B. F. SCHWEIER,
THE 001STITUTIOI THE UIIOI JJB THE EVTOSOEXEIT OP THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XXXY.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., WEDNESDAY, APML 13, 1881.
NO. 15.
THK GLADSES OF HATURL
I this a time to be cloudy and ud,
When our mother nature laughs aronud.
When even the deep blue bM look glad.
And gladness breathes from the blossoming
ground.
There ere notes of Joy from the hangbird and
wren.
And the gossip of swallow through all (he
sky.
The ground squirrel gaiiy chirps by his den,
And the wilding bee hum merrily by.
The clouds are at play in the axora spaos
And their shadows at play on the bright
green Tale
And her? they stretch to the frol c chase.
Anil there they r-Jl on the easy gale.
There's a dance of Waves in that aspen bower.
There's a Utter of winds in that beechen
tree,
TLcre's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on
ihe flower.
And a langh from fie brook that runs to the
sea.
And look at the broad-faced etui how he smiles,
On the dewy earth that sm.les in his ray.
lu the k aping wates and gay young isles.
Ay, took, and he'll smile thy gloom away.
In toe Gloaming;.
You are the best judge of your own
heart, but 1 do not think your future
promises much happiness as the wife ef
ti.nl frcy HilL Remember who and what
he is."
These were the words over which Alice
Hill pondered as she walked slowly through
the grove at Bellows Falls. It was her
favorite walk, when she w ished for solitude,
though it lay at some distance from her
home, the stately house that crowned an
incline stretch of ground overlooking the
village.
Kemember who and what be is !
Mrs. Hill had said these words very
slowly, and with due emphasis only a few
hours" before, when Alice had md to her a
letter, in which Godfrey Hill had asked her
to tie his wife.
Who was he, then ? He was the second
cousin of Alice, a man of about twenty
teven, who had been brought up by his
prandfrther in the house upon Bellows
Height, and had supposed his iuheritance
of house and fortune assured.
Alice and her widowed mother had never
entered the stately home while old Mr.
Jlill lived, but bad supported themselves
by keeping a school lor young children,
after Godlrey's cousin, Alice's father, had
died.
It had never crossed their wildest im
agination that the old gentleman at Bellows
r ails would remember them by even a
trifling legacy, and they were inclined to
think they were the victims of a practical
juke, when they received the lawyer's letter
informing them that Alice was the heiress
of the entire estate of John Hill, of Bellows
Fall.
It was like a dream, to come to the
splendid home, to know there was to be
no more weary struggles for daily bread, to
wander through magnificent rooms and ex
tensive grounds with the deliciously novel
sensation of ownership.
And it must be confessed that Alice at
first thought but little of the dispossessed
heir.
But he introduced himself soon as a
cousin, and vim ted the house as a welcome
gut.
Fur, in answer to the second clause of
Mrs. Hill's question, what was be I Alice
could have answered truly that he was the
wot fascinating man she bad ever teen.
And Alice Hill, though a bread-winner
in the busy world, had moved in good
society, havirg aristocratic family con
iHC'.ious both on her father's and mother's
si ile.
She was no novice to be won by a merely
courtly manner, but she had never met a
man whese intellect was so broad, whose
courtesy was so winning, whose face was
so handsome a were those of Godfrey
HilL
And yet there was a letter In her writ
ing desk, written by the dead man whose
lieiroe she was, warning her that "because
he is unworthy, because he has betrayed
the trust I put in him, I have disinherited
Godfrey HilL"
There was no specific charge, no direct
accusation, but the young heiress was
warned airaiust her cousin.
Vet, in the many long conversations the
two had held together, Godfrey Ilill had
CLdeavnred to convince his fair cousin that
his grandfather had been influenced bv false
friends to believe statements to his dis
credit utterly untrue.
He had almost convinced her that he was
an iunxut victim to unfortunate circum
stances, a victim to a mistaken sense of
honer.
She was young, natural! v trustful, and
her heart was tree; so it is not wonderful
that Alice Hill was inclined to restore the
disinherited man to his estate by accepting
the oCer of his heart and hand. Absorbed
in her reflections, Alice did not notice that
clouds were gathering, till a sudden sum-
nier shower broke with violence above the
tree tons.
The rain came through the branches sud
denly, drencLing through her thin black
dress, aid she ran quickly to the nearest
bouse for shelter.
The nearest refuge proved to be the cot-
iage where Mrs. Mason, who did the
Washing for the pnut hnuap lived with
her daughter, Lizzie, one of ihe village
wauues.
There was great bustling about when
uee presented herself at the door.
"Mercy sokes 1 You're half drowned,"
the old woman cried, hurrying her unex
Icted guest to the kitchen hre. "You're
et to the skin, dearie. Now aint it a
blessing there's a whole washing in the
basket to go home ? Y'ou can go into Liz
ne s room and change your clothes, and
I'll do ud them
Y . . - a"- t
i our hat is just ruined crape won't bear
wetting and you've no shawl. Ydu must
just put on a dress of Lizzie's to go home
11 s nearly dark anyway.'
"Where is Lizzie ? Alice asked.
tewing at Mrs. Gorbam's, dearie. Shell
ue coming home, soon. 1 alters make that
a part of the bargain that she's to be let
borne afore dark, and it gets dark now by
" lttu uays are shorter than summer
ones. Nj she'll be here soon. It s clear-
lag up.
It was Clear in? un. and it van aim crow.
mg dark, so promising to send home the
borrowed dress in the morning, Alice started
lor home.
She smiled at herself as 3he stood before
iue cottage nurror. lor she had not worn
before" her faUler' death five years
Lizzie's hi unHru.. nAn
JMinuay hat were oddly out of place upon
: "w ngure, and setting off the pale,
Fi'ti n.-l f r . . ..... '
; "-e oi Alice miL
ar me," said the old woman. 1 hope
Ju 11 soon cnirk up a bit. Miss Alice, and
take off your black. The eld gentleman
oeen dead year, now. Them roses
uu sun you beautiful "
Alice glanced at the staring red flowers
T in nam, and smiled as she
"I will take great care of Lizzie's hat,
Mrs. Mason. Good-bvc. and thank Oil
It was nearly dusk, and there was a
quarter of a mile to walk before home was
reached, so Alice humed throgh the prove.
wuure uie trees naa already shut out the
lingering daylight.
She had lied a small veil of gav tissue
over the gaudy hat, as she left the cottage.
and she hoped, if she met anv acauaint&n.
ces sue wouia escape recognition.
W hen she was naif way through the
grove she beard quick footsteps coming
from the village, and a moment later a
voice said, "You are punctual,'' and she
was caught for moment in Godfrey Hill's
arms.
bhe knew bis voice, and struggled to
iree nerseir, rxiore realizing that he had
mistaken her for the Tillage beuitr.
"Pooh!" he said, releasing her. "Don't
put on airs, Liz. Were you going to the
bouse?"
"Yes," she answered, faintly, indignant
and yet curious, her womant wits quickly
seeing his error.
"I must go, too, before lone, though I
had far rather stay here in the wood with
you, sweetheart."
Your sweetheart is at the house. Alice
said, trying to assume the jealous tone of
an uneducated girL
"What! That chalky-faced girl in
black t Not a bit of it. Didu't I love you
long before she came to take what is
mine?"
And a curse followed, coupled with her
own name, that thrilled Alice Hill with
horroh
"But they say you will marry her," she
persisted, calming her voice as well as she
could.
"They say right ! I will marry her, and
have my own ! Then, when she is dead,
you shall have your old beau again, Lizzie,
and come to the great house, my wife. It
is only waiting a year or two."
"But she may not die I" gasped the hor
ror-stricken girL
bhe will die I I'll have no fine lady
taking what is mine mine, I tell you !
But w hat ails you f Y'ou are shaking as
if you had an ague fit. I've talked it all
over often enough before, and you never
went on into such shakes 1 It is nothing
new I'm telling you.''
"But you would not murder
her I" the pocr-girl gasped, drawing her
veil closer.
"Come now, none of that " was the
rough answer ; 'you're not going back on
me. now, after all you've heard of my plans.
l ou ve sworn to keep my secrets, or I d
never have told vou them. But what is
the matter I"
And here Alice found herself shaken
with no gentle hand, to her great indigna
tion. But her fears over-mattered her
anger. Godfrey wa heir-at-law to her
newly acquired fortune, and if he suspect
ed her identity, in those dark woods, she
did not doubt, after what he had already
said, that he would take her hie.
"1 am not welL" she said freeing herself
fiom the rough grasp on her arm, "and
I must hurry on. VV ait for me here, until
do my errand at the house and come
back."
"Be quick, then," was the gruff reply.
And if she was in haste, the scoundrel
might well be satisfied at the rapidity with
which his companion left him.
She scarcely knew how she reached her
home, tore off her bom-wed finery and
wrote to Godfrey Ilill, declining the honor
he had proposed to her, but giving no other
reason for her refusal than the statement
that she did not love him sufficiently to be
nis.
'31 aroma, " she said, coming into the
drawing-room, "I have written to Godfrey,
refusing his offer, and sent the letter to him
by James. I ha7e remembered who and
what be is."
Mr. Godfrey Hill's amazement was un
bounded, when returning to bis home, in
the village hotel to dress for his promised
call upon Alice Ilill, he found her note
awaiting hi in.
But he did not renounce his hope of
shaking her resolution until the next day,
w hen be met the true Lizzie Mason in the
shaded grove, and in the course of their
lover-like conversation, that damsel told
him who had worn her gay hat and red
shawl on the previous evening.
An' she sent a five-dollar bill with the
dress, because it got wet," said the girL
"An that 1 call real handsome of her.
Why, what ails you? you're white as
chalk."
'othinz nothing. You were not in
the grove at all, then, yesterday I"
"No : I couldn't get off till long after
dark and so 1 stayed all nif lit. I knowed
you'd be mad, waiting for me, but 1
couldn't help tt this time. Why t"
For her lover bad started for tbr vil-
age without even the ceremony of a good
bye.
lie lost no time on his way, till he stood
in the otuce ot Jermyn ec jermyn, nis
grandfather's lawyers.
hite as death, with a voice hoarse and
thick, he said to the old partner :
"Y'ou told me my grandfather left me
ten thousand dollars, upon certain condi
lions .
Quite correct. The conditions are that
you leave Bellows Falls and never return
to it. and that you sign a deed relinquish
ing all claims as heir-at-law, in case Miss
Hill dies belore she is oi age. bit. uui
did not draw up this paper until his will
was signed and sealed; and be was re
minded that he had made no stipulation for
the reversion of his estate."
'Reminded by you 1" was the bitter re
joinder.
"ileuunoea oy me i lie was suown uie
danger that you might become a suitor to
the young heiress."
" Well, that danger is over. I have been
a sincere suitor to the heiress, and she has
refused the honor of an alliance.''
"Hum 1"
"So. having lost that stake, I am pre
pared to accept the conditions, take the
ten thousand dollars ana turn my uses, uu
Bellows Falls for lite."
It was with a sense ot great relief from
a very urgent fear, that Alice lull beard
from her lawyer of the demand upon the
estate, that made her poorer by ten thou
sand dollars, and removed Godfrey Hill
from her Dalh for life.
Bhe told no one of the walk in the gloam
ing that had revealed to her the black
treachery of the man who woed her so
gently and had so nearly won the treasure
of her young heart.
It made her shy of suitors for a long
time, fearing her money was the magnet
thai drew them to her side ; but there came
a true lover, at last one she trusted and
loved, and who won her for his tender
faithful wife.
And Godfrey Hill left his old home never
to return.
There was no thought of revenge in
Alice Hill's heart, when she heard of the
death of her cousin, nearly three years
after his departure from Bellows aiis,
but she could not restrain a fervent thought
nf thanknrivimr. when she realized that
there was no murderous thoughts hanging
upon her possible death.
After her relief she told her husband,
for the first time, of that involuntary mas
querade that saved her from the power of
a villain.
"It was at this hour, Will," she whis
pered, "and this is the first time since that
day that I have been able to sit, without a
shudder, in the gloaming."
Two Flaring al the swim Tin.
"My dear I -
"What will you have, Darius darling?'
"Hem 1 want to tell you something."
"Well, go on."
"Amelia, my dear, the long winter even
ings pass oil slow y with us, as you know,
and a friend has been learning me a new
game, which 1 desire you to learn, and I
have purchased a bran new pack of cards
tor me occasion, and
"Uh, nol"
"What on earth is the matter, Amelia!"
"Why, Darius Botch. I wouldn't have a
pack of cards in the house for the world."
"Amelia, there is nothing harmful about
cards, and you know it. I have "
"Been out till ten o clock every night
since October, Darius, you cruel, cruel
man.
"Well, my dear, if you will learn to
play the game, I will .stay at home three
evenings in the week, sure as you live."
"UH, dear, those awfij cards, but 111
play lust to please you, and keep you at
home, but it's awful wicked."
The young man drew a shining pack of
the criminal things from a side coat pocket,
explained the game, dealt out the required
number of cards with the ease of an old
miner, turned up a trump, looked bis hand
over, and said:
hat will you dor"
"Do Why, you wanted me to play
with you, and I'm going to."
" X es, my dear, but you have the right
to beg, if you choose.'
"I am no beggar, Dan us Botch, and you
know it."
"But, my dear you don't understand:
if you haven't lots of cards like the trump,
you can say beg,' when I shall deal off
three more cards apiece, turn up new
trump, and you may hold much better
hand, you know."
"1 tell you I won t beg, Dan us so
there."
"Well, plav away, then, and let me beat
you, when there is no need of it."
jtlrs. Botch bit her lips and threw down
an ace.
"That is a trnmp. Amelia; you must
keep them back to catch game with."
'ot according to "Hal, my dear Da
rius.
"Hoyle, you mean, Amelia."
"Have it your own way, sir but I cal
culate 1 know w bat I'm talking about."
They played all the cards out, Mrs. Botch
hauling in every trick till the last, when
Darius put on his Jack and smilingly
scooped in one.
"Here, sir, that tnck is mine; you denied
trumpa.
"But you have the right to hold back a
Jack, Amelia." .
".Not according to "Hal,' my dear Da
rius."
"There you go again, Amelia the name
is Hoyle." i
" hat authority, Mr. Botch, have you
to prove that it is right to deny trumps? "
"Authontyl authority! Mrs. Botch! The
yery best in the world Mrs. Mina Crimp!'
'On, you laise hearted Dear: and that is
where you nave been spending your even
ings! I am "
"And pray give me your authority, Mrs.
Amelia, for saying that 1 have no right to
'nig my Jack you, who never bandied a
card before in your life! '
"Tne very best in the world, Mr. .Dallas
no less than Mr. 'Hal' Crimp, your card
teacher's own husband."
"The wretch! Has he been spending
his evenings with you, and his wife told
me confidentially thai he was engaged every
evening in his counting-room: i n uurn
these cards, Mrs. Botch. I always knew
there was lots of hanu in cards, and ill
burn "eiul"
"It always take four to have a game of
'old sledge,' Darius,and if you arc satisfied,
why, 1 am."
The Chocolate Mam.
"Emile Justin Mcnier, who cared not
who made the nation's songs so long as be
made their chocolate, died recently in
Taris. In nothing was he more thor
oughly American than in his appreciation
of the value and methods of advertising.
The great belettered slabs of wooden
chocolate spelling out bis name have
wearied the eyes of all civilized people,
but bis master-pieces in this line were
naturally reserved for France. For years
it has been at least impossible to stir
abroad there without reading "Le meilleur
chocolat est le chocolat Mcnier" as once it
was impossible here to get the cabalistic
legend "S. T. 1880 X." off the tired
retina. One day a Frenchman said to him
that he liked bis chocolate tolerably well.
but it had one fault it grew white as it
grew old. Menier took the bull by the
horns, and the next day every newspaper
and dead-wall in 1'ans announced le
chocolat Menier the only chocolate that
grows white as it grows old. It would be
interesting to know how many million
pounds of chocolate Menier have since
been bought because of that remarkable
quality. "Whether Menier 's chocolate does
really grow white with age, and whether
other chocolates do not do so as well, and
whether doing so is or is not a recommendation,-
of course nobody ever knew.
Menier was more than a mere manufac
turer; he was, or thought he was, a states
man, his hobby being direct taxation, or
the taxation of acquired property. One day
he mounted the tribune in the Assembly
he reached the eminence of a Deputy
after having first been an Alderman of
Paris to defend his views and read a
carefully prepared speech. There were
many smiles and ironic interrupiion? lor
the Frenchman is anywhere more polite
than in the Chamber of Deputies and at
last, when he spoke of taxing "articles
which deteriorate," Faul de Cassagnac
cried, "Like your cocoa, for example."
Menier's retort was at least equally witty,
The gentleman wishes to reproach me
with my trade,1 said he. "His uncle used
my chocolate, and owes me a great deal of
money; It iue nepnew wiu uuiy pay mi
debt " "lou are a 'grossier person
age'," shouted de Cassagnac, in a white
rage. JO. Wrevy at once lnierpueeu; a
dozen deputies kimultaneously shouted in
sults and sarcasms in a breath, half the
members rose in their seats, and in short,
the scene was peculiarly French. How it
might have ended the world will never
know, for suddenly there was an interrup
tion not at all germain which diverted
every one's attention. A man rose in the
gallery and shouted: "Vive Napoleon IT."
Of course, it was not a new rebellion; he
was onlv a luna'.ic Imperialist, as u was
concluded, after he had explained to the
notice that he had long felt an incontrol
able impulse to say wmething in the
Chambers, of which he had been for weeks
a silent habitue, and, the confusion acting
itnnn his nerves like music on a canary
bird, he seized the opportunity of relieving
bis mind.
EJison has got f 3UU.U00 from his
telephone In Europe.
Vthatll Toa Taker
Take a drink!' 'No. sir. Excuse my
seemingly unnecessary firmness, but if you
knew what cause I have to despise whisky
you would not have asked me.
'What causa have you, Mr. Kilmickf
1 will tell you. Several years ago after
I arrived in Little Kock, I became ac
quainted with a young man named Phil
Gilmer. Ile was a noble young man, full
of life and with glowing prospects. He
invited me to bis room, and insisted that I
should make his quarters my home. 1
gladly excepted the offer, for, having a
widowed sister and a crippled father de
pending on me for support, I was glad of a
chance to live economically. In accepting
my fnend's hospitality, I, of course, did so
with the intention of making a return at
some future time. I soon discovered that
my friend was hopelessly addicted to
drinking He made repeated efforts to re
form, but after a few days he would fail.
One night while we were sitting together
in the room, my friend drew out a revolv
er, and handing it to me for examination,
asked me if I thought it would do destruc
tive work. I replied that as the revolver
was noted for destruction, the specimen be
exhibited might be a representative of its
class.
"But why do you ask?'- I continued.
" 'Because,' he replied, taking the pistol
and shoving it into his pocket, 'I intend to
shoot myself if I ever get drunk again. 1
can never amount to anything if I continue
to drink, and I might as well end an exis
tence so utterly worthless."
1 argued with hun, but saw by the de
termined expression of bis face that his
words came from a part of his nature where
a jest was never invited to take a seat.
'1 believe, however,' he went on, -that
I can conquer my thirst, but if I don't
good-bye.
"several weeks passed, dunng which
time he carried the pistol. He braved all
temptations, and his friends had strong
bapes that he was entirely restored to busi
ness and society. JS'ow comes the part of
my story, the memory of which rises np
before me like a ghost, and makes the hair
of remorse rise on my head. One night 1
went into the room and found my Iriend
lying asleep on the sofa. 1 don't know
what prompted me to such a fiendish ac
tion, but 1 took a small vial of whisky
from my pckct, and saturating a rag, I
squeezed a few drops into his mouth. He
groaned, awoke, rubbed his eyes, and re
irarkcd that he dreamed of being drunk.
By Heavens!' he exclaimed, a few
minutes later, I taste the broth of hell and
I'll have it.' He rushed out of the room.
I followed but could not catch him. He
went into a saloon and seizing a bottle
drank at least a pint before I could pre
vent him. Now,' he exclaimed, drawing
a revolver, now, I stand upon oath '
Go ahead, ltilnuck. . Did he shoot
himself'
'.No. He pawned the pistol for a quart.
Let's take a drink. What'U you take! '
'A little mild bourbon.' '
Give me an apple toddy.' Little
Kock GczctU. . m
arlor Magi.
"..Borrow a Panama hat, the more cl
live the better, and hold it up so that your
audience can see that it does not contain
either a savings bank or a white whale.
I ou tbon procure an ordinary kerosene
lamp, remove the shade and light the wick.
l ou are now ready. Pass the hat five or
six times over the light, or until it is m a
complate blaze; then quickly placing the
hat in a box, into which you have pre
viously deposited two pounds of common
gunpowder the hat and box will instantly
disappear. This trick never ft. Us to
astonish.
A very amusing, although exciting trick,
is to cause a person in the audience to start
from his seat without the aid of michincry,
bent pins,or the placing of hands. This
feat require a little preparation during
the day, as will be seen. Y'ou open a
book and pretend to read as if from its
contents, and immediately a young lady in
the audience wul start toward you with a
shriek, and if you are wise you will have
a rear window open, through which you
can pass. The tec-ret of the trick consists
in your reading a purloined Utter of your
sister's from her lover.
Lay a wager with some gentleman in
front of you that he can not walk to with
in three feet of you without paus'ng and
throwing back his bead, assuring hun that
the floor will not be obstructed in any
manner. This trick never fails, and its
success depends upon having a well-waxed
thread streched across the room at the
height ef the gentleman's throat. Do not
attempt this with your father.
A good conclusion to an evening's en
tertainment of this kind is called 'Dissolv
ing Feat,' in which you,turn out the gas
for sixty seconds, and on lighting it the
room will be vacated of all but yourself.
The moment the gas is turned out you
produce from a hermetically sealed box
about a pound of Lunbcrgcr cheese. The
effect is wonderful, especially if the even
ing be very warm.
If you are not a ventnloquist you can,
nevertheless, make your fnends believe
you are. Before the audience assembles
place your little brother under a barrel,
having, of course, first instructed him as
to the replies he should make to your ques
tions. At the proper lime you walk up
to the barrel, and, giving it a sharp rap
with your knockles, say: 'Are you there,
sir?' The reply comes. 'No, 1 am some
where else!' Then you hold an animated
conversation with a supposed (?) person,
in which many of your family tecrets are
divulged, and when at the close you in
form your audience that you will imitate
a drowning person and pour a pail of water
through a hole in the head of a barrel, all
are wonderfully amazed except your
brother, who will be madder than a halter.
Eaploalve Bombs.
How was the bombs made which was
used for the assassination of the Czar?'
This question was asked of a gentleman
who is connected with one ef the great
powder companies of the city, and who
understands thoroughly the subject ot ex
plosives.
it might have been filled with any one
of a number of compounds. I read yester
day that it was niied with sulphur and
chlorate of potassa. 1 hat is a common
combination with which every schoolboy
who has undertaken ihe elements of che
mistry is familiar. The mixture, rubbed
with a hammer or a stone, will flash readi
ly. I doubt if it was this, because there
are fulminate which are much more cer
tain and forcible.
The explosion is reported to have torn a
deep hole in the pavement f onr feet in dia
meter. Mustn t it have required a very
powerful agent to accomplish such
effect!
Certainly, but not an unfamiliar one.
What are known as the detonating powders
have been familiar for at least fifty years,
and nothing could have been selected that
would have been more certain in its results.
Simple chlorate of potash and sulphur
make a terrific explosive. If it had been
dynamite that had been contained in the
glass Vmbs it is pmbable that on being
thrown it would have exploded.
Supposing the bombs were provided with
percussion cans?
Then the bombs would have to be thrown
accurately. A shell thrown from a gun
strikes accurately point on, so that the cap
is exploded, but glass balls thrown by
hand would not surely retain any given
position, and a cap at any point would not
necessarily be touched or exploded. The
whole mass would have to be highly ex
plosive for the certain success of such a
process. If the balls were filled with nitro
gl cerine, I may say that I would not like
to have one of them strike at my feet; still,
the chances are that it would not explode.
How much mora effective such a ball
would be if it were filled with the fulmi
nate of mercury or the fulminate of silver.
The fulminate of mercury constitutes the
percussion in ordinary caps. The assassins
having that had an agent more powerful
than nitro-glyccrine,and it has been known
since the beginning of the century. Dyna
mite, mtro-glycerine, glucodine and gun
cotton, are all forma of Uie same thing,
and the effort has been to make these
harmless under ordinary shock and fire.
Why should the conspirators have used
these? They tad known agent, effec
tive and certain, and there was no need
to look for an infernal novelty.
What fulminates are common, and what
would have been their effect?
The fulminate of mercury would have
done. An ounce of it exploded on this
desk would tear a hole through it. It
costs only $8.60 a pound. A glass ball,
such as those the marksmen shoot at, about
the size of a hen's egg, if filled with fulmi
nate of mercury and exploded as the bombs
were exploded which killed the Czar, would
rend the ground asunder and produce
effects identical with those which have been
reported. The effect of these fulminates
is the same as that of dynamite. Dynamite
is only a weaker, less susceptible form of
them. They operate instantaneously.
Gunpowder works gradually and moves the
builet fiom a gun. t ulnunate of mercury
exploded in a gun would act instantly, and
belore the inertia of the bullet was over
come the gun would be shattered. If you
put your shoulder to a wagon and applied
force gradually you would move the wagon.
If you ran your shoulder full tilt against a
wagnn the wagon would not move and you
would hurt your shoulder. That is the
difference in the operations of gunpowder
and a fulminate.
The is no reason why the assassins
sbouldn t have been contented with the
fulminate of mercury. It is cheap and
common. hen it is wet it can be trans
ported with impunity, and when it is dry
it can be exploded by a slight concussion,
and its effects are disastrous. A supply
for those glass bombs could have been got
from a number of percussion caps or cart
ridges. The bigger the bomb the more
disastrous the explosion, of course; but a
ball the size of a hen's egg, as I have said,
would have contained enough of this sub
stance to produce the effuct reported. Ful
minate of silver might have been used. It
is more highly explosive than the fulmi
nate ot laarcury. . Fulminate of gold is
ine chloride of nitrogen is another facile
high explosive; they could not htve
handled it.'
a lou Wltb to Our.
Archibald Forbes, the famous correspon
dent, met the late Czar at Bucharest. B i
had ridden many miles to carry news of a
battle. He says: '.Now, I had not seen
any Sunday clothes, or proper Sundays
either, for some three months, and I was
conscious that my apparel was eminently
disreputable. I was covered with dust and
my face was beautified by four snn blisters
and by a stubby beard of two weeks'
exowth. I had not washed for three days.
But Ignatief insisted that the Emperor
under the circumstances wouid by no
means stand oc ceremony. The imperial
headquarters were a dismantled Turkish
house. The room where he was consisted
of a little apartment with mud walla. A
little camp bedstead stood on the mud
floor. The Emperor was quiU willing and
received me with great kindness, shaking
hands and complimenting me on my
celerity. He was gaunt, wan and haggard.
His face bore marks of nervousness and
anxiety. Some months later I saw His
Majesty in St, Petersburg, upright of figure,
proud of gait, arrayed in a brilliant uni
form, and covered with decorations. A
glittering suite thronged round him and the
air rang with shouts of welcome. 1 could
hardly realize that the central figure was
the same man in whose presence 1 had sat
in the squalid Bulgarian hovel; the same
worn, anxious man who, with spasmodic
utterance, had asked me breathless ques
tions about the shirting fortunes of that
memorable battle. J told hun I could
make him understand much better if I had
sheet of paper whereon to draw a plan.
The Emperor said at once, 'Ignatief, go
and fetch a paper and pencil.' Ignatief
went, and the Emperor and my salt were
alone together, standing opposite each
other, with a little table between us. As
we stood and talked there came a strange,
troubled look to his face which seemed to
say, 'What a chance lor this man to kiu
me,' It was only for a moment, and passed
away as Ignatiet came back with a sheet of
foolscap.on which I rapidly sketched posi
tions, and explained details as I went on.'
The Tain of AntoKraphs.
The price of autographs is a variable as
that of pictures, and the collector who re
gards them as valuable capital may find
himself, or ma heirs may find themselves,
grievously disappointed with the mean
sums brought by some specimens, and per
haps astonished at the figures given for
others. At the receut sale of an autograph
collection in the Hotel Drouot, a letter of
Napoleon L to Oudinot was obtained for
twenty-five francs, whereas a letter from
the Comte de Chambord to M. Yillemain
was carried up to the unexpected sum of
flUo francs. This may have been due in
great part to the subject matter of the let
ter, as in it the head of the house of Bour
bon has stated his views on the question
of the Pope's temporal power. Letters by
his royal ancestors were knocked down at
comparatively insignificant prices a Louis
AV ILL for twenty-two frant and a bund:
of epistle by the Grand Monarch himself
for 200 francs. Some tellers by Madame
Maintenon were valued at ninety francs
higher than th s of her royal partner.
Charles YIL realized sixty-three francs,
and Francis IL only forty-eight francs.
Some letter of the Prince de Conde
brought 410 francs; but exactly the same
sum was reached by the great actress
KacheL A Meyerbeer and a Bossuet sold
for seventy francs; a Sainte Beuve for
forty-two, Jules Jania for forty, and a
Talleyrand for thirty-one franca. A Pius
IX. only brought thirty francs. By far
the largest amount wa obtained for twenty
two letters by Pnnce von Metternich, the
great Austrian diplomatist, which were
sold for 5,000 francs. The whole collec
tion, containing 237 letters, realized nearly
30,000 francs.
A Trapper's Life.
Floyd F. Lobb, was for thirty six years
a trapper and guide at Piseco Lake in the
north woods, near where liouie, New
York, is row situated. He says when
he first reached PUeco in 1820 it was a
vast wilderness. Deer, wolves, and fur-
bearing animals abounded. In half a day
a man could go out in a boat and catch it
half full of fish. Seven years ago he
caught next to the largest salmon-trout
that waa ever caught in that lake. It
weighed 26 pounds, measured 3 feet 2
Inches long, and was 2 feet arouad its
body. He caught the fish "still-fishing'
in a boat, off an anchor. The largest
known nsh ever caught at Piseco was a
salmon-trout weighing 27 pounds. This
fish was caught by Timothy Thurman, one
winter, while in hi barn shanty, a heavy
fall of snow came during the night, com
pletely covering his shanty, and making
Lobb a prisoner. He luckily had provi
sions and wood, but no snow-shoes. He
was one and a quarter miles from the
nearest house, and it was impossible for
him to walk on account of the depth of
the snow. He remained a prisoner for
twenty days without seeing a human
being, letting his fire in the open fire-place
go out nights, fearing a spark might set his
bed of hemlock boughs on fire. Thus he
remained till a tliaw came and the snow
froze, forming a crust on which be could
walk, thus liberating him. One day,
while out fishing, he saw what he at first
supposed to be a deer swimming across the
lake. Lobb went after him in his boat. He
caught up with the supposed deer, but
looking around, beheld instead a large
bear. Lobb had too much pnde and grit
to back out. He had nothing but hi oars
and fishpolc, yet he determined to have
that bear, although he knew that bruin,
like all other bears when attacked by a
man in a boat, will do his best to change
places and give the whole lake to the man,
while he will try the boat. Lobb com-;
menced the attack by boarding about mid
ships, near his stern; bruin returned the
fire vigorously by attempting to board
Lobb's craft, as if trying to come the
whale and Jonah dodge on his assailant.
Lobb, although tough, thought he would
not set easily on his bearship's stomach, so
he concluded that he would lather trust to
his boat as a means of getting on dry land
instead of submitting to the old way. So
be retreated a short distance. Bruin like
wise ac ted as if to say, "I am sick of this
kind of work if you are," and was making
off, when Lobb made for him again, this
time running his boat way up on bruin's
back, and giving him a whack with his
paddls near truin's "skylight" between
wind and water, which knocked the bear's
bead under water, not letting up an inch
till he killed him, and brought him to
shore.
The Ciar Nicholas.
The Czar Nicholas, of Russia was a man
of hasty temper, but very full of generous
impulses. Having on some occasions used
harsh language to one of his Colonels, and
learning that the officer had taken the re
buke to heart, the Czar ordered a review,
and publicly embraced him at the head of
hi regiment. . A kind man, too, who could
imtaMf at finks. On the 1st of ApnLa lady
who told me the story herself, was sur
prised by her servant abruptly announcing
the Czar. It was so early in the morning
that she thought it was some joke of her
sisters in connection with the day, so she
went on sipping her tea. Presently she
looked up again, however, and saw the
servant standing aghast near the door,
which was still wide open, and behind it
in casque and plume was the stately figure
of the Emperor. He had come to bring
her good news of her son, who was abroad
and had been ill. He was not tolerant,
however, of intentional disrespect, and had
but a modified appreciation of a joke. A
General, who was Policemaster at St
Petersburg for a short time, found this out
to his cost. The General was considered
a very stupid man, and was the Czar's
favorite butt, so his Majesty was pleased ,
one night at a caurt ball to send him off in
search of a thief who bad stolen a colossal
statue, of Peter the Great. . The Police
master, finding this statue in it usual
place, as any one else would have expected.
felt mortified at the laugh raised against
him, and determined to be revenged in
his own way. Shortly afterward, there
fore, be announced to his Imperial master
while at the theatre, that the Winter
Palace was on fire The Czar rose hastily
to witness the conflagration, and on finding
that the Policemaster had presumed to
retaliate on his august self, sent him to re
flect on his indiscretion in Siberia. Finally
he was not a faithful husband, but he was
fond of his wife and very jealous. Her
Majesty was quite aware of this, and, un
fortunately, very mischievous. When
ever, therefore, she wished to get rid of
an officer that displeased her, she com
manded him to dance with her, and so pure
as he did so he was sent to the Caucasus.
The Czar's personal habits were soldierly
and simple, ile eat and drank with ex
treme moderation, and he slept in his uni
form on a tent bed in his study, with inly
a military cloak to cover hini. He allowed
his son, the present Emperor, 40,000 a
month while traveling abroad; the Empress
spent money so lavishly that her expenses
forjone night that she halted at Hanovere x
ceeded 1,600. He. gave, too largely, but
lis personal want must have cost utile
indeed.
Mistook Uie etgawl.
A well-known engineer on the Union
Pacific who .has a slight impediment in
his speech, had an interview a few days
since with his division superintendent, the
nature of which gradually leaked out and
became a source of considerable fun for the
boys. The story goes that on a recent run
his engine bad a collision with a cow, re
sulting disastrously to the animal in ques
tion. By a rule of the railroad company
s ich accidents must be reported by the
engineer and conductor in writing, and for
some reason the engineer forgot his duty on
this occasion, until he was summoned
before the magnate for private investigation.
'Mr. said the Superintendent,
how i it that you failed to report the
killing of a cow on your run, of such a
date?'
'Id-d-d-d-d-dont remember any su-s-s-s
rich accident,' replied the knight of the
footboard, scratching his head thought
fullv.
'Well, vou certainly must have killed a
cow on that run, for it was reported in
due form by the conductor,' insisted the
Superintendent.
'N-n-n-co, 1 d-d-d-ui'in v said uie en
gineer.
'Now just think a little, and see u you
can't remember it, said the persistent
interrogator.
"No, I c-ki-ki-can't remem-m-m-m-
member ki-ki-kiUing any c-c-cow. I-d-d-d-
do remember stn-stn-triking one, b-b-but
1 looked out of the wi-wi-wi-wi-window
and a--saw her lying on her b-b back, by
the side of the tra-a-ck, moving her feet
(motioning with his hands) to go ahead,
and I to-to-took it to mean that she
w-w-waa all right."
He was warned not to be too sure of
such signals in the future.
"Cold Tbis Morals.
Fairly In the road, a man came and sat
down in front of me and turned around
and faced me :
Cold, this mornin,' he said.
1 folded my paper, and fanned myself
with it vigorously a moment or two before
I replied. Then I unbuttoned my coat
Cpnvate to editors-:' it was originally
three-button coat but the exigencies of ihe
season, the long absence from home, and
the necessity of dropping something into
the contribution basket every time I go to
church ha reduced it to the minimum of
one,) wiped my fngid brow with my hand
kerchief, and said in panting tones:
'I don't find it so.'
the man looked astonished. But pre
sently he said.
A'Maybe you ve been aruno r ;"
Tto,' I replied, 'I have been asleep for
the past two hours, in a sleigh.'
And ye didn t feel cold V the man in
quired.
'Man !' I said, in tones of amazement,
cold, on the Vth of June V
'June? he echoed, straightening up,
are you crazy I li s the yth of January I
'WelL' 1 said, 'it felt like the y.h of
June to me.'
ka'It's mighty fine sleighin', all the same,'
the man said.
I told him without a blush, that I had
never seen the mud worse on Ohio roads
since 1 could remember.
Whereon earth,' he asked, in utter
astonishment, Hlid you come from V
'Dayton,' I said.
Ilia eyes began to creep out and look at
each other over the top of his nose.
'When! be asked.
This morning,' I said calmly, since
eight o'clock.'
'How I he fairly shouted.
'In a one-horse sleigh,' I said.
bakes alive !' he shrieked. It is impos
sible. It s only eleven o clock now, and
Dayton is fifty miles away I'
Couldn't help it,' I insisted. 1 left
there a little over two bonis ago in a
sleigh, had a poor horse, drove slowly,
and the mud was up to the hubs of the
wheels all the way. It was warm as May
and I st en enough now to make one boy
slide in five thousand miles.'
The man's hair sfood on end, and he got
up to start off for the other end ot the
car.
'If you ain't crazy, and I believe you
be,' he said, with grave earne itness, "you
are an awfnl liar.'
Good man,' I said, 'I expect I am, but
I am not a fooL 1 may tell startling lies
but 1 do not talk like an ass, and 1 would
be thought a bar or a maniac, rather thau
an imbecile. I do not come into a car
where the thermometer nnukf three de
grees below zero, and tell a living, breath
ing, intelligent, sensitive man that it is
cold, just as though I was imparting some
information to him. 1 do not watch him
drive up to the train in a sleigh, spinning
over the lry, wisp snow, on the smooth,
perfect pike of Ohio, and then attempt to
instruct, amuse, or startle him by telling
him the sleighing is good. I would rather
astonish a man than bore him, . If I have
nothing better to Ull him than some tiling
he knows already, far better than I do, my
mouth is sealed, and I will never speak.
In order to astonish hun or startle him I
may have to lie to him, but that is better
than bonng him. Y'ou might as well sit
down and tell me that twice two is four as
to tell me that it is cold. You might as
well tell me that George Washington is dead
as to tell me the sleighing is good. Go
away, good man go to sleep. I tell you it
is June, there is no snow; there is dust and
there are rosea, it is two hundred miles
from Dayton to Lovelaud, and I walked
from the north pole this morning Go gel
theejto a nunnery,and when you can model
your conversation on something beside the
United States Signal Service reports, come
and wake me up and hold me in the
matchless charm of your instructive talk.
1 know not what course others may take,
but as for me, gaul blast the man who
talk to me about the weather.''
And straightway the man ariz and got
him unto the attcrwood-box, for he was
sore astonished. And as I fell into a
slumber the forgotten dreams of which
contained mere real, valuable infotmatDn
than that man ever did or ever will know.
heard him opening a conversation with
the taciturn brakeman by remarking.
Cold this mornin V
Vo BiowUftg.
An agent of one of the great circus com
binations was recently interviewed: It
ran in this channel.
How many diamond pins will you wear
this summer.and what will be their value?'
I shall not wear any. Our show has
made a new departure in that ni atter, and
nobody exeept the man in the ticket-wagon
will be allowed to wear diamonds. I am
just going up to the express office to send
my seyen pins, lour nags anu sieeve-uui-toDS
home to my brother."
How many consolidated shows do you
advertise?'
Only 13, but we haveexactly 16. we
do not lntei-d to do any bbwin this sum
mer, but we will practice the modesty
dodge. We have 12 clowns, but advertise
only 10. We have 10 elephants, but ad
vertise only eight, and so on ngui
through.'
Have you the only man in the woriu
who can turn a duuule somersault over six
teen horses I
No: there is another man who can do
it. and although he is in Slate prison we
didn't want to say we bad the only one.
We shall practice no deceptions and cany
no humbugs.'
Have you the only baby elephant f
rYes. s.r, but we dont advertise it. We
don't want to be me towards other combi
nations.
'Will your street parade be a mile iong?
Two of them, sir, but we don't adver
tise that fact. We let people come and be
agreeably surprised.'
'Have you got an eiepuant wiucn nas
killed seven men?'
Seven ! Why, he's laid out eight this
very winter. 1 think the list loots up
thirty -two, but we don't advertise it. An
eleohant is an elephant, and what s the
use of blowing about it r
You have two or three man-eating
turers. of course?'
Of course seven or eignt ot mem, anu
we also have a list of the names of people
who have been eaten by them, but we
do m t blow about i.'
"Have you the sacred.cow of India?"
'Yes, sir, and the sacred ox of Japan,
and a sacred calf and sacred pig, but we
don't blow over 'em. We let the public
come in and separate the sacred from the
unsacred themselves. ,
'rVul you have two circus rings i
"We shall have four, but don't put it on
the bills. A I told you at the start, we
are making a new departure. W e shall
not exaggerate. We shall not even tell
the plain truth. No diamonds no trum-
nets no snide challenges no humbug
offers no field of the cloth of gold. We
are going to sad along in a gentle, modest
wav. and give the people five times the
worth of their money. Tina's all chil
dren half-price, and no lemonade sold in-
nde the tent,'
BRIEFS.
The elevators of St. Paul hold 214,
92 bushel of wheat.
Opium kills 3,000,000 Chinese every
year.
Weaton has walked .13,000 miles
since 1S)J6.
There are 70.000 Catholic schools
In France.
Louisiana's rice crop is estimate 1
at 250,000 barrels,
There are 17" breweries In Iowa,
and 4000 saloons.
Herbert Spencer, the philosopher.
Is In delica health.
Half the population or the United
States is in nine States.
The winter pork-packing at Mil
waukee was 325,585.
Alexander III is 35 years old, and
has four children.
Last year the government sold
293,000,000 postal cards.
Qneen Victoria made $4,000 on
stack farming last year.
During the pork packing season.
St- Louis put up 474.159 hosrs.
There are 3.500 grocers In Phila
delphia who employ U.000 hands.
The weight of the circulating blood
1 about twenty-eight pounds.
A man annually contribute to
vegetation 124 pounds of carbon.
The public schools of the United
State cost $83,520,000 a year.
The value of the New York hav
crop is estimated at $ti0,000,000 a ve.ir.
ihe exact population of .New York
State by the census of 1889 is 5,082,'.)S2.
The centenuary ot George Steph
enson, June 9, Issl, is to be celebrated.
There were 160 fires In Xew Y'ork
during February, an average of six a
day.
Qoeeri Mary II. daughter of Jinies
bv Auue Hyde, died of small-pox In
1694.
The famous destructive earthaunke
whieh occurred at Lisbon was in the
year 1472.
There are In this country 729 Uui-
versallst churches, with 32,947 me a
bers. Twelve torpedo cutters are to h
added to the Kusian fleet in Chinese
waters.
The revenue of the Sultan of Tur
key is 70,0jO,Ikio, of which $i5,WX.000
goes to the army.
Of 257 women in Bnrlinzton. Yt..
entitled t vote at the rteeut election
ouly 16 did so.
A site has been selected on George
town height for a naval observatory,
10 COSE f oj.uuu.
Mile. Bernhardt' receipts In Bos
ton were $49,157, as against 5l,8ti7 in
New Y'ork.
The crown prince of Sweden Is to
marry the eldest daughter of the grand
duke ol Baden.
The cost of cremation at the cele
brated Washington, Penn., furnace is
now placed at 45.
Mount Ararat, on which the Bible
say Noah' ark found a reiting place,
H 17,112 feet high.
In few cities are there more than
half a dozen railway stations. In Lon
don there are at least 150.
It is calculated that sixty tons of
steel are annually consumed in the
manufacture of steel pens.
The coinage at the mint for Feb
ruary amounted to $9,558,000 of which
$1,703,000 were silver dollars.
Ex-Judge Strong will devote hU
leisure to literary and scientific studies,
and may practice law.
The poor department In T: who-stor
furnishes food and fuel to 700 families
at a cost ot about ft. "JO a month.
Sir. Francis Lvcett. of E
has left more than $1,250 OK) for th
erection of Wesleyan chapel.
A new oil well wa sunk recentlv
n Beaver county. Pa., which prodm-p
fitly barrels of heavy oil per day.
The land that has been in-ante 1 bv
the United State for rail and wagon
roads amounts to 193,105,764 acres."
French Canadian farmer have
been selling frozen milk in Montreal
during the winter at 2 cents a pound.
It is said that postal card wrltins
has diminished the sale of writing
paper $12,000,000 annually in the
United States.
Gen. Robert Toombs, of Georgia.
hx given a thousand acres of T'jxas
land to aid iu founding a university in
that state.
It Is stated that the new cigar
factory just start-id at Tioga, Pa., will
employ about one hundred cigar mak
ers. The average yield of Imlia.i corn
per acre throughout the United State
is 29.2 bushels, of an average value per
bushel of 2S; cent.
The Oxford University calendar
shows a slight increase In the nuiutwr
of undergraduates. There are now 2,
882, against 2,814 a year ago.
A stone pitcher used bv John
Brown during his imprisonment in
Charleston, Va., wa sold recently at
auction in Baltimore for $2.
The average of the pulse in Infancy
Is 120 per minute: in manhood. 8') : at
J years, 00. The pulse of females is
more frequent than that of males.
The late earl of Seafield was the
chief of the Clan Grant, one of the old
est families in Scotland, having an un
broken line ot descent for bOO years.
The export of Swiss product to
the United States for ISID were greater
than any other year on record, exceed
ing 1879, by 100,000,000 francs.
There are 3500 children In Massa
chusetts under the care of the State,
and of these over 2000 are the cll-
spring of criminals.
One of the vaults in Treasury
Building, which is about ten feet
square and fourteen feet high now con
tains , 000,000 in registered govern
ment bond.
The total number of hog cut up in
Cincinnati during the winter season,
from November 1st to March 1st, i&
521,425, showing a decrease, compared
with last vear, ot 12,4 Ij head.
There are in Scotland 298 priests.
28C churches and chapels, 210 Catholic
schools, and forty regigious communi
ties, with an estimated Catholic popu
lation of J11,J84 souls.
Clark Mills, the sculptor, took a
plaster cast of the feature of Senator
Carpenter alter death, from which a
bust i to be made for the Congres
sional Statuary liall.
Washington swords are quoted or
valued at $10,000 apiece, at least that
is the price set by Senator Whyte, of
Maryland, in a resolution onered in
the Senate, which proposes to purchase
one from Washington's nephew, LewL
for exhibition at the Yorktown Cen
tennial. The New Y'ork State Library,
at Albany, ha two of Washington's
swords which cost the State $20,000.
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