rman wars Some — — Ode to Spring. X wakened to the singing of a bird; I heard the bird of spring. And lo! At his sweet note The flowers began to grow, Qrass, leaves and everything, Asif the green world heard * The trumpet of his tiny throat From end to end, and winter and despalr Fled at his melody, and passed in air. I heard at dawn the music of a voice, O my beloved, then I said, the spring Can visit only once the waiting year; The bird can bring Only the season's song, nor his the choice To waken smiles or the remembering tear! But thou dost bring Bpringtime to every day, and at thy call The flowers of life unfold, though leayes of autumn fall. ~{ Mrs. James T. Fields, in the Century. A BOX OF DIAMONDS. In the year 1867 I found myself at Rio Janeiro, Brazil, just out of hos- pital, not a dollar in my pocket, and ready to ask the American Consul to send me to the United States in the name of charity. I had been outwith an American whaler, and had been left there so broken in health that no one supposed that I could live two weeks. As the ship had taken no oil there was nothing coming fo me. In- deed, I was in debt to her, and but for the few dollars raised among the men I should have been a pauper on land- ing. One afternoon, while I was on my way to the Consulate to see what help I could obtain, I encountered an Eng- {lishman, whom [ at once identified as a sailor—captain or mate. He stopped and inquired my name, nativity and occupation and when I had given him the information he slapped me on the back and exclaimed: «It's a bit of luck that I met you! I've got a place for you, and we'll drop in somewhere and have a talk.” He was a biunt-spoken man, but a cautious one. He did not unfold his planus until he had pumped me pretty dry and apparently satisfied himself that I was a man he wanted. then I only got a part of the story, and am still in the dark as to many particulars. The stranger's name was Captain Roberts, and he had given up the command of an English brig on purpose to enter upon a hunt for treasure. Two years before, informed me, which was carrying half a million dollars’ worth of diamonds, large sum in rough gold, between Rio and Montevideo, had been wrecked about seventy miles below Porto Ale- gre. trusted to a sailing vessel Even as he a coasting schooner, besides a Why this treasure had been in- and wheth- er it belonged to church or state or some individual I never learned. The captain had nothing to say about that, and I bound myself to secrecy regard- ing the whole affair. How Captain Rol the wreck malter I did not ask about, but I did hear it said that all the crew were lost. I was a sailor and a diver and he offered to stand all the expense of the search and give me $10,000 in gold if we recovered the diamonds only. If we got the gold as well I was to have a larger share. He had chartered a coasting schooner for three months, and was then getting aboard whatever he thought would be needed. I signed with him thatafter- noon as mate, and three days after we had picked ap all our crew. For tunately for us a ship came in with twelve seaman rescued from a burn ing bark at sea, and we took eight of them and a cook. This gave us eleven hands all told on the little craft, but wrecking is a thing demanding plenty of muscle at the cranks, windjasses and til ropes. The crew proper were not let into the secret, but signed for 8 voyage to Buenos Ayres and return, There was a Rio banker behind the expedition, as I accidentily discovered, but he did not come near the schooner, and Captain Roberts visited him only by night. We were so well provis- foned and provided that it must have taken a snug sum of money to fit us out. This the banker no doubt ad- wanced and took his chances, At the Custom House wo cleared for the La Plata in ballast, but some of that bal- last had been taken aboard under cover of darkucss, We had a diver's outfit, timbers, planks, spare casks, extra ropes and chains, and about the last package received contained a dozen muskets and a lot of fixed am- ‘munition. We slipped out quietly one night with the tide, and before day- light came we were far away. Captain Poberts had a pretty fair chart of the neighborhood of the wreck, and after a speedy run down the const we reached it one afternoon about 4 o'clock. When we came to work ine we got sight of the mountain laid down on the chart, and in couple of hours were satisflod that ‘the wreck was within a milo of us erts had located was a ~ —————. ———; —— ————— - north or south. Just there was a reef about four miles off shore and extend- ing up and down the coast for thirty miles. Behind this reef in many places was deep water up to the shore line. It being summer weather, with the winds light but holding steady, we anchored off the reef, and then the men were told that we had come to search for a wreck. It was all right with them, and after dinner two boats were lowered to begin the search. Taking the schooner the centre, we pulled both ways, running close to the reef. The treasure craft had been dismasted in a squall and driven shoreward, and we confidently ex- pected to find her hull, if it had not gone to pieces, or or near the reef. Before sundown we had made care- ful search for three miles away, but without finding the slightest trace of as her. but nothing was brought to light. some places the reef showed above Next morning we tried it again, In the surface at low tide, in others there was plenty of walter to carry us over any time. The craft might have hit the reef ata favorable spot and been driven almost to the beach; but before accepting this theory we got out the drag and ex plored the deeper waters seaward from the reef. We spent three days at this work, grappling only the rocks hidden away from 30 to 60 feet be- low, and using up the men with the hard work. The schooner was then sailed over the reef and anchored in a snug berth in 30 feet of water, and we began the search of the shore waters. The shore was a rocky bluff crowned with a dense forest, with a few yards of shingly beach at long intervals. We had searched this bay for four days without luck when I had the good fortune to discover the wreck with my own eyes. She half a mile of the beach in 22 feet of at treasure lay within water, and was bottom side up against a big rock. She had probably passed the reef in safety, but had struck this rock, thrust its three feet of the surface, and in going which head within It seemed now that not a soul of her crew escaped, and how anybody had after- down had turned turtle. had the-wreck and made a locality was a greater ever. Oar first was to bring the schooner as near as ward located of the mystery than chart move possible, and then we began prepara tions to lift the wreck. She must tarned over, so as to float on her keel, if nothing more. there was no possible way to gel into Lying boitom up, her cabin. Next went down day after the in my diving dress and attached c'iains to her starboard side. These were spliced out with stout ropes leading aboard our schooner, and after half a ready to haul bit, but more than a after working one day that method for another. sent down to me and attached wher. ever possible, and but for the presence of sharks we would have had her over in a day. As if one monster had communicated with another for miles up and down the coast, they gathered about the schooner and the wreck, and I had the closest kind of a call from being seized by a man-eater that was fully 15 feet long. Standing on our decks I counted 86 dorsal fins moving about us at one time, and I don’t believe that was half the num- ber of sharks within a circle of a quarter of a mile. There could be no more diving while they were hanging about, and we set to work to get clear of their company. Captain Roberts had foreseen such an emergency and had come provided. Idoubt if a ship's erew ever had deeper revenge on Sailor Jack's impla- cable enemy. The muskets were brought up and four of the men told off to uso them. A fifth man was given charge of a whale lance, and the rest of us were Kept busy admin istering a punishment which might be called barbarous by humanitarians. We heated bricks red hot on the galley stove, swiftly wrapped them up in cloths, and they no sooner touched the water than they were gulped down. As soon ns a shark was wounded by ball or lance so as to leave a trail of blood he was at once eagerly attacked by others, and our hot bricks soon turned a dozen or more big fellows on their backs. It was a regular circus for abou! three hours, during which at least fifty of the monsters were slaughtered, and then those that were left alive suddenly drew off to the last one, and we did not sight another shark during our stay. Idid not go down again for twenty-four hours, however, not feeling cortain that som big fellow was not lying In wait behind the wrock. When 1 id descend 1 fond the sehooner ifting to the casks, and day’s work we were lift her a foot, and gave up Casks were We could not we after attaching three or four more she stowly rose to tho surface. We then got the boats out and towed her into a depth of fourteen feet and then swayed her over until she righted. She went to the bottom again, of course, as the casks no longer buoyed her, but we expected that, When I came to go down in my suit { found almost a clear deck. She had becu schooner-rigged and both musts had been carried away at the deck. Beginning at the heel of the bowsprit and running along the port side about twenty-five feet of her bulwarks were left standing. Capstan, windlass, hatch covers and the skylight of the had This latter fact was greatly in my favor, as [ could drop directly into the cabin. cabin been swept away. I was told to look for the treasure in the captain's stateroom, but my feet had no sooner touched the cabin floor than my outstretched hands encoun tered something which I knew by the feel to be a dead man. My finding him did still further mystery of the whole He tied fast and I had to cut him loose with knife. As soon as released the body floated apward, and the men told me that it floated out to sea with the tide, riding on the surface like a cork. Evening was now drawing near,and further search was abandoned until another day. After breakfast next morning I descended again, and with. in two hours had the tre the wreck. I found it, in the situation 1 deepened the expedition. was my out in asure not of the main eabin—the diamonds were in a cast-iron box about as large as a child's savings bank, and the gold in stout wooden boxes, and I left nothing behind. found had From the where it was I argued that there treasure being been a mutiny before the storm, that the ¢ cabin and the crew was making ready aptain had been tied in the to divide up the spoils. Perhaps after driving over the reef and striking the to tell the story, and it was on his informa- If the fact was not admitted. 1 told the rock one had been cast ashore tion we acted. 80, however, Not of asked bat more than I have you. one of the crew knew value our find, and, sallorlike, few questions, was safe aboard For four When the treasure we returned to Rio. not a man was permitted to leave the Then 1 the greed upon, a considerable the & snug sum vessel, received sum with crease, were made of money counted lown to each, and we were all men happy bundled bound for Cuba, ach giving his promise tos of the wrecking expedition to anyon sleamer ay nothing that Goverament for later on vessels searched for weeks wreck, flee to England for safety, but that adventure instead of clearing M. up the many mysteries, —/ Quad, in Louis Republic. Devil's Lake. people of the Few wilderness in outside Ozark have ever heard of Devil's Lake, one of the strangest of natural phenomena. A travéllier thus describes it: “Fancy a tain, its surface from fifty to one hun- dred feet below the level of the earth surrounding it, fed by no surface streams, untouched by the wind, dead as the Sea of Sodom. There is no point of equal altitude from which water conld dow within hundreds of miles, and yet it bas a periodical rise of thirty feet or over, which is in no way affected by the atmospheric con- ditions in the country adjacent. It may rain for weeks in Webster coun- ty, and the return of fair weather will find Devil's Lake st its lowest point, while it may reach its highest point during a protracted drought.” John Lee, who lives within a mile or two of the lake, says that a sound. ing of 100 feet has failed to reach bottom. Owing to the steepness of the sides of the bowl in which the water lies, it is very difficult to meas ure the depth, He believes that the luke 1s fed by a subterranean stream, and that the water so supplied flows ont by a passage many hundreds of feot below the lake's surface. A Mr. Crabbe, who has lived in the neigh- borhood for years, says that he always knows when the rise is coming by re- ports in the papers from the Upper Missouri River in Montana. His theory is that the Devil's Lake isa part of an underground river, whose entrance Is larger than ite exit, and whose source is somewhere in the ex. treme Northwest. Devil's Lake is 1500 feot above the sea. It is situated a few miles north of Zordiand on the Kansas City, Fort Scot and Memphis Rethord, song ANTS AS tt PEARLS OF THOUGHT, Youth sings, Age listens, The mind makes the morals, Matrimony is what you make it. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Sin without sorrow is unpardonable. hard- When a woman reasons she ens. Energy should be the slave of di- rection. Diligence is the fortune. mother of good Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery. Flattery labors under the odious charge of servility. Nothing resembles pride so much as discouragement. Censure is a tax a man pays to the publie for being eminent, Early to bed and eariy to rise gives | a than sunshine in his eyes. The of laws of statics or dynamics. power beauty kuows no A short horse is soon curried only when one has a curry-comb, Falsehood is often rocked by truth; | but she soon outgrows her cradle and i discards ber nurse, Talking and eloquence are not the same; tospeak and to speak well are A fool talk, but a | wise man speaks. 5 {| two things. may | save his | his life worth a groat at last. as he gets, nose al k eep to tie grindstone and die not ! There { that | ments of our first great sorrow, when is no despair so absolute as which comes with the first mo- | we have not yet known what it is to suffered and to de paired and have recovered hope. ! have be healed, have — - oI se - A Counterfeiter at Thirteen. A novel counts | dispose 1 of lias been Ind., # proceedings of United missioner charged with nickels. The Ind. He purchased ! 8 small quantity of lead, srfeiting case at Lafayette, as the preliminary Wallace Was ore go. Samael , & lad about thir- teen, i Com before the States making counterfeit boy's home is at Marshfield, and boring a long hole the size of a nickel, ! the led in into the he poured lead size of the genuine nickels, to it and thus shaped the Then he placed a nickel on each side of and hammered them until he succeeded the lead in makiog a fair img of the «hat he spent ression ths nickel on euch sid« The work must like Le stuck At Marshfield, of lead. hours upon this have been many, but boy- to it with persistence. near lis home, was a pt by an old man whose cye- best, and this all of et sass sight was not of the man soon secured Samuel's trade. He there, made purchases and always payiag for them in nickels. At last the man discovered ing the boy punished. The arrest of the boy followed. He did not nickels, and afier a United deny the lead the Siates Commis which little He mother furnished, and the shaver was allowed to go home. feiter ever found, but [Chicago Tribune. The Tall Gra of Yucatan. The sisal grass of Yacatan is one of the most remarkable vegetable prod- ucts known. [It grows in long blades, sometimes to the length of four or five feet, and when dry the biade curls up from side to side, making a cord which is stronger than any cotton string of equal size that has ever been manufeciured. It is in grea! domand among flor sts and among manufac- turers of various kinds of grass goods, but as soon as its valuable properties become known it will have a thousand uses which are now undreamed of. Ropes, cords, lines of any description and any size may be manufactured of it, and a ship's cable of sisal grass is one of the possibilities of the future. It is alinost impervious to the action of salt water, and is not readily de- cayéd or disintegrated by moisture and heat, and will, in time, prove one of the most valuable productions of Central America, The Boiler Burst. Gallant Cowboy (after asoul-weary- performance by pretty hostoss)—Er— what was that you just played? Miss Pianothumpp == “Impromptu No. 976," by Poundowhiski. Did you like It? Gallant Cowboy (with an effort) Oh, yes, yes, every note of it, as you play it—yes, indeed. [ was ontranced by your—or-lovely touch, you know. But if I evor catch that composer, I'll QUAINT AND CURIOUS. A sheep has five stomachs, Handkerchiefs were first manufac- tured at Paisley, Scotland, in 1743. Linen in 1253, urious. In 1528 the Scolch Parliament passed a law permitting women to propose to men. One of the scholars in a country school at Grayson, Ky., is a Justice of the Peace, aged 44 years. was first made in England and only worn by the lux- St. Petersburg, boasts of a talking clock, the marvel being due to a phonogradhic arrangement. tassia, Australian eggs are now shipped to London, England, thanks to an extra- ordinary new process of preservation. The first striking clock ported into Europe by the Persians about the year A.D. 800. It brought as a present to Charlemagne was imn- Was from Abdella, King of Persia, by two monks of Jerusalem. Farmers near Leeds, North Dakota, are complaining of the depredations of a herd of antelope that is destroy. ing great quantities of the unthreshed grain, flax seeming to be the favorite food. The first record we have of coal is the Coal was used as fuel about three hundred years before Christian era in England as early as 852, and in 1234 the first charter to dig for it was granted by Henry IIL the tunts of Neweastie.on-Tyne. By the will of Ricl who lately died in I to inhabi- ward and, £1,000 educational pur- Jerridge, G gl L000 was bequeathed for POsCa, DEG TK $250,0 one-fourth of which amount or )0, is to be employed exclusive- in vol- land and Wales de who is soon to relinquish his of oid of France and in that u ly in the teaching of untary schools of Eng 3 8 cookery Louis Diebler, ¢“Mousienr Paris,” has been for of } has decap office because age, gorty vears the chi exccutioner he Hy pal ih) me itated not fewer than His trade has nur lerers made bim detested by the of and for the his acquaintances, but he has had practical consolation of a fortune $19,000 reat of his life a pension will amassed by it be paid him. Diebler is now seveuty years of age. A wonderful mystery has always heen connected with the propagation To uish the sex of an eel is only pos- of eels, dise ting gible that or born in and inlets swarm with nor is it yet solved. by means of a microscope. salt water. The shores, bavs wri abundance in places like Niagara liver, being unable to wriggle falls, while up the Unlike the shad streams to spawn, they go down to the sait waler h go up fresh waler to produce their young. Playing the Piano With Her Toes. The geniuses are sirange creatures, not to be regulated by ihe laws gov- of hume is an accepted fact the erning the vast drum mortals, world over. majority Generally speaking a musical genins is envied, petted and admired by all, that is where the talent To hear about the knowledge that one is an absolule genius in such a wholly that they dare not shine before society must be gall ing indeed, yet such is the case with a pretty young lady well known among the younger set of society who the remarkabie ability play on the piano with her feet. Di- vested of shoes and stockings it is actually possible for her to play con. secutive tunes with her flexible toes which she uses with apparently as great ease as the ordinary pianist does the fingers. =-[ Washingion Post. - sisi Neatly Done. “Do you think any girl ever pro- poses in leap year, as they say, Jen. nie?” he asked. «Not unless she is obliged to,” swered the maiden. «H'm! I bhadu't thought ot that,” he said, after a pause. “But, George,” she said, laying her hand affectionately upon his arm and looking into his eyes, “you, I am sure, will never force me to that bhu- miliation.” “No-—or-—that is to say--of course not. I-—" The ice was broken, and three min utes later George was Jennie's se cepted. — [New York Pros, a —————— The Inevitable Consequence, Biones—1 want you to subscribe something toward sending an expedi. tion to discover the North Pole. Bjonks Not much! Bat I suppose develops in orthodox channels. unorthodox manner possesses to an- The Amperial Diamond. The following is the authentic history of the Imperial diamond, which has ac- quired considerable celebrity from the recent litigation in India between the Nizam of Hyderabad and Mr. Jacob, and the ownership of which has still to be decided by the civil courts at Calcutta, The Imperial diamond, which was the property of a powerful and wealthy syn- dicate, intrusted for sale to the well-known firm of dimnond merchants, Messrs. Pittar, Leverson & Co., of Lon- don and Paris. In the official descrip- tion of this stone it is déscribed as ‘‘the most beautiful among cele- d historical diamonds,” and the ported by comparison 1-i-Noor among English and the Hegent among those of France, which are certainly the celebrated and best known cut The Koh-i- , weighs 106 ca- is the French was largest and brated a statement with hie crown jewels two most diamonds in the world Noor, esent cut stats which iiamond broug ning of grandfather of the great hatham, 1 while the Im- much as 150 weg ght of the 18 roug oh state ecent negent s Pitt « 1} 5 81 the Der S30 carats: jimmond weighs as The amond it Fron y-five « im- was 457 portion of detached, twenty ca The 1 was sent years ago, where, swetion of three of arigin ul erial di i this block a irals was at ut into nt of &@ iF azn. once ts brid carats it Was 180 leer s{ Queen Oi town, it Bize stated fhat the . now Queen Regent, wien the of was present was cut, and that the stone occupied circumstances eived the name lowing: It was the Queen, and ales, who happened to eing it exclaimed, ‘It is ' The owners of bestowed that title doutl Bret {neet resi ACER wining the The stone rec the fol 10 ¥ i nls, feat i 3 i h, no ia the INCASUTeE were custody, ss, on which into the gre an iron The Fertility of Broom Corn. land in 1000 pounds at s per annum, be- at an acre of three . quiring . The first « utting 1 about July 10 and the it November 1. The see 4 is ling purposes for any kind i of supe rior to prairie are parties willing to guar- hase of 500 tons of broom y & bond if nece agreeing to the hay SSAry pay , which insures as ready | acres will produce that and the ex nm for market is much od if curea well and lasses No. 1. The seed I #1 per bushel, and a six acres, In view of acre, cotton is cultivation, products for ivation of broom corn in for a share the atten ur fare mers, especially as the import- he price y pay for other ’ its about for in the cuit Ome of the State are Louis, ~-Col- see " Wn Isc TCR in ng their maternal from di. orado Citizen. Rev. James P, Stone of Lower Cabot, Vi formerly of Dalton, XN. 1, A Faithful Pastor Is bold in high esteem by his people, and his opinion upon temporal aswell as spiritual matters is valued greatly. The following is from a clergyman Jong influential in A England, now spen the beautiful town apna “C. 5 Mood & Co, Lewell, Mam. “We have used Hood s Sarvaparilia in our family for many years past, with great benefice. Wo have, with soufidence, recommended i to others for thelr varfous ailments, strooet all of whom have certified to the great benefit by its use. We oan Honestly and Cheerfully recommend 1 on the best blood purifier we have ever tried. We bave used others, but none with the benefoial sflocts of Hood's. Alen, we deem Hood's Pills and Olive Ointment invaluable, Mrs Stone cannot do without them.” Rev, J, P. Svosn, Better than Cold Mr. Geo. T. Clapp, of Eastondale, Mass, says: “1 a kD years of age and for 30 years have safored th running sores on one of my lags. A few years wo 1 bad two toes amputated, physicians saying I was suffering from gangrene and bad bu A Short Time to Live Inbetter health than | have been for many rears. 1 have taken no other medicine and consider thas owe all my Improvement to Hood's Sarsaparilla Heute Pilla ay or ln vigerator