-
i "
iiiill
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher, NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. IX. : , V MPGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA, THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1879. NO. 4.
e-' v
Which Way?
Children, stop jour play,
And tell me which way
I lhall take to reach the city on the hill. . .
First the girl,
With a imilo i
"This way i
Through the woods, across the stile,
By a brook where wild flowers grow,
Where the birds slog sweet and low .
Then you forgot it is so far,
And how tired yon are.
For the oalm rests yon, makes yon still,
If you take this way to the city on the hill."
Then the boy, ,
Wish a frown t
" This way ;
By the mill and through the town 1
You will see the soldiers there,
Hear the drums and pass te fair i
Then you forget the way Is long '
While you walk in the throng,
For the noise wakes you, makes you thrill,
When you go this way to the city on the hill.'
The Tile-Room at Deadwood.
For twenty years the old mansion at
Deadwood, with its gables, mullioned
doorways and embayed windows, had
stood unoccupied. Colossal elms swept
over it, rank shrubbery hid its lower
windows, and lush grasses and weeds
swamped the garden, yet still the place
was beantifnl. It is said to have been
built after a magnificent estate in
Wales; but no one remembered its
origin. It stood on a great hillside
overlooking the sea, and sailors and
boatmen going by always looked up at
it as something pioturesque and grand.
The mansion Ftood solitary, yet was
bnt half a mile from the village by the
river crossing the plain beneath, and
'when, r.fter this great trial of its inde-
etruotiblenesB, human life appeared
there, it was immediately discovered by
the surprised villagers. Half a score
of men had mowed their way np the
front door, had set every ohimney
smoking from the great fires bnilt be
low, had hacked and hewed mercilessly
at the overgrowth of intrusive shrub
bery, and finally a carriage had oonie
bringing a fair yonng girl with a mulat
to attendant.
" I think it's it's fearsome like, don't
yon, Miss Queenie?"
"Nonsense; it's delightfully antique
and romantic Only I'm not going to
live in the dark. Tell the men to cut
down those locusts, Patty; they shut
out the sun and are worm-eaten beside.
Oh, its going to be lovely here, Patty I
I'll have those walks leading down to
the gate j ust blazing with tulips in a
month."
" What will you do for company, Kins
Queenie?"
" Oh, Guy is coming the first of
. May."
It was early in April then. The brave
young heiress of Deadwood took bravely
hold of the work in hand. She called
the sunlight in through curtains of while
laee. She burg the chamber walls with
rose-colored paper. She spread bright
rugs over the blackwalnnt floors and
filled tbn rooms with graceful bamboo
and softly-cushioned furniture. And
when her little dot was quite expended
upon further details of china, books and
statues, the girl sit down to enjoy the
home she had made.
It was the first sue had ever had; and
already her homeless life rested in it
with a feeling of satisfaction which had
been found in no other souroe.
" I am glad Guy is poor, because now
I can give Lira a home with mysolf,"
she rnurtnurod over her wedding clothes,
which she was embroidering. He shfcll
have a bnggy, and pick up a nice prao
tice at the village; and so we have our
good prospcots after nlL"
For the matrimonial prospects of these
yourjg people of eighteen and twenty
two had looked doleful, very doleful,
until the woman suddenly rose equal to
the emergenoy.
"Deadwood is mine, you say, Mr,
Quills f " she said to the lawyer.
"Yes."
" And it won't sell and won't let. And
I have ouly five hundred dollars of in
terest monov in bank stock ?"
"Jnstso."
" Then I will live at Deadwood,"
"Alone?"
"WeJl, yes, for the present; Patty
and I," with u smile, sweet, yet quizzi
cal, at the old lawyer's dismayed face.
So far all had succeeded better than
she had dreamed possible. She had
made the old mansion habitable and
pleasant; and now if the fallow land
were brought under a man's hand, the
hitherto unprofitable piece of property
' might even yield an income for Miss
Elinor St. Edgar and her husband, Mr.
Quill declared.
But the things everybody expeot sel
dom do happen after all, aud the things
. nobody expected to transpire are always
confronting us. After a blithe letter of
invitation from his lady-love, Guy Blon
del arrived at Deadwood one fine May
day, and found .Queenie, as everybody
called her, so pale, so grave, so almost
, speechless, that he was dumbfounded.
" Not a single smile yet, Quoeuie ?
Why, what has come over you Have
you seen a ghost ?"
The girl winced as if he had struck
her.
"You do not believe in ghosts,
Guy?"
"Certainly not; no sensible person
does. But what hag changed you so,
Queenie? You chill and astonish me,
you have altered so iu a few weeks I And
I expeoted to find yon perfectly trium
phant over your success, and ready to
' obey your, directions and turn farmer
doctor at once."
" Guy, we oan never be married." '
"Queenie I"
" Something has happened to change
all my pleasant hopes, Guy something
strange and unexpected, vet none the
less conclusive." Then Queenie told
her story.
" One of the rooms, Gay, I have not
touched or altered an apartment on
the ground-floor, faoing the north,
finished with tile, and so oold, dar and
gloomy that I found it quite a hopeless
matter to make it healthy and pleasant
Yet it is a handsome room, with inlaid
floor and tiles of such great worth that
I wonder the old mansion has not been
broken into and pillaged. o them.
Probably no one about here knows their
worth, Bnt, as I say, I left the tile
parlor unchanged, even from tue cod
webs and yews crowing against the win'
dows. But it is the only unpleasant
. , ., , 3 I i : l . i
UHOe in me houbu, buu un noiguuur
hood to the bright little sitting-room I
have made has never troubled me.
" One chilly, rainy night less than a
week ago, and after I wrote you to come,
I sat reading by the bright hearth-fire
of my sitting-room until nearly twelve
o'clock. Patty was asleep in a little
room leading from it which is directly
beneath my chamber, and the other two
servants, housemaid and man, were
asleep in their rooms in another part of
the house. I had told Patty not to sit
up : yet when it grew midnight the sol
itnde of the great houBe weighed on me
a little, and I felt loth to go up to my
chamber. Finally I wrapped myself in
my dressing-gown and lay down on a
couch before the hearth, knowing that
the great wood fire would keep the
room warm till morning. I had lain
there but a moment, I think, when I
heard a voice in the room say, ' Look
under the hearth of the parlor It was
so distinct a voice that the room seemed
to echo with it. I don't know why I
did as I did do ; I should thought I
would have been afraid ; but I sprang
np, caught a light from the table, cross
ed the hall and opened the door of the
parlor."
" Poor little Queenie 1 You had over
exerted jourself, and your brain had
grown excited and unsettled."
"Bnt, Guy, I knelt down in that dark
room by t he hearth and passed my hand
over the smooth tiles. Almost instantly
I found that one was loose. It was
small, and I pried it up with a hairpin.
Here beneath lay a small, yellow, folded
t'sper. I stared at it a moment, then
took it out, and seeing, as I expeoted,
hat it was covered with writing, I only
t ijiped to look once more around the
ilent black parlort then hurried back to
my sitting-room.
"Oh. Guv. it was no coincidence, mv
finding a paper ia' hat plaoe 1 The
pipe r is of the utmost importance. You
may see that for youarelf. Here it is,"
and rising, Queenie took it from one of
the corner cabinets secured to the wall,
and plaoed it in Guy's hand. A bit of
coarse, yellow parchment, the chirog
raphy quaint, the ink faded; but it was
the written confession of one Gilbert
St. Edgar that the estate of Deadwood
had been wrongfully obtained, and that
he had wrongfully defrauded the right
ful line of inheritance; and he further
more besought and instructed the find
ers of the paper, which he declared
hidden nnder the hearth of the tile
parlor for safe preservation a few days
before his death, to restore the ill
gotten estate of Deadwood to its rightful
inheritors. Guy Blondel'a. scholarly
ace grew grave and a trifle paler as he
read. Anticipating what it boded for
him, he made a strong effort for self
preservation. "Queenie, dear Queenie, yon surr-ly
don't mean that you are going to give
no Deadwood and all our hopes for this
old scrap of paper f "
" Deadwood is not mine, Guy."
" Oh, Queenie, don't plunge yonrself
into after poverty and separate us for
this unsubstantial idea I "
. " I will not, if it is unsubstantial,
Guy. I hopo it may prove so. Let us
both hope so, and be happy, at least un
til we find out," said the girl, miking
.n effort to stave off her own discourage
ment. She was full of pity, too, for the
pain of the yonng heart all hers in its
freshness and strength- Yet nothing
overcame the power of that honest
blood which had come with the strong
blue eyes. She held firm day after day,
only replying to Guy's pleadings:
" Deadwood must be mine, Guy. If
it is not mine, I do not want it. It
would never be home else."
At last Mr. Quill, who had been sent
for, came.
Queenie withheld the story of her
dream, as Guy called it, but inquired,
us quietly as possible, as to the exist
ence of Gilbert St. Edgar.
" Oh, yes, my dear; your great-great-uncle.
I never saw him, of course, but
my father remembers him." '
" I have a reason for wanting to see
his penmanship, Mr.Quill," said Queen
ie. "Do you think there ia any in ex
istence!" " Oh, yes; I know there is. , My un
cle, who was a friend of his, left a
quantity of old papers and letters,
among which are written bills of this
same Gilbert St. Edgar. I'll look when
I go home, and send you a specimen of
the old man's chirography. Very inter
esting, these old relics, Miss St. Ed
gar."
And Mr. Qaill partook of a delioious
tea and rode back to town, never dream
ing of the strained and anxious yonng
hearts he had left behind him.
Two days later, inolosed in a facetious
note inquiring when the wedding was to
be, arrived from Mr. Quill a bit of yel
low paper signed by Gilbert St. Edgir.
With the color ebbing from cheek and
lips, Queenie and Guy compared it to
the parchment taken from the hearth of
the tile parlor; for it was identical, and
the same penmanship. There could be
no doubt.
" And now, Queenie ?"
" Now all hope is at an end; at least
for long years, Guy. But wo may get
rioh by-and-bye. and then "
Tried beyond endurance he flung the
slender hand from bis own. The next
moment he turned with a bitter ory of
remorse, and snatched the girl from the
floor. . She had fainted.
He never gave way after that No
more anger or reproaches. He realized
that Queenie, too, suffered, and tried to
comfort and susta'n her.
The sad days went by. Queenie bid
the dainty wedding garments even from
her own eyes.
At length one evening the last even
ing a carriage whirled np the drive.
The occupant, drenohed with rain,
sprang into the house and the room.
" Excuse my wet coat rain right in
my face all the way. Oh, hang prelim
inaries I Here are you young folks
making yourselves miserable; both look
as if you'd had a fit of sickness; and
and why, by George, Miss St. Edgar,
old Gilbert St. Edgar was as mad aa
a March hare, and finally killed
himself in that tile parlor I" shouted
Mr. QnilL "I didn't tell you before
sort of hated to dash a brave young
thing like yon; but they said the house
was haunted, and a room where a sui
cide has been committed is an ngly
neighbor to a lady's boudoir I But bless
my soul I this old parohment ain't
worth Rhnoks not worth shucks, my
dear Miss St. Edgar. . He never de
frauded anybody of Deadwood. He in
herited it from bis brother, as honest a
man as ever lived. I've looked up the
proofs been three days about itand
then came back as quick as I could to
let you know the truth. Hang that old
tile parlor I Seal it up I Tear it down I
But, anyway, get married and be happy,
young folks. Don't be frightened out
of the wedding."
They took his advice Queenie and
Guy. The walls and floors of the old
tile parlor were dismantled of their
tiles, the whole north side turned into
glass doors which opened into the gar
den, the walls hung with a paper of
golden arabesques and rosebuds, and
filled with a piano and harp, rose pink
couches, books of poetry, pictures and
marble Cupids and angels. The ghost
of Gilbert St. Edgar never walked the re
again. American Monthly.
Chinese Poetry.
Chinese poetry is the subject of an in
teresting article in Macmillan's Maga
zine. Few persons appreciate the gen
uine poetry to which the Chinese have
given birth, yet poetry oooupies almost
as important a place in their literature
as in onr own. Here is a literal trans
lation of a short poem: '
The heart, when it ia harassed, finds no place
of rest.
The mind,' when embittered, thinks only of
grief.
In the following the writer is sup
posed to be apostrophizing a bed of
chrysanthemum plants in full bloom:
See their slender shadows pictured on the fence
whilst their delicate perfume soents the
garden walls;
Their tints, now dark, now light, flash one
against the other;
The dews as they drop strengthen their frames;
Hungry, they feed on air
What can with their bright colors compete t
Talking of them odb might pity their languor,
as of that ef an invalid;
Delicate, they open with constitutions at best
autumnal,
Tet say not that they bloom to no purpose;
For did they not by their charms inspire Tao
to poetry and conviviality ?
Here is one that has been metrically
translated. It is called the " Tiny
Rill:"
Over green fields and meadows a tiny rill ran
(The little precious coquette'):
She waa pretty, she knew, and thus early
Degan
Gajly flirting with all that she mot.
Her favors on both sides she'd gracefully
shower,
Regardless of whom thev mieht be:
One moment she'd kisB the sweet lips of a
flower,
. The next lave the root of a tree. -
She wonld leap from one rock to another in
piay, -
Tumble down on her pebbly bed v .
Like a naiad, let the dazzling, sunsmitten
spray,
Fill in piismatio gems round her head.
Sometimes she wonld lash herself into rage,
Ana rusti roaring and seeming along;
' i'.l a bit of smooth ground would her anger
assuage,
When she'd iiqnidly murmur a song.
Adulterated Food.
From: facts and data in our possession.
says the New York Herald, it is sus
ceptible of proof that nearly all the es
sentials of life are seriously tampered
with, ana that the adulteration of food
is the rule rather than the exception.
The following list is carefully prepared,
and will give an idea of the extent to
which the evil extends:
Sausages Made of impure meats and
seasoned with spices.
Bread Mixed with alum, lime water
and flour ground in with lead .
Flour Adulterated with damaged
peas, powdered alum and casein, in
which are 'worms, insects, acari and
smut.
Coffee Adulterated with cocoanut
shells, almond shells, chiooory, beans,
peas and corn.
Tea Colored with black lead and
Prussian blue.
Oysters, Clams and Lobsters Stale
and decaying.
Cheese Colored witn saffron. Vene
tian red, carrots 'and annotto, - whi ch
latter is often found to contain poison
ous chromates.
Essences Adulterated and contami
nated by nitro-benzole, pruasio acid, oil
of turpentine, sulphuric aoid and citric
acid.
Sugar Injured by putrid blood, with
which it is " purified," and adulterated
with olav, sand and bean dust, with now
and then a fair share of marble dust.
Cake Flavored with oil of almonds.
containing prussio acid.
apices mack pepper, adulterated
with buckwheat, caramel or shorts; cay
enne pepper, adulterated with red lead,
almond shells and ginger.
Romance of the Custer Massacre.
- Colonel Benteen, of the Seventh cav
alry, left the impression in his testi
mony in the Reno inquiry that Dr. Lord
and Lieutenant Sturgis, who were with
Custer, and whose bodies were not
found, might be still alive and with the
Indians. Away down in Maine this ray
of hope fell upon the heart of a young
lady who is in reality, but not in name,
one of the widows of the fatal dash for
vindication. There was more in the
colonel's words to her than he intended.
For the fifteenth time she wrote to Bis
marck, Dakota, pitifully inquiring if
there was any possible hope that Ben
teen's intimation was founded upon fact.
Her friend at Dakota answered "No."
If Dr. Lord was alive and in Sitting
Bull's camp the Canadian mounted
police would have found it out long be
fore this. Major Walsh, who is on the
best of terms with the bostiles, and is
with them a great deal, has made every
effort to discover a survivor. He is a
great admirer of the dead Ouster, and
his personal feelings have been heartily
enlisted in the vain search. All that he
has found has been one horse of the
white-horse company. Dr. Lord may be
alive, bnt it is aa improbable as Jules
Verne's eighty-day trip around the world.
The lady in Maine, however, has an in
tuitive belief that he ia still alive, and
she will yet see him. She reproaches
herself for some little thing she did,
thinking it sent him off with Ouster,
and that he was indifferent to the con
sequences. Chioago Tribune,
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Orchard aad Oardea Nate.
Asparagus. Bake off the litter from
the beds and carefully fork in the fine
manure.
Lettuce from the frames is set a foot
apart, in rows, between the cabbages and
oauliflowers.
Shrubs may be transplanted and
pruned, taking care to preserve their
natural habit.
Turfing is best for small plots, and
should be laid on large lawns along the
edges of roads and beds.
Rhubabb. Make new beds by divid
ing the old roots so that each portion
has a bud. Set three or four feet apart
each way, - manuring the hills very
heavily.
Hardt Vegetables. The prinoipal
are: Beet cabbage, cjyrrot, cress, cauli
flower, celery, endive, lettuce, parsley,
parsnip, onions, peas, radish, turnip and
spinach.
Miscellaneous. Repair roads and
paths. Unoover beds of bulbs. Lift
and divide large dumps of perennials.
Sow seeds of hardy flowers, American
Agriculturist,
Tender vegetables, not to be sown
until the soil is well warmed, or at corn
planting time, are: Beans snap and
pole; cucumber, corn, melons, okra,
pumpkin, squash, tomato, watermelon.
New lawns should be made as early
as the ground is in good condition to
have the grass well established before
hot weather. For light soils, red top,
for stony ones, blue-grass, with perhaps
a little white clover, is in our experience
preferable to mixed seeds. Four to six
Oushels to the aore are needed to make
a good velvety turf..
Pears. Dwarf trees may be grown in
the garden, and afford a fair amount of
choice fruit, while their cultivation will
afford much pleasure; but for fruit in
quantities, plant standards in the or
chard. Set dwarfs eight or ten feet
apart. The variety is bewildering. For
one dwarf tree, the " Duohessed'Angou
leme." Early Cabbages and Cauliflowers.
The earliest crop is from the plants
thus treated. The ground should be
heavily manured seventy-five tons of
stable manure to the acre is not unusual,
or part manure, and enongh guano to
make the whole equal to the above heavy
manuring. The ground is marked ont
in rows twenty-four to thirty inches
apart, and the plants set every sixteen
inches.
(leasehold Bint.
To Clean Bbass. Immerse or wash
it several timeB in sour milk or whey,
this will brighten it without soouring, it
may then be scoured with a woolen cloth
dipped in ashes.
To Preserve Egos. A pound of lime
and one pint of- salt to three gallons of
water. Put all eggs not wanted for
daily use into this brine, and they will
keep all the year round, and the whites
froth almost as well as fresh eggs.
Ornamental Trees. Plant when the
soil is in condition; evergreens may wait
4 month or more. Where old trees in
terfere, branches may be removed, but
they never should be pruned in such a
manner as to change their natural shape.
Old lwns will need a top-dressing
and a sprinkling of seed in places where
the grass is poor. If manure is applied,
let it be so thoroughly decomposed that
no weed seeds remain alive. Ashes,
guano, nitrate of soda and fine bone are
all good manures for lawns, and bring
in no weeds.
Early sowing in drills twelve to fifteen
inches apart should be made of beet,
carrot, leek, onion, parsnip, spinach.
Radish and turnip-radish seeds may be
sown with beets, as they will mature
and come off before they are in the way.
Early potatoes should be planted and
early peas sown.
To Mend China. Mix a little lime
with the white of an egg, to nse it take a
sufficient quantity of the egg to mend
one article at a time ; shave off a quan
tity of the lime, and mix thoroughly ;
apply quiokly to the edges and place
firmly together, when it soon sets and
becomes strong. Caloined plaster of
paris will answer in the place of lime.
To Remove Stains from Stockings.
Place them to soak in tepid water over
night ; in the morning put a pailful of
water in your boiler over the fire and
cut np an ounce of soap in it, stirring
until it melts and forms a lather ; when
it ccmes to the boiling point put into it
a tablespoonful of the magical mixture ;
stir it around, and having previously
soaped the stains on the stockings, put
them into the boiler and stir them around
for ten minutes ; take them out, and un
less very badly stained, they will need
but very little rubbing ; rinBe and blue,
and when dried you will find them free
from all stain.
To Remove Grease Sfots, To ex
tract grease spots from books or paper,
gently warm the greased or spotted part
of the book or paper, and then press
upon it pieces of blotting paper, one
after another, so as to absorb as much
of the grease as possible. Have ready
some fine, clear essential oil of turpen
tine, heated almost to a boiling state ;
warm the greased leaf a little, aod then
with a soft, clean brush wet with the
heated turpentine both sides of the
spotted part-. By repeating this appli
cation the grease will ba extracted
Lastly, with another brush dipped (in
rectified spirits of wine, go over the
place, and the grease will no longer ap
pear, nor will the paper be discolored.
Caallflower.
"This very common vegetable is one of
the market gardener's most profitable
crops. It is closely related to the cab
bage plant, and, like that, the eatable
part forms a head; but while the head
of the cabbage is formed of the leaves,
the head of the cauliflower ia formed cf
the flower.ntnlkH. which vrnnnn in nna
compact, oonioal mass that, in well-
grown specimens, measures nine inches
to a foot across. There are many vari
Lenormand's short-stemmed requires a
nnA J il iV.I 1 -i .
6 (uou buu, jiuuiT uuuiurea; it is
useless to attempt to grow it on a poor,
gravelly or binding clay soil.
Cauliflower is mostly grown as a crop
for spring or early summer; as a late
crop it is more apt to fail. For an early
crop the seed should be sown in the
first half of September, and later the
plants should be Bet about three inches
apart each way, in a cotd frame. Daring
the winter they should be covered with
Bashes, and in oold weather have an ad
ditional covering of straw mats. On
every mild or sunny day air should be
given, by raising the sash a few inches,
and as early in the spriug as the weather
will permit, the sashes should be re
moved entirely during the day. In the
latter part of March, or as soon as safe
from hard frost a little will do no
harm the plants should be set out on
well-prepared and riohly-manured land,
in rows two by three feet. The seed
may also be sown on the hot -bed in
February, and by proper care the
Elanta may be ready to set ont in the
eginning of April; but in this case
they must be thoroughly hardened be
fore they are planted in the garden, or
a little frost will kill thenr! By giving
proper attention to this point, spring
plants are but little inferior to those
wintered over in the cold-frame, and
may prodnce as good a crop. ' Lenor
mand's Early Paris, Erfurt Early
Dwarf, Large Algiers, and Autnmn
Giant are some of the best varieties.
Rural Hew Yorker,
What to Do In Cases or Diphtheria.
The following is from the circular of
the Massachusetts State board of health:
In the first place, as diphtheria is a con
tagious disease, and under certain cir
cumstances not entirely known, very
highly so, it is important that all prac
tical means should be taken to separate
the sick from the well. As it is also
infectious, woolen clothes, carpets, cur
tains, hangings, etc., should be avoided
in the sick-room, and only such ma
terial used as can be readily washed.
All clothes, when removed from the
patient, should be at once placed in hot
water. Pocket-handkerchiefs should be
laid aside, and in their stead soft pieces
of linen or cotton cloth should be used,
and at once burned.
Disinfectants Bhould always be placed
in the vessel containing the expectora
tion, and may be used somewhat freely
in the sick-room; those being especially
useful whioh destroy bad odors without
causing others (nitrate of lead, chloride
of zino, etc). In sohools there should
be especial supervision, as the disease is
often so mild in its early stages as not
to attract common attention; and no
child should be allowed to attend school
from an infected house until allowed to
do so by a competent physioian. In the
case of young children, all reasonable
care should be taken to prevent undue
exposure to the cold.
Pure water for drinking should bo
used, avoiding contaminated sources ol
supply; ventilation should be insisted
on, and local drainage must be carefully
attended ' to. Privies and cesspools,
where they exist, should be frequently
emptied and disinfected; the water
should not be allowed to soak into the
surface of the ground near dwelling
houses, and the cellars should be kept
dry and sweet. In cities, especially in
tidal districts, basins, baths, etc., as
now connected with drains, should
never communicate directly with sleeping-rooms.
In all cases of diphtheria, fully as
great care should be taken in disinfect
ing the si k-room, after use, as in scar
let fever. After a death from diphtheria,
the clothing disused should be burned
or exposed to nearly or quite a heat of
boiling water; the body should be placed
as early as practicable in the coffin, with
disinfectants, and the coffin should be
tightly closed. Children, at least, and
better adults also in most cases, should
not attend a far. oral from a house in
whioh a death from diphtheria has oc
curred. But with suitable precautions,
it is not necessary that the funeral
should be private, provided the corpse
be not in any way exposed.
Although it is not at present possible
to remove at once all sources of epi
demio disease, yet the frequent visita
tion of such disease, and especially its
continued prevalence, may be taken as
sufficient evidence of insanitary sur
roundings, and of sources of sickness to
a certain extent preventable
It should be distinctly understood
that no amount of artificial "disinfec
tion" con ever take the place of pure
air, good water and proper drainage,
whioh cannot be gained without prompt
and efficient removal of all filth, whether
from slaughter-houses, etc, publio
buildings, crowded tenements or pri
vate residences.
Can Oysters Whistle I
This little oyBter story is from Thorn
burg's ." New and Old London :" The
shop was first established by a Mr.
Pearkes in 1825. "It appears," say-a
writer in the Daily Telegraph, " that
about the year 1810 the proprietor of
the house in question, which had then,
as it has now, a great name for the su
perior excellence of its delicate little
' natives,' heard a strange and unusual
sound proceeding from one of the tubs
in which the shellfish lay piled in lay
ers one over the other, plaoidly fatten
ing upon oatmeal and awaiting the in
evitable advent of the remorseless knife.
Mr. Pearkes, the landlord, listened,
hardly at first believing his ears. There
was, however, no doubt about the mat
ter; one of the oysters was distinctly
whistling, or, at any rate, producing a
sort of sifflement with its shell. It was
not difficult to detect this phenomenal
bivalve, and in a very few minutes he
was triumphantly picked out from
amongst his fellows and put by himself
in a spacious tub, with a plentiful sup
ply of brine and water. The news
spread tlirough the town, and for some
days the fortunate Mr. Pearkes found
his house besieged .by curious crowds.
Douglas Jerrold's suggejtion
was that the said oyster had been crossed
in love and now whistled to keep np ap
pearances, with an idea of showing that
it did not care." Thackeray used to de
clare that he was once actually in the
shop when an American came in to see
the phenomenon, as everybody else was
doing, and, after hearing the talented
mollusk go through his usual perform
ance, strolled contemptuously out, de
claring " it was nothing to an oyster he
knew of in Massachusetts, whioh whistled
Yankee Doodle' right through and fol
lowed its master about the house Jike a
dog."
TIMELY TOPICS.
There are in France 82,873 lunatics,
of whom 89,887 are at the charge of
their families, and 42,986 suptorted by
the State. The proportion is about
two per 1,000 of the population.
In the course of a suit recently
brought in London by a druggist of
Bogota, United States of Colombia, to
restrain Mr. Holloway, of pill and oint
ment lame, from charging in his adver
tisements that the aforesaid druggist
dealt in spurious Holloway pills and
ointments, it was stated that Mr. Hol
loway spent $200,000 a year in adver
tising, while the yearly profits of his
business were about $260,00.
As left-handedness in children is not
generally considered desirable, it is
well to prevent it, if possible. It is a
well-known fact that most children in
arms are carried on the left arm of the
mother or nurse, as the case may be.
The consequence is that the right arm
is fast against the nurse's shoulder,
while the left hand is left free to grasp
at anything that comes in the way. Let
the nurse use the right arm at least
half the time, and the mischief is ob
viated, A grim story of life in a lighthouse
comes from the Burmoh coast, and is
printed in the Rangoon Times. A tele
gram having announoed that the light
on the Algnada reef was not visible, a
steamer was dispatched to ascertain the
cause. The captain, on landing, discov
ered two of the men in the lighthouse
dead, while a third was lying in a pre
carious state. The keeper stated that
signals of distress such as " I want im
mediate help " and "Man dying" had
been exhibited by him for about twenty
days. As a last resort, all his signals
having failed to attract attention, he
darkened the lights on the Bassein side,
feeling certain that this step would not
fail to attract attention to the light
house. And so, with the dead and the
dying, he watched for relief, whioh
came at last.
The famous marble quarries cf Car
rara, although they have been worked
since the reign of Augustus, and have
furnished a steady and enormous sup
ply to the whole civilized globe, seem
to be inexhaustible. They compose an
entire mountain range, and embrace
every variety and quality of marble,
from the coarse common kind to the
statuary marble, Monte Orestola and
Monte Sagro yielding the largest and
finest blocks. The quarries number
some 600, only about twenty of them
furnishing the marble used by sculptors,
and some 6,000 persons are employed
in them. The marble taken out year
before last was in the vicinity of 120,000
tons, valued ft $2,400,000, of which
40,000 tons came to the United States.
The export of marble to this country
has increased immensely within twelve
to fifteen years, the third largest mar
ble firm now at Carrara being American.
Lingual Difficulties.
On one occasion an estimable attache
to the late Mr. Bennett, and who, from
the fatigues of the job press of the New
York Herald, aimed to study medicine
and become a city coroner of Gotham,
illustrated the power and the peace of
language at one and the same time. The
very first case of the doctor's ooronership
was that concerning the death by mur
der of an Italian. The only or chief
witness was the terrified son of the
murdered man. He was brought before
the learned doctor, who said, in an im
perial tyle, worthy of a Gotham coroner:
" Well, my lad, what language do you
speak ? "
No response.
" Do you speak German ? "
No response.
" Do yon speak Frenoh ? "
No response.
" Do you speak Spanish ? "
No response.
" Do you speak Italian ? "
No response.
" Well, do you speak Irish ? "
No response.
Turning to the jury, the classical doc
tor said: "Gentleman, in the whole
course of my professional experience I
have never had such an astonishing wit
ness brought before me. As you see, I
have addressed him in five different lan
guages, and he has responded in neither.
Harper's Bazar.
Cream Instead of Butter.
A housewife writing for the New York
Tribune proposes virtually to abolish
butter. She says: "It would be well
to train a family from the ontcet to
regard butter as an incidental or luxury,
rather than a necessity. The manufac
ture of it is one of the hardest and most
time-consuming tasks that a farmer has
to perform. Moreover, with all the
work it involves, butter adds less to the
health and sustenance of the family than
would the eating of the oream that goes
into the making of it. Where one
physioian advises the eating of butter, a
thousand recommend the consumption
of cream. I think not one will dispute
the statement that of cream and butter
eaters the former enjoy the beBt di
gestion, the best health and have the
finest complexion. Then, why work
oneself to death for worse than naught t
Why not eat milk and cream instead of
turning it into butter ? Good bread is
good enongh without the addition of a
condiment to make it palatable; and,
eaten with sweet cream, what is more
delioious ?"
Harried la Wagon.
As onr worthy Dora postmaster, who
is not only postmaster, but ia olothed
with justice' authority to solemnize
marriages, was meandering his way on
horseback, west of his own premises on
the highway, he met Esquire Elliott and
Mrs. Nealis sitting on a spring seat in
a two-horse wagon. Onr worthy es
quire and postmaster was halted and in
formed that his services were in demand
at once to perform a marriage ceremony,
the license being promptly presented in
dne form. Whereupon the accommo
dating esquire rode np to the wagon,
requested the parties who were seated
on the spring-seat to join hands, and
then and there solemnized, on the pub
lio highway, . without a- witness, the
marriage of the twain, Qswego (Kan,)
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
Striking objeots Clocks.
News of the weak Hospital reporta.
jXLuruer, had ,ug nuvuu v. -
pants, will out.
In anoient times diphtheria was con
sidered incurable.
Home training should aid the teach
ing children receive at sohooL
Ttntnoatin i-tthViita am freanentlv bred
to supply furs for various purposes.
For two centuries there has Deen a
depression in business every ten years.
Gladstone's admirers will build a
tirmnirjil in hia honor that will oost
$110,000.
"Come listen to my tail," said the
dog as he thumped his appendage on
the floor.
The Boston Journal believes that
when a girl turns out a deceiver it serves
him right.
Hinnivm Toonta fn tnnw if " time is
money," why " can't he take time to
pay flia ueuitj r
Tf (a uM Mi of nnrfnrminor birds "
are tancht their tricks through a cruel
course of lessons.
The wrong boy who was interviewed
hv th hemlock twic feelingly spoke of
it as the misplaced switch.
" He lives above bis lnoome,"
Was the dark reproaon be bore,
Till at last it was remembered
Ihat be lived above bis store.
nVi Innlr T.nnidfi ! Fred in at 'sent
me this sweet little puppy. Wasn't he
kind?" "Yes. dear; but it's just like
him."
Instead of saying " too thin," Kiohard
rironf TChifA t ran nl ntan it into the ex
pression "of the utmost tenuity of
laono.
Tha .Tnnrnnt. nf Chf.niistru 8SVS that
no European nation is so advanced as
Italy in its methods of teaching agri
culture.
An TniliDTiii loilv nf fiicrli tv-flicll t vears
is crowing a third set of teeth, whioh
. i -l ... ; 1.1 A-
are so iar aavancea iuui ouo ia uuie w
use them.
V.U tha aita nf .Tannh'a well, in the
city of Samaria, Palestine, there is a
BaptiBt church with a congregation
numbering 100,
The king of Siam has a bodyguard
of female warriors. They are said to
be very beautiful the most killing
young ladies of his realm.
"Did you ever," asked a brother
humorist of Josh Billings, "stand at
the hall door after your lecture and
listen to what the people said about it
. . n. T 1' 1 T U it T
as tney went oux r nepiiuu duau
did once (a pause and a sigh), but I'll
never do it again."
Spain has ninety-two dukes, 8bo mar
quises, 632 counts, ninety-two viscounts,
and ninety eight barons, besides forty
four ennobled foreigners. Two dukes,
fifty-eight marquises, thirty counts, six
ated by the present king. The univer
sity students this year number 16,889,
of whom 6,823 are studying medicine
and 6,409 law.
West Indian Superstitions.
As regards animals, Guinea pigs may
be mentioned as specially unlucky, at
least in St. Croix. There are families
there, among those from whom one
would not expect such things, whose
children would on no account be allowed
to keep these pretty little pets. What
precisely is the harm they do is not
stated. All you can get out of one is,
" Oh, they always bring trouble to a
house; they're very unlucky." And yet, '
if the writer of this was an adept at one
thing more than another in his small
boy days which were spent in Barbados
it was at keeping Guinea - pigs. They
were kept by him on a scale so large
that he could set up some of his school
fellows as Guinea-pig keepers. He even
ran the risk of keeping them sometimes
in his desk at school, boring holes and
cutting slits in the lid, to give the little
bright-eyed creatures air. And it was a
great risk to run, for those were the
good old "licking times" now, hap
pily, almost over fcr schoolboys. The
master of the school was one of those
men who are now, it is to be hoped,
nearly as extinct as the dodo men who
believed that you could teach a boy
through his back, or through the palms
of his hands or the seat of his panta
loons. But yet the Guinea-pigs never
brought a thrashing npon thf ir owner
or his friends. Some of the boys at
this very school were possessed of a
sovereign plan for making yon perfect
in your lessons, which may have kept
off the trouble the Guinea-pigs would
otherwise have brought on the sohool.
When you had learned any lesson thor
onghly (and some fellows kept the talis
man in their hands all the time of learn
ing the lesson) rub the page up and
down or across with a large seod, called
a " good-luck seed." Then return it to
The pocket, where it ought to be kept.
This done, you need not fear. So much
for superstitions. Contemporary Ee
view.
A Poser for the Hawkeye " Man.
A young roan, who evidently repre
sents some St. Louis house, asks me
where I am from. 1 tell him. His eye
brightens. He says :
"Do you know GuBt. Hirsch, there?"
No, I tell him, I do not.
'Know Marx Oppenheimer ?"
I don't know Marx Oppenheimer.
" Do you know JoeHelminghausen ?"
I fail to remember Mr. H.
" Then do you know Chris. Erlingen
sohaftlioher?" I don't believe I do,
" But you must know Ernest Gund-laohenstreibiohdukirohsenliebalstenhei-minghaus?"
I think possibly that I may have
known come of him, and possibly a
great deal of him, at different times,
but I am quite positive that I never
knew him all at once.
The young man from the St. Louis
house looks amazed.
" Well," he says at last, "you ain't
got much acquaintance in Burlington,"
And I sadly remarked that my ac
quaintance there is rather limited, and
he goes away.' Presently he returns.
"Oh," he says, "them fellas I said
to you about lives in Davenport."
And I feel greatly relieved, tor I had
begun to think that I didn't know any
body in Burlington. R. J, Burdette,