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I - S ^ “IF FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE WORLD WE CAN DO ANYTHING.” n. Ill I I ■ That Three Dollar Poll Tax. DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1892. NO. 47. V 1 •Qy 7 [SpartHiilmig Siutrtmi ] Mr. Eiliton—I propose to call the attention of iny brother farmers through the medium of the Spartan gll y j g ih e y propose to collect an to the injnstiee of the proposed to secure it is the repeal of the school tax, which can only lie done by a Constitutional Convention. If the repeal of the 2-mill tax is not in the programme, all I have to measure, and show it# practical w ork ing upon the farmers. Governor Tillman is the apostle of the farm ers, but if he can carry his measure, I, as one of that class, pray to be de livered from my friend, as I now de monstrate. If I understand his*project, it is to call a Constitutional Convention and do away with the 2-mill school tax, leaving a poll tax of $3 in lieu of lars, yon will observe, comes out of it. ( , the poor Qian’s pocket* for one-teoth But, whether the 2-mill tal is tet of-the people own nearly all of the be repealed or not, the $3 poll tax is to be made if he can get a Legis lature subservient to his will. Now, understand it and see how it works, let us assume that the taxable prop erty of the State is 130 million of dollars, equally divided between the class of farmers and all other classes not farmers. We will also assume that 80 men out of every hundred are farmers. The census of 1880 shows about this proportion, whether right or wrong it makes no difference, as it is the principle I am trying to demonstrate. The State has about one million inhabitants, 400,000 whites and 600,- 000 blacks, which would give about 80,000 white voters and 120,000 black ones, or a total of 200,000, which at $3 each could raise $600,- 000 for school purposes. Now, who would pay this tax under the new arrangement proposed? If the farm ing class is eight-tenths of the whole population, why, of course, they will pay eight-tenths of it. or $480,000, . and all other classes, representing half the property, would pay only $120,000; that is to say, that the farmers would pay just four times as much as all the others combined. Umlei ihe present arrangement, on 150 millions, with 2 mi'ls on prop erty and $1 poll tex, the farmers yay $150,000 pluieight-tenth, of tile poll tax $200,000, (Ais .being a^JySar upi: each voter,) 100,000—$310,- OoO. The other classes now pay $150,000 property tax and two-tenths of poll tax or $40,000 mote, making that $190,000. Tillman therefore proposes to re lease the property holders from $70,- 000 tax, which will.be seen is the difference between the present and projiosed plans, and to saddle the same upon the very poorest class the country has in it, and a good deal more besides, for under the new ar rangement they would pay $480,000, whilst under the present plan they pay only $310,000, which is a differ ence of $170,000 against the farmers. Now when yon take into consider ation the ability of the two parties to pay taxes this is simply outrageous. Why make the poor farmer, who Governor Tillman says, lust year did not make a two cents -postage stomp clear money, pay such an enormous sum as four hundred and eighty ♦housand dollars and let off all other classes, representing half the prop erty, with only one hundred and twenty thousaud. Now would it not be a ni e md business like way to let off railroad#, banks, cotton manufac tures, merchants and monied men generally from all property tax, with an insignificant $3 poll tax, for the few men engaged in these occupations and saddle the weight of it upon a lot of men, the large majority of whom a-e working at $10 to $15 per month, and out of which they sup port their families. If this is all Tillman knows about my interest as a farmer, and is the way he proposes to look after my af fairs, why the sooner somebody knocks him and all others who have no better sense in the head, the bet ter for us poor farmers. Why he is just simply cutting our throats. His excuse is lie wants to make the negro bear his share of the bur den. Making the negro pay $3 poll tax isn’t going to help the poor white man to pay his $3, nor will it help the white man’s school, for the negro will get for his schools all he pays in, a id probably a good deal more, for there will then be no excuse for not giving him an equal division At p •eeent the property being in the h n Is of the white man he only gets what he is entitled to, that is a very small amoant It may be that theanthorities will say that the repeal of the 2-mili property tax is no part of the pro gramme. But I will say that they wait a Constitutional Convention called and oneof the arguments used awful tax, 2-mill tax, say $300,00© knd a $3 poll tax, about $600,000, n a- ing a grand total of $900,000 for schools alone, which is an enormous amount for an impoverished people and is more than was collected un der Hampton and his successors to run the whole State government, in cluding the interest ou the public debt and for school t. This nine hundred thousand dol- Abellsh the Fnit Rule for the Jury, of-the people own nearly property. I know townships in which a 1 alf-dozen men pay three- fonrths of the taxes. How would it do to repeal the property school tax aud exempt the landed proprietor with Ills several thousand acres and put it upon his 20 or 30 tenants or the cotton manufacturers and put it upon operatives? This is what it all means. Solomon says, “The prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” 1 propose to th >w you in some fu ture article, next week maybe, that the farmer is being imposed on in the Clemson College, the privilege tax on fertilizers and in the proposed increased phosphate" royalty. Tillman carries us all in his breeches pockets, so he says, and I verity believe it, for we will shout and vote for hi i as farmers, no matter how little sense he has displayed in looking after our interests. What fools we farmers be.” Fakmer. How do ¥•■ Like this Platform! A citizen of Georgia announces his candidacy for Congress, and gives hi- platform as follows: i he writer takes this method of announcing to the people that he is a candidate for Congress in the third party nomiQatioo. My reasons for leaving the old Democmticpurtv are that it has always schemed and tried to give everybody unequal showing by which those who sjieiit have got poorer, and the longest poles have knocked off all the persimmon-. 1 now propose to give the short poles a chance. I believe that Wall street is able to feed the balance of the country and should be made to do it. The foolish system of every man having what he has earned and saved has become obsolete and should beabol- ished. I believe in crea i.ig new parties and government offices until every man in the country, who is too buy to do anything else, can become an office holder and collect the money from Wall street to fly high on. I believe every freeholder in the country should be made to divide his land with the first poor God forsaken tramp that comes along until we all become freeholders or tramps togeth er. I believe every Union soldier ought to be pensioned until be is able to live without work, and the Confed erate soldier be made to feed him. I believe the women should be al lowed to vote. They govern the country now, and they ought to have the credit of it The first thing I shall do when I get to Congress will be to pass a bill making cotton worth twenty-five cents per pound. Next, a bill giving every man as much money as he wants, and if the government hasn’t enough money for that let them make enough paper money to do it Then, a bill compelling the gov ernment to loan every man us much money os he wants at 2 ) e.- cent, and to raise this money ly taxing the people until they have u> borrow it tit 10 per cent to pay the taxes with. I will esteblnh a custom house and subtreasury in every inland coun ty in the State until I get enough voters in office to carry the election for my side. I believe the government ought to own all means of transportation, in cluding horse s, mules, oxen and asses —in office aud out—and be compell ed to feed them /ud let every man ride that wants to. I propose to pass a law making due bills legal tender, and when a man gets out more than he cun pay, will pass a stay law to keep everbody from collecting them. I propose to place the county court I ouae on wheels aud move it around from place to place until every little town in the county is satisfied. 1 can think of nothing else to pro mise just now, but if there is any thing else you want done, J am ready for it and I propose to promise any thing that will bring in % vote. The conviction is steadily growing in the minds of thinking people that there is something radically wrong with our Jury system as it now stands. Time after time some criminal es capes the penitentiary or the gallows for months, even for years, iif.er the perpetration of the crime, and in some instances escapes entirely, al though the community has no shadow of doubt as to. his guilt and ho|ie for a speedy conviction and punish ment Time and again the County is put to the expense of trying the same offender for the same offence, and Anally the Jury becoming wearied of the case, and despairing of ever reach ing a verdict, prefer to set the pri soner at liberty rather than have an other misti iul entered, thereby render ing necessary the same proceeding at some future Court mid with tin same result probable. The fruitful cause of these repeat cd mistrials is the law that require! the twelve Jurymen to come tor unanimous agreement before they can find a verdict By such a system om .nan on a Jury can defeat justice for- r, mid In is not a •countable ton .i.uiuii tor hi# conduct unless • onld l e proven guilty of brilerv. As an illustration of the eumb some operation and perhaps dangei •in's elTict of the unit law with Jurir e cil“ the following exttmp a oe# 'Inddoii was tried at the J:u • nary term of Court for murder. We are reliably informed that the Jury st-od 11 to 1 in iavor of a verdict ol guilty. As the one vole caused a mistrial James Haddon was again tried at the last term of Court. The Jury sat. np all night and yet stoo 10 to 2for conviction. We have thi condition of affairs then: Out ol two Juries, aggregating 24 men, 21 have been convinced that James Had d.m was guilty of the churgeof mur der. Three have thought otherwisi and the opinion of the thm has had equal weight with the opinion of the twenty-one, and James Haddon wil have to be tried for the third time To put ihe above facts 'in other words: Out of the twenty-tour men that have sat upon the case, one Jury of twelve men could have licen se- Deled who would have reached a unanimous verdict of guilty, mi another Jury could have been select ed three-fourths'of whom would iiavt favored conviction. Other cases could be cited when one corrupt or eccentric or toolis Juror had defeated the will of the other eleven honest and conscientious Jurors. We submit that undue importance is thus attached to the individual Juror's opinion. Too great a power is placed in his hands. Where onh one is corrupt the balance are power less than to eutorco their common opinion. The preservation of peace and or der the enforcement of the laws de mand that this importance be taken from the single Juror and that n two-thirds or three fourths ruhbe established. No issue can be so vital but that the common conclusion ol nine men out of twelve should settle it. No greater majority is ever re quired among any body of men. We submit the following proposi tions as our main reasons tor desir ing this change', and we believe the facts will sustain them: 1. Innocence will be in no mon- danger where there is a three-fourth (or 9) rule, than where there is a unit (or 12) ru’e : • .ssary for the finding of a verdict by the J ury. . 2. Guilt will be punished more often ai d more speedily by the three- fourths than by the unit rule, and as a consequence, aud it is supreme in its importance, mob law will subside and lynching will take piace only in rare cases. If these two propositions are true then there can be no reasonable grounds for opposing the change, nor can the change be brought about too speedily.—Anderson Intelligencer. Tke Arntrlcaa Girl. She knows no Latin, she knows no Greek, But the purest America u she cun speak; -'lie knows the uses of her and she, Vml the proper places of I and me; Site doesn’t use big words to tell A story, although she cm use them well; In sb i t, she’s a girl without pretense, Wii h an ample sppply of comm u Hcnse, And I’d rather have her any day Than the girl who can parley voo frongaay. -rBrandon Bucksaw. THE FEROOIOUS TIGER. Proof That He Kill! More Mon Than Aay Other Animal. The point of view from which the lion or tiger looks on man is perhapn not so far removed from that of the non-carnlvorous creatures as might be supposed. Man is certainly not the natural food for any animal—except for sharks and alligators, if he is so rash a# to go out of his native element into theirs—and if the item “man” were aub- tracted from the bill of fare of all thQ carnivora they would never want a meal. The notion of the natural atti tude of a lion to a young lady— When as that tender vergln he did apje, Upon her he did run full greedily, , To have at onoe devoured her tender corpse • is still popular, but hardly correct. More^ probably the lioa would get out of the way politely—if .we miay judge by the pacific behavior of these in oflr-ldst uxplored lion-haunt, Mashonaland. Georges Leroy’s contention for the nat ural allnity, or semi-sympathy, which should exist between man and intelli gent hunting animals is no doubt part: ly reasonable. Leigh Hunt was un pleasantly struck by the incongruity of the notion of being eaten by wild beast, “the hideous impracticable fellow- creature looking one in the face, strug gling with us, mingling his breath with ours tearing away scalp or shoulder blade.” But the “fellow-creature” is not nearly so impracticable as he is supposed to be. More human beings are probably killed by tigers than by any other wild beast, except by starv ing wolves. Yet this is what Sir Sam uel Baker has to say on the subject: “There is a great difference in the habits of tigers. Some exist on thu game in the jnngles. Others prey espe cially upon the flocks belonging to the villages. A few are designated ‘man- eaters.’ These are sometimes naturally ferocious, and, having attacked a hu man being, may have eaten the body, and thus acquired a taste for human flesh; or they may have been wounded ou more than one occasion, and may have learned to regard man as a natural en emy. But more frequently the ‘man- eater 1 is a very old tiger, or more prob ably a tigress, that, having hunted in the neighborhood of villages and car ried off some unfortunate woman, has discovered that it is far easier to kill a native than to hunt jungle game.” As a rule, the tiger is only anxious to avoid men, and it is noticed that in high grass tigers are more dangerous than in forests, because in the former they can not be seen, neither can they see, until the stranger is close upon them. An ancient instance of the opposite be havior is that recorded of the new col onists of Samaria, where the lions at tacked “and slew some of them.” A curious inversion of this experience oc curred when the islands in the Brah- muptura, which were swarming with tigers, were first cultivated. The natives, mainly by the aid of traps set with a bow and arrow, killed off the tigers so fast that the skins were sold by auction at from eight annas to onq rupee apiece. In this case the tigers were the first ag gressors by carrying off cattle. But it seems evident that there exists no a priori reason, founded in natural an tipathy, why man and animals, if we could reconstruct a “state of nature” in which we could put civilized, not savage man, should not dwell together in pro found peace, or at least in such peace as obtains between accidental neighbors. The only ground for quarrel that seems inevitable is the everlasting one be tween the shepherd and the wolf, and that, after all, is a question, not of pre- ju lice, but of property.—London Spec tator. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. Mow a Young Man Unveiled In That Delicacy. The man or wo n in who has once eaten homemade strawberry shortcake can never become reconciled to the yel- low-hued precursor of dyspepsia which is served in most New York restaurants as strawberry shortcakj. The number of persons who remember the straw berry shortcakes that their mothers used to make is surprisingly large, and they keep bobbing up every now and then in indignant protest against the mlsealled strawberry sandwiches that are serve 1 in the average lunch room. One young gentleman who acquires city habits with suspicion, and loyally clings to the recollections of his boy hood, almost worried himself sick over the fact that nowhere could he find homemade strawberry shortcake. Like many another unfortunate, he has no home; he boards. A few days ago, however, he chanced to meet a friend of his schoolboy days, a young married woman, who informed him that she was living on Staten Island, her husband and herself being the happy possessors of a whole house. Into her sympathetic ears the young gentleman X>oured his strawberry shortcake griev ance, and supplemented the woeful nar- j rative by describing how his mother used to make that delicious pastry. imagine his delight when the young | woman said: “Why, that is just the way I make a shortcake. You must come and eat one j with us.” “One! A dozenr exclaimed the young man ecstatically. “Let me furnish the berries and you make the shortcakes.” The next day being Saturday, this young man sent several quarts of the finest strawberries that he could find over to the house of his Staten Island; friends. On Sunday he reveled in straw-, berry shortcake. Had it hot and juicy for dinner and cold for tea. It was like, recalling one of the days of lon&ago.— N. Y. Times. It Yields Best Returns. Totling—Do you know which is thq; most profitable metal to work? , Binding—“No; which is? i Tolling—Printer’s zinc.—Detroit Free Press. —A some what surious and noteworthy collection has come into the market, 1 and has lately been offered for sale to,j | among others, the authorities of the British National Museum. A Canadian gentleman has expended a vast amount of patience and shown considerable' perseverance in gathering a collection of battens of officers of every regiment and department of the British army. The collection, which comprises 144 buttons, has teken nine years for its formation, aud the owner wrote 584 let ters to all pirts of the globe in pursuit; of hi} hobby, . j THE GUILLOTINE. " Watery of tho Instrument That -Tal Claimed Its Thousands. One of the most widely disseminated Of popular errors is that Dr. Guillotln invented the grim machine which still bears his name. The real inventor u| this sinister contrivance was Dr. Louis, a well-known medical man, and perm a, nent secretary of the Parisian School of Medicine, or Academie de Medicine. The teachings of Beccaria, endorsed as they were by Voltaire and other humanitarian writers of the eighteenth century, had at last awakened in thii minds of the people a feeling of revul- .alpn against the prevalent barbarous methods of putting criminals to death. I<ouis XVL remembered with horror the indescribable torments to which thu Wretched Damiens had been subjected for an attempt on the life of his prede* 'cemor, and early in his own reign mani. fjMted a desire to pffect a complete refcnnaHoh * 6# the* prison- system throughout his dominions In 1788 ha ♦rote a letter to his brother-in-law, Joseph| II., ou this subject, and on many occasions manifested a keen in* terest in everything connected will, t more humane treatment of prison i and condemned persons. The queen, too, had placed herself at the head of q society of ladies who devoted some of their leisure to the visitation of prisons, and the subject of their reformation had become fashionably popular. In 1785 Dr. Louis, a well-known pro fessor of pathology, modeled his ap paratus on the manaja, a rougher sort of guillotine, which had been used in Italy for centuries. On March 7, 1792, this gentleman read a paper on his in* vention before a select assembly of members of parliament, and exhibited a small model of it, made for him by M. Schmidt, the famous manufacturer of musical instruments, who was so liber* ally patronized by Marie Antoinette, for whom he constructed several of hi^ most elaborate spinnets and harpsi* chords. Little did he imagine that ha had exhibited the model 'for an instru ment which, within two years, would destroy both his illustrious patroness and her husband. On March 25 a reso lution was passed by the national as* sembly recommending the immediate introduction of the machine in question in aU prisons throug bout the country. The invention was first called tha Louison, after its real inventor. Dr. 'GuiUotin, who continued his crusade against the rack, the wheel, the ropa and the stake— all of which hod only recently been abolish ed, and several of which, notably the w heel, were still in nse in the sout hern provinces—con* stantly spoke with such euthusiasm of Dr. Louis’ apparatus that the people ended by giving his name to it and ha was presently credited with having in* vented an instrument which he ha<f only introduced to public attention. On April 25, 1703, the gu illotine was pub licly used for the first time, and be headed a bandit named Pelisscr. This was in the Place de Greve, where some twenty years previously Damiens had been tormented for days in precisely the same way as Ravaillac had been for tha assassination of Henry IV. During four months after the execu tion the machine which was eventually to achieve such sinister celebrity was disused. In August it was transferred to the Place du Carrousel, and a few weeks later it was alternately stationed In the Place de Greve, the center of what is now called.the Place de la Con corde, and in the Place du Trone. It was iu the Place de la Concorde that Louis XVL, Marie Antoinette, Mme. Elizabeth, and some eight thousand other victims fell beneath the identical blade which, by a curious irony of fate, is now to be see n.. in the Chamber of Horrors at Mme. Tussaud's. As it is impossible now to ascertain the exact number of the victims of the Massacre of St Bartholomew, so it is impossible to give a correct estimate of the num ber of persons who were put to death by the guillotine in ('ranee between August 10, 1792, and the 9th “Thermi- dor,” 1794, but it was certainly not un der 40,000. Lamartine and Thiers gave the number as under 20,000; but they do not seem to have been acquainted with the evidence which has been discovered during the last few years of the facts of the “Comlte du Salut Public” in the small towns and villages where roughly constructed guillotines were erected, and performed their awful work with appalling regularity. Under the em pire and restoration the guillotine was permanently stationed in the Place de Greve, and executed annually between thirty and forty persona During the reign of Louis Philippe the guillotine was transferred to the Barriere St Jacques, and under the second empire to the Place de la Roquette, where it remaina Daring the Commune the old guillotine was burned by the people, and the present instrument is quite new. Sanson, who was the public exe cutioner throu ghout the Reign of Ter- .ror, sold the original guillotine to Cur- tius for £1,000, and he in his turn dis posed of it for a larger sum to his niece, Mme. Tussaud. Dr. Guillotin, who died in 1814, energetically but vainly protested against the use of his name in connection with this disagree able subject—another evidence, if one were wanted, of the great difficulty there is of correcting a popular error. Needless to say that the legend that Dr. Guillotln was among the victim’s of his friends ingenious and merciful in strument of destruction is wholly apocryphal He died at a good old ago, and in nis bed, surrounded by his chil dren, who, however, obtained permis sion to change their name.—London Saturday Review. Twin BeaU. Housewife (to tramps)—Now that you have had lunch you may saw some wood, as you promised. First Tramp—We did not promise to saw the wood. You mistook the tense of the verb. « Second Tramp—Exactly! We said we would see the wood, not saw it Housewife—You villains! You uphold each other in your rascality like brothers. i First Tramp—We are not brother*! We are simply two souls with but *| single thought { Second Tramp—Two hearts that beat, M onu.—National Tribune, —The director of the Breslau Ophthal mic university alleges that in three hundred cases which have come under his own notice, the affection of the eye sight complained of has been caused by wearing tight collars The pressure on the veins of the neck, he says, disturbs the circulation of blood to the head. ALL A MISTAKE. A Story Which Proves That Injustice Has I, Been Dooe the Snake. “People have an inborn, low-down opinion of snakes,” said a man from Pike county. “Everything that is bad or mean or loathsome they never hesi tate to associate with the name of snake. This isn’t the people's fault. It is the result of ignorance. It is their misfortune not to know the snake. If they could only come into closer dbin- munion with snakes and study them without prejudice they would find that the popular estimate of these interest ing and intelligent reptiles has done them ages of injustice. That unfortu nate affair in the Garden of Eden ought to be sufficient evidence that the snake is smart. A little circumstance of more recent occurrence, which I want to tell you about, will convince any one that the snake is by no means bad. “The water snake, although pretty and harmless, is one of the most unpop ular members of the ophidian race. This is probably because he has a rare tooth for fish, and especially for trout, of which he takes a great many away from the angler every year. And, when /ou come to think of it, why hasn't he ■is good a right to them as the angler? Anyhow, whether he lias or not, he shows that he has a delicate sense of what is good by his partiality for tront. "One day I was fishing for trout up in Pike county, and 1 saw a water snake drop down into the creek from an alder, only a few yards ahead of me, and presently come out on the other side of the stream with a trout in its mouth. I at that time shared the popular dislike for snakes, and when I saw this one with the trout I became so enraged that 'I picked up a stone and threw it at the snake. The stone struck the snake a foot or so above its tail and disabled it It dropped the fish, which was still alive, and the trout flopped back into the water. The snake lay writhing on the ground, and I was cruel enough to pass on, leaving it to die, as 1 believed, iu agony, because of my abhorrence of its kind “The next day, fishing the same stream again, as I approached the spot where I had stoned the water snake, I saw a kingfisher sitting on a dead limb above a pool in tho brook. I knew it was watching for a fish, and I stopped to see whether the bird would catch one. I had to wait but a very short time. The kingfisher plumped like a shot down into tho water, disappeared for a moment, and came up with a good-sized chub in its bill I expected, of course, to see the bird fly away home with its catch, but instead of that it flew to the side of the creek, and to my surprise laid the chub on the ground in front of a snake that I hadn't noticed before. It was the water snake I had bit with the stone the day before. It was not dead, but had been unable to move away from the spot where the stone had crippled it As the kingfisher laid the fish in front of the snake, the latter seized it and proceeded to gorge it. The kingfisher flew back to its limb, went to fishing again, soon caught another fish, and flew away with it to Its nest. “Now a half-witted man couldn't have helped but understand what this all meant at a glance. The wounded snake, unable to move, and consequent ly unable to get any tiling to eat, had been discovered in its sad plight by the kingfisher, and the kingfisher, being a tender-hearted bird, had taken pity on it, and was feeding it to keep it alive until its wound healed and it was able to do for itself again. This touched me, and I resolved to let the snake alone and see what tho outcome of the inci dent would be. I didn't get back on the creek again for three or four days after that, and when I got down to. where the snake had lain it was gone.' Of course I had no means of knowing what had become of it, but naturally concluded that it had recovered and gone away. “While 1 stood there the kingfisher alighted on the dead limb again, and sat there as motionless as a knot, watch ing for a chance to catch a fish. A king fisher fishing is always an interesting sight to me, and so I waited again to see the result of this vigil I had to wait a good while this time, for the bird was evidently intent on big game. While he set there watching, a fish- hawk appeared, high np, circling around over the creek, looking for a dinner himself. By and by the kingfisher’s op portunity came. He shot into the water, came out with a nice trout apd started for home. I didn’t know whether the fishhawk had had his microscopic eye on that trout or not, but if he had, he didn't intend to be done out of it by the kingfisher. The latter had gone scarce ly a rod when down on him the fish hawk pounced and a lively but short' struggle for possession of the trout en sued. The kingfisher finding the fight to hot for him, dropped the trout, it fell on the ground, but before the hawk could fasten his talons iu it a snake, shot out of the bashes like a Hash, grabbed the trout an 1 shot back out of sight in the bashes again. As soon as the kingfisher dropped the trout it flew back to the dead limb and went to fish ing again. I never saw anything sur prised quite as much as that hawk was when he saw the trout disappear in the bushes. He hoverel over the spot a min ute or so, as if he couldn't believe his eyes, and then sailed away. ‘ ‘Well!” said I to myself. ‘That wise old snake just lay low and got the best of both of them!’ “I was about to start on again, when 1 saw a movement in the bushes at the foot of the tree the kingfisher was on. I looked,and out eame the snake with the trout in its mouth. It paused a moment at the foot of the tree, and then climbed it. The snake made its way out on the limb where the kingfisher was sitting, looking very disconsolate, and touched the bird on the side. The kingfisher turned quickly around, looked surprised for a moment, and then took the trout tlie snake handed over to him, and flew away home. The snake went back' down the tree aud disappeared in the bushes. “It was all plain enough to me then. The snake was the one I had wounded and the kingfisher had been good su ms ritan to, and it had taken this op- portunity to show its gratitude to the kind-hearted bird. From that minute I changed my opinion of snakes, for I felt that I had never known them be fore.—N. Y. Sun. • ■'« ' Gill Edge VIsitTuR Cards at this I •Dice. I FIRESIDE FRAGMENTS. —A full tablespoonful of flour makes one-half ounce. —Lemon Jelly.—Soak one-half box o| gelatine, as in preceding rule, and with tile hot water add the juice and grated rind of five lemons, two cupfuls ol white sugar and the beaten whites o) four eggs.—Good Housekeeping. —Beef Loaf. — Three and a hall pounds of round steak chopped fine, two cups of rolled crackers, two eggs, one tablespoon of salt, butter the size of an egg, and one cup of cold water. Pour into a bread tiu and bake three hours.—N. Y. World. —Potato Snow.—Press hot boiled po tatoes through a wire sieve into a vege table dish, previously warmed and carry to the table immediately. A bowl of hot cream seasoned with salt and white pepper should accompany it— Drake’s Magazine. —If the eyes are tired and inflamed from loss of sleep, by sitting up late or long travel, apply in the morning soft white linen, dripping with hot water— as hot as you can bear it—laying the cloth upon the lids. You will feel the eyes strong and free from pain or dis tress in half an hour. —Cheap Doughnuts.—Three cups of sifted flour, one cup of sugar, one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon, or any kind of spice preferred, a very little salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; sift all together; wet with milk, roll out thin and fry in boiling lard. Make pretty stiff, so that they won’t soak up the lard.—Detroit Free Press. —Ham Croquettes.—One cupful of finely chopped cooked ham, one of bread crumbs, two of hot mashed pota toes, one large tablespoonful of butter,| three eggs, a speck of cayenne. Beatj the ham, cayenne, butter and two of) the eggs into the potato. Let the mix ture cool slightly, and shape it like cro quettes. Roll in the bread crumbs, dip in beaten egg and again in crumbs, put in the frying basket and plunge intO| boiling fat Cook two minutes. Drain,; and serve.—Boston Budget. . i —Fish Croquettes.—Boil in a kettle! of hot water a good trout or whitefish., When cold, pick to pieces one pint of! the fish. Cook in a double boiler half a pint of new milk, one large tablespoon: ful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour made smooth with a little cold water, and the yolks of two eggs; re move from the fire and add the fish, and season well with salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and turn out to cool’ When perfectly cold, form in small' cylinder-shaped croquettes, dip in egg,, and then in bread or cracker crumbs, and fry in smoking fat. This quantity; will make twelve croquettes.—N. Y. Observer. ' —Sheep’s Head Stew.—Clean the head; thoroughly, taking out the eyes, and ‘put it on to cook in three pints of water for one of medium size, with a teacup*. , ful of rice, two or three sliced onions, a tablespoonful salt and a pinch of pep- 1 per. Bring to a boil, removing the scum, as it rises, and then add a few carrots .and turnips, peeled and quartered. Cover, closely and simmer slowly two hours, or until very tender. Taste and, see that the seasoning is right, then add; a little thickening, boil two minutes) and it is ready to serve with boiled po tatoes. This makes another economical dish for dinner.—Orange Judd Farmer. SUMMER PARASOLS. White 811k, ChilTon, and Muello Are Much In Demand. White really seems to be most promi nent, though of course all shades which can be used in harmony with the pre vailing costumes are shown, and what ever one's fancy may be, it need not go unsatisfied. But the varieties in white cover a very large field of usefulness. 1 Among the simplest are those of sheer white muslin with a puff around the edge, at the top, and around the handle, which is of natural light-colored wood. One can also find among the compara tively inexpensive parasols plain and brocaded white silk with dainty nifties of lace. Then come marvelous crea tions in the greatest variety of delicate and beautiful materials,—chiffon, cov ered with puffs and ruffles of the same material or ruffles of lace of the most delicate patterns; bolting silk, painted and lace-trimmed; and finally, the most expensive, lace alone covers the frame with flounce upon flounce, inside and outside. Ttiough the white parasols seem con spicuous, when one turns to the colors there is found no lack of variety and beauty, 'the most novel effects, in deed, are among the colors, and for every use to which a parasol may be put something may be found among them. One novelty is the melon-shaped parasol, which has many ribs and is covered with silk and fluted grenadine. This, while pretty in itself, will be but a passing fancy on account of its un usual shape. Silks in ail colors, with an embroidered edge from six to eight inches deep, are very attractive. Col ored silks with flounces of white lace are also used, and silks with ruffles and puffs of the materials. In the plainer parasols and sun-um brellas intended for more constant use, every shade of silk is used, and frames are often covered with material like the dress, if it is sufficiently light to be suit able. Gingham and similar material is frequently employed for parasol covers, and with very pretty effect The handles are somewhat longer than they were last year, and in some cases are made so that they can be taken apart for packing. They are al most invariably decorated with a puff like the material of the parasol, a how of ribbon, or a cord and tassel, about two-thirds of tho way down the stick. Whatever decoration is used around the handle is often repeated on the stick at the top of the parasol. The parasols have not changed much in size since last season—both fancy and plain ones be ing of medium size.—DeinoresL A Murderer's Sad Fate. First Thug—Bill Blugcon has been convicted o’ murder. Second Thug — Poor fellow! Now they’ll lock Mm up. an’ his lawyers will apply for a new trial, an’ poor Bill ull tiie of old age before he git# IL- '' —Two companies of the famous “Buektail” regiment in the Union army came from the lumber regions along tlie west branch of the Susquehanna river. T1 ey built two large, long rafts, hoisted a Hag at both ends and sailed down to Harrisburg upon those primitive crafts. A small portion of one raft is still at; Harrisburg, and it may be exhibited at the world's toll. , THE STRANGER’S CALL. An Incident That Interested the Miners at Homesick Diguing*. There were about two hundred men of us at Homesick Diggings, and it was the hour of noon on a summer’s day when big Jim Davis came over the hill with his pack on his back and staked <out a claim. He came alone, and that was why we noticed him so particularly. He seemed to fight shy of us for three or four days, and that is why we won dered if he was all right. Big Jim had got a squint at the face of every man in camp before he thawed out and became social. In a little time we found him to be a good fellow, and so we gradual ly came to forget our first suspicions. We were still agreed, however, tha* •there was something queer about him. He appeared anxious and perturbed whenever a new arrival was announced, and if a party of half a dozen came along. Jim would go into hiding until die had sized them up. It was as if he jsuspected some one was trailing him •down. There were all sorts of men in the mining camps in those days, and it was the rule to mind your own business. As long as a miner obeyed the rules and; regulations laid down for the govern- ,ment of a camp he was looked upon as all right. What he had been in the past was nothing even to his tentmate. There was a big shanty in the center of our village which was occupied as a store, saloon, bank and general rendez vous after working hours. I was in there one afternoon just before the, miners knocked off work, when a stranger quietly entered, lie had corao by the trail and alone, but ho one had noticed him. He was a slim, light weight man, and though clothed in •rough garb you could see at once that ’he was not a miner. He was sunburned and unkempt, but that was to be ex pected out there. He was talking with 1 the stoorkeeper as I entered—asking after just such a man as Big Jim Davis. I His face struck me pleasantly enough, 'but there was a something in his gray |Cyes to remind you of a wounded beast, and a something in his voice to satisfy you that he would be a pitiless enemy. • He went out before I did. Where he kept himself for the next hour I never learned. The boys had knocked off, •washed up and eaten supper, and about twenty of us had lounged into the store for a smoke and a talk, when the little man suddenly show :d up. This, mind •you, was three months after Big J im’s coming. Jim sat on a box facing the door, which was open. I happened to !be looking at him, and I suddenly saw his faoe grow pale and his jaw drop. I looked over to the door and there stood the stranger, lie had a leering sort of smile on his face, and was look ing only at Big Jim. In ten seconds all conversation had ceased. We instinct ively felt that the two were enemies, and that the little man had finally trailed Big Jim down. It was fully two minutes before the •stranger moved or spoke. Then he stepped forward until close to Big Jim and said: “It has been over two years, but I’v» •run you down at last!” ■» Davis looked at him as one who sees t specter, but made no reply. “You have skulked and dodged like a coward 1” continued the little man in the same quiet voice, “but you’ll be a man now, of course. The boys will see fair play. Shall it be pistol or knife?” If Big Jim s eyes hadn't been wide open we might have thought him a dead man. You never saw terror more plainly written on a human face. “It’s a little affair of our own, gentle men, explained the stranger, as he turned to us. “I’ve traveled thousands of miles while looking for Big J im. I've been hunting him down, to kill or be killed. This world isn’t big enough for both of us. Arrange the details to suit the crowd.” Not one of us had spoken. Just as the stranger finished Big Jim recovered from his stupor and made a move for his pistol. Like a flash of lightning the little man had him covered, and then he laughed a harsh, dry laugh and said: “I ought to shoot you down like a dog, but I’ll give you a show. Come out doors? Shall it be this or that knife?” Big Jim turned white again and re lapsed into his former state of dumb ness. The stranger surveyed him iu dis gust and contempt, and by and by turned to us and said: “Back in the states this white-livered coward betrayed my confidence and wrecked my home and my life. Even his dead body would disgrace your diggings. Come, Jim!” He stepped back and beckoned to Davis, who slowly followed, staring like one who wa Iks in his sleep. The little man backed to the door—out of it into the moonlight, and then started up the trail Davis foil owed like a dog, never looking to the right or to the left—mak ing not the slightest move to draw his weapon. It was as if he had been mes merized. Something of that same feel ing was upon all the rest of us, for we stood at the door, speechless and amazed, and looked after the pair until they were out of sight. It was like a dream, and men rubbed their eyes as if heavy with sleep. Up the hill—around the great black rock—past the tree on which we hung Taylor for murder, and then they were out of sight. The stranger we never saw again. A month later a prospector found Big Jim's skeleton in a ravine two miles away.—N. Y. Sun. Fashionable Shoes. With the exception of a few fine jet ornaments or a small buckle of Irish brilliants, all fancy decorations on dress shoes and slippers have nearly disap- appeared. Fine soft shoes of undressed kid, most easy and delightful to wear, are shown in many new shades to match the costume. The dove-gray and pale- tan mixiels find the largest sale. These tinted kid shoes do very well for a change or to complete a suit of one color entire, but for real elegance and neat and refined appearance there is no foot covering that can compare with a perfect-fitting shoe of fine black French kid. It suits all styles of dress, all oc casions, and makes the foot look trim- m t ami much smaller than a shoe of any other description. —N. Y. Post. MISCELLANEOUS. —If a man hasn’t friends, it is lie- cause he does nothing to deserve them. —Atchison Globe. _ —Doubtful, But He Had It.—“Wai Gen. Jones ever in the war?” "Never." “Where did he get his title?” “Owned six lots near a military encampment."-* Atlanta Constitution. „ . i 'Wfo