide iAGEDY OF A WESERN MINE, Nro Dead Men Disinterred After. Fiftees Years-The Unheeded Warning. In Butte County there is a quartz ine which has been abandoned for nany years, says the San Francisco 1hronicle. Only the oldest residents of he vicinity remember the names of the ocaters and scarcely a trace of the .haft and buildings remains to mark he spot. The ledge wRi discovered .way back in the early days, when uartz first attracted the notice of the )rosi-ectors; when many worthless edges were worked because the miners. ad not yet learned how to read the alue of such ore by the minerals in it, ts location, dip and contact with other ormations. The Sunset ledge was mall, flinty and absolutely worthless, ut the men who discovered it thought t worth development. They put down shaft 100 feet in depth in wet and ,reacherous ground, and they used no imbers. Then they let a contract to wo men, a Cornishman and an Irish nan, to construct a tunnel 100 feet in ength from the bottom of the shaft. Sometimes untimbered ground will tand apparently firm and safe for a ime, and then, with no perceptible ause, suddenly get shaky and fall or lose in. This was just what occurred Lt the Sunset mine. The two men in he tunnel had almost finished their -ontract and were "squaring up the ace" of the tunnel, when one of the nen employed on the surface was low. red rapidly, ran to them and told them o leave the mine instantly because the haft was closing in. Why the. men efused in the face of a certain horrible eath to heed the warning is a mys cry. The messenger begged and reatened, but they were obdurate. ['hey laughed at him, told him to sit lown and smoke a pipe with them, and aid they would leave the tunnel only vhen they had "finished her up in hape." Perhaps they imagined the nan was playing a joke on then, or hat it was a scheme to get them to ave the-mine before their contract vas fulfilled. At any rate they re used to leave the mine, and the man vho warned them returned to the sur ace only just in time to escape the ate of the men below. The shaft, ith a roar and a rumble, closed in, md they were entombed. No effort was made to rescue the >uried men. It was impossible to save hem if they were not killed by the :ave, and it was supposed that the tun iel had also collapsed. To sink a shaft 00 feet through treacherous ground would take a loDg time, even in these lays, when all the "modern appliances" or such work are at our disposal. The nine was abandoned. Fifteen years went by. The story of the mine and ;he buried men became an old one. here names were forgotten. They vere like men who go down to the sea n ships and perish in sight of their iomes. Their friends know that some where in the sea their bones are bleach ng, somewhere in a great sepulcher ipon which they may look, but into vhich they cannot see. Fifteen years after the caving in of he mine some prospectors overran the oality. They were told the story of he Sunset ledge, and they went to its ~roppings and to the dump where the haft had been and tested the ore they ound there. Whether they found any, old is not known, but they found omething which encouraged them. 'erhaps they were not well versed in uartz, and believed that any ledge oud pay if developed. They resolved :o reopen the mine. It was their opmn on, they said, that the Sunset com sny had not put their shaft down in he right place or sunk it deep enough. [hey (the new company) would choose better spot, sink their shaft much leeper and tap the ledge on the pay' hoot. Old men who heard of it shook ;heir heads and prophesied a failure; :hey said no luck could come from dis ~urbing dead men's bones, but the new ~ompany began and finished their ihaft, hoping and expecting to strike :he ledge where judgment had led hem to believe the pay shoot was. One day when they fired a blast there ras a rush of water down the incline md the miners were driven out. After nuch trouble and expense and larger ?ump was put in and the middle ~leared, and the cause of the sudden ow was explained. The upraise of ;he new company had entered the old ~unel of the Sunset company about ;wenty feet from Its face. And there, m a heap of rock, leaning against the walls, were two grinning skeletons. The bones of the contractors who had lat there, grinning at their fate and for fteen years patiently waiting to be ound, were removed from the mine md given a decent burial. The mine was again abandoned and will probably 'ever be again opened. Learning by Sight. Danton, the celebrated caricaturist, had a wonderfdl power of modelling Erom memory. After one long look at 1s subject, he could go to his studio mnd make a bust quite perfect In Its esemblance. One day a young man came to him, aying that his sister was ill and about to die, and that, although the family wished her bust modelled, they dared at excite her by mentioning it. Would he undertake to reproduce her features after seeing her once? Dan ton agreed, and next day the brother informed his sist'er that he intended to present her with some jewels, and that a young man would bring some spee -ens for her approval. Danton brought in the jewels, and, going home, modelled a bust of strik ig resemblance. Next year an old gentleman, the father of the young woman, came to order a bust of the brother, who also had died. This, too ias a marvellous success. The result of such planning, how. ever, was not always as satisfactory tc his patrons as in these cases. A gen flean who could not persuade his wife ro sit asked Danton to enter a certain um~Us one day, and flx in his mem y the features of the lady opposite He did so, modelled a beautiful bust, d sent it horse. It proved, however, !. be, not the mistress, but the maid, who had also taken the trip in the m.nibus.-Youth's Companion. Amber, often classed among gems, s a fossil product. Most of the speci nens inclosing insects are manuifac tull from gnm copal. ** Russian Courts; In the poorer parts of Russia justici is administered in a primitive yet tf fective fasion, says a recent writer wh< had the fortune to be present at a sit ting of one of the peasant courts in Government of Central Russia. Th Judges, chosen from the peasants, wer unlettered. The session was held in log cabin-a small, low room. A pic ture of the Emporer decorated th wall, and as in every Russien house, ir the corner hung the holy eikons. ThreE Judges and a scribe were present. Th( day was Sunday, a day of idleness fo the peasantry. The hall, the judges and the public all had an air of simpl dignity, almost of rude majesty. Two cases were tried. Parties anc Avitnesses, as they entered, bowed lov to the holy images. The judges spoke and questioned by turns, or all at once each loudly expressing his opinion. admired the patient persistence witi which they tried to bring the litigant, to an amicable understanding. On< case was characteristic. A woman, a large, robust virago :omplained of having been beaten by a man. The man's defence was tha: the woman had struck him first Plaintiff and defendant stood before the judges volubly pleading each his or her case and appealing to their wit aesses at their sides. "Varvara Petrova," declared one wit aess for the defendant, "has said thai with a vedro of vodka she was sure ol winning her case." This statement did not appear to as tonish or scandalize the court. The judges gravely nodded their heads, and after a brief rebuke went on with the base. "Come to terms; make up betweer ou," they repeated over and over, try. g to get the parties themselves t< suggest a se tence, instead of pro nouncing oneex cathedra. "Well, now, Varvara Petrova," said me of the judges, at last, "how mued Indemnity do you want?" "Three roubles." "Ah, three roubles! That's to< much. You won't get that," muttere< the Judge. Then turning to the de fendant, "And you, how much are you Willing to give her?" "Nothing," replied the man. "Ah, again muttered the Judge "that's not enough. How much wil you give her?" "Well, then, one rouble." "One rouble and a shtof?" inter :uted the woman. "Shtofs and whisky are not to be mentioned here," remarked one of thE udges, whose austerity may have been ncreasedby our presence. "Out o: here you may drink all you want, but that has nothing to do with the de cisions we render here." The woman, on this, lookedresigned the scribe read the sentence, the tw< itigants bowed in acquiescence, then again to the holy images, and with drewV with their friends and relatives Lover and Piano. "I would like another room, land. .ord," said a mild young man at th4 office counter of a private hotel accord ing to the Detroit Free Press. "What's the matter naw?" asked thE andlord, "anybody committed suicidE next door?" '"Worse than that," said the mnilc oung man; "the next room is the par. for of a suite occupied by a widow ani her daughter." "Exactly; you've hit it right the firsi ,ime." "The daughter has a piano." "Well, do you object to the piano?" "Not in the least; but wait a mo ment. The young lady also has over." "Oh!" said the landlord, "is he thE bstacle?" "Let me state the case plainly. He bought her a new waltz, which thea practise together every evening, bu they will never learn it, never!" anc the mild young man sighed. "Why? Too difficult?" "Too difficult? No, sir; it's too easy ft's called the 'Kiss Waltz,' and at thi nd of every bar I hear him say, 'Noy we kiss,' or she suggests, 'Here is mort kissing.' Now, what I want to knov' is, why don't they give up either th< music or the kissing? It's the com Nination that's killing me by inches." The landlord told him that No 11 was the only room vi'ant, but he sait he'd take the chances, and moved in. He Carried the Basket. Men who have been married ten o: dozenyears are too seldom famoui f or extreme courtesy to their bitte> halves; but sometimes they are, never theless, very "thoughtful." That was the case with Mr. Sila! Perkins, who took his wife with him t< the Pike County Fair. Mrs. Perkin: had on her arm a basket containing thi iinner and supper for the pair. The crowd grew dense, and Mr. anm Mrs. Perkins began to be jostled a goo< deal. "Here, give me that basket, Sairey,' iaid Mr. Perkins. "That's reel kind of you, Silas," sai< grs.Perkins, giving up the basket. "Kind of me!" exclaimed Mr. Per tins, resenting the insinuation. "Gosh was afraid you'd git lcst!" There are now fifty-five towns an< cities in England which destroy thei garbage and solid x9 use by burning using an average of about ten furnace: each for that purpose. The combus ion of the material is used for the gen eration of steam, by which the street: re electrically illuminated, and othe ities are reported to be considering th< propriety of reducing their mnunicipa apenses by this means.-Inventiv4 N.ot So berious. It is related that two persons, one o them a wheelman and the other an op ponent of bicycling, were discussin; the chances of injury through riding a ehances of Injury through riding wheeL. "Injury? Pooh!" said the wheelmnan "1've beeE riding three years, and I've sad only one accident, and that wasn' seroIs." "What did you break in that?* "Only a leg." "Only a leg! I should think that Wa nough!" "Oh, but It was my teacher's leg!" A n echinoderm that inhabits the Wes idian seas has over 10,000 arms. LIVERPOOL, England, is to have tt larget m.iath factory in the worli. TIGER-SLAYER-IN-CHIEP. The ,Post to svhich a "sencen-a W Been Appointed. To those who are aware of the pron. ciency and courage shown by French sportsmen in their pursuit of big car nivora, it will be no surprise to learn that the Governor of the Straits of Set tlements has just selected a citizen of that aspiring nation, M. De Nancourt by name, to fill the post of tiger-slayer in-chief at Singapore. It appears that M. De Nancourt has killed 500 tigers with his own rifle, against a bag of only 400 made by Maj. Gen. Probyn, the well-known English shikarri. Some of our Parisian contemporaries claim credit for th4 French nation as supply ing an official akin to their own Grand Louvetier for employment in a British colony. We are reminded by our friends across the channel that until M. Du Chaillu encountered and slew the gorril la we know nothing as to the existence and habits of that formidable monster, and that the greatest of our living hunters, Mr. Selous, is of French ori gin. If, says the London Daily Tele graph, M. De Nancourt is able to keep down the number of tigers haunting the jungles And woods of Singapore and taking toll of the native inhabit ants, neither the latter nor any other British subject will take any exception to his nationality. The great bulk of the popululation of Singamore, numbering altogether nearly 200,000 souls, are Chinese and Malays, who, like the natives of India, look to white shikaris to rid them of dangerous and savage beasts of prey. In the meantime the importance of Singapore and of the other dependen cies of Great Britain in its neighbor hood demands that what is called "the scourge of the colony"-the tiger should be kept within reasonable lim its. We hear, therefore, with satisfaction that a tiger-slayer-in-chief to the Gov ernor of the Straits Settlements has been appointed for this purpose. The commerce of the colony have been in creased enormously within the last few years, justifying the acumen and fore sight of Sir Stanford Baffles, whose early death at the age of 47 was a se vere loss to this nation. The harbor of Singapore is one of the finest and busiest in the world, being the point of call for vessels trading be tween Europe and the East, and be tween Europe, India, and Austria. For its defense several batteries have lately been constructed at the cost of the colony,which the home government has undertaken to supply with big guns. Singapore Is just the spot upon which, in the event of sudden war, a bold enemy would attempt to pounce. Under these circumstances we hope there is no truth in he allegation that the big guns promised by the British Government have not yet left the coun try. One of Holmes' Lettersi Dr. Edward Everett Hale sends to the Writer a merry letter addressed to him by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1869. It describes that always inter esting production, "The Great Unwrit. ten Article:" "I shall keep your note as a reminder that I hope some time or other to take up the pen, which I have not cared to meddle with often of .late. In the meantime you may be assured that nothing one commits to paper is ever half so good as his great 'Unwrt ten Article.' "Like an Easter egg, that unhatched production-its unbroken shell, 1 mean -is stained-by the reader-that-is-to be's imagination, I mean-with every brilliant hue of promise. Break it and you have the usual albuminous con tents; keep it whole and you can feast your eyes on its gorgeous color and your mind with the thought that if carries the possibility of a Phonix. "Say, then, that you have the promise of an article from one of the most eteeterable and eteerated of our native writers, and it will be like a signed check with the amount left blank. "Prophets and priests may desire it Long and die without the sight, but will die saying, 'When the great un written article does come, then you will see!' and so turn their laces to the wall. "Let us leave it unwritten, then, foi the present, and think how much more precious is an infinite series of unde fined expectations than any paltry per formance or transient fruition." Beer and Money in Politics. In 1882 Mr. Gladstone wrote a letter to a friend who had sent him conrt ulations on the completion of a half century since he was first elected to Parliament. In the letter, which has just been published for the first time, Mr. Gladestone recalls some of the in e idents of his first election canvas. There seems to have been a very lit te effort to convince the minds of the electors, and a great effort to influence them through their stomachs. Innum erable glasses of beer and wine played an important part in giving the great statesman of to-day his first start in public life. No man has dome more than he to ?ut a stop to the wholesale bribery and corruption which were once the most prominent features of an English elec tion. To-day, if the giving-of a single glass of beer to a voter is traced to the authorized agent of a candidate, that candidate not only is compelled to suf fer the loss of his seat in Parliament. but he cannot again be a candidate within a certain term of years. Electoral corruption is one of the greatest evils that can exist in a free government. A monarehy which stands because the people will that it shall stand, is a better govefnment than a Republic in which the power of one party or the other to purchase votes determines which of the two shall rue.-Youth's Companion. No ONE has a right to economize tc o the exclusion of paying his debts. The black kings of the African coast, >ress your middle finger three times as a sign of salutation, the Japanese takes off his slipper, while the Laplander pushes his nose vigorously against you. In Hindostan they salute a man by taking him by the beard, while the people of the Philippine Islands take your hand and rub their face with it. The King of Ternate rises to receive r MAKING OF CORKSCRENWS 4n Industry Whch the ]lard 'M* DOW N;ot seem to EfectU Hard times have mado no diference with the corkscrew. More of them than ever before were turned out during the past year. Newark is the birthplace of most of the corscrews of the world. When it is stated that one firm in that city alone made 160, 000,000 corkscrews last year the si e and importance of the industry will be understood. The average length of the corkscrew is three Inches. If the corkscrews turned on the market by that firm In 1893 could be laid length to length they would have ex tended from New York to San Fran cisco, would have spanned the broad Pacific ocean and reached halfj way 1cross the kingdom of Japan. It required nearly 100 men simply to twist the screws for the 160,000, 000. These men worked full time, too, and every day of the year ex cept Sundays and holidays. It took a number more hands to make the wooden and other styles of handles. There are nearly fifty varieties oj corkscrews in the market. . The query has been raised as tA what becomes of all the corkscrews Of course, loss and breakage cuts quite a figure. Large New York res taurants, like Delmonico's, Hoffman House and Hotel Brunswick, buy corkscrews direct from the Newark makers, and they get hundreds at a time. It is no unusual thing for big hardware houses In Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and the irge western cities to order 10,. 000 cork-pullers at a time. If the corkscrew is a good barometer of _in temperance, the Prohibitionists have cause for alarm. If one firm finds a market for 160,000,000 a year, how many bottles do these corkscrews help uncork? Certainly on an aver age, one corkscrew will open at least a dozen bottles before its working days are over. If this is good reason ing, then the Newark firm referred to furnished material last year for the imbibing of over 1,920,000,P0A of one sort or another. The Jaguar. The lordly Jaguar is the king of all the American Felida, and right proud are we to have him for a fel. low countryman-provided he does not make himself too numerous! Of all the great cats now living, he is second in size only to the lion and the Bengal tiger. South of the United States he is universally called el Tigre (tee gree), which is simply the Spanish for tiger. He has the big chest and loins, thick neck, big arms and legs, and bullet head ot a heavy weight prize fighter, clothed In the most gorgeous skin ever given to any animal of the cat family. He is the most stocky in build of all the cats, being very different in shape from the more lithe and flat bodied lion, tiger, and puma. But it is his glorious colors that first attract the beholder's attention, and hold itilongest. On a ground coloz ot' rich golden yellow, which is darkest on the back and shoulders and grows paler as it.- descends to the legs, are arranged with regular Irregularity . large rosettes of black and brown, These rosettes are the prominent dis tnguishmne character of the Jaguar, by which any ch'ld can recogrnize him instantly wherever found. The head, top of the back, base of the tal, lower joints of the legs, and the feet are plentifully besprinkled with round black spots, not rosettes. Ordinarily the eyes are light yellow, to match the body color, but the animal becomes enraged, they turn the color of green fire, and then it Is high time to get out of the way. The Jaguar Is an edition de luxe, bound in blacir and gold. -St. Nicb olas, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our Navy Worth All It COst. The rise of the United States Navy from a collection of a fewr anti quated and useless vessels a dozen years ago to the position of the fifth in rank among the great navies of the world, shows the wonderful re cuperative power possessed'by a great and prosperous nation. Not only has the United States now several of the largest, handsomest, and most per fectly armored and best equipped men.of-war afloat, but she has buiLt them, practically, entirely from her own reseources and by her own labor. While the achievement has been an expensive one it Is worth all it cost, 4 for it has not only given us a begin. ning of a navy of which we need na longer be ashamed, but it has also put us in possession of the facilities for the construction at any time or vessels equal to any made in the world, a fact which in the case 01 actual or threatened hostilities would be of lnestimabe value. A Nation of Opium Smoker. Seven-tenths of the people o2 China are opium smokers, and 2,000,-K 000 of them die annually from its. effects, said a Chinese missionary re cently, who has spent 22 years of his life in the flowery kingdom. This habit Is rapidly growing; he went on, and it is confined to no ciass or sex, but men and women, ofticials and coolies, use it alike. As soon as opium smoking be:omes a confirmed habit with a Chinese coolle he knows that he has about 10 years to live That seems to be the average. Queen Vic's Vegetables. Every day of her life, no mat~ ~ vhere she may be, whether in 8~al-~ moral, Osborne, Florence or else where, Queen Vietoria receives from Windsor Castle a supply of t'owers, fruit, and vegetables. Seasons may come and go, but Queen Victoria's - green peas are always on hand, while cucumbers, cabbages, French beane, or any other vegetable her Maiesty expr'mes a wIsh to see on her dinner taP are there the fodlowing day weter they be in season or not. suggested. e-Miss Budd isn't as pretty as she was. Yhe-That wins my bet ie-Did you bet thatt her beauty would fade? She-Nope. that you would propose to her and get left. 9ruth. _ _ _ _ _ A miT of reasonmig a la mode de Duas ascribed to Rossini: " ldon'tI like spinach and it is '.ery fortu; ate Idon't, because if I did 1 ke it I should eat it, and I cannot endure