-
Bemovea fi
Bellefonte, Pa., Dec. 15. 1899.
ONLY A BOX.
Only abox, secure and strong,
Rough and wooden and six feet long,
Lying here in the drizzling rain,
Waiting to take the up-bound train.
Only its owner, just inside,
Cold and livid and glassy-eyed;
Little to him if the train be late,
Nothing has he to do but wait.
Only an open grave somewhere,
Ready to close when he gets there:
Turf and grasses and flow’rets sweet,
Ready to press him "neath their feet.
Only a band of friends at home,
Waiting to see the traveler come:
Naught he will tell of distant lands,
He cannot even press their hands.
He has no stories weird and bright,
He has no gifts for a child’s delight;
He did not come with anything,
He had not even himself to bring.
Yet they will softly him await,
And he will move about in state:
They will give him when he appears,
Sorrow and pity and tender tears.
Only a box, secure and strong,
Rough and wooden, and six feet long,
Angels guide that soulless breast,
Into a long and peaceful rest.
REBEKAH BINGS’ BLIGHTED LIFE.
“There’s worrying,’’ said Mrs. Marrow.
“Work and worry are like Saul and David;
if work kills thousands, worry kills its tens
of thousands—and I’ve minded that it’s
mostly somebody elge’s worrying that kills
us. Besides, worriers have little except
themselves to think of, and workers have
other people.
“There was poor Rebekah Bing, who was
always ailing. Rebekah was engaged to
her cousin Barty Higgins when they were
real young; but she took the measles and
typhoid, and the doctors said it left her
with a chronic spine and a weak heart. So
of course she didn't marry Barty, but just
staid engaged to him straight along. It
was real interesting to hear Rebekah tell
about her blighted life.
“We often stopped and talked to Rebekah
on our way to a concert or social; it seem-
ed so pitiful she never could go, and she
had no other way of hearing the town-talk;
for Barty never left her to go anywhere,
and Molly was too busy, owing to Rebekah
having so much trouble. Many’s the time
I’ve seen Rebekah just like a queen with
her court around her, all sympathizing; for
her ailing so constant made her real im-
portant in Monahawk. You see, the chronic
spine and the weak heart would take turns
and follow each other up, and at each turn
Rebekah declared she couldn’t live till the
next arrived.
“You wouldn’t have thought Rebekah
Bing was so poorly to look at her. She
was real fair, not being exposed to the heat
or the © 'd orto work, like most of us, and
she wif, always dressed pretty and nice, be-
cause folly, her sister, was as spick and
spar as she could be,and spent all her time
nv sing Rebekah and making things for her
to wear and to eat. Of course a body had
to be busy around Rebekah Bing, seeing
she had so much happen to her.
‘I never heard Molly called pretty—she
was real small and thin—except, of course,
Ellis Fletcher thought she was. He'd al-
ways been a sort of champion of Molly’s,
and would likely have been a heap more if.
Molly had had time; for there wasn’t much
opportunity to notice Molly. Butit seems
to me that people who forget all about
themselves in thinking about others have a
sort of unseen prettiness that’s got to be
found out. Folks thought Rebekah pretty.
She had brown eyes and a good color, and
her face never got thin, which was natural,
seeing she couldn’t take exercise. Rebekah
never fell off, even after one of her dying
spells. I always felt like I'd been to an
exhibition, or away from home, after one
of Rebekah’s dying spells. Of course it
was natural they shouldn’t try my nerves
as they did Molly’s. I being an old friend,
Molly mostly sent over for me wher Re-
hekah was dying.
“I remember one day old Em'ry came
running over and said for me to come quick,
that Miss Rebekah was dying. When I
got there Mr. Pfett, the preacher, was com-
ing away.
‘Sister Bing’s mighty bad,’ said he.
“Which is it?’ said I.
‘The weak heart,’ said he; ‘and she says
she surely can’t pull through this time,’
said he.
‘‘Molly was on the steps, crying. She
followed me up to Rebekah’s room, and,
sure enough, there lay Rebekah with her
eyes closed like she was unconscious.
‘‘She was taken at midnight, and now
the doctor cannot bring heraround,’ whis-
pered Molly, wiping her eyes.
“Had any appetite for the things we
sent over from the festival ?’ said I.
*‘And Molly allowed that Rebekah had
done right well the evening before with
crab salad, ice cream, and lemonade. ‘Oh,
Mis’ Marrow, I can’t live without Becky !
I’ve dreaded the time for so long, and now
it’s come—it’s come!” cried poor little
Molly.
‘“Well, if it’s come we mustn’t complain’,
said I, with an eye on Rebekah’s eyelids.
“I can’t live without her! Oh, why
doesn’t Barty come?’ whispered Molly,
wringing her hands.
‘Well, a man’s a man,’ said I, looking
steady at Rebekah’s eyelids. ‘Miss Sterett
gave a big crabbing party down to our
wharf this morning. I guess Barty's—’
“He isn’t |’ said Rebekah Bing, opening
her eyes wide; ‘you know he isn’t, Mis’
Marrow ! Barty Higgins is coming here
to me as fast as his feet can carry him !’
“Oh, she’s come round !—she’s come
round !’ cried poor little Molly, on her
knees beside Rebekah.
‘‘Now, Rebekah, don’t you excite your-
self,’ said I, ‘or you’ll be dying again. I
was just about to say that Barty isn’t like
the rest of them, for I met him riding like
the wind down for Dr. Harley, the new
doctor at Deal’s, who knows so much about
the heart.’
*‘Oh, Becky, Becky ! you won’t die this
time, will you?’ sobbed little Molly.
“I won’t have the new doctor,” whis-
pered Rebekah; ‘but maybe if I had a little
nourishment—’
‘Molly flew to get it, and when I left
Rebekah was sitting up in bed eating toast
and jelly. I met Barty at the door, pant-
ing hard. Behind him was the new doc-
tor.
‘Is she alive?’ gasped Barty, leaning
against the door.
“Eating toast and jelly,’ said I.
‘‘He broke by me up to Rebekah, and
Molly came down to see the doctor.
‘Is this the patient?’ he said, eying
Molly.
‘‘No, indeed; that’s just Molly,’ said I,
noticing that Molly did look right small
and peaked. Then Molly explained nicely
that after such an attack her sister didn’t
feel like seeing a new doctor, and he went
out; but at the door he looked back at me
and nodded to Molly.
“It wouldn’t hurt her to eat some of her
sister’s toast and jelly,’ said he.
“A few days afterwards Molly came
across to me in despair. Rebekah had a
dreadful case of boils on her neck, and it
had brought on hysterics. Molly had been
up all night fanning her and keeping ice to
her head, and now Rebekah had fever.
“‘She’ll never stand it, Mis’ Marrow,
never I’ said Molly. ‘It does seem like
poor Becky might have been spared this,
she’s had so much !’
“And what’s that all on your face and
hands?’ said I.
‘Nothing but bee stings,’ said Molly.
‘My bees swarmed yesterday and stung
me.’
“And you haven’t done a thing for it
yet 2 said I.
‘Oh, it’s nothing, and I haven’t thought
of it, Becky’s been so had,’ said Molly.
‘Never mind me, Mis’ Marrow, but come
and see if you can do anything for Becky.’
“I went over to the dark room where Re-
bekah Bing lay moaning, and opened the
shutters, although she cried out; for ‘twas
hot enough in there to give any one a
fever.
‘Has Barty come?’ she whispered, like
she was faint.
“Shall I send again, Mis’ Marrow ?’
asked little Molly, trembling. ‘Hadn’t I
better send quick ?’
“Well, I never knew a body to die of a
few bee stings, but maybe Rebekah could;
I don’t know,’ said I.
“It isn’t bee stings; it’s inflammation,’
moaned Rebekah. ‘You don’t know how
1 felt all night !’
“No, I don’t,’ said I. ‘If I had every-
body else’s feelings on top of my own,
’twould be time to talk of dying.’
“Send for Barty I’ moaned Rebekah.
‘‘Rebekah took Barty real hard, just like
the bee stings. They were engaged most
twenty years, all told, and it wasa heap
more variety for Barty than if he’d been
engaged to a livelier person, for he was al-
ways afraid of losing her, and it made her
more valuable. ‘Most every night Re-
bekah bade him good-hy,lest she shouldn’t
live till morning. Molly said it was real
solemn and impressive and like a ghost
story, and sometimes Barty was moved to
tears. It was a queer way to hold a man.
I’ve known them to be held in many ways
besides by love,but Rebekah’s dying spells
answered as well, and were more exciting.
“‘By-and-by they got to be more frequent,
and Barty was likely to be sent for at any
time, though it did seem to me that Re-
bekah never looked so well; but maybe
that wasn’t natural, for Molly said Re-
bekah knew she was getting the dropsy.
Soon after, sure enough, Rebekah had a
dying spell from dropsy, and insisted upon
sending for Mr. Bentz, the undertaker, to
find out what sort of a plate he'd made for
her. Mr. Bentz had been summoned so
often that he’d madeall ready for Rebekah,
and certainly did take an interest in it.
But when she found out he’d left a space
for ber age, she was so put out that it
brought her around. Excitement will do
it sometimes, they tell me. After that
Molly was suddenly taken sick—nothing
except nerves, Dr. Harley said, and that
she needed a change. We sent for him,
Barty and I, for Rebekah was in bed with
hysterics because there was nobody to take
care of her. So the next day the doctor
sent Molly away, though she fought hard
not to go, and the night after she went I
took care of Rebekah.
‘She looked so bright and well that I
said, ‘Becky, you’re getting real stout;
but she declared that it wasn’t solid flesh,
but dropsy, and that her heart would sure-
ly fail soon. Well, though it wasa heap
of responsibility, seeing Molly was away,
I thought I’d try p new treatment, as noth-
ing else had done any good in all these
years, so I said :
“Oh, I guess not, Rebekah. You just
need diet, that’s all.”’
“But, my! It drove her intoa sort of
trembling faint, and I was right frightened.
“I'11 send for Dr. Harley,’ said I.
“I won’t have him! I won’t have him !
You’ll starve me to death, between you!
gasped Rebekah. ‘Send for Barty ! I want
Barty to come to hear my last wishes !’
“But I didn’t send for Barty; for I'd
kept an eye on Barty Higgins for some
time. He’d grown to look real old and
worn out with anxiety. So that morning
I asked him to do me a favor, saying that
I would explain to Rebekah—which I did
when the proper time arrived, though it
wasn’t for a good while afterwards.
“There was a pretty young girl board-
ing with me from down at Cedar Cove, and
I up and asked Barty Higgins to take her
over to Mis’ Sterrett’s dance that evening.
He was mighty surprised and doubtful at
first; then I persuaded him, and he didn’t
like to say no. So when Rebekah kept
worrying me I said.
“Well, Becky, if you must know, Barty
is down at Mis’ Sterrett’s about this time,
dancing with Kitty Bell.”’
“Dancing with Kitty Bell!’ she says,
sitting up in bed, and a red spot breaking
out on each cheek.
“It’s the truth, Becky,’ said 1; ‘and if
it’s the first dance he’s had for fifteen years,
I guess it won’t be the last, for Kitty Bell’s
a lovely dancer,’ said I, ‘and as bright as a
bird.’
‘‘You can give me my supper, Mis’ Mar-
row,’ says Rebekah, suddenly; ‘I feel bet-
ter.’
‘““When she’d eaten her supper, she got
up and curled her hair before the glass.
But Barty didn’t come that night. The
next day, when he did come, Rebekah was
sitting on the porch dressed inthe new
blue lawn Molly made her before she went
away. She had her hair curled, too, and I
minded that she knew enough not to men-
tion Kitty Bell, though I don’t helieve she
ever quite forgave me.
“Poor Barty! He looked like heaven
had opened for him that day. He didn’t
know what to make of Rebekah. The
truth was he’d made areal idol of Rebekah
Bing, and seemed to see her just as he
wanted to see her. I suppose that’s the
way with love, mostly.
“Poor Rebekah ! I went up there to the
funeral soon afterwards. It wasreal im-
pressive. [Rebekah ?
“Why, bless you, Rebekah Bing isn’t
dead !” said Mrs. Marrow. ‘Why, she’s
married and weighs a hundred and ninety
pounds! And it isn’t dropsy, either!
"Twas Molly that died.’
“Barty ? Why, you see, as soon as little
Molly came back and died—’twas nerves,
Doctor Harley said. But Ellis Fletcher
he went on dreadful; he said it was Re-
bekah. Why, Rebekah hadn’t anybody to
take care of her, so she got well. You see,
there wasn’t anything else for her to do—
poor Rebekah ! Then she up and broke her
engagement off with Barty. Seemed like
Barty was ’most an old man then, and
needed care himself, and, like Rebekah,
wasstarting in fresh. But, if you believe
it, he took it so hard that he went South
and died of swamp fever—so they said.
He’d made a kind of angel in his mind out
of Rebekah. Maybe it was just as well he
never learned better. But she got the life-
insurance.
‘Rebekah Bing married Mr. Bentz, the
undertaker, after he came into some mon-
ey. He said he couldn’t do less than marry
Miss Bing, seeing she had aiways been
such an encouragement to him in his busi-
ness.”’—By Virginia Woodward Cloud, in
Harper's Bazar.
The Capital of Natal.
Sketch of Pietermaritzburg, on Which General Jou.
bert’s Boers Are Advancing.
Pietermaritzburg, generally abbreviated
to Maritzburg, is the capital and centre of
government of Natal, situated seventy and
one quarter miles northwest of Durban, in
the centre of a plateau which forms the
second terrace of the colony. 2,218 feet
above the sea level. It may be mentioned
that Maritzburg is only seventy five and a
half milesfrom Estcourt, which is the chief
centre of Weenen country, now threatened
by the Boers.
Pietermaritzburg is named after the
two famous Boer leaders, Pieter Retief and
Gert Maritz, who laid out the city in 1830.
After the ‘‘trekkers’’ from the Cape enter-
ed Natal, the bulk of the people, about 2,-
000 congregated at Bushman’s’ Rand, the
present capital, situated among hills on the
ridge and sides of a gentle slope which
forms part of the north bank of the river
Umtunduzi, a tributary of the Umgeni.
Water was led down the streets; the eryen,
or pilots, were surrounded by turf walls
and planted with fruit trees or vegetables.
Gradually houses—low, one-storied bhuild-
ings—began to fill up the square, sub-divid-
ed into blocks, formed by the town;and
even in 1839 Pretorius described it as ‘‘a
large, pleasant and well watered town.”” In
the centre of the city was the open square
known from its foundation as the ‘market
square,’”’ a rendezvous for country men ar-
riving with their wagons on a pleasure vis-
it or for business purposes ere the era of
the locomotive. . In those early days, Mar-
itzburg was devoid of trees—a bare desolate
expanse. Now it is a city bosomed in trees
with plantations on the neighboring hills.
To the northwest of the city, and 1,000
feet above it, is what is known locally as
the town hill, an elevation in the third of
the series of the terraces rising from the
coast. Thereare over thirty miles of streets
laid out in the usual Dutch fashion of divid-
ing areas into rectangular blocks. The
population of Maritzburg taken last year
was 20,155, comprising 11,400 Europeans,
6,150 natives and 2,700 Indians. The gar-
rison, which is the headquarters of the im-
perial forces in the colony, is situated at
Fort Napier, on a kopje overlooking and
commanding the city from the southwest.
The main line of the railway runs through
the upper end of Maritzburg, just below
the garrison, and in 1892 a commodious
and central railway station was built there.
Its dark brown soil, itsred tiled houses, its
wild rose hedges, and the abundance of
trees give it the appearance of a large Eng-
lish village. Butof late years extensive
building operations have been in progress
and villas of the modern English type are
springing up in every direction. In 1892 the
town hall was completed at a cost of £50,-
000, and it was destroyed by fire in 1898.
Other public buildings of importance are
the legislative assembly, now utilized as a
hospital; the railway station, the post office
supreme court and market houses. Out-
side the city and across the Umsunduzi riv-
er, are the colleges and the Natal police
headquarters in the colony. The college,
presided over by R. D. Clark, M.A. an
old New college man, and colleague of Sir
Alfred Milner, isa very handsome huild-
ing, and the police barracks form asubstan-
tial block half a mile distant from the col-
lege. Maritzburg is well supplied with
water, and the cost of the present system
amounts to over £65,000. A large library
supplies the literary wants of the capital,
containing as it does, over 13,000 volumes;
the government makes a grant of $1,750 per
annum to this institution. There are sev-
eral manufactories in the capital; a large
brewery, which caters for the imperial
troops, a tannery, and wattle bark factories
are among the industries of the city, which
however, mainly depends for its prosperity
on its agricultural surroundings and the
permanent garrison of imperial troops.
Apart from the inadegnate protection af-
forded hy Fort Napier. Maritzburg bas ab-
solutely no permanent defences. Should
the Boers, by any chance, be so venture-
some as to attempt an assault on the ‘City
of the Great White Elephant,”’ the impro-
vised defenses should prove equal to the
occasion. Guns have doubtless been
brought up from the warships at Durban,
and with the forces now stationed there, no
fearsshonld be entertained for the safety of
the capital of Natal.
A Happy Home.
It is not the beautiful shade trees that
surround a house, nor the gravel walks,
neither is it the painted walls nor the
beautiful pictures that adorn them, nor
the elaborate furniture, that construct a
happy home, but it is the presence of Jesus
that reigns therein that causes love:to flow
from heart to heart and peace and quiet-
ness to dwell therein. Look for a moment
at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
How eagerly they ran out to meet the Sa-
viour, and see how how He turns from the
unbelieving duty to spend his nights, after
a toilsome day with them. We, of course,
can’t entertain him as they did, but we can
give his spirit alodging place in our hearts,
thereby shedding a radius of love over our
homes that is felt by every member of the
the family.
How sad to see a family driven into un-
quietness by one unpleasant member. The
word ‘‘home’’ has a sacred meaning and
should be exempt from the evils of the
world. There love should reign supreme.
Tt matters not how poor we are we can
still be happy. Men are often driven from
home into places of evil because home is
not happy. Women are driven into des-
pondency because of the neglect of home,
and children seek pleasure abroad because
home is not what it should be ‘lighted up
with the presence and smiles of Jesus.
Checks Without Stamps.
It doesn’t appear to be generally known,
says the Hazleton Plain Speaker, that
when a man draws a check to his own
order he needn’t put a two-cent stamp on
it. If you, for instance, want to get out
some money from your own account, all
you need to do is to change your check so
that it reads like a receipt. Write ‘‘re-
ceived of’’ in front of the banks name,
cross out the words ‘‘pay to the order of,’’
and then fill in the spaces with amount of
money required and sign as usual, and you
have there a check that is legal without a
stamp. The government decided that this
could be done last August, but it gave
no great publicity toits decision, and prob-
ably not one private person or business
house in ten has ever heard: of the mat-
ter.
One Dead, 57 Injured.
Fire Broke Out In Reading Hosiery Mill, Causing Pan-
ic Among 600 Employes. Stairways Mass of Flames
Great Portion Escaped by Jumping. Loss is $250,-
000.
One of the most appalling fires that has
ever visited Reading occurred last Thurs-
day when the extensive hosiery mill of the
Nolde & Horst Company took fire destroy-
ing the plant, causing the death of one and
possibly more persons, and injuring about
60 other employes of the company.
One badly burned corpse was recover-
ed from the ruinsand could not be identi-
fied. It is believed that one other body is
in the debris, while the firemen and police
authorities are inclined to think that more
than one is in the ruins.
Of the 57 persons injured the following
are the most seriously hurt and are suffer-
ing from dislocations and broken limbs :
Esther Mowbry, Mamie Ritter, Sallie
Christman, Emma Lance, Annie Baer, Vin-
nie Baer, Annie Bruner, Sallie Bausher,
Katie Boyer, Louisa Barron, Annie Bow-
man, Sallie Clay, Katie Dapler, Ella Kin-
kle, Miss Ibach, Mamie Kraemer, Mamie
Lachman, Frances Luden, Emma Lorah,
Catherine Luppold, Annie Maherny, Bessie
Shaeffer, Minnie Schwartz, Sallie Sherman,
Gertrude Seifert, Jennie Warner, Maggie
Whitmeyer, Lela Hendershaw and Mary
Yeich.
The remainder of the 57 had hands or
faces burned, limbs bruised or otherwise
injured.
The hosiery building was a large four-
story structure, and nearly 600 persons
were employed, most of them being women
and girls. The fire was discovered about
11 o’clock, and in a few moments the girls
were panic stricken. They made a dash
for the fire escape and the stairs but found
that the latter means of escape could not
carry all of them down at the same time.
Several hundred of the girls then made a
rush for the windows and appealed to those
in the street to save them. Ladders were
brought into use, and many girls were tak-
en from the burning building safely. Most
of them, however, jumped and were serious-
ly injured. For a few moments from every
window on the second and third floors girls
leaped one after another. Some lodged in
the arms of those below. but many struck
the ground. They were picked up and
rapidly removed to hospitals or to their
homes.
Many of the girls who escaped by the
stairways and fire escapes were badly burn-
ed, but none of them was, it is believed,
seriously injured. It is not known how
the dead met their fate, but it is believed
that, they fainted and then burned to
death. The fire traveled with great rapid-
ity owing to the inflammable stock in the
building. By those who saw the progress
of the fire it is considered miraculous that
there was such a small loss of life.
There is much criticism among the em-
ployes because of the fact that the screens
in the windows, except those at the fire es-
capes were securely nailed to the window
sills. The girls had to break the screens
before they could get out to leap to the
ground. Some of the employes says that
the doors were locked, as a rule, after the
employes were in the building.
The fire was caused by the explosion of
gasoline. The loss is estimated at about
$275,000, on which there is an insurance of
$150,000.
Troubled With Locusts
They Are Really One of the Pests of the Transvaal.
The dweller in the Transvaal has many
troubles to contend with, not the least of
which is the locust.
The visitation that descends upon the
land of Pharaoh is still of yearly occurrence
in the Transvaal. When a swarm of lo-
custs, consisting of many millions, settles
on a farm it covers the ground so thickly
that crops are destroyed and cattle die from
want of food.
Often a cloud of locusts alighting upon a
railway entirely stop a train, as the engine
is unable to make any headway along the
slippery rails. ‘‘Springhaan’’ is the Trans-
vaal name for locusts, but the young, wing-
less insectsare known as ‘‘voetgangers.’’
It is possible to destroy vast numbers of
these by digging a hole at each end of a
piece of Italian cloth which has been
stretched on uprights like a fence and the
locusts, finding themselves nnable to climb
it, turn aside and fall into the pits. They
are then covered with earth, and so killed.
The most damaging kind of locusts are
those with violet wings. These are more
voracious than any other. In 1896 Natal
was over-run with them. As indicating the
power for evil locusts possess it may be
mentioned that no less than £1,750 was
paid for locusts’ eggs by the government,
averaging six pence a pound. The eggs
are contained in a cocoon, which resembles
a piece of twisted brown thread, the loops
in it being the eggs. There are, roughly
speaking, about 550 cocoons to the pound
weight, so that in order to earn sixpence a
laborer had to collect about 40,000
eges.
Although the life of the locust averages
only 9 or 10 montbs the eggs may lie dor-
mant and then batch after an interval of
many years. A South African travelersays
it is a pity there is a prejudice among
white men against using locusts for food.
They are said to be quite palatable, and
very nourishing. Nearly all animals, in-
cluding horses, eat them with avidity.
The castor oil plant is said to be a dead-
ly poison to locusts, but it is about the
only herb or plant they will not attack.
Science has made many attempts to exter-
minate locusts, but its strangest method of
attack is as follows: Some healthy locusts
are caught and inoculated with disease.
They are then liberated to join a passing
swarm to spread the infection among mil-
lions of their companions.
——1In the December number of the
“Forum? O.P. Austin, ina paper on
‘‘ Africa: Present and Future,’’ says :
“The twentieth-century Africa promises
startling contrasts when compared with the
Africa of the nineteenth century. With
an area four times as great as that of the
United States, a population of 150,000,000,
a soil and climate capable of infinite variety
of production, a rapidly expanding com-
merce, and the greatest known supplies of
ivory, gold and diamonds, its development
under the modern methods which are now
being applied to it is practically assumed.
The home of the oldest civilization. But
yesterday enveloped in the darkness of
mystery without and ignorance within, it
is today illuminated by the search light of
modern methods; and ae its importance and
attractions are being recognized, with this
recognition must come development. With
2,000,000 Europeans scattered over its vast
area, acquainting themselves with its nat-
ural conditions and requirements, with the
steamer, the railroad, the telegraph and
telephone carrying light and knowledge
and civilization to its darkest corners.
Africa cannot long remain unknown or un-
knowing.”’
Woman on Trial.
Claimed That She Killed Her Husband With Powdered
Glass.
At Marshall, Mich., on Wednesday Mrs.
Marie Butterfield Sanderson was placed
upon trial upon the charge of having killed
her husband, Rudolphus Sanderson, by
feeding him with ground glass. The case
is attracting wide attention.
Sanderson, who was eighty-six years old,
was worth nearly $500,000 when he was
married to Marie Butterfield, twenty-eight
years old, in July, 1898. She was noted
for her beauty. She first met Sanderson
in Battle Creek, where he lived, while she
was visiting a friend.
The elderly man fell in love with her at
once, and when she went hack to Detroit
to take a position in the Harper hospital
there he followed her, and finally secured
her consent to become his wife. The mar-
riage ceremony was performed in Windsor,
Canada.
The couple returned to Battle Creek and
occupied a handsome residence. She ap-
peared to be very attentive to him, but the
gossips said he seemed almost afraid of her.
The aged husband, who had been ailing
for fully four weeks, died suddenly two
months after marriage. He was buried
and was practically forgotten when Marie
Robertson, a servant in Sanderson’s family
for many years, who was discharged by the
young widow shortly after the funeral, be-
gan to talk. She accused Mrs. Sanderson
of having killed her husband, and said she
saw Mrs. Sanderson put ground glass into
the man’s morning oatmeal. Further, she
declared that she had seen Mrs. Sanderson
grinding the glass in a coffee mill in the
basement.
Sanderson’s body was exhumed two
weeks after his death and the stomach and
intestines were sent to the State university
at Ann Arbor, where after a close analysis
powdered glass was found in the intestines.
However, no expert has yet been found to
swear that the quantity discovered was
sufficient to have caused death.
In answer to this, Mrs. Sanderson de-
clared that the two brothers of Sanderson’s
first wife, Jasper and Onyx Adams, to-
gether with the discharged servant, Marie
Robertson, were conspiring to defraud her
of her share of Sanderson’s estate.
But after a coroner’s jury had found that
the cause of death was probably through
the medium of theadministration of ground
or powdered glass, the widow was arrested
on the charge of attempted murder, and
confined in the county jail at Marshall.
The Robertson woman in telling her
story, said : ‘‘Mis. Sanderson spoke twice
of poison, saying she would give her hus-
band something that would fix him. She
once said : ‘‘I can hardly tolerate him at
my table, I will give him ground glass.
That will fix him.”?
““The next morning Mrs. Sanderson took
an old newspaper and went into the yard,
gathered up some old bottles and broke
them with a hammer and then took the
pieces into the cellar. As shestarted down
she turned to meand said : ‘You will think
this awful, Marie, but I do not think any
more of it than of eating my breakfast.”
Miss Robertson told how she watched
Mis. Sanderson grind up the glass in the
mill. ‘*‘She told me she would take care
of Mr. Sanderson’s porridge in the morn-
ing, and the next morning she placed some
porridge in a saucer, put in a teaspoonful
of ground glass, then more porridge and
placed it on his plate, putting sugar and
cream on it. This she did every morning.
After a day or two, Mrs. Sanderson said
that ‘the old fool was actually getting fat
on glass.’
‘“Then Mrs. Sanderson told me the glass
was taking effect. The old man complain-
ed of pains in his stomach.”
The Robertson woman declared Mrs.
Sanderson chatted pleasantly with her hus-
band every morning as he was eating his
porridge up to the time of his death.
Mrs. Sanderson, soon after her husband’s
death, created some antagonism by selling
her interest in the estate for $6,000, when
it was said to be fully worth ten times that
much. A will, said to have been made in
1882 by the dead man, gave the entire
estate to a former wife and daughter, but
both are dead.
A Laugh Cost Him a Bride.
Silberman’s Artificial Nose Dropped Into His Sweet-
heart's Lap, and Now She Won't Marry Him.
A New York dispatch to the Philadel-
phia Times says :
Ezril Silberman, a plumber, of 151 Al-
lent street, met with an accident some
years ago which necessitated the removal
of part of his nose, and he had it patched
with a portion of flesh colored rubber.
From an artistic standpoint the job was
a success. Yet at critical times the rub-
ber nose would drop out of place and cause
Silberman no end of annoyance. Silber-
man prospered in business, and about a
year ago he decided to get married.
He sought an East Side schatchen and
the following day was introduced to Miss
Suline Singer, of 117 Christie street. It
was a case of mutual love at sight Silber-
man thought he had full control of his re-
fractory nose, and did not confide his afflic-
tion to Miss Singer. A marriage contract
was drawn up, both Silberman and Miss
Singer depositing $200 in the hands of a
banker, the agreement being that in case
one of the contracting parties failed to carry
out its provisions the other was to receive
the entire $400.
Silberman was unusually attentive to his
prospective bride, and gave her among
other things a gold watch and chain and a
diamond ring. Things went along smooth-
ly for a week. Then the couple visited a
Bowery theatre and bought seats near the
stage. The funny man made a remark
when he came on the stage which caused
the audience to laugh heartily. Silberman
laughed louder than any of the others, and
in the midst of the mirth his nose fell off
and dropped into his sweetheart’s lap.
He made a desperate clutch for it, and
slapped it to his face in the hope of replac-
ing it before his facial defect was discov-
ered. He was not only too late, but in his
haste placed the rubber nose on awry.
This was too much for Miss Singer, who
returned home alone. She refused to carry
out her part of the marriage contract, and
Silberman applied to the bank for the $200.
Miss Singer had deposited, and found that
it had been attached. He endeavored to
secure the presents he had given Miss
Singer, without success, and as a last re-
sort placed his case in the bands of law-
ers. A settlement was reached Wednesday,
when Silberman agreed to take his pres-
ents and allow Miss Singer to retain her
$200.
—— Peter Zimmerman, a notorious horse
thief, who has spent forty years in prisons
for stealing horses, was Wednesday sen-
tenced to the penitentiary by Judge White,
in Indiana county, for seventeen years.
Zimmerman is 74 years old and his home
is in Donegal township. He suggested to
the judge that a sentence of death by hang-
ing would be in keeping with his long
career of crime.
Shafter’s Caban Pullet.
The Pathetic Story of the General’s Acquirement
of a Feathered Mascot During War Times.
In Gen. Shafter’s quarters at San Fran-
cisco in a fine, glossy, ‘black Spanish’’
pullet, which if it had the power of speech
could tell a thrilling and a pathetic story.
Early in July, 1898, when the American
army in Cuba was supplying food to the
starving reconcentrados in El Caney, a ter-
rific storm wrought such havoc to the roads
that it became impossible to convey further
supplies to the town. Gen. Shafter
therefore issued an order that all who were
able might walk to his camp, six miles
away, and draw rations.
The order set in motion one of the sad-
dest processions that ever followed in the
wake of war. Ragged, hungry weak, ema-
ciated. a line of spectres daily wound its
awful length through swamp and mud and
jungle toward the food.
Lieut. Brooke and an interpreter were
returning to camp from El Caney one day
when they saw a little band of reconcen-
trados ahead of them. Rehind the men
and women lagged a G-year-old boy. He
was evidently sick and weary unto death,
but still he tottered persistently on.
At length, his last ounce of strength
gone, he fell and lay there in the mud, un-
able to rise. His father and mother
glanced back at him stolidly and went on.
Their own strength would be hardly suffi-
cient to carry them to camp, and suffering
had dulled their sensibilities. If he could
not keep up he must die where he fell.
Lieut. Brooke dropped from his horse,
picked the little fellow up and galloped
into camp with him. There he fed him
til he could eat no more, wrapped him in
warm blankets and left him to the long,
dreamless sleep of exhausted childhood.
An old Cuban woman washed his little cot-
ton shirt and trousers, and after a few
days’ rest he was sent back to El Caney
with a generous supply of provisions.
Two days later the little fellow, still
weak and pale, again appeared in camp.
Going straight to Lieut. Brooke, he took a
small chicken from inside his little shirt,
and with tears in his eyes presented it. It
was the only thing he could give him, he
said, to show his appreciation of the senor’s
kindness. He bad walked all the way
from El Caney through the deep mud, and
after he had presented his humble present
he walked back.
Lieut. Brooke took the chicken to Gen.
Shafter and told its story. The general
tethered it to his tent pole. When he en-
tered Santiago he took the bird with him.
There her nightly roost was a gilded
chandelier in the governor’s palace. When
the army moved out to camp again the
chicken went, too. Later she journeyed
to Montauk Point, thence to Governor's
Island, and now she struts and scratches
and cackles contentedly in San Francisco,
a living reminder of a deed of mercy, a pa-
thetic acknowledgment of the gratitude
with which at least one little reconcentrado
will always recall las Americanos.
Muskrats Cause Flood.
Make a Hole in Delaware and Raritan Canal Banks—
Miles Soon Under Water.
Muskrats made a Lole early Wednesday
morning in the banks of the Delaware &
Raritan canal, which caused a general
break. Miles of the farming country sur-
rounded Port Mercer, between Trenton and
Princeton, are under water, and thirty
miles of the canal is affected.
All the navigation between New Bruns-
wick and Bordentown is shut off, causing
a great loss of money to shippers. The
break affects the business of the Clyde line,
which transports from New York to Phil-
adelphia; the freight transports to Balti-
more and the South, and the Merchants’
line, between Philadelphia and Trenton.
More than a hundred canal boats are
tied up along the line, because there is a
fall of three feet in the canal between
Kingston and Bordentown, leaving only
four feet of water for navigation.
This has caused the officers of the Dela-
ware & Raritan canal to order all naviga-
tion to close at a time when the business is
the heaviest of the year.
Even the oldest shippers say that this is
the worst damage that muskrats have ever
caused. There have been small breaks,
but of recent years the canal company has
maintained a special police force, which
has patrolled the waters in houseboats, re-
ceiving a bounty of thirty-five cents for
every muskrat tail presented at its offlce.
The break which has caused all the pres-
ent trouble occurred near Clarkeville, at a
point where the land is much lower than
the bed of the canal, some time early Wed-
nesday morning.
The muskrats made a hole in the bank
not more than two feet square, but the wa-
ter soon made it thirty feet long and fast
filled the surrounding country.
The canal company’s officers were prompt-
ly on the scene, and called for hundreds of
laborers to prevent the break extending.
It will take a week or more to repair the
damage, and by that time the ice may do
its work of suspending business.
——Mis. Ezra T. Shoupe, of near Satil-
lo, Huntingdon county, was recently the
heroine of a thrilling encounter with a big
buck, which she first wounded with a rifle
ball and then dispatched with a knife, after
being attacked by the infuriated animal.
Mrs. Shoupe, who lives in a fine game
country, was alone at home when she saw
a large buck feeding in a nearby grain
field. She immediately secured her hus-
band’s rifle, a 32 calibre, and after a care-
ful aim shot the deer in the right fore-
shoulder. The buck at once attacked the
woman, who seeing her predicament,
grasped a large carving knife and fought
valiantly for her life. The animal was
somewhat handicapped by a broken fore-
leg, and at intervals would stumble and
fall. On one of these occasions, Mrs.
Shoupe, who had already received several
painful cuts from the buck’s uninjured
forefoot, planted the knife squarely in the
animal’s throat and cut the jugular vein.
The deer expired almost instantly, and
now Mrs. Shoupe finds herself famous.
The buck, which carried five-pronged ant-
lers, weighed 143 pounds. Mrs. Shoupe is
an expert in the use of firearmsand has
much game to her credit. In her encount-
er with the buck Mrs. Shoupe was pain-
fully, but not seriously injured.
A KEEN CLEAR BRAIN.—Your best feel-
ings, your social position or business suc-
cess depend largely on the perfect action of
your stomach and liver. Dr. Kings’s New
Life Pills give increased strength, a keen,
clear brain, high ambition. A 25 cent box
will make you feel likea new being. Sold
by F. Potts Green, druggist.
——D. F. Converse, a mill owner of
Spartansburg, S. C., has willed one-third
of his estate, valued at $500,000, to Con-
verse College, a local institution for the
higher education of women. He founded
the college ten years ago.