Sour Grapes. “The melancholy days’ are here— I mean, you know, it's May When Winter things look mighty queer, And furs must pack away; When every shop has blossomed out With all the 8pring’s new styles, And hats and gowns begin to sprout Along the way for miles, My last year's wrap is trimmed with lace, And jet is now the rage: My bhat’s not tall enough for grace, My bonnet shows its age; The very buttons on my suit Are out of vogue sompletely. The very pattern of my t Escapes the style quite featly. My parasol, unlike the shad, Has bones indeed too few; Nor is my bang the Iatest fad Since Russia gives the cue. ny tournure is not quite the thing, dy ulster has no capes— In fact, the fashions of the Spring To me are all sour grapes. I will not care what's worn to-day, The poets of the woods Are singing such a roundelay, But not about dry goods; The May flowers have not changed their suit In color or in sheen, And every young and tender shoot Still wears the same old green. In as nearly his own language as I can remember it, this is the story, and I have no doubt the true story, that Peter Landis, a clerk at the East St, Louis stock yards, told to me, People who picture a bloodhound as a mastiff magnified about two diame- ters, tawny colored, with a muzzle like a keg, and paws the size of small hams, have derived their idea from Uncle Tom’s Cabin troupes, and know noth- ing about the real article. Bloodhounds are used in the penal institutions of all the southern states, but nowhere as ex- tensively as in Texas, where the raising of them aud their sale to sheriffs and wardens forms quite an industry, I happen to know a good deal about the beasts, although 1 was never a dog fancier or an officer. The truth is I was a convich I look back on it with sorrow, but without shame, for I was convicted of something I do not consider a crime. I had been employed as a cow puncher on a ranch south of Fort Worth, on the Rio Grande, and we were taking a bunch of cattle north to the Panhandle districh. At a little town called Hay- man Junction a sheriff's posse stopped us took search for some stolen horses, and ope of the deputies claimed my pony. I had raised the animal from a colt, but the deputy was obstinate, so we had words, and he finally snatched up a Winchester, I protest 1 had no wish to hurt the man, but I believed I was in danger, and, to make a long story short, 1 shot him in the shoulder, was arrested, tried, and, in spite of all my friends could do, sentenced to the Northern penitentiary for two years. The charge was “‘assault with intent to | do great bodily hari,’ and there was considerable prejudice against cowboys in the place where [ was tried, I had never been a bad young fellow, and this was heartbreaking to me, but I had still my self respect and deter- mined to serve out my sentence patient- ly. The penitentiary was at Huntsville, 400 miles away by rail, and thers were eighteen of us to go. The method used in transporting us is the method | still in vogue in Texas, and I challenge | penal history, with the exception of that of the galleys of Toulon, to furnish a parallel to it in brutality. Iron collars, weighing at least five pounds, were riveted around our necks, we were stood in double file and then yanked, two and two, to a long chain that ran down the center. Imagine a vertebra | with eighteen ribs, and one has a fair idea of the arrangement, but no words can convey the sense of degradation, the brutalizing horror and shame that even the most callous feel upon becom- ing part of this sad and sinister proces- sion. Handcuffs were snapped on each man and, bending and stumbling under our chains, we were driven through the jeering crowds up to a smoking car side tracked for us, and the journey began. It was a terrible one, The central chain was long enough to stretch from seat to seat as we sat, two abreast and nine rows deep, but if any man moved his head he would jerk the necks of those before and behind him, and a quiver woud passed along the whole line. In fact, the last two men were chained up so short that they could barely sit on the extreme edge of their seat by crauning their necks as far front as possible, and in this posture they rode the whole 400 miles. To sleep was out of the question, and when one moved the whole clanking, cursing, miserable mass moved with him, We got some bread and meat once on the trip, which lasted exactly twenty-six hours, When we finally reached Huntsville, I was trembling like & child, tears of sheer agony were running down iny face, and I tried as best I could with my manacled hands to hold the cruel collar away from my neck, which it had chafed raw. The rest of the men were in scarcely better shape, and our joints were 80 stiff from sitting nearly motion- less for a day and a night, that we could with difficulty walk. As we were getting out of the car I stumbled and pulled over another man, half strangling myself at the same time, Instantly the nearest guard rained down a shower of kicks upon me, “I've noticed you shamming,’ he suouted. “Wait till we get you in the walls,” “The walls” was the slang name for the prison, and this little episode fixed I was = i : “I'll bore a hole through him If he does,’ replied the other. So with this recommendation 1 was introduced to the camp. Itlay in the midst of a thick belt of woods, and was guarded by a cordon of sentries, exact. ly as a military post, The men slept in log barracks, and the work consisted altogether of chopping and cording. The tasks were severe, the punishments excessive, and the food and sanitary arrangements of the place abominable, Although chains and shackles were dis- pensed with, there were no escapes, for not only where the guards instructed to fire unhesitatingly in such a case, but in one corner of the camp was a kennel containing twenty bloodhounds. None of the convicts were; allowed to give these dogs food or become famillar with them on pain of a lashing, but 1 often saw them, and they looked very much like setters, dead liver colored, small in size and sleek of hide, with rather sharp pointed noses. There was nothing at all formidable about their appearance, but dreadful stories were circulated of their ferocity. Fall was coming on and it was get- ting cold, when one evening I escaped. It was unexpected, I had gravitated into a water carrier, and had gone, just about dusk, to a spring near the out- skirts of the camp. As I neared it the guard at that point passed me and said as he passed me: “Jim, I'm glad you're here. I've been feeling sick.” Then it flashed on me that he mistook me in the gloom for the relief guard; it was a chance that might never come again, | dropped by bucket and quickly walked away. Now, this was my position; I was in a wood in a strange, thinly settled country that I did not know. I had convict’'s stripes on my back, and not a cent or a weapon in my pocket, and I knew that my absence was sure to be discovered in less than an hour, when the roll would be called, They were long chances, but death, it seemed to me, would be preferable to recapture and punishment, The thing was to put as much space as possible between my- self and the camp before the alarm, and I plunged ahead, taking a southeasterly direction from the stars. 1 chose the thick of the wood rather than the open, for from the time I passed the guard the bloodhounds had never been out of my mind an instant, and I knew that the trees would seriously embarrass the riders who follow the pack. Itis gen- erally supposed that bloodhounds track and tree fugitives long before the pursuing party comes up, and in matter of fact, the riders always aim to be right on the flanks of the dogs. There was a good deal of underbrush and it was hard progress, but excitement kept me up, and I never paused until I reached a clearing a good six miles away, where I threw myself down and listened. The wind was still yet, the night was full of the interminable stir of the woods, the flutter of leaves, the | snapping of twigs, and the scamper of some belated squirrel, and in every sound I fancied I could hear the faint, far baying of the hounds, Stories I had heard In camp of the savage beasts swarming over poor wretches and tear- | ing them open as they fought, came | back to me, and every revolting detail leaped into horrid picturing in my mind | until my scalp began to creep and sweat | started out all over me like water. It] had grown very dark, but I dived into the woods again, thrusting my hands in front of me to keep the branches out of my eyes. I kepton pretty steadily all night, and when morning dawned it found me on the fringes of the wood belt, with a sparsely grown, undulating country be- fore me. There was a thicket near by; I crept into it and panted there for a while, I was dead tired, and my feet were swollen so that my shoes seemed bursting; but I could not sleep for the haunting thought of those dogs yelping along my trail, and getting nearer and nearer, I made a club from the limb of a tree, and dragged myself on, It would be tedious to rehearse the ex- periences of that day and the next In detail. I was weakened by punish- ment and bad food, and fatigue began to tell terribly upon me. I slept in un- easy snatches, waking with a start, and took extraordinary pains to break my trail, swinging from branches of trees and jumping from stumps, My brain was so distraught and preyed upon that often I stopped stock still with the agon- izing conviction that the hounds were right behind me, and at times I could make sure I saw them crashing through the underbush. On the second day when I was half famished, I managed by great good luck to knock over a rab- bit, and ate some of it raw, carrying the rest with me. On the third day | had as yet seen no house, but struck into a disused road, which made me hopeful that there were some habitation pear. 1 had determined to throw my- self on the mercy of the first man I met, It must have been about noon, while I was passing through a well wooded strip, that I heard a mournful note that made my bear stand still, It was no hallucination this time, but the unmis- takable wall of bloodhounds that I had heard often enough from their kennel in the camp. As I stood there, terror stricken and thrilling, the baying sound- ed again, now night at hand, and an instant later, three dogs appeared over a little rise and made straight at me. There was no tree near large enough to Bea Ee A Po Aa and prepared to fight. But when the dogs came within a dozen feet they stopped and began to fawn and wag their tails, They were hounds from the camp--they wore the Long Star collar—but it was plain they wanted to be friends even with such a poor wretch as I. Then I noticed that the brutes werestarved and Sais § chance or dexterity, caught a wild turkey, and thus we managed to keep alive, At night time we all slept In a heap, and the dogs kept me warm, Moreover, I knew that it would be im. possible for any one to surprise me be- fore they would give the alarm, On the eleventh day out I and my three bloodhounds walked into a cow camp, and when the good natured cow punchers heard my story and satisfied themselves that 1 had been one of them once upon a time, they undertook to spirit me over the state line, I hated to part with the dogs, for we had con- ceived a great esteem for each other; but the cowboys kept them as loot, and, 1 afterwards learned, sold one of them for $75 to an English tourist. After a couple of months of vicissitudes I made my way north, and, although the authorities of Texas have assured me that there will be no effort made to prosecute or rearrest me, I have never had any craving to visit the Lone Star state, ———— AIA ——————— A HORSE-THIEF'S TALK, He Tells Why and How He Got into the Profession. According to a report from Brooklyn a wild and picturesque horse-thief, who roamed about this and contiguous States with his flowing and capacious garments full of modern agencies of de- struction, was arrested three weeks ago by Detectives Anderson and Miller and locked up in Raymond street Jail, He pleaded guilty in the Court of Sessions before Judge Moore to the charge of stealing the horse of Miss Bessie Harts. horn, a School Trustee of the village of Locust G-ove, near Rahway, N. J, and was remanded to awall senlence, His name he gave as Charles Marron, which the local chronicler of his dash- ing career intimated was fictitious, In the long list of baneful things that Mr. Marron was accused of hav- ing stored away in the labyrinthine folds of his attire were two 44-caliber revolvers, a big bowie-knife, two jim- mies, a dark lantern, a mariner’s com- all these dangerous instruments had been taken from him the other day, a young man from the Sun bearded him in his cell and was locked up with Mr, Marron for an hour, Mr. Marron's cell is No. one on the second tier. As the door closed with a metallic click the misty silhouette of a man of the medium height arose from the shadowed end of the call yr 27, the last himself, the talk, of course, was turned to the subject of horse-thieving. While Mr, Marron was talking he nervously work- ed his hands as if he had hold of a pair of reins and was urging a reluctant horse to “get up.” mittently during the interview, There was nothing about him suggesting except a red flannel shirt, mentioning. He has a The expression of his mouth was hid wm themselves when he smiles, and pro- ject beyond the lower lip and give him the aspect of a man whose prehistoric ancestry may have bad a strain squirrel in it, His distinguishing feat. ures are his eyes, They are pale gray and rather large. That is the total of thelr similarity. startled look. ency to quiver and half close itself every now and then. The pupil lurks near the outer corner of the orb, as if it were apprehensive of attack from the back. The other eye Is well-behaved and perfectly respectable. a strong suggestion of frankness It its disreputable neighbor. The report- er requested Mr, Marron al the begin. ning of the talk to be perfectly frank, Mr, Marron answered that if there was double-barreled epithet of “liar and horse-thief’’ could not be hurled at him. The veraclous horse-stealer took up his imaginary reins, fingered them a moment, and jogged along thus: **No, sir; I was borne in Westchester County, near Yonkers, forty-two years ago. 1 have never been in the West.” “What made you take to horse-steal- ing?” “Well, I didn’t make enough money in my little shop in Bennett street to support my wife and two children de- cently, so I thought 1'd go into some sort of thieving to help things along. I never thought I had skill enough for a burglar, but I was a pretty good judge of horses, having shod a great many, and 80 I determined to be a horse-thief, I stole my first horse in the summer of 1887. There was a big demand for horses by the Italians that got their re- pairing done at my shop. Most of them were junkmen, and not as honest as they might be, Tony said they could sell all the horses I got for ‘em. 1 don’t remember how many [ stole, but I guess about fifteen, and as many light wagons and buggies, too.” “Flow did you feel stealing your first horse?" “1 was very anxious to make a suc. cess of it. must say I was a little $2588 H £ e g = 5s s & g = i of § Ek lantern to examine the horses with and a bull-dog revolver.” **Did:you ever use the revolver?" “No, sir; 1 carried it to frighten off any body who might take it into his head to pursue me, ”’ “Did you ever steal two horses at once?’ “No, sir; I never took more'n one horse from a barn. and if a man had only one horse, 1 went to some other man who had horses to spare. 1 was never mean enough to steul a man’s last horse. But I always took the youngest and best horse in the barn, because I could get more for him, and because the farmer wouldn't be likely to overtake me if he started out on any of the horses I left behind, I always took a carriage or wagon, After I had got into the barn I would go into the stalls and flash the lantern on the horses to find out what they were worth, | also picked out the best harness and a couple of good blankets. I then hitch- ed the horse to the wagon or buggy and drove off, keeping my eyes peeled and my ears open for pursuers, I never was chased that I know of. 1 always started for Brooklyn, but sometimes it would take me two days to get here, | got one horse as far down as Fort Pennsylvania, from a man named J, V. Stout, in Orange County, in this State, I took something out of my line, It time 1 The near Rahway, That was the took Miss Hartshorn's horse, bad. Lil So I had to postpone the job un- next night, | slept there until morning. I noticed | the clock on the desk, and I set the alarm so I would be sure to be waked up before the school teacher came, I have and I took it.” “How much did you horses and vehicles?"’ “From $40 to $50 for the horses, and from $15 to $35 for the buggies and wagons, The Italians who live in the neighborhood of my shop bought the horses, They sold em again for twice as much as they gave me. I sold the wagons at auction. Altogether I made nearly $1,200, 1 sent all of it but what I needed to live on to my wife and chil- dren in Ulster County. They were sick most all the time, and they needed all I could give them. I sent them up there to my mother-in law just after I { bagan thieving, as I didn't wife to find out how I was earning a { living. | away, or I wouldn't have been arrested. { Most of the people from whom 1 stole | the horses got them back, | list of the places where I had been | the detectives, and they found out the {| names of the owners, Of course I had get for the {the horses to; but I didn't care about as some of them had given me away." A A —— LA m— A Great Joke, “Tue funniest thing bappened last i night,” said a merry-looking gentle- man, as he ran up to Desk Sergeant | Hughes at the armory to-day. ““It was { the greatest joke, Hal! hal” “Well, what was it?” “My name is H. T, Green. Ha, ha, hal® **What's the matter with you?” { “Burglars broke into my store last inight., Ha, ha, hal’ and Mr, Green | burst into a spasm of laughter, {i *Idon’t see much to laugh about,” { said Hughes, ‘What did they get?” i “Only two boxes of cigars. It was the greatest joke, Ha, ha, ha!” i “Well, that wasn't much; but I don’t sea the joke.” “Don’t you? Well the cigars were i Inaded—about two drachms of powder {in each. I'd like to see those fellows { try to break into some house while they | were smoking some of them.” t Officer Murphy entered the station at | this moment, dragging a dirty-faced {urchin by the collar, They boy was | kicking and screaming like a trooper. | “Book this bve fer shootin’ craps,” | sald Murphy. “It’s a purty chase ye | gave me, ye omadhaun.” { The little gamin made a grimace at | Murphy, borrowed a match from a by- { stander, and drawing a cigar from his | pocket began | cago, to smoke in placid con- | tentment, “What's your name?’ asked the ser- | geant, | ““Bang!" the cigar burst with a sound { ike a dynamite bomb. One piece hit | Murphy in the eye, and the frightened i lad fell to the floor as though he was i shot. Mr Green was the only self- pos- | sessed person in the room, and be for- ' got his self possession in a spasm of laughter, **Better—ha, hal-—book him for-—ha, hal—burglary, too, Mr. Hughes,’ he , 48 he rolled in a chair and caught his breath. Desk nt Hughes took the hint and half a dozen loaded cigars were taken from the lads pocket and filled as evidence against him, The Gem of the Collection. Mr, June's ne a “A as of redwood “What's this?’ asked his uncle, handling 3 yaty iExevegently. The boy LL at FASHION NOTES, ~~ Although most ladies prefer wool dresses for traveling, silk and woo! combinations are often, used for such tollets this season. New black silk jerseys, elaborately braided, fasten with one button, and then round off over a vest of white pilot cloth closed with handsome pearl buttons, —Neéw combinations of soft, sub dued coloring appear in stripes of rose- wood and lead color, cream and peach, plum and rose color, pale brickred and oldgold. -Some round straw hats are cov- ered with point Q’esprit lace and trimmed with lilies of the valley, corn flowers, jonquoils or white and blue v.olets, These are very pretty young girls, — Although the turnedup collar has ‘not completely disappeared from our toilets, a great many of the new sum- mer dresses are made nol quite so down frilling of plaited tulle or lace, ~— Evening dresses of { materials and light colors, rosecolor and applegreen having a decided pref- | erence, while pure white is very much 18 probably most becoming to the ma- i jority. are exhibited in countless varieties, Velvet basques to be worn with light with crepe, which also forms the | puffed sleeve below the velvet one van- i dyked at the elbow. — Bonnets and hats are bewildering | in their vanety of styles, The capote 18 much worn, The favonte shape bas a low crown, and comes in all kinds of and colors combined. They are trimmed with exquisitely delicate flowers, with lace and with net and embroidered tulle and gauze. ~The black lace bonnet has still many admirers, It is made with fail frills of lace all around, and between the doublerows of lace are dainty little wreaths and clusters of multiflora or banksia roses, or of violets and forget. me-nots, with foliage and grasses, —Some of the hats have large, | square crowns and broad brims twisted | fashion. Flowers in a bright profusion {trim one side of such a hat, or long | ostrich plumes drooping om the neck. | Others with protruding front of golden- | brown fancy straw have a tuft of gold- | tipped feathers on the top of the | crown. —A new style of very elegant walk- woolen tissues, with designs exactly copied from ancient cashmere shawls, | subdued shades of coloring. For in- stance, one of light buff cashmere has { the front and one side brocaded with | cashmere patterns, The bodice, In the { shape of an open jacket, has the back | plain and the front brocaded; it opens biue silk. — White flowers are in great favor, but as green is the color most specially in vogue this season they are generally chosen of greenish hue-—that 1s, be- fore they are full blown. Especially pretty are clusters of balf-opened Guelder rotes, green tinted at the top; white rose-buds are also prettily grouped with a few green petals and green leaves, Large broad-brimmed black straw hats are trimmed with clusters of white and greenish flows and loops of faille ribbon to match. «Many caprices are introduced ‘just for the summer,” which are not likely to be permanently adopted, yet demand the faithful chrouicler’s attention. Such is the fancy for omitting the high collar of the basque and leaving the neck uncovered to the collar-bome, with a turn<down plaiting of the dress goods to finish the neck of the dress. A fold or ruching of crepe lisse or lace can be worn inside, This is a fashion becoming only to those who have short, fair and smooth necks; all others need a high collarette to fill up the defci- ency. —A pretly summer costume for a girl in her teens is a brown and beige checked fancy woolen material, and plain beige tissue to match. The checked skirt falls in ample folds; the tunic forms a draped tablier and small puff; the bodice is a long-waisted jacket, tightfitting at the back, slanted off at the sides, and remaining entirely open over a full chemissite of em- broldered cambric, finished at the top with a narrow band of the checked material; coat sleeves with embroidered cuffs, osca hat of buff straw, trimmed with buff ribbon, and a clus- ter of greenish hopblossoms, ~Beautifal tollets are worn at the matiness and the 6 o'clock teas. The style of these is in many instances that of the Empire. The Josephine gown continues to be in favor for parties and dra rooms. In the streels a sash all; i HORSE NOTES. ~1Abbie B., 2.19], has been fired. ~Montreal 5 to have a new race course, — Wash Woodruff has Brandy Boy, record 2,204. —~A, J. Cassatt America In August. --A driving club Las been formed at {| Burlington, N. J. —Red Light tro‘ted a mils In 2.20} at Louisville recently. | —~Emperor of Norfolk has won nine | races and about $35,000 so far this sea son, ~1t i8 sald that Gossip, Jr., was “played’’ for a winner at Point Breeze | on July 4. ~—Johnston and Arrow are barred | from the free-for-all pacing race at | Island Park, ~Jaubet, a brother to French Park, | gold for $1600 after winning a selling race at Chicago. ~The managers of Point Breeze | Course should try to get the soll of their track more solid and springy. ~The Chicago Stable lost seventeen races and about $15,000 before winning | once at the Chicago meeting. ~—Crescendo, by Mambrino Dudley, | dropped into the 2,30 list at Boston re- | cently, acquiring a record of 2.28% ~The br. 8. Camberland, foaled | 1882, by Aberdeen. dam Susetta by Al- | mont, died on June 26 of pueumonia. | Sally C. won the free-for-all pacing | race at Derby the last week in July, | defeating Silver Threads and Hon- esly. ~-Blue Wing is now in Louis Mar- tin’s stable at Brighton Beach, taking | daily sea baths for the benefit of his | legs. | —Jay-Eye-See received a bad gash in the muscles of one of his forelegs at Hickory Grove recently. He was play- | ing in his paddock and came in con- tact with a barb wire fence that in- | closes his pasture. -W. H. Wilson, of Abdallah Park, Cynthiana, Ky., has sold for something over $1000 to Hubinger Brothers, of New Haven, Conn., the bay colt Per- simmons, 3 years old, by Simmons, dam Nora B. by Administrator, ~The horse-breeders of Montana | want a separate fund for the prosecu- tion of thieves and the stamping out of glanders. The tax they are now re- quired to pay is used largely for the | protection of the cattle interest. ~The Ascot grand stand was {irst | opened to the public in 1839, and the | funds to erect it were raised by 100 | shares of £100 each, of which £5 were | to be pald off every year; so that at the will return | end of twenty years the stand wa: free from debt, ~The Belmont Course will have a | great double-team race in the course of | a few weeks, Charles Bocklus, James | E. Cooper, David Nicholis and the farmer's” team have already prom- | ised to enter, aud they are all anxious | to have 1’inafore and Indian Joe in. ~The Interstate Fair is debating | whether to build a mile or a half-mile | track on its grounds at Trenton. The | Fair will be held on October 2, 35 4 | and 5, and not Jess t han $8000 will be | given in purses for the trotters, —Jerome Whelpley has taken his stable of trotters—whicli contains Ma- johica, 2,15; Bertha, by Blue Bull; Red Star, by A. W. Richmond, and three others—from Fleetwood to Parkville, and will work them over the Parkville Farm track. ~A ten-mile trotting race for $200 a side between F. P. Barrows’ Jim and Thomas Russell’s Hampton was pro- hibited at Piainville, Conn., by State Agent Thrall lately on the ground that | it was too bot, and would be crueity to the horses, ~A division of E. J. Baldwin's Santa Anita stable have arrived at Monmouth Park under ths care of Bob Campbell, the trainer, They consist of Estrella, Grisetta, Los Angeles, Lillie California, and the 2 year olds Alaho, Rosebud and Paolo, ~The famous pacing mare Buffalo Girl, 2.124, has foa'ed a bay colt by Je- rome Eddy, 2.164. at the Jewett Farm. W. B. McDonald. who owns the colt, has named him Eddy Mac. —-Only seventeen horses out of the Detroit (sixty entered in the three colt stakes, to be trotted for during the fall meeting, failed to make good the second payment; pine in the J. L, Hudson stake for 2-year-olds; five in
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers