VOL. LY.
PROFESSIONAL CARDS OF
BELLEFONTE.
O. T. Alexander. C. M. bower.
a BOWER,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office In Garm&n's new building.
JOHN B. LINN,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office on Allegheny Street.
QLEMENT DALE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Northwest corner of Diamond.
Y° CUM & HASTINGS,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
BELLEFONTE, PA.
High Street, opposite First National Bank.
YYMI. 0. HEINLE,
ATTORNEY AT LA \V.
BELLEFONTE. PA.
Practices in all the courts of Centre county.
Spec al attention to Collections. Consultations
In German or English.
ILBUR F. REEDER,
ATTORNEY' AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
All bus'ness promptly attended to. Collection
of claims a speciality.
J. A. Beaver. J w. Gephart.
JGEAVEK A GEPHART,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office on Alleghany Street, North of High.
YY A. MORRISON,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office on Woodrlng'e Block, Opposite Court
House.
T). S. KELLER,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
BELLEFONTE, PA,
Consultations In English or German. Office
la Lyons Building, Allegheny Street.
JOHN G. LOVE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office in the rooms formerly occupied by the
'.ate w p. Wilson.
Cowing a Tramp.
Mrs. Deacon Grover, who was the
widow of the late Mr. McCounell, of the
town of Horseheads, New York, is a lady
approaching sixty years of age, a kind
hearted and eliaritable but spirited
woman. One day recently she was
visiting her sou, Augustus MeConnell,
in Horselieads who keeps a bachelor
sort of a farm in the town. By bachelor,
we mean not a lonesome place, nor an
ill-kept one, but one in which the ab
sence of women is a noticeable feature.
During her visit Mrs. Grover was sitting
at a table sewing, a something, that is
necessary even in a bachelor establish
ment. She was alone in the house. A
person appeared who answered well the
description of a tramp. He said he was
hungry', and, the lady's sympathies being
aroused, she drew her gold-rimmed
spectacles from her eyes and, laying
them on the table, went d >wn into the
cellar for some bread and m 'at for him.
When she returned she noticed that her
spectacles were gone from the ta']e.
With the toothsome provender on a plate
still in her hand she said ; "You've got
my gold specs." The tramp denied the
charge. She reiterated it and the stran
ger reiterated his denial. She quietly
laid the plate on the table, went to a
bureau and taking a revolver therefrom,
her son keeping a weapon of this kind
in every room in the house, as she knew,
she pointed it at the tramp and told him
if he didn't lay those specs 011 the table,
she would shoot him where he stood.
The tramp took the specs from his
pocket, and mildly laid them on the
table. "Now," she said, "eat what I
have brought for you and get out. " He
ate and departed. When her sou Au
gustus appeared, the spirited old lady
again took the revolver from the bureau
and said to him : "Augustus, how do
you cock this weapon ?"
All Tell-Tale.
There are several devices for enabling
the rise of temperature accompanying
an outbreak of tire at a particular place
in a building to ring an alarm-bell by
means of an electi-ic current. There is
the mercurial thermometer, in which the
mercury column, on expanding by the
increased temperature, makes contact
between two platinum electrodes fused
into the tube, and completes the circuit;
and there is an arrangement in which
the bimetallic spring, fixed at one end,
is free to curve under the unequal ex
p msion of the two metals, and close a
circuit in that way. A still simpler plan
has been recently contrived by M. G.
Dupre, in which the contents of the
automatic keys are kept apart by a piece
of suet or tallow, which on melting by
the heat allows them to come together
through the operation of a small weiglir
attached to the uppermost contact bat.
The tallow is not of course placed im
mediately between the contacts, for in
that case* the fat would act as an in
sulator, and prevent the flow of the cur
rent. The apparatus is readjusted after
an alarm by charging it with fresh tal-
lie pillbetm §itfiml
THE PATH TO St'CCKSS.
The path to smvoss. the' no smooth thoroughfare.
Is forbhUlen to none, 'tis as free as the air ;
Yet manv who lx>Wlly set fortli on th< tim-k,
Kre the Journey's half o'er shrink Ignobly bark.
For the phantom of Failure oft looms on the sight,
Whose terrors unreal the tiniUl affright,
Ami obstacles many a wayfarer daunt,
Which those who persist rarely fail UWSUNNOUUL
By efforts spasmodic success Is ne'er won,
But only by plodding untiringly on.
Those who lag by the way ever seek it in vain ;
They alone, who keep moving, the end can attain.
For when to a halt lack of energy leads,
The bourne of success from the traveler recedes;
More remote it becomes at each needless delay :
And ou Hope's far horizon at length fades away.
Xven tienius, unbacked by a resolute soul.
Must ever fall short of the eoveted goal,
Where plain Mediocrity often arrives.
Because for its object it ceaselessly strives.
Then IK> earnest, undaunted; if you'd win success
Along the rude pathway unceasingly press;
Let no obstacles stay you, no hardship appall.
If detlant of failure, you'll not fall at all.
THK UO\ KKNKSS.
By all means insist upon Mr. Carrol's
! coming, Ralph—it would hardly be a
success in my opinion at least without
him. If Mr. Carrol will only come and
lx' pleased with us all, aud especially
you, Juliette
Mrs. Cunningham's son Ralph inter
rupted her just a little indignantly.
"Mother, aren't you ashamed? For
rest would not come near the house even
to oblige me if he thought you meant to
angle for him because he happens to W
rich, handsome, and desirable. Still I
wish he would take a notion to you, only
I perfectly despise fishing.
Ralph went off in search of his friend
Carrol, to find him in his rixuns, stand
ing before a marble top table, on which
lay a parcel he had just opened and
which contained a white silk slipper
most exquisitely shaped and daintily
small.
"A woman's slipper on your table,
Carrol. Where did you get it ? "
Cunningham picked it up curiously,
admiringly, and laughed amusedly.
" I picked it up on the deck of the
lxat yesterday; that I have fallen 111
love with the woman who can wear such
an aristocratic slipper—and that it is
henceforth my business to find its fair
owner, and to lay my fortune, my name,
my heart, at her feet."
Ralph laughed and replied :
"My mother and sister send their
warm regards, inviting you, ami liopc
you have not quite forgotten your old
friends on whom you used to call years
ago, when Julie was quite a child.
There is to IK' a week of fuu rampant to
celebrate Juliette's twenty-first birthday.
Do consent, and have your valise packed
in time for the five fifty-five train.
"You offer a terrible temptation to a
fellow, Cunningham. It's just here
Ralph. If I stay, 1 shall lose 110 time
finding my other slipper and its owner
and wearer, if I go down in a quiet little
country "
"See here, Carrol! By Jove, what a
fool lam ! My sister Is noted for her
pretty foot, and I am dead sure she and
Jessie came to the city yesterday, and
ten to one she bought slippers for the
entertainment, and a hundred to one she
lost one of 'em ; it's just like her.
" Your lovely little sister Juliette,
whom I remember had the prettiest of
faces and fairest of forms when I saw her
last let's sec—nearly six years ago.
Bless you, Cunningham, I'll go."
"And take the lonely ununited slipper,
Carrol, by all means."
"By all means, and Cupid bless me in
the hunt for my Cinderella."
And at five fifty-five the train carried
the two handsome men, toward ClitHawu
Villa.
"And that is^.Juliette Cunningham*
Well "
And looking through the intervening
room between where he sat and into
which he was conscious,both by hearing
and feeling, that a woman was coming.
Mr. Carrol saw a slender, graceful exqui
site girl coining rapidly towards him all
unaware of his presence.
A girl with a face as pure and white
as ivory, with magnificent dusky hair,
and heavy straight brows.
Just then in dismay a laughing little
mischief of six or seven came rushing in,
curls and sash flying, white teeth shin
ing and blue eyes flashing.
"0! Mr. Carrol, please, please hide
me? Ralph said you were here, and
Miss May wants me to practice, and I
won't practice,when we've got company.
Mamma and Julie are coming, I hear
'em ; they'll send me ofl to that hor lid
old piano—011, please let me stay cause
I like you."
Carrol laughed and put his arm reas
suringly around the child's waist.
" You haven't told me who you are,
but I can guess ; you are Jessie, aren t
you ? But who is Miss May ? "
He drew the sunny little head to his
breast caressingly.
" Oh ! she's my gov'ness.and—oll, ain't
she sweet ? I just love her, Mr. Car
rol."
"Then I am jealous."
She looked gravely at him.
"Well, I'll love you too, if you'll
promise you won't tease me and pull my
curls like Ralph does, nor—"
And Mrs. Cunningham sailed in rust
ling her black silken skirts, and greeted
him effusively, while Juliette, charming
ly frank, welcomed him ardently, and
thought if only the Fates would be pro
pitious.
And Jessie was s'iit *tY, jx>Bt haste to
the horrid piano.
"And toll Miss Dazian not to let you
return until 1 send for you, Jessie."
So he had the name at hist—May
Dazian, and that was the beginning!
when Juliette Cunningham saw his ad
miring glanees whenever Miss Dazian
eame where he was, and his courteous
attention when it was required of him. •
" It is outrageous, mamma absolutely
appalling, the way Jessie's governess al
lows the guest of the family to tiirt with
her. Why, she surely might to know
better than to lower herself so. It yon
don't tell her, 1 eertainly shall if I see
any more of it.
And the very same day beeause she
met Carrol and Miss Dazian and Jessie
standing on the balcony enjoying the
brilliant mid-winter sunset, Juliette took
it upon herself to administer a very
sharp caustic rebuke.
"Jessie will catch eold Miss Dazian i
You ought to know better than to be
stunding here. Don't let mo have the
necessity of reminding you of your duty
again."
And Carrol set his teeth together to
see the hxk of wounded pain that swept
over May's sweet, patient, proud face,as
without a word, she tx>k Jessie's hand
and led her into the house.
That evening for the closing of the
various birthday festivities thev had a
tableau—the closing event of the even
ing—Cinderella, in four scenes. In tl o
first, May Dazian was obliged to take
the part of the ragged wretched heroine,
at Carrol's grave, positive request.
"It will require two ladies to repre
sent the character," he explained. "One
as Cinderella before the fairy transfor
mation, and one after. And in the last
scene, where the prince fits the slipjHr,
it would take so long to change the cos
tume that the etfix't would be destroyed.
Miss Dazian and Miss Cunningham are
nearest of a size, and the face can be
averted in Miss Dazian's part."
So to oblige May Dazian allowed her
self to IK' dressed in an old ragged for
lorn dress, Juliette was most gorgeously
arraved in the golden tissue ami azure
that became her so well, while, by
common acclamation, Forrest Carrol
was chosen the fairy prince.
And so there came little quivers of
yearning pain in sweet My
llt-11l I rtlir 4" J'"t llilll OUT of LUT
heart, into which he had gone and
throned himself, despite cerself.
Then came the final scene, when
Juliette extended one dainty, silken
stockinged fixd on the crimson cushion
held by a courier, while the prince, on
Ix'nded knee, triumphantly fitted the
slipper.
Only it didn't fit, and it was almost
more than Carrol could do to gravely
contain himself while Juliette made des
perate little plunges to get her fxt in
the slipper he prixlueed; and then to
see the hx>k of chagrin 011 her face at her
inability.
"You bought a child's slux, Mr. Car
rol. It's not much t<x> large for Jessie.'
Juliette whisjiered her angry little
complaint just as the curtain went down.
Carrol laughed and shixik his head ;
he had 110 time to answer for there was
just barely time for Juliette to fly off the
stage and May Dazian to take her
place.
And then the curtain went up, with
May standing surrounded by the court
iers, one perfect f<x>t extended, exactly
fitted by the slipper, and her sweet face
full of a sad surprise that found words
after the curtain went down finally.
"Where did you get my slipper? I
lost it over a week ago, and I have hx>k
od everywhere in vain. And now to find
it on my foot! "
Carrol smiled.
"The hour I found it 1 thought I lost
my heart to the woman who owned it,
May, but I lost it more hopelessly the
hour I found you my little girlie. I love
you. Tell me here, now, may I lie the
veritable prince who may beautify and
possess your life? Sweet, your answer.'
And after due time it was very dis
creet in Mrs. Cunningham and Juliette
to be exceedingly gracious to Mrs. For
rest Carrol, whose life has been like the
realization of the fairy story in which
her happiness was told her.
The I'ses of Mien.
The mica chiefly met with in com
merce is of that variety which is proof
against acids and intense heat. Its
toughness, elasticity, and close approach
to transparency naturally led, at first, to
its use for windows, and especially to its
employment in lanterns. It is found in
large quantities in Northern Carolina,
where there are unmistaken evidences
that some of the beds were worked a
great many years ago. The finer sheets
of tough mica arc now used for such pur
poses as the dials of compasses, the let
tering of fancy signs, covering photo
graphs, constructing lamp shades, re
flectors, etc. Of late mica has been used
in the soles of boots and shoes, as a pro
tection against dampness. The inven
tion consists of a sheet of mica embedd
ed in the lxx)t or shoe between the outer
and inner sole, the upper leather lapping
over its edges, and .covering the upper
space from the toe to the instep. There
are many other uses to which mica is
put, and it is becoming more and more
valuable as the arts and trades progress.
Mercy is sometimes an insult to jus
tice.
MILLIIEIM. FA., THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1881.
Asiatic Opium Smoker*.
A correspondent, traveling in Persia,
writes HR follows of the chief vice of men
of that part of the world : "After sup
per of boiled rice plentifully greased,the
men, of whom some eight or nine were
present commenced smoking opium, u
vice frightfully prevalent in this part of
the world,as one can see from the corpse
like complexion, and dull, leaden, vam
pire-like stare of the eyes of half the
people 011 c meets. Even here in Kelst,
in the room where I am writing this,
three men are diligently plying 1111 opium
kalian. They lie, at full length on the
floor, their heads together oil the same
pillow, their feet outward, like the
sjmkes of a wheel. Close to the pillow
is a small circular table of alabaster a
fist wide, and raised five inches from
the ground. 011 this is a small lamp of
the same material, fed with butter. This
is covered by a glass liell about seven
inches high, its edges resting on three
small copper coins, so as to allow air to
enter. 111 the top is u small hole, bound
with brass. The flame comes within a
couple of inches of this iqierturc. A
piece of opium as large as a good-sized
pea is stuck on a pointof a kind of metal
bodkin, and held over the flame. It is
repeatedly nteltcd and tempered before
being smoked. The opium pipe consists
of 1111 earthen or metal pear-shajH'd bulb,
about the size of a IKIV'S peg top. In the
broad end is inserted a wooden tube, ten
or twelve inches long. 111 the side of
the bulb is a very small hole. A piece
of roasted opium is placed on this hole,
and pierced with the Ixxlkin, so as to al
low the passage of air. The smoker
holds the opium thus placed over the
ajierture in the glass It'll, and inhales
the smoke, a companion all the while
turning and manipulating the opium
with the lwHlkin. After half a dozen
whifl's the smoker relinquishes the ap
paratus, and sinks hack in a semilethar
gie state. My head is dizzy, and 1 feel
quite sick from the heavy, sour-smelling
fumes which pervade the apartment. 1
can not very well ask them to stop or go
out, as lam their guest. It is singular
that while this vice is so universal among
the more easterly Turcomans it is almost
entirely unknown among the Turcomans
of the Attcrck and Caspian littoral."
HIIIIUMI by an Elephant.
"When I first went out to India," said
the Major, leaning back in his chair,
"our regiment was stationed at some out
of-the-way place up- country, where big
game of every sort abounded; and 1
heard nothing else talked of ut mess but
tigers and Ix'ars, till I felt quite insig
nificant at being the only one who had
never shot anything wortn talking about.
"My great ambition in those days was
to shixit an elephant—why, I'm sure I
can't toll, except that it was the biggest
l '""s *" ~v i—-J t lur ftll< >■ •-<->.• Luiiul
out my fancy, and, as you may think,
they made fun of it most unmercifully.
"So one night I Uxk my 'elephant
gun,' stole out without Wing seen by
any laxly, and made straight for a hollow
by the river side, where the beasts were
fond of coming to drink.
"I watched for a gixxl while without
seeing any sign of them, and was Ix'gin
ning to get very tirxl, and rather sulky
to lxxit, when suddenly I heard a distant
crashing among the thickets, and then a
sound like the blowing of a cracked
trumpet, which I had heard t<x) often to
mistake for anything but what it was—
the cry of the elephant! Sure enough,
in another minute the huge black mass
stalked out from the shadow of the forest
into the full splendor of the moonlight
right past the tree in which I was
perched.
"I had heard that the best spot to aim
at was the forehead, just above the trunk,
and so I did ; but being in a hurry to
make sure of my game, I fired wildly,
and of course mode a bad shot. A bad
one it was for me in every sense, for
instead of the forehead,my bullet grazed
the trunk itself, the tenderest and most
sensitive six>t in an elephant's Ixxly.
"The moment he felt the smart of the
wound he set up ft scream that went
through my head like a steam whistle,
and came charging right down upon me.
Bang ! he came against the tree like an
express train, with a shock that almost
kmxrked 111 c off my perch, and in trying
to save myself I let fall my gun. Then
he put his shoulder against the tree to
try and push it down, and for a moment
I was really afraid he would; but, luckily
for me, it was a huge thick one, with
great roots that hud dug into the earth
for yards round, and it proved a little
too tough for Mr. Elephant.
"But'when the beast saw that he
couldn't reach me he did go into a fury,
and no mistake! He stanq>ed and
screamed until the whole place rang
again, and tore off the lower boughs,
thick as they were, JUS easily as I'd break
a flower stem, trampling them to pieces
under his feet in away that showed me
pretty well what I had to expect if I
once fell into his clutches.
"By this time I had quite enough ex
perience of elephant hunting, and would
have gladly given up all hope of 'win
ning ivory " to fiqd myself safe back in my
quarters. So long lis I was hunting the
elephant it was all very well, but when
the elephant took to hunting me I didn't
find the sjx>rt quite so amusing. 1 had
read plenty of such tales when I was at
school, anil always longed to have an ad
venture of the sort myself, but now that
I lnul got one it somehow didn't feel so
nice as I expected. Any way, here was
I and there was the elephant, and now
that I had lost my gun the only thing for
me to do, as fur as I could see, was to
stay where 1 was till one or the other of
11s got tired of it.
"Well, the elephant seemed to get
tired of it first, and just as the first
streak of dawn began to show itself in
the sky he turned round and walked lei
surely away. For a minute or two I
heard him crashing among the thickets,
and then all was quiet again, as if he'd
gone right away.
"Now, thought I, is my time to de
camp too, and down the tree I slipped,
as nimbly as an acrobat. But I soon
found that I'd been reckoning without
my host, for I had hardly touched
the ground when there ca: lea crash
like fifty mad bulls charging
through as many glass houses, and out
from the thicket, with his great white
tusks levelled at me like bayonets, came
my friend the elephant, who had been
on the watch for lue all the time !
"Whether I should have run, or stood
my ground, and how I should have fared
in either cose, can never be known now,
for just ut that moment my foot slipped,
and down 1 eaine close to the tree. The
next moment there was a smash as if two
trains hud run into each other, and I
made sure that 1 was knocked into u
hundred pieces at least, and that it was
tdl over.
But I soon liecaine aware that I was
Htill alive and sound, while a shrill,
frightened cry overhead told me that it
was the elephant wLo had got the worst
of the bargain this time. 1 scrambled
to my feet, gingerly enough, for the
brute's great fore-legs were stumping
and jHHuuling like steam-hummers with
in arm's length of me, and there I saw
a sight which, scared as 1 was, made me
laugh till I could hardly stand.
"1 had fallen just in time to escajie
the blow of the elephant's tusks, which
had stuck themselves so deep into the
tree that he couldn't pull them out again;
and there he was, hard and fast, like a
ship run aground ! The animal's look
of disgust and bewilderment at tinding
himself in such a fix was as good as a
jday to behold; but just then 1 was in
110 humor to : top and admire it, for 1
knew that he might jxissibly break loose
yet, and that if he did it would be all
up with tiie. ! f
"My flrst impulse was to take to my
heels at once ; but the next moment 1
thought ls'tter of it, and decided to set
tle Mr. Elephant instead. I picked tip
and re-loaded my gun( which had luckily
escaped his notice,or he'd have trampled
it to bits), and scrambling up into the
tree again, sent a bullet into his forehead
which did its business, and left him
standing upright in a very statuesque at
titude indeed.
"And now came the question : Should
1 keep the secret of my adventure or not?
Oil the one hand, 1 had undoubtedly at
tained my ambition of shooting an ele
phant, but, on the other, the way in
which it haul been done would 1H cer
tain to set the tongues of our mess M ag
ging more unmercifully than ever.
But the decision was not left to me.
I was still standing I aside mv game, tie
bating what to do, when I suddenly
heard a roar of laughter behind me that
made the whole forest echo again, and
there sttxxl our old major, apparently
enjoying the scene.
"indeed, my lxay," said he, •you've j
fairly beaten us all this time ! Instead
of troubling to catch the lieast you've
made him catch himself; and very neatly
he's done it."
"Of course there w as no hope of keep
ing my secret after that; so the major
and I tramped baek to the station,
where I had to tell the w hole story from
"The first thing to be htrw*v**r,
was to send off a lot of our liegrix'S to
cut the elephant's tusk out of the tree,
and bring them back as a trophy. The
colonel had tliem stuck up in the mess
room, where they served as an illustra
tion to the story of my adventure, which
was told with unlxmudedapplause every
time a stranger happened to dine with
us. For more than a year after that our
fellows never called me anything but
'The Grand Duke of J'ascany,' which
always struck me as the poorest joke I
ever heard in my life. And that was
the end of my elephant hunt.
Coloring Walls
Ceilings and walls are often finished
in distemper, but very often turn out
unsatisfactory, from the want of know
ledge in the mixing and laying on. Ab
sorption in the wall should lx> checked
or stopped, or one part will absorb more
color than another, and ail uneven or
or spotty appearance result. \ arious
preparations are used for preparing
walls and to stop absorption. One of
these is to mix alxnit a dozen pounds of
the best whiting with water, adding
thereto enough parchment or other size
to bind the color, about two ounces of
alum, and the same weight of soft soap
dissolved in water; mix well and strain
through a screen or coarse cloth. In
mixing the distemper, one writer says,
"Two things are essentially necessary :
clean and well washed whiting, and pure
jellied size." The whiting should l>e
put to souk with sufficient soft water to
cover it well and penetrate its bulk.
When soaked sufficiently, the water
should be poured off, which will remove
dust from the whiting. It then may
then be beaten up to a stitl' paste by the
hand or spatula. Size is next added and
mixed together. Cure should be taken
not to break the jelly of the size any
more than can be avoided.
Another caution is that distemper
should be mixed with jellied size to lay
on well—the color then works cool and
floats nicely ; but when the size is used
hot, it drags and gathers and works dry,
producing a rough wall. A little alum
added to the distemper hardens it and
helps to dry it out solid and even. The
best size is made from parchment clij>
pings, which are put into an iron kettle
filled with water and allowed to stand
twenty-four hours till the pieces are
thoroughly soaked, then they are boiled
for five hours, and the scum removed.
The liquid is then strained through a
cloth. For mixing colors the whiting
and the color required, finely ground,
are dissolved separately and then mixed
to the required tint. For example,
lampblack mixed with whiting, makes
gray, and the most delicate to the dark
est shades may be obtained. For French
gray the whiting required is taken and
soaked in water, and Prussian blue and
lake finely ground in water are added to
produce the necessary shade or tint.
Buff may be made by dissolving in like
manner, separately, whiting and yellow
ochre. A little Venetian red gives a warm
1 tone. A good salmon tint is produced
by adding to the dissolved whiting a lit
tle of the same red, just sufficient to
tinge. Drabs of various tints can be
easily made by grinding up finely a little
j burnt umber and mixing it with the dis
solved whiting. The sooner the distem
per color dries after being laid on, the
better, and the best plan is to close win
dows and doors during laying, and throw
them open afterward,
Trip* of flie Sort.
It was Catharine Lawler who took the
head of the procession in the Mayor's
Court, Chicago, and began ;
"Ah I I'm ghul to see your Honor
looking so well ! Looks now as if the
baeklxme of winter was broken, doesn't
it?"
"Yes, rather. How do you feel after
lieing drunk and disorderly last night?"
"Say, won't your Honor look over it."
"I have let you off ulxmt six times,
haven't I ?"
"Just six, your honor, and this will
make seven. What are seven little
grains of mercy to a woman who has to
work like a naygur for a living?"
"Let's see? you have alwaya had an
excuse for being drunk?"
"Yes, sir, always."
"The last time your excuse was that
you txk whisky for chills?"
"Yes, sir, and I haven't had a sign of
one since."
"And what did you take it for this
time ?"
"To break up a fever, your Honor,
and besides that I have five small
clildren."
"Where are they?"
"Well, your Honor, they are dead, of
course, but I'm thinking of them every
hour in the day, you know. If you
should send me up I don't know how me
husband would get along."
"Where is he?"
"Well, sir, I think lie's sailing out of
the jxrt of Buffalo this summer."
"Well, I'll have to send you up this
time. I have given you all the show you
could hope for, but you get drunk every
two weeks as regularly as clock-work."
"Oh, 110, sir—only once in twenty
years. Indeed, sir, but this will be only
seven times."
"Can't do it. I shall send volt up for
I *
"For two hours, sir."
"For thirty days."
"Oh, sir, make it twenty."
"No."
"Twenty-five."
"No."
"Then for twenty-nine and a-lialf."
"Thirty days, Catharine, and Bijali
will give you a seat on the Moorish divan
to wait for the buggy."
"Very well, your Honor, and I'll take
the divan up there wid lue to lie 011
w hen infiustrated with the heat. Your
Honor is a gentlemen, and I hope you'll
live to give me at least a dozen more
trips of the sort.
Thaws ami l'ro*t* ou Plants.
Herr Hoffman throws light 011 the way
in which plants are injured in time of
hard frost. It is well known that plants
and trees situated in the bottom of a
volley suffer much more from cold and
frost than those in a higher situation.
This is due to the fact that the valley, if
surrounded by hills and high grounds,
not only retain its own cold of radiation,
but also serves as a reservoir for the cold
- •• 1 jl'w 11 into it from
the neigh I K)nng heights. Tt is p.. , A I
the higher grounds in Switzerland are
warmer than the valleys or gorges, as in
these the eold collects as in HO many
basins. It is also found in this country
that plants and shrubs, which survive
the severity of winter on ground laised
above the level of the valley, perish w hen
grown in the valley itself. The great
advantage of a hilly jxisition is tins
apparent, and has been amply proved
by Herr Hoffman's observations at Geis
sen. Here he found that the plants so
situated bxk little or no harm from the
intense cold ; wliile quite near, in the
valley, there was extensive injury. The
injury, t<x> decreased in proportion to
elevation above the valley. As to the
immediate effect of temperature upon
plants, the author is of the opinion that
it is not a particular degree of cold that
kills a plant, but the amount of quick
thawing. This was illustrated in one
case by the curious fact that one and the
same bush—species of lx>x—was killed
in its foliage 011 the south side, while on
the north the foliage remained green.
The sudden change of temperature
produced by quiek thawing was con
sidered to lx? some degrees less for plants
in a high situation and for the shady
sides of the half-killed shrubs. The
higher situations are in this respect also
favorable hi plant life; because, while
the frost is not so severe as in the valley,
the effect of thawing winds is found to
lx 1 the same for lx>th. The plants ou the
higher ground are therefore subjected to
less strain by variations from a low to a
high temperature, and the reverse, than
their congeners in the valleys. These
facts are of importance in determining
questions as tt) the sites of country
houses and gardens, and the more or less
hardy character of the plants and shrubs
most likely, in the particular situation,
to survive the frosts of winter.
The Kayak.
The kayak of the Greenlander is the
frailest specimen of marine architecture
that ever carried human freight. It is
eighteen feet long and as many inches
wide at its middle, and tapers, with an
upward curving line, to a point at either
end. The boat is graceful as a duck and
light as a feather. It lias no ballast and
no keel, and it rides almost 011 the sur
face of the water. It is, therefore,
necessarily top-heavy. Long practice is
required to manage it, and no tight-rope
dancer ever needed more steady nerve
and skill of balance than this same
savage kayaker. Yet, in this frail craft
he does not hesitate to ride seas which
would swamp an ordinary boat, or to
break through surf which may sweep
completely over him. But he is used to
hand battles, and, in spite of every for
tune, he keeps himself upright. We
have been assured, however, by persons
familiar with Arctic cruising, that the
Kayaker does sometimes come to grief
by the capsizing of his canoe. The skirt
of his sealskin waterproof shirt being
firmly lashed to the coaming of the well
of the kayak, he becomes so chilled by
the cold "water, and exhausted by his
struggles to free himself from his canoe,
that death by drowning overtakes the
poor fellow in spite of all his presence of
mind and nautical skill. As long as he
retains his double-bladed paddle under
water there is a fair chance of the
kayaker righting himself, but when that
is lost his chances of getting safely to
J and are poor indeed.
Hcenery and ltuwps.
In Nevada recently two rival coaches
started out on parallel roads, each four
team on the gallop. The New Yorker
being the only passenger in one coach
took a seat with the driver. He endured
the tirst live miles very well, as the road
was pretty smooth, but he finally care
lessly observed :
"This pace is rather hard on the horses
isn't it ?"
"Oh, no; they are used to it. I
haven't begun to swing 'em yet!" was
the reply.
"If we were going a little slower I
could enjoy the scenery much better."
"Yes, I s'iK>se so, but this line isn't
run on the scenery priuciple."
That ended the conversation until the
horses turned a corner and the stage
rode around it on two w heels. Then the
Yorker remarked :
"I suppose you sometimes meet with
accidents ?"
"Almost-every day!" was the brief
reply.
"Isn't there danger of something giv
ing way V"
"Of course, but we've got to take our
chances. G'lang there."
At the end of another mile the passen
ger controlled his voice sufficiently to
inquire;
"What if we shouldn't reach Red
Hill at exactly two o'clock ? lamin no
hurry."
"No, I s'i>oße not, but I've got to do it
or lose ten dollars."
"How?"
"I've got an even ten bet that I can
leat the other stage into Red Hill by
fifteen minutes, and I'm going to win
that money if it kills a horse !"
"Say, hold on !" exclaimed the other
as he felt for his wallet, " I like to ride
fast, aftd I'm not a bit nervous, but I do
hate to s<>e horses get worried. Here's
S2O for you and let's sort o' jog along
the rest of the way and get a chance to
smoke and talk alntut the Indians !"
"Whoa, there ! Come down with you
—gentle now—take it easy and don't
fret !" called the driver as he pulled in
and reached for the greenbacks with one
hand and his pipe with the other, and
thereafter the New Yorker had more
scenery and less bumps.
Finn.
To the young lady whose intricate
overskirt is held in innumerable folds by
many pins, it may seem a hardship that
her yearly allowance of pins is only
about 140. Such, however, is the case
with each individual in the United
States on an equitable division of the
pins yearly sold in this country. But
the Indians in the West are not supposed
to use their full allowance, and collar
buttons have so far done away with the
use of pins by geutlemen generally that
the young lady may perhaps provide her
self with some one else's allowance. The
pins made in the United States are made
by fourteen factories. Their annual
production for several years past has
years, the demand remaining af>duUtße
same. A few of these 7,000,000,000 are
swallowed by children, a number are
l>ent up in schools and placed in vacant
and inviting chairs, and some millions
get into cracks of floors, and the rest for
the most part are scattered along the
byways and highways, where they have
dropped from dresses and been left to
work their way into the earth.
The imi>ortntion of English pins is
small, and the exportation of pins from
the United States is confined to Cuba,
South America and parts of Canada,
where, however, but few pins are sent.
England supplies almost the whole world
outside the United States.
The raw material—the brass and iron
wire from which all American pins are
made—is from the wire mills of this
country, and much of the machinery for
their manufacture is of American inven
tion and patent.
How Coffee eauie to b Used.
It is somewhat singular to trace the
manner in which arose the use of the
common beverage of coffee, without
which few persons in any half or wholly
civilized country in the world, H)W make
breakfast. At the time Columbus dis
covered America, it had never been
known or used. It only grew in Arabia,
and Upper Ethiopia. The discovery of
its use as a beverage is ascribed to the
Superior of a monastery in Arabia, who,
desirous of preventing the monks from
sleeping at their nocturnal services,
made them drink the infusion of coffee,
ujxni the reports of the shepherds that
their flocks were more lively after brows
ing on the fruit of that plant. Its
reputation spread through the adjacent
countries, and in about two hundred
years it had reached Paris. A single
plant, brought there in 1714, became
the parent stock of all the French coffee
plantations in the West Indies. The
Dutch intrtxluced it into Java and the
East Indies, and the French and Span
ish all over South America and the West
Indies.
Had a Shock.
"Yes," Mr. Messenger replied, in an
swer to the young lady's remark, "he
was rather fond of bathing; very fond of
it, in fact, but he received a terrible
shock a few summers ago while in the
water, and he has never recovered from
it."
"My," she exclaimed, "did a snake
bite him?" "Oh, dreadful!"
"No;" Mr. Messenger said; "it wasn't
that."
Did he come near drowning, then?"
she wanted to know.
"No," he said, "it wasn't that exactly
but just as he was about ready to come
out of the river he saw a tramp going up
over the hill, about a quarter of a mile
away, with his hat, his pocketbook, his
vest, his watch, his handkerchief, his
"stockings, his cigar case, his shoes, his
collar, his necktie, his shirt stud, and _
collar button, his s-s-suspenders, his
cane, and, well, in fact, his trousers.
And there was a Sunday school picnic
only half a mile down the river, gradu
ally coming nearer, and he lounged
around among the willows all that day
and walked home alone in the starlight.
And the fact was he has never been able
to enjoy a swim much since that time,"
NO. 29.