t .
-7 r"v
.J.
r i
Wit
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. XI, RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, FA:; THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1881; NO. 24.
Tho Well.
Park and cool the water lies
- In the old timo-honored well;
Deep, down deep tho bucket flioH,
And how often, who can tell ?
For the schoolloy, hot with play,
For tho laborer tired with toil,
Tor tho traveler on his way,
Dotli the tirelrss rope uncoil.
And how often, who can tell ?
Or, who first tho gracious draught
Drew up from tho bounteous well ?
Or, who sunk the ancient shaft ?
They are duet, who slaked their thirst
At tho littlo silvor fount
In tho wild woods, where it first
Called the huntsman to dismount.
Thny are dust, the pioneers,
Who the strong-arm forest broke,
Whore tho old well now appears,
Where now curls tho village smoke.
So shall we within the valo
With our children's children dwell;
But tho waters ne'er shall fail
Iu tho old time-honored well.
-Kohtrt flailing, SI. Louis .ront-.Vispatdi.
OUR COLONEL'S STORY.
OR A SLIP 'TWIST the CUP AND THE LIT.
" Yon nil know Sandy Mcrherson,"
said our colonel.
"Intimately!" " Perfectly !" "As
well as nn own brother, sir I" most of
us replied, though, if the truth be told,
there was not a niau at the mess-table
who had ever heard of McPherson be
fore. You see, it was the commanding
officer who spoke, ana it was always
rif ky saying him nay when he expected
yea.
" They used to call him, you recol
lect, ' The Great Unwashed,' a vulgar
but appropriate sobriquet, neverthless.
continued tne ciuet. ureal, on ac
count of his burly and preciously ugly
person ; unwashed, by reason of his ac
credited scant acquaintance with brown
Windsor, spring water and the functions
of the dhirzeesaud dhobies i. e., tailors
ana washermen of the land.
' On his coffee estate in the moun
tains and among his undiaped and un
scrubbed coolies, this disregard for the
comforts and conveniences of life went
for notbiug perhaps it was even in
keeping wiMi the surroundings ; but
when he came down to this city, walked
in its pnhiio gardens nnd esplanade, or
showed with its swells at the band, his
tt;peHraiiiv w.is something too outra
geous, end his brother K. 0. B.'s, niean
lUKKniglitsof the Coffee Berry, and not,
as yon might suppose, of the Order of
the Bath, dressy men hereabouts, what
ever el-e they ore on their plantations,
cast, him completely into the shade by
their get-up and gorgeousness.
"A forthe spinsters andyoung widow
of the station there was scarce one but
who fought shy of admitting him into
her presence as a morning visitor, much
less as a suitor, though many of these
blooming ladies were on the sharp look
out for the silken chains of matrimony,
and Barkis that is to say, McPherson
was, as they knew, willing.
"But, disadvantages of person and at
tire notwithstanding, he was a right
good fellow, this same gentleman. He
was honest, hard working, thrifty, simple-minded,
and, from being a mere ad
venturer without interest, friends or
money, he had, self-helped only, saved
up the bawbees little by little ; had
bought patch after patch, acre after
acre, of virgin land; cut down its timber,
cleared it, planted it, and now he had
squatted down free from incumbrances
on Ailsa Craig, as he called his property,
as pretty and as fruitful a small coffee
estate as could be'found in one of the
most picturesque districts of this lovely
island.
" Now you young gentlemen who are in
the habit of lawn-teuising, afternoon
teaing, talking, spooning, walking,
driving, with all the feminines, plain
Rnd colored, of this place, and who
think that you have only to ask and be
received which I beg and entrtat you
will not put to the test, cutting up the
niess and so on can't perhaps realize
to yourselves tho difficulties the worthy
I nm speaking of had met with in even
this overstocked matrimonial empo
rium. The Anglefralls, the Hunters,
the Hookers, lots of girls whom I will
not name, had snubbed or turned up
their pretty noses at him when he came
a-wooing, and so, nolens volens, he re
mained a bachelor, anathematizing his
ill-luck and venting his disappointments
upon the backs of shirking and recu
sant Tamil coolies, the recognized natu
ral enemies of coffee and the scape
goats of its cultivators.
" Then as a last resource he sought
from Lis brethren of the berry around
counsel as to the most advisable method
of getting the so needed helpmate, and
the first man he consulted was Herr
Thaler, a successful and rich German,
whose estate bordered on Ailsa Craig.
'"So, bo!' said that personage. 'Zere
is noting more easy. Zave off zat ragget
beard, burn in ze fire zose old clodes
not lit for 'Oundsditch or anyjuden
Strasse, buy von big tob, mein f rend,
get zonie Europe muster coats and zen
return to ze frauleins and vidder fraus
vid ze inonish bug in ze 'ands. If zty
vill not 'ave zou, zey vill take ze rupee;
trost 'em for zat, my zon.'
"But the recommendation was unpalat
able, and to a great extent impracticable,
so another JUlus Achates was appealed
to, one Jack le Geste, a man mucn ad
dicted to chaff and practical joking.
" ' In this land of pearls and precious
stones, no go, dear boy,' said Mr. le G.
'From Dondra Head to Point Cala
mere north, south, east, west the
women won't look at you; that you
have found out long ago. Give up
hunting, then, in these of t-trod colonial
fields, and draw the home covers. Don't
you happen to know a bonnie lassie in
your own " Caledonia stern and wild," or
a pretty colleen in theoisle of ehillelahs
and shamrocks, who would be glad to
share curry and rice with you ? Go and
try. those parts; if not, have a haphazard
shy at where I hail from, the Channel
Islands. Spins aye, and precious good
looking ones too are as plentiful there
as coooanuts are here, and maybe one of
them might be induced to clear out in
your favor. Failing those islets I know
or no other dodge than indenting upon
one of those co-operative assooinUoijo,
wnicu luimsli everything, even to a
better half. But mind, old man, they
keep a roster for foreign service in their
offices; first lady on the list, plain or
pretty, first for duty; you pays your
money, but you don t take your choice.
" But these suggestions also were con
sidered infeasible and put aside. Pres
ently, however, a thought struck Mc
Pherson. " 'Le Geste,' said he, 'when I was a
boy there lived in the neighborhood of
my father's manse a widowed lady with
two or three then wee, very wee daugh
ters. From what I can recollect of
them their means were cramped, not to
say scanty, but they were of good blood
and form. One of the children, the
eldest if my memory serves me, was
called Efiie Efflo Needum and prom
ised to be bonny, for I can faintly recall
her blue eves, flaxen hair, rosy com
plexion and jimp little figure. If she
is alive she must be close on thirty ; for
it is many years since I came out here a
stripling and was Cuinna Doray
Anglice, littlo master on tho Paycock
estate, as my kind employer styled that
property. Mrs. Needum knew me well
better, indeed, than I knew her. I
wonder if she and the bairns be in the
land of the leal or the living.'
" rite directly and inquire.'
And Sandy did so, and ascertained
that his old acquaintances, Miss Efiie
included, were still alive and proudly
bearing up against the res angusta dom'i.
Armed with which intelligence ho once
again returned to Le Geste.
" 'It is all right now, Mac,' said he ;
' your course is as clear as day. Send a
"chit" to materfamilias N.; tell her that
you are well-to-do in the world, own
lands and cattle, men servants and maul
servants ; that you want to settle ; that
as a whipper-snapper yon liked no,
better say loved Miss Efiie, and ask
her in plain English to come out and
marry you. Above all things, though,
be sure and send your photograph ; vou
arc not such a very, very bad-looking
chap, bandy, if you would only dress
liko a Christian and not like a coolie.'
: So the letter was written, submitted
to Le Geste's inspection, sealing, post
ing, and in due course was received by
the Needums, in whose little household
it created no small amount of astonish
ment, and was much spelt and pondered
over, especially by the damsel most con
cerned still a comely if even a some
what passe body and who, after a
while, consented to go out and wed her
suitor.
"'After all, mother dear,' she said,
ha has house and home for me: may
be, by-aud-bye, f r you, too, Jennie; and
I'll do nil I can to help vou. It's t he
best thiucr for me. Aud reallv. Mr.
McPherson or I suppose I ought to
all him Alexander is yet voung and
not bad-looking. Quite the contrarv
cry, very nice-looking. See the rhoto
ho has sent us.'
'And Miss Jennie quite agreed with
her elder sister that Mr. McPherson was
a beauty.
" ' Well, my bairns,' said the old lady,
I cau't gainsay you but that the por
trait is winsome and douce enough; but
as I call to mind the boy Sandy, the
son of the minister, he was not nearly
so seemly and well favored. But it i.-,
indeed, long syne since I set eyes on
him, and likely he has got handsomr
as he got older; some men do.'
' I hen, everything being settled.
Miss Needum accepted her kismet,
agree to go out, and her lover open
handed, honorable, true, as I have al
ready told you he was - sent the where
withal for passage and outfit.
"And pending the many, manvweokfi
that elapsed, and while the good ship
Queen of Serendib was sailing round
tho Cape for her destination, a chango,
a rauicai cuange, camoovcr tho life and
habits of our bride-expecting friend.
He cast into the limbo of things done
with his coarse ' cumlies,' rough ' dun
garees ' and other country clothing, and
burst out into 'Europe muster linen,
tweeds and serges. He purchased
largely house furniture and knick
knacks; he bought a lady's horse and a
Peat's sidesaddle; he whose equine pro
clivities had never extended beyond a
shaggy mountain pony, and a tattered
and torn pig-Bkin. He told his old
flames and chums that he was going in
for the Benedict, and bashfully lis
tened to the '.riles ' and ieers of the one.
and the chaff and laughter of the other.
As the time for the arrival of the
Qaeen of Serendib drew nigh awful
wero the fidgets of our hero ; and many
days before it was possible for that slow
and sure craft to reach her port he was
there walking about with a big binoo-
ular in his hands, looking out seaward
and entreating all sorts and conditions
of men for tho very earliest news of her
being sighted. The fact was that the
rough-seasoned old fellow was on the
verv tenterhooks of anxiety and expec
tation, as nervous as a schoolgirl and
behaving himself as such.
" Then at long last it was told him
that the vessel was in the offing, was
ounding the point, was at anchor in
the harbor, and in the Master Attend
ant's boat, cushioned, flagged and be
decked for the auspicious occasion,
Sandy McPherson, Esquire, of Ailsa
Craig, planter, rowed alongside, ' same
line ne governor, the native spectators
observed.
" Scrambling up the side he took a
hasty glance at the many passengers
assembled on the ' poop, and, instinct
ively guessing that Miss Efiie was not
among them, he dived below and con
fronted the stewardess.
" Miss Needum on board, and well?
asked he.
" ' Yes, sir," replied the matron, ' and
a very nice, good, kind, pleasant young
lady she is, and I've taken the greatest
care of her.' She felt sure that the
gent was Miss N.'s husband to be, and
that there was money in his purse for a
gratuity, notwithstanding that, accord
ing to-the terms of the passage money,
stewards' and stewardess' fees were in
cluded a fiction, gentlemen, a pleasant
fiotion, which, you will find out when
you go down to the sea in ships.
" ' Take this curd to her,' said the
pale and trembling gentleman. 'I'll
wait her coming up in that far corner of
this saloon.'
" Glancing at the pasteboard the
woman disappeared, and presently
there ascended, step by step, from the
regions below, brst a neat straw hat,
trimmed with bright ribbons, beneath
that hat a face somewhat worn with
years and cares, but still fresh und
comely enough; then a slight, compact
figure, draped in plain, well-fitting
garments, shawled and ready for the
shore. Miss Eflie, in propria persona,
stood before her hand-seeker, blushing
celestial rosy red.
" He advanced from his coign of van
tage to greet her. but as he grew nigher.
instead of the warm, affectionate wel
come he looked for, there was a fixed
stare, a shudder, a hasty retreat and a
loud scream which resounded from stem
to stern of the big ship and brought
every one from decks and cabins into
the saloon.
" ' Miss Needum Effie, my girl, what
on eartii is the matter ? hurriedly stam
niered out the astounded Sandy.
'"Shiver niv timbers, what ails the
lassie?' put in the captain. ' Look out
for squalls, if vou've annoved her !' Anil
all the bystanders echoed the words in
more or less threatening terms. She
was evidently a favorite on board.
" ' Oh, take him away,' cried the lady.
piteously; 'take him away from mo,
some one I I don t know him 1 I've
been misled, deceived 1 I can't marrv
him indeed, indeed I can't. He is not
Mr. McPherson who wrote to me, to
whom I came out to be mar . He is
so ugly. Oh, such a dreadful fright !
I'll return him his money. I'll work
my way back to my poor mother. I'll
do anything, but I can't be his wife.
I'd rather die first !'
" 'Miss Needum, I don't indeed un
derstand this,' said the taken-aback and
completely-flabbergasted one. 'What
does it ail mean ? Aro we not engaged ?
Have you not come out of your own
free will to accept the home and tho
love I offer you ? Did I not send you
my likeness?'
" 'No, no!'
" ' Surely I did. It was taken by Col
lodion, our best photographer, nnd
when he gave it to me he said: "Mr.
McPherson, sir, there is no flattery 'cro.
Your worst henemies would admit that."
Why, I myself put it inside tho letter
to your mother.'
"'I repeat, no decidedly and em
phatically no! Look at this,' and
drawing from her bosom a littlo locket
she opened it and displayed the head
and face of a younger, much handsomer
and iu every outward respect a more
lovable man than the scared one now
before her. It was the counterfeit pre
sentment of Mr. Jack le Geste, and I
leave you to imagine what McPherson
thought when he saw it there.
"How could it get into thelocket,you
ask ? Why, in the simplest way in the
world. That good-for-nothing fellow,
Le Geste, when Sandy's letter came into
his possession, thought to 'sell' him,
and so had surreptitiously reniovf d his
carte de visite, substituting one of his
own, and Eflie had worn it ever since.
"The disappointed bridegroom plead
ed hard and tried every argument to in
duce the girl to let matters progress,
but f-he was obstinate and determined
" She would esteem and respect hiiu
always, but nothing more. To let the
oat out of the bag, Miss Eflie had fallen
desperately in love with tho picture of
l;er supposed Alexander, and in vulgar
lisE,'H5J!e Lad spooned over it awfully
during the tedious and lone hours of a
lout? voyage. Of oonrse she imagined
that it was her intended husband she
was approving, or fcho would not have
done it certainly not.
" So, quite chupfiiJlt n and in the mad
dest of rages, McPherson returned to
his estate.
" Arrived there ho cut from one of his
coffee bushes the thickest and knottiest
of sticks and proceeded with it in search
of Le Geste ; but, fortunately for the
jester, he had mado tracks and was gone.
"Then he reverted to his old customs
and habits, sold his not now necessary
goods and chattels and thought as little
as he could of the false Eflio.
" A fickle and capricious creature,
woman. Listen, gentlemen, to another
exemplification of old Virgil's dictum.
"In the same ship in which, shortly
after the breaking off of her intended es
pousal, Miss Needum sailed for England
there came on board almost at the last
minute a slim, dark-haired, good-looking
man, going home, some said for
health; others, in fear and trembling of
an irate Gael with a huge stick in his
hands. Be this as it may, the health
seeker or the fugitive take which you
please was no other than Le Geste,
and, to close my story, when the vessel
touched at St. Helena for water and
provisions he and Effie went on shore
and returned man and wife."
Black Sheep Turned White.
A letter in the Colorado Springs Ga
zette says: "As most of our readers proba
bly know black wool brings from five to
ten cents a pound less than the corre
sponding grade of white wool. In order
to secure the separation of the inferior
product, as our shearing operations pro
gressed, we placed the black sheep in a
pen by themselves. Thero were thus
on last Tuesday night sixty-three black
sheep and some lambs alone in one of
the corrals. During the night a coyote
entered and killed a ewe and two lambs,
and we were greatly surprised to find in
the morning that the wool on the re
maining sixty-two sheep had turned
perfectly white from terror. Happily
this increase in the value of the wool
more than balanced the loss of the
sheep that were killed." The author of
this story is a church member in good
standing and would scorn to exaggerate
anything.
Russia leather is made from the hides
of two or three-year-old calves. The
tanning material employed is willow
barn, sometimes also pine and pear
bark, used either in vats or in the form
of extract. The operation lost five or
six weeks. When this is completed the
leather is well rubbed on the flesh side
with birch oil and oil from sea calves,
to which it ewes its peculiar odor, and
then it passes through rollers that im
press upon it a peculiar figure and
roughness.
A DANCING PROCESSION.
Pirnnne I'erpctnntlon of ft. Vims ponce
In llprmnny.
A Berlin letter describes a curious
spectacle as follows: Not far from these
places of rendezvous for all nations of
the civilized world a spectacle has been
attracting the curiosity of thousands
which loads us back to the depths of
the middle ages, although it is repeated
year by year. I am speaking of the
village of Echternacn and its far-famed
dancing procession.
From 15,000 to 20,000 pilgrims I
could not obtain more accurate informa
tion about the numbers assemble on
some meadows within the Prussian ter
ritory, but close to the confines of the
Urand .Uuchy of .Luxembourg. The in
habitants of different villages men and
women apart collect behind their
clergymen, and a band of music is
placed in the front. As the clock strikes
five on Tuesday morning in Whitsun
tide, a priest walks up the steps of a
rude wooden pulpit and thence ad
dresses tho multitude, then already
swollen to an incredible extent by sight
seers, who come by special trains and
every imaginable vehicle to be present
at the performances.
The community which happens to be
nearest the road stands forth, preceded
by their priest, who, however, does not
dance. Two men or two women hop
away first two Bteps m advance, and
then one backward, the band playing a
most monotonous tune. " Abraham had
seven sons, seven sons ; seven sons had
Abraham," are the words to this terrible
molodv. which each successive set. as
they join the procession, take up with
increasing vigor. Hour after hour passes
away before tho last people have started
on their miles of way to the foot of the
Church of St. Willerod, whence they
go up fifty steps. Nothing can exceed
tho excitement and exhaustion among
tho dancers, old and young. Great are
tho numbers of those who, in spite of
au occasional draught of water offered
by charitable bystanders, sink down on
for grass or on tho dusty road not to rise
the hours. Tho question is naturallv
asked: What does all this mean? The
auswer is: It is intended to perpetuate
tho remoiubranco of a frightful epidemic
of St. Vitus' Dance, which carried off
hundreds of victims in tho neighbor
hood referred to some time during the
fifteenth century; to offer up prayers
and vows to tho patron saint; to recog
nizo a miraculous cessation of the epi
demic, and it is a fulfillment of vows
then that, in gratitude, there should be
yearly dances performed two hops for
wardand one backward, as closely resem
bling the visitation from which heaven
had delivered them as rhythm and good
taste would allow.
During the French occupation in
1793 the procession was forbidden, but
the easy-going Dutch government of
Luxembourg have allowed it to be ra-
ived. To judge from what could be
seen this year of the drunkenness and
debauchery in the numberless public
houses frequented by the pilgrims after
their long fasting and exertion, I am
inclined to think it would have been
better to have continued the prohibition.
The Hichost Chinaman iu New York.
Tom Lee is a short, slender man of
modest manner and an extremely re
tiring disposition. He wears a stili
Derby hat, into the crown of which he
okes his queue. This causes the hair
on the back of his head to stand out
ike tho quills of nn angry porcupine or
tho hair on a cat's back rubbed the
wrong way. He has a tiny black mus
tache, and a sparse growth or wiry black
hair on his chin. He wears a diamond
pin ia an old-fashioned scarf, aud an
elegant eight-ounce gold watch-chain
dangles from tho third button of his
waistcoat.
He is well-to-do; owns three tea farms
in China, and is worth a few thousand,
perhaps. He is a very influential man
among Chinamen. He is a Christian, a
citizen, a deputy sheriff, and is married
to a girl who was born downtown some
where in that neighborhood. Sho has
borne him a lovely littlo daughter, of
whom Tom Lee is justly very proud. He
talks pigeon English, but he dresses as
you and I do, except that he wears hi3
queue. Very many among the 3,000
Chinese in New York retain their pig
tails, not because they cannot go back
to China without them, or because of
any heathen notion about them, but
because a good many Chinamen who
wr re cigarette or cigar makers in Cuba
have come here from Cuba without
their queues. They were rid of those
appendages in Cuban prisons, where
they were sent for wrongdoing, and it is
considered best by respectable China
men not to cut off the queue, so as to
obviate the necessity of explaining
where and how it disappeared.
Au Epidemic of Suicide.
A wave of suicide seems to be sweep
ing over the whole country. In all
parts of the republic men and women
are blowing out the little brains they
possess and cutting their worthless
throats in the most reckless manner.
The compensating circumstance about
it is that it rids the world of a number
of people who, if they did not kill them
selves, would probably kill somebody
else, and that they make business lively
for the undertakers and the coroners.
It is almost impose ible to account for
this destructive tendency that occurs
every once and awhile. The specula
tive writers and philosophers endeavor
to account for it in various ways, and
they talk learnedly and eloquently
about crime cycles and more or less
other sentimental rubbish, all of which
is very good as a theory. The fact of
the matter is there are a great many
more crazy people in the world, or, as
they call them in Washington, "cranks,"
than the world imagines. When a
great popular excitement that stirs the
whole country comes these weak-minded
creatures jump off the first wharf, tie
themselves to the first rope they see, or
point to their heads the first old rusty
pistol they run across. The majority
of them are of far more use below
ground than above it. New York Harold.
FACTS AND COMMENTS.
Under the title of " Associated Agri
culturists of Great Britain," a company
with a capital of a million, in shales of
'J5, has been formed lor loint stock
farming in Great Britain. Each estate
will be under a manager of local ex
perience, and the prospectus points to
the fact that the shareholders of a farm
in Holland of 4,000 acres have for ten
years divided annually ten per cent. The
Duke of Buckingham, an excellent man
of business, and Lords Londonderry
Carysfort and Heries, are on the council
Curious how people utter confused
ideas when they are in searoh of par
allels to the attempt on the President's
life. They invariably select kings as
illustrations, as though the President
was a king. The nearest parallel cited
is found in English history. John Bell
inghnm, a tradesman, lost his fortune,
and his mind became disordered. One
of his delusions was that the action of
the government caused his commercial
reverses, and he repeatedly applied to
Mr. Spencer Peceval, then prime minis
ter, demanding compensation, either in
the form of money or official position.
No notice was taken of his demands,
and one day as Mr. Perceval passed
through the lobby of the house of com
mons, Bellingham stepped from behind
a pillar and shot him. He fell dead,
and the assassin quietly gave himself
up to the officers, and in a few days was
tried, found guilty and hanged.
A German physician, Dr. Treichler,
in a paper read before the ; Association
of National Historians and Physicians at
Baden-Baden, asserts that the present
method of school instruction is a cause
of disease, and is useless, producing
mental confusion. The great objects of
school education are intellectual disci
pline and the awakening of a desire to
continue the cultivation of; the mind,
and these, he says, are almost entirely
frustrated. Habitual headache has in
creased among both boys and girls, and
this headache not only destroys much
of the happiness nnd cheerfulness of
lite, but produces impoverishment of
the blood and loss of intellectual tone,
and reduces many a highly gifted child
to the level of a discontented drudge.
Undoubtedly, he continues, the prin
cipal cause of the headache is intel
lectual over-exertion, entailing work at
night, and the insisting by parents on
the too early taking up of a variety of
subjects, music among the rest.
It is reported that one of the dia
mond mines which were included unde
the celebrated name of Golconda is in a
condition to be worked again with
proht, and that the industry which once
made Central India famous is about to
be revived. Near the modern town of
Hyderabad are the ruins of the hill-fort
and city of Golconda where lived three
centuries ago an independent prince
who ruled a vast territory. The dia
monds were not found in the immediate
neighborhood of his capital, but were
carried thither from villages in the
Kistna valley to be cut and polished in
its workshops. It is not known just
when thia famous industry began to de
cline, nor why the diamond mines were
finally abandoned. If they had been
exhausted modern enterprise will not be
of much avail, but if, as is possible,
hostile invasions put a stop to the work
ing of them, the neighborhood of Gol
conda may become a second time fa
mous. A correspondent of the Raleigh (N.
C.) News and Courier gives a clever
description of the people who live
along the Hatteras banks. He is sure
that most of them must bo web-footed,
for water rather than air is the clement
in which they live. W hen they want
the doctor they haug out a red flag as a
sign of distress. If he doesn't come,
because "the wind ain't fair," or for any
other reason, they take a dram of
whisky and copperas, soak their feet in
sea-water, "turn in "and trust to luck.
If they die their bodies are buried on
the top of a sand ridge, and when tho
visitor sees several sailboats on the
water in procession with flags at half
mast he is looking at a funeral, al
though he may not be aware of it. They
ornament their houses with whales'
ribs and jaws, sharks' teeth, South
American lariats, war clubs from the
Mozambique islands, Madagascar idols
and a multitude of other strange decora
tions. Their hogs are raised on clams,
mussels, offal of fish and garbage, and
their cattle wade out ou the shoals for
miles, where the water covers their
backs, to feed on sea grass, and if they
are carried up country and fed on corn
and fodder they will not live. Every
man is captain of some kind of a boat,
and "she" is always better than any
other boat in some way. " She is hard
to beat in a gale of wind," or " before
the wind," or "beating to the windward,"
or " with the wind on the beam," or " she
can sail closer to the wind," or "will
carry sail longest," or " hard to beat in
a light wind," or " totes more stock," or
is " stronger," or " dryer," or " she is a
big little boat," or " draws the least
water," or "needs less ballast," or " she
is the newest," or " has the best tim
bers," or " steers the best," or " she is a
lucky boat," or " stands up better," or
" needs less sail than any other boat,"
cr " she is best for fishing," etc Per
haps "she comes about better than any
other boat." She is bound to have some
thing about her better than anybody
else's boat.
Oil Upon the Troubled Waters.
William Porter, who was wrecked
early this year in the steamship Dia
mond, of Dundee, bears testimony, in a
letter published in (JUambersr Journal,
to the extraordinary efficacy of oil in
calming waves: "I first heard of its
good effects in the case of a whaler in
the South Seas- She was on the point
of foundering. The men were unable,
owing to heavy seas, to remain at the
pumps, when some of the oil casks
broke adrift in the hold and smashed.
The oil was then pumped out with the
water, and the sea, though still as high,
did not break on board." At the wreck
of the Diamond he considers that they
owed their life to the oil thrown out.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.
Snuff is generally preserved in lead
to keep it moist.
Hydrogen gas is the lightest ponder
able matter known.
Oxalic acid is found in the common
sorrel und rhubarb plants.
Gun cotton is made by dipping the
fiber into strong nitric acid.
The bricks of Nineveh and Babylon
were only sun-dried, not baked, as is
the modern practice.
The microscope shows the hair to be
like a coarse round rasp, but with the
teeth extremely irregular and ragged.
Black and white pepper both grow on
the same shrub. The white is the berry
deprived before grinding of its outside
husk.
Electric lighting is in successful ope
ration on more than sixty steamers of the
Mississippi river and its' tributaries. It
is believed to add much to the safety of
that kind of traffic and traveling.
A new material has lately been com
pounded of leather cuttings soaked iu
hot water to remove the oil. The cut
tings are then dried, ground to powder,
Eressed into molds and used for buttons,
oot heels, etc.
It is said that Dr. Gehring, of Land
shut, in Bavaria, by means of an enam
eling liquid, renders any species of
stone or cement harder than granite.
The process, it is further reported, ad
mits of being applied to metal, which is
completely protected from rust.
Smooth, strong and pliable parch
ment can be made from the palmetto of
Florida and the other Southern States.
It can be washed, rubbed and handled
like a cloth, and the writing will not be
effaced. As much as sixty per cent, of
the palmetto can be utilized in the pro
cess.
Major Majendie maintains that gun
powder can be exploded with a wooden
tool, and cites the following instances:
At Bassinghyll gunpowder factory, on
October 12, 1878, two men were remov
ing indurated powder from a mill bod
by striking it with a wooden mallet, and
it exploded nnd killed them. At Gate
beck, on June 2, 1877, a precisely simi
lar accident, attended with the loss of
one life, occurred. At the Lindal Moor
mine a charge of gunpowder was ex
ploded while a man was forcing it into
a hole in iron-stone with a wooden mal
let. A formidable explosion, which oc
curred at the Royal Gunpowder mills,
Wetteren, Belgium, on May 29, 1880, is
attributed in the official report to a man
dragging a wooden vessel full of powder
over a powder-begrimed floor.
The many unlikely methods by which
the seeds of plants are diffused over
land and sea until they at length find a
congenial spot for development, form an
interesting and curious study. It is
well known that bees carry pollen from
flower to flower, and thus act not only
as sowers of seed but also as fertilizers
of the female plants. A curious in
stance of this kind has been given by a
scientific man, who states that attached
to the skin of a panther recently shot
in India he found numerous seeds, each
of which hadtwo perfect hooks, appear
ing as if designed to attach themselves
to foreign bodies. As the panther moved
about it collected the seeds on the skin
and carried them wherever it went, but
When it rubbed ugainst tho shrubs the
seeds were brushed oil, and thus dis
tributed. Dr. Richardson has in a 'late lecture
described the principles which should
guide architects and others in designing
and constructing hospitals for tho re
ception and treatment of persons suffer
ing from smallpox and other infections
diseases. He states on well considered
grounds: 1. That each hospital should
uot be larger than is sufficient to ac-
ommodate twenty-four persons at one
time. 2. That every hospital should
be constructed on tho separate system
for the patients. 3 That tho material
of construction should be iron, in order
that the hospit al may at any time bo ab
solutely purified by fire throughout
with the least possible cost. 4. To
secure direct ventilation and lighting
from the roof, tho hospitals proper
should occupy the top stories of build
ings, o. AU the air which passes out
of the wards should have au escape only
through a vent so heated as to destroy
all deleterious substances. 6. Each
patient should be carried into the hos
pital by a valved elevator passing
through a shaft so as to draw up air
during its ascent, and to be capable of
flushing the hospital with air, as occa
sion may require.
Sounds from a Kaiubow.
One of the most wonderful discover
ies in science that has been made within
the last year or two is the fact that a
beam of light produces sound. A beam
of sunlight is thrown through a lens on
a glass vessel that contains lampblack,
colored silk or worsted, or other sub
stances. A disk haying slits or open
ings cut in it is made to revolve swiftly
in this beam of light, so as to cut it up,
thus malting alternate flashes of light
and shadow. On putting the ear to
the glass vessel strange sounds are
heard so long as the flashing beam is
falling on the vessel.
Recently a more wonderful discovery
has been made. The beam of sunlight
is made to pass through a prism so as
to produce what is called the solar
spectrum, or rainbow. The disk is
turned and the colored light of the rain
bow is made to break through it. Now,
place the ear to the vessel containing
the silk, wool or other material. As the
colored lights of the spectrum fall upon
it sounds will be given by different
parts of the spectrum, and there will
be silence in other parts. For instance.
if the vessel contains red worsted, and
the green light flashes upon it, loud
sounds will be given. Only feeble
sounds will be heard when the red and
blue parts of the rainbow fall upon the
vessel, and other colors make no sound
at all. Qreen silk gives sound best in
red light. Every kind of material givua
more or less sound in different colovs.
and utters no sound, in others. The
discovery is a strange one, and it is
thought more wonderful things will
oome from it.
The Grasshopper.
Grasshopper, grasshopper, dreesed all In green,
And scarlet, and copper, and ultramarine,
You're tho gayest grasshopper that ever I've
seen.
Where are yon going to? Where have you
been?
Did the hot sun from a dewdrop create you ?
Is there a brillianter being to mate you ?
Is nature pledged with her last son to fete you ?
Docs all the joy in the world await you ?
Oh, king of creation I Small bridegroom of
June I
Oh, white spark thrown off from the whits at
of noon 1
Musician who flndost tho whole world in tune
Dry drinker, good fellow, pray grant me a boon
Tell me, if I in the fields were to live, now, .
To leap ovor leaves and 'moon lilies to dive,
now,
To revel, aud tako some gay girl to wive, now
And give np all thought how to Btudy and
strive, now,
But lie in thf grass, ou tho brink of tho river,
Ringing would sncha fine life last forever?
Would summer ne'er go ? Would f ne'er have
to shiver
Iu tho winter's cold blasts for my lack of
endeavor?
What ! Vou say that the summer is not ya
a-going
That yon do uot feel winter's breath yet
a-blowing;
That roses can only bo sipped while they're
growing;
That, in harvest, 'tis better be reaping than
sowing.
IlogiT Hiordan, in Scribner.
I1UM0II OF THE DAY.
A marriage at sea is an ocean tied.
''Sleeping out loud" is the latest
child definition for snoring.
The young man who gave up drink
ing to propitiate his girl wisely con
cluded that a miss is as good as a smile.
There is going to be another comet
hold on.don't dodge yet; it's the comet
of 1744, and it is only expected around
once every 122,083 years. Haiekeye,
A terrible adulteration in ice cream
has been brought to light iu (he East.
However, the only feature of the fraud
worthy of note, is that one plate isn't
enough for two young souls and the
price remains the same. lteeling Sun
day Leader.
"When I have prepared a remarkably
good sermon," said Rev. Mr. Gush well,
"it generally happens that I have a very
small congregation to listen to it."
"What a memory you have !" exclaimed
Fogg, in tones of astonishment ; "how
long ago was it that you prepared that
did you say ?"
An exchange prints a long recipe
explaining "How to perfume a dwell
ing." It's too expensive. The cheapest
and quickest way to perfume a dwelling
is to fry a piece of codfish or roast a
few onions. They go right to the spot
and linger around the spot for a con
siderable length of period. Norristown
Herald.
The great excitement amonir the
school children of New Haven just now
is vaccination. "See here, my little
man," said tho attending physician,
" you were vaccinated yesterday. What
did you come again for to-duy ?" " Oh,"
and he shullled his toe around on the
floor, "I wanted to hear the girls
screech." New Haven lieyister.
Nothing can reach out further than a
cough at church. It may come from
the remotest corner in the rear, but its
cho tickles the throat of those in front.
and then creeps down the aisle and
touches the ushers, and floats from the
choir to the minister, and never releases
its hold until it has wrung a sympathetic
explosion from every victim- Perhaps
you've noticed it. Merkk-n Recorder.
An engineer examined not long since
in an arbitration case was asked : " How
ong have you been in your profes
sion?" "Twelve years." "Are you
thoroughly acquainted with your work,
theoretically and practically ? " " Yes."
1 Uo you reel competent to undertake
large constructions?" "Yes; most cer
tainly." "In what engineering works
have you been engaged during the last
twelve years?" "The manufacture of
iron bedsteads."
A Smart Weasel.
The remarkable sagacity of the weasel
was well illustrated the other day by an
incident which actually occurred in the
suburbs of Santa Barbara. A gentle
man's barn was iufested with rats, and
he was greatly annoyed by their depre
dations. They have been gradually dis
appearing, however, during the past
few weeks. The gentleman finally dis
covered the cause of their probable dis
appearance in a very wide-awake weasel.
which was engaged at the time in a vig
orous combat with an unusually large-
sized rat. The latter proved too much
for his adversary, and finally chased
his weaselship out of the barn. A
few mornings later the gentleman again
sound the same animals engaged .in a
similar battle. The weasel at last ran '
away as before, and the rat followed in
hot pursuit. This time, however, the
weasel ran into a hole it had burrowed
through a pile of hardened compost.
This hole was quite large at the en
trance, but the outlet was scarcely large
enough to admit the passage of the
weasel s body. The weasel darted into
the hole with tho rat at his heels. A
moment later the weasel emerged
from the other side, ran quickly
around the compost pile and
again entered the hole, this time
in the enemy's rear. The gentleman,
interested in the proceedings, watched
the place some time, and found that
only the weasel came out. Digging into
the compost he found tho rat quite
dead, and partly eaten. The weasel
had arranged his trap bo that the rat
could enter, but becoming closely
wedged in the narrow portion of the hole,
could be attacked at a disadvantage and
easily killed.
Vrt . vnniAn avav rAAlizefl tVlA TlttAV
helplessness of her sex so much as when
she reaches a steamboat wuari three
minutes too late for the excuraipn. In
Milwaukee they give one last, lingei! 3
look around them and lav down and die.