VOL. LI 11.
Til HOUSE OF CUT.
Tbw* M * hone* of clay,
Wharora the inmate eat all day.
Marry an t po r.
For Hope eat with her. heart to heart.
Food and I n I,
Vow nfr he n w would depart—
W: all at oooe he changed hie mind:
"Sweetheart , good by !" He akipped away
And shot the door.
Hut Love mm* paet, and looking
With smile that p arced like euubeam thin
Through waH ro f. floor,
Stood in the midai of that poor room.
Grand and fair,
Makuu a *.lory out of gloom—
Till si the window mocked grim rare;
Love signed : * All loee. and nothing win?"
He shot the AMU.
Then o'er the cioee barrt-d honee of day
Kiwi ohmtatu and woodbine
* Crept more sad more;
And hem hummed merrily outside.
Lead and strong.
The inner sd atneee to hide.
The patient silence ell day long.
Till evening touched with finger gray
The bolted door.
Most like the next etepe passing by
Will he the Angel s, whose oalm eye
Mark* rich, marks poor;
Whs. fearing nek at any gate
tihanda and rmlh.
At which the inmate open* straight—
Whom. r the cmmUi ng day bouse falls,
He takes in kind arm- aiienky.
And shots the doer.
Turning The Tables-
Tom Hills, sometime huntsman of the
Old Surrey Hounds, were once sent to buy
a fox in Ixwkr.hal: "Market for service the
next day. The commission was not at all
to Tom's liking ; but obeying orders, he
Tode to town, cot his fox, and putting him,
aeruwh strapped, ices upward, in a capa
cious pockrt in his overcast, turned his
bom * hoa-t homeward. Somewhere altout
midnight be reached Streatham Common,
lo he suddenly stopped with the once
familiar challenge "Your incnw or your
Hie'."
"My money !" exclaimed Hills. "I
haven't cm any; lam only a servant; and
yon woolentake my life, surely ?"
The highwayman toid him to look sharp,
emphasizing the injunction bv pointing a
piAdl at the huntsman's licad.
"Well, my man." said the latter, "we
WNMIT fall onri. 1 want my life; so, as I've
no moorv. I guppoae you must have
Binary's worth. You'll find something
quite as good in my pocket here: so pray
beip yourself.*'
The robber's disengaged hand dived into
Terns pocket instanter. and Master Rey
nard's teeth closed as quickly upon it, caus
ing the fellow to ye J in dismay, and drop
piftoi! and rn: while Tom galloped off at
his best pace, leaving his unwelcome ac
quaintance to bandage his hand ami digest
his duappoint inert at leisure.
Relating his Indian experiences, Colonel
Meadows Tayior Bells of his being beset by
hundreds qf pilgrims and travelers, crying
out against the hernias, or floor-hellera, who
not only gave their customers short weight,
hot adulterated the flour so abominably
with sand that cakes made of it were utterly
uneatable. The cokmei determined to pun
kit tbe cbrstt; and this is bow he did it.
"I toW," aays be, "sume reliable men of
ray escort to go quietly into tbe bazars, and
each bay flour at a separate shop, being
careful to note arbour shop it was. The
ftnar was brought to me. I tested every
nafik. and found it full of sand as I
paand it under my teeth. I then desired
all the persons named in my list to be sent
to me, with their baskets of (Jour, their
weighte and scales Shortly afterward they
arrived, evidently suspecting nothing, and
wew placed in a row on the grass before
my tent. 'Now.' said L gravely, 'each of
you is to weigh out a seer [two pounds] of
your flour f which was done.
" 'ls it for the pilgrims !' asked one.
"No, said i, quietly, though I had much
rtjfflcnlty to keep my countenance. 'You
must eat it yourselves.
"They saw that I was in earnest, anil
offered to pay nny line I imposed.
"Not so,' I returned: *you have made
many eat roar flour; shy should you
object to eat it yourselves ?*
"They were horribly frightened; and
■raid the screams of laughter and jeers of
the by landers some of them actually began
to eat, sputtering out tbe half-moistened
flour. which could be heard crunching bc-
Uw their teeth. At last some of them
flung themselves on their faces, abjectly be
pardon." And so, with a severe
•irrtoohioa, they were let off. No more
was beard of the had flour
It is a pity rascals at home can not
he served in the same way, pure food
wooM be the rale, if the con coolers and
vendere of vile make believers were liable
ts cranpahaory consumption of their own
Sir John McNeill, * shrewd Scotch diplo
matic gained the repute of being the only
European who ever got the better of a derv
ish. During the New Year's festival the
Peracan religious mendicants ply their voca
tion most vigorously, not merely asking for
ahm bat demanding such sums as they
deem proper, according to the rank of the
giver. A dervish tried to extract an ex
travagant tribute from Sir John, and the
ambassador proving obstinate, proceeded to
*<ait upon himthat is to say, he estab
lished VwMwdf in Sir John's garden, just be
fore his study windows, and relieved his
feeling;- by making a hideous hullabaloo
day and night. The diplomatist was in
to make short work of the nuisance,
but was warned that violent measures
would be dangerous.
Mgt* rid of him if you can, r aaid his
Me ZMllkeim HVUrNNZ.
Persian advisers; "but do not touch him."
Sir John sent for n bricklayer, and gave
the order: "Build a wall all round that
howling beggar in my garden, and then
roof it in."
Tle dervish looked on composedly while
the wall slowly rose round him, and made
more noise than before; but when the roof
ing process commenced, and he awoke to
tlie knowledge that it was really intended
to entomb him alive, he clambered over the
wall, and rushed away like a madman,
never to trouble McNeill again.
SomC sixty years ago, a certain York
shire living was held by a company-loving
i pa mm nnicji in request at marriage merry
makings, w hose clerk was equally welcome
at ehri-tening lea-tighls. These two wor
thies contrived to fail out : so it came to
pass that when the clerk was due at a tea
party, he found himself obliged to forego
the anticipated mutlin feast by reason of the
parson requiring his attendance. He bore
the disappointment with tolerably good
grace, hoping for an opportunity for re
talialion. It was not long coining. On
Sunday-morning advised that the clergy
man was going to dine with a newly wed
ded jmir, instead of giving out only part of
the hundred and nineteenth psalm, the
wicked fellow said, "Let us sing to the
praise and glory of Ood the hnndretl-and
ninetccntli psahn—all on't." Before his
victim was well aware of the treat in store
the musicians were fairly on their way, re
solved to go through their task, come what
might. It was weary work, but they
gravely persevered. Sometimes only one
instrument accompanying a single voice
was to be heard; but singers and players
were determined to do their duty, and held
ou somehow to the end ; and the parson
bad to dine at home, inwardly confessing
the tables had fairly been turned upon him.
The Rev. Dr. Maciead, father of Dr.
Norman Macleod, passing through the
crowd gathered before the doors of a new
church he was altout to open, was stopped
by an elderly man with : "Doctor, if you
ploase, I wish to sjieak to you." Asked if
he could not wait uutil after worship, he
replied that it was a matter upon his con
science.
"Oh, si net* it is a matter of conscience,
Duncan," said the good-natured minister,
"I will hear what it is."
"Well, doctor," said Duncan, "the mat
ter is this. Ye see the clock yonder on the
new church. Now there is really no clock
there, only the face of one; there is no
truth then', only onee in twelve hours; and
in my mind that is wrong, very wrong, and
quite against the conscience, that tharu
should be a lie on the face of the house of
the lx>rd."
The doctor promised to consider the mat
ter. "But," said he, 'l'm glad to see you
looking so well, man. "You're uot young.
I rememlier you for many years; but you
have a tine head of hair still."
"Eh, doctor!" exclaimed the unsuspect
ing Duncan, "now ye're joking. It's long
since I had my hair.' 1
l>r. Macleod looked shocked, and an
swered, in atone of reproach: "Oh Dun
can ! Duncan ! are you going into the hoqse
of the Lord with a lie on your head t" Lie
beard no more of the lie on the face of the
church. - , -
A well-merited repartee was dealt by a
smart midshipman to the daughter of a K.
C. B. at a hall given by the latter to the
naval officers on the North Pacific station.
The middy was bold enough to ask the
young lady to accept him for her partner.
>l\ dear, no," said the supercilious
boauty. "Ma never allows me to dance
with midshipmen." Somebody let her know
the middy was a Ix>rd, and she repented,
and reminded him tliat he was engaged to
her for the next dance.
The youngster however, was not so easily
mollified, and remembering the lady had
native blood in her veins, smilingly replied:
"Oh dear, no. Ma never allows me to
dance with squaws."
Said one piay-going young fellow to an
other:
"I was at the Gaiety last night for the
sixteenth time, and took a look round the
pit to see if you were there." -
But noways disconcerted by the insinua
tion, the subject of his "chaff'' retorted:
"What! been so many times to the Gaiety,
and not know that vcu can't see the pit
from the gallery ?
Fairly paid in her own coia wasthe Pari
sian dame wno, answering a wet-tooted
visitor's request for the loan of a pair of
slippers, by saying, "Certainly, my dear,
if you think mine will fit you." received
the clever rejoinder : "I (fare say they will,
dear, if you tell your maid to put a cork
sole inside them,"
"You have given me Scotch whisky; 1
asked for Irish, " complained a hurried im
biber.
"Never mind," said the publican; "fancy
it's Irish."
The man drank up the liquor, and made
for the door.
"Stop!" cried Boniface; "you haven't
paid me."
"Nevermind; faucy I have," said his
customer, and away he went.
Too Trusting.
"Mary Jane Marsh, didn't I say to
last week that the next time you came
here under the charge of drunkenness
I should send you up for sixty days?"
asked his Honor of a five-rtnd-forty fe
male.
"I think you said so, Judge, but I
think I had too much faith in you to
believe you'd do any such thing," she
replied.
"Well, you trusted too much. You
are regularly booked."
"And I'm regularly sorry. Your
Honor, because I can never believe In
you again. It's a sad day when a man
loses the confidence ot the public in his
word."
MILLHEIM, l'A., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1879.
Hcu Kitncliliitr In California.
This is a famous country for bees ami
the making of lio.iey, and at many a
breakfast table in distant Europe to-day
the w n tile Is spread with sweets that have
been tilched from the hearts of a thou
sand California Ilowers. In the mouth
of almost every canon there is a bee
ranch or apiary, w hose owner grows
indolent and prosperous from the labors
of his industrious subjects, llere there
are no long winters with dearth of
flowers, through which the patient
workers must he nursed and fed In
order that they may live until theopcu
ing of the next field season. These
bee-ranches are models of neatness and
domestic comfort, and the profession
Of bee-keeping is rapidly becoming
popular among persons of little physi
cal strength or small financial capital,
or both ; such as maiden ladies, broken
down miuisters, bachelor students, and
those dilettante farmers who fancy that
the royal road to bucolic happiness lies
through the flowery beds of a bee-pas
ture. Their expenses are as light as
those of a hermit in his cage, and what
Btoreß of honey are laid up are RO much
clear gain, as the bees board themselves
while they work, uid work unceasingly
in preparation for the winter which
never comes. When the hive is full
the cakes of comb are removed, the
liquid is strained from the cells, and
the empty cups are replaced to be filled
again and again. This economical pro
cess prevents a waste of labor ami time
in the gathering of wax and the build
ing of new bins in the store-house.
Walking out in the morning in the
green brushwood of these canon* you
hear a loud and continuous buzzing of
wings, and, although there may not be
a flower in sight, it Is as ceaseless and
strong as in a buckwheat patch or clover
field at home. This humming of bees
is nature's tenor voice, as the roaring
of water is her bass. There is a cure
for homesickness in the bees' mono
tone, even though the authors thereof
be perfectly wild, as, indeed, many of
these are. In such a country you can
not feel utterly lonesome and lost.
The Most Wonderful of Calculating Hoys.
When Bidder was ten years old he
answered in two minutes the following
question: What is the interest of JLA, 4I4
lor 4,444 days at 4j v ' per cent, per an
num. The answer is £2,434 10s
A fewwonths later,when hewasyet elev
en years old, he was askea, io--
would a cistern on mile cube be tilling
If receiving from a river 120 gallons
per minute, without intermission 9 In
two minutes lie gave the correct an
swer, 14,200 years 285 days 12 hours
and 40 minutes. A year later he divid
ed correctly iu less than a minute
408,592.413,663 by 9,070. 1 have tried
how long this takes me with pen and
paper; and, after getting an incorrect
resul* in one and a quarter minute,
went through the sum again, with cor
rect result, (51,629,838 and 5,875 over,)
in about the same time. At twelve
t ears of age lie answered in less than a
minute the question, if a distance of
0 l 4 inches is passed over in a second of
time, how many inches will be passed
over in 305 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes,
55 seconds? Much more surprising,
however, was his success, when 13
years old, in dealing with the question,
what is the cube root of 897,339,273,874,-
002,153? He obtained the answer in
two and a half minutes, viz, 904,537.
1 do not believe one arithmetician in a
thousand would get out this answer
correctly, at a tirst trial, iu less than a
quarter of an hour. But 1 confess i
have not tried the experiment, feeling,
indeed, perfectly satisfled that I should
not get the answer eorreetly in half a
dozen trials. No date is given to the
following ease: "The question was put
by Sir William Ilerschel, at Slough,
near Windsor, to Master Bidder, and an
swered in one minute: Light travels
from the sun to the earth iu eight min
utes, and the sun being 98,000,000 of
miles off, [of course, this is quite wrong,
but sixty years ago it was near enough
tothe accepted value],if lightjwould take
six years Vnd four months traveling at
the same rate from the nearest tixed
star, how far is that from the earth,
reckoning 305 days and six hours to
each year, and 28 days to each month?"
The correct answer was quickly given
to tills pleasing question, viz., 40,033,-
840,000,000 miles. Oil one occasion we
learn the proposer of a question was not
satistied with answer. The
hoy said the answer was correct, and
requested the proposer to work his
sum over again. During the operation,
Bidder said he felt certain he was right,
for he had worked the question in
another way, and before the proposer
found that he was wrong and Bidder
right the boy told the company that he
had calculated the question by a third
method.
The Cunning Wolves.
It is said, a traveler in Germany
writes, that whenever several of the
larger wolves associate together for
mischief, in the German forests and
their neigliberhood, there is always a
numerous train ol smaller ones to fol
low in the rear, and act as auxiliaries
in the work of destruction. Two large
wolves are sufficient to destroy the
most powerful horse, and seldom more
than two ever begin the assault, al
though there may be a score in the
gang. It is no less curious than amus
ing to witness this ingenious mode of
attack. If there is no snow, or but lit
tle on the ground, two wolves approach
in the most playful and caressing man
ner, lying, rolling and frisking about,
until the too credulous and unsuspici-
OUR victim is completely put oft bis
guard by curiosity and familiarity.
During this time, the gang, squatted on
their In lid-quarters, look on at a dis
tance. Alter some time spent in this
way, the two assailants separate, when
one approaches the horse's head, and
the other his tail, with a shyness and
cunning peculiar to themselves. At
this stage of the attack their frolicsome
approaches become very interesting—lt
is right good earnest; the former is a
mere decoy, the latter is the real assail
ant, and keeps his eve steadily fixed ou
the hamstring or ilank of the horse.
The critical momeinenMstheu watched,
and the attack is simultaneous; botli
wolves spring at their victim the same
moment—one to the, throat ami the
other to the ilank—and it successful,
which they generally are, the hind one
never lets go his hold tilt the horse is
completely disabled. Instead of spring
ing forward or kicking to disengage
himself, the horse turns round and
round without attempting defense.
The wolf before then springs behind to
assist the other. The sinews are cut,
and in half the time 1 have been des
cribing it the horse Is on his side; his
struggles are fruitless —the victory is
won. At tliis signal the lookers-on
close in a gallop; but the small fry of
followers keep at a respectful distance
until their superiors are gorged, ami
then they take their turn unmolested.
Witches at the Lewei.
Now. my son Roderick—my young
est son, who is twenty-one next month
—was last year at the lierrin' fishery
at Frazerberg. One night he went
ashore, and met a strange woman and
man walking. They did stop, and did
ask who he was, and where he did
come from. "From Loch Inver,"says
he. "And so do we," says they (which
was singular, us lie did never set eyes
on them before) "Come with us, and
we will give you a driuk—" of beer or
of rum, or of whisky, or of gin, 1 do
not rightly tniiul which it was wtiat
effer. You must know sir, that eadi
boat, at the lierrin' fishery time, takes
a woman on board to cook meat and
wash for them; there will be many
women go to sea in this manner.
Well, they ask my son at the tavern,
"Did you have any good luck with ttie
herrin' to day?" "No, very had."
"Did you yesterday?" "No worse
again." "Ah ! hut," says she, "you will
•-"--Aw > Well sure enough
he did All his boat next-nay with very
many cratis of lierrin', and did get JLIS
for his share that one day. It was a
wonderful thing. But he did tell me
that that gold did do him no good ; lie
had no idea how it did get spent what-
efl'er. That iliy lie did go looking
about after the man and woman all
over, but be did never see them again;
I did not here of his ever again seeing
them. "'Roderick! Ido hope you will
never again have anything to do with
these witches." "No, father, I will
never again, so long as Ido live." He
is away to Frazcrbarg this year again.
I did hear of another witch in the
Lewes, 15 year agone. She lived at
Stornoway, and did sell winds to sail
ors. One of our Loch Inver boats did
not get away that autumn lor weeks.
The wind was almost dead against
them. Well, whey did go to her, and
wnat they paid her 1 did not hear, hut
she gave them a black string tied with
three knots, and said, "Ye'll begetting
awa' to morrow. Now, it the wind is
not strong enough, loose one knot; if
even then it is not enough, loose iho
second; hut on your life! on your life!
diuna loose the third!" Well, they
got oft* sure enough next morning with
a fair breeze; and then the skipper
loosed one knot. On the boat sprang,
and the wlnci rose. Soon be loosed the
second, and they tore over the waves,
and were very soon over the Minch
near Loch Inver. They got to the en
trance of the harbor near the store house
—ye ken it? on the right—and the
skipper says, "We're a' richt now; if
the deil himself withstands me, I will
loose the third !" He did loose it, and
though so near home, the boat was only
got ashore in little bits! She was al
though broken up! The men were all
saved.
Adventure With >t Snake,
Robert G. Pillow, a son of the late
ex-Confederate General Pillow, lives
on an Arkansas plantation, across the
river from Memphis. A few days ago,
accompanied by Aleck, one of the col
ored men on the place, he was out hunt
ing a wild hog that had been seen in
the vicinity. Pillow had a gun and
Aleck had armed himself with a pint
bottle filled with whiskey. The hog
was found and shot, and just as Pillow
went up to the writhing animal an im
mense "cotton-mouth" snake, whose
bite is fatal as that of a rattlesnake, fas
tened its fangs on the call' of his leg.
Pillow is not easily frightened. lie
took in the situation in a moment, and
instead of exhibiting alarm he turned
to his companion and quietly remarked :
"Aleck, I think I'll try a little of that
whiskey now," whiskey being consid
ered an infallible remedy, lie poured
every drop down his throat without
stopping to venture any remarks as to
its quality. Then shouldering his gun
he rapidly walked to the house, a half
mile distant, where he drank the con
tents of three ordinary glass tumblers
filled with whiskey. He was soon in
what he calls a "Niagara Falls of a per
spiration," which rapidly expelled the
poison and saved his life. For a day or
two after he says that he was the sick
est man in all Arkansas.
Tlic Century riant.
The American aloe, or century plant
—a rarely line specimen of which Is now
growing in Brooklyn, and about to
flower, seldom reaches that perfection
which results in flowers, in temperate
cliiuatea. lis growth here is so slow
that its popular name is derived from
the belief that a full term of 100 years
is required before the blossoms appear
Hut in its native soil, in tropical and
semi-tropical climes, extending to the
thirty-second parallel on either side ot
tiie equator, it comes to perfection in
much less time; often in twenty or
thirty years. The same plant never
blooms more than once. When the
time comes the flower-stalk shoots up
with great rapidity from the centre of
the crown, around which the leaves
radiate, growing often fifteen or eigh
teen inches a day, until a height of
thirty and sometimes, In an exception
ally vigorous plant, of forty feet Is
reached. The arms of this stalk, like
those of a branching candlestick, bear
the cup-shaped flowers, which have no
remarkable beauty. The aloe belongs
to the agave family of the order of
Aniaryllidacete. The leaves are th ck
at the base ami terminate In a sharp
point. It is one of the most useful
plants found in Mexico and Central
America. From the fibres of the leaves
a tliread is obtained which can be wo-
ven into cloth and twisted into ropes,
and these leaves make a substantial
thatch roof. A part of the stalk is used
for food, and the hard pithy centre at
the base forms a good whetstone, as
silica enters largely into its composition*
while the fermented sap of the aloe, or
maguey, ag it is called, is an intoxicat
ing beverage known as pulque, which
is largely consumed by the natives.
Large specimens of the century plant
are valued highly by florists here, and
HS much as several hundred dollars is
not uncommonly paid for a fine one.
A Stranger's Note.
Some of those chaps who wear their
elbows down thin leaning on saloon
counters have an artificial fly with a
tine thread attached to the hack, and
sometimes these toys can be handled to
the amusement of a small crowd. When
an unknown man fell asleep in a saloon
the young man witli an artificial fly was
there. He took position behind his
victim, who was lying back on ilia
chair, and presently the fly alighted on
.u- umUI-mI up the
bridge ami down, ammmicn nn mo
ment on the tip end. The sleeper nev
er moved a finger. The fly went over
the old route, dove into the corner of
the lett eye, galloped over to the right,
ami came down to the graml stand on
the dead run, hut the sleeper slept on.
It began to appear that lie was used to
flies, and so the game was changed. By
sticking a pin through one of these
tops you can make quite a bee of it, the
pifl being the stinger.
When the "bee" descended on the
stranger's nose everybody expeeted to
see a sudden start, but it did not come.
After a jab at the tip end the "bee"
crawled along up, waiting tor develop
ments, and getting in an occasional
sting, but not even a sigh escaped the
sleeper. The young man with the in
sect was getting tired, when the stran
ger lazily opened his eyes, slowly rose
up from his chair, and coolly remarked :
"Now, then, if you have got through
fooling with my nose, I'll fool with
yours for awhile!"
It isn't likely that particular young
man will ever dangle artificial flies any
more. He was doubled up, straighten
ed out, choked, mopped and slammed
so thoroughly that his appetite will run
to chicken broth and arnica for some
days to come. When the cyclone had
passed the stranger called for gin,
drank it, and said to the white-faced
crowd on the bench :
"Gentlemen, it any more of you see
anything peculiar about my nose, please
call around and let me know!"
Two Little Shoes.
Charley Bunnell was running mes
senger on the J. M. and I. R. R. and
tells this story: "Blufl'old Jack Mills,
rough, but kind hearted, was the en
gineer. About a mile and a half this
side of Columbus there is a tine stretch
of road, and Jack had 'pulled her wide
open" to make up lost time, and the
old engine and train were rocking
along at a rate of about thirty miles tin
hour. A country road runs parallel
with the track here for some distance,
and Anally crosses it. But a short dis
tance, and finally crosses it. But a
short distance from the crossing, on the
day referred to, there was suddenly
discovered a man, evidently half drunk
in a two horse country wagon, and in
it was his wife with him. The man
was standing up driving like mad, but
the train was so close upon him that no
one dreamed of his attempting to cross,
but making a sudden turn to the left,
he endeavored to cross the railroad
track. By the time the wagon was
fairly on the track, the locomotive
struck it, smashed the wagon to splin
ters, killed the horses, and mangled to
death the man and woman. The train
ran some distance before it could be
stopped, .and when it was finally
checked Bunnell went forward and
found Engineer Jack Mills, swearing
like a trooper, his engine all 'mussed,'
and he was damning the drunken fool
in the wagon lor his criminal careless
ness which brought on the accident.
Jack was hot. As he turned to get on
his engine to reverse her and return to
the 6cene of the accident, his eyes
caught sight of a tiny pair of baby's
shoes, which had been among other of
Lhe purchases of the man in the wagon
and knocked out. They had fallen on
the boiler of the locomotive, and there
they rested as gently as a dove sitting
in u cannon's mouth. A flood of recol
lections of the little ones at home
watching and waiting for their parents
who would never come—thoughts, It
may be, of the little feet at home—was
too much for the true and tender heart
of the rough and hardy engineer, and
he leiiued on Charlie Bunnell's shoul
der and sobbed aloud. 'Just look at
them little shoes, Charlie,' he said, be
tween his tears, 'l—l—didn't inlnd so
much running over that drunken fool
who tried to cross ahead of us when ho
couldn't, but the little one, Charlie, the
little kid that's waltln' for 'em, that's
too rough!"
The ItutllemiHke.
It lias been observed by some natur
alists that If wo withhold water from
snakes when about to shed their epider
mis, they are thereby prevented lrom
divesting themselves entirely of the old
skin. I always kept a small blrd,s
bathing cup, filled with clean water
cnce a dv. in the case containing my
crotalus. The first skin he cast off, in
July, was entire and without a blem
ish. At the second change, however,
about the last of September, I removed
the cup one night, intending to replace
it shortly afterwards, but I forgot to do
so. The next morning I found por
tions of loose skin all over the floor of
the case, and much mote hanging in
shreds from various parts of the body
of the snake. Otiier parts seemed not
to be detached yet. I had not sup
posed that the ophidian was quite ready
for a change. He was over two months
in divesting himself of his torn trousers
Was it due to the fact that water had
been withheld at the last time? Both
changes occurred in the night, and i
failed to observe the interesting pro
cess of divestment. To test the ques
tion of so-called blindness occurring
during the time when the pupil is cov
ered by a whitish film or thin mem
brane becoming detatched, and occlud
ing the sight of the eye, I placed some
very active mice repeatedly In the case
during the period of change of epider
mis. The ophidian attacked the mice
in quick turn, without even missing
his first victim. On other occasious,
however, when his sig it was unob
structed, I liav seen him strike at and
miss the mark repeatedly. After mak-
ahout with intensified fury. The snake
never without first striking his victim.
He did not eat more than two mice at a
meal, and sometimes an hour lapsed be
fore eating the second one He never
killed his prey wantonly; on the con
trary lie permitted mice to keep his
company while his appetite was ap
peased.
Cutting (*IMI With Scissors.
Many persons may not be aware that
glass can be cut under water with great
ease to almost any shape by simply
usiug a pair of shears or strong scissors.
In order to insure success two points
must be attended to. First and most
important, the glass must be kept quite
level in the water while the scissors are
aDplied, and, secondly, to avoid risk,
it is better to begin the cutting by
taking off small pieces at the corners
and along the edges, and so reduce the
shape gradually to that required, as if
any attempt is made to cut the glass all
at once to the shape as we could cut a
piece of card board, it will most likely
break where it is not wan ed Some
kinds of glass cut much belter than
others, the softer glasses being the best
for this purpose. The scissors need
not be at all sharp, as their action does
not appear to depend on the state of the
edges presented to the glass. When
the operation goes on well the glass
breaks away from the scissors in small
pieces in a straight line with the blades.
This method of cutting glass has often
been of service when a diamond has
not been at hand for cutting ovals and
segments, and though the edges are not
go smooth as might be desired for some
purposes, yet it will answer in a great
many casei. The hints given above, if
strictly followed, will always insure
suceess.
Tame Hornets.
There is no accounting for tastes
Mrs. Lincoln, of Boston keeps two big
pet lions, and now we hear of a West
ern farmer who has domesticated a lot
of creatures that belong quite as appro
priately out of door. In a letter he
says:—"ln the middle of my parlor I
have a curious republic of industrious
hornets; their nest hangs to the ceil
ing by the same twig on which it was
so admirably built and contrived in the
woods. Its removal did not displease
them, for they find in my house plen
ty of food, and I have left a little hole
in one of the panes of glass that an
swers all purposes. By this kind usage
they have become quite harmless. They
live 011 the flies, whicli are very trouble
some to us through the summer. They
are constantly busy catching them,
even 011 the eyel'ds of my children. By
their assistant I am but little troubled
with flies. All mv family are so ac
customed to their strong buzzing that
no one takes any notice of them, and
though they are fierce and
yet kindness has made them useful and
harmless.
When a person is overheated and ex
hausted, both the hands and feet should
be bathed in cold water, and something
warm should be taken at once —hot
lemonade, ginger water, or something
of that kind.
Ft Horaea HIKI Personal Equation*
We hear much nowaday* about the
extraordinary speed shown by thia or
that horse at some race meeting. These
tiuie tests are regarded as much a part
or the record as the winning of the race
itself. But while the general public
may be satisfied with announced results
some of us would like to know moM —
about the contest than is told in the
brief statement that "Rarus trotted a
mile here to-day in 2 13," or whatever
it may be. It has become so that a frac
tion of a second makes a great differ
ence in the record as well as well as In
the value of a horse; and yet it seldom
happens that two men in the timbers'
stand agree as to the exact time made.
While it is true that in the well regu
lated mind of- man, the will poaesoes
supreme direction over the whole cur
rent of thought, policy and actiou, can
it be said with positlveness that he who
occupies the positson of a timing judge
on a race course has a well-regulated
mind? Sensation and perception are
the two things most intimately con
nected with the proper timing of fast
horses. The horse speeds around the
course, he approaches "the wire," and
amid great excitement, passes under it.
The timer, who may or may not be im
bued with this same excitement, or
who may have an active or an inactive
brain, sees the horse and becomes con
scious of the fact, but he is not done
yet. There has to go back from the
brain, so to speak, an electric spark
along the nerves, which produces a
contraction oi the muscles of the arm,
and a motion of the thumb and finger
follows. These press the spring, and
the hands of the watch are stopped*
But the activity with which all this is
accomplished differs in men materially.
At best, the nerves transmit their share
in the work at the rate of only seventy
feet a second, which is less than double
the rate of speed at which the horse Is
moving In the same period of tlmo.
There exists a phenomenon called"per
sonal equation,"and so long as quick
witted persons and slow-witted person*
are to decide the speed at which race
horses travel, just so long will the time
test be an irresponsible one. In making
the common observation of the exact
moment when a star travels across the
fine vertical wire intersecting the field
of view of a telescope some astronomers
always anticipate the event, and others
allow it to pass before they succeed in
noting it. This is by nojueans the ef
but is a persistent characteristic of each
individual, however practiced iu the
art of making observations he may be.
The difference between the time of a
man's noticing the event and that of
its actual occurrence is called his per
sonal equation, aud is carefully ascer
tained tor every assistant la every lab
oratory. The adoption of a similar
plan on our race courses can alonegive
us the correct time made by fast
horses.
Too Polite for Boarder*.
The dull beaches of this sandy coast
have been considerably stirred over an
eveut that will be heard around the
world. You know what Narragvustt
is—at least you know wkat It has been,
for the place, 1 believe is yours by dis
covery. 1 would not like to say how
many years ago you and Doctor Gama
liel Bailey and his iovely family found
by mere accident, tbat opposite New
port was a beach quite as Javorable to
bathing, andadjoiuing it was one hotel
and one boarding house. The one was
Whalley's, lineal descendant of Whal
ley; the other a crude little place, half
tavern and half boarding house, filled
with people from Philadelphia. In
those days one left the railroad at
Kingston, and wended his weary way
to the Pier by an old fashioned coach.
At the Pier there was one horse,
known as Old Smooth Tooth, that could
be hired at a dollar a day, with a
vehicle thrown in, that impressed one
with the belief that it had been Noah's
family carriage, and had yet clinging
to its wheels, some of the mud left
from the flood. Primitive days and
primitive people. I remember the
Taylor people took on airs and pre
tended to look down on the Whalley's.
They were poor snobs, whose pocket
books would not permit life at New
port, so they aped Newport at Taylor's *
A good story was told of General
Solienck anent this tavern. He was
out bathing one day, when he encoun
tered a couple of females splashing in
the breakers, and very courteously of- r
fered his services to them. After a
lively time the General escorted his
damsels to the bathing houses, and
coming out himself was met by a grin
ning friend. "I say, Schenck, we have
enjoyed a laugh at your expense," he .
cried. "How so ?" responded the grim
M. C. "Why dont you know you have
been bathing two oi Taylor's servant
girls?" "Well, responded S., "I
thought they were too polite for board
ers." _ _
Length of the Days.
At London, England, and Bremen, Prus
sia, the longest day has sixteen and a half
hours. At Stockholm, Sweden, the longest
day has eighteen and a half hours. At
Hamburg, Germany, and Dantzic, Prussia,
the longest day has nineteen hours and the
shortest five hours. At Borneo, Finland,
the longest day has twenty-one and a half,
and the shortest two and a half. At Wardhuy
in Norway, the day lasts from the 21st of
May to the 23d of July, without inter
ruption ; and at Spitzbergen the longest day
is three months and a half. At New York,
the longest day, June 18, has fourteen hours
and fifty-six minutes; at Montreal fifteen
and a half hours. But the longest day of
all, though one never seen by a civilized
person, is that at the poles, where it lasts
for six months, and is succeeded by a night
equally as long.
NO. 41.