The Darlington herald. (Darlington, S.C.) 1890-1895, August 19, 1891, Image 1
THE DARLINGTON HERALD.
VOL. I.
DARLINGTON, S. C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1891.
NO. 50.
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CHURCHES.
PRESBTTEBI.tN CHURCH.—ReV. J. G.
Law, Pastor; Preaching every Sabbath
at 1H a. m. and 8 p. m. Sabbath
School at 10 a. m., Prayer Meeting every
Wednesday afterno on at 5 o'clock.
Methodist Church. - Rev. J. A. Rice,
Pastor; Preaching every Sunday at 11J
a. m. and 8 p. m., Sabbath School at 5
p. m ., Prayer Meeting every Thursday
at 8 p. m.
Baptist Church.—Rev. G. B. Moore,
Paster; Preaching every Sunday at llj
a. m. and 8:30 p. m., Prayer Meeting
every Tuesday at 8 p. m.
Episcopal Chapel.—Rev. W. A.
Guerry, Rector; H. T. Thompson, Lay
Reader. Preaching 3rd Sunday at 8:30
p. m., Lay Reading every Sunday morn
ing at 11 o’clock, Sabbath School every
Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock.
Macedonia Baptist Church.—Rev
I. P. Brwckington, Pastor; Preaching
every Sunday at 11 a. m. and 8:30 p. m.
Sabbath School at 3:30 p.m., Prayer
Meeting every Tuesday evening at 8:30
o’clock.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
Sheriff.—W. P. Cole.
Clerk of Court.—W. A. Parro.t
Treasurer. —J. E. Bass.
Auditor.—AV. H. Lawrence.
Probate Judge.—T. H. Spain.
Coroner. —R. G. Parnell.
School Commissioner.- W. H. Evans.
Count? Commissioners.—C. B.King,
W. W. McKinzie, A. A. Gandy.
Iprcifcssionnl fiintio.
w.
F. DARGAN,
ATTORNEY -: AT L A AA’.
Darlington, C. H., S. C.
Office over Blackwell Brothers’ store.
E.
KEITH DARGAN,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Darlington, S. C.
N
EXILES & NETTLES,
ATTORNEYS AT L A AV
Darlington, C. H., S. C.
Will practice in all State and Federal
Courts. Careful attention will be given
to all business entrusted to us.
P
BISHOP PARROTT.
stenographer and t y p e-whiter.
LEGAL AND OTHER COPYING SOLICITED.
Testimony icported in short hand,
and type-writteu transcript of same fur
nished at reasonable rates.
Good spelling, correct punctuation
and neat work guaranteed.
. Office with Nettles & Nettles.
0.
P DARGAN,
ATTORNEY AT • LAW
AND TRIAL -JUSTICE,
Darlington, S. C.
Practices in the United States Court
and in the 4th and 5th circuits. Prompt
attentioe to all business entrusted to me.
Office, AVard's Lane, next to the Dar
lington Herald office.
DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS.
DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS.
DARLINGTON MARBLE AVORKS.
—ALL KINDS OF—
MARBLE -:• MONUMENTS,
MARBLE :- MONUMENTS,
Tablets and Grave Stones furnished a
Short Notice, and as Cheap as
can be Purchased Else
where.
Designs and Prices Furnished on
Application.
tar All AVork Delivered Freejon Line
of C. & D. R. R.
DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS,
DARLINGTON MARBLE AVORKS,
DARLINGTON, S. C.
FIRE ! FIRE T
I Represent Twelve of the most
Reliable Fire Insmance Compa
nies in the World - Among
them, the Liverpool and Lon
don and Globe, of England, the
■Largest Fire Campany in the
World; and the zEina, of Hart
ford, the Largest of all Ameii
can Fire Companies.
|5P“ Prompt Attention to Business and
Batisfartion Guaranteed.
F. E. NORMENT
DARLINGTON, S. O.
Office between Kdwnrtb, Nor men t &
Co-, Joy A Sander*’.
SHALL IT BE FOR THE NV ROM OR
THE HIGH 1 ?
Ar the numberless grains of silvery ?an<l
Form the far out-stretch in* shore.
As the whispering breeds which tho flower
has fanned
Swells out in the tempest's roar,
As the murmuring brook is los*; in the sea
While it wills its contributing mite—
So the moments of time form eternity.
Khali we make it for riarkn or light?
As each heart-throb tells us how life flow*
on,
As the pulse-heat measures its spac.\
And each tick oi the clock marks a moment
gone
Of our vanishing, mortal nc^.
As each breath we breatho wafts our bark
away
Toward the haven bo/on I our sighr,
Shall it anchor in joy o.- go down in dis
may?
Khali our freight be tho v.rong, or th?
right?
As showers from glistening raindrops are
made
When they fall on the famishing plains,
As tho emerald carpets are for no 1 blade by
blade.
And the harvest is counted in grains.
As tiny drops blending make vast oeean’s
power
As tbe waves and the billows unit**,
So our deeds make a life as life fills the hour;
Shall it be tor the wrong, or the right'
—FrankN. Scott, in Boston Transcript.
A NOVEL DEFENSE.
BY W. THOMSON.
“AVIiat has become of Tom Gran*?'’
said the leader of our patty as we, oae
after another, roused up after a long mid
day sleep.
‘■Gone off, as usual, oa a beetle and
butterfly hunt, I suppose,” replied Tom's
chum, a young fellow named Austin.
“Well, it was a mighty foolish thing
to do in these parts, without his rifle,
and I see he has left that behind. AY lien
did he go?” rejoined the captain.
“Don’t know, Cap, but I guess he
never took a snooze at all. I wake 1 up
lirst of the crowd, and he was gone
then,” Austin somewhat anxiously an
swered.
Charlie Blake, whom we had elected
captain of the exiie iit:o'i, out of defer
ence to his longer experiencr in the
country, turned to the party, with a very
serious expression oa his handsome face,
and said:
“Boys, it is now two o'clock. We’ve
been sleeping for over aa hour and a
half, and Grant may have been gone all
that time. lie is quite unar.nel, and
the brakes and thickets about here are
full of jaguars, panthers, palmcats and
wild hogs; and, worst of all, the terri
ble tree-baa is by n t meins rue. Most
of these creatures lie close hidden during
the heat of the day, but Tom is just ai
likely as not to run right into their 1 tin,
or, by Ids single presence, tempt some
of them from cover, and if he does
AVell, we bad better lose no time in hunt
ing him up.”
AVe were a party of six; live of us
young fellosvs, from Boston, who had
lately graduated and were now, before
settling down to the serious business ol
life, spending a few months in Brazil, on
a botanizing, entomological and hunting
trip. The sixth man, Charlie Blake,
was a thirty year-old New Yorker,
whom we had fortunately run against at
Valverde, where he had been for some
time engaged in trade, and who had very
kindly consented to join us for a week
or two, thus supplying the rather light
headed a much-needed modicum of bal
last.
Of late sve had made Valverde out
headquarters, but we were now out on
a tour of exploration, and it was on the
second day after leaving the old town
that we found ourselves, at noon, in that
prolific si retell of country which lies
above tbe junction of and between the
Tocantins and Rio del Tigre River. A
wonderful land, indeed! whose amazing
richness of tropical vegetation, gorge
ous bloom of endless flowers, myria 1
birds of brilliant plumage and incredi
ble wealth of scarcely less brilliant in
sects, on every side delight the eye; but
whoso groves and swamps, dark forests
and deep grassed plains teem, airs! with
noxious, venomous life, and in the green-
scummed waters of whose stagnant la
goons deadly malaria forever lurks.
AVe had lain down beneath the shade
of a clump of vine-clad cypress and gum-
trees to sleep away the hot noontide
hours, and discovered, only on awaking,
that Tom Grant, a never-tiring entomol-
gist, had disappeared; but had it not
been for Blake's warning words, none of
us would have felt the least misgiving as
to his safety.
Now, however, all were anxious to
start out at once on the search; and ex
tending ourselves into a line, with an in
terval of about fifty yards between each
two men, we set olf up-stream, knowing
that our comrade must have taken that
route, as the rivers’ junction loy imme
diately below us.
Every mow and then, as we pushed
laboriously along through the almost im
penetrable woods, one or another of us
discharged a signal shot, in hope ol
hearing an answering hallo; but the
only elfect of our fire was to scare from
the:r hiding-places or drive to deeper
cover hundreds of screaming parrots,
chatteling monkeys and a thousnnd-and-
one flying ami creeping denizens of the
forest wilds.
No human voice responded to our
Miiniuous, and yet we felt assured of lie.
ing on the right (rial, lor three several
times we had found half-burnt matches,
and once had picked up a fragment of
drawing-paper which we knew to be
Tom's. AVe had spent nearly two hours
in going, perhaps, as many miles, and
not having lately come across further
signs of our friend, Charlie Bloke gave
it as bis opinion that, if still alive, he
had lost himself and was probably wan
dering in a circle somewhere in the
labyrinthine depths, where the sun, his
only guide, could not penetrate.
“■And, hoys,” he concluded, “if we
we do not find him before nightfall w«
shall never see him in this world.”
It was now past four o’clock, and
already the gloom about us was sensibly
deepening, and prowling beasts of urev
began occasionally to cross our path.
Joe Burke knocked over a slinking wolf
and Frank Austin brought down a wild
cat from the top of a lofty gum; but
neither of these shots brought hail or
shout from our absent friend.
AVe were still advancing in a tolerably
straight line, always keeping within
speaking distance of each other, when
suddenly we broke out of the dark for
est into a large, treeless savanna, where
the sun shone gloriously and the rank
grass was breast high. Immediately on
reaching this, Hugh Kimball called nut:
“I say, boys, something has passed
here not long ago. Look at this narrow
path where the grass has been parted.”
AVe all hurried to the spot, and Blake
at once said:
“AAVre on Tom’s track, sure enough!
You see the trail is widest at tup, where
as if made by a wild beast crawling
along, it would be widest at the bot
tom.”
AVe now tired three shots in. rapid suc
cession, and, after waiting a moment,
were about to shoot again, when Austin
held no his hand with a “Whisht!” and
each one strained his ears lo listen. Yes;
there was no mistaking it; far away to
ward the declining sun came a faint hal
loo, once, twice, thrice repeated, and
five lusty throats sent up cheer after
cheer as we realized the joyful fact that
our comrade was indeed found.
Dashing along, now wading, tearing,
scrambling through the long, wiry stems
as best we could, we made our way for
a half-mile, seeing nothing as yet, but
ever more distinctly hearing the same
“Halloo! Halloo! Halloo!” always
promptly answered by our own encour
aging shouts. At last we caught sight
of a broad sombrero and the shoulders
of a man above the tall herbage,hacking
slowly toward us.
“Hush, boys, hush!” cautioned Char
lie Blake, “there’s something unusual
here—” and, being now within easy
speaking distance, ho softly hailed
Grant, and asked “What is up, Tom!”
The young fellow never turned his
bead, hut, while his light arm seemed
to be gently moving up and down, and
strange, flashing, dazzling gleams ol
blinding light played fitfully be
yond him, answered in a curiously re
strained voice:
“Boys, there’s a thundering big jag
uar following mo up, not twenty feet
away. I’ve been standing him off for
the last half-hour by flashing the rays
from my pocket-mirror in his eyes, but
he’s getting used to the game now, and
you've got here just in time. Don't let
us lose him! One of you come slowly
up straight behind me, and the othei
four sweep around and get in rear of .h«
brute, but don't waste a moment, for he
begins to look mighty ugly."
As we heard Tom’s startling explana
tion, a thrill of hardly repressed excite
ment ran through the little party. Frank
Austin, carrying his own and his chum's
rifle, and tho rest of us mado a detour
and crept, silently as possible, through
the grass until wc reached a point di
rectly in line with tho actors in this
singular drama. Then we rose to our
foot, and, peering over the top of the
rank growth, saw a most curious sight,
Indeed. (5rouching low and creeping
stealthily along, was a full-grown and
beautifully spotted jaguar, while, a few
yards beyond him, Tom, gradually bid
ing away, held between his finge-s a
common little mirror, such as prospec
tors carry, and, as he faced the sun, con
tinually flashed the reflected rays into
the eyes of tho brute, who, on eac'.i re
petition of the trick, recoiled in momen
tary terror, snarling and showing his
great fangs and then resuming his course
until again checked in the same way.
The hungry, bloodthirsty monster was
so intent upon his expected prey, and, 1
suppose; so puzzled by the extraordinary
defense, that he appeared to have eyes
and ears for nothing else, an l it was
only when our simultaneously raised gun
hammers came into full position with a
shari) click that he turned his head and
saw us. Then, the spell of his absorb
ing pursuit being broken, ho gave n
hoarse, savage cry of rage or fear, and
for one half-second standing at biv,
seemed undecided whether to tight or
fly.
That instant sealed his fate. Four rifles
cracked together, ami each- one sent a
heavy conical bullet crashing through his
huge round skull, and, without so much
as a tremor, he sank stone dead to tho
ground. AVith a shout of triumph, we
brushed past the carcass and rushed over
to Tom, who, now that the fearful ten
sion was relaxed, had dropped—and lit
tle wonder—insensible into Frank Aus
tin’* arms. Tom, however, was made of
good stuff and soon revived, when,after
emptying the contents of two or three
of our water flasks down his parched
throat, he told the story of his unprece
dented adventure in a few words.
“AVhen you fellows lay down to
sleep,” said he, “I took my net and set
out for a liUlo h«ut, intending to be back
by tho time you should awake; but I
met with such success that 1 went on
and on to the edge of this savanna, and
then across it nearly to tho further side.
I heard all your shots; but, of course,
you did not hear me shout in return until
you got into the open.
“I secured lots dfTOTe'specTmoas here,
and had just picked up a line scarlet bee
tle, when I noticed, a little way off, a
slowly advancing, trembling wave in the
long grass, as if some monstrous ser
pent were crawling through it. I, at
lirst, supposed that this really was tho
case, and stood carefully watching, pre
pared for a run. But 1 very quickly found
that retreat was out of the question,
when, in a minute or so, I caught a
glimpse of this dangerous beast’s head
as he wormed himsclt flat along the
ground: and I am not ashamed to con
fess that I fairly shook with fright at the
signi, oeing, as you know, utterly un
armed.
“I had lead somewhere that beasts of
prey will fly at the sound of the human
(ice; and so I trie-1 to frighten this
How off |n- a peries of wild yells.
“Perhaps he did not recognize these
S3 ‘human,’ at all; but, anyhow, he did
not scare worth a cent. On the contrary,
he crept steadily on until within fifteen
lea*, when he humped up his back and
his horrible green eyes glowed like
emerald flames as he evidently made
ready to pounce upon me. I had now
scarcely a hope of escape, but a sort of
merciful numbness came over my senses,
and l did not much seem to care.
“It appears almost miraculous, but at
this moment, in my half unconscious
fit ite, expecting instant death, I hap
pened lo think of one of our school boy
games, and—why I hardly knew—
jerked this tiny mirror from my vest-
pocket, and, standing with my own face
to the sun, flashed the focused light into
the jaguar's eyes; and, to my great de
light and astonishment, the surprised
brute, st a single bound, sprang fully
twenty fee! to one side. Then, finding
that he was not hurt, he came on again
to be scared time after time in the same
manner. Bo, for over half an hour, the
strange right was kept up, I, with my
lace always to the sun, backing towar 1
camp and he persistently following and
gradually getting more and more bold as
he became accustomed to the trick. I
could plainly see, just as you came up,
that a catastrophe was imminent, and I
have no doubt that, if you ha 1 been tea
minutes later, I should have penshe I.
But all's well that ends well, and we
shall have this magnificent pelt to ad i
to our collection."—\ew T/ir'c Ltljer.
Stammerlnq.
Speech is a very complicated process.
Many muscles, and as many nerves, are
concerned in it, with a delicacy and
rapidity of movement truly wonderful.
The whole process is presided over by
cerebral centres, which supply the ner
vous force and co-ordinate or harmonize
the various movements. AVe learn to
use our vocal organs so early that our at
tention is not called to the difficulties in
volved, and we are much surprised at
occasional failures.
In stammering, the trouble may be
said to he in the brain, but there is no
organic injury. Something so interferes
with the normal outflow of motive force
from the nervous centre, that some of
the muscles concerned in speech act
spasmodically. The spasm may he in
the larynx, or in the muscles of respira
tion.
The difficulty very rarely occurs in
pronouncing vowels or in singing, since
singing ha-i mainly to do with the vowel
sounds. The chief difficulty is with con
sonants, especially with the explosive
consonants, b, p, d, t, g (hard) and k.
The trouble generally shows itself be
tween the ages of four and fourteen.
Many causes may originate it, and it may
pass away with the cause. Even con
firmed stammerers commonly improve af
ter maturity.
Medical treatment is of little avail.
The main reliance is on educational meth
ods. The patient must train himself to
speak with calm deliberation; to keephii
lungs well tilled with air; and to check
himself and begin the sentence again, in
stead of struggling with the impeding
letter. He should also give much atteu-
tion to deliberate reading.
An eminent physician, who had beer,
a terrible stammerer in boyhood, and
who never fully overcame the defect,
says that the letter “m”gave him special
trouble. But he could speak it readily,
if he uttered the letter “o” before it.
His upper teeth would wound his under
lip iu the effort to speak the word
“method" in public.
He found groat difficulty in saying
“good morning,” the “g” as well as tht
“in” troubling him, but ho could say it
if, at tho same moment, he raised hii
hut. Ho could easily read a lecture in
public, if he had carefully read it over
beforehand, and thus secured calmness.
Sometimes finding himself about to stain
mer over a particular word, he would
substitute an equivalent expression, and
thus escape.—Youth'» Companion.
BRONCO "BUSTING.”
nil MAKING IN I'ONIMS IN THK
fak wkbt.
Most Violent Kxcrclse—The Real Fun
llcgins When the “llnsier' 1 Gets
on the Bronco lor the
First Time
Bronco busting is a distinct art. The
bronco busttr may be a “professional,”
who has originally taken up the work to
replenish his exchequer, depleted by
whisky and poker, and sticks to it for
• -.ck of an easier job, and because ho is
it low-water mark; or ho may bo a cow-
puncher in slack times. As a rule, he
cannot stick it out very long, for the
business is sure to end by busting the
buster. It is unquestionably the most
violent form of athletics, and the bronco
buster, though he must be strong and
active, is not, as a rule, in the excep
tional cordition necessary for great feats
af strength and endurance. Indeed,
training would scarcely help him much.
Whatever his strength and health, the
bronco buster is sure to get hurt eoonct
sr later. He works it off and on at ten
dollars a bronco. All cow-boys do more
jr less breaking,and some ranches always
bleak their own ponies, an 1 generally
have better ones for so doing.
Two rides will usually bust a bronco
ib that the average cow-puncher can use
aim, but he would scarcely keep com
pany long with most Central Park riders.
Two men generally work together.
They enter the corral, where there is apt
:o be a gooff bunch of ponies; and these,
is if guessing what is to come, at once
jump away, and go careering madly
irouud the enclosure. Ojie man handles
die rope, which he trails along the
ground until he selects his pony, and
;hen, with a sudden and dexterous
map, drags it over his heal. A goo 1
roper can cast twenty-five feet. Then
both men seize hold, dig their Iiec'.s
into the ground to stop the pony—knack
will enable even one man to jerk him
jp, if need be—and finally got a turn
round the snubhiog-post in the centre
)f the corral. Theic they have the pony
!ast, and they gradually work him up to
it. But the pony does not submit to
;liis vigorous coaxing in any nmiabU
jiood. Ho bucks and plunges, kicks
ind squeals, and charges straight at his
rormentors, who have to play a rcgulai
pime of hidc-and-seck behind the snub
ning-post to save them from broken
aoncs. Finally the men get the winded
pony snubbed up c'o-ic to tho post,
where one can hold him while tho
ither gets behind him and catches
mother rope on a forward foot. Then,
is the pony starts, he yanks the foot,
Dock, and in nine cases out of ten down
joes the pony. But not always. Some
abstinate ones will sink on the other
knee, and with the nose on the giound
ititl have four points to stand on. But
by-and-by down he must; thesnubbing-
rope is made fast, the saddle is fitted on
rant bien qtie mal, the cincha worked
under and the whole made fast. Soine-
;imcs it is difficult to get a bit in the
pony's mouth, and they put on a hncka- |
aiore, which is a Inlter-Iike rope ar
rangement, a sort of R-irey hitch, with
in extra twist around his jaw, instead.
Then the second rope is loosed an I the
pony is let up, still held by the snub-
bing-post rope. This is gradually loos
ened so as to let the pony have a little
fun all to himself, which he is sure to do,
bucking round in a pretty lively fashion
for twenty minutes or half an hour to
rid himself of the saddle, despite the
choking of the rope. This takes the
! feather edge off him, and he will end up
nis play covered with foam and quite a
bit tired. Some extra vigorous busters
ride the pony right off, but the mors
judicious prefer to let him tiro himself
out first. AVhen this is done, the pony is
gradually workod out on the prairie, and
may perhaps have to be thrown again to
cinch him up and get ready for the
ride. To keep him down while thu
rider gets ready,the other man sib; on his
head, and the rider puts aside his six-
shooter and hat and coat and everything
superfluous, hut keeps his sqiirs and
quirt. Then ho seizes the saddle and
gets his foot in the stirrup, the pony is
gradually unwound, and the instant he
reaches his feet the buster is in the sad
dle. It is incredible how active these
men can be. Then the real fun begins,
anff the rider and pony go at it in earnest.
The other man sometimes goes along on
another horse, with a rope to catch the
pony if things work wrong; but he is a
wall flower, and takes no part in the
dancing. It is pretty rough sport. The
pony may be a running bucker, anff may
stand stock-still and buck in place
at unexpected intervals; he may buck
over a bank; ho may buck and pitch a
somersault forward; he may rear and fall
over backward. The rider wants both
to stick to his pony and be ready to
vault off in short measure if essential.
Ho uses all the legs nature has given
him, stirrup or no stirrup, and lashes his
pony at every rise with alt his might.
When the pony rises, the trick is to get
sway from the entitle, and tho heavy
buster has a fashion when the pony comes
down of settling himself in his seat with
a hard jolt and an “Ugh!" a thing
which soon tires out the little
fellow, which weighs barely four
times as much as the man, and is
working a dozen times as liar.I. One way
ov other the uonv will kecuhis resistance
up for a certain length of time, accord
ing to disposition, but in a couple ol
hours he will be ridden do.vn. Unless
lie nets his rider into a snarl, anff thuf
earns a let up, he will be so played out
that he will go along pretty quietly, with
but slight attacks of his bucking fever.
He has found his master, and he knows
it. One more ride will be the final pol
ish of his primary-schooling. The kin ler-
gartoning has been omitted. The second
ride will be a repetition of the first in a
slightly modified and less dangerous
form. After this the pony is c msider-j 1
“busted”, but his grammar schooling
begets from the cowboy’s use. 11c never
reaches the high or normal school, let
alone the college; but be has a knack of
educating himself, and the amount of in
formation and skill he will pick up of his
own accord at cow-punching is wonder
ful. He of course is taught to guide by
the neck, and he twists and turns in the
performance of his duties with extra
ordinary intelligence and quickness; but
a good deal of what ho does is not so
much taught by an educational process as
picked up by repetition of the tame
work, which, after all, is the only way a
horse ever learns.—Harper's Magazine.
CURIOUS FACTS.
A Kansas hog weighs 1253 pounds.
Most “sardines” are sprats and pilch
ards.
A Louisiana orange tree will vie! 1
10,000 oranges.
A Norristown (Penn.) family owns
forty-seven cats.
The United Stater declared war
against Tripoli on June 10, 1301.
A medical journal stater ti;.‘ live
clergymen live as long ar eight working-
men.
A Sonoma County (Cal.) vineyardist
has purchased 10,003 paper bags to cov
er the young vines and protect them
fronr grasshoppers.
There is a colore 1 girl in Biltimor.’
who wants to remain black, and has
gone to a hospital to be treated for a
peculiar disease, by which her skin is
turning white.
Generosity is a national tru't of the
Chilians, and the American tra npr who
drift into Santiago arc repute 1 to make
from §10 to §20a day by begging at the
doors of the wealthy.
A baby alligator, brought frnu Flor
ida five years sgo and liberated iu a Li i-
coln (Ale.) swamp, has grown to a mon
ster that can eat a dog, so the coble
Penobscot Indians .‘■ay
The first German court of justice h is
held a session in Heligoland. Toe nl
endar was a blank. The clerk regist-r ■ I
the fact that the court met an 1 a 1-
journed and all was over.
One of the finest collection of stan.i:,
numbering 100,000, in the world is
owned by Dr. Legrand, of Neuilly, in
France. The collection is kept under
lock and key and is rarely seen by any
one but its owner.
The largest ship canal in E imp 1 i; !h
great North Holland Canal, ft > i A n
sterdani to Holder, fifty-one miles; c > u
plcted in 1S25; 125 feet wide at witer
surface, thirty-one feet wide at b lit ) a,
depth twenty feet.
It is said that chocolate is use I in the
interior of South America for a currency,
as are cocounuts and eggs. Nur viy
even now uses corn for cjin. lulu lii
cakes of tea pass as currency, and in
China pieces of silk.
A log raft composed of sixteen fribs,
each sixty feet long, forty leet wid an 1
nineteen feet deep, is presently t > be
towed from St. John, New Brunswick,
to Brooklyn. The cribs arc to be eighty
feet apart, making the tow about 1)J
feet long.
A Burmese worn in, who was nlarnel
by the long-continued absence of her
husband, consulted a “charmer" as to
the best means of accuring his return.
She was told to place a lighte I can li
on her bed and leave the hou-e for at
least half an hour. She pla :u I tiv
lighted candle under her mosqu'to c ir-
tain and went away, only to return to
find her house and the adjoining on-,
in flames. The fire spread and 133
houses were destroyed.
A Baltimore freak is a frog of g > > I
size and a trifle light in color, In; ap
parently not different frnn any other
frog. The freakislmess develop j I who i
his frogship was wonie 1, when, instcil
of hopping off or giving utter in ■" to tho
deep, sonorous note usually he ir 1 fro.n
frogs, he simply opene I his m ri'h a i I
cried. The frog is noth mg if not hu
man, and suggests b ith in t > i ; an I v >'
ume a Dad, peevish child. T.ie cry is
not a single note, but scveial, iiud i- c > i
tinned even after the annoyance ceases.
Cape Cod Is Disappearing.
Tbeie isn’t tho least doubt but that
Capo Cod, Maas., is gradually being
eaten up by the greedy ocean. Less than
100 years ago a lighthouse was placed
on the headland by the Government.
Tho original deed calls for a plat of ten
acres in extent. At the present time the
enclosure embraces hardly six acres. On
a point just north of the marine stations
at Highland light the face of the bluff
has moved iu nearly 2.50 feet in the last
seven years. A this rate it is only a
question of time when Capo Cod will he
a thing of the past.—St, Isaui* Itepublir.
COLORADO DESERT.
i in; Gttt: \t arii* region of
TUG FAK SOUTHWEST.
An Area of SOOff Square 5!Her
Wtier- Only the Cactus Sur
vives -Its Intense Heat
anil Animal Lire.
The region known ns the Colorado
l)(‘( it I - m area of more than 3000 square
niilc-i. Throughout this desert the only
thing that survives is the esetus, and in
some places the extreme heat has suc
re I-I in destroying tliisplant. Further
up on the mountain slope of the San Ber-
ranirno r t ig« the vegetation becomes
j :o! i e, especially in the spring. There
i. an abun lance of flowers and a limite 1
amount of grass, but all this disappears
wh i iho diy season sets in. There arc
so rff fifty kinds of cactus to be seen,
the most notab’c of which is the opiitillo
biv.utiful red flower. Along the Colo-
iado River there is a species that grows
to the height of forty feet. Throughout
tic:country foralmist a thousand mllei
ai.’und nearly every species of vegetation
i .-.ruic I with thorns or spikes. In tbe
m ne fertile regions nearest the Pacific
t 1 an there is a clover known as the
•Bun” clover. It is abundant in the
region of the San Bernardino Mountains,
but i- rarely fouu 1 in the desert. It
springs up an 1 matures in four or five
v.eik- err Ic-s. AVhen it dies it leaves a
t horny, spit ally formal knot, almost
ghibular, liked with oily seeds. Sime-
tiffi-s this will cover the ground to the
deptli of half an inch. It is an extremely
mitntiou; food for sheep. Flocks arc
driven iu there, and the only water they
get is what they can obtain out of the
shcepsheu I cactus. East of the Colorado
River there are several species of yuse.i,
the fibre of one of which is extensively
use 1 in the manufacture of paper, one of
the chief industries of the -Mojave Desert
in tho north.
The most common animals arq the
large black lizard an 1 the horn toad.
The chuck walla lizard is the strongest
and most vicious of the species. The
Indians are very fond of it as an article
of diet. Ruttlesnnkrs are plentiful.
The best known of these is the “side-
*
•.viutcr,” about twenty inches long. Its
skin is of a grayish color and mottled.
Over each eye is a short horn. This is
the most dangerous of all the reptile!
found in thu region, and is an object of i
great terror to the natives.
The summer heat of this region is in
tense. Frequently tho thermometer
will reach 130 degrees iu the shade. In
the sun it is generally about 140 to 145
degrees during the hotter part of tho
day. Rain storms are almost unknown.
AVhen one occurs it comes in the form of
a cloudburst. There is a darkening of
the sky, then a deluge of water, cover
ing the surface to a depth of three
inches, sometimes in fifteen minutes.
Then il clears off, and the sun is shining
almost before you know anything has
happene 1. The cloudbursts have been
very expensive things to the Southern
Pacific Railway. Almost without a
moment's warning the flood of water
will wash out the embankments and
leave the track a complete wreck for a
mile, and sometimes for three or four
miles. In various places the track ha 1
been diked with brush banks oa each
-.ide in order to divert the course ol
floods.
Tim Arroya del Aluorto, or Death Val
ley, and the sink of the San Felipe, both
in the s mthcrii part of California, are tht
only depressions at present known in the
AVcsterii Continent. At King's Spring,
Death Valley is 225 feet below tho level
of the ocean, but sinks to a greater
depth in some other plaers. The de
pression of the Conchilla Valley is much
larger, extending one hundre 1 miles by
thirty. It is now cone; led by geogra
phers that this valley is a continuation
of Death Valley. It is only a few miles
Inn i the [i lint where the Southern Pa
cific Riilway tresses the valley ate
depth of 20! feet below sea level, that
the celebrated “Ship of the Desert” was j
discovered some years ago. Between j
188.5 and 13*2 a man name I Perry
owned a ferryboat crossing a branch of
the Colorado. His boat was a little tos
small anff he set about building a larger
o e. Twenty miles from the ferry therr
was a clump of cottonwood trees. Perry
and his workmen fellel the trees a i 1
built a scow hulk for a ferryboat. Per
ry’s idea was to drag the boat across th<
sands of the desert by means of ox teams,
but tbe beat was wo intense that his oxen
died and he abandoned the scheme,
leaving the hulk stranded in the desert.
I' luv ime partly covered up by the drift
ing sand. A few years later some one ol
imaginative turn discovered it and an
non need it to be the hulk of a
shi|'. The discovery created i
considerable sensation, and there were
various theories advanced to ex
plain the mystery, the best receive 1 of
which was that the ship had cntcrc I the
Gulf at th i time when all this region is
suppo" I to have been an am of the sea,
and that it had stranded there an I had
been finally uncovered by the winds.
The fact, however, that it was an old
aban lone 1 lerryboar is positively state 1
by living witnesses. This suppiso I •3 iip
of the Desesl" was made more famous
by Poet Joaquin Miller.
Tbe comm ci ide i is that the soil of
the desert is r > in is e I of sanl, an 1 that
its surface is low and level. This is a
mistaken notion. Nothing is so scircj
in deserts as sand. Even water is more
abundant in comparison. AVIiat is re
garded as sand is finely pulverized soil
containing not a grain of sand. Sand is
found in a certain part of the African
desert but in this case it is derived from
the high ranges of sandstone recks.
The desert is a desert for lack of water.
The soil varies in different localities
consisting of gravel shingle, alkaline
dust, yellow loam, clay, or rock. The
surface, in some places smooth and level,
is in others rugged and mountainous.
In the Colorado and Mojave deserts the
soil is almost exclusively a finely pulver
ized feldspar, derive 1 from the disinte
grated granite ranges which traverse the
region.—Ntv> Yorl San.
Facls About Grcjnlai'*.
A lecture on Greenlan I war given in
London not long ago by Clements Mark
ham. His history ol t ie-eirly discov
eries included the voyage of Erie the
Red.
Hal! was the first Iviglishmui who
laid his bones on the shore of Green
land.
In 1721 Hans Kgele, the aoi tle of
the Esquimaux, Ian 1- I in Gr—nlan 1.
It has been found impossible to pene
trate for any di lane- into the vast in
terior. The natives heli-v.: it to !>„• in
habited by enormous an I malignant
beings.
It is‘>20,000 squ in* milcn in
tin* wliok* !u in ;; n m i«s of ice. A D.tnish
professor in l s 2 hnck* his way fo: thirty
miles inhtnO, anil <le ; cribe l the scenes ha
sa v.
There is not hi 14 b it a white world
supporting a blue va ill. Fi > n far be
low one's feel there c >:nes the monin;
noise, the voices of rivers tl > vin^ far be
ucath.
Occasionally there are lou 1 reports
from the opening of a cleft, a \ i>t ruv s
of water piercing its way in the ice do .vn
to the underlying granite itself for thr.i-
sands of feet.
At thir-y miles from the coist fn
height above the sea was 220 3 feet, an l
.the ice was still rising.
A wonderful sight is that of the c. )!-
ossal rivers, deep an 1 broil, wh : eh
flow between tall blue banks, and pour
at the end of their courae do an a cleft
with a mighty cascade, winch is cm-
spicuous from a distune? from a clou 1 of
mist which always hangs above it.
On the strips of land ueir th'coist,
the Greenland llora. though sent/, i;
very pleasant to the eye. VegctUio 1
covers the ground in thick masses, form
ing turf in the level place•, while it tills
the chinks and crannies of the rocks aa 1
creeps over the surface of the stone, giv
ing a bright app - trance to the lan 1 iu
summer.— \Y<v,hinjto;> Post.
Bees and Raisins.
As I arn interested in the raisin indus
try, writes a correspondent, I desire to
send you a few facts which I observed
last year, while I was drying my first
raisins.
During the months of August and
September the grapes lying ou the trays
were crowded with bees working gently.
Bee men say that tiie bees cannot punch
the grape because the skin is too hard.
Upon this point I agree with them, he
cause I saw the way in which the bees
were working.
It seems that either in picking or
handling the grapes got somewhat loose
from the stem, or, at any rate, while
they lie upon the trays something causes
sugar to come out from the grape, close
to the stem, and right at that place is
where 1 observed that all the bees began
their operations. The bees empty the
grape, staying with it until they have
consumed the juice of the sweet muscat,
leaving its dry skin on the tray. 'Ehesc
things I have seen and observed and l
am positively sure that it wis the work
of the bees alone, with no assistance from
the yellow wasp or other insect or even
birds, as some people suppose. The bee
in its foraging found grape sugar and
the source from which it came, and, just
like a miner, worked at it faithfully un
til the bonanzi was exhausted, leaving
behind only the hollow walls of what
was intended to be a raisin.
As to the amount of damages, of
course that would depend upon the
ipi intity of grapes eaten an I the number
of bees eating them. Therefore, as all l
know about bees vs. grapes is what I
have already st.it nl, and as last ye ir was
the first time ! began to dry 111 my six
ami a half acre field, I ta 1 only say tint,
so far as my one year’s experience goes,
I should judge that my loss was ona-
foiuth of my crop. — B1 itr.yidl CaU/or-
nian.
Light to Tell tho Time.
Rome English electricians have intro
duced an c’ectrh light apparatus foi
illuminating the face of a watch at any
hour of the night. It is made of a small
divided case, with a minute incandes
cent lamp and reflector llxe 1 in the rim
and made hollow, so that the watch may
be laid inside tho case, and upon press-
ing 11 small stud the face of the watch is
brilliantly illuminate I.
The electricity is supplied by a small
dry battery, which may be attached to
any part of the hi or in any part ol the
room and connected with the watch-case
by a flexible cord.— - Cincinnati Enquirer.
A resident of Fort Worth, Te\ h,
claims to have a carnivorous cow.