Terms, 82.00 a Year, in Advance.
Bellefonte, Pa., January 24, 1890.
Ebp1ToR.
P. GRAY MEEK, -
A —
EE am
Kisner Re-elected.
At the annual meeting of the Demo-
cratic State’ Committee in Harrisburg,
on Wednesday, Errior P. KIisNERr,
Fsq., was re-elected Chairman of the
Committee, to- direct the party move-
‘ments during the coming gubernatorial
struggle, and BeENsaMiN F. NEap, Esq.,
was re-elected Secretary. There was
no serious ‘opposition to Mr. KisNgr
being again at the head of the Commit-
tee, or to Mr. NEap's continuing in the
clerical duties connected with its
work. Having stood the brunt of dis-
aster during the last two campaigns,
which befell the party through no
fault of theirs, they were entitled to a
continuance of the party's confidence.
Scranton was chosen as the place for
‘holding the next State convention, and
‘the time was left to be determined by
‘the Excutive Committee.
~———————————————
‘Something for Pennsylvania to Be
Proud Of.
Who says that Pennsylvania's rep-
resentatives in the United States Senate
are not statesmen of the first magnitude?
The fact that on Tuesday QUAY present-
«ed a bill'to give certain arms and accou-
trements to the Gettysburg Monument
Association, and on the same momen"
tous occasion CaMERON offered a bill
equalizing the pay of certain officers
in the navy, ought to convince the
people.of Pennsylvania that they are
represented in the higher branch of
Congress by intellectual giants who
are capable of taking hold of and wrest-
ling successfully with state questions of
the deepest import. After such efforts,
invelving physical and mental exhaus-
tion, both of them should take a rest.
Caugrox should retire to Lochiel for
at least a month and Quay should go
fishing in Florida.
Egual to the Emergency.
Duringthe past year that great corpo-
ration, the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany, had an experience that was very
mueh out of the ordinary routine of its
operations, it having had the forces of
nature to eontend with to a degree far
beyond anything thatit had previously
been called upon to encounter. The
story of the June floods has added a sad
page to the annals of public disaster,
and no other interest bore the brunt of
their fury to a greater extent than did
the great railroad that traverses our
State with its main line and its numer-
ous branches. Miles of its main track
were swept away by the resistless waters;
embankments were demolished and cuts
filled up, and substantial bridges were
removed from the abutments upon
which they had been placed with so
much labor and expens?, and became
the prey of the fiood, The sum total of
the damage in the Juniata and West
Branch Valleys appeared great enough
to suspend travel and trafic for months,
yet we have seen how speedily the re-
cuperative power of the great corporation
manifested itself and how soon the pulse
of trade beat all along its restored tracks.
‘With the resources of power and appli-
ance which the company had at com-
mand, the public accommodation was
interrupted for a period so brief that un-
der the circumstances it was really mar-
velous. Yet injuries were done which
were of such a character that the work of
repairing them has extended up this
time, but it is announced that they are
approaching completion.
‘We learn from the Johnstown papers
that the famous stone bridge at that
place, which was so badly damaged by
water, fire, and the explosion of dyna-
mite, and the reconstruction of which
employed the attention of engineers, di-
vers and laborers for months, is nearly
completed. The reconstructed round
‘house at East Conemaugh is un-
.der roof. The work done at bridge No.
«6 was of an extraordinary character
.owing to the difficulty experienced in
.securing foundations. In the excava-
tion for the second pier nine steam
pumps were kept in constant operation,
and the expense of the excavation of this
one pier alone amounted to $8000. As
an illustration of the quantity and char-
acter of the flood-deposit at this point it
is stated that at a depth of twelve feet
‘below the surface and within eighteen
inches of the solid rock such incongruous
articles us railroadspikes, hoopskirts and
preserving jars were found. It willtake
all winter to complete this bridge. The
stone-work of the viaduct has been com-
pleted, consisting of two eighty-foot
spans ningty feet above the water, and
containing fifteen thousand yards of
stone, When this great structure is
finished it will have cost about $180,000.
In adition to this the new stone bridge
at South Fork, consisting of four sixty
foot spans, is about completed.
From these details the public can
form an idea of the emergent difficulties
with which the devastation of nature
challenged the resources and power of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
and taxed the capacity of the able men
who manage its operations. That they
have brilliantly met the emergency and
mastered it is the verdict of the world.
— A tin-plate having been successful-
ly made at Pittsburg, it was sent to the
congressional committee that pretends
to be revising the tariff, to serve as an
argument in favor of supplying another
infant industry with tariff nourishment,
and itis to be expected that all the
house-keepers and fruit canners of the
country will be compelled to contribute
to the sucking=-bottle of this hungry and
howling brat.
— The Bank of England is going
to relieve a stringency in the money
circulation by issuing silver bills simi-
lar to those used as a circulating me-
dium in the United States. The Eng
lish are beginning to see the advantage |-
of utilizing silver as money to a larger
extent than they heretofore have done,
and in this they are adopting a cou-
venient Yankee notion.
a —_.—— e——
The Pennsylvania Republican
Represencatives in Congress, with two
or three exceptions, did a discreditable
thing in voting against New York in
the test question that came up before
the House tne other day concerning
the location of the World's Fair.
They had a right to prefer Chicago if
their preference sprung from an honest
sentiment, but when they displayed
their opposition to New York simply
from a partisan motive their action
was indeed contemptible.
A Much Needed Monument.
It must have been something like a
slap in the face to the majority in the
lower house of Congress when Repre-
sentative Amos J. Cummings, of New
York, the other day, introduced a bill
for the erection of a monument to the
late SayveL J. TILDEN, in the rotunda
of the capitol, with the following in-
scription upon it: “Nineteenth Presi-
dent of the United States—Elected but
not Seated.”
Of course the body to which this
bill was offered and which belongs to
the party incriminated in the great po-
litical erime of 1876, will take no ac-
tion upon Mr. CuMMINGS proposition,
but the time may come when some
memorial of this kind will be set up to
stand forever as a reminder to the
America people of the necessity of
guarding against theft of the Presidency
it they value their free institutions and
would preserve them from the injury
that is sure to come when fraud and
corruption gain control of the govern-
ment, as was conspicuously the case
in the elections of 1876 and 1888.
———
Tariff Education Progressing.
What is reported as the largest meet-
ing ever held in Northern Indiana, in
a period of political rest—that is with
no active canvass pending—was that of
the tariff reformers at Wabash recently,
at which some 200 farmers who voted
for Harrison and “protection” enrolled
themselves as new members of the
Tariff Reform association of the Elev-
enth Indiana district. There were
other exceedingly interesting features
of this meeting, such ae a character-
istic and pointed tariff reform letter
from GrRovER CLEVELAND and one from
Governor CampBELL of Ohio, the letter
saying :
The tariff will be an issue in every election
until one of the two parties keeps its pledges
of reducing tariff taxes. The late election in
Ohio was carried on the issue of tariff reform.
We propose to make the congressional fight
on the same issue next fall. In 1891, just a
year prior to the presidential election, there is
another gubernatorial election. That will be
fought on the issue of tariff reform. We
should commence an educational campaign on
this question right off, and keep it up.
Republican organs, we believe, in-
sist that the tariff was not an issue in
the Ohio election, and that Governor
CAMPBELL is a “protection Democrat 1”
Suffering in the West.
Many Thousand on the Verge of Star-
vation. .
CuicAGo, Jan. 22.—An Associated
Press reporter, just from the North-
west, brings with him a tale of horri-
ble suffering and desolation in South
Dakota. The stricken area includes
the following counties: McPherson,
Campbell, Wallworth, Edmunds, Pot-
ter, a part of the Brown, Spink, Hyde,
Hand, Beadle, Clark, Kingsbury, Min-
er, Davidson, Gerald. The successive
failure of four years’ crops has reduced
those formerly well to do to a condi-
tion of direct distress. Many thousands
of families are entirely without the
means of any kind and women and
children are unprovided with clothing
with which to withstand the rigors ot
winter. Flour especially is needed in
Kingsbury and Miner counties, and
clothing for women and children. Pro-
visions of any kind, just now, would be
a godsend to thousands who are in a
semi-starving condition.
——J. H. Rishel, of near Axe Mann,
will sell valuable farm stock and imple- |
ments on Thursday, March 13th. See
advertisement.
{is to be always prepare d fer it.
Women Want Local Option.
That Is Part of the Platform Adop ‘ed by
the W. C. T. Alliance.
PITTSBURG, Pa., Jan. 19.—Mrs. H.
€. Campbell, Mrs. Ellen M. Watson,
Mrs. Joseph D. Weeks, Mrs. R. D.
Bowman, and Mrs. B. C. Christy,
who attended the Philadelphia Con-
terence of non-partisan temperance
women, returned home on Saturday
much encouraged at the result of their
meeting. They brought with them the
constitution and by-laws of the new
State organization and the resolutions
adopted by the conference, none of
which were given out for publication in
Philadelphia. The organiza‘ion is to
be called “The Women’s Temperance
Alliance,” and the most startling feature
of the platform prepared is that the
Alliance resolves that earnest and in-
tellingent effort shall be made to se-
cure the adoption by the next Legisla-
ture of a Local Option law, so that the
twenty-nine counties which gave a
majority for the Prohibitory amendment,
and ali the other counties of the State,
may, by popular vote, have an op-
portunity to prohibit the granting of
licenses to sell liquor.
A Bloody Fight at a Grave.
Wilkesbarre Stirred Up Again by a Po-
lish Church War—A Bloody Riot.
WILKESBARRE, PA., Jan. 20.—A
bloody riot took place between the
two warring factions of the Polish
church at Plymouth this evening.
The Lituanians’ faction endeavored
to bury one of their number ir the
Polish cemetery. The Poles
resisted and a fierce battle took place,
30 men being] wounded. The ground
surrcunding the grave was covered with
blood.
In the melee the coffin was upset
and the corps rolled out on the ground.
It was jammed into the grave, where
it is now being guarded by officers of
the law. The Poles are very indignant
and threaten to dig up the body and
throw it out of the cemetery. The
sheriff has issued a proclamation calling
on the good citizens to help main-
tain the peace. Several of the riotous
Polanders were arrested and locked up.
The police had to use violence. It is
feared the Poles will overpower the
guards. Many of the persons shot dur-
ing the riot are seriously injured. The
officers will remnin on duty all night.
A Bad Boy and a Foolish Grandfather.
From the New York Herald.
Baby McKee is daily proving him-
self the infant terrible of the Executive
Mansion. A distinguished New Yorker
who dined en familie at the White
House a few days ago relates an in-
cident which proves the correctness
of this declaration.
The young man during the interval
which followed the serving of the soup
leaned forward in his high chair and
amused himself by pounding the table
so savagely with both fists that the
wineglasses in his immediate vicinity
danced a merry refrain. The noise was
so deafening the New Yorker ‘said, that
ou could scarcely hear yourself talk.
The President who sat beside Bennie,
laid his hand on the youngsfer’s arm
and mildly requested a cessation of the
noise. The young man gave the Chief
Magistrate a defiant look and proceeded
forthwith to outdo his previous per-
formance by straightening up in his
chair and laying both heels on the
festive board. Calmly and deliberately
the terror of the White House lifted
first one foot and then the other,
bringing them down alternately with
the inevitable dull thud on the Presi-
dential mahogany. Meanwhile the
family sat watching the operation with
undisguised admiration.
Finally the President broke the
silence by turning in the direction of
his guest and ejaculating. ‘Isn’t he
cunning? See how he minds me!”
A EAR
A Daring Robbery.
Big Haul Made from a Montreal Dia-
. mond Store.
MONTREAL, January 21.—Last even-
ing, while the streets in the :neighbor-
hood were crowded, two men walked up
to Walter’s diamond store, in Notre
Dame street, and tied the doors with a
rope. Then they rushed to the plate
glass show window and smashed it with
a heavy hammer. One snatched a tray
of diamond ings and the other swept
every piece of diamond jewelry in the
window into a bag.
The only occupant of the store was
‘Walker himself. He attempted to open
the door. Finding it was fastened he
rushed behind the counter and began
shooting through the window, but the
thieves had made off. The crowd stared
in astonishment while the men were
grabbing the jewelry, but as soon as
they began to run several people started
after them.
The man with the tray was chused
half a mile, being collared on a wharf
by a messenger boy. The thief produc-
ed arevolver, but it was knocked from
his hand. He had the tray of diamonds
under his coat. At the police station he
refused to give any name. The dia-
monds in the bag are said to be valued
at between $15,000 and $20,000. The
tray contained only cheap rings.
Will We Have Cholera Too ?
Some ofthe able medical authorities
say that the cholera, now prevalent in
South Western AsiaandSouthern Russia,
is following in the wake of la grippe, and
that the world should be prepared to
fight a cholera epidemic next year. In
view of this fact it is said that the city of
Paris has already begun to clean up.
Other medical authorities assert, how-
ever, that the cholera wtich follow-
ed la grippe in 1837 was merely a coin-
cidence and that that was theonly time
it was ever known to follow it, although
grippe bas been a frequent visitor. So
there is no special cause for glarm, but
the best way to prevent the ¢oming of
the cholera or any other disexe, in Beh
et
everybody at all times keep their prem-
ises clean and healthful.
— Dignity is a good thing; but if
you're in the rear of a big erowd and
wish to see the procession, don’t stand
on it. Geton a barrel.-—Pudk.
A Transparent Sham.
mp —
Pittsburg Post.
To see Republican papers of this State
that have swallowed with a relish or
under compulsion the Camerons and
Quay as senators, growing virtuously
indignant over the election of Brice in
Ohio, is a glorious illustration of ignoring
one's own sins to mourn the lapses of
others. It is about as touching as a
Wanamaker sermon on money in
politics, or a discourse from Dudley on
the bribery of voters. it is our own
judgment the Democrats could have
done much better in Ohio than they
did ; there were older and better soldiers
to honor with the senatorship. But Re-
publican indignation at his election be-
{ cause he is a very rich man is simply a
bit of transparent sham. We failed to
notice any indignation on the part of
these papers when Leland Stanford was
elected a senator from California, al-
though he is reputed to be worth any-
where from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000.
Nor when millionaire Farwell was elec-
ted from Illinois. Nor when millionaire
McMillan captured the prize in Mich-
igan. Nor when Silver Kings Jones
and Stewart were sent from Nevada.
Nor when any others of the long list of
millionaire senators, especially from the
new States, were elected. Why? Be-
cause these gentlemen are all Republi-
'cans. But a Democratic millionairesen-
ator is something that shocks the ex-
quisite sensibilities of the newspapers
that fetch and carry for the Republican
besses. If the millionaires were eliminat-
ed from the senate there would be a lot
of vacant seats on the Republican side
of the chamber. Counting corporation
attorneys, the Republican force would
be cut dow n one-half.
Beet Root Sugar in Pennsylvania.
Berks County Farmers Still Hope for a
New Industry.
In view of the small profit there is to
Pennsylvania farmers in raising wheat
and other cereals, the raising of beets
for the making of sugar, as proposed by
Claus Spreckels, has excited considerable
interest among them. Secretary Fox, of
the Berks County Agricultural Society,
in an interview recently said that the
society was induced to interest the
farmers in the project of raising sugar
beets through a letter which had been
received some months ago by Albert
Thalheimer from Claus Spreckels, in
which he agreed to erect a sugar re-
finery in the vicinity ‘of Reading pro-
vided a guarantee was given that 5000
acres of beets would be cultivated an-
nually for a term of years.
‘While it was not deemed possible to
secure such an acreage the first year
it was believed that the farmers would
make a beginning, and having found
the soil ad climate favorable would
be willing to enter into contracts to
grow large quantities by an other year.
Mr. Fox does not believe that the
enterprise will be abandoned, but 1s
of the opinion that farmers of other
counties hearing of what was being
done in Berks had written to Mr.
Speckels for information, and that to
end the correspondence the circular had
been issued announcing that no beet-
sugar factory would be built in the
East at present. :
Funeral of Walker Blaine.
Haus Loss Is the Greatest Trial of the
Secretary's Life.
‘WASHINGTON, Jan. 19.—All Wash-
ington attended the funeral of Walker
Blaine Saturday. The services were
most impressive, and the cortege which
followed the remains to their last
resting place was the most imposing
seen at the national capital for many
years. The secretary of state, with the
members of his family, the president
and Mrs. Harrison and members of the
cabinet and diplomatic corps, were
resent at the private ceremonies at the
laine mansion, on Lafayette square.
Shortly after 11 o'clock a. m., the pro-
cession reached the Church of the
Covenant.
The remains, incased in a rich casket
of black, were borne to the church by
Assistant Secretary of State William T.
‘Wharton, Judge John Davis, Sevellon
A. Brown, Marcellus Bailey, M. L.
Ruth, Corporation Counsel Almet, F.
Jenks, of Brooklyn ; F. B. Loring and
William Haywood. Following them
were the secretary of state with Mrs.
Blaine, James G. Blane, Jr., the Misses
Margaret and Harriet Blaine, Mr. and
Mrs. Emmons Blaine, and other re-
latives of the family ; the president and
Mrs. Harrison, the vice president
and Mrs. Morton, Secretary and Mrs.
‘Windom, Secretary and Mrs. Proctor,
Secretary and Mrs. Tracy, Attorney
General and Mrs. Miller, and Secretary
and Mrs. Rusk. The diplomatic corps,
senators and members of the house of
representives came aflerward.
Walter Damrosch presided at the or-
gan. The floral decorations were
superb. The organ was nearly con-
cealed by tall palms. Wreaths and
bunches of white flowers were entwined
among the branches. President and
Mrs. Harrison contributed a wreath of
pure white roses, the vice president
and Mrs. Morton a Greek cross of the
same flowers, while the various foreign
legations and many senators and con-
gressmen testified their love and es-
teem for the dead by placing floral
tributes upon the bier.
James G. Blaine, Jr. told a corres-
pondent that his father was undergoing
the severest trial of his lite. He was
bearing up splendidly, however.
Secretary Blaine was very much
affected by the brief but sad ceremony.
Almost throughout the entire service
his silver crownad head was bowed.
Now and then he lcoked up at Rev. Dr.
Hamlin, who, from behind a screen of
palms and tropical flowers, read scrip-
tural coLsolation. As his eyes sought
the black casket beneath the festooned
roses and heaped up lilies and violets,
the great man sobbed as though his
| heart. would break. Many wept with
sympathy for the statesman in his
grief. The church services ended, a
| procession over a mile in length follow-
| ed the body of the secretary’s favorite
! son to Oak Hill cemetery. As the cof-
fin was lowered into the grave the
secretary and Mrs. Blaine were so over-
come by emotion that both turned away,
as if they could not bear the sight.
Starting the Oxen.
An Elder Who Did Not Reject Aid
When it Was Providentially Sent.
Elder John Stephens held a pastorate
in the Free Baptist church at Gardiner
40 odd years ago, says the Lewiston
(Me.) Journal. Nature had dealt gen-
erously with Elder John. His big
heart was incased in an iron frame of
mammoth proportions. Remarkable
alike for sincere piety and genuine
humor, the good man so tempered his
teachings as to make them acceptable
to ssint or sinner. Riding one day
along the road to West Gardiner he
overtook an ox team that was stuck in
the mud. The discouraged oxen re-
i fused to pull, and the driver, who had
sworn till the air was blue, was prepar-
ing to reel off another string of oaths,
when the parson stopped his horse and
said: “Try prayer, my friend. Try
prayer.”
“Try it yourself,’’ retorted the vexed
teamster.
“I'll do it,” said Elder John, and drop-
ped on his knees in the wagon. For a
while he prayed around his subject as if
afraid to touch it. Gradually, however,
his faith strengthened, and in a voice
which bade fair to arouse the neighbor-
hood he besought the owner of the cat-
tle on a thousand hiils to move the hearts
and legs of these stubborn oxen. The
prayer was unconsciously long, and no
sooner had it ended than the impatient
driver prepared to start his team.
“Stop,” said Elder John, descending
from his wagon, “as I have done the
praying I feel that I ought to do the
driving. You hold my horse and give
me the goad stick.”
The man consented to the arrange-
ment, and with a grin waited to see the
parson worsted. At that moment an-
other ox team was seen approaching
from another direction.
“Hullow, neighbor!” the practical
parson shouted to the newcomer, “Lend
me your cattle for a moment.”
“Hold on !” cried the owner of the
mired cart. “That’s not fair. If you
can handle this team better by praying
than I can by swearing, I want to see
you doit; but no doubling up, mind
you, no doubling up.”
Elder John’s robust figure was drawn
to its fullest height, and his voice was
like the roar of the ocean as he answer-
ed: ‘My friend, the Masier I serve is
abundantly able to move this load with
a single yoke of oxen—or without any
oxen at all; but when in direct an-
swer to prayer He sent me an extra pair
of cattle, I'm going to hook’ em on.”
No further objection was raised, and
with the aid of reinforcements the load-
ed cart was easily drawn out of the mud.
Work of the Flood Relief Committee.
At the meeting of the Flood Relief
Committee held in Philadelphia on
Thursday afternoon the following inter-
esting facts were made public:
The total cash received by the com-
mission was $2,982,072.68, of which
amount $1,225,872.83 came from every
section of the country and the world ;
$600,000 from Philadelphia; $560,000
from Pittsburg and $516,199,85 from
New York. Johnstown and vicinity re-
ceived $2,280,393,69 of this amount, |
The other expenditures were as follows :
Relief for other localities $232,274.45 ;
distributed as expressly directed by don-
ors, $2,271.85; office expenses at Harris-
burg, $1,398.42; general expenses, $1,-
818.70; first payment on annuities to
orphans, $16,100; making a total of
cash expended of $2,683,747.11, leaving
a balance on deposit at Harrisburg of
$219,385.57. In addition to this bal-
ance at Harrisburg there is an undistri-
buted fund in Johnstown at present of
$36,584.03 and there has been appropria-
ted to other parts of the State $17,735,-
55. After this is taken out there re-
mained at the time of the meeting
an available balance of $236,
974.05. This was reduced at ‘the
meeting to $70,681,40, by the payment
of claims amounting to $22,442.65 and
other appropriations.
THE ACTUAL LOSS OF LIFE.
The commission has made a most
careful investigation to ascertain the ac-
tual number of lives lost in the disaster,
and now at this late day they are of the
opinion that 2,500 is the highest figure
at which it can be placed. Te has been
definitely ascertained that 2,280 persons
disappeared from the valley of Con-
emaugh. The bodies of 1,675 of this
number have been recovered and identi-
fied, 644 bodies have been recoverd and
are unknown,and the remainder,605, are
missing. The commission has gathered
the bodies of all the unclaimed dead
that were buried hastily at the time
of the flood and reinterred them in the
Grand View Cemetery at Johnstown.
For this purpose a plot of ground con-
sisting of 22,000 square feet has been
purchased. In this plot there are now
buried 741 bodies, of which the names
of only 87 are known. During this
work of reinterment especial efforts
were made to identify the bodies and
for this purpose special trains were run
for miles around to Johnstown by the
railroads and fifty-two additional bodies
were recognized. The bodies that were
recovered were picked up all the way
from the Conemaugh to Westmoreland
county and one was found down the
Mississippi river at Cairo.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
MIFFLINTOWN, Pa., Jan. 15.—The |
report of the General Fruit Committee
of the State Horticultural Association,
now in session here, states that owing to
the late frosts in the spring and the ex-
ceedingly wet summer and fall, most
fruits were a failure. There were some
favored localities, however, where very
good crops were realized. The apple crop
was poor in the greater portion of the
State. There was a moderate crop of
pears of inferior quality. The peach
crop .was a failure save in Franklin
county and portions of the Juniata
valley. There were no plums and
very few quinces. The cherry crop
was poor. Small fruits would have
been a good crop, but too much wet
weather caused much loss.
was fairly favorable for vegetables, al-
though too wet for some things. ~ Re-
ports from all over the State show
that the mild weather has advanced the
fruit buds, and there is danger of the
crops this year being ruined should
there be a decided fall in temperature.
The season !
' and the capital invested is from $60,000-
Few Fools in Flerida.
4 Dasgusted Northerner's Surly Re-
Jfusals to See the Good Points
of the Peninsula.
“I took a trip to Florida for my
health during my Christmas holiday,’
said a lawyer in an up-town cafe the
other night as he sat sipping black cof-
fee with a friend, “and just got back in
time to catch the influenza. TI wish T
could go down again until the epidemic
is over, but T can’t spare the time now.
1 enjoyed the trip immensely. A queer
country that—where their principal
stock in trade is climate and the princi-
pal industry keeping hotel. I did a
little exploring of my own, outside the
regular beaten paths of the ordinary
tourist, and I found the native ‘cracker’
every bit as peculiar as the State he
lives in. At one of the hotels one day
I met a disgusted Norherner, who had
invested in some town Jots through a
glib agent and had come down to find
them.
«What have you got that’s fit to eat?”
he said to the negro waiter.
“Bacon, sah,” said the waiter, ‘an’
hominy, an’ sweet potatoes, an’ coot
ie.’
P “Coot pie, what's that?” said the
stranger.
“Coot pie, sah, don’t know what
coot pie is, sah? Why it’s pie made o’
coots.”’
“Of course I know that, you dolt,”
said the Northerner, ‘but what are
coots 7’
“Coots, sah, very fine game, sah,
sumpen like a duck.”
“Had it wings?”
“Yes, sah.”
“Then don’t give me any coot in
mine. Anything that had wings and
could fly and didn’t get out of this
blasted country I despise too much even
to eat.”
“This gentlemen, you will easily per-
ceive,” continued the lawyer, ‘‘had be-
come rather soured, the natural result
of investing money in the sand lots
of a paper town. The State really has
natural advantages, which are being
developed slowly perhaps, but surely.
This man, however, having been de-
ceived could see nothing good inthecoun-
try orits people. Icameup to Jackson
vill on the train with him from the
southern part of the State, where we
met, and derived not a little fun from
his sardonic humor. So did the others
on the car.
“At one little station in the woods
the train stopped a long time, and we
began to look around for diversion.
Close by the side of the track, opposite
the station house, was a patch af corn
—two or three acres—an exceedingly
thin and sickly crop, the soil being
little better than sand. A tall, gaunt
boy of about sixteen years, dressecd-
from head to foot in red jeans, was
lazily hoeing and weeding between the
rows.
“Look at that wretched crop,” said
the Northerner. “Dirty seed, no man-
ure, poor soil, baking sun, hoe-culture;
not even a plow to stir the land
deeply, let alcne a ‘cultivator’ to weed it
quickly and often. The weeds will
have choked the south half of the crop
before that lazy fellow gets the north
end clear of them.”
“Boy,” he called, ‘young fellow!
It seems to me your corn is rather
small, isn’t it?”
“The boy looked at him for a moment,
spat reflectively, and replied: ‘Yes,
mister, pop planted the small kind.”
“Oh, is that so ?’ said the questioner,
‘but it’s rather yellow, isn’t it?’
“It 1s, mister,” replied the boy.
planted the yeller kind.’
“Well, I'll bet you ten to one,’ said
the Northerner rather testily, as some
tittered at the boy’s answers, ‘that you
won’t get more than half a crop.’
“You, er richt, mister,” drawled the
boy, “just half a crop. Pop planted it
on shares.”
“The train pulled out just then and
the car rocked with our laughter for a
mile or more.”
‘Pop
Habits of Ostriches.
A Pugnacious Bird, Ever Ready for
a Fight.
There are certain old traditions about
the ostrich which, I have been told by
the owner of the California ranch, are
fallacious. He say that the ostrich does
not bury hishead in the sand and imagine
he is unobserved by his enemies. On
the contrary, he is a very pugnacious
bird and always ready for a fight. Nor
does the female ostrich lays her eggs in
the sand for the sun to hatch them. To
do them justice, they are quite domestic
and deserve a better reputation. Nor is
the ostrich ever used for riding, as he has
an exceptionally weak back; any per-
son might break it with a blow from an
ordinary cane.
His strength lies in his great breast
and his feet. He has one great claw
and a very small cne, and with a terri-
ble precision he can bring down the
large claw with a cruel force that will
tear open anything not mude of sheet-
iron.
Savage birds at best, they are danger-
ously so during breeding time. The 22
| birds brought to our California rach
| trusted to their instict and lsid their eggs
| during the California winter, which cor-
{ responded to their summer south of the
j equator. It being the rainy season,
| their nests were filled with water and
| the eggs were chilled ; so the first season
of their American sojourn was a failure.
{ The ostrich makes its nest by rolling
, in the sand and scoOpingout a hole some
| six feet in diameter, and, excepting an
| incubator house, the California ranch
| requires no buildings for the use of the
| birds, though the land is divided off into
| pens, fenced in each about an acre in ex-
| tent, for the use of the breeding birds,
| every pair occupying one such inclosure.
. The ostriches "live upon alfalfa and
(corn. Alfalfa is a gras cultivated all
| over the ranch. It resembles our clover
"and grows to a crop some six times a
| year.—St. Nicholas.
— There are in Florida about 10,000
orange growers. The acreage is 100,000,
000 to $75,000.000. Three seasons ago
there were produced 1,250,000 boxes;
two seasons ago, 2,100,000, and last
season about 2,500,000 boxes. TItis es-
timated that the crop of 1890 will be
over 4,000,000 boxes.