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.bORE
VOL. XXIII. NO. 15. TIONESTA, PA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST C, 1890. $1.50 PER ANNUM.
The railroads of tliig country hare
killed only S823 persons during the past
twelve months and injured 26,309.
The Chicago Sun avers that the erec
tion of electric light plants is of such
common occurrence in tho South as to
ccaso to be of general interest.
There are mora social clubs in Denver,
Col., asserts the New York World, than
in any other city of the country, not
withstanding the fact that Philadelphia
baa been called the city of homes. .
Steps have been taken to establish in
St. Petersburg, Russia, a society for the
Insurance of crops against climatic mis
haps. The Agricultural Society of tho
metropolis has initiated tiie movement.
An international beauty show was
opened at Rome, Italy, lately, with im
posing ceremonies, but, the beauty not
Vjcing up to the standard, the Indies were
savagely hissed, and the exhibition had
to be abandoned.
The National Horse Breeder thinks peo
ple who are talking about the coming of
the twe-tniuute trotter will bo interested
iu learning that to trot mile in the time
named a horse must get over the ground
at the rate of forty-four feet in a second,
which is a trifle fast for a t lotting gait.
"The business tact ot women has again
been demonstrated," says tho New York
Sun, "in the mutter of taking the cen
sus. "Women who were appointed as
enumerators aro said to have done their
work better and moio carefully than the
males. When another census comes to
be taken the women will hsvo a better
chance."
The Hartford (Conn,) Times remarks:
Horses don't last long in New York city.
The pavements are very trying to their
feot. ' Soma give out in six months,
while others last - ns many years. Tho
average life of street-car horso is alout
two years. Many partially disabled ani
mals find thoir way into the country, and
often recover and become of good service
on farms.
It is noted by tho Now York Sun ns
something remarkable that a Maryland
colored man dreamed he was to die the
next day, and sure enough he died.
'"When a Pacific Islander wants to die,
he sits down and dies himself: Just
naturally dies by force of will. He is
more likely to be three days about it
than one day. Then one of the difficul
ties in bringing African slaves to the
. coast is that they will turn their tongues
back into their throats and go off like
lambs." "
The Tonquin pirate who recently
cleaned up (50,000 as ransom for the re
lease of the three captive Frenchmen has,
observes the Ban Francisco Chronicle,
evidently become enamored of the lucra
tive business. He now offers a standing
reward of f 100 to tho native who will
deliver a Frenchman into his hands or
(20 to one who will warn him that troops
are approaching. ' Iu a country where a
coplie works the whole year round for (5
this noble reward ought to insure the
enterprising pirate a rush of business
until he has made living in the interior
of Tonquin too expensive for the Euro
pean. Tho Boston Cultivator believes that
"men of purely scientific training are ot
less assistance iu practical affairs than
. their education would suggest. Tho
man of science lias little faith iu new
methods or new inventions. He is seldom-an
originator. His kuowledge is
that of tradition. He frequently scouts
at new ideas as impracticable, because
they are not recognized in books. The
inventor seldom travels in the same road
with tho scientist. The inventor needs
to leave the beaten path and press on to
t i the unexplored forest of possibilities.
He is often handicapped if he endeavors
to conform to rules already laid down
by pure scicuce. Few college-bred men
have proved inventors. Original
. thought, bold action, patient persistence,
knowledge of nature's laws are prime
factors in tho -successful career of the
inventor.''
The Philadelphia. Press enumerates
these instances to prove that modern
commerce has curious ellects on price
and on the lives of animals: Camphor
has goue upin this country from iixty
to ninety cents a pound because it is
wanted in Europe for smokeless pow
ders. Rubber has advauced from fifty
five to ninety cents a pound because so
much of it is wanted iu electrical opera
tions. Copper, besides being wauted in
telegraph, telephone and electric light
wires, has advanced because sulphate of
copper has been found to be the only
sure cure for phyloxera. Young male
elephants ate being hunted out in Africa
' because their tusks make billiard balls,
and this, faster than any other demand,
is likely to extinguish the elephant. Tle
fa.icy for alligator leuther is iifakjng alli
gators extinct; tho muskrats multiply
and honeycomb the levees, and hence a
great Mississippi flood.
MEMORIES.
When twilight's hash Is drawiug nigh
And thwart the blue the shadows lie,
Fond mem'ries cluster thick and fast
Around the dear old buried past;
'Tis thnn I dream of rosy hours,
Faith, hope and love In wooded bowers,
And merry voices low and sweet,
And convene fraught with Joy complete.
Still brighter visions round m .ling.
When song birds brown are carrolling,
How that we pledged our hearta' pure vows
Beneath the apple's crimson boughs,
And strolled the roodlands through and
through
For clovers red aud vi'leta blue.
And smiling, laughing lily bells.
The pride ot moss entangled dells.
These vanished years they come and go,
Like spectres gliding to and fro,
Across my weary, songless path
That lies along life's aftermath;
But soon, beyond the sun-kissed hills,
When freed from earthly cares and ills,
I'll meet the loved and brave of yore,
And yearn the perfect past no more.
Philadelphia Telephone.
TflE LINEMAN.
HT EUMA A. OPfEB.
"The lineman's coming 1" shouted
Sammy.
"Yes, sir, it's the lineman 1" cried
little Molly, in wild glee.
And their Aunt Eunice, who had come
to the door quickly and with heightened
color, saw Sammy's bare legs and Molly's
red stockings flying down the road.
"What is it, Eunice?" said Eunice's
brother's wife, Mrs. Abncr Lane.
"Tu children saw the lineman, Mr.
Miles," said Eunice, rather faintly.
"Do tell I" said Fiducia, smiling.
Tho lineman lived in the next State,
when ho was not on the road. Two or
thr?e times a year he and his associates
passed through Ridgeville, inspecting
the telegraph wires, and repairing them
If need be, and he always put up at Ab
ncr Lane's.
He was an old friend now; Fiducia
put out her best preserves for hitn, Ab
ncr talked politics with him, and Eunice
Eunice put on her best dresses and
rickracked aprons for him, and with
them a sweetly-welcoming manner.
It wss more than remored that the
young lineman put up at Abner Lane's
becauso of Abner'a pretty sister, Eunice.
The lineman arrived, with Molly on
his shoulder and Sammy grasping his
coat tail.
"Real glad to sec you, Mr. Miles real
glad 1," said Fiducia, warmly. .
"Eunice 1"
Then Eunice came and shook hands,
with a conventional observation no
matter what, since it was faintly uttered,
and since the lineman grew red to his
blende hair and struggled ineffectually
over his reply.
"Abner 11 be pleased enough," said
Fiducia. "Much work to be done here,
you find I"
"Considerable," said the lineman, get
ting his anxious blue eyes as far up as
Euuice's collar-button. "Stoke's at
work a'ready, down street."
"Have you shot any more wild turkeys
down home?" said Sammy, between his
knees.
"How's that little girl that had
measles and whooping-cough together!"
said Molly.
"Real glad I made that raised cake
yesterday I I recollect how you like it,
Mr. Miles," said Fiducia.
Among all of which the lineman con
trived to murmur: "Miss Lane, you're
well !" aud Eugene to admit that she was.
Indeed, she looked so, with her bright
dark eyes and raised color.
Abner came just before supper. He
was not alone. The tall, stout, black-
haired, florid faced-man who followed,
him appeared to fill the doorway solidly.
"Surprises dou't come singly 1" cried
Fiducia. "Silos Baldwin! Mr. Miles,
Mr. Baldwin. A sort of cousin of mine,"
Fiducia explained to tho lineman.
'Mr. Baldwin sent a great laugh into
the room apropos of nothing, kissed
Fiducia, and took Eunice by both hands.
"Blooming as ever!" he said, with
blunt gallantry.
Abner was glad to see theJincman.
"You generally get around with the
ground-hog, don't you!" ho - said, not
poetically, but heartily, as he helped the
liucman to ham and eggs.
"Before I'd staud being coupled with a
ground-hog 1" said Mr. Baldwin jovially.
He was one of those humorously jolly
persons who make irresistible jokes,
keep a roomful of people in good spirits,
and carry all before them without an
effort. All the Lanes liked him.
All. And for that reason the lineman
did not like him.
Mr. Baldwin who, it seemed, lived
five miles away, and had run over for
the fun of it sat next to Eunice, and
had a familiar and proprietary air.
"You get handsomer every day,
Eunice," he avowed. "Don't know what
you're coming to." The lineniau had
thought so, but would he have dared to
say it to Eunice! Never I "Now, l m
fretting: old old and fut. Too fat to be
real captivatiug."
The lineman agreed with him. But
did Eunice?
"How are you getting along over there
in your bachelor shall! Abner inquired
"Oh, I'm lonesome as a dog," said
Mr. Baldwin, emphatically. "Lone-
somerl"
He handed Eunice the biscuits, looking
at her. 1 he lineman grow red and white
by turns.
"Possess your soul in patience," said
Abner, jocularly.
The lineman could only stare. He had
hoped that Abner liked him, and liked
the thought of mm in a certain conuec.
tidh. Ah, he had hoped that Eunice
did, too. Now he was all at sea. Worse,
he was racked by sharp fears. For it was
Eunice who most bewildered him.
Why had she so confident, so familiar
a manner with Fiducia s Cousin, Mr
Baldwin laughing at his joke aud re
spondiug to his sallies?
With tin lineman Eunice had always
been shy, as the lineman had been with
her. There was one explanation. Some
secret understanding, then, was between
her and Fiducia' fat Cousin.
"Got the new cider-mill done vet!"
said Mr. Baldwin, shoving back his
chair. "Supposing yon and I take a
walk down that way, Eunice! Come,
get your bunnitl"
The lineman s heart thumped, and the
color rose in his boyishly fair face in im
potently rebellious misery. He lifted
piteous blue eyes to Eunice.
She returned his look like a sympa
thizing angel though she was somebody
else's angel she said, with dropped
eyes:
"Won't you go, too, Mr. Miles!"
"Go 'long I" said Abner.
But Mr. Baldwin stood tall and black
and all-pervading and formidable. He
was taking Eunice's shnwl from the
lounge and putting it yes, putting it
atound her, with some bold pleas
antry. The lineman had got timidly to his
feet, but he sat down again, a little
pale. "-
"I'm feeling kind of tired," he mur
mured. "I guess I won't."
And Eunice and Fiducia's cousin went
off together, the tones of bis jubilant,
heavy voice floating back.
"Real good, jolly feller, Silas is,"
said Fiducia, picking up the dishes.
" now ain't he?"
"Seems so," said the lineman, mechan
ically.
"lea," said Fiducia. "Good luck
hain't spoilt him. He's made out of
that grocery over there well, goodness
knows how much; but I guess he's
rich!"
Yes, Mr. Baldwin wore the air of
prosperity; the lineman had noted it.
And he he was a lineman.
"Yes, wo think considerable of Silas,"
Fiducia concluded. "Eunice, now he
and Eunice are real cronies."
"So they be," said tho lineman, husk-
ily.
Once, somewhere back in that brightly
hopeful past of which nothing now re
mained but cold ashes, he had felt cer
tain that Fiducia favored him.
Nobody favored him now ; he supposed
the tiuth was that nobody ever had.
He was forlorn, miserable, sick at heart.
Ho had not fully known the depth of his
affectionate, big heart till now; and
now he had guaged it only to feel that
sudden death say from lightning or an
explosion would be quite welcome.
Everybody was not against him.
Sammy and Molly were sitting on his
lap, and pulling his chin hither and
thither and chattering; and while Ab
ner did the barn chores and Fiducia
washed the dishes, the lineman told in
teresting anecdotes to the children in a
forced and hollow way. But escaping at
last, he put on his hat and wandered out
in the early dusk.
He felt that to witness the serene re
turn of Eunice and the fat grocer would
be more than he could .calmly enduro at
present.
He walked up the street; Eunice and
Fiducia's cousin had gone down.
The edge of the spring evening was
pleasantness itself The cherry trees
made white clouds in the air; the yards
he passed gave forth flowery odors; a
robin poured out ts cheery evening call.
In another mood the lineman, who was
warmly appreciative, would have thrilled
with happiness; but with his sod, honest
blue eyes on a far tree top, he lagged
along without a clear realization of any
thing.
He found himself presently at the spot
where Stokes had commenced work that
afternoon. His ladder was leaning
against the high pole, and his portable
tool-box, on wheels, was standing near
it. .
It was locked, but the lineman had a
key, and rather aimlessly he unlocked it.
The condition of the pole and the tools
lying ready in the box made clear the
amount of work Stokes had done, aud
what he intended doing next.
His colleague reflected. He had as
great a dread of going back to Abner
Lane s and encountering Eunice and his
rival as his manly heart had ever known.
If he found something to keep him
if he could tell them he had been at work
he might stay here till pitch dark and
then go back and go to tied, and get the
repairs finished to-morrow aud loave
Ridgeville to-morrow night Ridgeville
till his next' trip and Eunice forever.
Yes. With something remarkably
like a sob in his throat, the young line
man put on Stokes's spiked "climbers,"
filled his pockets with hammer and nails
and gloss insulators, and climbed the
ladder.
He was not feeling very clear-headed,
somehow or other, and it was getting
dark. What was the matter with the
"climbers?" They did not seem to
"bite."
But he left the ladder and mounted
the pole. Even before he bad held tho
possibility of falling in keen dread,
whiTV his muscular agility, however,
rendered most remote; but now he felt
as though, a fatal tumble would be rather
pleasant thau otherwise. The lineman
was in a desperate mood.
What next occurred, though, was not
the result of recklessness. How did it
happen? The lineman could not have
told them then or after.
He ncarcd the lowest crosspiece and
threw his right leg over it. The grasp
of his hands might have been un
wittingly a weak one, for the lowering
of bis body as he hoisted his leg over
powered it.
His hands slipped, with astingiug sen
sation, and his head began to reel. He
was falling falling in awful truth, as
he had once seemed to fall in a night
mare; and in half a minute he lay sense
less and motionless on the green grass of
the roadside.
It was to the lineman like the scheme
of a sarcastic fate that tte first sound he
should hear, oa regaining consciousness,
should be the loud voice of Mr. Bald
win. "Hello I" Fiducia's cousin was shout
ing. "Just as I told you! He's coming
to already, chipper as you please!"
"You call that chipper?" Fiducia's
agitated tones demanded.
She was rubbing the Jiueamau's fore
head with camphor, tie saw that tht
lamp On the table Was lighted,
"Wal, he ain't hurt bad) that's tin
point," said Abner. "It's that tunk OB
bis head knocked him under."
"He'll come round," said Mr. Bald
win, cheerfully. "You've been keeled
over for half an hour," he remarked to
the lineman. "You can be thankful you
are here. A man going along there in a
wagon saw yon lying there dead that's
what ho reckoned and picked you up
and brought you back, knowing this was
where you was putting up. Land alive 1
You might a' laid there all night. Eunice I
I do believe that girl's a sniveling.
Eunice, march yourself here I Your fel
ler's all right right as a trigger 1"
Fiducia remonstrated; but Eunice
came.
That was all the liueman was conscious
of.
Was it'by preconcertion! Abner and
Fiducia and Mr. Baldwin somehow got
out of the room Fiducia gracefully,
Abner awkwardly, the at grocer !um
lcringly; and the lineman was alone with
Eunice.
In spite of his jarred lameness he sat
up sat up and groped for Eunice's
hands. Yes, Eunice had been crying.
"Eunice," said the lineman, "let me
hold yonr band just this moment, while
I I tell you. It was my own fault get
ting my head bumped, and I deserved it.
I was just a coward, Eunice. I wasn't
man enough to face what I knew I'd have
to face. I didn't want to come back
here and see you and him together. I
didn't feel as though I could stan' it. So
I went to working on tnat pole and fell
down, just as I'd ought to. There I I
wish you well, Eunice. He's a good
man and he's rich, and and you'll be
happy- I know you will. There, I
won't say no more. I was kind o' des
perate, Eunice; but I wa'n't trying to
kill mysely. No, I I'll live right along!"
Though she was crying again, Eunice
did not take her hands away. They
seemed to nestle in the lineman's.
"What do you mean?" she cried, half
indignantly. "Do you mean Silas Bald
win?" "Why, yes," the lineman stammered.
"Silas Baldwin!" said Eunice, with
amazed eyes on the lineman's upturned
face. "I've known him all my life.
He's about forty, Silas is, and he's a
married man, but his wife's off visiting
her folks in Illinois. He runs over here
oftener now 't he's all alone."
Then Eunice removed her hands to
wipe her tears.
"Wal," the lineman gasped, - dazed,
humiliated, strangely happy, "I've been
a tarnal fool!"
The lineman got well, though it was
discovered that he had fractured one of
his ribs. He said he was glad of it; he
took it for a judgment upon him. Besides,
being nursed to recovery by Eunice was
far from being an unpleasant state of
affairs.
He and Eunice were married as soon
as ever he was able to be, and Sammy
and Molly, in high feather, stood up with
them.
The tall, silver lamp, presented by Fi
ducia's cousin, Silas Baldwin, and his
wife, was the finest of the wedding pres
ants by all odds. Saturday Night.
Stanlej's Wooing.
The story of Stanley's wooing is grad
ually being disclosed. He first met Miss
Tennant when last in England, and for
awhile was received with the same cool
ness which usually characterized the
lady's reception of attentions from gen
tlemcnt. But the indomitable courage,
energy and wonderful powers of descrip
tion possessed by the explorer gradually
won the heart of one who possessed sim
ilar traits in so marked a degree, and
when Stanley managed to pluck up suf
ficient courage to propose she fainted
with mingled delight and excitement.
She promised to wait until he returned
from his next African trip, and insisted
that their engagement should be kept
secret.
The letters which have passed between
"Stanley Africanus" and Miss Tennant,
if they ever see the light of publication
love-letters of eminent persons are now
included in the printer's prey will be
truly curious stories, for no doubt the
explorer told more to his lady love than
he will ever confess elsewhere of the
awful tribulations of his march through
the African swamps and forests. His
brother explorers were aware of their
commander's love story, and many a tree
in the strange lands visited has "Dolly"
deeply cut into the bark. The natives
used to think it the sign of the whito
chief's fetish aud often prostrated them
selves before it. In one of his letters
Stanley wrote such a harrowing account
of the sufferings of his band and gave
such a vivid picture of the death of a gi
gantic negro slowly swallowed by a huge
serpent that Miss Tennant swooned after
reading it. Commercial Advertiser.
Smuggling; Jewels From Mexico.
Commenting upon evidence in a re
cent smuggling case tried in San An
tonio, Texas, District Attorney Evans
told his experience in the trial of men
charged with bringing goods across the
border without having paid duty.
"The Government," he said, "might
as well abolish the duty on jewelry and
precious stones, so far as its value along
the Mexican border is concerned. Great
quantities of such are brought Into this
country, but it is very seldom that duty
is paid upon them. Of course, the
smaller an article is the easier it is to
escape detection. Fine jewelry and pre
cious stones are safely smuggled on this
account, and quite a number of the
smugglers are known to the Custom
house officials, who, however cannot be
detected.
"Men and women almost known to
have jewelry in their possession are
stopped and searched, but nothing duti
able is revealed. A thousand dollars'
worth of precious stones might be hid
den under a plaster. False pockets in
clothes and wearing apparel are common.
I do not believe that as many precious
stones as formerly are brought from
Mexico, but there is plenty of Mexican
jewelry smuggled into the United States."
Chicago Herald.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
The average speed of elevators is 22t
feet per minute, '
Carriages to be run by gasoline wit
soon be seen iu London.
Lithographic stone and lead are being
found at Marble Falls, Texas.
Plumbago in large qunntities has been
found near Hoffman's Mills and High
Bridge, Hunterton, N. J.
An electrical fan, to keep Up a lively
circulation of air in cars lighted by elec
tricity, has been invented.
Two aeyf cotton mills have just been
projected in South Carolina, one of them
to be operated by water power.
A London genius has invented a hoi
water apparatus to warm piano keys, so
that dainty fingers may not be chilied.
Wood pulp is now being used as the
basis of a plastic compound to serve as a
substitute for lime mortar in covering
and finishing walls.
Lead poisoning among Jacquard weav
ers in a Swiss factory has been traced to
dust from leaden weights used to carry
the thread of the yarn.
An improved brontometer which indi
cates "the instant of each lightning flash
and the beginning and duration of a
thunder clap" is on exhibition in Lon
don. English experts having found that
forced draught is straining the boilers to
an alarming extent are now turning their
attention to improving the natnrul
draught.
Rich and plentiful deposits of tin and
silver have just been discovered in Chero
kee County, east of Canton, just forty
miles from Atlanta, Ga. The tin ore, as
docs the silver, assays very rich.
A Swedish inventor named Thomson
has make a quick-firing gun which can
discharge twenty-four shots a minute. At
tests made recently a target, nine inches
long and six inches wide was hit by every
shot.
The adjustable steam dock at Key
West, Fla., has been finished, but so far
the contractors have not found a suitable
vessel for docking, and is this was part
of the contract final payment has been
withheld.
The Pennsylvania Railroad is experi
menting with a shaking grate ou its
freight engines, and the result is said to
be satisfactory. An engine equipped
with a grate ran over five days without
clogging, and the fire continued brisk.
No blower was needed.
From a report of tho meeting of the
Berlin Anthropological Society it is
gathered that the cat is called in Chinese
"Mao," which seems an excellent ono
matopoeic word. The cot is also called
"Woman's Slave," which goes to show
that the celestial old maids are as fond of
their furry friend as their European sis
sere. la China soapstone is lagely used in
preserving structures built of sandstone
and other stones liable to crumble from
the effect of atmosphere ; and the cover
ing with powdered soapstone in the form
nf paint, on some of the obelisks in that
sountry, composed of stone liable to at
mospheric deterioration has been the
means of preserving them intact for uuu
Iredsof years.
The use of nitro-glyceriue in cases of
emergency instead of alcohol is recom
mended by an English physician. A
irop on the tongue rouses a fainting man,
indit may restore life in case of appar
ent death, as from drowning. It has
quickly relieved headache, heart pains
and asthma, and stiengthened weak
pulses in fevers. It should only be used
under advice of a physician.
A locomotive working under a pressure
at 140 to 165 pouuds to the square inch
aiay move a railway train at a velocity of
iixty miles per hour, which one is apt to
think of as a wonderful speed. But it
is slow compared with tho rate of motion
of the projectile from a modern great
gun. Such projectile flics at the rate of
1365 miles per hour, impelled by a pres-
ture of 35,000 to 40,000 pounds per
square inch. -
A Frolic of Fashion.
A prominent dealer in leather, from
London, says that never before was there
such a craze in London for queer leather
ts at the present time. He says also :
"All kinds of skins, from the tough,
thick hide of an elephant to the thinner,
tenderer frogs, are pressed into service to
meet the demands of the fashionable.
Some of our shops are stocked with a
mpply of fancy articles that are made
from the skins of all sorts of beasts, rep
tiles and fishes. These singular objects
are exhibited in the windows, where
their appearance proves a great attraction
to the crowds. Made up into various ar
ticles are yellow pelican skins, lion and
panther skins, buffalo skins fish skins,
monkey skins, and the coverings of al
most every living thing known. They
are Unned and sometimes dyed with dif
ferent colors. I think it looks hideous
to see a pretty girl walking along the
itreets swinging a porte-monnaie made of
the sculy skin of a boa-constrictor. But
it's fashion, -ou know, and reminds one
of the old story of beauty and the beast."
Commercial Advertiser.
Famous Old Giants.
At all times and in all countries, ssys
the Irish Timet, kings and nobles had a
fancy for including among their retainers
either a giant or a dwarf, sometimes both.
Frederick the Great had his corps of gi
gantic grenadiers ; and in the Tower of
London may be seen a lance aud some
enormous armor of sixteenth century
work, which, doubtless, belonged to some
giant, knight or trooper of the king's
body guard. James I. had attached to
his person a porter named Walter Par
sons, commonly called the Staffordshire
giant, a handsome, brave, and strong
young man, who had begun life as a
farrier. His height was seven feet, seven
inches, and his portrait exists, engraved
by Glover. Parsons lived on into the
reign of Charles I., and was succeeded
by another giant, William Evans, two
inches taller than bis predecessor.
WONP'ERS OF FIREWORKS.
JAPANESE LEAD THE WORLD IN
MAKINO PYROTECHNICS.
Kami lie That flaVfl ftnnfl Nothing
KIm) for a Hundred Year Bal
loons of Many Kinds.
The use of fireworks of all kinds be
comes more universal every jnr in this
country. Exhibitions are common at tliri
winter resorts in the South, while iu the
North fireworks are used at toboggan
and snowshod carnival and by summer
excursionists. All the firecrackers used
in this country come from China. They
are shipped in sailing vessels that land
at New York.
Although wo surprise the Oriental
races in our knowledge of chemistry and
mechanics we have never been able to
compete with them in practical pyro
technics. In this field they have de
veloped skill that is well nigh mir
aculous, and are as much our masters to
day as they were at the time of the in
vention or introduction of gunpowder in
Europe. Long before that event the
Chinese were enjoying firecrackers, from
those no larger than a match to the mon
strous ones which weigh five prunds
apiece bombs, Roman candles and
Bengal lights. At the same time the
Japanese were developing their wonder
ful system of day fireworks into a fine
art.
Of the two races the Chineso were by
long odds the first in point of time.
Their annals show that the familiar fire
cracker was known to the people of the
Flowery Kingdom at leant 1150 B. C.
On the other hand there is no direct proof
that the Japanese were able to manu
facture fireworks of any sort prior to
1040 A. D., some twenty-ono centuries
aftcrwarl.
But the Chinese seemed satisfied with
what little progress they made in tho
early age, and have never gone beyond
what they then accomplished. The Jap
anese, on the contrary, have kept up ex
periment and research to tho present
moment.
In discussing tho remarkable success
of his countrymen in this industrial act
a member of the Jnpancso Embassy nt
Washington said recently: "The se
cret of our prosperity is not as simple as
might be supposed. In the first place
we have a trade system something like
the guilds of Europe A good fireworks
maker brings up one or more of hi: sons
to follow him in his profession, and
teaches them every little trick or discov
ery he has made or that has been handed
down to him by his ancestors. There
are many families at home that have been
firework makers for more than a cen
tury." The baloons are always of moderate
size, the great majority being about six
and but few exceeding ten fee .n length.
They are made of a strong and durable
tissue paper, are printed in colors and
usually retouched with the brush by the
artisuns of the East before they are at
lowed to leave the workshop. So far ns
shapes are concerned there is almost end
less variety. The commonest kinds are
those which imitate the domestic animals
Next to these iu popularity are the shapes
of birdB, fish, fruits, reptiles and dragons.
Beyond these and much less economical,
if not less popular, are human figures
These are of all sorts, rouging from a
daimio to a grotesque head.
It is difficult to estimate the number of
shapes tamed out by Japanese pyrotech
nists. One concern in Ycddo keeps over
twelve hundred different kinds on hand,
while another house in Yokohama has a
stock of two thousand varieties. Theso
balloons are so weighted as to always
keep a natural position. In some cases
they are specially weighted with fine
pieces of metal held by a slow burning
fuse. As the latter is consumed it re
leases from time to time a weight. As
this is liberated the balloon will spring
upward as if alive. With two leaded
fuses the movements of a fish are beauti
fully imitated.
Corresponding to these five trails are
what may be called smoke trails. The
trail is charged with some inflammable
substance like pitch, which is so treated
as to give out great volumes of heavy
dense black smoke, ' which fall slowly
away from the balloon and leave a long,
wavy line in the air to ludicate the vary
ing currents and eddies in the atmos
phere. Some very expensive balloons
have trails so arranged as to give lines of
smoke in two, three, and even four colors.
New York Press.
A Lncky Shot.
A few days ago as James Knight, of
Shelter Point, near Nanaiino, British
Columbia, was workiug In the woods
close to his own house and barn, he heard
a series of squeals from a litter of little
pigs which were running about the gar
den. Going in the direction of the sounds
he discovered a panther of very large
projxrtions carrying off one of the pork
ers. Running to the house with all pos
sible speed, he secured his gun, his dog
in the meantime chasing the marauder,
which took to the trees. Tukiug aim at
the beast, whose glistening eyes shone
through the foliage and whose growls
made it impossible to mistake bis where
abouts, he brought the animal down, pre
venting him making a dying charge by a
well-directed shot into his brain. This
brute, and several others of his kind,
with the assistance of the bears in the
neighborhood, have latterly m&de consid
erable havoc among the smaller domesti
cated animals, aud it is proposed ere long
to organize a shooting purty with the ob
ject of exterminating them. Victoria
(1). C.) Colonist.
Adjusted the Gift to Her Mouth.
Ahmed Effendi, the former Turkish
Embassador in Berlin, when entertaining
company, was in the habit of distributing
sweets among the ladies present. Or
one occasion he gave a certain lady tw
or three times as much as the rest. She,
vain of her triumph, got an interpreter
to inquire the reason of bis preference.
"Because her mouth is twice as large as
that of the other ladies," was the reply.
Argonaut.
SYCAMORES IN BLOOM.
Like flame-wing'd harps the sed blooms h'o
Amid the shadowy sycamore.
The music of each leaflet's sigh
Thrills them continually,
The small harps ot the sycamores;
Small birds innumerable find rest
And shelter 'midst the sycamores.
Their songs (of lova In a warm aoft nest)
Are faintly echoed esst and west
By the red harps o' the sycamores.
The dewfall and the starshine make
Amidst the shadowy sycamore
Sweet delicate strains; the gold beams shake
The leaves at morn, and swift awake
The small harps of the sycamores.
O sweet earth'f music everywhere,
Though faint as in the sycamores:
Sweet when buds burst, birds pair;
Sweet when as thus thero wave in the air
The red harps of the syeamor??.
M'ilfi'am Sharp, in Harper's Magazine.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
The ground-floor Stiwdust.
A good buy-law Collect on delivery.
A drawing-room The dentist's office.
A two-foot rule Stand oa your own
pins.
An old flame The light of other
days.
Everybody's business is nobody's busi
ness except the busybody's.
Do not think you can cultivate a man's
acquaintance by giving him an occa
sional dig.
The paper that says something mean
about you is never lost in tho mails.
Atchison Qlobe.
Poor Fishing. First Boy "Did you
jatch anything?" Second Boy "Not
until I got home." San Francisco Wasp.
Ono thing of Noah must be &tid
Nor will the truth be strained:
Without a doubt ho knew enous'a
To go iu wh?n it rained.
Hay rns.
Bobby "How did you manage to get
tho bowl of cream?" Tommy ""Told
ma I saw the cat put her cose in i(V''
Epoch.
. One of tho healthiest professions in tho
world is that of signing wills. Expectant
heirs will readily confirm this statement.
Puck.
When you come to consider the drunk
rd, there isn't much difference between,
tho ideal and tho reel. Binghamton
Leader.
Do not try to take off your hat to a
woman on a rainy day; if she carries an
ambrella sho will take it off for you. .
Boston Bulletin.
Tho men who become suddenly rich
remind us of the whales. They no sooner
get to the top than they commence blow
ing. States nan.
"Now, Johnny, you know whnt a
noun is, do you?" "Yeth urn." "What
is Jerusalem?" "An ejaculation, mum."
Harper's Basaar.
The young man just out of school ad
vertises for a "position;" but after six
months of hustling he is mighty glad to
get a "job." Puck.
The latest distinguished horse on tho
turf is named Semicolon. It roust be
rather difficult to bring him to a full
top. Boston Herald.
"All that's bright must fade,
The brightest still the fleetest."
All we wear is frayed
Just wheu we would be neatest.
iW. ,
Hostess (to young Spriggins, M. D.)-
"Dr. Spriggins, will you have soma of
the tongue?" Dr. Spriggius (ubscnt-
aundedly) "Oh cr let me look at if,
please. Chatter.
It is nonsense to say that thero to
nothing new under the sun. Tho man
who owns an ordinary fountain pen finds
lorae new trouble with it every week.-
Somerville Journal.
Polite Passenger "Pardon me, sir I
Can I sit down in this seat?" Old Sour
boy "Woll, I presume you can if you
try hard enough. I didn't have any
trouble." Boston Times.
Sho (enthusiastically) "Oh, Georgel
don't you thiuk the greatest joy in life is
the pursuit of the good, the true aud the
beautiful?" He "You bet! that's why
I'm hero to-night." Burliiujton Free
Press.
Little Ethel went to church with her
grandmother, aud for tho first time put
ten cents in the contribution-plute.
Leaning over she whispered very audi
bly, "That's all right, grandma! I paid
for two." Judge
One morning in a gar.teu be l
The onion aud the carrot Baid
Unto a parsley group:
"Oh, when aliall we tlireo meet ai;ai:i.
In thunder, lightning, or in rHin'"
"Alasr' exclaimed iu tones of luilti
The parsley "In the soup."
1'hilaiUljihia lye- . '
The baseballist's business is picking
up, the foot-ball player's is rushing, tho
aeronaut's is iu the air, the dry-goods
teller's is rip-tearing, the hackiuau's is
driviug, the washerwoman mui.ages to
scrub along, and the bunco-mau finds
plenty to "do." iVt.
The bucket shop known us "Tho
Sockdolager" failed yesterday for tho
seventeenth time this month. The causo
of tho suspension is stated to have been
that a customer was, by an oversight of
a clerk, allowed to wiu $3.50, uud de
manded his money. Judge.
Odd Souvenirs. .
Many capricious New Yorkers are hav
ing souvenirs, such as ladies' slippers and
locks of hair, covered with a thiu de
posit of silver and displayed iu their
homes as mementoes. The sulutaucus of
the articles thus treated are not injuriously
affected, and they attract considerable at
tention wherever shown. .4rMf.
A Curious Ear of Cora.
An ear of com ou exhibition at Sun
Luis Obhipo, C'ttl., is described as being
iu the exact form of a human hand; the
wrist, palm, thumb and fingers being all
perfect. It is covered w ith small graius
to near the tips of the finders, which aro
bare prongs of colw, giving the liuud th
appearance of beiug clad in a mitt.