ae
The Stranglers of Paris:
Phe first famous strangler was a
fellow named Francois Denizett, nick-
named Father Francois, He floar-
ished about 1700, Having failed in
business as a cabinetmaker, he was
already an old man when he began his
career of crime. He was a master-rob-
ber—a cagon, as they used to say in
those days. He was also ‘‘a solitary,”
who did his work without accomplices,
He always wore about his person, like
a belt, a fine and marrow leather strap,
made of strong but supple leather. At
one end of this strap there was a buckle
attached—a buckle without any tongue,
and three sides of this buckle were
covered with little metal cylinders,
serving a pulleys, To the other end of
the strap a leaden ball was fastened,
which served the double purpose of a
handle, and in case of necessity a
“slang shot.” Father Francois would
on some imaginary pretext, introduce
himself into a house which he knew to
be momentarily occupied by a single wo-
man only. Sometimes he would enter as
though to make a neighborly call—like
any bon jowrier. He would then en-
gage in conversation, and at a propi-
tious moment would suddenly fling the
running noose of his strap over the
vietim’s head, press against the base
of her neck with his left hand and pull
with his right. In one moment the poor
ereature would bestrangled., This mas-
ter-strangler—a product of the first
republic—ended his villainous career in
in a very singular fashion.
It happened in the early part of 1793,
Francois Denizett had done two good
jobs,” in the neighborhood of the
Marche des Innocents. They were
highly profitable ventures; and he was
imprudent enough to risk a third, It
was the end of him! The women who
two previous crimes committed in the
their guard, At 4 o'clock on Sunday
afternoon our “Strangler” entered No.
3 Rue de la Reynie, under the pretext |
of selling handkerchiefs to a certain |
Mme, Lalouette, who kept a stand in
the market. This woman—a solidly- |
built and active person, quick of hand
and eye—was preparing dinper for her
family, Just as Francois entered she |
was about to cook a roast of beef, and
she held an immense iron spit in her
right hand. The moment she looked
at the pretended peddler, the recollec- |
tions of the ‘‘stranglers’ came to her: |
she prepared herself against attack, and |
never took her eyes off the man for a |
moment, When Father Francois
thought he had a good opportunity he
threw Lis strap; but at the same moment
Mme. Lalouette threw up her left hand, |
and the noose wound itself around it, |
Then she gave Francois such a terrible
thrust in the abdomen with her spit
that it actually disappeared in his body,
The blow was all the more violent be-
cause Francois had at the same instant
pulled violently toward him, in the hope |
of flinging her down and murdering her, |
Mme. Lalouette called for help, the |
neighbors rushed in and Father Fran- |
eois was arrested. But he was foolish |
enough to recover from being “‘spitted,” |
and was one of the first ferlampires of |
note who entertained the guillotine after |
its inaction of several months,
“Suspension,” or hanging, is a much
more modern method of strangulation, |
practiced chiefly in the lowest quarters
of the city. Two persons are required
for this work, the “‘suspender’’ and the |
“rummager.’’ If the accomplices are |
men, they generally select drunken
parties for victims, If it be a man and
woman who practice the crime, it is
usually accomplished thus: The wo- |
man, always a female of ill repute, |
called vanneuse (liar) approaches an in- |
dividual and engages in conversation |
with him, endeavoring to entice him to |
follow her. While this is going on her
‘““man’’ approaches, like any other pe- |
destrian, holding in his hand the ends |
of a long and large handkerchief |
$wisted into a rope. The moment he |
somes near enough he suddenly passes |
the handkerchief under the victim's
shin, turns himself half way round with
a jerk, and raises the poor wretch upom |
his back like a sack, The more the |
vietim struggles, the sooner he is
strangled. He loses all consciousness, |
While he is in this condition the woman
the vanneuse, plays the part of foulleuse,
ransacking his pockets and taking from |
him every object of value. When this |
kas been done, the “‘suspender” lets
the victim fall heavily to the ground.
This was how a poor workman was
murdered a few months ago in a dark
ally in Grenelle, The murderers ob
twenty francs, In defence the crimnals |
swore that they had not intended to
kill him, but only to gag him, and that
the handkerchief slipped from his mouth
ever his neck,
PEA iii
~Dr, Werner Siemens has demon-
strated by experiment that intensely
hot gases do not emit light, and that,
eonsequently, all light given by heated
gas must come from :olid impurities,
and not from the gas itself,
A Horrible Story.
The author of *‘Siberian Pictures”
says that, having on one occasion lost
his way, he drove up to a large hut
whence he saw a light shining. Cau-
tiously looking in at the window before
entering or knocking, he saw & hideous
sight, Two or three men were ranging
dead bodies, which they brought up
through a trap door from some under-
ground store-house, around & roem,
while another lighted a large fire. As
the fire burned up, the bodies, which
seemed at first stark frozen, began to
thaw and to exhibit signs of life, or at
least of movement, Then the p1incipal
performer advanced and deliberately
disembowled them one after anether.
The onlooker naturally thought he was
either dreaming or was assisting at
some frightful or unholy rite. But the
real explanation was very simple. Rus-
sian law does not permit the burial of
any person who dies accidentally with-
out a post-mortem examination. In
the depth of winter the visits of doctors
are rare, and it is the custom to freeze
the bodies until one comes round, when
all those who are waiting for burial are
produced together, and, being thawed
sufficiently to let the knife operate, are
performed upon and receive their cer-
tificate of interment. The rationalist
explanation is complete but the earlier
part of the tale, even in the hands of
a rather lame translator of an author
who does not himself seem to have any
great literary power, is not a little
striking. Poe or Hoffman could have
made a masterpiece of it.
EE — ih
SR
The Smallest Locomotive.
The smallest locomotive engine ever
built in the United States for regular
work was turned out by M, M., Buck &
Parish, La.
mechanism as one
wish to see,
respecting it: Twenty-one and
half inches
one-
gaug
four wheels,
wheels,
ten inches ;
tweaty-four
inches ; weight,
53
water,
link
HH) pounds,
motion, and
The boiler
two inspirators. The tank is made of
Ne.
th
380 gallons, and weight, wi
140 pounds,
the engine before it was shipped, it
si,
The Dispensary,
Removing Corns.
The Farmer's Call says :—'*An easy
ing, the pain and soreness will be gone,
and the corn can be taken out. Try it.”
Summer Food.
The question of proper food, particu
larly during the summer months, is a
the value of a diet of fruit and vege-
tables in hot weather, People eat too
much weat, thereby increasing the
them peculiarly liable to disease. In
cold weather the body requires more
heavy food than in warm, and gorging
one’s self with rich soups and pastries,
meats and gravies may not be followed
by any very disastrous results. Sucha
diet in midsummer, however, is pretty
sure to demand the payment of severe
suffering from the heat. We are daily
becoming wiser in sanitary matters,
and whenever we are ready to récog-
our ailments will disappear.
Sue Hit SoumeTHING EMPTY. —
“Aw, can you tell me, Miss Fair,”
queried George Washington LaDude,
after a brief period of intense study,
“why the—aw-Ponto’s caudal appen-
dage is like a coming event ¥' “No,
Mr, LaDude.” “Well—aw-it issome-
thing to cecur, don't you know—ha
ha!” “Very good Mr, LaDude-—very
good. But can you tell me why your
hat is like a bad habit ¥’ “Why—er.r,
aw--well, no; why is it!” “Because
it’s something toa void,”” “Oh, weally
now, Miss Fair, you are just too bad
for anything, don’t you know
—Dickens’ hero, Oliver Twist,
was a great lover of Irish poetry,
He was continually asking for
More.
Life in Sitka.
——
A Beautiful Harbor and Quaint
Town.
Nothing could be finer than the pic-
ture that opened before us on the shin-
ing Sunday morning when the steam-
ship Idaho wound her way between the
little islands in the harbor and fired a
resounding shot point-blank against the
echoing mountains behind Sitka. The
queer and out of-the-way capital of our
latest Territory seemed quite a metrop-
alis after the unbroken wilderness we
had been journeying through, and the
rambling collection of weather-beatén
and wmoss-covered buildings that have
survived from Russian days, and the
Government buildings, in their coats of
yellow-brown paint, smote us with a
sense of urban vastness and importance,
The castle frowned from ite rocky
height, as castles are supposed to do,
and the 1200 inhabitants of the town,
more than half of whom are Indians,
gave immediate signs of life before the
echoes of the cannen had ceased ringing
on the air. At a first look it wears the
air and dignity of a town with a history,
and can reflect upon the brilliant, good
old days of Russian rule, to which
fifteen years of American occupancy
have only given more lustre by contrast,
When Barauoff founded the town of
S tka, in 1799, the United States knew
nothing of this end of the world, and
murdering the inhabitants and burning
the houses in 1802, A new site was
chosen for a town, and the first build-
ings for the settlement of New Arch-
angel were erected in 1804, In
Baron Wrangell moved the capital from
Archangel, and then followed the bril.
18th of October, 1868
tory
transferred to
States in consideration
i sum of $7,200,000 in gold. In
was formally
of the
awl
United
there were but 30 000 inhabitants
¥
not (
one-tenth of them were white
| withdrawal of the
{ and his miniatore court, the civi
fleet left Sitka a deserted vill
age, with
| the grass growing higher and higher in
| picturesque in its decay and melanch
in its ruin and abandonment,
With harbor in
the world, the glories of its sea and
! shore
the most beautiful
ave been unsung, and a bay full
wooded islands and a circle of
mountain peaks that rise straight from
the walter awail the new generation of
A
crowns the rocky headland and
| poets and printers, deseried castle
oks
| Cown upon the scattered town, and ons
from the
wharf to the square around the Charch
of St, then spreads out
into a network of branches and by-
| WAYS,
Fstreet meanders landing
Michael, and
From the church a main by-
| way follows the curving bay for two
| miles down shore, and as a relic of Rus-
{ sian rule this airy and graveled walk is
{ the appreciated by residents,
tourist asd exiled officers of our DAVY.
DOs
a unique fame, and after two weeks on
shipboard we were properly thankful
for the chance of a long walk that did
not go over stony beaches or miry paths
gunk deep In the heart of the rank
forest growth. A ‘“‘blarney stone” of
{ mysterious origin and many legends
of the town, and many Russian maidens
and skeptical strangers have kissed its
smooth top,
| erhment barracks and the Custom
| House constitute the public buildings
| and sight-seeing places of Sitka, and a
| row of howitzers at the foot of the castle
steps and before the barracks give a
certain air of importance to what pre.
sumably stands for the heart of the city,
The castle, where the Romanoffs, Mag-
gells, Kupriasoffs, Makstuoffs and other
stately Russians held sway, is now un-
tenanted, save by the signal officer, who
keeps his whirligigs and instruments in
the tower and lives in one of the lower
rooms. The castle is built of heavy
cedar logs and plants in a way to it it
for a fortress, and with care and oceun-
pancy would last for centuries. No
banner hangs from its outer walls or
from the roof, and the empty rooms
with their deep windows, (all porcelain
stoves, and quaint brass chandeliers and
latches, are just the habitations for his-
torical and aristocratic ghests, Ocea-
sionally the officers of the men-of-war
get up entertainments in the extempor.
ized theatre on the upper floor, and the
old drawing-room of the Governors’
wives, is the scene of all the balls and
revels that the high society of Sitka in-
dulges into. Otherwise the ghosts and
the rats and the signal officers have it
to themselves ; and there is the ghost of
a beautiful Russian Princess who still
haunts the deserted castle. Like a
well-behaved ghost, the Princess comes
out at the midnight hour, She wears
long, trailing robes of black, and her
forehead, her neck and wrists are flash.
ing with diamonds. She wrings her
2
-
beautiful white hands, and wanders,
with sorrowful mien, from rsom to
room, and leaves a faint perfume as of
wild roses where she passes, Innum-
erable young officers from the men-of-
war have nerved up their spirits and
gone to spend a solitary night in the
castle, but none have yet held authentic
converse with the beautiful spirit and
learned the true story of her unresting
sorrow, By tradition the lady in black
was the daughter of one of the old Gov.
ernors, On her wedding night she dis-
appeared from the ballroom
midst of the festivities, and, after long
search, was found dead in one of the
small drawing rooms, Being forced
to marry against her will, one belief was
that she voluntarily took poison, while
another version ascribes the deed to an
unhappy lover; while altogether the
tale of this Lucia of the Northwest
isles gives just the touch of sentimental
intérest to the castle of the old Russian
Government
sess oi AA ————
Plous and Philosophical
~One of the greatest blessings you
can enjoy is a tender, honest, enlight-
ened ¢ nscience,
— Knowledge is that which next to vir-
tue, truly and essentially raises one man
above another,
~{i0od is glad when anyone honors
father and mother, grandfather and
grandmother who are worn down by
age,
— We must remember that there are
! three things from which we cannot es-
| death,
The Land Beyond.
The land beyond the ses !
When will life
When shall we
{ O'er the dark strait whos
Bi d TORY ;
When shall we
Calm land bey
The
How
| When flushed with evenir
% task be o'er?
hi that soft blue shore:
billows foam
Fe
ome to thee,
nd the seal
land beyond
close it oftoer
the son!
EO TTS
£8 peaceful
yer the
we Faber,
-- But few
{ character,
| rounded out,
men
They
are systemstical in
are not properly
{too much devel
and not n
Hence, almost every man has his hob-
important
uot, which dominates his life.
oped in some direc-
tions enough | others,
by, some idea, whether
Itisa
nice thing to possess a well balanced
Wooing a Female Medical Stu-
dent,
Miss Mary Flynn was studying med-
icine and courted at the same time.
Mr. William Budd was attending to
the latter part of the business. One
evening while they were sitting together
in the parlor Mr. Budd was thinking
how he should manage to propose. Miss
Flynn was explaining certain physiolo-
gical facts to him. “Do you know,"
said she, ‘“that thousands of people are
actually ignorant that they smell with
the olfactory peduncle #”’ “Millions of
'em,’’ replied Mr. Budd. “And Aunt
Mary wouldn't believe me when 1 told
her she could not wink without a sphin-
cter muscle I” “How unreasonable
“Why a person cannot even kiss with.
out a sphincter!” ‘‘Indeed 7?’ “I
know it is 80.” ‘“May I try if I can 7
**0, Mr. Budd, it is really to bad of you
to make light of such a subject.” Mr.
Budd seized ber hand and kissed it.
She permitted it to remain in his grasp,
**I did not notice,” he said, “whether a
~—a~ what do you call it —a sphincter
helped me then or not, Let me try
again, Then he tried again, and while
he held her she explained to him about
the muscles of that portion of the
human body, *“It is remarkable how
much you know about such things.”
said Mr. Budd—‘‘reslly wonderful.
Now, for example, what is the bone at
the bac« of the head called?’ “Why,
the occipital bone of course,” “And
what are the names of the muscles of
the arms?’ “The spiralis and the infra-
spiralis, among other.” “Well I put
my infra-spiralis around your waist, so,
it is your occipital bone that rests upon
my shoulder-blade, in this way,” “My
back hair, primitively, but the occipital
But, Mr,
judd, suppose pa should come in and
“Let him come who cares?”
“1 think I'd
take a
“Mr. Budd,
Miss
how
Flynn, after
can
he
you r"’
nad per-
Mr.
draw-
“Don’t call me
call me Willie V i
he said,
“You accept me, don’t
“Wil
Miss Flynn, faintly,
darling I “] ¢
I know you do, darling."
an hear yous
**It beats only for you,
“And it
The ventricular contraction
is not uniform.”
when it’s bursting with joy.”
my angel sounds to me ont
“Small wonder for that
it. 1 will give you some medicine,”
proper light, and give it that considera-
tion which its importance demands.
Such men, guarding against extremes.
generally pursue
and may be regarded as safe guides, If
men generally would enly learn to do so,
we would have fewer cranks.
a judicious
—If we would built high, let us begin
low and deep. A true sense of sin will
bring us nearer to Jesus. Once brought
glory,
inflicting cruelty upon others:
no one enjoys receiving it. If all
would realize that cruelty is as bit-
would be leas of it practiced.
It is
of all, by a
and
| ~Take the surny side of toil.
{ made the inheritance
law that is universal
| violation.
{ God, and like all his mandates,
| wise and merciful. Do not grieve
because others appear more favored
| than yourself, for such appearances are
| often found to be deceptive,
SANS SA I MIs
A Fairy Cavern In the Rockies.
About a month ago Walk Williams
| and Joe Russell, whill sinking a shaft
{ upon their Cave Mine, on the eastern
slope of Copper Queen Hill, in Bisbee,
at a depth of about thirty feet broke
in upon an opening the extent of which
was not fully known until day before
yesterday, when a whole large enough
to admit a man was made, Rocks had
been thrown down, and from the re-
sound it was evident that the opening
was of considerable extent ; but it was
not until a man with candles had been
lowered with a rope to a distance of
fifty feet that the full extent of the
place was discovered, With lighted
candles he explored the cave, rivaling
in grandeur that of Alladin, with the
difference that instead of precious
stones our Bisbee cave was literally
bung with stalactites of copper stain,
while from the bottom uprose stalag-
mites of the same material, caused by
thousands of years of trickling water
through the overlying limestone. On
| all sides were found great deposits of
| copper carbonates in places appearing
| like green velvet, the greenish reflection
from all Mien wopeiring ghostlike, but
#rad,—American
¥
}
i
what you please with it.
how the sphineter operation is t
me see how it works again.”
proceed ¥ The old, old story was told
again, and the old, old performance of
the muscles of Mr. Budd's mouth
enacted again, And about eight years
later Mr. Budd was wishing that Mary
would catch some disease among
best possible use Willie could be put to
would be as a subject for the dissec ting
table.
A ———
It Was All Right.
second-hand store in Brooklyn, with a
view of finding a bedstead to suit him
finally examined one, and asked : “Are
“Bugs! Vhy dot pedstead was oudt of
my own family! We got it vhen my
brudder Moses vhas here, und now he
“Say, I believe it has had bugs in.”
“"Ompossible, my friendt.
vhas 80 peat dot if she knew of such
tings in der house she go grazy.” “And
claimed the customer, as he pointed to
unimpeachable ev. dence. “Vhell }
vhell I" The customer was going out
with a beart-broken look on his face,
when the other detained him, and said :
“Dot's all right after all. Ef you puy
dot pedstead you know you have bugs
from a respectable family ! Moses was
head-clerk in Rochester, und you knew
1 vhas here twenty-seven years in pees-
ness,”
———— A —— —————
Scientific.
Hay fever is increasing year by
year in this country, according to the
Medical News.
~The signal station on Pike’s Peak,
14,156 feet high, is the highest build.
ing in the world inhabited the year
round,
~Prof. Swift, of Rochester, who an.
nounced the discovery of a new comet,
telegraphs to the Harvard
that it is not a comet, but a nebula.
sunk in Denver, each of which is flow
ing pure water. Their average depth
is 325 feet,
~Dr. Clauston, an Edinburgh physi-
: —
the gospel of fatness as the great an-
tidote to the exhausting tendencies of
the disease we have to treat, and it
would be well if all people of nervous
constitution would obey this gospel,
~-A marine bicycle tested at Spring-
field resembles the roadster in only two
particulars, the rider being astride a
saddle and working with his feet and
hands, The water machine consists of
two parallel beams about four feet
apart, each six inches deep and eight
inches thick in the center, tapering to
the ends. In the middle is the saddle,
and behind that a mock wheel. The
pedals turn two cogs, one of which is
al the end of an iron rod connecting
with an eight inch screw at the stern,
Working the pedals causes a lively
flutter of the little screw and sends the
craft along faster than 4 man will ordi-
narily row a pleasure boat, The craft
ploughing along in mid-stream. makes
the rider look very much as if he were
walking on the water,
strani
Medical Practice in Persia.
Dr. C. J. Mills, an English physician
who has resi.ed for fifteen years in
Persia, has recently written an int
ing work entitled ‘“The
Lion and the Sun.”
ical experiences are given. The author
had the privilege of attending Persians
in their llvess. At first he was aston.
ished at receiving no emoluments.
found out that his servants pocketed
his legitimate fees. One day a poor
patient sends him some money inclosed
in a handsome purse, The Doctor re-
turns the money, but keeps the purse,
Then a rich man hears of this pays the
Doctor in money, and puts it, too,
handsome bag,
money, and, very much to the disgust
of his patient, sends back the purse. A
well-to-do baker has a eataract, and our
Eres
land of the
Some of his med-
but
in a
The Doctor keeps the
medico cures him of the trouble
When the
| Persian regains his sight he insists that
.
ii
“ 1 »
ana re
ceives about £4 for his fee.
he is still blind, worse than ev
mands back the money, and is
orous for an additional sum f
The medico k1
Of an
demnity, ows him tol
8 rascal, and suddenly flourishes
amputatien knife before the blind man,
whoat once runs away as fast his legs ean
carry him. Demands were constant
quinine, and the Doctor had been
ticularly instructed to distribute it fr
| ly when cases required the
sut the cry for quinine became so con-
staut that the author was certain that
it was obtained under false pretenses,
| Then as a rule, he administered it in
| solution, or if his servants wanted it he
put it in a dry state in their mouths,
| Then the ery for quinine diminished
In the case of his servants, it was the
| legitisnate mokadel. or perquisites of
| office they were after. They collectad
i the quinineand sold it. — Medical Record,
—— -
A Dia
Colored diamonds are supposed to be
| manufactured nowadays for the un-
| wary, but 1 heard of a new dodge last
| week, A ad
| considerable experience in expert detec-
{ Live cases said to me ; “We have
{ use for photography—the testis
| precious stones,
photographer who has
8 new
wg of
The business began
{ In this way : One day last year a dia-
mond expert with quite a reputation in
the business was asked by a stranger to
buy a remarkably fine diamond. Eight
| thousand dollars was asked for it. The
| expert tested it in every manner known
| to the business and examined it
i fully with a glass, It wasa macnifi-
| cent stone, of superb color and shape.
i He offered $7000, and the man took the
A day or two
care-
| money and went away,
| after that the stone was shown as a
| great bargain to some other experts,
| ongiof whom, after examining it closely
{ for a long time, declared that there was
| something very peculiar about the way
| in whieh the light went through the
| stone, The owner was advised to take
it to me and have it tested by a ray of
sunlight sent through a camera. It was
| brought to my studio with several o her
diamonds, and whereas one diamond
would allow a beam of light to pass
clear and straight the $7000 stone
seemed to have something in it which
stopped the beam. A powerful micro.
scope was then brought into play, and
the fine diamond was found to be two
stones joined together with marvelous
dexterity by the aid of what is known
as Canada balsam, the material used by
all opticians in joining two lenses. Each
stone was worth about $1250, and the
loss on the transaction was $4500. The
stones came apart on the application of
certain chemicals — Boston Herald,
Pixzarrie PuppiNe.—Butter a
pudding dish and line the bottom and