Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CALL MEETING OF COUNCIL. Insufficient Water Supply For Fires Discussed. City Council held a call meeting Monday night at 8 o'clock. The Mayor stated that the purpose of the meeting was to consider complaints concerning our water supply for fire service, and such other matters as might come np. Council extended the time for pay? ment of city taxes until March 1st. Messrs. W. S. Graham and R. S. Hood, Chiefs of the Fire Department, were present, and stated that the wa? ter pressnre in the northwestern section of the city is. totally insufficient for fire service. They related the condi? tion cf affairs at several fires in that section recently. The Clerk was di? rected to inform the Water Company of this condition of affairs and ask that it be remedied without delay, and further that they will be held re? sponsible for fire losses due to such defective service. The fire chiefs com? plained that the ?ladders of the Hook and Ladder Company are loaned at times for private use and are missing when needed. A resolution was adopted forbidding the lending of the ladders to any one, or their use for any other purpose than that for which they are intended. The Fire Department committee was requested to consider the purchase of improved extension ladders and report at next Council meeting. Council then adjourned. 45ITY COUNCIL MEETING. n City Council held a regular meeting Wednesday night. Minutes of December 11th were read and approved. The Finance Committee reported that the clerk and treasurer's reports for October and November were exam? ined and found to be correct They called attention to the heavy expendi? ture for street work and suggested that less money be spent in this direction, although no money is wasted and the improvements are all good and desir? able. Mr. Rowland for special committee reported that the macadam work on Main Street is progressing in a satis? factory manner. A letter was read from Mr. Purdy for the Police Committee advising that the city was not liable for a claim made by Dr. H. T. Abbott, December 11th, on behalf of two of his tenants for ?10 paid for attorney's services in securing their release from prison. They had been arrested on suspicion. The annual report of the Health Officer was read, received as informa? tion and ordered filed. On motion of Mr. Finn, the clerk was directed to communicate with the A. C. L. R. 13- Co. to secure their cooperation, if possible, in making clay roads on certain streets near the railroads. Mr. Finn offered a resolution that the dry earth system be put in opera? tion, and Mr. Rowland suggested that it be not made obligatory. A com? mittee consisting of Messrs. Finn, Health Officer Reardon, Street Com? missioner White and the Mayor were appointed to pnt the system in work? ing order at once. Mr. Finn called attention to the hydrant] cap that had corroded and caused a loss of time to the firemen at a recent fire. The matter was referred to the Fire Department Committee. On motion of Mr. Finn it was re? solved that at the next regular meeting Council will dispose of the question raised over the sale of Opera House tickets at the Sumter Pharmacy. An ordinance was read which pro? poses to prevent bicyclists from carry? ing lumber or other commodities that might be dangerous tq persons on the. sidewalks. The rule requiring two readings was suspended and the ordi? nance was adopted and ordered pub? lished. Several bills were referred to the Finance Committee. Council then ad? journed. Meeting County Board cf Commissioners. The County Board of Commission? ers met in regular monthly session on the 7th inst. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. A communication from Mr. A. W. Su der, Commissioner to the Charleston Exposition, was read. Supervisor Seale reported" that he had sold old iron, tin, and brick. An offer from the Sumter Electric Light and Ice Company, agreeing to light the Court House at 25 cents per light, was re? ceived as information. The Supervi? sor was requested to place notices in the Court House prohibiting persons from expectorating on the floor. A petition from W. J. Johnson for ap? pointment as guard on chain gang was filed. The Clerk of Court gave notice of the number of jurors required for the year 1902. as required by Statutes of 1900. The following jurors are re? quired : 12 Grand Jurors, each term. 72 Petit Jurors for April term, 36 Petit Jurors for June term, 72 Petit Jurors for November term, total 192. The Board under General Statutes, Chap. XIII, placed licenses on hawk? ers and peddlers and the derk was in? structed to publish same twice in "Item" and "Herald." A large num? ber of claims were approved and the board adjourned. GORED BY A BULL. Mr. Marion Dorn Seriously Injured. Mr. Marion Dorn was gored by a bull last Thursday and so seriously injured that he will be confined to bed for several weeks. The bull's horn penetrated the large muscles of ? the thigh, passing entirely through ? the fleshy part of the thigh from back to front and inflicted a wound of a very serious and painful nature. For? tunately none of the large blood vessels were broken and the wound, while very painful, is not considered serious enough to give ground for apprehen? sion. CHEAP BRICK. We have a lot of cheap Brick to dis? pose of within two weeks at 84.50 per thousand. Come at once if you need any brick. J. RETTENBERG & SONS. * Jan. 8-2t. c _ gflg A FINE EXHIBIT FROM SUMTER. The Sumter Telephone Manufacturing Co. Sends an Exhibit to Charleston. . The Sumter Telephone Mfg. Co. has prepared a large and handsome exhibit of telephones and switchboards manu? factured by the company to be sent to the Charleston Exposition. The ex? hibit was shipped to Charleston last Thursday and at once installed in the Manufacturers Building in which the company has secured space. The ex? hibit consists of forty telephones, representing the various models and styles made" by the company and two switchboards which have all of the improvements and new ideas worked and tested by Mr. Mason. The ex? hibit will be a striking advertisement of the Sumter Telephone Mfg., Co., and at the same time an advertisement of the resources and products of Sum? ter county. Every part enterirg into the construction of the telephones and switchboards is made in Sumter. All the metal parts, from the smallest screw to the most complicated part are made from the crude material. The cabinet work is made from woods grown in Sumter county, sawed at the mill connected with the factory and finished in the wood-working depart? ment. The assertion is ventured, without fear of contradiction, that there will not be found at the Exposi? tion more beautiful nor more hand? somely finished woods than the speci? mens to be seen in this exhibit. The woods used include walnut, white and other oak, gum etc. These are quar? ter sawed and the grain brought out in all its beauty and perfection. The writer has never seen any where more beautiful curly walnut and quartered golden oak, and the mahogonized gum is something new entirely in a cabinet wood. It has all the beauty of grain for which the best mahogany is famed and it takes the highest polish. This exhibit wilj attract the critical attention . of electricians for in the telephones and switchboards Mr. Mr. Mason has embodied quite a num? ber of new and original ideas that render the instruments shown decided? ly in the forefront of telephone and switchboard construction. Those in? terested in hardwoods will also find much to interest them when they learn that these woods are produced in Sumter county and that the supply at present is practically untouched. The swamps and forests are filled with just such timber that has been passed by and rejected by the saw mill men who have held fast to the idea that yellow pine was the only timber worth cutting in this section of the country. PIS6AH NEWS NOTES. Pisgah, Jan. 6.-The weather at the passing of the old and the coming in of the new year, was all that could be desired. The days were indeed, beautiful. That the present freeze has given the death stroke to the young oats is the opinion of all that I have con? versed with. The planters have caught it ali around. The new year, has brought the usual stir and moving with the negroes. This year the whites have caught the fever, every man's place is better than your own. The old contented farm life seems to be a thing of the past. It is a stir for some position where there is no hand labor, but the pen. It is not publicly admitted that man? ual labor disgraces a man, but private? ly it is said that gentlemen don't labor in the fields. This is the cause of so many trying to live above their means, and it is only practiced at large in this State. Cursed, thrice cursed is such a state of society. It makes one sick to see the efforts to live in a style that will put them in good society even at the cost of their legal and moral obligations to pay their debts. This is the cause of the large balances in the debtor column in a great many cases. The preliminary trial of John Boyd and Frank Murray, indicted for com? plicity in the shooting of Miller Ses? sions, was held at Smithville today and resulted in the discharge of the defendants. The evidence not being sufficient to hold them. Sessions, is blind in one eye, but his physician hopes to save the other one. Gist Murray who did the shooting is still at large. Mr. T. H. Smoot spent a week in the holidays visiting friends in the upper portion of the State. He re? turned yesterday and resumed his school today. Miss Daisy Bowman spent the holi davs with her parents in Columbia. I hear of a marriage soon to take place near here. The widowers are hard to down when they go on the war path in earnest. Rev. J. C. Crouch preached a fine sermon ar, Pisgah yesterday afternoon. Sometime I will give your readers a synopsis of one, and I think they will enjoy it. Mr. Porter who has been running a saw mill on the X. W. R. R. has moved his plant here, and will remain he says for sometime. If the taxpayers of the State could see the State House now they wonld not grumble at the money it took to finish it A marble tablet in the wall on the left, as you enter the building has engrafted on it the ordinance of Secession, and one on the right wall is to the memory of the Mexican regi? ment. The State library is as neat as a pin. The librarian. Miss LaBorde, shows much taste in the arrangement of the books on the shelves. I have never seen them placed better. Gov? ernor McSweeney made no mistake when he appointed her. A new red carpet is being put clown in the representative hall and 1 .pre? sume one will be put in the senate chamber. At present, everything is topsy turvey, and it will take hustling to get everything in order for tho leg? islature on the 14th inst. The gov? ernor is very pleasant in his office, without any starch or trying to im press you that he holds a high posi? tion. (hinter, the Assistant Attorney Gen? eral, says he wants his chiefs office next year, and I guess a good many others do also. From indications, there will not be a dearth of candidates for all the offices both state and county. The new year has brought many changes, some who were here a year ago have gone , and others have come. If each one will try to do more for mankind and live better lives than in the past there will be no regrets when the end comes. WEDGEFIELD ITEMS. Wedgefield, Jan. H.-The new year 1902 has brought one disaster to the farmers-most of the oat crop has been killed by the severe cold weather we have had. As the old adage reads though, a bad beginning means a good finish, so probably the loss will be made up in something else. Mrs. J. H. DuPont after an ab? sence of two years has resumed her duties as proprietress of the DuPont House, much to the delight of the clerks, etc., who thought at one time they would have to run a mess hall. Some deer have been seen recently i in the Wateree Swamp. I would ad? vise the hunters though, not to en? gage the venison, as one did ' recently, for he might be sued for breach of promise. Mr. D. B. McLaurin who is station? ed at Bishopville as cotton buyer for Alex H. Sprunt & Sons, spent yester? day at home. Mr. Frank Dwight, Jr., left for Edgefield a few days ago to attend the South Carolina Co-Ed. Institute. Mrs. R. R. Singleton and Misses Elise and Lucy Singleton will leave or Charleston soon, where they will reside in the future. Your correspondent regrets he doesn't live on a main line railroad where he could see the great men of our country and the world renowned Liberty Bell where they are on their travels. I have a few suggestions I would like to make to President Teddy, if I had the world to back me. First to have the Liberty Bell recast. 2 Send it along with a permit to Aguinaldo to toll it after reading a declaration of independence to the Filipinos. 3 Lend her to England for Kruger to ring from the summit of Spion Kop signalling to the Boers through? out the plains what they have long wished for-independence. Then bring her home to Philadelphia and encase her in gold, for she would have then carried independence to the most oppressed people in the world. We read a whole column about the crowds that gather at the stations to gaze at the reminder of the bloody battles our forefathers fought to gain that coveted prize, in? dependence, and in a column paralell we read of the slaughtering of the Filipinos who are inspired with that same love of freedom. It is certainly I inappropriate for her to be placed on exhibition now. This is state news and without origin at Wedgefield, so pardon me please? Don't Let Them Suffer. Often children are tortured with itching and burning eczema and other skin dis? eases but Bucklen's Arnica Salve heals the raw sores, expels inflammation, leaves the skin without a scar. Clean, fragrant, cheap, there's no salve on earth as good. Try it. Cure guaranteed. Only 25c at JjF W DeLorme. 4 Hr Said to Himself. Kansas enjoys the distinction, possi? bly, of being the only state .in tho Union where a man has been allowed by a court cf inquiry to testify regard? ing what he said to himself. A committee had been appointed by the legislature, says The Green Bag. to investigate the alleged bribery of certain members in connection with a defeated railroad bill. The first wit? ness called testified that he saw one of the reprosematives late one night coin? ing down the hotel stairs. "I said to myself." he went on. but a member on the side of the defense jumped to his feet. "Hold on!" he shouted. "You can't testify about what you said to your? self!" The prosecutor reto; Ted that there was DO law to prohibit him from so testifying. A long argument- ensued, but a majority of the committee agreed with the chairman that the testimony was admissible. "I said to myself." seriously proceed? ed the witness, "that M. had been up to Billy's room to get his pay." The testimony was recorded and made a part of the official record. Chinese Points For Hosts. "Don't eal with your ears." says Yuan Mel, a Chinese writer, "by which I mean do not aim at having extraor? dinary out of the way foods, just to astonish your jruests. for that is to eat with your ears, not with your mouth. Bean curd, if ^ood. is actually nicer than birds' nest. And better than sea slugs, which are uot first rate, is a dish of bamboo shoots. "The chicken, the pig. the fish and the duck-these are the four heroes of the table. Sea slugs and hirds' nest have no characteristic Jlavors of their own. They are but usurpers in the house. I once dined with a friend who gave us birds' nests in bowls like vats, holding each about four ounces of the plain boiied article. The other guests applauded vigorously, hut I smiled and said I came here to eat hirds' nest, not to take delivery of it wholesale." He Understood. Anton Rubinstein, the Russian com? poser, in his autobiography tells of the confusion which overcame a certain , architect of h?c acquaintance who had a habit of interlarding all his remarks with tire phrase. "You understand." On one occasion he was explaining certain architectural matters to thc emperor, and. according to custom, made free use of his favorite expres? sion. "Good heavens!" exclaimed Emperor | Nicholas at last irritably "Of course 1 understand! My dear fellow, how could I help it?" ORIGINAL JUDGE LYNCH. He Was a Brave and t'se?ul Member of Our IZnrZy Society. Tradition sometimes plays strange pranks with dead men's reputations. lt would make- an interesting half 'hour for the eavesdropper beyond the Styx if he could hoar the exchange cf amen? ities between Duns Scotus and Judge Lynch, the one a shrewd, clear reason? er, whose name now si.gnilics a fool: the other a simple Quaker gentleman, whose name has come to stand for or? ganized savagery. Charles Lynch was a man whose services to his country as a bravo pion? eer and righteous judge, as a soldier and a statesman, are by no means de? serving of oblivion, still less of oblo? quy. It seems indeed one of the in? iquities of fate that his name should now be universally applied to proceed? ings that no one would condemn more heartily than he. The records of the court of Bedford county, in Virginia, and those of various Quaker meetings, the journals of the Virginia house of burgesses and of the first constitu? tional convention, taken together with family documents and traditions, show him to have been an upright and useful member of society and a wise and en? ergetic leader at the most important crisis of American history.-Atlantic. Volunteers In South America. There is a gentleman in Boston who spent a number of years among the various little South American repub? lics and who gives an interesting ac? count of the methods of one of these small states when it comes to a ques? tion of making war. The "navy" of the particular power referred to con? sists of a single old fashioned side wheel steamer, armed with one gun. In time of peace she is engaged in haul? ing freight ur> and down the river which runs clo- e o the capital. At the outb'eak of one of the peri? odical wars not so very long ago the president of the republic took charge of the steamer and started up stream on a recruiting expedition, leaving his senior general in charge of the military preparations at the capital. A couple of days later the steamer returned, and some seventy miserable looking natives, each firmly bound with a strong rope, were marched off and turned over to the general, with a note from the president which read: Dear General-I send you herewith sev? enty volunteers. Please return the ropes at once. -Boston Herald. Didn't Recognize lt. A distinguished member of the Unit? ed States judiciary has discovered that he still has something to learn in the direction of agriculture. He bought a farm as a summer home for his family and finds especial de? light in walking about the place, com? menting on the condition of thc crops and in many ways showing his inter? est in his new possessions. One evening during the summer he was strolling over the farra. The hired man had cut the grass during the day. a very thin crop, and had left it lying on the ground to dry. The judge saw it, and, calling his man, he said: . "It seems to me you are very care? less. Tv hy haven't you been more par? ticular in raking up this hay? Don't yon see that you have left little drib blings all around?" For a minute the hired man stared, wondering if the judge was quizzing him. Then he replied: "Little dribbliugs! Why. man, that's the crop!" The Prayer That Hurt. A member of a certain Massachu? setts parish, prominent for his thrift and personal consequence, was also notorious for his overbearing assump? tions and pompous airs. Under the dis? tress and fright of a dangerous illness he "put up notes" on several successive Sundays, and after his recovery, ac? cording to usage, he offered a note to be read by the minister expressive of his thanks. Tho minister was somewhat "large" in this part of his prayer, recalling the danger and the previous petitions of the "squire," and returning his grate? ful acknowledgments with the prayer that the experience might be blessed to the spiritual welfare of the restored man. He closed with these words: "And we pray. O Lord, that thy serv? ant may be cured of that ungodly strut, so offensive in the sanctuary." Middle Agrea Bui tala. In the middle ages founders and patrons of ecclesiastical buildings be? gan to be buried nearer and nearer to the fabric of the church or cathedral. First tho porch, then the cloister, then the chapter house or chantry, came under demand: the chancel was next encroached upon, and lastly burials were allowed under the altar itself. At the other extreme of custom was the burial of malefactors and stillborn children on the north or "devil's side" of the yard, a practice concerning which chapters might be written. The Danish Ha scot. The chimney sweeper is the Dan.sh mascot. You see him in gold or silver, suspended on a lady's watch chain, in? stead of the "lucky pig" or horseshoe, which is tho English symbol of good luck. Ile also appears on note paper and postcards, implying that your cor? respondent wishes you e. rise in life. It is the old fashioned sweep that if? tims depicted-he who had actually to climb the chimney. Ins implements bc- I in g a four foot ladder, a short broom and a rope. American English. We do not speak the English lan? guage in the way in which ir is spoken by the people ot' England We have greatly changed, enlarged ami perhaps improved it in our usual progressive way. The wonder lies in tin* notion of i Englishmen that their way of speaking the language is Mw only way and that i our way is wrong. Now York World. | MISAPPLIED WORDS. ! Some Expressions the Use of Which Shonld Be Reformed. "Extra" is an abused word. People say "extra good" or "extra cheap" in order to intensify "good" and "cheap." But "extra" has no such force. So far from intensifying a given condition, it denies it by indicating that the thing so described lies outside the sphere or quality named. Thus, "extra judicial" does not mean more than ordinarily ju? dicial, as though a judge had dredged his conscience in giving an opinion, but outside of judicial and therefore inca? pable of being judged at all in the pre? scribed way. A grievous fault is the use of "iden? tify" in a phrase like this, "He is iden? tified with the antivaccinaticn move? ment." A man can only identify him? self with another man or set of men. He can identify himself with the op? ponents of vaccination-and even here the word carries a shade of meaning of its own, distinguishing the phrase from such a one as "he joined the opponents of vaccination." One should not speak of "high" or "low" caliber; but, remembering the meaning of "caliber," one should apply to it only such adjectives as "grear" or "small." It is wrong to speak of a "consensus of opinion." The word "consensus" it? self means an agreement of thought and should stand alone.-Academy. Crank: and Epicnre. "A traveling crank and epicure had the audacity to ask the head steward shortly before my boat sailed from Liverpool for New York," said a wait? er on an ocean liner, "if he would mind changing three of the courses on the bill of fare for others which he prefer? red. He was informed politely but firmly that there were other passen? gers besides himself sailing on the ves? sel and that if he thought he could not survive on the excellent fare pro? vided during the voyage all he had to do was to book with another line and his passage money would be returned to him. "Steamship companies are not in the habit of returning passage money wheD once paid, as is well known, but in this instance we would willingly have done so. "Our fastidious passenger did not book with another line, however, and, what is more, he ate enough at each, meal on the trip to satisfy two men with sea air appetites and presented to the waiter, who attended with ex? treme good nature to his likes and dis? likes throughout the voyage, the mag? nificent sum of 15 cents."-New York Mail and Express. His Lovely Mariners. A benevolent looking man boarded a downtown elevator already occupied by three women upward bound. With a Chesterfieldian air he respectfully doffed his hat and held it in his hand until he had reached his destination. "What a charming man! Such love? ly manners!" gushed the women in chorus. A few minutes later the benevolent looking man of the lovely manners reached his office. Pitching his hat on the back of his beneficent head, sprawl? ing himself down in true manly aban? don at his desk, purling a ciay pipe ?D an artistic masculine fashion, occasion? ally expectorating in the vicinity of a cuspidor, he greets his six-dollar-a week-for-ten-hours-a-day stenographer by jocularly inquiring why in thunder those legal papers aren't finished. Lovely man! Oh, yes; very!-San Francisco Wave. The Wrong Crop. Visiting an cut of the way English parish when the incumbent happened to be away, a former archdeacon of Suffolk was, it is related, shown round by the clerk. On arriving at the church? yard he found a fine crop of wheat growing in it "Dear, dear!" said the archdeacon. "I can't approve of this. I really did not think Mr.-would have planted wheat in the churchyard." "That's just what I told parson," said the clerk. "I says," says I, "ye didn't ought to have wneated it; ye ought to have tatered it!" When Wives Were Sold. A century or so ago wife selling was not an uncommon event in England, as the fellowing item, which appeared in the London News of Nov. 21. 1S01, would show: "On Friday a coal porter exhibited his wife in Smithfield, with a halter round her neck, for sale. He demand? ed a guinea for her, but she hung on hand for some time, until a man of good appearance made the purchase, and packing her, halter and all, into a hackney coach drove for Blackfriars bridge, amid the huzzas of the mob." The Qtriclc Craze. The quick craze is by no means new. but seems just now to be more in? trusive than ever before. Here is a young woman practicing fourteen hours a day to cultivate her voice. Re? sult lost voice. Nearly all the pugi? lists, active and retired, are writing volumes on "How to Get Strong Quick." and the readers are exercising two or three hours a day, when ten minutes are quite enough. Result, lost health. The gc: rich quick fellows, in jail and out, are hiring able lawyers to i help them devise schemes that will defy the law and enable them to fleece lambs regardless of the code.-New York Press. IT i M Toneh of Iinmor. "Always." says the astute news edi? tor to the new reporter, "always be on the lookout for any little touch of hu? mor that may brighten up our col? umns." That evening the new reporter hand? ed in an account of a burglary in a butcher's shop which commenced, "Mr. Jeremiah Cleaver, the well known butcher, is losing flesh rapidly of late." -Exchange. A TALE OF TWO CST!ES. The Perils of Living "Seer tao Mex? ican Eoundary Line. "Some peculiar conditions prevail at the twin cities of Nogales, Mexico, and Nogales, Ariz.," said the Detroiter? who recently returned from a visit io Mexico. "The international boundary line is formed by a street that divides the two towns, and the boundary stakes are set out with a very nice regard for technicalities. There is a saloon there which has more than a local reputation, and the proprietor is certainly an enterprising individual. His saloon is located on the street di? viding the two counties and at a point where the dividing line is not clearly defined. The patron of this saloon buys his drink in America, and. step? ping across the hail, he buys his cigar in Mexico. In this way the proprietor avoids the duty on imported cigars and can provide his customers with the ..best make at lower prices than most of his competitors. "They tell an amusing story about aa American who imbibed too much fight? ing whisky at this saloon. When he arrived at a certain stage, he allowed his prejudices to get the better of him, and, standing near the boundary line of his own country, he heaped anathe? mas and hurled defiances at the people across the border. A couple of Mexi? can officers stood across the street al? most within reach of the pugnacious American, hoping that he would stroll across into Mexico. He did get over there after awhile, although the trip was wholly unpremeditated. During a harangue against Mexican institu? tions in general and the police in par? ticular he happened to lurch too far over to starboard and fell into Mexico. The alert cops promptly grabbed him, and, though he didn't get a chance to take in the sights, he paid quite an ex? tended visit to the country he had so eloquently maligned."-Detroit Free Press. LONG RANGE BAPTISM. Christening: In Scotland Was Con? ducted Under Difficulties. In wide and sparsely populated high j land districts of Scotland it not infre ! quently happens that a parent is oblig? ed to walk a distance of five.or six miles with an infant for baptism. It is related of a minister of the north that he agreed to accommodate a parishioner thus situated by meet? ing him at a stream midway between the parents' house and the manse and there baptizing the child at the run? ning water. It so happened that by the time the parties came to opposite sides of the bourn heavy rains had swollen it into a rapid torrent, so that neither party could approach the other. Unwilling to turn back with the "bairn" unbaptized, the farmer pro? posed that the minister should splash water across. Accordingly the minister I stepped down to the stream and en ? deavored to throw handfuls of water ; on the farmer's baby. "Ha'c ye got ony o' that?" he cried at each successive splash. "De'il a spairge," was the reply. At last a few of the splashes were communicated to the infant's face, and the ceremony was then concluded in tho usual form. Before retiring to their respective homes the farmer produced a bottle of whisky, crying across, "As 1 canna offer ye a glass owre the held o' this, here's the bottle-kepp?" And he threw it across the stream. The bottle was caught, it is related, with a precision that betokened on the part of his reverence, if not considera? ble practice, at least considerable dex? terity-Stray Stories. THE TURQUOISE. The turquoise, the birthstone for De? cember, signifies prosperity. The turquoise was a familiar and fa? vorite gem among the ancient Mexi? cans and Indians of the west The turquoise fades when its owner is ill, and dies when the wearer is at? tacked by an incurable malady-so they say. The Germans claim that by its vary? ing shades the turquoise turns teiitale on the caprices and moods of its wearer. Shakespeare gives these words to Shylock: "He would not have lost his turquoise ring for a whole wilderness of monkeys." The turquoise derives its name from a word meaning Turkish and is so called because the first turquoises were found in Turkey. If your birthday comes in December and you wear a turquoise, you need never be afraid of falling off a high place. One of the powers of the azure hued gem is to preserve its wearer from this catastrophe. It is also said that it has tho power of protecting its wearer against con? tagion. A turquoise would certainly be an ornamental substitute for vacci? nation. Its efficiency would probably depend upon the "faith" of the wearer,. Rabbits at Play. Rabbits play in this way: Two of them-1 have not seen it played with more-run quickly toward each other, and when on the point of contact each leaps into tho air, but one higher than the other, clearing him completely. They come down with their tails to? ward each other, but instantly, with an, as it were, "Excuse my tail!" both turn and run and leap again, and this they will do from two or three to half a dozen times, always leaping up at the exact moment when they would otherwise come into collision and ono always taking the higher leap-some? times an astonishingly high one-right over his companion. They never meet in the air, .nor can I see how this can be avoided except by a plan or figure being mutually followed by them,-as with ourselves in a game cr "dance. * Y*~ believe that each clears the other al? ternately, but I have not yet convinced myself of this.-Saturday Review.