c c.
Wsg V '
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPERANDDM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. X. EIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1880. NO. 2.
i
!
Begging.
tattling with hunger
How many we meet,
Footsore and frozen,
Wand'ring the street;
Weary and dreary,
Pleading tor bread,
Houseless'and starving
No rest lor the head;
Cold oold nothing to eat,
Ragged and shiv.ring,
Wand'ring the'street.
Battling with hunger,
Wearisome sad, ,
From morn until eve
Scarce " a bite " to he had;
The outlook all gloom.
Trudging throngh snow,
In misery creeping,
Onward they go,
Cold cold nothing to eat ;
Wretched and hungry,
Wand'ring the street.
Bnttling with hunger,
Battling lor bread,
Battling for bare life,
Wishing lire sped ;
Hearts sadly aching,
Hnrd in their pain,
Groveling in gutter,
Begging again. v
Cold cold wretched and sad;
All alone in Uie world,
Scarco " a bito: to be had.
Battling with hnnger,
Hard is their fate,
Heading and tramping
Early and late;
Ob, liH the piayer
Of the wiimlcring poor,
And don't thrust the beggar
Away from your door.
Cold cold out in the rain,
To eke out a living
BegRing again.
OUR HAUNTED HOUSE.
" Do buy the house, Charlie ; I nm not
at all afraid of ghosts!"
My husband leans against the worm
eaten fence and looks thoughtfully at
the dull, old-fashioned house, with its
shutters flapping from broken hinges, its
porches overgrown with vines, its gar
den, full of rank weeds, and the rivrr
singing beyond its garden gate.
" It is very cheap, Amy," he says, at
length. " They only charge me for the
land, and nominally nothing for the
house. But can you endure living in
such a deserted place, and I in the city
all dayP Why, all sorts of noises can
be heard here day and night, and I have
heard good, intelligent people, with con
sciences, say (hey hnd seen the spirit ot
a woman, with a little child in hernrms,
walking nil about these 'grounds at
evening. Nobody else would dare buy
it. Why, it has had no tenants for a
year. I fear it will frighten away your
friends, and that you-yourseif will have
to succumb to the spirit-influence of the
place."
He stops, seeing the expression on my
face. I can bear anything better than
the allusion to spirit-influence, or to the
belief of the progressionists. Charlie is
a good business man ; but he has read a
great many scientific works written by
men who thought they were very wise
on the subject of spiritualism ; and he
has investigated, or, rather, invested a
rc;it deal in the same. He has pro
gressed to such an extent that fie can
sometimes hear raps on the head board,
and feel cold shivers down his back,
and in mosquito-time he often feels
pinches from unseen spirit-fingers. t
I do not like to rcaa scientific books'
and during the short time we have been
married, I have employed my time, in
stead, in practicing waltzes, making pies
and embroidering baby-clothes. Still,
Charlie worships me. I believe it is
God's unseen law of recompense that
there should always be some one to
ndor , even a women with freckles, wide
mouth and a figure like a Dutch doll.
At all events, my will is always law;
so viruuc hikcs ins mine una cuts away
the rose brambles that have thrown
their arms across the front door, and to
gether we enter the vacant echoing
rooms. The cellins are dim with vails
of cobwebs, the spiders run up the walls
at our approach. The house lias a ruin
ous, moldy smell, but it does not oppress
me as it does Charlie. Already in my
mind's eye I see what it will be like,
cleaned and nired, with open windows
and cheerful furniture.
I ran through the house, exclaiming:
"What ii beautiful wide hall! this
room facing the south shall be our sit
ting room. I will rout all the ghosts
with sunshine. See those hollyhocks
smiling over that picket fence, and those
summer pears all rotting on the ground
what a shame! and all those rose
bushes choked in the long grass!"
Charlie shakes his head.
" If you had heurd all I have about
this house, you would be in no haste to
live here. You know the Widow Wool
son s daughter that has been missing
from town a year, and supposed to be
murdered? Well, Geoffry Clare was
passing here one night, only last week
and you know, whatever else he will do,
ho won t he and he told me he saw
Grace Woolson's face as plain as day
over that garden fence."
I checked him suddenly again. I have
never had but this one secret from my
husband, that three years before I met
him I had fallen hopelessly in love with
handsome Geoffry Clare. He had soon
forgotten me for pretty Grace Woolson,
wno iiaa afterward disappeared so mys
teriously that no trace of her could be
found, although l.er mother and Geoffry
had searched for her many months.
I think I loved him no longer, and
sometimes '.hanked God for taking my
future out of my unskillful hands, yet
the mention of his name always made
mo wince.
As Charlie's only objections were on
my account, and as we were not rich
enough to buy such a home as we might
have chosen, within a week he had
paid the small sum required for the
.. haunted house, and we had moved into
ag and baggage. I liked the place,
which was neither town nor country,
out was em Dowered among its trees,
iustat the terminus nf the
wilh such a grand old garden and such
glimpses of wood and water. The first
thing I did was to open all the windows
wide, and let in the summer's sun.
Martha Ann, my one servant, cleaned
u.v,mj tin mold and cobwebs, and fresh
paint and pap r changed the rooms as
if by magic.
Charlie left his scientific researches
after business hours and pruned the
trees, cut the grass, trimmed the ragged
vines, rehung the shutters, and ' made a
small paradise out of the reclaimed
lawn. -
When all was completed, there was
no place for ghosts in those wide, sunny
rooms. My bedroom was the pleasant
est room of all, facing the east, and
looking out upon the pear ' trees, the
hollyhocks and the river. Pink had
been my color when a girl, so I took a
fancy my room should be all pink. The
dull drab paper, with green vines wan
dering about and clutching aimlessly at
nothing all over it, was changed for a
delicate pink and white. The carpet
was pink and white, the color under the
cheap muslin pillow shams was pink,
the lace curtains hung over pink shades,
and were looped back with pink rib
bons, making as a whole too rose-hued
a bower for any specter to fancy.
I believe I was as entirely happy,
after getting settled that first week, as
any one could be who had liyed in
rented houses all -her life, and owned
one of her own for the first time.
I hnd but one distaste for the place,
and that ws s for the basement, which,
covered with clinging vines, was rotten
underneath. It had formerly been a
cellar-kitchen, but was now fallen into
disuse, and full of refuse piles of lumber.
old cans and unused rubbish. The
heavy vines grown over the broken
bricks had mnde it a damp and noisome
place, and I never cared to explore it.
or to put it to any use, except the por-
tion directly under tne trapdoor going
down from the kitchen. I had Martha
Ann clean away a space here, and fill a
cupboard with canned fruit, vegetables,
etc.
I grew to have a dread of this dark
and cheerless cellar, and never came out
of it without shivering, though I would
not own it even to myself.
It had scarcely been my receptacle for
lruit a day before 1 began to miss tilings
in a most mysterious manner. Before I
could realize it there would be a gloss
of jelly, a pie. a loaf of cake, a melon.
or a plate of peaches gone. I could ac
cuse no one but the ghosts and Martha
Ann, and she had always heretofore
been the soul of truth and honor.
Twice I fancied, when in the cellar. I
had heard a sigh and a rustle of ghostly
garments, and 1 could have sworn l
heard the wailing of a y.-ung child
several times; but I would have died
rather than own this to my husband.
" Martha Ann," said I, one day, com
ing up in great haste from the cellar,
"do .'hosts like pickled fags?"
"I am sure I don't know, ma'am!"
Martha Ann's eyes are as wide, as in
nocent and unauailing as ever.
" Well, you know that jar ot pick ion
figs my cousin sent me from California,
that I was saving till mother came to
visit me? Well, they are two-thirds
gone, as well as that pie that was laid
away expressly tor Charlie! W hat am
I to think."
I am nngry and excited. Martha
Ann says nothing, as usual, but I see
her tears are quietly falling over the
dish-apron she is hemming. 1 nm rather
relieved the day after when she asks me
for a month s vacation to visit her sick
grandmother. 1 do not hke to accuse
her of theft, nnd 1 would like to be
alone to ferret out this mystery. I have
fresh bolts put on the cellar-dors, and
tho chinks in the bricks rilled in. The
tran-door I keen fastened down with
heavy weights, still the. depredations
go on pies, cakes, ice-cream lett m the
freezers, cream off the milk, a portion
of every available thing is missing from
day to day.
I am too proud to confide in Charlie,
but my life is getting to be a burden.
One bright September day I sit down in
the kitchen in tears, with my feet in the
oven, and would fain-cover my head
with my apron, like Affery Flintwinch
in " Little Dorrit," to shut out the faint
wails ot some child that I am sure are
coming from the cellar.
Martha Ann will not be home for two
weeks; lam tired out and discouraged.;
Charlie will be home in half an hour lb
a five o'clock dinner, and the spirits
have eaten all the cold roast and tarts
that I have laid a way for that especial
banquet.
I shall be forced to tell him that for
my hardihood in making him buy this
haunted house, he is destined to go on
half-rations generally, I think with a
sob, when I hear a faint step below nnd
see the trap-door slowly rising, and the
blanched face and thin shoulders of a
woman, with a skeleton child in her
arms, coming into view.
Can 1 believe ray eyes? Yes, it is the
shrunken, faded form of Grace Wool
son, which I know in an instant, though
the sunken eyes and claw-like hands and
skeleton figure, make but a silhouette of
the rosy, dimpled girl I remember.
I am not a nervous woman, and I
have expected this ghost to appet.r so
long, that I do not scream or faint away
when she come townrd me, and the
pathetic, drooping air with which she
holds out the visionary baby, and then
bursts into such a human agony of tears,
would make one feel tender and akin to
even a hobgoblin.
"Oh, Amy," she gasped, "you are a
good woman, and will you try and save
my child's life? If it had not been dy
ing I should have staid hidden always,
but I knew you would help me if you
could. I was sorry to take your figs
and things, and would not if I could
have kept from starving; but for
mother's sake I have hidden in your
cellar three months, for I knew she and
Geoffry Clare would find me if they
could."
" It is his child, then?" I asked, not
with any idle curiosity, but much as
one would frame a question to fill a
pause.
" ies, sue said, simpiy.
" Well, I have not a word of blame
for you. I nearly went crazy myself
in love with him once, and had not God
been very kind to me, I might have
been as badly off as you. . We will save
the baby it we can."
I have pulled her into a chair while I
am talking, and am holding the baby's
chilled feet to the fire, feeling its feeblo
pulse, and noticing how faint and gasp
ing is its breath, and the clammy sweat
on its temples, while Grace is talking
with the zest of a man just out of prison,
and longing to hear the sound of his
voice again.
" When people missed me first. I had
fone to the New York hospital, win re
ran awav with the baby as soon as I
could walk, for fear I should be traced
there: and knowing this house was said
to be iiaunted, and people were afraid to
cuine here. I made a bed in some pack
ina-boxes behind the lumber, and so
long as my money lasted, I used to go
out ut nights in my waterproof and
buy things; but after you came I dared
not leave, and the baby has been grow
ing sick in the damp weather."
i pour her out a cup or strong iea,iiiai
is steeping on the range, but she sits
hold inn it in her hand, untasted, staring
at me with her mild, faded eyes.
" Oh, Amy, I am afraid to ask you,
but how is my mother? have you seen
her?"
" Yes, I saw her last week at prayer
meeting " " and she looks like one who
has been struck with death," I was going
to say, but stopped, seeing Grace was
quivering all over with fear and expec
tancy. I dared not tell her that her
mother was now sick in bed, and that
out of her life all hope had gone, with
the loss of her only child, or how my
heart had ached for the poor widow, out
of whose faded face even expectancy had
vanished.
" Come." said I. " the baby is warm
now, let us go and lay it in the bed; and
Charlie and I are all alone, and you may
rest assured no one shall know of your
being here."
1 carry it to my own pink room as be
ing the most, retired, and it is with joy I
hear Charlie's step on the stairs. He
takes in the situation at a glance, and,
being a practical druggist, and a better
nurse and doctor than our little town
affords, begins instantly to mix some
medicine for the little sufferer.
He is tenderer than any woman to
ward anything little or weak, or needing
care ; bo for two days he does not go to
hisonice, but watches with Grace and
me beside the dying child; but what can
mustard-baths and drugs, and careful
nursing avail where a damp basement
has undermined td constitution of so
frail a little blossom? On the third day
the little life goes out to complete its
being in another world. Poor Grace
will not believe that the little child she
has cherished through such awful days
and nights of want and distress is really
dead. She hold it in her arms all
night, and in the morning we dress it in
the dainty lace and linen robe of a hap
pier baby yet to come, who, too, alas!
may never need the pretty finery. And
Charlie digs a little crave under the near
tree, close to the sunny wall, where the
catchfly and sweet allyssum grow so
rank, and lays the little creature tend
erly under the September leaves and
grasses.
roor thing, it would have been so
pretty, had it had proper nourishment,
and air to breathe, with its delicate
features and pretty rings of soft hair.
Grace follows us silently back to the
door, and pausing on the step, lays her
hand upon my arm, looks into my face
beseechingly, saying:
" I must go to mother now. if vou will
do mo one last favor, Amy, and go with
me."
Charlie hurries off for a down-town
car to his ofiice, and Grace and I walk
down the quiet street toward her
mother's little cottage. None of the
people who meet us recognize in the
slender figure, clad in my new drab
walking suit with my gypsy turban and
long veil, the (irace Woolson of a year
ago. l tremble on neanng the house,
for I see the windows nre open wida,
and two or three are watching bv a bed
where Grace's mother lies Dreathing
faintly nnd moaning at intervals. I see
draco fly up the garden-walk and stoD.
with clasped hands and bent head on the
threshold, and I hear her mother's faint
voice saying to the woman who is fan
ning her:
"Do not trouble yourself about me ; I
shall never be well again, nnd nothing
can cure me now but a sight of my
daughter's face."
1 see Grace grope forward. I hear her
caliir g, " Mother, mother!" I see those
two poor women in ea?h other's arms,
and I turn away blinded with tears.
And Grace's mother did not die, but
seems entirely happy with her lost dar
ling all to herself again once more, the
color coming slowly back into her
whitened cheeks, and life getting back
into its old grooves. Her return was a
nine days' wonder to our gossiping
town; but the little grave under the
pear-trees tells no tales, and though she
will never be exactly the same pretty
blooming Grace Woolson again, yet
this aftermath of her life is something
to be thankful for, in its great content
and peaceiuiness. nmtna JV. ISayley.
CAPITAL CLAIMANTS.
Nome of the Odd Characters Found In
Washington.
Frequent visitors at the capitol cannot
have failed to notice the daily occupant
of the front seat of the left hand Senate
irallery. He is known as the " prayer
fiend." In rain or shine he is punctu
ally on hand. At ten minutes before
twelve o'clock he shambles in, takes his
seat nnd quietly awaits until the chap
lain begins his prayer. Then he rises,
throws his body back to an angle which
may some day lose him his balance,
poises his head even to a more extreme
backward angle than his body, and
rocks on toe and heel until the amen is.
uttered, to which he responds. Then
he resumes his seat and generally re
mains until the session closes, particu
larly it there is a debate, in appear
ance this character is striking, lie is
tall and thin ; more than six leet high.
His frame is angular; lace spare and
shrunken. He has little tufts of gra
side whiskers, otherwise his face is
wavs cleanly shaven. He dresses in
plain black, wears a cloak and carries a
cane. His eyes protrude well out of
their sockets and nave a restless iook.
If he happens to come in late, no matter
who may be in his seat, or how much
dillicu tv he may encounter to reach it,
he will crowd his way to the place and
oust any one who may be in it. He is
well known to an congressmen as uie
TIMELY TOPICS.
;ray
i al-
Over twenty thousand car-loads ol
live nn A dressed noultrv are carried
into New York city yearly, and 85,500,
000 dozens of eggs go to the same
market. According to the best esti
mates, the United States produces nine
thousand million- of eggs annually.
This is a nice little item for the consid
eration of those who call chicken busi
nessegg raising a small thing, a
common pin is a very little thing, but a
paper or pins is wortn sewing a price
on ; wnue tne manuiacture oi pins uk
the production of eggs, is an industry
worth the attention of men of ability
and the investment of capital.
Professor Otto Bollinger, of the Uni
versity of Munich, read a paper re
cently on artificial tuberculosis as in
duced bv the use of the milk ol tuber
culosis cows. He endeavored to de
monstrate that the milk of such animals
has a contagious influence and repro
duces the disease in other animals. See-
inr the'enormous mortality from con
sumption,;Professor Bollinger believes
it to be of the utmost importance to
urge unon all classes, and particularly
upon farmers, the absolute necessity of
taking every possible means ol stamping
out the disease among cattle
A boy five years old fell into the East
river III t. inigv. v.i w r v.
Up
alt
one who keeps most zealous vigil over gathered round, but no one dared to
The Stupid Boy.
Never set a bov down for stupid be.
cause he does not make a figure at school
Many ot the most celebrated men who
have ever lived have been set down by
some conventional pedagogue as don
keys. One of the greatest astronomers
of the age was restored to his father by
the village schoolmaster, with these en
couraging words : " There's no use pay
ing good money for his education. All
lie wants to do is to lie on the grass on
his back and stare at the sky. I'm afraid
his mind is wrong." Scientific men
have often been flogged for falling into
brown studies over their books, and
many an artist of the future has come to
present grief for drawing all over his
copy book and surreptitiously painting
the pictures of his geography. Your
genius, unless musical, seldom proves
himself one in his childhood, and your
smug and self-sufficient piece of pre
cocity, who takes all the medals, and is
the show scholar of the school, often
ends by showing no talent for anything
beyond a yard slick. Sir Walter Scott
was called stupid as a child, and it
was not considred to his credit thnt he
was fond of " sich trash " as ballads,
and could learn them by heart at any
time.
At a Funny Lecture.
While I was lectuiing at Washington
I saw a lady with an intelligent, pretty
face, and bright, eloquent eyes, that
were rarely lifted toward the speaker,
and then only for a flash of time. They
were bent upon her husband's hands
almost constantly. Brilliant and ac
compllshed, a few years ago, she had
gone down into the world of voiceless
silence, and now all the musio and all
the speech that comes into her life
comes through the tender devotion of
her husband, and as 1 talked, 1 watched
him telling off the lecture on his nimble
fingers, while her eager eyes glanced
from them to his sympathetic face. It
was a pretty pioture of devotion. They
were so young to have this cloud
shadow the morning skies of their lives.
but as I glanced from the voiceless wife
to 'ier husband. 1 thought how beauti
fully the sunlight of his devotion was
breaking through these clouds, and tint
ing even their afflictions with a Under
radiance. This discipline of attending
upon suffering is a good thing for a
man. It rounds out Ins life; it develops
his manlier, nobler qualities: it makes
his heart brave and tender and strong as
their proceedings. The name of this
odd character is Powell Cuthbert, a
Virginian hv birth. Of late vears he
seems to have gone a " little off" on re
ligion, lie brs an income which cannot
be alienated from him in his lifetime
barely sufficient to keep him, and finds
peace in his latter days in the uongres
sional gallery.
Another conspicuous character is an
old iadv named Almira Thompson. She
has a claim. In fi.ct she has presented
claim 'to every Congress since the
forty-third, and is daily in attendance
both in the gallery and the committee
room to see how it is "coming on.
This claim is for services alleged to have
been rendered as a hospital nurse. Al
mira has a temper of her own, and woe
be it tD the congressional soion wno re
fuses to treat her with consideration.
When the House is in session she goes
to the gallery, and frequently manages
to get a seat next to the " prayer fiend."
The latter shuns her because, as she al
leges, she is crnzy. It is amusing to see
the old man try to "cut" Almira dead.
She will sometimes sit by him and talk
at him fifteen or twenty minutes with
out being able to elioita response. Then
Almira will get mad and take hold ot
him with both hands, turn him round
so as to face her, whereat the old man,
powerless to resent her muscular force
will deign to make a reply, resume his
position in which he lias been disturbed
and lei en sleep to dodge her attentions
Almira knows every member of Con
gress; can give a good outline of their
tine points and somottmes proves really
an advantage in the gallery, it she
happens to be near any one who is will
ing to listen to her she will point out
the leading members, either praise
them or abuse them as she sees lit, and
recount mauy interesting episodes of
Congressional debates. Mie has an es
pecial liking for Ferris Finch, the tile
clerk of tho llouse.because. forsooth, he
consigns her claim to the catacomb of
the files with each recurring Congress
The appearance ot this character is
striking, hhe is a tall, well-preserved
old lady, of about sixty, straight as nn
arrow nnd as proud ns Jucitcr. iter
eye is coal black, flashing and expres,
sive. Her hair is gray, worn in a pro
fusion of curls, which hang over her
forehead. She bears evidence that in
her vouthful days sho must have laid
claims to superior beauty, for she even
vet possesses more than ordinary eood
looks. She wears a faded gray dress
and an old shawl. On her head she
wears a modest and matronly white cap.
Aobody seems to know where she, lives
or how she is supported, but from her
appeals for aid her livelihood is sm-
posed to be precarious
Another character who, up -to a few
months ago, was a daily visitor to the
capitol, is Col. Maurice Pinchover. This
man has a grievance. He seems to be
haunted with the phantom of Col. Tom
Scott, the railroad king. He declares
that Col. Tom Scott years ago robbed
him in a railroad transaction, stole his
money, and reduced him to penury. He
carries with him, usually, a tin case
about two feet long and six inches in
diameter, in.which is a drawing of some
kind. Originally it might have been a
tracing of a plat of ground nnd the cross
sections, but whatever it ivas in its
Drimitive state it is unintelligible now.
by reason of all manner of additions
which have been added to the tracings
by the mischievous. One day last sum
mer. when tho House was engaged in
an exciting political debate, Pinchover
came to the capitol with a woolen ehirt,
saturated in blood, and which lie do'
clared was the shirt worn by him when
he was assaulted by Tom Scott on the
plains of Colorado. Pinchover also has
a claim. All that he has ever yet suc
ceeded in explaining is that it is for
US 1,000,000, and is connected with a mine
ot some kind, which Scott robbed huu
of. Since the present session begun lie
has not put in an appearance, and it is
believed that he is over to the Eastern
branch. At times he is dangerous.
Journal Clerk Smi h on one occasion
filled the tin case he carries with mucil
age. When Pinchover discovered it he
became ungovernable nnd would have
done bmith bodily injury had he not
fled incontinently out of range.
Another persistent claimant who
comes to Congress every year is John C.
Alcuonnei. ins claim is lor $i7,oo,
and has made its appearance in every
Congress for years. It has for a basis
the alleged tact that the claimant ren
dered service to the United States in re
cruiting 300 men in Maryland for a
Massachusetts regiment. Last summer
General Bragg, chairman of the war
claims committee, in reporting adversely
upon it said : "This claim has been re
jected at the war department and the
treasury department when all the par
ties who knew ol the transaction were
living and the vouchers now alleged to
have been lost were in existence. It
has since been rejected bv the committee
on war claims, and now presents itself
to this committee Having only one merit
in its favor unblushing persistence. It
is time this raid on the treasury should
cease. The committee report adversely."
Washington hlar,
go to the boy's assistance, and he would
have been drowned had not a bootblack.
who was polishing a man's boots near
by, left his customer and jumping into
the river pulled the boy out upon a raft
of logs. The mother of the rescued boy
offered his preserver $2, but the latter,
seeing that she was a poor woman.
good-humoredlv declined the gut. J he
name of this brave lad is John Higgins
He is a regular attendant at night school,
and the principal of the school, as well
as his teacher, speak highly of him.
John will vet make his mark in the
world.
In France a marriage is invalid wilh
out the actual and formally recorded
consent of the parents or their represen.
tatives, and even a man ot full age who
wishes to marry and cannot obtain bis
father's consent is compelled to serve him
three times with a notice calling on him
to show cause why the marriage should
not be permitted. After three sucn ser
vices and on proof of full age, the mar
riage is allowed. These provisions
render clandestine marriages impossible
A maleeloDer would not only have his
marriage set aside, but would be severely
punished lor abduction.
Australia threatens to become a serious
competitor with the United Mates in
the new business of suDnlving Enrlan
with fresh meat. About thirty tons ot
fresh meat preserved by a new process
which kefps the air around tho meat a
a low temperature, have been brought
to l.iondon from Australia in the a (ran-
leven and landed in excellent condition
A correspondent of the London Times.
who has eaten a dinner off a joint of t'lis
meat.and pronounces it, "prime, fat, ox
beef," says it can be delivered on board
in Australia for 2d. a pound and sold in
lxmdon tor ad. more, or, say, with pront
allowed, lor 5d. ( 10 cents) a pound. Al
most nnv nuantitv is procurable, there
being in Australia 7,500,000 cattle and
61.000,000 sheep. In New York one can
not buy " prime, fat, ox beef for ten
cents a pound ; for good joints one mus.
pay twice that price.
The fees which physicians may charge
in rrussia tor their services is reguinted
by law. and according to the most re'
cent ordinance, the charge for the first
visit to a sick person is fixed nt two
marks (twenty-live cents standing for
mark), and one mark for each subse
quent visit; where, however, several
persons belonging to the same family
and dwelling in the same house have to
bo treated at the same time. then, lor
the second and each succeeding person,
only the hal." of t hese fees respectively is
to be charged the same rule is to apply
to boarding schools and similar institu
tions, also to prisons. When there is a
consultation of several physicians about
the treatment ot a sick pers3n, includ
ing t heir personal visits, each physician
is to receive ftr the first consultation
.ive marks, and three marks for each
subsequent similar consultation. On
the occasion of the first visit to the
physician's residence for his medical sd
vicV, one mark and a half. For the ad
ministration of chloroform, etc., when
necessary for the treatment of the pa
tient, three marks.
Chair Boarders.
A reporter for one of the St. I-ouis
papers called upon Mr. Griswold, one
of the proprietors of the Lindell hotel,
to get some facts and figures upon that
interesting class ot people known as
" chair boarders." He discovered that
fifty per cent, of the people who. gather
in the rotunda of a hotel never spend a
cent, and are yet an actual expense to a
proprietor. The " why and wherefore "
was given with much researcn. air.
Griswold, tho proprietor, furthermore
furnished the information that 300,000
sheets of note paper and envelopes were
distributed annually to patrons and
"chair boarders" and also some lOO.OoO
blotters; and although the stationery
was bought in job lots, cheap, it never
theless amounted to $1,000 per annum.
Mr. Griswold said that they would even
have nerve enough to ask for postage
stamps, but that they were not kept in
the othce, but were on sale at the news
stand. The reception of mail at the
house for outsiders wa also something
wonderful.
Saturday Night In a Kansas Cattle Town',
The dullness which had so weighed
on us through the long, uneventful
ternoon was but a lull, we soon learned,
and not a stagnation. With the first ap
proach of darkness, the lethargic town
rubbed its eyes, so to speak, and leaped
to its feet and in a twinkling (it seemed
like an incantation, Eastman said),
Grand avenue was a carnival of light
and motion and music. The broad
board sidewalks were crowded with
promenaders ; smiling groups passed in
and out of the drinking saloons aad
gamblingplaces ; in every quarter glasses
clinked and dice rattled (is there another
sound in the world like that of shaken
dice?); violins, flutes and cornets sent
out eager, inviting strains oi wanz ana
polka from a score or more establish
ments, and a brass band was playing
patriotic airs in front ot tne theater,
where, oddly enough, the crude moral
ity of "Ten Nights in a Bar-room"
was about to be presented, " with
the full strength of the company in
the cast." Everywhere the cow-boys
made themselves manifest, clad now in
the soiled and dingy jeans of the trail,
then in a suit of many buttoned cordu
rov. and again in affluence of broadcloth.
silk hat, gloves, cane, and sometimes a
clerical white necktie. And every wnere
also stared and shone the Lone Star of
Texas for the cow-boy, wherever he
may wander, never lorgets to oe
Texan, and never spends his money
or lends tils presence to a concern
thnt does not m some way recognize
the emblem ot his nntive State; so
you will see in towns like New Sharon
a general pandering to this sentiment,
and lone stars abound of all sizes
and hues, from the big disfiguring white
one painted on the hotel front down to
the little pink one stitched in silk on
the cow-bov's shilling handkerchief,
Barring these numerous stars, the rich
lights, and the music, we missed sight
of any special efforts to beguile or entrap
passers-by perhaps because we were not
looking for them ; nor was there for some
hours a sound to reveal uie spirn oi
coiled and utter vileness which the
cheerful outside si well belied. It was.
in the main, mucii the kind of scene one
would be apt to conjecture for nn
Oriental holiday. But as the night
sped on the festivities deepened, and
the iovial aspect of the picture
began to be touched and tinted
with a subtle, rebuking something,
which gradually disclosed the passion
tho crime. "the dem-avitv. that really
vivified and swayed it all and made it
infernal. The saloons became clamorous
with profanity and ribald songs nnd
laughter. There were no longer ar.y
promenaders on the sidewalks, save once
in a while a single bleared and stagger
ing fellow.with adiflieulty in his clumsy
lips over some such thing ns "Tho Girl I
Iyft Behind Me." Doors were stealthily
closed, window shutters slammed to with
angrycreaks. And at length, as we looked
and listened, the sharp, sigmhcant re
Dort of a pistol, with a shriek behind it
was borne townrd us from a turbulent
dancing hall to certify its tale of com
bat and probable homicide, and to be
succeeded bv a close but brief halt in
the. noisv auadrille presumably for the
lemoval of the victim. llairy King, in
Scribner
The noDular creludice against proprietary
remedies has long .ince been conq-iercsd by
the marvelous success of such a remedy as
Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup. Used everywhere by
voi-ybody. i'uoa 'ii cents.
Holng to Siberia.
The czar of all the Russias has an im
mense, cold country where he sends his
criminals, and he punishes lor very
slight offenses, so he has many people
bure at night, the men having their
1. J 1 J .1 1
nanus cuaiueu ueuiuu uieiu. nuu wear
ing leg chains of four pounds weight all
the way. The women go in gangs by
themselves, wearing black cloaks with
floods. The men who conduct them to
this desolate land are mounted on horses.
and have long whips which they use for
the least provocation, unce there, they
work year after year in the mines, never
seeing the light of day. They sleep in
recesses hewn out ot the rocks, into
which they creep on their hands and
knees. They work Sunday the same
as any other day. No man who has
worked in the mines is ever allowed to
return home. When he has lost the use
of his limbs, which happens in a few
years, he is hauled up to die in the poor
UOUSB.
Lives of Two Very Old Women.
A recent letter from Newburg, N. Y.
to a New York paper savs: Esther
Yates, the Amazon ol Plattekill, Ulster
county, died a few days ago at her
home, near Breakneck hill, n the
mountains, in thnt tewn. She was born
in the town of Plat tekill in 1788, and re
sided there until the day of her duitli
Phvsicaliv sho was more like a man
than a woman; her shoulders being
broad nnd well developed. Mieaenuired
little or no education, hhe is credited
with having been self reliant and asking
no favors lrom any one. During the
winter season Mrs. at.es cut cord wood
on the mountain, nnd, in the language
of one of the uativcs,"it took a good man
to swing i'.n axe alongside of her. On
several occasions she cut as much as
three cords of wood m one day, in ad
dition to performing the household du
ties in her home alter sunset. In th
summer time this remarkable woman
cut grain for the Plattekill farmers, and
was rated as " a good hand. " Mie cul
tivated a small garden-patch of her
own, the product of which she sold
principally in this citv. She carried her
garden truck in two large baskets.
Farmers, while driving to ship their
hay on the boats, would oiler her a ride,
and her invariable reply was : " I am in
a hurry ; take vou all day to get there."
She could easily outwalk any team with
a load behind them. Six years ago a
horse while passing her home on Break
neck, fell and became fast in the harness.
The driver and several other men conld
not succeed in getting the animal loose.
Mrs. Yates lifted the horse up boldily,
but in so doing fractured her leg. The
bone never set. Her spirit, however,
was not curbed, even if she was an octo
genarian and a cripple. Though suffer
ing aiuch pain, her daily employment
consisted in chopping up kindling wood
on a block while she sat in a chair in
front of her house. A short time pre
vious to her death her general health
began failing, but she retained her fac
ulties to the last. Prior to the accident
she never was sick a day in her life,
Mrs. Yates was buried from the Platte
kill Methodist Episcopal church, of
which denomination she was an ad
herent. Mrs. Yates was married twice.
She leaves no family.
Two miles northeast ol the house ot
the "Amazon" resides one of-the play
mates of her childhood, Mrs. Sal lie
'ressler. This lady is the oldest inhabi
tant of the town of Plattekill. In May
next she will be 100 years old. She was
born in the hamlet of Fosterto wn.Orange
county, but has resided nearly all her
life in 1'iatteKin. wrs. rresBiers eye
sight remains good, but her hearing is
defective. Every day she performs man
ual labor about the house of her son,
contrary to his wishes. The old lady,
during the winter months, busies her
self knitting stockings. Mrs. Pressler
lives haopilv surrounded by ner children
and their children's children. She has
a vast fund of historical reminiscences
The citizens of Plattekill and adjacent
towns propose giving the old lady
banquet when sue ceieorau-s ner cen
tennial
An Illinois school mistress was un
able to chastise the biggest girl pupil
and cauea in a young scuooi irusu-K 10
assist her. The trustee found that the
offender was his own sweetheart, but
his sense of duty triumphed over his
love, and he whipped tho girl. Not
only did this result in losing him a
sweetheart, but her father sued liim fur
damagei and got a verdict lor $S0.
ITfMS Of INTEREST.
Wervrlv aon 000 ncrsons nre employed
on British and Irish railroads.
The Lowell Sun avers that turning a
grindstone will sharpen one s appetite.
The wholesale oyster business oi aew
York amounts to $25,000,000 yearly.
Emperor Francis Joseph, of Austria,
lunches at noon on black breaa ana
beer.
From 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of oleo
margarine are soia in iruiuuieipuK
daily.
The Baroness Hirsch gave Adeiina
Patti 15.000 francs ($3,000) for singinjr
one song at her soiree.
Mount Vesuvius is troubled with
eruptions, and they don't know what to
do with the crater. nceyune.
last summer calleQ
his shoes " Corporations," because they
had no soles. MarcUfiai Indepenkcnt. .
An Oregon man six feet tall marriedt
woman only three feet in height. Thaf
U. she was hist half of him, and, o
course, his better half.
Dakota is clamorous to become a
State. The newspapers of the .terri
tory claim that it has a larger popula
tion now than either of the States of
Oregon, Nevada or Florida.
For slepnlessncss a Inch London au
thority recommends, instead of stimu
lants, a breakfast cup of hot beef tea,
made from half a teaspoonful of Liebig's
extract. It allays brain excitement.
A woman living near the foot of the
Blue Ridge mountain, Georgia, caught
four wild turkeys in a trap recently,
nnd when she tried to get them out, they
attacked her so fiercely as to break one
of her arms.
North and South Carolina and Ten
nessee are preparing to celebrate the
centennial anniversary of the battle of
King's mountain, the turning point in
the "revolutionary war in the South,
which occurred October 7, 1780, and
legitimately led to the hnal victory at
Yorktown.
"What do you think of my new
shoes, dear?" said she the other even
ing after tea. " Oh ! immense, my dear,
perfectly immense," said he, without
looking up from his paper. Then she
began to cry and said she thought if he
thought her feet were so dreadfully
large he neepn c ten ner oi ii. uoswn
Post.
A Mluing Expert's Terrible Experi
ence.
Nearly a week since Louis Blanding,
one of the best known miring "experts
on the coast, passed through this city
on his way from San Francisco to ex
amine the Santa Anita quartz mine,
which is situated near Washington,
twenty-one miles above here. Day be
fore yesterday lie returned here, hav
ing accomplished his object. His ex
periences on the trip were of an inter
ests e nature, and it is by mere chance
that he was enabled to live and relate
them . After a tedious journey through '
the snow lie reached the homo of one
of the owners of the claim, and together
they forced their way for three miles
further to the mine. Lighting candles
they entered the tunnel, which lias been
pushed toward the heart of the moun
tain a distance of 130 feet. Twenty-five
feet from the head of it they came to a
winze fifty-six feet dei Over this
winze is a windlass. Mr. Blanding ex
amined it carefully, and observing no
weak spots in its construction, had his
companion let him to the bottom. He
inspected the ledge, made measure
ments, secured a sack of specimens, and,
putting one foot in the bight of the
rope, shouted to the man above to hoist
away. After ascending thirty leet he
ceased to rise.
" What's the matter?" he asked.
"The windlass is broken," was the
reply.
" Fix it and hoist away."
" I can't. The support at one side is
broken down. One end of the drum
has dropped to the ground. My shoulder
is under it, and if I stir the whole thing
will give way," was the startling reply
that came back. The candle at the top
had been extinguished. Mr. Blanding
recognized the urgency of having a cool
head in such nn emergency, and told
the other party to take things easy. He
dropped the candlestick, sack of speci
mens and the hammer to the bottom ot
the winze. Then bracing .one of his
shoulders against one side of the hole
and' his feet ngainst Uie other, worked
liis way up inch by inch, the owner
taking in the slack of the rope with one
hand, i nus he ascended ten iret. men
the sides of the winze grew so far opart
that this plan could no longer be pur
sued. There was but one salvation.
The remaining ten feet must be climbed
"handover hand." Releasing his feet
from the knot, he put the idea into
practice. Exhausted by his previous
efforts in walking to the mine and ex
ploring it, it seemed to him he had
climbed a mile, and stopping to rest,
found by the voice that he had yet five
feet to go. With another superhuman
effort, another start was made. After
what seemed an age, one of his hands
struck the edge of the covering mi ono
side of the mouth. His body and limbs
were suffering the ngonies of cramps
and soreness, nnd his brain began to
reel. All sorts of frightful phantoms
filled his mind. With a final effort he
reached up and found he could get the
ends ot one hand s fingers over tne eage
of a board that answered for part of
the covering With the despair of a man
who faces a learlul death anu Knows
it, he let go the rope altogether, and
raising the other hand obtained a pre
carious hold. His body swung back and
forth over the dnrk abyss au instant,
and as he felt that his hands were los
ing their hold, lie cried, " Save me
quick, I am going!"
J use tnen ins companion, wuo is
man of gieat strength, dropped the end
of the drum, and grasping his coat
collar, drew him out on the floor of
the tunnel.
The mining ex pert was utterly pros
trated as his rescue was effected. He
was carried out of the tunnel, his clothes
wet with perspiration, and laid in the
snow. When partially recovered he
was assisted to a house three mile
away. His whole frinie was so racke
with the physical and mental torture
that lor several hours tie had no use o
some of his limbs. Two days afunr h
returned to the mine and witlmm iro
bar broke the windlass into 1,000 piece
then fished the sack of specimens out d
the winze. During a whole nietime
mining adventures in some of the deC
. .1 T 1.1 1. 1 .. 1 .
esi ciuiuis ui me worm, lie bujb nc "
never been so near tho door of de.tth
he was at the Santa Anita, nnd lie I. op
never to pass through, the hke again.
A'cvada Transcript.