RATES OF ADVERTISING.
On Sqaar, on. Inch. on. Insertion ...t tt9
On. Squire, on Inch, on. month ... I 0
On Sqnara, OB Inch, thro months. 100
On. Sqntre, on Inch, on year 10 M
Two Sanares, on year K 0
Quarter Column, on year MOS
nlt Column, on. rear 80 0
On Column, on year 100 0
Lefrtl advertisement ten cnW per Un eh t
Mrtlon, Marriage and death notice gratia.
All bill for yearly Tlvertlment. colted quar
terly. Temporary adrertlMmenta Boll I). paid U
adrane.
Job work cub on dallrwy.
intnertptlon raelTc4 for a lhrtr Mrlod
than three monthe.
uorreaponriene. aollclted from al parti of the
VOL. XXIII. NO. 10. TIONESTA, PA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1890. S1.50 PER ANNUM.
Bnnntrv.
innu-y. no n.uc. ww do lak.n of fee a
awainanlcations.
anonymous
THE FOREST REPUBLICAN
b nbllibe4 Try WdnesUy, kf
J. E. WENK.
Offlot In Smearbaugh ft Co. Building
JEUt bTBJSBT, TIONESTA, fa.
Terms, . . f i.BO per Yar.
Forest republican.
' In China there ii now, according to
Intelligent estimates, ono missionary to
about every 300,000 people.
" The Chicago Sun thinks that railroad
building will not be likely to take an
other boom until the Western country
has gained million or two iu popula
tion. InshkersofT, a Russian travolor and
ethnologist, has discovered that there are
400,000 heathens and 60,000 Moham
medan! in the Russian army, and he de
clares that Christianity is decreasing as
tonishingly in Southern Russia.
The Matin, a Paris newspaper, de
clare! that the United Stales makes "a
grave mistako" in locating the World'!
Fair at Chicago, and expresses the firm
conviction that very few foreign exhibit
ors or visitors will care to attend a fuit
1000 miles in tho interior.
An old duck hunter of Savannah says
that a Cight of cluck coming south one
day, if followed by other flights in the
Hrao direction days or weeks afterward,
will not vary to exceed twenty-five feet
from the path of the ducks which have
preceded them, and they will alight in
almost tho exact spot where preceding
flights have settled.
Only six mon are living who were
members of a President's Cabinet before
Lincoln's time. They are Georgo Ban
croft, Secretary of the Navy under Tolk ;
A. H. H. Stuart, Secretary of tho In
terior under Taylor; James Campbell,
Pierce's Postmaster-General; Joseph
Holt, Iloiatio King (each of whom was
t Postmaster-General), and P. F. Thomas,
Secretary of tho Treasury iu Buchanan's
day. '
In China, whero everything is contrary
to Western ideas, poverty has a greater
practical power than in uny country in
the world. The Chinese Times, of Ticn
Tsin, says that everything may bo for
given iu China to a poor official. Pov
erty is considered a test of probity, an
influence which owes much of its strength
to the attachment of the peoplo to every
man who comes unspotted through tho
severe temptation of Chinese official
life.
Sweden is not an overcrowded coun
try. On tho contrary, it is mora
thinly settled than some of our States.
Combined with Norway it is the largest
country in Europe, except Russia. There
is plenty of room for the peoplo; but they
do not care to stay there. They prefer
to emigrato to our Northwest, with a soil
and resources inferior to some portions,
at least, of their nativo kingdom. The
New York Prttt exclaims: It is an ex
traordinary spectacle this Swedish emi
gration fur different iu motive and
character from any other that seeks our
shores.
Professoi Rein, a scientist who has
been investigating tho material resources
of Japan, says: "They reveal a national
frugality and economy of a marvelous
type. The area of Japan is less than
that of California. Its cultivated laud is
less than one-tenth of its total acreago,
yet its products support about 38,000,
000 people. Iu Japan 2560 persons
subsist from each square mile of tilled
land." If the laud were divided up
among the peoplo a single-taier wouldn't
have room enough o:i his own plot to
swing his theory without knocking down
his neighbor's fences.
The San Francisco Chronicle remarks:
The man who has secured please of
isknds iu the Great Suit Luko ami an
appropriation of $30,000 to cross the
buffalo to common cattle has worked a
very neat little game. The preservation
of the buffalo is a worthy object, but it
it is rather lute to begin now, when the
animal is practically extinct. As for
crossing the buffalo with domestic cattle,
this scheme can only be in the interest of
the boarding-houso keeper who wishes
to improve upon tho toughness of the
long-horned Western steer and thus
secure an iudestructible steak.
i
Mrs. Ada M. Bitteubender, lawyer at
Washington for tho W. C. T. U., has
been investigating tho subject of early
legislation on tho liquor traffic in the
colonies and United States of America.
She Mads that two kinds of liquor legis
lation kept pace with each other through
out colonial life, namely, laws to punish
drunkenness and those to promote the
domestic manufacture of intoxicating
drinks. Some curious penalties for
drunkenness are mentioned. The offender
was sometimes required to wear on hie
outside garment the letter "I)'' or the
woid "druukard." Occasionally one
was disfranchised. Reprimauds, whip
pings and fines, however, were the ordi
nary modes of punishment. At the same
time laws were euacted making the plant
ing of grape vines compulsory, to en
courage the wine industry, while especial
efforts were put forth to increase the pro
duction of malt and distilled liquors.
The first law authorizing a liquor saloon,
puis and simple, was paoacd iu lb'39.
LIFE'S EPITOME.
A burst of light and song and story.
Of hope and dreams of some-time glory
Day's begun 1
A little praise, a little blame, '
A 111 tie floating breath of fame,
A littl sitting in th sun, a little sigh and
Day is dona I
Annie X. P. Searing, in Harper' ' Batar,
GA BE HARRIS.
The wooden tanks on all the leases In
the Harford oil region had been full for
many days, and every time a well flowed
"off a head" the petroleum was wasted.
It ran over the tank's brim, saturated the
dry leaves and formed pools on tho hill
sides in tho depressions behind trees and
stumps.
The spring had been early; by the last
week of April tho snow was all gone from
the roc esses of tho deep forest. There
had been but little rain, and the warm
sun had dried the rotting timber in tho
woods. Tho leaves strewing the ground
were crisp and combustible as paper.
They were scattered hither and thither by
the frequent breezes blowing strong from
tho Great Lakes, and they found lodge
ment only where they fell into waste
petroleum and becime soaked. Never
were there conditions more favorable for
a terrible, disastrous forest fire.
Everybody was careful of fire. Men
who in sullen silence, or with angry de
nunciation of the Pipe Lino Company,
watched their oil run to waste, forbore
smoking in the woods for fear of a spark
irom a pipe would start tne conflagration
they all dreaded. Drilling was stopped ;
fires were drawn from tho boilers at
pumping wells.
The producers had held mass meetings
and denounced the action of the com
pany; they had even attempted violence.
To all complaints the company seemed
indifferent; to protect their property they
had called upon the Sheriff of the county
and his posse, which consisted mainly of
mon in their employ.
From all the meetings Gabo Ilarris
had been absent. In the attack upon
the pump station he had taken no part;
but every day he had gone to the office
of tho "Liues" and asked to have his oil
"run." Having made tho request and
received an answer, he handed the super
intendent an estimate of the amount of
petroleum that had run to waste on his
lease the previous day. The reply be re
ceived was the samo that all applicants
were met with :
"Wo have no room, but are Increasing
pur tankage daily, and hope to relieve
you. soon. However, of you wish to sell
your oil for immediate shipment we will
run it at once."
"Immediate shipment" oil brought
twenty cents a barrel loss than the mar
ket price for crude petroleum, and many
of tho producers, pressed by their cred
itors or needing money to buy tho neces
sities of life, were forced to accept the
company's terms. But Gabe, though his
credit was nearly exhausted, would not
thui yield to monopoly. Rather than
sell his oil for immediate shipment he
would let his creditors have his property,
aud support his family by working on
the streets of Hartford. His home he
could retain, for the little portable
house with its furniture was paid for,
and he would not have to pay ground
rent, as on tho leases tho surface of the
ground had no value, save where the der
ricks and their engine-houses and tanks
were located.
Perhaps he would not have been so
courageous had his wife not been of the
opinion that his course was right. Her
nature, though affectionate aud gentle,
was independent and self-reliant. Pov
erty had no terrors for her. She had en
dured it, had suffered many privations in
practising a rigid economy in order to
save the wages Gabe had earned as
driller, so that some day they might have
a leaso of their own. They had secured
one; on it had put down three wells,
and were meeting with regularity and
promptness the notes given for machinery
and tanks when the "shut down" came,
and their oil joined that of other
producers on the hill-side forever lost.
She was glad Gabe had not become vio
lent and made threats as his neighbors
had done, because she thought much talk
a display of weakness, and sho would
have regretted her marriago had she at
last found herself the wife of a weak
man. She knew sho could rely upon
his silent determination to win in his
conflict with the "Lines" without an ap
peal to dynamite, which remedy for their
abuses was daily threatened by the pro
ducers. Meantime Gabe formed a plan. He
resolved to run his oil himself, first
guaging his tanks in the presence of wit
nesses to ascertain the amount they con
tained ; then he would turn the stopcock,
and set a donkey-engine to work pump
ing the petroleum into the main line.
When his tanks were empty,, he would
demand of the "Lines" a storage certif
icate for the amount of the oil run.
On a clear, warm morning in May he
kissed his wife goodby for the day, and
set out on horseback for Harford to make
a final demand on the company to run his
oil.
His lease was at the head of the Ken
dall Creek Valley. From the door of his
house be could see the Tuna, into which
the rapid Kendall Creek emptied. Scat
tered through tho valley were several
villages, the nearest to his home being
Kendall. Ou the bank of the creek
were a great number of iron storage
tanks, each one painted red, and having
on one side the name ot its owner and
its capacity stated in white letters, Gabe
had often looked at them, and thought,
as many another passer had done, what a
big fire they would make if the petroleum
In one of tbeui should be ignited 1 But
that day as he rode toward them his
thoughts were far from the subject of a
onfiugration in them. Suddeuly his
revery was rudely interrupted. The sound
of au explosion startled him, aud look
ing up, he saw a large, flat object flyiug
in the air. Recognizing it as the roof tit
an irou tauk, he gave rein to his horse
and dashed toward the column of smoke
and flame intertwined that he saw rising
near the town of Kendall.
The petroleum in an iron tank was
burning, and he knew with what danger
the fire threatened Kendall. The tank
was one of a group on the bank of the
creek, and if it should overflow, or an
other tank be ignited and burst with an
explosion of gas, tho burning fluid
would surely be borne on the stream
among the houses that further down
lined its banks. From these houses tho
town lay in the direction the wind was
blowing, and the wooden, canvas-lined
dwellings were as combustible as tinder.
If a fire should break out among the
houses on the creek, the town would
soon be in ashes and many families home
less. All of this Gabe comprehended in a
moment, and he rode right into the vil
lage, shouting to the women whom he saw
standing in their doorways and gazing
curiously at the blazing petroleum,
"Bring all the shovels and picks you can
find."
Looking back over his shoulder, he saw
fire running up the side of the hill, the
blazing leaves blown by the wind ap
parently in a hot race to spread the con
flagration, to carry destruction far and
wide. At a glance he saw the direction
of the fire was toward his own home and
lease toward his wife and children,
whom he had left but a half hour before.
At tho telegraph station of the
"Lines," he drew rein, and yelled to the
operator: "Tell Harford we want men
with picks and shovels, and we want
them quick. Wire the railroad company
for a special train."
The operator, who had already re
ported an iron tank on fire, promptly
sent Gabe's message. Before it reached
Harford, Gabe was on his way at full
speed of his horse. He rode to within a
hundred yards of the burning tank and
hitched his horse to a tree on the wind
ward side of the fire. Then snatching a
shovel from one woman and a pickaxe
from another he ran to a bend of a creek
and began the construction of a dam.
Two old men and some boys came to
help him, while the women brought
picks and shovels and laid them on the
bank of the creek in readiness for use by
husbands and brothers, who, to a man,
were attending a mass-meeting of the
producers in Harford.
The blazing oil heated the tank, the
flames roariug.and struggling to main
tain a perpendicular against the wind,
growing in force and blowing steadily.
Gabe was working with wonderful en
ergy, making a sluice' for the escape of
the water, at the sometime directing his
assistants how to build a dam, which
was to be constructed of stones laid ono
on tho other and bankeuwith dirt. The
old men, whose strength was unequal to
the efforts they put forth in the excite
ment, leaned on their shovels presently,
and took an observation of the progress
of the tire, and reckoned .on the proba
bility of the small force', being able to
complete tho dam before' the overflow
would come.
"Why, Gabe, how enn you work so
hard in "this heat with' your coat on?" one
of them remarked, quierulously, as he
wiped his brow with a soiled handker
chief. "Didn't think ofthat," said Gabe,
and in a moment he was at work again
without coat or vest .to impede him.
"Does go easier," he said, cheerily, as he
strengthened the side of ";the sluice with a
large stone. "Now, if you old fellows
ain't played out, you canshovcl some dirt
behind that rock."
"I ain't played out," ono of the old
men said; "but I'm thiukin" you'd better
git fast as your how can carry you, or you
won': save much from that'little house of
yours up to Summit."
One of the boys stopped', in his dig
ging, his breath growing short, and
looked at the conflagration sweeping up
the mountain side. "Gabe, hadn't I
better ride up and tell younwife the fire'i
comin'1" he said.
"No; you stay hero and dig. Mrs.
Harris knows as much about tho fire
comin' her way as we do. She's got
eyes."
Yet, with all his cheerful manner and
the courage in his vcice, Gabe did not
dare to look up from hU work, for fear
the sight of the tempest -pf flames that",
was rushing to the destruction of his
home would overcome hia"1. resolution to
save Kendall if possible.
"But don't you think yoii'd better go,
Gabe?" the old man queried. "Charity
begins to home, you know."
"Stop pesterin' mo and work, or get
out of the road."
The old man, offended,' shoveled in a
desultory way.
"Spoonfuls don't count; 'tain't the
little grains of sand we want ' here, but
shovelfuls," and suiting actiotn to word,
Gabe dumped a pile of sand against the
stone he had just put in phice. The'
old man, feeling that he was useless,
threw down his shovel and walked away ;
the other one joined him, and together
they went to chatter with the women
who were standing in the highway, alter
nately gazing at the fire and noting the
progress of the dam.
"Is the dam done?" asked one woman
eagerly of the old men.
"Done? It will never be done, for
the overflow will come first."
"Better get out your things," said the
other old man.
This suggest iaa stampeded the women.
They scattered, each to her home, the
children crying after their mothers, who
were hastening to save keepsakes and
small valuables. Here and there a frantic
woman carried a baby, but was heodless
of Its cries.
Meanwhile Gabe was cheering the
boys, some of whom were beginning to
flag one, then another of them, pausing
to draw a shirtsleeve over his perspiring
forehead.
"Here, Dick, you carry stones awhile.
You help him, Bill. And you two fel
lows there with picks, take shovels.
We'll beat that fire, or we ain't men."
Thus encouraged, the boys worked
with increased vigor, aud Gabe saw with
growing hope that the dam was assum
ing proportions which would offer effec
tual resistance to considerable of a "boil
over," as the overflow was sometimes
called.
One again the boy who tad wanted
to ride to Gabe's home with news of the
approaching tire recurred to the subject.
"Tain't too lato yit, Gabe. Hadn't I
better go?"
"You can go if you want to, Dick,
but only not to my house. We need all
hands here."
The boy shamefacedly renewed his
exertions, and the others, in dogged imi
tation of Gabe's unflagging zeal, worked
with their heads down, Destowiug all
their attention to obeying his orders.
There was silence among them except
when Gabe spoke; but amid the roaring
of the fire in the tank they could hear the
shrill voices of the women screaming to
each other, and presently there came to
their ears the welcome screech of one of
the little narrow-gauge engines. BuoycJ
by a repetition of the whistle, the little
band seemed to redoublo their effort.
Soon again the locomotive shrieked,
nearer to them, and there was silence
until the rumble of the train was heard.
Then the boys looked up; but Gabe did
not pause in the particular task he was
engaged upon packing the sand be
tween some stones. The train ran Up to
a point opposite the tanks, and before it
was at a stand-still men carrying picksand
shovels had leaped from the platforms
and were running to the dam, shouting
to the workers to make way for new men.
Then. Gabe paused. He looked up the
valley, but could not see his home for
the dense smoke that was blowing over
the summit. He was jostled aside by the
new-comers, who came to the work
like a ompauy charging a bat
tery. Gabe felt that he would not be
needed now. He could no longer re
strain his heart. It called on him louder,
more urgently than it had done when
there was time for him to get to his
house before the conflagration had reached
it, and he obeyed.
In the tumult he was not missed, and
no one heard the clatter of his horse's
hoofs over the stony road. Bending low
over the pummel of his saddle he dashed
into the smoke. lie could not see, but
he trusted his horse, now mad with
fright. Presently hu said: "Thank
God!"
The lessening of the heat on his check,
then a breath of cool air, told him that
which he had not observed the wind
had veered, and had carried the
fire off in another direction, west
of his house, and it was safe. He
knew, too, from faith in his wife, that
she had conducted the children to a place
of safety. Soon he was out of the blind
ing smoke, and the horse slackened the
pace of his own accord. Then he dis
mounted and climbed tho side of the
mountain, where he soon found his family
ou a point of rocks.
"I saw it all," said his wife; "but I
did not know it was you working there
all that time till I saw the horse start up
the valley. Then I knew." And she
kissed him.
"But the overflow 1 Did it come?"
"Yes. Just after I lost sight of you
in the smoke."
"And the dam?"
"It held. See, Kendall is safe; and
there would not have been time to save
it after the train came."
And in the look of pride and love she
gave him Gabe fouud his reward. liar
2er,$ Weekly.
Co-OperatiTe and Loan Associations.
It is estimated that there are about
4000 co-operative and loan associations
in the United States; that their accumu
lations of property represent $300,000,
000, and that the amount paid to them
for one year in the form of dues alone
exceeds $65,000,000. These associations,
in their ealier days in Philadelphia, were
called building clubs, and later they
have been known under the name of
building and loan associations. Under
any name they mean essentially one and
the same thing; which is the forming of
corporations in which the members shall
loan money to one another on certain
fixed terms, and by means of which labor
ing men, for the most part in our towns
aud cities, may be able to add to the shares
which they have purchased in this asso
ciation, together with the fines and dues
which accure, a sum equal to what they
have already invested in them, aud apply
it to the building or buying of homes for
themselves. During the last thirty years
these associations have increased in all
parts of the country. The first one was
organized in Philadelphia in 1831; the
second was formed in 1845, and from
1845 to 1850 about fifty were created in
Philadelphia alone. New York Dispatch.
Walking in a Circle.
Writing of sporting iu Canada, a
traveler insists upon the necessity of car
rying a pocket compass. Without one,
no one can keep a straight course when
the sky is overcast.
The tendency on these occasions is to
walk in circles. It is very annoying, but
by no means unusual to find one's self,
after two hours' hard walking, at the ex
act spot one started from. Indeed, I
have completed my circle in half au hour
when lost in the woods without a com
pass. I have remarked, too, that I almost
invariably trend to the light, not to the
left, and on comparing notes with other
"bushwhackers," I hud that I am not
siugular in this respect. Can it be that
the left is generally the better leg of tne
two, and takes, imperceptibly, tho longer
stride t
Deformity the Mother of Fashions.
Disraeli declares that the origin of
many fashions is to be found in the en
deavor of the devotee to conceal some
deformity of nature by recourse to art.
"Patches were invented in England," he
says, "by a foreign lady, woo by this
means ingeuiously covered a wen on her
neck. Wigs were invented by a French
barber to conceal au elevation in the
shoulder of the Dauphiu. Charles VII.,
of trance, introdrced the long-tailed
coat to hide his ill-made legs. Shoes
two feet in length were invented to con
ceal a large exeresceuce ou the foot of
the Duke of Aojou. When Francis I.
was obliged to wear his hair short, owing
to a wound on his neck, it became a pre
vailing fashion at court. "Detroit Vrt
! . ,
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
In Paris all electric wires, without ex
ception, are under ground.
Cooking stoves, heated by electricity,
are being perfected for general use.
It is stated that electric motors are now
used in more than 130 different indus
tries. It is said that the onion is a great cure
for insomnia, and about as effective as
quinine in malaria.
It requires an average of 132 days for
the renewal of the nails in cold weather
and but 116 in warm weather.
An English journal discusses the possi
bility of distinguishing "high and low
born blood" by tho aid of the miscro
scope. A Scotchman claims that he has de
tected 30,000 dust motes in the thou
sandth part of a cubic inch of the air of
a room.
The number of eggs in a six-pound
eel in November is fully 9,000,000; under
the microscope they measure eighty to
the linear inch.
The Count of Assata, in Italy, has an
electric motor in his dairy to do the
churning, work the pump and perform
various other operations.
A German has invented an apparatus
for forcing sidewise the swells in front of
fast going ships by means of steam jets
from a nozzle under tho water at the bow.
In the formation of a singlo locomotive
steam engine there are nearly 6000 pieces
to be put together, and these require to
be as accurately adjusted as the works of
a watch.
In a Minneapolis (Minn.) overalls fac
tory an electric motor runs all the sew
ing machines aud docs all the cutting,
beside warming the irons that press out
the goods.
At tho Krupp Works at Essen, Ger
many, there are 1195 furnaces of various
constructions, 286 boilers, ninety-two
steam hammers of from 200 to 100,000
pounds, 370 steam engines with a total of
27,000 horse-power.
A small instrument has been devised
for use in mines to indicate the presence
of tire damp, or in gas mains to indicate
the escape of gas. The invention is based
upon the property certain metals have of
evolving heat in the presence of hydrogen
gas.
For new railroad tracks this year
1,000,000 tons of steel rails will be
needed. This quantity of material, de
livered, will cost $35,000,000. Fish
bars, frogs switches, ties, grading and
laying will bring the total cost of this
one item of railway expense to about
$100,000,000 for the year.
California has a fruit pest in the gray
linnet, far worse aud more damaging to
fruit raisers than the English sparrow.
If some means are not systematically and
methodically adopted to exterminate this
bird there will be very little profit in fruit
raising in those sections where deciduous
fruits are exclusively produced.
A German naturalist estimates as fol
lows the number of eggs a hen may lay:
The' ovary of a hen contains about 600
embryo eggs, of which not more than
twenty are matured in the first year. The
second year produces 120: the third 135,
the fourth lit; and in the following
four years the number decreases to
twenty yearly. In the ninth year only
ten eggs can be expected.
A Horse Dentist.
At the quarters of the Salvage Corps
tho other day Dr. AVelles, a veterinary
dentist, paid" his annual visit. One by
one the horses were brought out into the
yard in the rear of the house and backed
up agaust the fence. The doctor seized
the first h.irse by the nose, got hold of
the animal's tongue and pulled it out as
far as possible. He then examined the
teeth with his fingers and ascertained
what was to be done. He took from his
grip a stick about a foot long, to which
he attached a noose, which he twisted
around the horse's nose, forcing him to
open his mouth. Then the dentist took
a long nickeled tubular instrument, to
one end of which was attached a chisel,
around which was a guard which rested
on the horse's lower teeth. A rod was
shoved through the tube, causing the
chisel to chip pieces off the teeth, thus
making them one height. A long file
was then brought to play and the teeth
sharpened. All the horses were examined
and treated in this way. From the
mouth of each two small back teeth were
pulled. These are termed "wolf" teeth.
They often cause considerable trouble to
a horse, the pain from them at times
being so intense as to make the animal
unmanageable. Only one of the horses
gave any trouble, and the dentist finished
his work on the four in less than an hour
and received $8 for his work. Newark
(N. J.) fc
Cruel Way of Securing Eiderdown.
The gathering of eiderdown consti
tutes one of the most profitable employ
ments of Icelanders. This is especially
true in the islands of Fidcy, Fingey, and
Ahrey, which are the favorite haunts of
the eider ducks. Here they pair and
make their nests about the beginning of
June. Having chosen the place where
she wishes to lay her eggs, the female
plucks from her plumage feathers to line
her nest, and lays her eggs. Then the
eiderdown gatherer carries away both the
down and the eggs, in spite of a stout
resistance from the unfortunate pair. The
process is carried on again and again,
until the female duck is stripped nearly
bare, when the male comes to ber assist
ance and strips himself iu the same way.
"Elastic Flannel.
Elastic flannel is chieflly made in
Wales. This description of flannel i
woven in the stocking loom and has a
pile on one face on which accouut it is
styled Veleurs de Laine aud other names
according to the fancy manufacturers.
These fluuuels measure - from thirty-two
to thirty-six inches iu width and are
principally employed for women's drees
iug gowns and jackets. They are usual
ly made either iu colored stripes ou a
white ground, or eke iu plain rose or
blue color; foie York Tslyrum,
QUEER TROPICAL THINGS.
ASTOUNDING GIFTS OT NATOHE IN
CENTRAL AMERICA.
-A
A Returned Englrlkeer Tells or Troea
That Give Urrart and Milk and
Ants That Distil Money.
"Thero are some funny things to be
met with in that region," said Major
Quiney A. Steele, who has been with an
engineer corps, surveying railroad routes
in Central America for the past two years,
"and among the funniest are a tree that
gives a light so strong that you can read
or write by it at night, and one that gives
milk, and another that provides the way
farer with bread. Then thore is an ant
that supplies you with sweetening for
your coffee, which is an interesting native
of that queer country. Tho tree that
gives light isn't a large one, but it isn't
inconspicuous by any means. The lost
place we camped at in the mountains we
had a particularly bright specimen of
this tree to work by. I could sit ten feet
away from it and read fiue print as well
as if it had been broad daylight. As
soon as night comes tho leaves of this
tree begin to shine as if they were so
many electric lights. Looking off across
country one can see scores of the trees
shining .here and there in the darkness
like beacon lights set in the hills. They
make a very choice article of rum from
tho leaves of this treeo by boiling them
down and letting the decoction stand in
tho sun for a day or two. The native In
dians are fond of this tipple, and at
least ono of our Indian helpers and
guides is usually engaged in snoring off
the result of injudicious tampering with
this rum while it is a trifle new.
"The tree I am speaking of doesn't
grow more than ten feet high, but three
of them would light up a town. If you
rub the leaves smartly between your
hands, they will glow in tho dark like a
lightning bug. The Indians call this
tree the witch tree, and I don't blame
them. It gives the best light just after
it has been drenched with watei, and so
if tho tree begins to grow a little dim on
us, all we have to do is to douse two-or
three pails of water over it, and it's just
like giving a lamp wick a turn or two
higher. One of our party had a big idea
of going home and organizing a company
to introduce and cultivate this tree in
towns and cities, and knock gas com
panies and electric light plants higher
than a kite; but when he found that tho
tree stops giving light iu August and
doesn't start up again until the next
March, he thought the scheme wouldn't
pay.
"The tree that gave tho bread we used
to eat down there doesn't look a bit as if it
would do it. But looks are very decep
tive under the Equator. The bread isn't
exactly bread when we pick it, either.
It is a nice stiff dough enclosed iu a nut
shell about the size of n goose egg. We
crack the nut, take out the dough, knead
it a little, and it is ready for baking.
By thinning it down to a batter with the
milk we get from another tree, our camp
cook used to make first rate pancakes out
of it. The day I left he strained tho
sweetening out of a quart or two of ants,
mixed it up with a batch of tho dough,
and made sweet cake that would have
been good enough for anybody's folks to
set before company.
"Tho nuts that supply the 'honey, or
syrup, or whatever it may be called, are
worth a day's travel ou mule back over
these mountains to see. They are about
the size of a small peanut, nnd on their
back is a transparent sac that they distil
full of honey until they swell up as big
as a good-sized marble. You can scoop
these ants up by the neck. They make
this honey to feed their young on, but
they are so good-natured aud so sus
ceptible to familiarity that all you have
to do is tickle them on the foreshoulder
and they will give you up every drop of
honey they have, and then go meekly off
to fill up again.
"But this accommodating ant isn't a
whit more curious than the tree that arts
in the capacity of dairy down thero. This
tree has a big, tough, leathery leaf, that
can be used for half-soling shoes. When
we want to milk one of these cow trees
we bore a hole in tho trunk, and it lets
down a sap as white and as sweet as any
milk that was ever stripped from a cow.
To get sweet milk out of this tree,
though, it must be milked early in the
morning. After the sun has been up
two or three hours the tree gives sour
milk." New York Sun.
A Wonderful Invention.
Away up skyward, iu ono of the mag
nificent trade palaces so rapidly spring
ing up along Fifth Avenue in New York
city, there is a modest little laboratory
of a man soon to be well known in tho
world of sciences. "Gianni Bettini,
lieutenant de cavalerie," is the very un
assuming inscription on the office door.
Let us enter and inspect the lieutenant's
wonderful talking machine, far more per
fect, more simple, and portable than
Edisou's.
The object of Bettini's machine is of
course the same as the phonograph, the
reproduction of souud. But in Bettini's
the metallic sound is done away with
aud tho natural timbre of the voice al
most preserved. Whisperings aud aspi
rated tones are reproduced with wonder
ful fidelity. The inventor claims that it
is a general molecular vibration which
causes the emission of tones from the in
strument, and that the diaphragm is not
essential, to prove which, he removes the
diaphragm aud stylus, and simply lays
the end of au ordinary screw-driver ou
the revolving wax cylinder. The table
itself appeals to talk, almost as distinctly
as when the stylus aud trumpet were at
tached. The micro-graphophoue is desigued to
be gold, when put upon tho market, aud
nt rented. It can be carried iu an
ordinary valise, and it is by far the most
portable of all the talking machines yet
invented. Mr. Bettini, the iuveutor,
is a handsome son of sunny Italy, ami
one of her stalwart defenders. He is an
officer of the, uruiy, ami is now on a leave
of abseuce. In persou Mr. Bettini is
most pleasing, aud attributes his inven
tions less toiuspiiatiou than hard work.
Burton 2'ructiUr,
THE WORDS OF THE RAIN. ,
I sat alone in my chamber dim.
In a reverie settled and deep, "'
When by and by, like si weird, woven hymn,'
I heard the wind In its mournful sweep
Splashing, as it passed, my window pane
wpane
e- . J
With generous drops of coolfngrain.
Oh, ho, I said, I am not alone,
I knnw the rain im tjttL-inir tji mo
It had such a soul-refreshing tone k
In the warm night It was melody,
With never a pause in its refrain.
Patter, patter, said the welcome rain.
Anon a thought fell over my heart,
Can I coin that music into words?
A longing came that would not depart
If I might translate its niystic chords
If a gleam would come from wisdom' train.
ttdid, and I understood the raiu.
"Oh, mortal, my mission is like thine, "1
To scatter good on palaces and cots; j
In the dark of night I am doing mine ''
Ceaseless and faithful, but thou art not."
Then I blushed and said, with regretful pain,
"There is truth in the words of the rain."
"Mother Nature is kind unto all,"
Continued the burden of its song,
"The sun shines out, and the showers fall,
While season follows season along!
The laughing fruit, and the springing grain
All join in love's anthem," said the rain.
"Oh! man, while creation toils for thea.
Year in, year out, for ever the same,
From dripping cloud to the tiding soa
If thou art idle it is thy shame.
There's work for all, and for each its plane'
Hear then, and heed the words of the rain
William Lyle, in Detroit Free Prcos.
B . ;
HUJIOtt OF THE DAY.
Common scents Cheap perfumes.
An old bach Loaves baked last week.
Claws in the will Fingers of the law
yers. Boiton Herald.
The weight of an argument doesn't de
pend upon the size of the mau.
Age brings us wisdom, but doesn't
givo us much titno to use it. Puck.
Every dog has his day, nnd Sunday be
longs to tho growler. Ttrre llaul& Ex
preiw. If tho boys dou't kiss the misses, then
tho eirls will miss the kisses. Bingham
ton Leader.
"Is it a crime to be a woman ?" cried
the oratorcss. "No; only a Miss de
meanor. " ruck.
A market reportsays: "Corn isquict."
Then it is different from some things that
are put into cribs.
A horse has the advantage of a man in
one thing. He's worth more after he's
broke than he was before.
The broker who married a pretty, but
penniless, girl explained that he had
taken her at her face value.
"All gone," murmured Ponsonby sadly,
as he surveyeil his bald head in tho
mirror. "Not even a part remains."
Life.
Womau "You're the first tramp I've
seen about here this season." Tramp
"Yes, ma'am; I always was noted for my
enterprise aud push." Judye.
His first love was full twenty-five;
He eighteen when he sought her.
When he at forty did arrive.
' He asked her for her daughter.
Puck.
He (cautiously) "What would you
say, darling, if I should ask you to be my
wife?" Darling (oven more cautiously)
"Ask me and find out." Washington
Star.
Miserly says if the telegraph compan-,
ies charge their wires as they do their
customers he doesn't wonder that it gives
a man a shock to touch one. Binghatil?
ton lirpuUican.
When Jack Tar sails the stormy sea,
His vessel roels, but not so he;
W hen she's in port on even keel,
His steps a stagger oft reveal.
Puck.
Miss Kewt (who wants to bring him to
the point) "I think some old bachelors
are horrid." Mr. Bachelloor "What
about present company?" Miss Kewt
"Present company ulways accepted."
Judge.
An old saying makes it that "he who
goes borrowing goes a-sorrowing." It
may be so with some borrowers, but in
other cases it is the fellow who lenda
that generally goes sorrowing. Phila
delphia 1'imes.
Rev. Mr. Choker "Has your congre
gation raised your sulary lately, Brother
Thirdly?" Brother Thirdly (from the
country) "No, sir; it seldom raises
more than half of it iu any given year.
Neie York News.
"Humph!" said Mrs. DePorquc, as sho
laid down her book, "this writer says the
dodo is extinct." "Well, mamma, sup
pose it does?" "Why, anybody of
ordinary intelligence knows that. They
uso ditto marks nowadays." Washington
JUt.
An Adelaide. (Australia) daily paper
has in its employ three men named Day.
One of them is called Sun-Day, because
he is a clergyman; another, being the
cashior, is called Pay-Day, while tho
third, being a law-reporter, goes by the
name of Judginaut-Day. &prin(UM
Union.
Augora (oat Farming-.
Angora goat farming is perhaps the
most important aud profitable industry
of tho Tasmauiau farmer. This iudustry
was introduced iu Tasmania about forty
years ago, aud mohair first appeared as
au export teu years later, the quantity
shioped being 106 pouuds. In 1875
the clip reached 1,157,000 pounds, val
ued at b'00,000, while in 18S7, 7,154,
000 pouuds of hair were exported, val
ued at over $1,000,000 (tho price of hair
having been much reduced by this time),
besides skins to tho value of $500,000.
A Scarcity of Men.
A charming young lady, who doesn't
begin to be near the first coi uentone.haa
evolved from her iuuer consciousness the
following reflection ou masculine Wash
ington: Tho saddest words of tongue or pen,
1'u.r. ara too many wunieuaud uot enough
Uiaii.