X
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. XII. HIDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THU11SDAY, OCTOBEK 19, 1882. NO. 35.
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Keep the Beacon Light In Trim.
"Do yonr lights, ir, never go out ?" I said
To the keeper of Calais light ;
" Do jrou never forget to trim your lamps,
My friend, for a single night ?"
Never I Impossible !" cried the 'man ;
"For to me would be all the shame ;"
And his bright eyes flashed as he looked aloft
At the steady lambent flame.
"If I should neglect my duty, ma'am,
Weeks hence would go forth the cry
' A keeper at Calais forgot his trust,
And a crew went down to die 1'
" It seems sometimes as if the eyes
Of the world wore fixed on me,
As the myriad stars of the firmament
Look down on the cruol Bea.
" So I'll never forget to light my lamp,
That it, radf aiioa fir mid wide
May warn 'poor Jnck of the hidden rocks
That lurk 'neath the restless tide."
I thought, as I went my homeward way,
Oh 1 would we wore all as true
And faithful in trimming the beacon lights
Of home, as we journey through.
Ah 1 then we should never, never hear
The voice of the drowning shout:
" We looked for the sign of the tower of
home,
We looked ! but the light was out 1"
A LITTLE COWARD.
That was what Miss Merivale had
called her that morning when she
trembled and turned pale because the
black mare reared with her. She
begged Sir Hubert to take her off, and
stood in ignominious safety while
Agatha Merivale mounted Stella and
rode oil triumphantly down the avenue.
She was .1 coward. She did not deny
it, and was sometimes very much
ashamed of it. Hut no one had seemed
to mind it until A gat ha Meri vale came,
with her bold, dark eyes and her dash
ing ways, her riding and hunting ; and
everybody admired Agatha so much,
even Sir Robert 1
She almost hated Agatha I You
see, until Agatha came they had been
so happy at De Rossett. Little orphan
Madelaine Leigh had never been so
happy in her life as here at the hall,
with sweet Lady de Rossett, who was
her guardian, and her son, Sir Robert.
They were so kind and good to her.
They petted her and loved her so. And
now Agatha' had come, and for two
weeks had monopolized Sir Robert, and
kept the house in a turmoil of gayety,
and laughed at Lino, and made her
life Wretched.
Linn's maid reported that everybody
said Sir Robert was to marry Miss
Merivale. Lina made a stern resolve
that she would run away from the hall
when that event took place. Run
away ! She would run away now !
Not far though she was too much of
a coward to venture far into the world
alone; but she would go away across
the lields to "Aunt Margaret's," as she
called Lady de Rossett's widowed sister-in-law,
who lived in a quite com
fortable house a mile away from the
hall.
Mrs. Harrington was an invalid, par
alyzed iind confined to her bed. She
was rather a grim old lady, and most
were inclined to shun her; but sweet,
bright little, Lina had won her way
into the old lady's heart, and was al
ways welcome at the lodge.
Yes, she would run away to Aunt
Margaret's, and perhaps, when she was
missed, Sir Robert might feel a mo
ment's uneasiness about her. Seizing
her hat and a light shawl she Hew oil'
across the park, calling Leo, Sir Rob
ert's pretty colley, to go with her. Lina
did not like to cross the fields alone,
being possessed by a great terror of
bulls; but with Leo she would not
mind it much.
Leo was calmly taking a nap on the
front portico, but he started up and
raced after her with a joyous bark.
But at the little gate that led from the
park into the fields Lina was greatly
disconcerted by an unexpected en
counter with Sir Robert and Miss
Merivide, who came laughing and talk
ing along the path, botli looking bright
and handsome iu the golden rays of
the setting sun.
She brushed past them with a hasty
"good-evening," but Sir Robert turned
back to speak to her.
"Where are you going, Lina?" he
nsked.
"To Aunt Margaret's," she ay
swered, not looking at him.
"Alone, Lina ? Are you not afraid ?
If you will wait a little" while I will go
with you," Sir Robert said, looking
down kindly at the girl's Hushed cheeks
and averted eyes.
"No, thanks." Lina answered, hastily
" I will not trouble you. Leo will take
care of me. And you woidd bo late
for dinner if you went with me."
"May I come for you, then, after
dinner?" Sir Robert asked.
"Thanks, I arn not coming back.
I shall stay all night," was the hurried
answer, and Lina turned to go.
But Sir Robert detained her for a
moment.
"Lina," lie said, in a low tone,
" what makes you avoid me so lately ?
What have I done to offend you ?"
Lina raised her blue eyes hastily to
his, for one moment, and then dropped
tlurtn again.
gu I have not avoided you," she said,
Vcoldly. "You have bun very miic
Riecnnifid with other neonlc. There. I
will not detain you."
She waved her little hand haughtily,
and walked away from him. lie
watched the pretty, wliite-robed figure.'
for a moment, and then Leo came and
fawned on him.
" Leo, Leo 1" called Lina's voice.
"Go, Leo," said his master, and the
obedient dog trotted off down the path
after the girl.
It was rather dreary at the ' lodge "
that evening. Mrs. Harrington was
out of humor because her agent had
failed to call that day to receive a
thousand pounds that she wished him
to deposit for her. And Parkins, her i
nurse and housemaid, let the maid
servants all go off to ft fair In tho vil
lage, " where they will certainly get
into mischief," Mrs. Harrington said.
But when Lina had talked to her
and made her laugh a little, she for
got her grievances and chatted away
very pleasantly. At 10 o'clock she
declared she had laughed till she was
tired, and Lina must give her her
drops and let her go to sleep.
" There I the spoon is gone. Where
can Parkins have put it I Child,
would you mind running down into
the pantry and bringing me a spoon?
I would ring for Parkins, but she told
me she wanted to get up some muslins
this evening, and would come up as
soon as she had finished."
Lina did not altogether like to pass
down the long stairs and silent entries
leading to the pantry, but she went
and Leo trotted after her. As she
stood in the pantry, looking around for
spoons with no light but a faint gleam
from the hall lamp, a sound of low
voices caught her ear.
The pantry was on the ground floor,
its iron-barred shuttered window look
ing into the garden. The sound was
outside the window, and Lina paused
to listen. The first word that caught
her startled her.
"A thousand pounds and all the
old woman's jewelry and plate 1"
said a man's voice, in a husky under
tone. "Yes," was the reply in a woman's
voice the voice, Lina knew, of Park
ins, Mrs. Harrington's model, soft
voiced, lady-like nurse "and there
won't be any trouble about it, because
I have let the women go away to stay
all night and sent the gardener on a
fool's errand to misses' brother's twen
ty miles off."
" But this girl that came to-night
what about her?" asked the man.
" Oh. she will go to her room pres
ently, and stay there if she is wise.
She'd be no hindrance anyway a silly,
timid little thing. But it's as well to
let her get out of tho way," said Park
ins, coolly.
" But see here, Molly, why not do it
now? Then we'll haVe more time to
get away before daylight," said the
man.
" I tell you it i3 not safe before 11
o'clock," Parkins said, positively. "Peo
ple may come in. Sir Robert don't like
her out of his sight for long, and that
idiotic young Marsden may come moon
ing in. Wait till half-past 11, and the
west door here will bo open. And,
Jim, look here, when you get this
swag you are to take me with you
your wife, mind."
Tho voices grew fainter. Evidently
the speakers were moving away from
the house. But Lina had heard enough.
Sick with terror she leaned against the
pantry wall a moment and tried to
think. What did it all mean? Rob
ber)', murder I And no help near. Her
lirst instinct was to fly out of the house
and across the field to the hall. But
her absence would be instantly dis
covered, she knew, and then poor
Aunt Margaret would be alone with
those wretches. No, she must not go
but to stand here idle would be no
good. She Hew alongthe halls and up
stairs, Leo pacing by her side. At
Aunt Margaret's door she paused, and
a sudden thought came to her. She
would send Leo home for help.
"Where is tho spoon, child? How
long you staid. Good heavens ! what
is the matter ?" cried the old lady, as
she saw the girl's white, terrified face.
Lina began some evasive answer, but
instantly remembered that Aunt Mar
garet must be told the whole story or
nothing could be done to save her.
She did tell it, and Aunt Margaret
listened in silent consternation, and
then burst out impetuously with :
" Good heavens, child I AVhy didn't
you run right home?"
" Because I knew Parkins would be
up here in a few minutes and find I
was gone, and then "
" Ah, well. So you stayed to save
the old woman if you could. What are
you doing, child ? AVhy don't you lock
h e door and pile things against it?
Good God, if I was just able to rise out
of this bed!"
But Lina did not speak for a moment.
She had found a pencil and paper and
was rapidly writing a few words.
AVhen she had finished
" Now," she said, " when Parkins
conies tell her I am to sleep on her
couch here in your room, and she must
go somewhere else. I will be back in
a moment. Leo?"
Out of tho room she darted, and
down to tho hall door, which she un
barred and passed through. Then,
kneeling in the shadow of a pillar on
the portico, she tied the note tightly
in her handkerchief round Leo's
neck.
She put her arms round his neck
after that, kissed his forehead, and a
half-sob escaped her.
"Is that you, miss?" said a smooth
voice from the hall. "AVhy, whatever
are you doing in the dark there ?"
Lina sprang up as if she had been
shot.
" I am sending the dog home, " she
said, speaking quietly, though the
throbs of her heart shook her whole
frame. "He is restless here without
his master. Go home, Leo, straight
home, sir !"
The dog, with one farewell lick of
her hand, bounded down the steps and
vanished in the dewy darkness of the
summer night.
" Oh, God ! let him go safely and
swiftly !" prayed the girl in her heart.
Then she went in and helped Parkins
bar the door, and they went together
upstairs.
Aunt Margaret lay very quietly on
her pillows, but with her black eyes
gleaming.
Parkins was silent forj'one instant,
and then began a series of expostula
tions, which no one would heed, and
Anally the civil nurse prepared the
coucli for Lina, and took herself off,
observing, sweetly :
" If Mig Leigh will leave the door
ajar I can hear a call from this room
and will come instantly."
"Thanks, Parkins, but I hope I shall
not have to call you," said Lina, speak
ing as sweet as Parkins herself.
Then as she glided to the door as
soon as it was closed, she turned with a
face of dismay, and whispered:
" The key is gone I She took it when
she was fidgeting in and out with the
sheets and pillows."
" There is a bolt besides," Aunt Mar
garet answered.
Lina gave a sigh of relief as she
slipped the bolt into tho groove, and
felt that she had at least some little
protection against the enemy.
" Now, child," Aunt Margaret said,
" can you use a pistol ?"
" I never touched one in my life,"
said the "little coward;" " but if I had
one now I would try."
"Verywll. Take my safe key it
is under my pillow and unlock the
safe. They are just as my husband
left them a year ago, but Robert looked
at them a few days ago, and said they
were all right. That is it. Put one
of them on the foot of the bed, and if
those wretches come, try, my dear, to
use it. Now put the other here, by my
left hand. Thank God I I can use
that a little. Now, what are you doing?
Oh,. yes; pile up all you can against
the door. There, you can't move any
thing else. Now, come here, little
girl, kneel down by me, and let's say
our prayers together."
AVith the old lady's thin, pallid hand
clasped tightly in her two cold, trem
bling little ones, Lina knelt down
there, and, burying her face in the pil
low, tried to pray.
Her petition was not a very coherent
one; it was only a wild, passionate cry
for pity and help, and meanwhile she
was listening with every nerve
strained for sounds from the outside.
A lamp burned in the room. On the
mantelpiece a softly-ticking clock
marked the slow minutes. No other
sound broke the stillness.
Presently a sob shook the girl's figure.
She was thinking of Sir Robert and his
tender care over her.
Oh, if she had only not been so way
ward and proud this evening all would
have been well. He would have come
for her and they would have been sale.
But surely, surely, he would come yet.
He could not fail to And the note
and she knew ho would coine to save
her. But yet horrible doubts came
to her as to whether the note would
reach him. It might bo lost, or Leo
might wonder about and not get home
until it was too lute.
Too late 1 Lina shuddered and
sobbed again as she thought what" that
might mean. Oh, it was hard to think
of dying so helplessly, so horribly, with
help so near.
The long minutes crept on and no
sound came until 11 o'clock had
passed. The little clock softly chimed
the half hour. Then, in a few mo
ments, came a sound of stealing foot
steps in the passage and tho knob of
the door was softly turned.
Breathless silence in the room. Then
a gentle tap at the door. Lina clasped
Aunt Margaret's hand convulsively,
and the old lady spoke.
"AVho is that?" she asked, steadily.
"It is me, Parkins, ma'am. AV ill
you ask Miss Leigh if she will kindly
open the door ? I have the toothache,
and want some laudanum."
" AVhat a fiend it is I" whispered
Aunt Margaret. Then aloud : " Go
downstairs and get something, Parkins.
I cannot trouble Miss Leigh."
Lina hoped that Parkins would
urge the point a little. Anything to
prolong the parley and gain time.
But a whisper in the passage fol
lowed, and then a man's voice : "
"Ladies, there's no use making a
row. Just open the door peacefully
and you shan't be hurt. AVe'll break
it down if you don't."
" AVhat do you want ?" Lina asked,
hoping to gain a little time. A new
and gruff voice answered, insolently:
" You know well enough what we
want, miss. AVe wants the thousand
pounds and the diamonds and we
mean to have them. So don't be a
fool, but just open the door peacefully
or you'll be sorry."
Lina sprang to her feet and seized
the pistol. A Hood of color rushed to
her cheek and brow. She had been in
sulted and threatened, and indignation
overpowered terror. She went toward
the door and called out, quickly and
clearly:
"You're not coming in. I have
sent for help, and Sir Robert and his
men will be hero directly. I am
armed; and if you break the door
down I will shoot you like a dog."
A moment's silence followed, then a
coarse laugh, and
"All gammon. She hadn't no one
to send. Break tho door down," in
Parkins' voice; and heavy blows began
to fall upon the door. It trembled
and cracked beneath the battery. A
panel broke, a man's hand was thrust
in; the whole door seemed about to
fall when bang! bang! came two re
ports from Lena's pistol, and a couple
of bullets crashed through the panels
and the besiegers paused abruptly.
" Go away instantly," called the girl's
clear voice, "or I will fire again."
" One more rush, mate, and we are
in," yelled the gruff voice outside.
AVhat followed the wild tumult find
confusion; the crash of breaking pan
els and bolts, tho fall of the door and
the furniture Lina had piled against
it, shot after shot from Lina's pistol, a
yell of. pain and rage from both of
them. The door was down. One of
the men was In the room. Lina had
fired her last shot, and, running to the
bed, snatched Aunt Margaret's pistol
and turned to face the enemy. Sud
denly came a wild shriek from Park
ins. Then a voice calling " Lina, Lina !
I am coming," and Sir Robert de Ros
sett hurled himself bodily upon the
ruffian outside the door, prostrated him,
and sprang into the room over his
body, and this is what he saw: Made
line Leigh, the "little coward," with
blazing eyes ond scarlet cheeks, and a
pistol in her hand, standing unflinch
ingly between Aunt Margaret and a
burly ruffian; and Aunt Margaret her
self, who had not turned in her bed for
a year, standing on her feet on the
floor. Two seconds changed the aspect
of affairs. After that the burglar
sprawled senseless on the floor. Aim.
Margaret sprang back on her bed with
a wild "Thank God !" nnd the little
heroine of the scene lay in Sir Robert's
arms in a dead faint.
" Oh, Robert, why didn't you come
sooner ?" she murmured, half an hour
afterward, when she opened her eye?
and met his.
" Don't you kiow I came as soon as
I found your note?" he said. "Leo
went to my roun and I found him
there when I let the drawing-room,
after 11 o'clock.":
"AVhere are tiese dreadful men?'
Lena asked, raiang her head dizzily
and looking arouid with a shudder.
"Never mind 'them, dear. They
were taken by ths men who followed
me. My bravo li tie darling! AVhat a
heroine you are!'!
Two months nter, when Parkins
and the men w(re brought to trial,
Aunt Margaret hulked into the witness-box
and gav her testimony with
prim directness1, and self-possession.
Lena gave hers vith much trembling
and some tears;j but she looked in
tensely lovely, aid no one wondered
that Sir Robert (vas going to marry
her. I
The crowd around the door gave
her three cheers as she left the court
room, w:dking beiide Sir Robert, and
then three more fur Leo, who followed
them.
And Aunt Margaret's wedding pres
ent to Lina was the thousand pounds
and the diamond) that had been saved
by the courage of "the little coward."
Dipping1 Sheep iu Kansas.
The smoke ascending near tho cor
rals showed that dipping was in pro
gress, the most unpleasant feature of
tho shepherd's life. This is to cure
the " scab," the only disease to which
Kansas sheep are subject, and one that
sheep men seem to consider inevitable
until the enactment of stringent laws
against the importation of diseased
sheep, especially from Colorado and
Missouri. "Scab" is a skin disease
resulting in loss of flesh and wool, and
sometimes in death, supposed to be
caused by' the preaonce of minute para
sites in the skin, and therefore, al
though highly contagious, is not, as
was thought at oae time, hereditary.
It can be entirely mred by dipping the
sheep twice in a mixture of sulphur
and tobacco or linv) and sulphur. Mr.
AVadsworth uses tte latter preparation
and estimates the cost of curing "scab"
at five cents a head. The operation of
dipping presented i curious spectacle.
A long tank over a fire-box half buried
in the earth was filed with a greenish
yellow fuming mixture of lime, sul
phur and water. This was boiled for
half an hour, then lyt off into a narrow
tank four feet deep and sunk in the
earth, extending from one sheep pen
to another, with the further end slop
ing gradually up. When the nauseous
bath was ready the sunburnt herds
man called to the logs: "Round 'ein
up. puppies," and off Hew the dogs,
flattened to the grmnd, their bushy
tails streaming behind like banners
and their tongues lolling their eager
ness as they circled around a flock of
5U0 sheep just beyond the yards and
drove them toward the corral. A part
of the flock was finally driven into a
narrow passage at the end of the
sunken tank and then the dipping be
gan. Those who picture the shepherd
as an innocent creature with a pink and
white complexion, clad in a white frock,
carrying a crook wreathed with ribbons
and garlands and playing upon a pip:
after the fashion of tho Eclogues am
Georgics, would have found their illu
sions sadly dispelled by the sight. Th
gentle shepherds were three swarth;
men in flannel shirts, top boots ami
broad-brimmed hats, with splashes of
green and yellow variegating the
earthly hue of clothing and hands,
The first man, seizing a sheep by the
hind leg, jerked it into the tank, where
it sank under the surface, emerging of
a vivid greenish hue, only to be
promptly soused again by the second
Herdsman, wno was equipped witn a
forked stick. One after another the
sheep were pitched in until the tank
was full of hideously colored creatures,
bleating, sneezing and coughing, which
were at last allowed to scamper out of
the further end and stand dripping in
a state of great disgust on the flooring
of their pen. This process is usually
gone through with twice whenever
"scab" enters a flock. These sheep
were merinos, the breed most popular
in Kansas. Mexican sheep yield very
inferior wool and are of comparatively
little value for mutton, and here the
tendency in both sheep and cattle is
constantly to grade up to a better
stock. Kansas Letter
Origin of a Present to a Church.
The old story is revived concerning
the baptismal silver' bowl of the Cen
ter church, New Haven, Conn. This
bowl was presented to- the church a
great many years ago by Jeremiah
Atwater, and his name is engraved
thereon. The story is that Mr. At
water bought a keg of nails in Boston
When the keg was opened it was
found that after taking off a layer of
nails tho ketr was full of silver dollars.
and it was out of these dollars tho
bowl was made. Tlie late Leonard
ll;icon discredited, the story, and per
haps the truth will never get into
print.
There's very little or no opposition
to a red-hot poker.
FACTS AXD COMMENTS.
Some people, says the Railroad
Journal, affect to believe that they de
rive no benefit from advertising, for
tho reason that they cannot trace any
particular transaction to any particular
advertisement. Neither can we attrib
ute tho growth of vegetation to any
particular drop of rain or ray of sun
sliine but it is very evident that with
out rain or sunshine it would fail to
flourish.
A woman was lately indicted in
England for causing the death of her
child by denying it adequate nourish
ment, investigation showed, how
ever, that the mother had fed the child
regularly on corn starch, mixed with a
little milk, ignorant of the fact that
starch is unable to supply the necessary
nutriment to young cliildren. Under
lese circumstances the woman was,
of course, acquitted. It is a lesson
which mothers and nurses would do
well to remember.
The London Times in a recent ar
ticle says that Europe is no longer able
to feed her population, and the total
grain crops produced fell 343,000,000
bushels below the annual consump
tion, and 285,000,000 bushels of this
deficiency is in the United Kingdom.
lhe wheat crop of Great Britain is
estimated this year at 75,000,000 to
80,000,000 bushels, and the consump
tion at about 200,000.000 bushels.
After deducting what is required for
seed, there will be a deficiency to be
supplied from foreign countries of
about 130,000,000 bushels, and perhaps
more than this.
Civilization has its peculiar diseases
from which savages are comparatively
free, 03 they in their turn are slaugh
tered by plagues which die out as they
become civilized. Among these dis
eases that of short-sightedness, or my
opia, as the oculists prefer to call it,
grows constantly more prominent.
hvcry observant person of middle age
must have become convinced that the
wearing of eye-glasses is much more
common now than it was a score of
years ago, and such statistics as have
been collected fully sustain this opinion.
A recent examination of the pupils in
the public schools of New York city
lias shown that the proportion of suf
lerers from myopia is in some cases as
high as eight and one-half and even
twelve and one-half per cent., while
at Columbia college no less than sixty-
aine or tno students were near
sighted, or a full third of tho whole
201. The disease is found to increase
with the length of school life, and is
undoubtedly aggravated by the im
perfect lighting arrangements in the
average school-room and tho poor type
of many text-books.
A perplexing question often arises
under the patent laws : Suppose a
workman in tho employ of some large
establishment invents a valuable im
provement in tho machinery or pro
cesses ; does the patent belong to him
or his employers? They always say
that they were paying him for his time,
and are entitled to whatever he ac
complishes. He argues that inventing
is a matter quite outside the duties for
which ho was hired. 1 or example, a
plow manufacturing company in In
diana employed a superintendent
of their business, and he, during
his engagement, took out a patent
tor improvements he made in the
plows they were selling. They sued
him, claiming that he should transfer
the patent to them, for they said they
were fen to engage mm hv ins assur
ance that he had large experience in
making and selling plows and devising
improvements, and that he would de
vote his time and services to manufac
turing and perfecting their plows;
also, that the improvement that he had
patented was made partly by aid of
suggestions from other employes and
with emploves belonging to the com
pany. The judge said that these facts
were not enough to make out then
case. Persons are not deprived of the
right to the inventions they make while
in the service or others, unless they
have been hired and paid to exercise
their inventive laculties for their em
ployers. A contract for the time,
labor nnd skill of the employe in man
ufacturing and selling does not give
the employer the right to an improve
ment which the employe invents. If
in this case the superintendent was ma
terially aided by suggestions from
other persons, ho was not sole inventor,
and perhaps his coadjutors were en
titled to a share in the patent, but the
fact would not give the employer a
right to it.
Au Extra Pocket.
Three or four days ago a Detroit
clothier sold a young man a pair of
pants without having to brag up the
goods or lie about what they cost in
Is ew 1 ork, and the incident might
never have been recalled had not the
buyer entered the store again yester
day.
"I bought this pair of pants of you
the other day," lie began.
"Yes, sir."
" I am not quite satisfied with 'em."
"What's the trouble?"
" AVliv, there are two hind pockets,
."AVeil?"
" AVell, I al ways carry my tobacco box
in my hind pocket. If there Is only
one I don't lose any time feeling on
tho wrong side. If there are two I'm
never sure which one the box is in
and I have to let go the plow-handles
with both hands at once. I want the
extra one taken out."
It is a solemn fact that the young
man sat down in a dark corner and
waited three-quarters of an hour for
the tailor to knock the two hind
pockets into one. Detroit Free Press,
How to Become a Contortionist.
The St. Louis Ch ronicle says : Jesse,
one of the three " Les Encaoyables "
brothers, now playing at Pope s with
the Kiralfys, was interrogated last
night as to the system of training
through which a man must go in order
to do a first-class contortion act. The
reader will no doubt be surprised to
near that no rubbing of tho joints with
buzzard's grease or sleeping between
oiled blankets is necessary, and that
genuine ease and proficiency can
be acquired only by long practice.
Mr. Jesse, who is now in his
twenty-eighth year, has had twenty
two years' practice, having been
apprenticed to John AVilson, a well-
known circus man of California, at the
age of six years. At the time he began
to learn he was only an ordinary boy,
not at all remarkable either for strength
or agility. AVhen tho four years of the
apprenticeship had expired he was pro
nounced a fair contortionist and offered
good salary by AVilson. At this
time he was able to do " easy kicking,"
and by continuing the exercise has been
able to acquire astonishing powers.
The contortionist, he says, is never al
lowed to do any heavy lifting or jump
ing, because such exercise contracts and
stiffens the joints.
"To be able to tickle your ear with
your toe," said he, "you have only to
take about two hours' practice daily
for four or five years, and it is best to
begin early." The boy who begins to
learn is put through every exercise
that will make the joints limber with
out creating muscle. One of the first
things he is made to do is to take the
foot in hand, lift it up, and pull the
leg toward the body. AVhen this has
been done daily for ten years he be
comes a fair contortionist, and to suc
ceed after the business is learned a
man must keep sober. Whisky and
beer stiffen the joints. It is also
held to be a bad idea to eat pea
nuts and other indigestible food. In
the.third act of the " Black Crook,"
where the three performers named
appear, most of what is done is called
" easy kicking" that is, kicking over
heads. "Hard kicking" consists in
throwing the leg along the back, and
otherwise putting the joints to an un
natural strain. A hue the gyrations
and contortions of this act are fairlv be
wildering to the spectator, they are not
difficult to the actors, though the
work is very exhausting in its nature,
The ease and grace which characterize
their movements are the result of years
of training, and cannot be acquired in
a short time with the aid of any balm
or ointment known.
Tho World's Population.
Drs. Behm and AVagner have re
cently issued a new edition of their
well-known collection of statistics
"Die lievolkerung der Jrde. . It is
just two years since the former edition
was issued, and during the interval
nearly all the leading countries of the
world have been numbering their peo
ple. To such an extent has this been
the case that the editors of the work
have virtually had to recast it.
The "Bevolkerung professes to
survey the area and population of all
the countries of the world with their
subdivisions. In the present issue the
population of China is discussed in
detail. The conclusion is that it lias
been greatly over-estimated, and in
stead of a population of 434,500,000
(including Corea) as given in last
issue, they reduce it now to 379,500,000.
The population of Africa is still set
down at 200,000,000, although with
hesitation. Meanwhile Dr. Rohlfs
maintains that an estimate of 100,000,-
000 is quite enough for that continent
A census has been taken, since the
issue of the last edition, in Greece,
Denmark, tho United States, 1 inland
Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Aus
tria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Great Britain
and dependencies, Prance and Italy,
AVhere the complete results have not
been obtainable, the authors of the
" Bevolkerung " have secured the pre
liminary figures. According, therelore.
to the latest data, the following are
the areas and populations of the vari
ous continents, with the number of in
habitants per kilometer. (A kilometer
is about live-eighths of a mile):
fin. nn-
supumuun. oil. uio, pie it
bu. kiln.
Europe 827,743,400
Asia 795,591,000
Africa 205,823,200
America 100,415,400
Australia and
Polynesia 4,232,000
Polar Kegions... 82,500
9,780,57(5 84
44,580,850
29,828,253
88,478,138
8,952,855
4,478,200
Total 1,433,887,000 136,048,872 10,
Two years ago tho world's total
population was given at 1,455,923,500,
which is 22,000,000 in excess of tho
estimated total in the new volume.
Allowing for the difference of 55,000,
000 in the estimate for China, how
ever, we have a presumed increase of
33,000,000. It is virtually impossible,
of course, to conceive of a population
so vast,
A traveler was leaning at night
against a railing at Harper's Ferry
railroad station. A locomotive came
along and he sprang lightly over the
rail to escape possible danger. He
thought it was a meadow on the other
side, but knew his mistake when he
struck in a muddy stream forty feet
below. On being rescued he was asked
his name. " I wouldn't tell you my
name for a thousand dollars," he re
plied; "describe me as simply a foot"
An easy job: Robinson (after a long
whist bout at the club) " It is awfully
late, Brown. AVhat will you say to
your wife?" Brown (in a whisper)
"Oh, I shan't say much, you know.
'Good-morning, dear,' or something of
that sort. She'll say the rest." (Juiz.
Asks a humanitarian : " Do you not
feel for the poor fly, as cold weather
approaches?" AVe do? And if we
feel where he is, he gets smashed fiat I
"V
WISE WOUDS.
Be silent and safe; silence never
betrays you.
Every man desires to live long ; but
no man would be old.
The man who never excites envy
never excites admiration.
Present evils always seem greater
than those that never come.
Some men cannot stand prosperity.
Others never get a chance to try.
An evil-speaker differs from an
evil-doer only in the want of oppor
;unity.
Never let vour zeal outrun your
charity ; the former is but human, the
latter is divine.
Those days are lost in which we do
no good. Those worse man loss in
which we do evil.
Use sin as it will use you; spare it
not, for it will not spare you; it 19
your murderer and the murderer of
the whole world. Use it, therefore, as
a murderer should be used; kill it be
fore it kills you.
The conditions of success are these!
First, work; second, concentration;
third, fitness. Labor is the genius
which changes the ugliness of tho
world into beauty; that turns the
greatest curse into a blessing.
Nothing is so contagious as enthu
siasm; it is tho real allegory of the
lute of Orpheus; it moves stones; it
charms brutes. Enthusiasm is the
genius of sincerity, and truth accom
plishes no victories without it.
Kind words are bright flowers of
earthly existence; use them, and
especially around the firesida circle.
They are the jewels beyond price, and
powerful to heal the wounded heart
and make the weighed-down spirit
glad.
AVhen misfortunes happen to such
as dissent from us in matters of
religion, we call them judgments ;
when to those of our own sect, we call
them trials ; when to persons neither
way distinguished, we are content to
attribute them to the settled course of
things.
HEALTH IIIXTS.
The remedy for overwork is rest.
As far as one violates law he wastes
power.
Good nutritive vigor Is the founda
tion of good health.
Men and women insult God by
abusing their bodies.
Hundreds of women die annually for
want of change of labor or change of
scene.
Rapid consumption of the vital
forces means early decay and prema
ture death.
To cure stammering Br. Foote's
Health Monthly advises the stammerer
to read aloud one hour every other day
with the teeth closed.
If people will live twice as fast as
they ought, if they will perform as
much labor in one day as ought to be
done in two, nothing will save them
from the natural consequence, which is
to die twice as soon as they otherwise
would.
Farmhouses may be, and ought to
be, better located than city residences.
Low sites, where the houso drains are
sluggish, tho fogs frequent, tho air
stagnant, and the effluvia from the out
buildings confined, should always bo
avoided. Next in importance to loca
tion is cleanliness in the surroundings
of the farmhouse.
Character of Our Population.
According to the latest census bulle
tin there are in the United States, or
were in 1880, when the census was
taken, of colored inhabitants 6,032,549,
and of foreign born 6,079,945. These
figures do not show, however, the com
parative strength of these elements of
our population. The children of colored
parents were enumerated as colored,
while the children of foreign born
parents were taken as native white in
habitants. Based upon the census of
1870 the following estimate has been
made of the national characteristics of
our population:
1880.
American white 80,453,545
Iforoiirn born 6,G79,945
15oth imrentR foreign 5,001,1)
One parent foreiim I,388,(i04
Colored 0,632,649
Totul 50,155,783
By this calculation, sixty-one per
cent, of tho whole population is native
white, thirteen per cent, is foreign born,
ten percent, represent children of both
foreign parents, three per cent, havo
one foreign parent, and thirteen per
cent, is oft he colored race. Of the
foreign born population, 2,772,169 came
from Great Britain and Ireland. Other
countries have contributed as follows:
Germany . . . .l,'M,74'2
Ireland 1,854,571
Sweden 1!I4,3.')7
Norway 181,729
France 106,971
China 104,541
Switzerland. 88,(121
Bohemia .... t5,361
Mexico. . ..
Denmark,.
Holland...
1'olmid....
Itiily
Austria....
Hussiu
C8.399
04,190
68,090
48.55T
44,230
38,663
35,723
Greenland, Gibralter, Malta and
Japan together have about 1,000 chil
dren in this country. No country on
tho globe has so strangely composite a
population as this. Albany Argus.
A p arl-making industry has sprung
up in the Tuuringian forests of Ger
many, and a large demand for the
goods from abroad has made a boom
in wages. Tho secret of making the
so-called lack-luster" pearls was acci
dentally discovered by a workman
who put ono of the original samples
in his mouth and felt a tiny grain of
sand upon it. Pievlous to this acids
had been tried without success, but
the lucky workman tried "rubbing
up" the pearls with common sand, and
iu less than a week hundreds of his
fellows were making a living at the
same work, and handsome goods were
produced that now find a ready sale
In the market; of the world.
1