Bellefonte, Pa., August 2, 1889.
a
OUR MINISTER'S SERMON.
The minister said last night, said he,
“Don’t be afraid of givin’,
If your life aio’t worth nothin’ to other folks,
Why: what's the use of livin ?”
And that’s what I say to my wife, says I,
“There’s Brown, the miser’ble sinner,
He'd sooner a beggar would starve than give
A cent toward buyin’ a dinner.”
I tell you our minister is prime, he is,
But'l couldn’t quite determine,
‘When I heard him a-givinit right and left,
Just who was hit by his sermon.
Of course there couldn’t be no mistake
When he talked of long-winded prayin’,
For Peters and Johnson they sot and scowied
At every word he was sayin’.
And the minister went on to say,
“There's various kinds of cheatin’,
And religion's as good for every day
As it isto bring to meetin’.
I don’t think much of the man that gives
The loud amen at preachin’,
And spends his time the followin’ week
'
In cheatin’ and overreachin’.
I guess that dose was bitter enough
a man like Jones to swaller,
But I noticed he didn’t open his mouth
But once after that to holler,
“Hurrah,” said I, “for the minister”—
Of course I said it quiet;
“Give us some more of this open talk,
It’s very refreshin’ diet.”
The minister hit em every time,
And when he spoke of fashion,
And riggin’s out in hows and things
As woman's rulin’ passion,
And comin’ to church to see the styles,
I couldn’t help a winkin’ ;
And a-nudgin' my wife, and says I, “That's
ou, ia
And I guess it sot her thinkin’.
Says I to myself, “That sermen’s pat,
But man’s a great ¢reation,
And I'm much afraid that mest of the folks
Won't take the application.”
Now, if he had iy a word about
My personal mode of sinain’,
I'd gone to work to right myself,
And not set there a grinain’,
Just then the minister, says he,
“And now I've come to the fellers i
Who've lost this shower by usin’ their friends
As a sort 0’ moral umbrellas;
“‘Go home,” says he, “and find your faults,
Instead of huntin’ your brother,” .
%Go hone,” says he, “and wear the coats
You tried to fit for others.,’
My wife she nudged and Brown he winked,
Ana there was lots 0’ smiling’,
And lots 0’ lookin’ at owr pew,
It sot my blood to bilin’;
Says I to myself, “Our minister
s gitting’ a little bitter,
I'll tell him when the meetin’s out that I
Am not that kind of = critter.”
MRS. BUTTONS LOVER.
“Eh!” said Mr. Velveton ; “a sere-
nade ? What fair damsel is to be
made happy now 2”
He had walked unceremoniously in-
to the quarters of his friend, Major
Milliken, at the San Piedro hotel, at
Long Branch, and surprised that gen-
tleman in the act of preparing various
and sundry sheets of music for differ-
ent instruments. The major was in a
becoming dishabille of wine-colored
silk smoking jacket, tasseled Persian
cap, and maroon velvet slippers.
“Yes,” said the major, with his lead-
pencil between his teeth ; “I take the
cornet solo myself ; Jefferson does the
flute ; Wyndham is good enough to
undertake the vielin, and we have got
a fat professional for the bass viol who
would really astonish you. Ile comes
cheap, on account of not being able to
speak. the English langnage ; but Jef-
ferson spent a winter in- Vienna once,
and seems to make him understand
very well. Woull you like a piccolo
or a French horn ?”
“No, Ithank you,” said Mr. Velve-
ton, lighting his cigar. “But you
haven't told me yet who the serenade
is for.”
“Miss Walsingham,” said Maj. Mil-
liken, complacently.
Velveton indulged himself in a long
whistle.
“Oh! I wouldn't,” said he.
“Eh !', ejaculated the major.
“It isn’t worth while,” said Velve-
ton, assuming a mysterious air.
“But she’s worth seventy-five thou-
sand dollars,” gasped Maj. Milliken.
“Seventy - five thousand fiddle
strings,” said Mr. Veliveton, supremely
contemptuous. “Old fellow, you've
been completely deluded—she hasn’t a
cent. It all belongs to old Mrs. But-
ton, her aunt. Don’t you understand?
She—"
At this juncture, however, a bell-
boy from the opposite hotel rushed in
with a telegram for Mi. Velveton,
which required immediate attention ;
and Major Milliken wss left stranded
among the sheets of music, a lovelorn
Robinson Crusoe on a desert island of
uncertainty.
Mr. Mark Antony Velveton did not
come back. He left Long Branch by
the vext train, and the broken sentence
never was finished.
“But it was a lucky circumstance,”
mused the major, “that he told me
about Zuleima Walsingham before he
went away; She is a pretty creature,
but I'm not situated so I can afford to
marry for love. And if it's old Mrs.
Button that holds the purse strings,
then I mean to go in for old Mrs. But-
ton. If Mr. Ashmead Bartlett mar-
ried the Baroness Burdett Coutts, why
can’t I do the sweetly sentimental to
Mrs. Button, who certainly is over 50,
and a well-preserved woman at that ?”
So, with a fickleness scarcely to be
believed, Major Milliken began to pay
particular attention to Mrs, Button,
Zuleima Walsingham, a dewy-eyed
young beauty, with long lashes, pink
cheeks, and jet black hair “banged”
over her very eyebrows, drooped a lit-
tle at this sudden desertion.
"“I—I thought he loved me,” said
Miss Walsingham, dabbing her eyes
with her pocket handkerchief.
“Men are fickle, my dear,” said
Aunt Button, who was attiring herself
in a dress of raby velvet, with dia-
monds enough to set up the wardrobe
of a Grand Mogul. “He has done
everything but propose to me,’ said
the fair Zuleima, with a sob. = ~
“You didn't really care for him, did
you, my dear ?' said Mrs. Button,
pausing, with one diamond ear-drop in
her ear and the other balanced in her
hand.
“Y.y-yes,”’ faltered Zuleima, “I'm |
Zuleima, Walsingham.
afraid I did, Aunt Button.”
“Oh, you—goose!” said the old lady,
emphatically.
“Bur he's so handsome !” said Zule-
ima. “And such fascinating manners
I never did see in any man.”
“Stuff and nonsense I’ said Mrs.
Button. “If girls will be such fools I
can’t blame the men for imposing on
em.”
And Miss® Button, considerate old
lady that she was, never told Mies
Walsingham that Maj. Milliked had
transferred his roving affections—to
all appearance, at least—to her sub-
star+al self.
“La, Major !” she had said, when
the ardent lover laid his first offering—
“in'the shape of a bouquet of tearose
buds (twenty of them, at 25 cents
each) at the red velvet shrine, ‘I
don’t understand thisatall. I thought
you was sweet on my neice, Zuleima
Walsingham ?” :
“Do you suppose, Mrs. Button,” said
the major, dramatically, “that a man
can worship a pale star, when the sil-
ver moon herself is in sight ?”’
“Well, I don’t know about that,”
said Mrs, Button. “I never was much
of an astrologist. But these roses are
very nice and I'm sure I thank you
kindly. As for the other thing, I sup-
pose there ain’t no law against young
men changing their minds, so long as
they steer clear of breach of promise
cases.”
“There are times, Mrs. Button,”
said the major, pathetically, “when a
man’s heart is no longer under his con-
trol.”
“Dear, dear!” said Mrs. Button.
The amateur serenading band made
night melodious in the vicinity of Mrs.
Button’s' window (the exact geography
of which was ascertained by a bribe to
the hote! porter), with “Ah, mio cor,”
“Believe me, if all those endearing
young charms,” and such soul-sedue-
ing ballads. By daylight, mysterious
messengers brought baskets of hot-
house fruits, carefully selected bou-
quets, French bonbons, and all the
latest publications, with Major Milli-
ken’s care.
“Really,” said Mrs. Button, “I don’t
know what to say.”
“Then, dear madam,” pleaded the
ardent lover, “don’t say anything.”
He took the old lady out to walk on
the pier when the band played; he
read Jean Ingelow to her in the even-
ings until she fell fast asleep and
snored ; he drove herout on the Beach
road, and haunted her movements
like a highly-perfumed shadow, while
poor Zuleima Walsingham mourned in
secret. + And at last the moment came
in which he judged it wise and expe-
dient to tell the story of his love.
Mrs. Button’s proper name, however,
was something of a stumbling block.
“Loruhamah’ was a mouthful for any
one to speak. “Lo” was too suggest-
ive of the “poor Indian,” and ‘“Ha-
mah” did not seem at all appropriate.
But “faint heart,” the major told him-
self, “never won fair lady,” and he
plunged headlong into the sweet chasm
of love-making, with a fortitude worthy
of Curtius’ self.
They were seated on the hotel piaz-
za, in a sheltered corner, where the
music of the band reached them, faint
and far away, like a dream, and the
tide of promenaders passed them by
without disturbing them.
“Dear Mrs. Button,” said the major
with an effort, “I have something to
say to you."
“Eh ?7 said Mrs. Button, fanning
herself.
“May I call you Loruhamah ?” he
pleaded-
“Ok, yes, if you like the name,” said
Mrs. Batton, “I don't.”
“To me,” said Major Milliken, “it
is the sweetest name in all the world.”
“Tastes differ,” said Mrs. Button.
“Loruhamah,” said the major, feel-
ing that he had lost ground, and mak-
ing a fresh start, “I love you. Will
you be mine 2”
Mrs.Button opened her eyes very
wide.
“Youain’t in earnest, are you ?”’ said
she.
“Can you deubt me.”
“Just say it again,” said the old
lady, with one hand behind her ear.
“Dearest, will you be my wife ?”
shouted Maj. Milliken, feeling very un-
comfortable, as he could not fail to per-
ceive that the surrounding world was
begining to appear interested in the
affair.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” said the old lady.
“onaccount of Mr. Button, you know.’
“Of?
“Mr. Button—my husband,” said
the matron. ‘He's out to Leadville,
vou know, superintending the mines.
But he ain't a Mormon. Neither am
I. I'm obliged to you, all the same.
And perhaps, now that you know it
an’tany use coming philandering
around me, yow'll go back to Zuleima
Walsingham.”
The dreadful old lady chuckled as
she uttered the words in a key alto-
gether higher than was in the least
necessary, and Maj. Milliken, with
one or two muttered words of excuse,
caught up his hat and slunk out of ihe
presence of the fair Loruhamah.
“Well, my dear, I've had a proposal,”
said the old lady to her niece that eve-
ning, “from Maj. Milliken. And I
think you're pretty well quits with him
now.”
“Oh, I don’t care tor him any more,
aunt,” said Zuleima, ‘‘since Mr. Carew
has become sodevoted.”
“He's had his dose,” said Mrs. But-
ton, reflectively twisting her hair into
curl paper. “The great goose! did he
suppose he was going to play upon
my feelings ! I just wish Button was
here to give him the thrashing he de-
serves,’
“He’s had enough of punishment,
aunt,” said Zuleima. “Just think ot
what his florist’s bill and livery-stable
accounts will be.”
“And won't he be angry, though,”
said Mrs. Button, "when he hears of
your mining stoc ‘8, which everybody
supposed a dead loss, turning up trumps?
Why, my dear, Carew hain’t an idea of
what an heiress you will be.”
“Don’t tell him, aunt,” whispered
“IT—T'11 tell
him myself, by and by.”
So she was won and wooed for her-
self alone ; and Maj. Milliken lest two
golden treasures instead of ome. And
Aunt Button felt that her niece was
avenged nobly.
But that fat professional never was
paid for his services on the bass viol.
N. Y. Ledger.
Human Sacrifices in Africa.
The Horrible Rites That Followed the
Death of the King of Eboe.
The steamer Congo brings news
from New Calabat of a’ most revolting
sacrifice. It seems that a few months.
ago the old King of Eboe died, and, as
is customary in that part of the coun-
try, the traders from New Calabar
went up to pay their respects to the
new monarch. The traders were
aware that for a short time after the
old King’s death the “Iu Iu" rites are
performed, but they thought that these
were over. The deceased monarch’s
name was Imphy, and to the horror of
the English traders the “Iu Iu” cere-
monies were at their highest when
they entered Eboe Town.
The rites had been in operation for
about two months, and about forty
people had been slain to appease the
“Iu Iu’ gods. The old King was then
King in a grave which had been dug
for him. The hole was a large one
and deep. Lying in the same grave
were nine of the King's youngest wives,
and their deaths had been brought
about in the most cruel manner.
Each of the poor creatures had both
her wrists and ankles broken, so that
they could neither walk nor crawl. In
this state, and suffering the most excru-
ciating pain, the unfortunate creatures
were placed at the bottom of the grave,
seven of them lying side by side. The
body of the King was then laid on
them in a transverse direction. The
two remaining women were laid down
by the side of the King, lying exactly
like the monarch’s body. No food or
water was given to the poor creatures,
who were left in that position to die.
It is said that death did not, as a rule,
take place for four or five days. Four
men were stationed round the grave,
armed with clubs, ready to knock
back with these weapons any of the
women who, notwithstanding their
maimed condition, were able to crawl
to the side to the grave.
In other parts of the town further
human sacrifices were taking place.
Suspended from various trees were the
bodies of several men. These poor
fellows were also enduring the most
agonizing death. In most instances
holes had been bored through their
feet just by the ankles, Through the
holes ropes were drawn, and the men
were then tied to a high tree. Their
heads were, of course, hanging down-
ward. The men were there left to die.
The traders, as they were proceeding
along, were unwilling witnesses of a
frightful sacrificial execution. They
saw a number of natives in a group,
and went to the spot to see what was
taking place. To their horror the
white men saw a native tied by,.the
feet and neck. The rope attached to
the neck was thrown over a tree in
one direction, and the rope attached to
the feet was tied to a tree in the op-
posite direction. The ropes were then
drawn tightly, and when the body was
distended to its utmost length another
native with a hatchet struck the neck
and severed the head from the body.
The head was taken to the grave where
the King was lying, while the body
was eaten by the canibal natives.
The white men could do nething to
stop the barbarous practices, as to in-
terfere with these ‘religious customs”
would not be tolerated by the natives,
and the lives of the traders would have
been in peril. They therefore made as
quick a retreat from the town as they
could. The traders learned that for
each of the following ten months there
was to be a sacrifice of seven men.—
London Standard.
Pretty Hosiery.
A Chat About Things Dear to the Femi-
nine Heart.
In nothing does the truly feminine
soul so delight as in pretty hosiery.
“Gloves and stockings are my weak-
ness,” frankly confesses one of the
most exquisite of women. “I will get
on with three gowns a year, but I must
have well-fitting gloves and pretty
stockings.”
And soshe has. Nothing comes mn
the way of dainty novelty in this line
that she does not add to her already
generous store. In her enthusiasm she
might almost be classed as a collector
of this special line of womanly adorn-
ment. She is only one of a class, al-
though she may be a little extreme.
“It costs me more, in proportion, for
my boots, stockings and gloves than it
does for the larger articles of my ward-
robe,” said a working girl the other
day. “I can scrimp in some: things,
but not in these.”
How horrified a well-dressed woman
would have felt a quarter of a century
ago had it been proposed to her that
she should wear a colored stocking.
She would have considered that not
only her good taste but her ideas of
cleanliness had been outraged. No-
thing was admissible but a pure white
stocking, one on which not even a
speck of dust should be seen. Fine
and immgculate and sunny white,
this was what the swinging skirt must
show if inadvertently the ankle was
exposed to view,
The first innovation came with the
cream-tinted balbriggans, finished so
finely that the surface had a silken
look. These held their own tor a long
time. Then came introductory stripes
of color on the cream-white,
stripes being very narrow, hardly more
than a hair line, while the white stripe
wasvery broad. By degrees the stripes
widened and the color deepened, until,
almost before the women were aware
of it, they were wearing stockings of a
solid color, and admiring them too,
immensely.
Pale blue, pale rose and a soft
French gray were the first innovation ;
these
then came scarlet, navy-blue and seal
brown, and by-and-by all these colors
deepened into black, which took the
place as the proper color for every-day
wear. Now the black stockings seem
to have a firm hold upon the affections
of the wearers, as white had a few
years ago. It is the exception when a
woman is seen in anything but a black
stocking in the street or at “home in
the morning.
e——
Treatment of Trees and Vines After
Bearing.
More attention is given the cultiva-
tion of fruit trees and vines before the
fruit is borne than after the harvest,
but it is not wise to allow the trees to
be left to the mercy of grass and weeds
until the next spring, and especially
is this appliable to vines and canes.
Old orchards that contain large trees
may be seeded down with grass, pro-
vided fertilizers are applied, and the
sod serves to protect the roots in win-
ter, but young trees that have not made
proper growth will be injured. The
severest strain to which a tree is sub-
jected is that of making and ripening
new wood. When fruit is borne the
seeds are produced at a greater cost to
the tree than the fruit itself, especially
in the case of peaches. cherries and
plums, which produce large pits,
VINES AND CANES.
The strawberry sends out large num-
bers of runners, aud these runners de-
rive their subsistence from the parent
plant until they take root, and even
then they rob theold plant to a certain
extent. When the field is abandoned
to grass and weeds the old and young
plants are compelled to compete and
struggle with the grass and weeds for
food and moisture, and the whole bed
is retarded to the extent to which the
plants may be compelled to sacrifice
plant food. The canes of the black-
berry and raspberry which produce
fruit next season are grown this year,
and, in order to derive the largest yield
of the next crop, the new canes should
be made to grow and flourish between
now and fall. True, they must be cut
back next season, but that does not
alter the fact that they should be push-
ed forwaid and not be compelled to
grow when surrounded with weeds.
The best crops of berries are obtained
only from the strong, vigorous canes of
the preceding year’s growth, and any
drawback to the canes shows its affect
in the crop.
CULTIVATION IN SUMMER.
After the berries are harvested the
ground should be cleaned of grass and
weedsand an application of wood ashes
made. If the canes are too tall they
may be pinched or cut back. The old
wood need not be cut out until winter,
though it would be an advantage to cut
out the old wood and burn it as soon
as possible, in order to destroy as many
insects as can be caught harboring
therein. One thorough cleaning of
the field will be sufficient, and it will
lessen the number of weeds next year.
The young runners of strawberries will
grow much larger if the bed is clean,
and no better time for doing the work
can be selected thanduring the months
of July and Angust.
Don’t Do It.
The following from the House-keep-
er, are as full of good points as a pin
cushion:
“To spoil a wifelsnubherin company.
Domineer over her at home. Find
fault with her in public. Try hard to
keep the house tidy. Be extra cross
when she is tired. Always have the
last word yourself. Boss her about her
own affairs. Never have fuel to cook
your meals. Never allow her to think
her soul is her own. Never give in,
even if you are wrong. Quarrel with
her one day and humor her the next.
Never lend a helping hand in her work
when you know she is sick. Never
offer to stay with the children so she
can walk with a friend. Run bills for
cigars whether she has a decent dress
on her back or not. Vow vengence
on all her female friends, then scold be-
cause the butcher's and grocer’s bills
are so large. Give as much for bil-
liards in a month as it would take to
furnish, the parlor; then tell her you
can’t afford it. Tell her as plainly
as possible you married her to help
make a living.”
Now then, the panorama shifts a lit-
tle, and “how to spoil a husband”
comes into view:
“Henpeck him, snarl at him, and
find fault with him. Keep an untidy
house. Humor him; half to death.
Boss him out of his boots. Always
have the last word. Be extra cross
on washdays. Quarrel with him over
trifles. Never have meals ready in
time. Run bills without his knowl-
edge. Vow vengence on his relations.
Let him sew the buttons on h s shirts.
Pay noattention to household expenses.
Give as much as he can earn in a
month for a new bonnet, Tell him as
plainly as possible that you married
him for a living. Raise a row if he
dares to bow pleasantly to an old lady
friend. Provide any sort of pick-up
meal for him when you do not expect
strangers. Get everything the woman
| next door gets whether you can afford
{itor not. Tell him the children in-
| herit all their mean traits of character
‘from his side of the family. Let it
out sometimes when you are vexed
l that you wish you had married some
lother fellow that you used to go with.
| Give him to understand as soon as pos-
| sible after the honey-moon that kissing
is well enough for spoony lovers, but
that for married folks it is silly.”
A wad of chewing-gum and three
trouser-buttons in the collection basket
at the Saturday meeting of the Sunday
School Assembly at Ocean Grove, N.J.,
aroused the ire of President E. H.
Strokes, of the Grove Association. He
made an analysis of the collection for
that day, and found that of the 38.500
persons present 815 gavel cent, 17
gave three cents, 380 gave 5 cents, 170
gave 10 cents, and only 12 gave as much
as 25 cents each. The other 1,109 con-
tributed the chewing-gum and buttons.
EE
Bill Nye’s Study of the Bee.
I love to study the bees, and at one
time kept bees myself. I often think
of what a late writer has said ‘that
within so small 8 body should be con-
tained apparatus for converting the va-
rious sweets which it collects into one
kind of nourishment for itself, another
for the common brood, glue for its cells,
poison for its enemies, honey for its
master, with a proboscis as long as the
body itself, microseopic in several parts,
telescopic in its mode of action, with a
sting so exceedingly sharp that were
it magnified by the same glass which
makes a. needle point seem a quarter of
an inch across, it would yet itself be in-
visible, and this, too, a hollow tube—
that all these varied operations ‘and
contrivances should be included within
half an inch of length and two grains
of matter 1s surely enough to crush all
thoughts of atheism and materialism.”
The queen, during the propagating
season, lays as high as 5,000 eggs in a
day, and I have given much thought to
the grafting of the queen bee upon the
Plymouth Rock hen, with a view to
better eggs facilities, but so far meet
with little success. My experiments
have been somewhat delayed by the
loss of time in taking the swelling out of
the bee character in his or herhome life.
A writer says the best way to ascertain
the location of the queen is to divide the
swarm, after which it will be noticed
that the one having the queen will quiet-
ly settle down again, while the other
rtion will become very restless indeed.
a this myself and noticed that they
were restless to me. All of us got
restless.
The drones are the male bees of the
hive. They do no work except to act
in a parental capacity and vote. They
have no stinger, but in its place they
have a good appetite and a baritone
voice. They are destroyed by the work-
ers soon after the honey season, and the
widows have it all their own way.
About nine-tenths of the hive are
workers or females, say twelve to fifteen
thousand. These are the busy bees re-
ferred to in the books. They get up
early in the morning, eat a hasty meal
and go out looking for honey. They fly
with great force and straight as a bullet.
Sometimes they try to go through a
man on their way toa hive, but only
get part way. A bee likes to have a
tender young man with linen trousers to
sit down on it.
Length Of Days.
A writer in the Popular Science
Monthly states that some time ago he
sent out 5,000 circulars to men and
women over eighty years of age, asking
for information concering their habits.
He received more than 3,500 replies,
and some of the facts thus obtained are
of considerable interest.
Five out of every six of the persons
heard from have a light complexion,
with blue or gray eyes. The men are
bony muscular, whilethe women are the
opposite. All state that they retire and
pa early, and eat their three meals a
ay.
A few other points are worthy of no-
tice. A large majority write that they
habitually eat meat; two thirds use tea
and coffee; some of the men use intoxi-
cants, but not to excess, and the major-
ity of the men use tobacco. More than
half of these old people are farmers, or
the wives of farmers.
Now what are we to infer from these
interesting but not entirely satisfactory
statistics? The returns appear to show
that a bony, muscular man, with a light
complexion, and blue or gray eyes, with
regular habits, stands a good chance of
passing the age of eighty. The moder-
ate use of tea, coffee, tobacco and intoxi-
cant will not stand in his way, but no
rule of conduct can be laid down in re-
gard to food and drink. Some of the old
people whose cases are reported, lived to |
a good old age without eating meat or
using tobacco or liquors.
If the reports prove anything it is
that long life depends on the tempera-
ment and constitution of a person.
Some habits are safe in the case of one
person and yet are certain death to his
neighbor. A man must find out the
conditions whicn agree with him
and be governed by them.
But it should not be forgotten that the
very course adopted to prolong life may
sometimes destroy it. There are chances
and probabilities, and sometimes most
astounding exceptions. The man who
takes the best care of himself may lose
his grip on life when he is apparently at
his best.
The Mail Service Of 1775.
When Benjamin Franklin was ap-
pointed postmaster-general of the Col-
onies in 1775 he went down to the office
in Philadelphia, hung his coat on a peg
which constituted the department, and
went to work. He procured a small
book of fifty three pages, in which he
opened an account with each postmaster
for the forty odd post-offices in the
thirteen colonies ol kept it himself.
Unlike the present postmaster-general,
the old Pennsylvanian was not bothered
to appoint assistants, and as for clerks he
did not have any. At odd times, and
when he was feeling lonesome because
some of the neighbors did notcome in to
bore him to appoint John Smith post-
masterat Juniperville Franklin would
go down to the city post office and as-
sist to make up the mail, which went by
stage coach every week. In a glass case
in the post-office department the curios-
ity seeker can see the old leather bound
book in which Franklin kept the ac-
counts of the government. Thetransac-
tions for three years—from 1776 to 1778,
inclusive— are included in its fiity three
pages and the mail transactions seem to
wve cut but an insignificant figure.
You can also see the record of the un-
called foror misdirected letters that were
returned for the eleven yeurs from 1777
to 1788. The book covered forty-four
pages, and during that time 365 letters
were received. The number of letters
returned to the dead letter office dai-
ly now averages 1,800.— Washington
Post. :
A GreAT Trre.—First Chicagoan—
“Did you enjoy your trip abroad, Mis,
Globetrot?’ Second Chicagoan--Oh,
ves; it wes full of events. I saw the
Queen in April, danced with the Prince
of Wales in May, chatteh with Boulan-
ger in June, and--I suppose you heard
tbat my husband died in July?”
ad
All Sorts of Paragraphs.
—A store in Atlanta, Ga., has been
built entirely of paper.
—A 5-year-old child in Monson, Me.,
is said to speak three languages.
—Dr. Nansen, the explorer, says that
the ice in Greenland is 6,000 feet thick.
—-A Chicago baby that was born July
4 has been christened Gloria Columbia
Ottofy.
— Buffalo has completed the count and
announces that 255,000 persons reside
within her limits, ‘
—There are 342,000 miies of railroad
in operation in the world, of which 181 ,-
000 are in America.
- -Bloomington,I1l., bakers have been
cutting prices until they have got bread
down to 2 cents a loaf.
—A Dakota farmer holds that the
failure of the wheat crep is largely due
to the work of the gophers.
—Sylvanus Jones,of Richmond, Va.,
is reported to have written 36,764 words
in short-hand on a postal card.
— Rhode Weimar,of Shelbyville,Ind.,
caught a three- pound black bass the
other day, and found in it a silver quar-
ter.
—Hon. James A. Gilbert,of Syracuse,
recently caught 150 bass in the St. Law-
rence in less than two hours; using only
a rod and reel.
—Joe Smith and John Thomas, of
Brunswick, Ga., killed an alligator 10
feet long, which they estimated would
weigh 850 or 400 pounds.
—A Jefferson City, Mo., man mana-
ges to make a living by following up
picnic parties. and gathering up the
empty bottles which they leave.
—After two years work has been re-
sumed on the Hudson river tunnel at
New York City. The tunnel was begun
in 1874 and may becompleted in a year.
—A grizzly tried to capture a cow on
the Flores ranch, near Santa Maria,Cal.,
last week. The cow and bear both went
over a high bank and were found dead.
—A Cleveland man has just married
again the woman from whom he was di-
vorced ten years ago. Meantime he had
married a second wife and became a
widower.
—Captain A. C. Bell, of Americus,
Ga., received a large turtle from Bruns-
wick recently. It weighed 275 pounds. .
It was brought up from the dopot on a
dray and attracted a large crowd.
-—The largest ship in the British navy,
the Trafalgar, launched two years ago,
has at last tried her engines, with success.
She is 345 feet long, 73 feet beam, and
12,818 horse power drove her 17.28 knots.
—Judge Kentley, of Towa, who has
made a personal inspection of the schools
of Alaska, reports that there are about
14 schools in the Territory, three of
which are for white children, the rest
being for natives.
—A Bombay newspap er announces
two marriages, in one case the bride
being aged 2 years, and in the other 15
months, while the bridegroom was 30.
This is the system which Pundita Rama-
bai is struggling against.
—Prof. Flower exhibited at Lambeth
recently the shell of a tortoise, which
had lived 180 years, outstaying eight
Archbishops. At Petersborough there
are thercmainsof another tortoise which,
when it died, was 180 years old.
—The irrepressible sea serpent has
bobbed up again. This time at Cape
May. The great monster had a square
black head and was of immense propor-
tions, with flappers, fins and feelers like
a crab’s,and a most ugly sight to behold.
—The tallest chimney in this country
is the new stack of the Clark Thread
Company, at Kearney, ne:r Newark, N.
J. It is a circular shatt 885 feet high
and 28} feet in diameter at the base.
This chimney cost $30,000, and contains
1,697,000 bricks.
—There is a gentleman living near
Quitman, Brooks county, Ga., who
never ate a morsel of bread or meat in
his life. He subsists principally on
fruits and potatoes. He weighs nearly
200 and was never sick longer than an
hour in his life. He drinks a gallon of
milk a day.
--Bluff old Captain Josiah Hendryx,
of Decatur, Mich., who died a few days
ago, had six children, all of whom died
young,except one son. Then he did his
full duty to society by adopting and
rearing ten orphan children giving them
good educations and a fair start in the
affairs of life.
—Martha Cobble, of Owensboro,Ky:.,
a colored woman formerly a slave, has
searched 40 years for her two sons who
were sold to a New Orleans trader when
they were 8 and 10 years of age. Re-
cently she learned the whereabouts of
both and was made happy by a visit
from one of them.
—0. Erickson, of Muskegon, Mich.,
was the victim of a queer accident. He
was milking one of his cows, when the
animal made a swing with ber head and
drove one of her horns up through the
roof of Erickson’s mouth. The doctor
says he had a narrow escape from instant
death, but will recover.
—An Oklahoma hack driver purchas-
ed two lots on the day after opening
from men who decided that there would
never be a city, and who were going
away in disgust. For one he paid $10,
and for the other he traded a well-worn
six-shooter. One of the lots he has
since sold for $1,100, and he is holding
the six-shooter lot for $1,500.
—The people of San Francisco expect
to find themselvees, ere long, at the end
of an ocean cable,the other end of which
will be fastened at Hawaii. To lay the
wire, which must be 2,080 miles long,
will cost, as estimated, $1.500,000, and
of this sum the Hawaiian Government
and people will furnish a third.
—-A curious strike is in progress at
Rochester. The osterclogists and taxi-
dermists in Ward’s natural science es-
tablishment, where Jumbo’s skeleton was
prepared, have stopped work, and as a
result many rare birds and animals being
prepared for collections in different parts
of the country are left partly mounted,
and the loss will be severe.