Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, October 02, 1891, Image 2

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Bellefonte, Pa., Oct. 2, 1891.
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THE MEMORY-BRIDGES. -
JULLE M. LIPPMANN
Busily, busily to and fro,
See them, the bridge-builders, come and go,
Grey-beards and bonny-eyes:, mothers an
midges
All Pre as a building bridges.
High be they ? Tow be they ?
Who can tell 2 J
Each keeps his secret, and keeps it well.
Steadily, steadily, see them build,
Not one is idle of all the guild. .
This one is planning and placing and plying :
That one is trusting and tracing and trying.
be they ? Weak be they ?
ho is there
Knows if the bridges will break or ‘bear.
Stron
Cleverly, ¢leverly, day by day
Toil the bridge-makers sand stone or clay,
Fashioning after their own designing,
Some for rejoicing and some for repining
Ugly or beautiful ?
Who can know ]
What is the pattern the bridges show.
Ceaselessly, ceaselessly year by year L
Grow the abutment, the arch and the pier,
Grow on the builders’ brows wrinkles and
ridges, , ' :
Caused by the rearing of memory -bridges.
Deep be they ? Slight be they ?
All may see
‘What sort of furrows these furrows be.
Finally, finally each must tread
Over the Memory bridge he’s made,
Over the deeds that are long past doing
Over the faults that are left for run.
Light is it? Hard is it?
They may ken :
Who've cressed the briges from Now to
Then.— Youths’ Companion.
SE
CAPTAIN JOE AND JAMIE,
A Story of the Tantramar Tides.
BY CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS.
How the wind roared in from the
sea over theTantramar dyke!
It was about sunset, and a fierce
orange-red gleam thrusting itself
through a rift in the clouds that black-
ened the sky, cast a strange glow over
the wide, desolate marshes. A mile
back rose the dark line of the uplands,
with the small, white farm-house al-
ready hidden in shadow.
Capt. Joe Boultbee had just left his
wagon standing in the dyke road, with
his four-year-old boy on the seat. He
was on the point of crossing the dyke,
to visit the little landing place where
he kept his boat, when above the rush
and whistle of the gale he heard
Jamie's voice. He hurried back a
few paces befere he could hear what
the little fellow was saying.
Pap,” cried the child, “I want to
get out of the wagon. ’Fraid Bill
goin’ to run away!”
“Oh, nonsense!” answered Captain
Joe. “Bill won't run away. Hedon’t
know how. You stay there, and don’t
be frightened, and I'll be right back.”
“But, pap, the wind blows me too
hard,” piped the small voice pleading
Vion, all right,” said the father, and
returning to the wagon he lifted the
child gently down and set him on his
feet. “Now,” he continued, “it's too
windy for you out on the other side of
the dyke. You run over and sit on
that big stick, where wind can’t get at
you, and wait for me. And besure
you don’t let Bill run away.”
As he spoke the Captain noticed that
the horse. ordinarily one of the most
stolid of creatures, seemed to-night
peculiarly uneasy; with his head up
in'the air he was sniffing nervously,
and" glancing from side to side. As
Jamie was trudging through the long
grass to the seat which his father had
shown him, the Captain said, “Why,
Bill does seem scary, after all; who'd
have thought this wind would scare
him?”
“Bill don't like it,” replied Jamie;
“it blows too hard.” And, glad tg be
out of the gale, which took his bteath
away, the little fellow seated himself
contentedly in the shelter of the dyke.
Just then there was a clatter of wheels
and a crash. Bill had whirled sharp-
ly about in the narrow road, upsetting
and smashing the light wagon.
Now, utterly heedles of his master's
augry shouts, he was galloping in mad
haste back toward the uplands, with
the fragments of the wagon at his
heels. The Captain and Jamie watch-
ed him flying before the wind, a red
spectre ia the lurid light. Then, turn-
ing away once more to gee to his boat,
the Captain remarked, “Well, laddie,
I guess we'll have to foot it back when
we get through here. But Bill's going
to have a licking for this I”
Left to himself, Jamie crouched
down behind, a strange, solitary little
figure in the wide waste of the marshes
Though the force of the gale could not
reach him, his long fair curls were
blown across his face, and he clung de-
terminedly to his small, round hat.
for a while he watched the gleam of
red light, till the jagged fringe of
«ioulds closed over it, and it was gone.
Thea, ia the dusk, he began to feel a
little frightened; but he knew his
father would soon be back, and he
didn’t like to call him again, He lis
tened to the waves washing, surging,
beating, roaring, on the shoals beyond
the dyke. Preseally he heard them,
every now and then, thundering in
against the very dyke itself; upon this
he grew more frightened, and called
to his father several times; but of
course the small voice was drowned in
the tumult of wind and wave, and the
father, working eagerly on the other
side of the dyke, heard no sound of it.
Close by the shelter in which Jamie
was crouching there were several
great tubs, made by sawing molasses
hogsheads into halves. These tubs, in
fishing season, were carried by the
fishermen in their boats, to hold the
shad as they were taken from the net,
Now they stood empty and dry, but
highly flavored with memories of their
office. Into the nearest tub Jamie
crawled, after having shouted in vain
to his father,
To the child’s loneliness and fear the
tub looked “cosy,” as he called it.
He curled up in the bottom, and felt a
little comforted.
Jamie was the only child of Cap-
tain Jce Boultree. When Jamie was
about two years, the captain had taken
the child and his mother on a voyage
to Brazil. While calling at Barba-
does the young mother had caught the
yellow fever. There she had died and
was buried. After that voyage Cap-
tain Joe had given up his ship, and re-
tired to his fathers farm at Tantramar.
There he devoted himself to Jamie
and the farm, but to Jamie especially ;
and in the summer, partly for amuse-
ment, partly for profit, he was accus-
tomed to spend a few weeks in drifting
for shad on the wild tides of Chignecto
bay. Wherever he went, Jamie went.
If the weather was too rough for
Jamie, Captain Joe stayed at home.
As for the child, petted without being
spoiled, he was growing a tough man-
ly:little fellow, and daily more and
more the delight of his father’s heart.
Why should he leave him curled up
in this tub on the edge of the marshes,
on a night so wild? In truth, though
the wind was tremendous, and now
growing to a veritable hurricane, there
was no apparent danger or great hard-
ship on the marshes. It was not cold,
and there was no rain.
Captain Joe, foreseeing a heavy gale
together with a tide higher than usual
had driven over to the dyke to make
his little craft more secure.
He found the boat already in con-
fusion ; and the wind, when once he
had crossed out of the dyke’s shelter,
was 80 much more violent then he kad
expected, that it took him some time
to get things “snugged up.” He felt
that Jamie was all right, aslong as he
he was oat of the wind. He was
only a stone's throw distant, though
hidden by the great rampart of the
dyke. But the Captain began to wish
that he had left the little fellow at
home, ashe know the long walk over
the rough road, in the dark and the
furious gale, would sorely tire the
sturdy little legs. Every now and
then, as vigorously and cheerfully he
worked in the pitching smack, the
Captain sent a shout of greeting over
the dyke to keep the little lad from
getting lonely. But the storm blew
his voice far up into the clouds, and
Jamie, in his tub, never heard it.
By the time Captain Joe had put
everyching shipshape, he noticed that
his plunging boat had drifted close to
the dyke. He had never before seen
the tide reach such a height. The
waves that were rocking the little craft
so violeutly were a mere backwash
from the great seas which, as he now
observed with a pang, were thundering
in a little further up the coast. Just
at this spot the dyke was protected
from the full force of the storm by
Snodon’s Point. “What it the dyke
should break up yonder, and this fear-
fal tide get in’ on’ the marshes?”
thought the captain, in a sudden an-
guish of apprehension. Leaving the
boat to dash itself to pieces if it liked,
he clamored in breathless haste out on
to the top of the ‘dyke, shouting to
Jamie as he did so. There was no
answer, Where he had left the
little fellow but a half-hour back, the
tide was seething three or four feet
deep over the grasses.
Dark as the night had ziown, it
grew blacker before the father's eyes.
For an instant, his heart stood still
with horror, then he sprang down into
the flood. The water boiled up nearly
to bis armpits. With his feet’ he felt
the great timber, fastened on the dyke
on which his boy had been sitting.
He peered through the dark, with
straining eyes grown preternaturally
keen. He could see uothing on the
wide, swirling surface save two or
toree dark object, far out in the marsh.
These he recognized at once as fish.
tubs gone afloat. Then he ran up the
dyke toward the Point. “Surely,” he
groaned in his heart, “Jamie has
climbed up the dyke when he saw the
water coming, and I'll find him along
the top here, somewhere looking and
crying for me I” : ;
Then, running like a madman along
the narrow summit, with a band of
tightening about his heart, the Cap-
tain reach the Point, where the dyke
took its beginning.
No sign of the little one; but he
saw the marches everywhere laid
waste. Then hg turned round and
speed back, thinking perhaps Jamie
had wondered in the other direction.
Passing the now buried landing place,
hesaw with a curious distinctness, as
if in a picture, that the boat was turn-
ed bottom up, and, as it were, glued to
the side of the dyke.
Suddenly he checked his speed with
a violent effort, and threw himself upon
his face, clutching the short grasses of
the dyke. He had just saved himself
from falling into the sea. Had he had
time to think, he might not have tried
to save himself, believing as he did
that the child who was his very life
had perished. But the instinct of self-
preservation had asserted itself blind] y
and just 1a time. Before his feet the
dyke was washed away, and through
the chasm the waves were breaking fur
ously.
Meanwhile what had become of
Jamie?
The wind had made him drowsy,
and before he had been many minutes
curled up in the tub, he was sound
asleep.
When the dyke gave way, sofie dis-
tance from Jamie's queer retreat, there
came suddenly a great rush of water
among the tubs, and some were.
straightway floated off. Then others
a little heavier followed, ove by one;
and last of all, the heaviest, that con-
taining Jamie and his fortunes. The
water rose rapidly, but back here
there came no waves, and the child
slept as peacefully as if at home in his
oo Little the Captain thought,
when his eyes wandered over the
floating tubs, that the one nearest: to
him was freighted with his heart's
treasure! And well it was that Jamie
did not hear his shouts and wake!
Had he done so, he would have at
once sprung to his feet, and {then tip-
ped out into the flood.
By this time the great tide had reach-
ed its height. Soon it began to recede
but slowly, for the storm kept the wa-
ters gathered, as it were, into a heap at
the head of the bay. All night the
wind raged on, wrecking the smacks
and schooners along the coast, break-
ing down the dykes in a‘ hundred
places, flooding all the marshes, and
drowning many cattle in the salt pas-
tures, All night the Captain, hopeless
and mutein his agony of - grief, lay
clutching the grasses on the dyke top,
not noticing when at length the waves
ceased to drench him with their spray.
All night, too, slept Jamie.in his tub.
Right across the marsh the strange
craft drifted before the wind, never get-
ting into the region where the waves
were violent. Such motion as there
was—and at times it was somewhat
lively—seemed only to lull the child to
a sounder slumber. Towark daybreak
the tub grounded at the foot of the up-
lands, not far from the edge of the
road. The waters gradually slunk
away, as if ashamed of their wild va-
garies, And still the child slept on.
As the light broke over the bay,
coldly pink and desolately gleaming,
Captain Joe got up and looked about
him. His eyes were tearless, but his
face was gray and hard, and deep lines
had stamped themselves across it dar-
ing the night.
Seeing the marshes were again un-
covered, save for great shallow pools
left here and there, he set out to find
the body of his boy. After wandering
aimlessly for perhaps an hour, the
Captain began to study the direction
in which the wind had been blowing,
This was almost exactly with the road
which led to his home on the uplands.
As be noticed this, a wave of pity
crossed his heart, at the thought of the
terrible anxiety his father and mother
had all that night been enduring,
Then in an instant there seemed to un-
roll before him the long, slow years of
the desolation of that home without
Jamie.
All this time he was moving along
the sinking road, scanning the marsh
in every direction. When he had cov-
ered about half the ‘distance, he was
aware of his father, hastening with
feeble eagerness to meet him.
The night of watching had made the
old man haggard, but his face lit up
with the sight of his son. As he drew
near, however, aad saw no sign of
Jamie, and marked the look upon the
Captain's face, the gladness had died
out as quickly as it had come. When
the two men met, the elder put out his
hand in silence, and the younger clasp-
ed it. There was no room for words.
Side by side the two walked slowly
homeward. With restless eyes, ever
dreading least they should find that
which it sought, the father and son
looked everywhere—except in a cer-
tain old fish-tub which they passed.
The tub stood a little to one side of the
road. Just at this time a sparrow lit
on the tub’s edge, and uttered a loud
and startled chirp at sight of the sleep-
ng child. As the bird flew off pre-
cipitately, Jamie opened his eyes and
gazed up in astonishment at the blue
sky over his head. He stretched out
his hand and felt the rough sides of
the tub. Then, in complete bewilder-
ment, he he clambered to his feet.
Why, there was his father, walking
away somewhere without him! And
Grandpa, too! Jamie felt aggrieved.
“Pap,” he cried in a lond but tear-
ful voice, “where you goin’ to 2’
A great wave of light seemed to
break across the landscape, as the two
men turned and saw the little golden
head shining. dishevelled, over the
edge of the tub. The Captain caught
his breath with a sort of a sob, and
rushed to snatch the little one in his
arms; ‘while the grandfather fell on
his knees in the road, and his trem-
bling lips moved silently.
A ————
Has a Temperance Beer Been Found.
Is it found? What? Why, the
much.prayed-for beveiug. which’ teeto-
tallers can drink without spoiling their
digestion or ruining their morals. The
lack of a decent temperance drink is the
greatest drawback to the temperance re-
formation. Tea, no doubt, is an invalu-
able substitute for beer, and some can-
not understand how our ancesters lived
before it was *‘invented.” But tea can-
not be brewed at a moment’s notice, and
a thirsty man in the middle of the day
is driven to ordinary drinking water,
ginger-beer, or lemonade,
The ideal temperance drink must be
bright, sparkling, and with some body
and substance in it. The managing di-
rector came down to our office the othér
day carring with him two bottles of a
beverage which seemed to comply with
all these indispensable conditions. Riley
Temperance Hop Ale is the somewhat
forbidding title of the new drink, and
our visitor waxed eloquent as he de-
canted upon its virtues. On the princi-
ple, however, that the proof of the pud-
ing is in the tasting of it, nothing he
could say was half as’ eloquent as the
beer itself. If you drank it without be-
ing told what it was you might very
eusily mistake it for genuine beer. You
would only fad out your wistake when
after drinking a considerable number of
glasses you found you were “no forwar-
der!” and no nearer the point of intoxi-
cation than when you began,
Qur representative heard a very in-
teresting account of the way in which
the invention came into his hands. The
credit of the discovery really belongs
fo an ex-private in the Guards, who
after he ieft the service had for some
time charge of a temperance coffee-
heuse. Seeing how much a temperance
drink was required, he gave his whole
attention to manufacturing one, and
after three years’ study discovered the
secret of manufacturing beer without
alcohol, thus producing the beverage he
now sells.
Although it is but of yesterday the
demand for the new beverage is spread-
ing, and it is said to have been greatly
in vogue at 'the stores (where they are
not aliowed to sell genuine ale), where
“01d Riley,” as it will be designated,
is found to be an invaluable substitute.
——Hood’s Sarsaparilla is in favor
with all classes because it combines
economy and strength. 100 Doses One
Dollar.
|
[Special Correspondence.]
‘WASHINGTON, September—The re-
cent dictatorial order. of Postmaster
General Wanamaker, directing the post-
master at each county|seat in the Union
to visit and report upon ‘all the postof-
fices in his county, is a subject of a good
deal of comment and some criticism at
this time. “There will be much more
criticism and a great deal of indignation
on the part of postmasters not at the
county seats when the real purpose of
Mr. Wanamaker becomes known. That
purpose ostensibly is to secure data by
which the. postal service may be bene-
fitted. Its real purpose is political. The
county seat itself is, in nine eases out
of ten, the political headquarters of the
county. The most simple minded can
see that there is no real public business
involved in making the postmaster of a
little county seat town the judge and
censor of other offices in the county
which do ten or twelve times as much
business as is done in his little place.
And again the most simple minded
one can see that there would he good
politics in having a county seat post-
master who is, of course, a Republican
and a Harrison man, crack the whip
over all other postmasters in his county
no matter how much more business they
do than is transacted by him. Thus,
under the guise of attempting something
for the betterment of the postal service,
Mr. Wanamaker hopes to boss directly
through the county seat postmasters all
the postmasters throughout the county.
These men, if they should tamely sub-
mit to the cracking of this political
whip, would constitute a political army
in themselves.
But will there be such tame submis-
sion? There will not be. For, besides
the work which is contemplated that
these postmasters shall do 1n this cam-
paign, Mr. Wanamaker’s scheme in-
volves the enlistment of all postmasters
under the Harrison banner and their
forced support of that small gentleman
in his large ambition to succeed him-
self. There are many men who are
postmasters and who are also in favor of
Blaine’s nomination. How will they
take this dictation from ‘Washington
that they must be Harrison men ? How
will they regard a scheme, a part of
which is to head off Mr. Blaine? The
men will answer for themse!ves.
It is especially desired on the part of
Wanamaker and Harrison that this
scheme of theirs, which is a very shrewd
one, shall be put in motion as early as
ossible in Pennsylvania, Ohio and
owa. They want to get all the results
possible out of this new machinery for
the benefit of their party in those States
where very warm campaigns are now
on. Pennsylvania is looked upon with
peculiar interest by Mr. Harrison, He
knows how strong the Blaine sentiment
is in that State, and is anxious to see
how this new political weapon will work
against the man of whom he is both
afraid and jealous.
The eftrontery of Wanamaker's order
shows out more brazenly when it is
know that he has no power or authority
of law for issuing or enforcing it. He
has no funds out of which to pay county
seat postmasters for the expenses incur-
red by them in their visits of inspection.
Their only pay can bein the shape of
spoils according as they do their boss’s
work: The postmasters whose offices
are to be inspected have a perfect right
to turn the inspectors out of doors when
he comes prying into their business.
Mr. Wanamaker is already in the pos-
session of information that a number of
postmasters have refused to allow his
illegally designated henchmen to go
through their books or in any way glean
any information which could not be ac-
quired by a casual visitor.
* * * * *
Washington is the political centre of
the United States. Politicians from all
parts of the country make this city their
Mecca, and like “all politicians they
talk. From what they say it is evident
that great interest is taken in the cam-
paign now in progress in Pennsylvania.
ep throughout the country are
wondering whether Pennsylvania will
retrieve herself from the odium * which
exposed political rottenness has cast
upon the State or whether her finances
shall continue to be’ dealt out to spoils-
men in pay for dirty political work.
They know all about the Bardsley busi-
ness, the arrest of the Philadelphia mer-
cantile appraisers, the Keystone and
Spring’ Garden bank robberies, and the
other dishonest revelations which the
legislative committee ‘investigation now
in progress are disclosing. They are
horrified at the corruption which" per-
vades the administration of the State af-
fairs of Pennsylvania. They know of
the action of the Auditor General, and
of the State Treasurer and that all this
dishonesty and corrupticn has been the
result of the political management of
the Republican leaders such as Quay
and his lieutenants. What astonishes
them more than anything else is the ap-
parent indifference of the people of
Pennsylvania to this condition of affairs.
They, however, look and hope that, for
the Lie of their State, Pennsylvania
will eo move in this election, that the
Keystone State will find herself once
more free from corrupt bossism. There
is no denying the fact that Pennsylvania
bas & bad game iroughout the country.
That it will injure her in a hundred dif-
ferent ways to keep that name no one
can deny. That she can rid herself of
it at the coming election no one can
doubt. That she will do so is the hope
and belief %™vhe: majority of people
throughout the country.
B..B.
——————a.
Some People Never Learn.
Tt is surprising how some people who
continue to use things in daily life with-
out any attempt to learn how properly
to use them. There is, for instance, the
man who can never learn how to sharp-
en his razor, the woman who winds her
walch the wrong way, the people who
do not know that the time of starting
the principal trains on the different rail-
roads and the time of closing the mails
is advertised in the newspapers, the
people who blow out the gas, the folks
who jump the wrong way from a mov-
ing car, the unfortunates who are al-
ways getting lett or suffering injury or
losing property because of unfamiliarity
with things they ought to know.
——In great cities we learn to look
the world in the face. We shake hands
with stern realities.
A Puerile Defense,
The deeper the investigation goes into
the corrupt practices of the Auditor Gen-
eral and State Treasurer's department of
the government and the City Treasurer's
office in Philadelphis, the more appall-
ing the scandal grows. 'Notwithstand-
ing the maneuvreing of the Republican
executors of the law, notwithstanding
the Herculean efforts that are being
made by interested parties to’ prevent
further investigation, the fact is still ap-
parent that two officers of the govern-
ment, high in official positions, repre-
sentatives of the Republican party,
stand convicted before the people of
gross negligence and malfeasance in
office. One has taken the safer course
of evading tke legal process of the State
and keeps himself out of its jurisdiction,
thus avoiding the unpleasant uecessity
for testilying to damaging things. The
other in Lis weak struggles to extricate
himself from the toils, has belittled him-
self to that extent that he is the laughing
stock of the business men of the com-
munity. How puerile is the defense
which he makes in claiming that the
Treasurer of the City of Philadelphia
acted as his agent for the purchase of
neckties and other nicknacks, giving
this as an explanation of his acknowl-
edgments of “favors received” in his let-
ters written to Treasurer Bardsley.
What a strange coincidence is that
whenever City Treasurer Bardsley made
an entry in his private books, charging
Auditor General McCamant with his
share of moneys received out of the ad-
vertising pools, and wrote his name up-
on the stubs of his check book to keep a
record of the fact, that Mr, McCamant
should just at that time need a necktie
of a peculiar pattern and capacious
length,and that his eye should just have
fallen upon some late publication in
book form of some noted work that he
desired to possess, and forthwith the
spirit should move him to ask his friend
Bardsley to purchase it for him and send
it for him and send it by return mail.
“Chops and tomato sauce.” there is
something wonderful significant in this.
But these are dangerous times. The
people of the State of Pennsylvania
have learned to read, and reading and
studying current events, have learned
to think intelligently. Such an at-
tempt as this made by a high, official
whom they have trusted, and who has
hoodwinked them, and played upon
their credulity, will be taken as an open
insult, Itis all well enough to charge
that the system that of collection of the
Mercantile taxes in Pennsylvania, par-
ticularly in the City of Philadelphia of-
fers a premium for this kind of work,
that through lapse of time it has grown
rotten to the core, nevertheless in such
an attack upon the system, no justifica-
tion can be found for the public official
or public officials who have, because of
the opportunity been led into dishonest
practices, and because private aggrand-
izement was insight, have forgotten the
injunction. “Thou shalt not steal.” No
matter if justice has gone astray and
these delinquents have escaped punish-
ment in the courts of justice, they have
notwithstanding been adjudged guilty in
the higher tribunal of public opinion.
E———Tte—
Rio De Janeiro.
One of the Most Beautiful Cities in the
World.
The recent overthrow of the mon-
archy in Brazil, and the establishment
of a new republic under the name of
the United States of Brazil, has called
renewed attention to that wonderful
country, which is larger in area than
our own United States, and has an in-
ternal -river navigation far exceeding
that of any other state in the world.
Rio de Janeiro is the capital of Bra-
zil. Tt is situated in latitude 22 deg.
54 min. ‘south and longitude 45 deg.
36 min. west. It occupies the east side
of a broad bay, which forms one of
the most magnificent harbors in the
world. The city was founded in 1556
by the Portuguese, at which time a
large emigration took place. In 1808
King John VI. of Portugal fled from
Lisbon on the approach of the French
army under Napoleon I., and took
refuge in Brazil. He proclaimed its
independence and established a mon.
archy..
R10 de Janeiro consists of two cities,
the old and the new, The latter has
broad streets, the buildings well con-
structed and handsome. It is here one
sees the Brazillian civilation and cus-
toms; here are the princely monu-
ments, the commercial buildings, and,
1n a word the social activity. Scen at
a distance, Rio de Janeiro presents a
panorama of grandeur and beauty.
Above the anchorage is a castle from
which the signal flags float to announce
the arrival and departure of vessels.
Here are seen the lovely terraces of
the public promenade, the convent of
San Bento, with its buildings and gar-
dens and numerous churches,
The Botanical Garden at Rio de
Jaueiro is probably the finest in Amer-
ica. Here have been cultivated, from
the earliest years of this century, the
tea plantand other exotics from seeds
Possible J. ourneys.
To Paris by way of Siberia will
doubtless be an improved route of
travel by and by. People who dislike
ocean travel, and who have been in the
habit of saying that they will go to
Europe “when the ocean is bridged
over,” will fiad it bridged for all prac.
tical purposes when the proposed Si.
berian railroad connects, by way ot
Behrings Straits, with an Oregon and
Alaska coast railroad. This is look-
ing forward, but not as far as human
eye can see, for it is quite within the
range of possibilities. The time must
come when our Alaska riches will be
brought nearer to the States. Rail-
road syndicates will grapple Alaska
with lines of steel, and the way to
Siberia and thence to ceatral Europe
will become an easy one. The Siberia
railroad is of course to be built by the
Russian government. Whatever ideas
of self aggrandizement or added power
the nation has in the plan, the process
of the suns will prove such a railroad
to be a creat factor in civilization.
It will stretch over vast tracts of
barren land, it is true, bat it will bring
the fertile regions into closer relations.
and add to the neighborly knowledge
of province with province . It seems
a tremendous undertaking now, one
worthy of a great Government, but it
is not improbable that the railroad
syndicate will follow the work of the
first great Government road, as in our
own country. The first railroad across
America veeded Federal moneys and
received them, but the eagerness with
which private enterprise entered into
the building of new lines across this
continent need scarcely be mentioned
in Boston, where faith in the future of
one great line is now taking the place
temporarily of the dividend of the past.
The Siberian road will be a long one
—a third longer than the longest con-
necting lines by which Bostonians go
out to San Diego. It will be interest-
to trace its route when the plans come;
doubtless they will have much of in-
struction for those best instructed
about Siberia. .
There were few pleasant revelations
in Mr. George Kennan's lectures, but
one thing which many people remem-
ber with pleasure 1s thestartling novel-
ty of phrase in his preference to the
“fierce Siberian sunshine’ of the
South. The time may’ come when
people will go in a week’s time on
trains drawn by electric moters to find
a winter refuge in sunny Siberia.
————
America’s First Strike.
Do you know that this government
had been in existence over fifty years
before such a thing as a strike was
known among the laboring people 27”
asked Frank Grassner, of Cincinnati, as
he leaned thoughtfully against the cigar
stand at Occidental yesterday. ‘Yes,
sir, fifty years, and it was reserved for
Ohio to be the scene ofthe first revolt.
In was in 1840, in June, I think, that
the employes of Wolf & Co.’s foundry
in Cincinnatistruck for an increase in
pay, and in a few days it spread so as to.
include all the iron workers of the city.
For more than a month both sides held
out, and atthe end of that time the la-
borers succeeded in securing money with
which to start a co-operative foundry.
They chose a manager and a superin-
tendent from among their own number,
and started out with a great boom. At
the end of three years they went to the
wall, and after every thing was cleaned
up they were still $300,00 behind. As.
each of the incorporators was personally
responsible under the Ohio law for the
liabilities ot the ‘concern, without limi-
tation as to time, every one of the strik-
ers was compelled to leave the States
in order to prevent their savings from
being seized to satisfy their creditors. So
ended the first strike.”—San. Francisco
Call,
I A AACR LAC Sa
Eggs Worth $400 Apiece.
‘There are only four eggs of the great
auk now in the country,” says an oloo-
gist, “and they are valued at $500 each.
It seems odd to think of a bird becoming
extinet, but no one has seen a Labrador
duck, either, since 1866. There are but
five mounted specimens in existence,
and none of the eggs are in existence,
Kirtland’s warbleris another bird that
is rare. Until recently but seven had
ever been captured, and these all were
found in a region near Cleveland, Ohio,
less than a mile square. Specimens
were worth $100 apiece. ‘But a little
while age a naturalist who chanced to
visit the Bahama Islands came upon a
colony of the birds, and knowing what
a mine he had struck, shot about twenty
and took them to his country. When
he began to unload, the story’ came out
and the market sagged $5 or $6. The
Connecticut warbler is another bird of
interest to oologists, because no one has
yet seen its eggs. It passes up the Miss-
issippi River in the early spring and
probably mates far in the interior of
brought from the Isle of France by the
naturalist Lintx d'Abren. Here is a
celebrated collection of palms, arranced
on each side of a long avenue. The
trees are over 80 feet high; and form
an immense array of columns with
green capitals, presentirg the appear-
ance of an immense bower of & mast
surprising kind.
The spectacle seen on entering the
Bay of Rio de Janeiro is grand and
astonishing. The bay is surrounded |
by high mountains of granite. There
are picturesque islands scattered abont ; |
various cities occupy the margins of |
the waters, between which and the
capital Yoats are constantly plying. As
the seat of a great empire, Rio de
Janéiro has seen the residence of the
nation, the General Assembly, the
superior authorities, etc. It possesses an
excellent univepsity, military and civil
academiet, commercial institutions,
charitable | establishments, museums,
libraries, a conservatory of music,
arsenals, ete. According to the census
of 1880 the population is 400,000.
——————
The proprietors of Ely’s Cream
Balm do not claim it to be a cure-all,
but a remedy for catarrh, cold in the
head and hay fever. It is not a liquid
or a snuff. is easily applied into the nos-
trils. It gives relief at once.
British North America. and goes South
in the fall by the way of the Atlantic
seaboard. If any one can find the nest
af the licde fellows with four eggs in it,
it will be $200 in his pocket.”
In Favor of Africa.
Bishop Turner’s Hopeful Prediction For
the Future.
Boston, Sept. 21.— Bishop Henry Mec-
Neil Turner spoke at a large congrega-
tion of colored people last night here on
his proposed trip to Africa and in ad-
vocacy of the migration of 150,000 of the
colored race to that continent. His ob-
servation, he said, had taught him that
there was little hope for the colored race
in this country; that the best thing a
number of them could do was to go to
some other country and set up a govern-
ment of their own aud demoustrate that
they had in them native ability to ad-
minister the affairs of state.
He solemnly believes that black men
and women in America would finally be
the instrument to redeem and christian-
ize Africa and plant on her soil one of
the grandest governments on which the
sun ever shone. A few weeks ago in a
conversation he had with President Har-
rison, the latter wondered why the col-
ored people took so little interest in the
subject.