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B. F. SCIIWEIER.
THE COffSTTTUTIOS THE UHOI-ASD THE ETFOECEMEST OP THE LAVS.
. -. . . . . . !.:,! I : ;c :l
1 ' : Editor and. Proprietor-
VOL. XXXII.
MIFFLINTOAVX; JUNIATA COUNTY, PENXA., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 187S.
NO. 42:
i
: f
1 HAPPY BOXL
I lore a patch of garden ground.
Well shaded from thm oold :
Where crocuses eome np in spring.
And look ma bright as gold
A myrtle on the window ail.
Fresh in ita earl; bloom ;
Jnst where the morning sunshine steals,
luto the pleasant room.
I hare a linnet, quaint and small.
That warbles soft and low.
In every changing rhapsody
The music seems to flow,
I often listen to his Toke,
So artless and so gay ;
Till fancy brings back to my Tiew
The hedge rows by the way.
I hsTe a kitten, black and white.
That gambles round the hearth.
And puns most stran eand curious pranks
Amid its reckless mirth ; .
Now olimbing up the table foot,
Now Jumping on a chair.
Now peeping through the window blinds.
In mischief everywhere.
I have a wife, whose tender lore
Hs ever been the same.
With all the care and watchfulness
That household's duties claim,
An earnest nature full of hope.
With heart tney know no eaange.
Whom naught but death can part from me.
Whom iithing can estrange.
I have a group of children, too.
That often round me stand.
As with a kind and earnest lore
I take them by the hand ;
So gtrutle and obedient.
They need no iron away.
No birchen rod to keep them down.
Or guide them on the way.
I've long been bleso'd with health and
My daily work to do ; strength
And with a cheerful heart I still
My onward course pursue.
I'm ready for each arduous task.
Each trial that may come ;
Then tell me truly, is it not,
A happy workman's home.
Lightning Did It.
"Your cousin Helen is coming next
week," Robert Brailh's mother said,
when he came in from his work and sat
down to read for a few minutes. "There
is her letter on the window sill if you
would like to read It."
Ue took up the letter and read it
through slowly. One passage he read
over twice before he laid it down.
"I never spent a pleasanter summer
in my life than the one I spent with
you. And if Robert is the same dear
old fellow that be was then I shall en
joy this one quite as much, for you
know Kob and I were the best of
triends. and 1 nave seen no one since
that I liked half so well."
He sat there in the door with the let
ter in his hands, and he looked away
across the meadow where the grass wa:
crinkling in the wind like a sea of em
erald, and thought about that summer
gone by, and the summer evening. In
that vanished one he had dreamed such
a sweet and beautiful dream, and its
memory had never left him. But he
hud hidden it in his own heart, and no
one had ever guessed hat it wajs.Xo
she was coming back, and the old
dream must be lived over again, or
crushed down and kept out of sight, if
it so be that his will was powerful
enough to do that. But he doubted hi;
own strength. There had been times
in the dead of summer when it seemed
as if his heart must speak out and be
heard. But his pride had kept him si
lent. Here was he, a farmer; and she
was the child of wealthy parents, city
born and bred, and he argued that he
had no right to say anything to her of
love, because their stations in life were
so different and so far apart. If she
had been a farmer's daughter, or the
child of poor parents, or he had been a
rich man's son, with culture and edu
cation equal to her own, then! But
always the "if" in the way came up to
stare him in the face, and so he crushed
back tbe words be hud almost said so
many times, and Helen Hunt had never
discovered his secret, be felt sure.
He could not help feeling a thrill of
keen pleasure at knowing she was com
ing back, but at the same time he was
sorrv. It would oulv make it harder
lor him after she was gone. Ue knew
that her voice would hold the old dan
gerously-sweet fascination in it, and
her eyes would only make him feel
more keenly what he longed to claim
for bis own, and what was out of his
reach. But and something of that
me recklessness which comes to all
of us at times came to him she was
coming, and be could not help tbat,and
he would let tbe future decide its own
affairs. He would drift ar.d dream even
if the waking up at tbe end of it was
bitter with loss and a lifetime's regret.
The next week brought Helen Hunt.
Robert drove down to the depot after
her. She was standing on the plat
form with her face turned another way
when he drove up. But it did not need
the sight of her face to tell him that she
was there. He would have known the
tall and graceful figure anywhere.
"I am glad to see you back," he said,
coming up beside her. His voice was
not quite steady. He had tried to make
himself cool and collected, but the pre
sence of the woman he loved unmanned
him a little.
"Robert !' she cried, turning quickly
at the sound of bis voice, with a glad,
eager flush lighting up into her beauti
ful eyes. How they thrilled him ! She
held out her hand, and there was no
mistaking the genuineness of her wel
come. It spoke in words, and made it
self felt in her face.
"I hardly expected to see you back
tre," he said, feeling tHat ahe would
expect him to say sometbing.and know
ing nothing else to say. Just then,
words failed to come readily at his com
mand. "I hare been looking forward to this
for months," she said. "I was so hap
py here that I have been loneing to
come back ever since I went away. I
hope this summer will be as pleasant as
that one was."
"I hope U will for yoursake," say
he, and bU fac"had.a grave, pained
look in it which her keen eyes detected
at once.
"Wuat is the matter with you, Rob
ert?" she said, putting her band on his
arm. "You look as if something troa
bled you. My coming has nothing to
Jo with it, has it ?'
"How should it have?" he said, with
a little forced laugh. "I haven't felt
quite w ell for a few days, that's all
But I'll come around by-aud-by. Don
say anything to mother about it she
doesn't know, and there's no use in her
worrying over me. She couldn't help
me if she knew."
is it serious, Robert ? Her eyes
were grave now, as they rested ques
tion in el v on bis face,
"Dou't ask me to tell you anythin
more about it," he said, turning ab
ruptly away. "Men have lived through
it before now, and 1 shall." he added
with another laugh. "Dou't bother
your head about me, Helen, but enjoy
yourself as best you can.
It was a pleasant ride home, in spite
of the thoughts that would keep com
ing luto Robert Smith's mind. She
was by his side, aud he loved her,
The old summer seemed to come back
again, with its "light on land aud sea'
to Robert. The dream of his heart was
just as sweet as it had been in the van
ished days. She had not changed at
all since then, but was the same win
ning woman who had won his heart
away and wouid keep it forever.
The days passed like charmed ones
with rows upon the river, and long.de-
lightful walks at sunset time, with
songs in the brief, delicious evening!
and quiet talks about books aud tbe
men and women who wrot them
Robert was not her interior in the cul
ture which comes from reading good
nooks, iiecause he was a farmer was
no reason why he should be iguoraut
and uncultivated. He had stulied,and
formed w ide acquaintance w ith earnest
thoughtful men through the books
they had written and in this way he
bad educated himself to a much higher
level than most of the young men Hel
en Hunt met in her owu circle of soci
ety at home. But because he lacked
their self-esteem and conceit, Robert
always thought of himself as lacking
something in mind and mauncrs, which
those she came in contact with in her
own sphere of life ought to have, and
did have, for all he knew to the con
trary. Perhaps he was right in think
ing that they did not always,
One day Jerome Alstyne came out
from the city. Robert had heard that
he was a lover of Helen's, and be was
sure of it v hen he saw the man's face
at their meeting. But Helen showed
no such sudden gladness as ought to
express itself in the face of a woman
when she meets the man she loves, and
Robert felt satisfied that she did not
care for Alstyne as he did for her, and
the thought brought a sense of exulta
tion to him.
Alstyne did not stay long. When he
went away be carried a face which bad
a look of defeat in it. He bad striven
to win the woman be loved aud failed
From the bottom of his heart Robert
pitied him. He bad not liked the man
very well before, but when he drove
down to the station ith him, and saw
bow deeply he felt tbe loss of what be
had hoped to win, a feeling of kindness
came over him. Must they not both
bear henceforth a sorrow which came
of loving one neither might possess?
"Brailh, you are sorry for me you
pity me," he said. "I thank you for
it. You understand what there is to
pity me for. You can well afford to
pity me, since you have won what I
have lost. I wish you all tbe happi
ness I had hoped for myself.
"I I don't understand you," Rob
ert said, with a strange thrill at his
heart. "I have won nothing you
would have prized."
Do you call Helen Hunt's love
nothing?" Alstyne cried. "I would
give the world for it if I bad it to give
You are mistaken," Robert an
swered. "I "
But Alstyne interrupted him.
"I am not blind." be said. "She
loves you, and you will find it so when
the day comes for you to tell her what
you must, some day
She love him I There was a world of
rapture in the thought. But and the
haunting spectre which comes to sit by
your hearth and mine came into his
heart then their ways in life were so
wide apart that they could not be
bridged over. He could never ask this
woman to stoop to his lowly life. And
he could not lift himself to hers. And
yet she loved him ! He could not for
one moment forget that. And to know
it was so sweet, so unutterably sad.
Tbe days after that went by more
like a dream than ever. He tried to
keep away from her, but his heart
would not let him. He tried to school
himself to tbe thought that, since he
uiight not have her for his own, he
ought not to think of her as a man
thinks of the woman he hopes to win.
But he could not do that. He could
only love her, and tell himself that his
love was but a vain one.
But it could not always go on in that
way. r ate took the matter in her own
bands at last.
Robert was at work in the meadow
one afternoon. Tbe loaded wagon was
riven away to the barn, and he sat
down to rest until its return. As he
sat there, Helen came down the lane.
She saw him, and came across the
meadow and sat beside him, under the
old apple tree.
What they talked about they never
could tell. He remembered, in a vague
way, that they saw a darkening sky,
but that was all, until the sudden fury
of the summer shower broke upon
them. A flash of bliudiog brightness,
cry from her, a crash, as if heaven
and earth were being rent in twain,
and be was by ber side, with her head
upon his knee, and he was crying out
to her in a wild, incoherent way, tell
ing her that he loved ber.
yjh, my darling i" ne criea out, in
the.wild outburst of. long pent up pas
sion, "I love you ! I love you ! and you
are dead !"
"Are you sure about that, Robert?"
she said, struggling up Into a sitting
posture, with the color coming back to
her cheeks. "I was stunned a trifle
for a moment, nothing more." -
'I thought you must be dead, you
were so pale." be said. "If I had
known"
"Well, what?" she said shyly, when
he paused.
"I would not have said what I did,
he answered slowly. "Forgive me,
Helen." At such times we say things
we would not say in sober moments
"jtooert, sue cried, suddenly, "you
sai 1 you loved me. If it is true, why
should you not tell me so ? What keeps
us apart?"
His face was pale with pain at his
heart. The time had come when be
must spoak.
"I'll tell you what keeps us apart!
he answered. "You belong to a sphere
of life so much above mine that love
can not bridge over the distance between
us "
"Robert," she cried, her whole face
aglow, "is that the reason you have
kept silent? Because I have lived in a
world you know but little about, you
imagine it would be wrong for you to
ask me to follow my heart! Poor.fool
ish Robert ! Love is more to me than
all the world beside, and your life
the happiest one I ever knew. I should
make uo sacrifices in taking it in place
of the old one. I " but she stopped
in sudden, sweet confusion.
"My darling!" he cried, and caught
her to his breast. "Are you sure you
care enough for me to give up all you
would have to willingly? ' Think of the
change, Helen."
'I have thought," he answered. "I
give it up gladly. I tired of it long ago.
I want vou !"
There was a sudden breaking of the
clouds, and the sun came forth in new
radiance. The world was transfigured
with rare and wonderful glory, Robert
thought, as he bent and kissed the face
uplifted to his, full of love, trust and
peace. And she laid her head upon his
shoulder and whispered softly:
"Robert, my king!"
Dueling.
Among tbe noted duels is one that
took place in England between the
Duke of Buckingham aud Lord Shrews
bury. Tbe duke as convicted of
criminality with Lady Shrewsbury .and
was by her husband called to tbe field
At the word, tbe seconds,as well as the
principals, became eugaged. Shrews
bury aud one of his seconds was killed.
All the combatants were wounded. It
is said that Lady Shrewsbury attended
the duke as a page: she held a fleet
horse for ber paramour's flight in ca
should deem it necessary to fly ; that
she was carried by Buckingham to his
house on the night of the duel, and
with her own hands took off the clothes
eucriuisoned with her slain husband's
blood, and then passed the uiglit with
him. Felton, the fanatic, who assnssi-
nated Buckingham, challenged a royal-
ist, who declined to meet him. In or-
ler to convince bis antagonist that he
possessed the proper spirit, Feltou
hacked off a piece of his own finger,
and enclosed it with asecoud challenge
The first duel in this country took place
in 1621, M Plymouth. In 1724 a duel
took place on Boston common between
Henry Phillips and Benjamin Wood
bridge, in which Woodbridge was
killed. It was fought by moonlight.
with swords, and without seconds,
Woodbridge's body was found at day
light the next morning, and great ex
citement was created. Phillips escaped
on a man-of-war then in the harbor,
and died in France. In 1777 a duel oc
curred in New York city between Cap.
McPberson of the Forty-second and
Lieut. Featherstouehaugh of the sev
enty-sixth, British regiments, in re
gard to the manner of eating an ear of
corn, one contending that the eating
was from the cob, and the other that
the grain should tie cut off from the
cob before eating. Lieut. Feather-
tonehaugh lost his right arm by tbe
combat. Among the most celebrated
duels fought in this country are the
following: Gen. Hamilton and Colo
nel Burr in 1804; Henry Clay and John
Randolph in 1826; Captain Barron and
Captain Decautur. Col. Benton killed
a Mr. Lucas. Gen. Jackson killed Mr.
Dickinson in a duel, aud was also en
gaged in other affairs, but, in 1830,
caused the names of four officers to be
truck from the roll of the navy for be
ing engaged in a duel which took
place between Charles G. Hunter, a
midshipman, and William Miller, Jr., a
lawyer of Philadelphia.
Origin of the Canadian Horse.
I have occasionally seen it asserted in
our agricultural papers that the Cana-
ian Is a Norman reduced by scantier
food, cold climate, etc. Xow, this, I
think, physically impossible, as a re
liction of size in this way, I am confi
dent, would produce a long-legged,
slab-sided, stumbling brute, very differ
ent from the compact, hardy, fine
formed, active little Canadian, as he
has existed there as far back as the
memory of man, still maintaining his
ground in considerable numbers, not
withstanding the numerous crosses in
late years of larger English horses.
When in Quebec, in 1832, I saw a very
ne light or dappied gray stallion,
much in the style of Mr. Dunham's
Success," only he was finer in bis
points. He was about fourteen bands
high, possibly not over thirteen and
one-half bands, a real beauty, with
fine action, etc. In Paris, in 18G7, I
saw tbe exact counterpart of this stal
lion also other equally small horses of
the same style, though not so fine.
Xow, I have no doubt that when the
first French settled in Canada, thi was
the sort of horse they Imported, and
have continued to breed and own to the
present day. Ships, or rather brigan-
tines, in those days were too small, I
presume, to bring over seventeen or
eighteen hand horses, weighing 1,800
to 2,000 pounds, as some of the (Scotch
Canadian breeders boast of importing
now.
Rochester, Pa., bus a factory which
turns oat 60,000 glass buttons dally, or
a yearly average of 160,000,000.
The Beheading- of Hoedel.
Hoedel, the man who attempted to
assassinate the Emperor of Germany
was beheaded in the prison yard in Ber
lin. The prisoner, conducted by three
wardens, walked with a firm step to
the foot of the scaffold and stared In)
pudently around the assembly.- Coun
cillor llollman, who was charged with
superintending the execution, took his
place at a table and read aloud the sen
tence of death and death warrant. At
Uie conclusion Jloedel spat upon the
ground and cried Bravo X The ma
gistrate now turned to a tall, strongly
built man about 30 or 35 years of age.
nandsome, with a small moustache,and
neatly, indeed elegantly, attired in
fine linen shirt with waistcoat and trou
sers of black broadcloth. This was
Ilerr Kranz, the executioner. The old
headsman, W. Reiudel, who had grown
rich through the exercise of his minor
function of dog catcher to the city, was
no longer equal to the serious labor of
striking off a man's bead at a blow,and
so passed over his axe or rather a du
plicate of his axe to the younger man
Xo such implement having been need
ed for more than a decade, the depart
ment of justice found itself compelled
to resort to the Market museum. An
axe bad been ordered a year ago by the
li rector of tbe museum, anexactdupli-
cate of that Reindel had employed, aud
which the museum was unable to se
cure, owing to the fancy price tbe old
headsman placed upon his weapon
This axe was borrowed. Ilerr Gross-
mann, the cutler, of whom one had
been ordered, being unable to get one
ready in time. It is a large weapon, a
good deal like a butcher's cleaver in
appearance, with a very keen, strait
edge. It was ground to tbe sharpness
of a razor the afternoon before the exe
cution.
Holding up the warrant that the
headsman might see the crown prince's
signature. Councillor llollman said to
him :
"Note this document, and now re
ceive from me the tinsmith Emil Hein
rich Max Hoedel, delivered to you to
be beheaded."
"Come this way," said the head:
man to Hoedel, who ran lightly up the
three steps leading to the platform and
threw off his coat and waistcoat. At
this moment the chapel bell began toll
ing; lie gazed in its direction, then
looked around upon those present with
an ironical sneer. Throwing dow n his
braces, Hoedel began to unbutton his
shirt, but could not unfasten one of the
buttons. One of the wardens went to
lis assistance and turned it down be-
u'iath his shoulders, leaving the neck
and the upfter part of the breast bare.
Meanwhile two other keepers had tied
the condemned man's arms and ankles.
They then carried him, pinioned and
helpless, to the block, which was of
stout hard wood, with a hollow to re
ceive the neck, and painted blood red.
Laying him on it face downwards, a
strong leathern band was fastened over
the bead so that it could not be moved.
and a clearly define I mark was offered
tor the headsman s blow. I Mtening a
athern case on which were in gold
the figures "1S7S," Krantz took out the
glittering new axe, and taking bis aim,
th an almost imperceptible glance,
swung the weapon aloft and brought it
hissing dowu.ou the band of flesh be-
ween the leathern fastening and the
turned back shirt. Only one blow was
needed. The blood sprang out of the
inmense wound; the neck vanished
so it seemed) and there was left the
trunk, which twitched spasmodically
a few times, and the head looked as if
it had been shorn off just at the chin
A very slight contraction or movement
of the skin of the forehead was notice-
ble. The whole operation lasted about
two minutes and a half. A coffin was
brought out, into which tne still bleed-
ug remains were pitched ; it was pla
ced in a hole already dug in a corner
of the prison yard, the earth was filled
n and all was over.
The axe with which noedel was be
headed has lieen replaced in the muse
um, in its old place, above the block on
which the head of Burgomaster Tschech
xecuted about 30 years ago for an
attempt upon the life of Frederick Wil
liam IV. was struck off, and beneath
the thong with which the head was
fastened to the block, an inscri ption
has been placed as follows :
"May 11, 1878. Hoedel, journeyman
tinsmith, fired, L'nter der Linden, a re
volver, at II. M. , William, emperor of
Germany and king of Prussia; July 10,
Hoedel was condemned to death by the
court of appeals at Berlin; this judg
ment was connrmed by imperial decree
August 8, and, August 16, Hoedel's
head was struck off with this axe by
the beadsman, Krantz, in the yard of
the cellular prison of Moabit."
Tbe Emperor mt Germany.
An audience of the Emperor, in his
cabinet on the ground floor of his pal
ace at Berlin, resembles no other royal
audience. Tbe emperor is clad in his
long military frock coat, with its two
rows of buttons. He is marvelously
neat, very straight, and rather stiff.
His contour is well preserved. His
body Is well made. His limbs are pow
erful. His extremities Indicate an old
nd good race. His face, more grave
than severe, with its beard cut in Ger
man fashion, is well known. The
smile which plays on bis face, Is at
times very young. When this tall old
man speaks to the women who, during
the summer months, form his court at
Elms, he seems to date back to the sev
enteenth century. The emperor has
the beautiful blue eyes of Frederick tbe
Great. But however large his eyes
they have not the dimensions of the
eyes of Frederick. Ihe scant hairs,
formerly light brown, to-day ashen, are
parted low on'tbe left, crossing but not
covering the crown of bis bead. Wil
liam seems to me, to personify absolute
ly tbe type of an emperor of the olden
time large, strong, handsome a sol
dier. The faces of Alexander and
! Francis .Tospb are those of modern
leinperorr The gaze of William has a
t .
strange, slowness. It is the look 'of
man who has the consciousness' 'of ma
jesty.' He believes, it is well known, i
his divine right. His tufted eyebrow
form a fine arch. His eyei have ndt the
vague mysteriousness of thoscof Alex
ander nor the Indlcible melancholy of
those of Francis Joseph, nor the trouble
of those of Queen Victoria. However
prefer the expressions of these last three
to that of the Emperor William. They
have more personality. His volte has
strong tone of command. The accent is
slightly Beriinese. The emperor thick
ens a little and dwells slightly on the
vowels. Bespeaks slowly and very cor
rectly, as a man who has the habit of
always being listened to, without hav
ing his interlocuter finish hi sentence,
He chooses rather than seeks his words,
He would be able to deliver from the
tribune of the Reichstadt an eloquent
discourse. The emperor has the real
memory of a sovereign. He remembers
every name and every face. He knows
most of . the officers of . his army,
At times, when witnessing a review,
one wui bear him ay to a modest
officer, "You resemble your grand
father; - a little lighter, perhaps
Ue was a brave soldier.". Ue remem
bers a conversation held years before,
Adored by those who surround him, he
is very thoughtful of them. But never
did a sovereign do so easily without the
presence of an officer whom death or
advancement has taken from bis suite,
He thinks only of those whom be sees.
and of whom he has need. It is an
egotism of the sovereign which does not
affect the - heart of the man. Look at
him dose by. Every face of old agn I
a revelation. The Emperor William is
good.
A Hone Ridden to Ueath
Wlicn McWhirter and MaliL-tick
came dowu the quarter stretch in a late
race at St. Louis, Mo., to complete the
second mile, it was neck and neck at
steady run. Sixty yards away from
the string Mahlstick, without increas
ing speed, suddenly appeared in the
lead. "McWhirter is giving down !"
cried some excited spectator. It was a
true warning. One leg bad failed him,
but be kept on gallantly , for the game
blood was hot. Had Knox, the little
colored jockcv, reined him in, the life
of a noble horse niiirht have been
pared. But McWhirter kept on; it
was virtually on three legs. As he
rounded the lower turn, aud was well
nto the second quarter of the last mile,
there being just a perceptible slacking
of the gait, Joe Rhodesoverhauled him
and went bv. As the horse passed him
jici inner swerved, auu men it was
that Knox, the rider, says tbe other
fore leg gave down. From that point
the poor fellow plunged ahead and into
the last half mile, every jump tearing
tendons, muscles, flesh and skin, and
Knox tugging away at the reins. When
at last the headway slackened and the
horse came to a sudden halt, it was
with the hones of both fore legs torn
rom the sockets of the ankle joint, and
protruding six inches through hide aud
flesh, and resting on the earth, the
hoofs lving limp aud useless before.
The sudden halt sent the jockey flying
over the horse's head. "Shoot biiu.lor
God's sake," was the prompt instruc
tion of the owner, when he learned the
lull extent of the misfortune.
Police Officer Keeble undertook it.
He fired at close range. The ball
struck square about midway, between
the eye an 1 the base of the ear, and
from the hole the streaming blood
gushed forth. At the report the horse
threw himself back on his haunches,
and struck out w ith his mangled fore
legs, but droped down again into the
same steady position and stood there.
Three times the officer levelled his
weapon and fired. Each time the bul
let entered the brain and the blood
gushed out. At the third shot Mc
Whirter hobbled across the track and
stood by the fence. As he panted the
blood spurted out upon the fence and
ran from his mouth and nose. Finally
the ollicer stepped in front of the now
failing horse, and putting the muzzle
of the pistol almost to the forehead
fired, the ball entering right between
the eyes. The horse then dropped, but
it was not till long after .he had been .
dragged into the southeast corner of the
grounds underneath the shade ol a
great oak that life finally went out. At
the conclusion of the races, and while
tbe grave was being dug, Gen. Mit
chell and other well known horsemen
made an examination. In one sense,
perhaps, both of McWhirter' legs was
broken, but it was not a bone fracture.
Tendons and muscles were torn apart,
and tbe bones disjointed. The acci
dent was what is known among horse
men as breaking down. Gen. Buford
says:
"The boy ought to have held him up.
McWhirter hadn't completed this
training, and I only entered him to
come here. 1 engaged him here and
nowhere else. He was ridden badly at
Louisville, where I gave him a trial to
see how he went more than anything
else, and another horse struck hiia on
his good leg. We have nursed bim and
he seemed to be all right. We used
cold water on his leg and it must have
made it tender. I refused $10,000 for
him. Ha ran the grandest racvs ever
won, and his winnings have been be
tween $8,000 and $10,000."
Electricity Pretesting ItselC
An ingenious system ha been adopted
in Australia to prevent . the savage?
from destroying the telegraph poles.
The engineers have arranged supple
mentary electric currents so that who
ever touches any of the poles Instantly
receives a violent shock. This nnao
countable result inspires the savages
with such terror that they no longer
dare tamper with the mysterious wires,
which, to their bewilderment, traverse
their extensive territory from end to
end. Through this expedient a telegraph
connection Is preserved for thousands
of mile without the expense of watch
ing the poles.
Manning Facts.
"Some time ago," says a drummer.
"I had occasion to visit the city of V
in tbe State of Delaware, and concluded
to stop at tbe Blue Hen Hotel, where I
had spent one night during a previous
visit. When I reached the spot where
the hotel used to be, I was urpried to
see that tbe tall building had given
place to a low structure with a single
row of windows, and the roof close to
the ground. However, I recognized
tbe keeper of the old hotel sitting on a
chair in front of one of the windows,
and I asked him where bis establish
ment was."
There she is, sir. I've enlarged
her since you were here last."
"Indeed ! Enlarged ? I don't exactly
understand."
"Oh, I know she looks smaller; but
stranger, I tell you that I ve added
four stories to this hotel since January,
"What has become of them ?"
"I'll explain. After the hotel had
been built a year or two she suddenly
began tosink. I dunno what the reason
is. A quicksand under her, I reckon,
Anyhow, she kept going down aud
dowu, until the first story passed under
ground. Then 1 moved the bar-room
up stairs, put another story on top, and
began business again. Pretty soon she
sank to another floor, and we moved up
a second time and added another story.
It s betu nothing unusual in this house
to go to bed in the second story and
wake up in the morning to fnd yourself
in the cellar. The milkman has regular
instructions to pour the milk down the
chimney in case becomes some morning
early and can't dig out a window. Last
month I overslept myself for forty-
eight hoiias because the room remained
lark, aud when I did get up the roof
was just even with the street.
This part of the house that vou see
now I built on early last week. Tbe
projierty became too valuable to lease
There are sixteen stories to the Blue
Hen now, and I've got to add another
before the week is out. If this hotel
was spread out sideways she'd be about
three hundred vards long. Eventually
expect she'll be six or seven hundred
lories high, aud it'll take you a week
to get into the cellar. I s'pose if I keep
on, this here hotel will reach clean
through, from Delaware to China. The
lower end will come bursting out into
Houg Kouz or Shanghai, and maybe
11 be taking Chinamen for boarders
without knowing it. Then very likely
they'll tax both ends of tbe hotel and
take money out of my pocket. They're
In ays grinding a poor man so'shecan
hardly get along. Costs like thunder,
ou know, to run a hotel like this that
requires so much to keep up a resecta
ble appearance. I dunno exactly what
'11 do if she breaks out on the other
ide of the earth anil then slips through
the hole. I can't carry on a hotel
ating out into ethereal space, you
now.
"I have some hopes that maybe, be
fore she sinks more'n a mile or two,
she II strike a volcanic vein r some
thing and get a shove up; come all the
way out, for all I know, and stand on
did ground. If she does, you come
round and see me, and I'll take you up
and show you the view. I'll bet you
can see Peru and Oshkosh, and Nova
euihla and Tuckerton, and all those
places regu'ar bird's-eye view; you
come round anyway, and I'll take you
own into the cellar."
I said I would, and then hunted una
safer hotel. The Blue Hen is too
original, too eccentric for comfort.
.Mtr of m Thief.
She was standing just beyond the
lesk railing, leaning against a cell door.
nd was talking confidentially to one
of the keepers. She is hunchbacked
and has that weird interest and de
formed shrew Iness which always at
tach to these curious little people. He
eyes are black and beautiful, sparklin
ith animation, and, when contrasted
itli the weazened old-young face.sug-
gest jewels set in parchment. The
bent figure does not measure in height
more than three feet. The bands are
long, thin, and deeply veined ith blue
treaks. On her bead she wore a jaunty
hat of straw, with a bright scarlet rib
bon, that seemed a blaze ol color amid
the mucky, neutral tints of the place.
Those who delight in gray should visit
the Tombs; the place where every
thing is gray save the prisoners; they
are blue. This little girl is sixteen
years of age, and is the sister of a thief.
Ue has served two terms on tbe Island,
and is now in the fourth tier of the
Tombs awaiting trial in default of one
thousand dollars bail for larceny from
three persons. Through thick and thin
the tiny, deformed sister has clung to
him, has refused to believe in his guilt,
as considered him the victim of plots,
and was on a visit of condolence and
ncoiimgemciit to her brother w hen
the writer saw her. She had lust come
dowii from the fourth tier and was hav
ing a lively chat with the keeper. It
would be poetic art to paint this little
girl as a radiant angel striving to ward
off with her wings the blow aimed at
her brother by Justice, but strong as is
the temptation, we cannot succumb to
it. She is an angel In sisterly devo
tion, but, while believing that her bro
ther is individually guiltless of all the
crimes with which he is charged, she
does not seem to particularly deprecate
the system of robbery in the abstract.
She is a concert angel, and one who,
through long residence in the Sixth
ward has become imbued witb its prin
ciples and its slang.
"Are you going down to the District
Attorney's office to see any one about
Jimmy t" was asked her.
The little face was upturned sarcasti
cally to the questioner and the reply
came:
"Xo; what do you take me for? It
would need a "fiuf" to get inside tbe
door!"
After the reporter bad been Intro-
duced he questioned this queer Tombs '
visitor:
Do you come here often ?"
"Well, yes. Yon see Jimmy gets
here, and there's no one to come here
aud see him but me.'
"How old is Jimmy?" "
"He will be eiehteen next month.
"I suppose you love him?"
"Well, yes, rather.why shouldn't I?
"I see no rea-ion whatever. Is he
good brother?"
"That he is. There ain't no better.
"What is this charge?"
"It's about a super."
"What's a super?"
"Oh, you taffy-dealer! You know
a ticker, a watch."
"Well, Jimmy didn't take it?"
"Xo; another fellow took it, and w
know who he is."
"What are you trying to do now
about the case?"
"I want it brought up right away.'
"Do you expect to get him off?"
"I can t tell. The evidence is dead
against him, but I once got him off
with six months."
lie 11 get the same as I m goin' to
do," said a young man in tbe opposit
cell.
And what time is it in your cell?'
she asked.
"Two years."
-wen, i u net our Jimmy is a case
card, and no more." ("Case" means
one).
Leaning on her parasol this midget
began a promenade of the condemned
row. occasionally chatting with such
prisoners as happened to know her,
One of them said :
"Ah ba, little one! I understand
you've been keeping company with
another young man since I left the old
corner? "
Paying no attention to this remark
she looked up at him and asked :
"How long?"
"Four fingers and a thumb," was the
answer.
"Five years," she said, "it'g a eood
while to do." Then returning to the
original sally, she replied :
'Suppose I do go about a bit, would
you have me tied np as you folks are?
I never wear a bed tick suit. I stay
honest and enjoy myself. I do go to
excursions and chowder parties. I like
them. Ion't you like chowder? Yes
you do. Oh, the delicious chowder!
The sail on the barge with the flags all
flying and the band playing; the beer
on tap at the bar and the boys fighting.
fhen the island and the bath and the
trip home with the dancing. And you
have got five years !"
This last remark was made in mock
sympathy.
Go away !" growled the yonng bur
glar as he retreated from the door,
threw himself upon his bed and awaited
the signal for his Sing Sing journey
She went softly on, the red ribbon at
the hat flaring like a flame.
"Here's the cell Stokes had," she
said. "Handsome fellow. Stokes, but
he thought too mu'-h of himself."
Then, a few steps farther :
"Poor Johnny iKilan was taken out
of here for the stretch they gave him
Rouh on Johnny, that was. 1 used
to see him. He was a nice, likely boy,
and shouldn't have come to such an
end."
'Of a rope," added the reporter, who
war falling under the ghastly influence
of the strange creatures talk.
"Yes, of a rope," she said, almost in
a re very.
Then, suddenly waking up. she ex
claimed :
"But I must lie going. I've seen
Jimmy, and I've got to see tbe lawyer
yet, before I go home and get the old
man h's dinner. Good-bve. sir."
With a little, pathetic, lamish curt
sey, the sister of the thief was gone,
and we stood alone before the cell
from hich Dolan was brought to be
bung.
A Bean Story.
In the years lang syne, when the
beautiful village of Canandaigua boast
ed of its legal talent and its wealth,
there existed among the members of its
bar, a spirit of keen, but honorable em
ulation to excel, not alone in forensic dis
plays, but also in the acquirement of
the luxuries and comforts of an elegant
hospitality. In those early days the
facilities of an express company were
unknown, and the anxious caterer was
forced to rely upon his own resources
rather than upon tbe productions of a
more genial clime to supply the earliest
contributions to bis table. At one of
those elaborate and perfect dinners
that marked that era, the question of
propagating, and forcing early vegeta
bles engaged attention. One made a
specialty of a particular vegetable; an
other one, of a different kind ; but each
apparently was eminently successful
iu his line. Between John C. S)iencer
and Mark II. Sibley, a spirited discus
sion arose as to the best mode of obtain
ing early beans. It ended as such
discussions generally do, with the wa
ger of a dinner to be paid by him who
failed to produce beans of bis own
raising first. Time passed, and as the
warm spring rains forced tbe earth's
treasures forth, Mr. Spencer was obser
ved to be unusually attentive to his gar
den, and was to be seen there more fre
quently than he was ever before known
to be. One morning breakfast was un
accountably delayed by his non-appearance,
although it was known that he
had risen long before. At last he came
in and took his seat, a smile of satisfac
tion irradiating his countenance as,witb
an ejaculation of relief, he said : "I've
caught that fellow Sibley ! He can't
overreach me with his cunning!"
"What U the matter?" was queried,
"Why, he thought to get the advantage
of me in early beans, and so ihe
scamp bribed my gardener to transplant
them wrong end uppermost. But I've
matched him ; for I've replanted them
bean end downward, confound bim!"
Whether Sibley was guilty of the charge
or not this deponent does not say; but
that he turned the laugh on bis grave
friend, for the peculiar display of hor-
ticultural knowledge, a grand dinner,
when bean time came round, was the
proof.
'; A Vegetable Devil.
A recent traveller in Madagascar,
gives the following description of the
vegetable Devil of that county; Imag
ine a pine apple eight feet high, and
thick m proportion, resting upon its
base,and denuded of leaves, and you wil'
have a good idea of the trunk of the
tree, which, however, was not the
color of the anana, but a dark, dingy
brown, and apparently hard as Iron.
From the apex of this truncated cone
(at least, two feci; iu di.uucu-r) eight
leaves hung sheer to the ground, like
doors swung back on their hinges. The
leaves were foined at the top of the
tree at regular intervals,' were about
ten to twelve feet long, and shaped
very much like the- American agrave,
or century plant. They were two feet
through in their thickest part, and
three feet w ide, uperiug to a sharp
point that looked like cow's born,
very convex on tiie outer (but now un
der) surface, and on tbe tuner (now up
per) surface slightly concave. This
concave face was thickly set with very
strong, thorny books, like those upon
the head of Uie teazel. These leaves.
hanging thus limp aud lifeless, dead
green in colyr, had iu appearance the
massive strength of the oak fitter. The
apex, of the coue was round, white
concave figure, like a smaller plate set
within a larger one. This was net a
flower, but a receptacle, and there
exuded into it a clear, treacly liquid,
honey sweet, and possessed of violent
intoxicating and soporific properties.
From underneath the rim, so to speak.
of the uppermost plate, a series of long
hairy, green tendrils stretched in every
direction towards the horizon. These
were seven to eight feet long each, and
tapered from four inches to a half inch
in diameter, yet they stretched out
stiffly as iron rods. Above these from
between the upper and under cup six
white, almost transparent palpi reared
themselves toward the sky, twirling
and twisting with a marvellous, inces
sant motion, yet constantly reaching
upward. Thin as reeds, as frail as quills
apparently, they were yet five or six
feet tall, and were so constantly and
vigorously in motion, with such a subtle,
sinuous, silent throbbing against the
air. that they made me shudder in spite
of myself with their suggestion of ser
pents flayed, yet dancing on their tails.
The description I am giving you now
part made np from a subsequent.
careful inspection of the plant. My
observations on this occasion were sud
denly interrupted by the natives, who
had been shrieking around the tree in
their shriil voices, and chanting what
Uenrick told me were propitiatory
hymns to the great devil tree. With
still wilder shrieks nnd chants they sur
rounded one of the women, and urged
her with the points of their javelins,
until slowly, and with de-pairing face,
he climbed up the stalk of the tree,
and stood on the summit of the cone.
the palpi twirling, twirling nil about
her. "Ti.k! tisk!" (..rink! drink!)
cried the men, and, stooping, she drank
of the viscid fluid in the cup, rising in
stantly again wiib wild freuzey in her
face and cholera iu her limbs. But she
llil not jump down as she seemed to in
tend to. Oii.no! The atrocious canni
bal that had been so inert and dead came
to sudden, savage life, ihe slender.
elicate palpi, with the fury of starved
serpents, quivered for a moment over
er head, then, as if by instinct, w ith
emiuiuu intelligence, lasteue! iiMn
er in sudden coils, round and round
er neck and arms; then, while her
w:ul screams, and yet more awful
lighter, rose wilder, to be instantly
strangled down again into a gurgling
moan, the tendrills, one after another,
like great green serpents with brutal
energy and infernal rapidity, rose, re
tracted themseives, and wrapped her
about In fold after fold, ever tightening
with the cruel swiftness and savage
tenacity of anacondas fastening upon
heir prey. It was tbe barbarity of the
aocoon without its beauty-this strange
horrible murder. And now the great
leaves rose slowly and stillly like the
arms of a derrick, erected themselves
the air, approaching one another,
nd closed about the dead and hampered
victim with the silent force of an
hydraulic press and the ruthless purpose
a thumbscrew. A moment more,
and while I could see the basis of the
great leaves pressing more tightly
toward each other, from their interstices
there trickled down the stalks streams
of viscid honey-like fluid, mingled hor
ribly with the blood and oozing viscera
of the victim. At the sight of this, the
savage hordes around me. yelling mad
ly, bounded forward, crowded to the
tree, clasped it, aud, with cups, leaves.
nd tongues, got each one enough of
the liquor to send him mad and frantic.
hen ensued a grotesque and indescri
bably hideous orgy from which, even
hile its convulsive madness was turn-
ng rapidly into delirum and insensibil
ity, Uenrick dragged me hurriedly away
into the recesses of the forest, hiding
me from the dangerous brutes and the
brutes from me. May I never see such
sight again."
The Ureat Canal of China.
The great canal of China is likely to
share the fate of the great wall. This
water-way was constructed by Kublai
Khan and his successors of the Knen
race, and is six hundred miles in length.
There are ten thousand flat-bottomed
boats on this canal, and these are used
in the transportation of grain. The
Echo states that this great water-way is
an enormous "white elephant," as it
costs an enormous amount every year
for repairs, the appropriations there, as
elsewhere, not being entirely devoted
for tbe purpose forwhici tbeyare meant.
unks are delayed every month while
channelsare being dug for their passage.
This year, for the first time since the
construction cf tbe canal, the grain
from Gankin, w ith the consent of the
government, has been forwarded by sea
and this fact has impelled the Pekin
authorities to consider the expediency
of abandoning the canal as a commercial
I highway.
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