!Tfifi JfrTtfSBttRGr '--tolH&AtfCJfi, StftfoAY, EEBRttA&Y ?8, 1889.
10
fringed tlie little melon patch lake with the
floating hoe handle.
Seagulls! That is all. They hare come
like arrows from the hot heavens ahove.
They did not come from the waters below.
But they came so suddenly and so soon that
little wonder it is that people, even those
who are encaged in piercing the buried
river below, have insisted, and still insist,
that a sea gull has been known to comeup
from the watery world below, dry and white,
and clean as snow, along with the curious
little schools of sh that so love the light,
leap once, twice, thrice, and then melt away
like little spears of ice in the sun and are
seen no more. They see the light although
they have no eyes.
As I write, even before the ink is dry on
the preceding page, a ponderous book comes
to band by post from 3,000 miles distant. It is
the latest work of General John C. Fremont.
On pace 575 1 read:
"While engaged In operations at the South I
had the great regret to Scam that in just such a
boat voyage through the Straits of Carquinez
Commodore Montgomery bad the shock ot los
lnc his eldest two sons."
It is needless to recite here the long search
lor these gallant young officers and their crew
of man v good men. Fremont made all possible
effort to find some trace of ship, men or money.
Nothing was ever heard of "anyone or of any
thing connected with the sad loss.
The names of the lost officers were not
dropped from the rolls of the navy even at the
end of the official vear it appears, bnt special
search was made for long years after.
Nothing, nothing at all! "o sign of men, ship
or money. And yet it was right here in these
Straits of Carquinas the SDanlsh spelling
which Fremont follows you observe is a little
different ncht here on the bank and edge of a
body of water not five miles square, that the
man spoken of as the author of the first story
about the Buried Eiver located the mouth of
It right here, where General Fremont, now
after more than ii) years, tells us that our two
young officers and tbeir ship crew perished and
utterly disappeared from the face of the earth
this first mad(T) writer about the buried
river tells ns that be was bumped and thumped
About in the mouth of his river, among masts
and hulks that had been swallowed up!
Let ns mention just one more published fact
and then proceed directly with our own narra
tive. In a book, onlv this year published, vou
can read that the largest nugget ot gold ever
exhumed,was dug up in California long ago
by four "Kanakas." natives of the Sandwich
Islands. This book tells how that, in attempt
ing to reach the city of San Francisco with
their incalculable treasure bv boat, they were
lost in this same Straits of Carqmnas; and
neither boat, gold or Kanakas w era ever heard
of again.
The book from which I take this last inci
dent is a sober, trustful work. It is a rare and
costly publication; so costly, indeed, that I
cannot afford to bat e a copy at hand so as to
give the page. One thousand dollars, I be
lieve, is the price of this book; but you can
find it at the libraries if you care to venfv
further. It is called "Picturesque California."
Bid I forget to mention that the vessel of
which General Fremont spoke as having been
lost in the Straits of Carquinas bad on board a
large sum of money ? It was on its n ay to Fort
Sacramento, now the State capital of Cali
fornia, with money to pay for supplies.
And so it seems beyond dispute, for we must
of course believe General Fremont's book, and
this new California publication as n ell, that the
gold of the lost ship, and the greatest nugget of
gold ever found, lie tumbled together some
where In the whnling and cdying waters of the
Straits of Carquinas.
One thing more and we leave these early
landmarks and approach more recent events.
An Italian engineer miner on the Jlerccd river,
not far from Mariposa, suddenly disappeared
about a quarter of a century since.
No: there -is nothing at all strange in the sud
den disappearance of a miner in California,
cither in the old days or the ncn. But this was
an able and an eminent man in his way. A
great engineer be was; made the first great
flumes in California: located and made the first
great water ditches; was alwasin debt, and
was aluays talking about finding the buried
river. He had his cabin walls covered with
maps and surveys of his supposed underground
river. And be always insisted that the buried
river flowed under the Yosemite and on down
under the Merced river toward the sea. His
anrument was that the awful chasm making the
Yosemite Falls and the Yosemite Vallcv by
which earth enough to make a county must
bave been removed bad been formed bv an
underground river which emptied its debris
into the ocean.
Well, to speed along over this drvground,
this man Buddenly disappeared, leaving his
maps, charts, instruments, all things behind
him. Of course it was thought he had run
away to escape bis debts. Inquirv showed,
however, by degrees that he had paid every
dollar of bis obligations. Still people only
shrugged tbeir shoulders and sajing they "al
ways thought he was a little cracked," soon
forgot all about the great engineer who be
lieved in the existcnoe of a buried river with a
bed of gold.
1 ears later, some roving miners camped in
the old desetted cabin. A few days afterward
there was a deadly quarrel in that cabin a
fight that ended in death. It appears that
these rovine miners had found a vast heap of
nuggets hidden away under the hearthstone.
The deaaly fight alone could have brought out
the facts now so well known through the trial
of the murderers; but which must bo hastily
passed over. Enough to say that the people
this time said: "He surely found his buried
river with its bed of gold."
The miners of Mariposa now scoured the
hills and the valleys, winter and summer, but
no trace could they find of any probable spot
from which these rusty and rich and massive
old nuggets had been taken.
True, the windy, or the trembling cave, as it
was called, much like those found in the Rocky
Mountains, still bore some traces of bis steps:
bis trail or path leading thither was fairly
traceable JButasthe wind was always so vio
lent at the mouth of this ugly cave as to blow
out any lamp, lantern, or even torch, that could
be brought, it seemed clear that, mad as the
man may have been, he had never been mad
enough to adventure to any depth here.
SKiAnd so thef aJleu leaves soon filled Vie dim
trail entirely. Tbo cabin rattled downr tin
quail sat in pairs and piped undisturbed on the
broken boulders that had made the fireplace
and hearthstone; the rabbits danced in the
twilight on the bare and beaten spot that had
once been the donnard, and that was all. The
earthquake of 1872 closed in the walls of the
cavern, and the winds come never anymore
from the cave to lustle the leaves overhead.
through a long narrow hole between two tight
fittinc logs. Stepping to the rear of the cabin,
she did the same thing. Then she thrust her
band throngh similar places by the sides of the
one door, and said hastily:
"Port boles!"
Tutting ber pretty forefinger on a small
deep indenture in the end of a log near, the
door, bhe said with excitement:
"Bullet holes!"
"And you did it shooting at artists r"
Why. where did you come fromt"
"Rome."
"Rome! Rome! What county is that inT"
"I don't quite know what county it is; but it
is in Italy."
"And where Is Italy:"
"I see bv the little cross on vour neck that
you are a Catholic; well, Italy, Rome, is where
the Pope lives; and I am a poor painter noth
ing worse possibly nothing better."
The girl grew suddenly senous and respect
fuk "And so you don't know that this is an
old battle ground here; that three men were
killed in this cabin; and that the place is
haunted T"
The man sighed and looked away as if bo had
some memories of battle as well as the half
wild girl before him, and slowly said, as if to
himself: .
'I am glad it is haunted, for I would like to
be alone here."
"Alone with ghosts T" laughed the glrL
"Very much alone are we when we have only
ghosts lor company," sighed the man. "But
tell me who the poor fellows were who fell here
fighting for their cabin."
"Jumpers! That's what they were. Jumpers
that tried to 1umn mv father's land, and he
jumped 'em off."
She bit her lips; battle and the memory of
battle was in her ee3 and voice and action.
How beautiful she was; a thuuder storm with
lightning in its eyes could not have been more
splendid.
The man looked at ber and she went on:
"Ye, I w as born right over yonder. There are
nine of us. I am the eldest. The others go to
schook I never did: don't like it; too much
foolishness. Beside, father has to work too
bard. He's 60 now; better help him, I say; and
so when he eocs to the islands to get birds' eggs
why I go with him to "hold the sail or row the
boat; lor I tell you that Carquinas Straits is
nastj."
"And so you row through Carquinas Straits?"
eagerly queried the man.
"Yes: but this morning, when ready to start,
I saw that something besides ghosts had put in
appearance here, and so I let sister stoD home
from school and fro with father, andl came
here to to." k
"To tell me to go."
'To tell you to go; for father would surely
kill you here."
The girl had modified much in speech and
manner; but now her eyes fell upon the lines
and drawings that lay on the table, and. raising
ber voice, she said suddenly and almost sav
agely: "I beg j our pardon, but it's landl You
are making maps of the land for the lawyers!
You are not a horse thief; ou are aland thief!"
Had not the man standing with uncovered
bead before this angry and impetuous beauty
of the redwoods been very gentle in blood and
breeding, certain of himself; in short had he
not been what the misused and abused term
gentleman implles.be would have answered her
after ber own manner. But only a dash of
color across his face, a slight quiver of the lip
and shifting bis slouch bat from his right band
to his left be thrust thumb and finger in his
vest pocket and drew out a card: "You can
read; although you tell me you have not been
to school. That is my name; and that is my
employment and my place of abode for years.
until a short time since." He handed her the
card and she read:
John Gray, Artist,
4 Via Angelo Cnstoda,
. Rome.
The girl bit her rich, red lips again, and feel
ing that she had beeu in the wrong, made pre
tense of being unable to make out the long and
curious name of the street, and so kept her
head held down as if trying to spell it out.
'It means the street that is in the custody of
the angels," said the man at length, taking a
step forward.
Then he stood at her side and taking hold of
the edge of the card be read it over slowly for
ber. Their hands touched for a second, and
then their eyes met. Her breast was stirred
like the sea. She lifted her eyes for the second
time an instant to his and theu they fell down
prisoners at his feet. Sho hated herself and
she loved John Gray.
CHAPTER IV.
A SECRET HALF-TOLD IS ROUE.
All the streams of this land are unlike. Yet
they all flow toward the sea. In order to know
why this one is dark or disturbed as It flows,
why this one or that Is light and shining and
shallow, why this or that one is deep, silent,
somber, we must trace back so far as w e can to
tne fountain bead. Man is merely a river in
another form, flowing swift or slow, deep or
shallow, silent or otherwise; but on, on, ou to
tbo great sea of eternity.
Let us find out If we can where this plain,
placid man, John Gray, came from, and what
was bis purpose in leaving Rome and hiding
away among tht redwoods overhanging the
stormy Straits of Carquinas bv the ereatBav
of San Francisco.
In the published battle recoids of our Civil
War, issued by the authority of the Govern
ment nnder the title of "Records of the Re
bellion," you perhaps have already read of the
chaplain who, when the last officer of his regi
ment fell, seized a sword aud threw himself at
the head of the few remaining men.
"But you are our chaplain," cred the soldiers
at his side, rushing to the charge, striving to
pass him, to push him back, to reach death be
fore him. "You are our chaplain; go back!"
"I am your Colonel, I here is your chaplain
too small please God, for death to find him."
And the m m sank down and died; shot to death
in the middle of his speech: the boy, the little
10-year-old chaplain, bending over his dead
father.
It docs not matter on which side of the battle
line this man fell or that boy stood at his side.
Valor, like virtue, knows neither sex or sec-
CHAPTER HI.
THE OLD CABIN AT MOUXT DIABLO.
Come now with mc to Mount Diablo and we
will go right along with the story abont the
Buried River.
"WellT"
"Well!"
She put ber two hands wide out. leaned for
ward over the low, dirty doorsill of the old
cabin, laid ber two bands hold of the two sides
of the open doorand said:
"Is it houses? or is it land?"
The man at the rough board table had not
looked up. The day was hot, and so the door
was open. Besides, he liked the birds, be liked
the squirrels; the trees. But it was clear be
did not like people, else be had lifted up his
head from the curious lines on the crumpled
and not verv clean paper before him.
"I say! did jou come here to try to get our
land? or our houses?"
There was a sting in the words, but not in
the voice, hard as the girl tried to make it. The
man looked up, quietly, calmly. Then ho
slowly rose, lifted h.s slouched hat, and taking
up the ouly siool the place afforded, stepped
forward and set it leiore her, smiling pleas
santly, half sadly, as be did so.
The color came and went in her face. Her
pretty dimpled hands forgot the sides of the
open door. They claspcj each other for a
second; and then the nght one sought the
legion of her heart, as if to still its tootremu
rous beating.
. "I I beg j our pardon I I beg your pardon,
sir."
Tbeie was melody in her voice, and ber beau
tiful confusion was so honest and so true that
the young artist, engineer, adventurer, poet
If you please, all In one was vanquished In
stantly. "The fact is," the girl began hastily, "my
father that's his house over yonder bv Red
wood Park you can see Mount Diablo from
our door my father Is awav from home now,
gone to the islands for sea birds' eggs you can
see the islands out this way through the Golden
Gate. I go tilth hitn after to-dav. Sister went
with him to-day well. I was going to say that
nobody must coire to this cabin: and I came to
tell you to tell vou that that."
He had lifted bis eyes to hes slowly, mod
estly, very respectfully. That was all he did as
they stood there in the doorway with the one
little stool limping and leaning on its three
queer legs betw een them.
"I found the door open," he began quietly;
"squirrels were here, coming and going bv
dozens. Look there. They have been hulling
hazelnuts on the hearthstone."
He turned half way arouid, pointed to the
little brown heap of hulls on the hearthstone.
and then glanced uneasily at bis miserable
little store of provisions and equipments on
the shelf in the corner.
yes,ye, oh. we can't get rid of the squir
rels. They eat np everything. Yes, they are
seat housekeepers. They do put the bulls of
the hjzelnuisinaneat heap, but they are no
goid for all that; they eat up the wheat, the
corn, the everything; and we can't get rid of
them."
And so, as you can't get rid of alittle brown
California squirrel, you think you can get rid
Of a big Italian artist?"
The man bad crossed bis arms on his breast
before her. frowned In mock severity, ahd set
his right foot down heavily on the hard-trodden
earth floor as he spuke.
His tase, and his audacity, ton, pleased her,
and she took the little bench at his feet and sat
down, throwing back her heavy hair as she did
o.
"X ow tell me whafiharm I am doing here, or
am likely to do, and if jou can make outa case,
I will move out myrations of dried beef and
iinuer a reawood tree."
klv. and. coin? to the wall
"opposite, put her hand and strong shapelyarm
tion. This was the bezmnlni? of the life of
John Gray. He, his souk was born there, that
day on the bloody grass, by the side of a grave.
This man had never been a boy from that day
forth. He struggledforward,tryingalltbetIme,
like his dead lather, to get to the front in the
battle of life, if only for the privilege of dying
there.
We find him at Rome, not doing very much,
while the roar of cannon was still In his ears.
Anyhow, he would pause sometimes with lifted
brush before his work, and stand there, and
stand there, motionless and Immovable for
boK He was fine, rather than great; a true
artist; out at the elbows, unknown, alone.
There was something rather pretty in the idea
of his choosing the Via Angelo Custoda; some
thing of his father, the chaplain, possibly. For
this is not a street given over to art or artists
at all. It is a street with a palace on the north
side, and then the great ever-flowing fount
ain stands at the west end, down by the Corso.
Ono day as he passed the court entrance of
the lorloma palace, built by the princely
miser and miserly prince, Torlonia, not many
years ago. a man called to him from a carriage
that stood in the little circular court within.
Gray left the narrow strip of sunshine, and, en
tering the dark court, found an invalid muffled
to the throat and about to set out for a short
drive on the Pincean HilL
Get in. 1 want to talk to you. You are an
American; so am I, an Italian-American, but I
am dying" here tbe muffled invalid began to
cough, and cough, and cough.
The carriage rolled and traveled out over the.
cobble stones, and even began to climb the hill
before the poor man could explain that the
artist must be on band tbe very next morning
and begin his work. He was to paint the dying
man's portrait. And so it was arranged that
the out-at the-elbow artist, John Gray, was to
paint me picture oi a mm woo was living in
one of the crj richest palaces in all Rome!
How the world widened out! Faraway to
either side the world shone gloriously that
night, as in tbe land of tbe midnight sun. Far
ahead tbe road of life lay now, white and high
and magnificent. Far back o era rough road
he looked at last to a grave in the gory trod
den grass and so sank to sleep.
In tbe morning the work began bright and
early. But it was cough. Cough, cough all the
time; and it was hard to get the once strongand
manly lines of the dying man's face In repose.
However, they got ou satisfactorily. The work
looked most promising, and tbe invalid was so
pleased that be thrust half a handful of gold
dust into tbe artist's hands late that afternoon,
with the injunction that he must make baste to
come early next morning.
"Take the gold nuggets to the jeweler across
the street from tbe Cafe Graco, at the base of
the great Spanish steps and he will weigh the
gold and give you tne coin."
btrangel and the artist wanted to ask and to
know what all this meant: but it was cough,
cough, cough; and the dying man could only
beckon him to begone.
The next day the work moved forward with
inspired pace. There was color in the artist's
face as w ell as oa his canvas. There was strength
in bis arm and a heap of gold in his pocket. He
had dined.
"Paint fast! paint fast!" Cough, cough,
cough. "I am dyine fast. You must paint
f a6ter than death!" Cough, cough, cough.
Ou the third daytbe dying man was no longer
able to leave his bed. He drew the artist to bil
erne mm piacea in nis nanus wuat seemed to be
the remains ot a once heavy bag of gold dust.
"Take this for your work and make the most
of it. In Rome tbe Government takes posses
sion of your body, and your goods; j our soul if
possible, when jou die. And then my relations!
they bave bated me; bated the hand that fed
them: but they arc hovering around and will
devour all that the church and tbe State may
leave. And that is nil. The priests after all
tre better than my own blood have been to me.
I have divided up my gold and ' cougn,
cough, cough. -Oh, yes; the eold! Well. I
have sbai ed my gold, but not my secret! Vou
see. If I should eer have made known the
source of my supply of gold, tbe very gold that
I have gathered from the cave " cough,
cough, cough. "Oh, that cave! with Its swift,
whirling, swirling winds. There -is where I
caught my death, boj; caught mv death in
that deep, dark cave, by toiling and sweating
under my bags of virgin gold." Cough, cough,
congb.
Tbe artist leaned over and lifted tb dying
man nearly upright in his bed. .
"You want to know where It is? Ah. I see
your eager young face Is all ablaze! Listen
then. From tho vast Humboldt plains, that
gather water enough for a sea, draw a .Straight
line to tbe Yosemite Falls, thence down the
Merced river through tbe Yosemite valley,
thence down and through the San Joaquin to
the ocean. There are other underground rivers
that run into this mam river: there are caverns,
trembling caves; air-holes. Descend into these.
These buried rivers are paved with gold! And
here Come close! Listen!" Cough, cough,
cough. "Listen to me! Can any man make ten
millions twenty millions forty million dollars
in far-away California in a lifetime? Nonsense!
nonsense! nonsense, my son! Why. there one
man gives twenty millions to a college and has
a hundred millions left! Another builds a rail
road through a mountain of solid stone, and
has not a dollar to begin with; another is called
the 'silver king,' and" Cough, congb.
cough. "Come close! Listen! They have found
the Buried river, and they are keeping the secret
well keeping tbe secret safo and sound as
death. Because if the; let it out gold wonld
be so Abundant that it would be worthless,
and" Cough, cough, cough.
This time the joor man could scarcely re
cover himselt The attendants were called in,
aud drawing the artist down close to bis face
be, with great effort, managed to gasp in bis
ear:
"Come to-morrow and I will tell you all."
Very early and very eager, tbe artist came to
the trloomv nortals of the Torlonia Palace the
next morning. He passed in and with a beat
big heart climbed the broad, sloping stairs,
brpad and sloping enough to admit of tho
ascent of a California six-horse coach.
No one lives on tbe first floor of any house or
any palace in Rome, save tbe porter and the
horses, docs and goats. No one lives even on
the second floor in Rome save the servants.
On the third floor the artist paused. He saw
nothing as yet, for tbe door leading to tho
gorgeously furnished rooms of his dying friend
was far down tbe extreme end of the hall. He
took two or three steps forward hastily; and
then moderating bis pace, he took off his hat
and walked with bai ed bead quite a distance.
Then slowlv Uftmer his faea he naw that an offi
cer of the Government was pacing to and fro
before the sealed door. He had como early;
but death bad come earlier than be. From the
huge brass knocker In tbe center of tbe heavy
door of oak there hung a cloud of crape.
It would be bootless following John Gray
through bis thousand plans and efforts to get
at the half told secret. Certain It was that the
immensely rich men of California bad the key
in some way to some part of the Buried River
with its bed of silver and of gold. He spent a
year in Paris trying to get at the secret of tbe
matter through other men. At tbe end of that
time he had much less gold and not a bit more
knowledge than he began with.
He spent half a year searching through the
archives of Spain for some possible trace or
mention of one of the "trembling caves," or air
boles. No sign.
He next weut to Mexico and set to work
there among the old musty tomes in the great
library of Mexico City. But things there were
in such a hopeless state of confusion that at the
end of nearly twelve months he was about to
Eush on to California and appeal alone to tho
osom of the earth, for his money was well
nigh spent.
Standing one sultry noon under the co'ossal
statue of Baron vou Homboldt, the great, he
who first made known to the world the now
famous floating gardens of Mexico City and so
won the warm thanks of her people: well,
standing here In a half hopeless state and re
volving in bis mind how best to reach California
he noticed almost at the feet of the great
traveller a heap of dust and dirty parchments,
worn and torn and tumbled Into a hopeless
state oi contusion. ,
It was the work of a moment to ask and
obtain permission of tho obliging librarian to
look this through.
Ten da 6' toil and nothing! Nothing save the
absurd statement, set down in stately and most
excellent Spanish of a century ago and more,
that the second inland sea above the Sea of
Cortez, which must have meant the Bay of San
Francisco, bad a maelstrom at its iurtbest ex
tremity much like the great maelstrom off the
coast of Norway.
On the fifteenth daT the bottom of the musty
old records of the early Jesuits was reached.
Nothing at all! Nothing more than some brief
mention of Monnt Diablo and tbe manner in
which it got its name. And it may be as well to
set this down; since this savage and sullen old
home of the grizzly bear and the California
lion stands not far from where John Gray stood
when confronted by the fine California girl.
It is a grand mountain in its ugly wa, black,
smoky, treeless, looming sullenly above San
Francisco and all the surrounding land and sea.
It defies conquest, or even near approach.
There many an old Spanish family, ruined of
course, has climbed up its ruceed sides and
rested under its awful lrowns; but no plow
shares shall ever tear its mantle of vine and
stone and chapparreL The grizzly bear shall
house there till tbe end of time, and the lion
and the wolf shall keep him company.
These steen and stonv fastnesses, with here
and there a fertile flat for pasture, here and
there a canyon, packed to the brim with dense
groves of redwood, these steeps and trenches
and. crags and canyons are dotted all over, even
above the clouds, with flowing springs. Where
does this water come from? Can this water
raise itself above the fountain head? How, in
the name of science aud tbe law of hydraulics,
can this water climb up here to tho very high
est point for 60 miles around and pour itself
out here while nearly all tbe land, even to the
sea bank, is arid and dusty below?
But here, in brief. Is the way the mountain
took Its name, according to the musty and
dustv papers found at the feet of tbe statue in
the City of Mexico. Borne Spanish soldiers had
fought and vanquished a tribe of Indians that
nan venturea to mis natural lastnessand taken
tbe chief captive. The record runs that the
prisoners were all released except the chief.
He, being very wicked and rebelhour, and hav
ing slain with hiB own band two soldiers, was
first turtured and then cast into a deep natural
well, which was found to exist in a canyon near
where the battle was fought. But to the con
sternation of the Jesuit father, who attended
tbe little Spanish army, the Indian chief arose
that night on tbe surface of an influx of water
and calmly demanded his wives and childreu.
Deciding that he was an evil spirit the soldiers
seized him and a second time threw him down
the well, tbe waters in tbe meantime having
entirely receded. Fancy tLelr horror to find
the ugly black head of the savage chief again
boblng serenely above tbe sucking lips of the
bottomless well as they next morning sat at
breakfast. This time the Spanish troop were
terrified, and as the little command was already
in marching order, so soon as breakfast was
dispatched they descended the mountain in
good baste. And the name of that place is to
this day Mount del Diablo.
And here it is, at least not very far from this
place, we find John Gray, artist, bending over
bis meagre maps, growing gray indeed, worn
out, very hungry, ready to become lnsaue'in
this long dreary quest for the Buried river, or
even any dim evidence of its existence; dis
puting for tbe possession of a rotted old hut
with a half wild girl of the California redwoods.
JUYENILEDEPKAW
The Eesttlt of Nervousness Arising
From Neglect of Health,
BOY AND GIRL KLEPTOMANIACS.
Ebullitions ot.
Some Instances of Insane
Kervonsness,
HOW TO CUBE CHILDREN'S BAA TEMPER
nOnHLHMfti
ft :
(To be continued next Sunday.)
Copyright, 1SS9, bv Joaquin Miller.
EECBET HIDLNG PLACES.
Rooms Which are Difficult to Find In Old
English mansions.
'Liverpool Courier.
One of the most interesting features
of our country houses is the secret hid
ing place. This generally has been
contrived with much architectural skill.
and in days gone by baffled discov
ery from the most observant and ex
perienced eye. In certain cases it would
appear that, for some reason or other, the
hiding place has been specially kept a
secret among members of the family. Thus,
in the North ot England, maybe mentioned
Netherhall, near Maryport, Cumberland,
the seat of the old family of Senhouse. In
this time-honored mansion there is said to
bea real secret chamber, its exact position
being only known to two persons the heir-in-law
and the family solicitor.
According to the popular tradition the se
cret of the hidden room has never been reveal
ed to more than two living persons at a time.
Thismysterions room has no "Vindow, and,
despiteevery endeavor to discover it, has,
it is said, defied the ingenuity of every visi
tor staying in the house. With this secret
chamber may he compared the one at Gla
mls, the latter possessing a window, but
which has not led to the identification of the
mysterious room.
A Better System.
Harper's Magazlne.3
"A system to strengthen the memory?"
said the Jilted young man, with a safcnful
curve of his upper lip. "No, tban!ou.
No memory strengthener for me; bnt the
man who can invent a system to enable me
to forget, he is my friend for life."
Trne Free-Heartedness.
V
P A
rWBITIBlt TOB THE DISPATCH.!
BOM the beginning
bad boys and girls
, i.1..- ......... .uvu u-
A affected interest from
the world they live
in that they warrant
a chapter to them
selves. Divines have
wasted their brains
in speculation as to
the origin of evil in
. the abstract. "If they
'studied its begin
nings in the habits
and temper of children, they would come
nearer to a riddance of it, which is the great
point after all.
The first bad boy I remember was a small,
ill-lormed wretch of 8, perhaps, vexing the
life out of his grandmother in the Bochester
depot, 25 years ago. The malcontent fasci
nated me for hours people had to wait for
trains then with his malignant misbe
havior. He climbed and straddled the back
of seats, hid the old lady's parcels, hooked
things from her satchel when her head was
tnrned, made faces to scare an imp, cursed
when she lectured him, and retorted impu
dence worse than cursincr. mopped and
mowed at people whom he caught looking
at him, snarled and leered with such gal
lows fitness in every turn, that X have
wasted some speculation as to the crime for
which ere now he has probably suffered.
That his father has been hanged and his
mother was a drab was evident genealogy,
and the respectable hag, his mother's
mother, who transported him, was fit dam
oi sjacn a urooa.
A BAD OLD LAST.
Harshness and stealthy villainy pene
trated her. She was one of those hard old
women common in country places, who with
out ever losing caste by open acts against
social laws, seldom lose the chance ot com
mitting meannesses which would make
devils blush. When we drop the amiable
fiction that the good in humanity lies
just under tbe surlace, and look at facts as
they are, that nine-tenths of the world are
cankered spirits of evil, preferring it, relish
ing it, laying it up in store, the first step is
taken to the regeneration of tbe world. Vou
can't cure cancer by treating as a cold sore.
Every village, if not every circle, has its
trial in shape ot an erratic boy, whose mis
chief is the grief of his family and wonder
of the neighbors. Lawyers and doctors know
the cases, which are usually hushed up as
much as possible by the friends and talked
about all the more by tbe public. The trial
usually belongs to a respectable family,and
ontrages ail its traditions of honor and re
pute. Aaron Burr was a type of such evil
apparently born without a soul, and want
ing all moral sense. In the life of Haw
thorne by his son is an authentic story of
sucn a nature in a young ana ueautimi
woman of the best New England family, who
almost throws herself into the arms of one
man who cares nothing for her, and in re
venge tells her betrothed that this man, his
bosom friend, has insnlted her, tries her
best to bring a duel between them, and is
the death of the man who loved her, if I re
member right. It is a wonderful study for
a novel, but let anythinglesstthan a master
hand beware such material; It may consume
the unskillful hand. These are characters
of high tragedy, bnt the commonest type is
vexatJous,r&ther than outrageons depravity.
JUTENILE KLEPTOMANIACS.
The kleptomaniac is a nuisance suspected
in every neighborhood. A lawyer tells me
of one school girl, 11 years old, who steals
continually, and has taken 400 from her
parents. Her mother goes to him with tears
to know what-to do about it. She ought
to go to a doctor ana put the child on tur
key rhubarb and mustard baths, to hasten
the obstruction of a digestive or other sort
which clogs the immature brain, and pre
vents the clear sight of good and evil. This
stealage is a pnrely physical and mental
depravity as tne appetite for slate pencils
and day.
A curious case, well known to me, was a
bright boy of 13, the son of a minister, of
stainless ancestry, who for ten years stole
everything he could lay hands on. His
mother's spoons and parlor ornaments went
to the village ieweler, to he sold for any
thing they would bring, and the jeweler
regularly returns them to his mother. Books
lent to him or tools were fonnd in a second
hand shop, or traded with other boys, who
at last grew shy of dealing with him, not
liking to .have to return pilfered goods.
Nothing seemed to have. any effect on the
boy, the entreaties and warnings of friends,
sharp talks from teachers and punishments,
or loss of his own property. He did not
seem much mortified at being fonnd ont,
and the theft was repeated at first chance.
He was sent away for training, and I hope
that assisted development has awakened
with years, for he was a kindly, lively lad,
well liked, and the sympathy of everyone
was with his mother, who felt his weakness
acutely.
THE EXPLOSIVE QIRL.
I know girls of good "family, more than
one, rather brilliant girls, of fine manners
when serene, who at times go franctic, in
sulting their relatives, defying parents, and
being outrageous in words and actions. A
modest, quiet girl.at a nervous crisis throws
her scizzors across the room, flings her books
in a corner, smashes a watch, or a vase
anything to make a crash or explosion.
Friends are outraged and mortified nnex
pressibly. It is, doctors tell us, due to an
accummulation of nervous force, which,
like electricity must Tiave vent in a shock
of some kind, it belongs to the class of.in-
cipient epileptic disorders, which include
all these nervons crisis. You can't reason
such a case into selfcontro, any more than
you can argue away toothache. Beason is
set aside by nerves. And healthy outside
wills must do their part to control the en
feebled nature.
Satire, brief but cutting, acted contempt,
cool authority, even corporal punishment,
must be used to bring such cases to control.
Friendliness unfailing such a girl must
have to draw upon, but the deepest regard
will most inflexibly arm one to visit her
lapses with such punishment as trill prevent
repetition. Punishment should be instant,
and sharp enough to be, felt, not heavy nor
oppressive, and it must follow each flagrant
offense, till seventy times seven. The in
sane and wild animals learn to refrain from
offenses which bring certain pain, and
children of unsettled mind learn self-control
in the only way they can learn it, by dread
of sops deprivation or suffering. Demon
strative affection, tender rather than pas
sionate and sympathy, the child must have,
in full measure, to live by, but not upon oc
casion of such laults. No cruelty is so cruel
as misguided kindness in such cases, and as
long as tender-hearted people will regard
nervons girls and hoys as exempt from dis
cipline, so long will evil extend.
ing to use a rule as' stern, as enduring, as
unyielding &s they require." Taken with
the grain of salt of intelligent, understand
ing, this does not mean a harsh, tyrannical
government of nervous children; simply
that they need stricter observance of the
conditions of health and good manners.
If you can take an impudent, willful, out
rageous boy, eaten up by school and social
rivalries, and by making him go to bed
regularly at 9 o'clock, bathe three times a
week, eat right and study moderately, see
him transformed into a sunny-tempered,
docile boy, eager to be of use the ill-temper
must be set down as nervonsness, aud the
responsibility for it lies largely with those
who control his physical batiits. Snch a
miracle I have seen over and over again,
while at the same time, the muddy, rough
complexion cleared, the eye lost its red and
angry spark, the bearing grew confident and
free. The frantic ill-humors of girls coincide
with certain states of health. I know
one who from most placid humor regular
ly changed to an Incipient demon
ih certain states of body, threw and smashed
things for a lew hours, and seemed to hate
her best mends. The crisis reached, ten
minutes would see her transformed from the
sneering fury to the loving, lovable, creriture
she usually wasv Now moral force does not
work in such cases as we areiised to expect
it. The only thing proper was to keen her
I shut up in her room, or to sebdher tiff" by
Iierseit lor a cnange or some little outing, a
long walk or drive. When a woman grown
she learned when these fits of depression
and temper xrete pending to keep to herself
a good deal, finishing a store of work in her
own room which accumulated for- such
seasons. So that her "retreats," as the
Catholics call them, were profitable in every
way. 'Not everyone has insight to turn in
digestion to such good account,
HEALTH MORE AEFECTED THAlf TEMPER.
I wish to say that in 20 years of rather
close observation on this point I have never
seen a singularly trying child whose health
was not more affected than his temper, and
it is a pity that all teachers are not physi
cians as well. AH coses of exceptional wil
fulness and depravity should not only be
promptly examined by a medical man, but
watched by one for symptoms of incipient
diseases. Tho State would be gainers by
this course, losing the expense of trials and
sentences of epileptic or lunatic criminals
who should be under medical surveillance
from the cradle to the grave. The family
would be the gainer in credit, in peace, in
safety from the crimes of vnrying degrees
which are hushed up within sanctuary or
home, and oftener still in seeing some in
cipient, nervons, insane or hypnotic child
brought by wise treatment to firm, sound
health of body and mind.
, All things are possible to nature, and the
hand which nature obeys. There is not the
firmness, the ''matured and educated intelli
gence" to train children wisely in one out
of a hundred who undertake tie task, or we
should not talk of "hopeless cases." There
are none: Moral means seem to fail be
cause the physical part has been neglected.
loucan t convert a man or a boy with a
clot of blood on his brain if all the emi
nent clergy should undertake, the task.
This boy is stupid, because he overfeeds, or
has never eaten enough; that bov is malign
ant, from an ill-digested crude diet; the
other is fitful and rebellious because the
over-worked, over-stimulated nerves of his
fathers are visited upon the children. The
visiting physician, who should at least be
on the school committee, shpuld be intel
ligent enough to recognize these facts, and
enthusiastic enough to pursue these chil
dren with all the renovating influences
known to-day. No study becomes so in
tensely fascinating as that of saving a life
in this way. No work is so fatally neg
lected. SnirtLEr Dare.
CLARA BELLE'S CHAT.
Beefsteak Bill Now the Pet of the
Leaders of the Four Hundred.
A COMING SOCIETY EVENT
That Promises to Outshine the Spectacular
. In More Ways Than One.
HOW THE GIELS GET A WEE NIPPIE
rffcv.T.r.f i
A CURIOUS OLD CLOCK.
An InlcrestlDcAstronomicnlTimcplcce Made
" for King Henry Till.
The astronomical clock at Hampton Court
Palace is the most curious timepiece in En
gland. An old inscription proves it to
have been made for Henry VHI. in the
jearlMO. The designer is not known, but
is supposed to be the famous German as
tronomer, Nicholas Crutzer. The clock
was found only abont three years ago in a
shed, where it had been for half a
century, and was restored by the Sec
retary of the Board of Works. One
ot tne stones about it is that it a
resident dies it stops. The dial consists of
three copper disks of different sizes, with a
common center, but turning at varying
rates. The center disk, the smallest, is 3
feet 34 inches in diameter. In its center
is a projecting globe, painted to represent
the earth. The larger part of this disk is
divided into iour parts, and its outer edge is
divided into 21 spaces. These represent re
spectively the four quarters of the moon and
tbe hours that it crosses the meridian, and
they are indicated by a small red arrow,
painted on the second disk, which always
points to tbe quarter in which the moon
may happeu to be.
The second disk is 4 feet VA inches in
diameter, but only the outer rim is seen,
and that is divided into 29 spaces, numbered
from right to left, which represent the
moon's age in days. From between the
numbers 1 and 29 is a pointer that marks on
the outer disk the time of the day and night
as it passes the 21 Roman numeraL, two
Bets of 12, painted on the stonework, within
which it revolves.
The third disk, or outer disk, which is
7 feet 10 inches in diameter, has painted on
it several sets of concentric circular spaces,
first the names of the months, then the days
of the month (only 28 for February), next
the signs of the zodiac, each zodiacal space
being divided into SO degrees, and on the
outside of this disk a circle divided into the
363 days of the year.
The weights that are used to run the clock
have a drop of 60 feet, and it takes half an
hour once a week to wind it. The clock is
set in a stone frame about IS feet square,
with the badges of Henry VIII. above the
portcullis and fleur de lis and the rose and
his initials, H. B,, below.
fCOKBXSPONDKSCI OJ" TMS DIsrA.TCIT.1
EW YORK, February
2. Two Fifth avenue
omnibuses started out
from the northern ter
minus of the route and
rattled down Fifth ave
nue, without stopping
for those who Indicated
a desire to become pas
sengers. It was late in the afternoon, at a
time when every scat might have been
quickly filled, Not until the vehicles
reached the clump of Tanderbilt residences
did theytop, and then it was to let in half
a dozen ladies and gentlemen who emerged
from those famous houses. At other points
on the way down the avenue recruits were
accepted, aud when the Astor domiciles
were reached the two loads were completed.
The two sections of the party thus gathered
were j)lainly inclined to hilarity, and it
took, on the unconventional manners of a
picnic, a hnsking bee, or a straw ride; but
the daylight of the time, and the publicity
of the place, spbdued the spirit of mirth al
most altogether. The stages rolled on down
town, and then through the great Bastside
to an old and somewhat dilapidated wooden
building, which bore no ontward sign of
business, nor yet any indication of its occa
pants. The excursionists from Fifth ave
nue here disembarked. They were exceed
ingly playful now, for they were far away
from the fashionable section, and out in the
woods, so to put it
Once inside the honse, they laid aside
their overcoats and cloaks and sat down at
a long table in a room that had been en
larged byjroughly taking down the parti
tions of adjoining apartments. Then beef
steaks were served to them by several wait
resses, superintended by a man in his shirt
sleeves. He was Beefsteak Bill. He has
lately come into a vogue that cannot last
long, of course, but is for the present rather
remunerative. It is a passing fancy of the
nobs that Bill can cook steaks better than
anybody else on earth. To put a prime
piece ot beef on a broiler over a clear, hot
fire, turn it frequently until it is rapidly
cooked, save it irom smoke or scorch, and
finally serve it without delay, is an opera
tion requiring ranch care bnt little skill.
As perfect a steak as can be produced may
be had at hundreds of New York restau
rants. But the lark of going to Beefsteak
Bill's is a novelty, and the indulgence
I have described was keenly relished
by those who participated in it. With
their appetites sharpened by an omission of
the noonday luncheon, as a preparatory
treatment of their stomachs, and with the
delights of pleasant company and a strange
place to give zest to the meal, the beaux and
belles devoured the steaks with ravening
satisfaction. The only accompaniments
were potatoes, bread and butter, and for
beverages claret and ale. It is by recourse
to these occasional whims of diversion that
the swells save themselves from ennui. Just
how Beefsteak Bill was chanced upon I have
not been able to discover. Ordinarily he is
a cook in a Broadway chop house. His
honse over on the Bastside is not a restaur
ant, and has been rented by him for its pres
ent purpose. He only operates it by ar
rangement. Two or three times a week it is
in full blast, and on other days entirely
idle.
will go to the ball herself, but not in any of
the risky costumes of Cleopatra. Not that
she wonld be worse off as to modesty than
many another belle, .according to indica
tions, fori 2nd that some of the directoire
gowns are to be worn, like her criticized
Cleopatra robe with tbeir single thin skirt
not underlaid by any petticoats. That will
be artistic, beyond question. One venture
some young beauty, in talking with Bell
abont her costume, listened demurely to. his
specifications as to absence of plenteous un
derskirts. "Bat of course yon may vary this if you
please," he said: "an actress wonld wear it
iust as I am describing it, and more than
likely would put' on tight also., But of
course that is entirely unnecessary for this
occasion."
"Oh, I beg your pardon, but it is neces
sary," the girl interposed; "I should like to
feel conscious that I was artistically dressed,
no matter if nobod v else knew it."
OMNSECT WORSHIP.
Ancient and Modern Superstitions
Kegarding Beetles and Bugs.
MANT EER0NE0US NOTIONS
On Broadway not far from Twenty-third
street there is an exquisite shop where de
licious confections and ices are served in
the daintiest style imaginable. One of our
healthy and commanding New York girls
dragged me in there recently alter the mati
nee, and I improved the op'portnnity to ex
amine an elaborate portion of our feminine
population with its curb bit, so to speak, re
moved. The girls sat in prattling clusters
of biightness about the tables, laughing
immoderately over nothing, and seeming as
innocent as butterflies in a clover patch. It
was a pretty scene. The place was luxuri
ously planned, the air was sweet with the
smell of candies and violets, and the im
maculate waiters slide along the carpeted
floor with a soothing celeritv that was en
tirely admirable. Presently every table
was ocenpied by bevies of glad gossipping
cirls. All was indeed lovelv anil inmns
But suddenly I was struck by a remarkable
feature of this impromptu symposium. The
waiters were bringing in to these yonng
women a many-colored assortment of drinks
instead of the pretty little ices I had
thought they were there for. More
over, the hard quality of the
liquids composing these drinks was unmis
takable. This was indeed a surprise. I
inquired of my companion if it was a cus
tom of the latest style of girls, and she
acknowledged, with a blush, that it was.
The place we were in, she said, had become
known to a greater part of feminine New
York as the one resort where ladies without
escorts could go and secure their "wee
n'PPyi" and that she was afraid that sev
eral of the younger and giddy members of
her sex were taking an unwise advantage of
the convenience. The trade in cocktails
had become very extensive and is still
growing. I left 'that sweet-scented place
with a new lesson learned. A slender, pale,
childish-looking young woman who was
just entering remarked to her friend as I
passed out, that she intended ordering an
absinthe frappee, for she felt the needof it
so. It seems as though our girls were "get
ting on" in all directions.
About the Earwig-, the Death-Watch and
Other Common Creatures.
WHAT A WINGED T0BTU5E TELLEB DIP
(fflgil
CHINA'S SIGNAL SEEYICE.
Scollins (the tramp) It's always gen
erous you was, Mike.PucJfc. ' ..
NERVOUS DISORDERS.
Dr. Wier Mitchell, whom nobody sus
pects of want of feellng,6peaks very plainly
on this subject in treating of nervous dis
orders. "As a rule," he says, "no children
need so inflexible discipline. Indulgence,
as regards them" i. e., indulgence to faults,
not in favors "is only another name for
ruin. Do as we may, they are apt to be
come morally perverted, and require the ut
most firmness and the most matured and
educated intelligence to train them wisely.
Even the milder cases are hard to manage.
I rarely see"xne which has been intelligently
dealt with. Few mothers are able or will-
'.tt Te. il m liil: .--.
Why the Astrologers Confine Themselves to
Predicting tbo Weather.
New York San.l
The household of the Emperor of China
includes 30 fimbrella bearers and 75 'astro
ogers. The astrologers, who, correspond
to the Signal Service Bureau of this coun
try, predict every day the weather for the
morrow. If they predict rain, the umbrella
bearers take a day off. If they annonnce
fair weather, on the other hand, the umbrel
la bearers, mandarins of the overshoe, and
mackintosh men report at tbe palace at 6:30
A. 51. The Emperor of China may be a
Heathen Chinee, bnt he knows enough to
copper his astrologers and meteoroiogers.
As aninstance of the sagacity of the Chinese
imperial family in this regard, we may
mention the signal refutation of judicial
astrology made by Hung-Beef-Tung, a
granduncle of the present JEmperor. Chow
Chow, President of the Imperial College of
Astrologers, came to Prince Hung's palace
one morning, .and said: "Scion ot seventy
thousand generations of Hungs, your poor
servant has dreamed a dream. Meseemed
that thon and I' were transformed into
great black dragons. Our wings were of
equal length, and with equal flight we
soared through the upper air."
"Well," asked the Prince, gracefully
polishing his middle finger nail with the
flat of a dagger of the first dynasty . "What
of it, young feller?"
"This, my puissant and most gracious
lord, that thy life and mine shall be long
and of equal length. Astrology, Colonel
Hunr.jsintallible."
"You are a liar," cried the Prince, and
slit the astrologer's weasand. And it seems
that Chow was a liar. ForoldHung sur
vived him 28 years, and would be alive now
if he had let opium alone. Since Chow's
death the Chinese astrologers have, by im
perial order confined their predictions to the
Weather. If they make a correct prediction
they are execnted, but thus far none has
incurred the penalty. The American Sig
nal Service Bureau'has still something to
learn from Chinese methods.
The subject of the week's general prepara
tion in "society" is the costume ball to be
given next Tuesday night at the Academy
of Design. The nroiect was orteinullv that
of the American Watercolor Society and
the Society of Decorative Art, but fashion
has taken it np, and at tbe top of the list of
patronesses are names of two Astor ladies
and two Vanderbilts. In printing khe in
vitations, by the way, the managers have
been as careful with the types as though
dealing with iealous prima donnas, for they
have placed the Astors at th? head of one
column and the Vanderbilts at the head of
another, so thatlt cannot be said that prefer
ence is given to one family over the other.
No person is to be admitted unless clad in a
costume belonging to an era earlier than the
present century, excepting that officers of
the army and navy may wear their present
unuorms. xnere win oe preludes in a
dozen or more mansions of wealth in the
form of costume dinners, at which invited
guests will be harmonionsly dressed in the
style of a single time or place of long ago.
After the banquet these distinctive parties
will go the ball, and there preserve
their artistic entirety by dancing in
cotillons together. Thus Mrs. Hamilton
Fish will entertain and chaperone a Greek
party, all in togas, while Mrs. Burke-Roche
will have some Venetians, Mrs. Kernochan
will contribute gentlemen and ladies of the
French Empire, and Mrs. Waterbury will
present gallants and beauties of the court of
George the Third. Bnt the majority will
be individual in their costumes, or unless
merely cnnpled. From all my inquiries I
judge that directoire costumes, both male
and female, will be plentiful. Not a few of
our eilded beaux seem to fannv thnt thp-o-
will be as graceful and pretty as Dixey in a
long, thin-tailed satin coat and silk stock
inged legs, while so many of our belles are
ready to reduce their corsages to almost
nothing bv lowering the upper edges and
raising tneir Deits almost to their arm pits.
Some of the late Lester Wallack'a wardrobe,
which was sold by auction the other day,
will reappear on this occasion. Other
dandies have gone to Hamilton Bell, a
handsome dudeling of the stage, who has
lately turned artistic designer of theatrical
wear, and have paid him high prices for
drawings. In several cases he has been
hired to produce completely colored pictures
of the proposed costumes, and fully written
directions to the maker how to work out the
effects.
What is the use of trying to write about
persons and peculiarities of showy New
York life without bringing in Mis. Langtry
and Mrs. Potter frequently? Here they are
again in connection with the costume ball.
Several ladies high np in wealth and
position sent word to Mrs. Langtry that
they would be glad to consult with her
about apparel for this occasion, and to
"borrow" with just a hint that borrowing ,
meant airing at any ngure wnicn sne mignt
mention dresses which she wears in "The
Lady of Lyons" and "Borneo and Juliet."
Now, Mrs. Langtry has never been snubbed,
by Fifth avenue, for the simple reason that
she has avoided it by making no overtures
toward entrance into that portion of society;
buton the other hand, she has never been
invited thereto, and knows perfectly well
that ber defiance of decorum has placed her
irrevocably outside the pale of recognition.
But she is rich, sensitive and very inde
pendent So she returned messages to these
laidies bluntly informing them that they
conldn't have her costumes. In one instauce
within my personal knowledge she said to
the intermediary: "I haven't any costumes
to rent, but I might exchange with the
lady let her wear some of mine to the ball,
and then advertise some of hers to be used
by me the next time I appear in a modern
society play." Mrs. Potter's position is
somewhat different. She was "in society"
before she went on the stage, aud
has not be?n ruled ont since, although there
has been a great deal of chatter as to
whether in future she should be counten
anced or not Her old cronies have gone to
her this week, and she has lent to them
freely from her wardrobe. Moreover, she
I was dining in the evening at a hotel
where a hidden orchestra disrnnwea o-osf
melody throughout the repast, sending the
red snapper swimming away on gentle
strains of "Nadjy," and the broiled sweet
breads dancing to their fates on the latest
Waldteufel waltz. At the next table to
mine sat a fine example of the New Hamp
shire Yankee, gazing about at the sparkling
assemblage that sat drinking radiant wines
and toying with the most delicate viands.
He was washing down a good old-fashioneU
boiled dinner with cold water. He was a
dear looking old chap of the Josh Whit
comb type, and I passed a most entertain
ing hour watching his simple way of ex
amining everything about the room and the
people in it Suddenly an idea seemed to
strike him. He waved his napkin to at
tract tbe waiter's attention, and, when that
elegant individual approached, he handed
hima dime that he had fished up from his
trousers' pocket
"Sav, my friend," he said to the sleek
Frenchman, "I've heard tell on the pesky
German bands that infest Nnn Ynrt r.;t-
and drive people onten ther homes with
ther squeaks and howiin', but, darn me, ef
that ther one that's been a-workin' right
along under the winder aint good enough
fer Noo York City it's good enough fer me,
and I swan if I aint a-goin' to express mv
gratitood to 'em. Pitch 'em that piece o'f
money, boy, and ask 'em er they won't play
'Old Hundred' fer a windup."
I don't think the waiter understood what
the old man was talking about, for he took
me uime wunoui a cnange of countenance
I left the room before "Old Hundred" was
played; in fact, the last I saw ofthe Yankee
gentleman he was shaking his head to him
self because the orchestra had struck up a
potpourri of "The Pearl of Pekin" instead
of his favorite hymn. Clara Belle.
Talk With a Man Who Was Hanged.
Joseph Kricklsnd In America.
When the rope first squeezes a man's
neck it hurts the skin somewhat. My throat
and neck were sore and swelled for a week
after I was robbed. But soon as tbe pres
sure is on he knows no more about it I
just went to sleep, and that was the end of
it until I began to come to. They strung
TT1A nn invoo .tm,a 1., T 2..&1 :j "Sr i
dust The last time, I judge, I was a Ions
time coming to; I guess they thought I was
dead. When I woke up, kind o' dazed like,
I was sitting iu the chair, and thev were
hunting around the place. Then they
threw the rope over the beam again, and I
pointed to a stone In the hearth; they dug
there and got a tomato can full of dust
about ?6,000. It was getting daylight
then, and they went off. I sat quiet and
stupid till the neighbors came and put me
to bed.
For Large Apples.
London Globe. 1
A curious receipt has just' been given me
for dressing large apples. Core the fruit,
scraping ont about a teaspoonful of the in
side, which chop and mix with a teasnoon-
f ul of grated cheese, the same quantity of
sugar, and a tiny morsel of butter rolled in
a half teaspoontul of flour. Fill the cavity
with the compound, and then cover the
apple, which, of course, is pared, with a
thin short crust of fresh butter and fionr,
over which some cheese grating has been
lightlv sprinkled. The recipe hails from
Yorkthire. The apple can either be baked
or boiled in the usual way. If boiled a
simple butter sance is served, sweetened
with coarse brown sugar.
A New Administration.
tS W.'wi jn'
The Biggest Scholar So you're the new
teacher ? Wa-al, I guess you won't last no
longer'n the rest of 'em; us fellers has licked
em all, one after t'otherl
jjki 9v )JcftrYr3k7 5S
The New Teacher Now, children, you
may take your seats, after which we will
commence the day's exercises by singing
that beautiful song, beginning
"We are happy little scholars, and wo lore our
Dleasant school:
And we love our gentle teacher, and obey bis
kindly rule." -Puck.
rwarrrur tor tub dispatch.3
IKE other history,
natural history is full
of myths. Supersti
tious and curious be
liefs regarding animal
audinsecU have been
current from time im
memorial, and many
marvelous statements,
which had no founda
tions in fact, have been made by learned but
credulous naturalists from the time of Pliny
down to the present day. Heathens have
regarded beetles, bugs- and serpents as'ob
jectsof veneration, and even civilized peo
ple have regarded certain insects as gifted
with more than human intelligence.
There are scarcely any of tha
smaller, common animals, however
loathsome in appearance, that have not, at
some time or other, been looked upon with
awe by the superstitious, because, forsooth,
it was fancied that Ihey were capable of
working vast benefit or injury to the hu
man race. The time when the dead bodies
of certain insects formed an indispensable
part of every apothecary's stock in trade is
by no means long past, and even now scores
of self-styled "doctors" could probably ba
found in the country who believe that such
materia medica as bat's livers, rattlesnake
oil, spider's webs, and even spiders them
selves, possess magical curative properties.
THE "WORSHIP OP THE BEETLE.
As is well known, the scarabseus, or
beetle, was worshiped by the ancient
Egyptians and was considered sacred to
various deities. It was represented on
monuments, in hieroglyphic writing and
engraved on royal escutcheons. Earthen
images of it, as well as ot other animal
forms, were entombed along with mummies
to keep evil spirits from the dead. Iu
figure was cut upon gems and worn in
jewelry as a talisman to keep the wearer
from harm. The insect was embalmed after
death and given honorable bnrial. En
graven on the emeiald the scarabrem was a
remedy against witchcraft and headache,
and quite likely also to bring it3 possessor
into iavor with the king.
It is not surprising to find that the curi
ous insect known as the firefly has been re
garded with superstitious awe bv various
savage tribes. The natives of West India
and other warm countries, however, are said
to put the flies to a very practical use.
They capture them in large numbers, and
putting them in cages ot wire, 20 or 30 to
gether, keep them alive by feeding them,
and use them at night to light their houses
and save candles. If the litrht grows dim
the insects are wet, their cage shaken up,
causing them to shine brightly again. The
ladies pin large numbers of these creature,
alive, to ballroom dresses, and wear them as
ornaments.
THE DEATH WATCH. '
The little insect known by this name is a
very common pest of libraries and frequent
ly perforates huge volumes with straight,
tiny holes. Its presence in a house is sup
posed to portend an early death to some of
tbe inmates. Watchers by sickbeds and
suffering patients have been so terrified by
its uncanny ticking sound, heard in tbe
silence ofthe night, that nothing could con
vince them that the Death Angel was not
almost iu their presence. If there were
anything in the superstition those-whose
dwellings are old would lead but brief and
uncomfortable lives, for it is frequently the
case during the snmmer time that the noise
of this insect can be heard at almost any
hour of the day and night in all parts of
the house. ,
The ear-wig, a small winged insect, com
monly found in moist earth and damp places'
in England, is another harmless creatnra
which has got a hard name throngh no
fault of its own. Although there are no
anthentic cases on record of this insect in
juring any hnman being, there is a wide
spread popular belief that it only watches
for an opportunity to creep into the ear of a
sleeping person, destroy his hearing and!
drive him to madness if not to death. Inj
America the animal known as the ear-wigl
is a creeping, crawling, many-legged worm,'
called by scientists a "myriapodous crust
acean," a name which is iully as long and
as ugly as any specimen of the ear-wig
tribe. Thousands of people believe that
this animal also has a habit of investigating
the anatomy of tho human ear, though
those who profess to know say he is perfectly
innocent of anything of the kind.
INSECT FORTUXE TELLERS.
A very remarkable family of insects, if
one may believe the half that is told of
them, are the Mantidae, or fortune- tellers.
Beverence has been shown for the praying
insect (so called from its habit of extending
its fore feet) both by ancient and modern
peoples. It has been regarded as a crime to
slay one of these creatures, and an African
traveler relates how he nearly threw a whole
tribe into fits by threatening the destructioa
of a single mantis. The Hottentots, it was
said, fell down and prayed to each of these
insects that crossed their path.
The same creature, or a nearly aHied
species, is fonnd in various parts of this
country, and i3 commonly called the "rear
horse," on account of its habit of standing)
on its hind legs. A Southern lady, soma
years ago, wrote an interesting account of
one which she had tamed and kept as a
household pet. She used to consult it, after
the manner of the ancients, and one day
asked the mantis if it would be wise to try a
new horse whose reputation was far from
good. The insect, which was standing
erect, with wings spread when the question
was asked, at once dropped down, folded its
wings and placed its head between its front
legs. Two days later the horse threw its
rider and killed him. At another time sho
disregarded the warning of the soothsayer
and had cause bitterly to repent it after
ward. The French peasants are said to
hive innumerable superstitious regarding
this strange insect Basket.
Bennllful Engraving Free.
, ''Will They Consent?" is a magnifi
cent engraving, 19x21 inches. It is ea
exact copy of hn original painting by Kwall,
which was sold for J5,0C0.
This elegant engraving represents a young
lady standing in a beautiful room, sur
rounded by all that is luxurious, near s
half-open door, while the young man, her
lover, is seen in an adjoining room asking
the consent of her parents for their daughter
in marriage. It must be seen to be appre
ciated. This costly engraving will be given away
free, to every person purchasing ft small
box of Wax Starch.
This starch is something entirely new.and
is without a doubt the greatest starch in
vention of the nineteenth century (at least
everybody says so that has used it). It
supersedes everything heretofore used or
known to science in the lanndry art Un
like any other starch, as 'it is made with
pure white wax. It is the first and only
starch in the world that makes ironing
easy and restores old snmmer dresses and
skirts to their natnral whiteness, and Im
parts to linen a beautiful and lasting finish
as when new.
Try it and be convinced"bf the whole
truth.
Ask for Wax Starch and obtain this
engraving free.
The Wax Starch Covr
, Keoknk, Iowa."
L&&aftiM . v . . , -
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v. .X r ' .. J ... r. r ..Aiifft-3a
wssmztmss.