r v
,r. v.
'II III'
B. F. SOHWEIEB,
the ooisnrunoi-TEE uhoi-aid the Enosoanare op the lavs.
Editor and Proprietor.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1881.
NO. 35.
I ' T
vx i nrr 1 1 m i mi ni i 1 1 1 1 1 1
THE MEADOW-LARK'S COLOR..-
t i
rptembtt,.
ioe lovely morning in tte torlght Sej
A malow-lark rose gsyiy singing wick the ion.
Ami took liia ngnt o'er plains ana hills and vaUrys,
To where the reapers had their work begun.
over the golden field a breeze was creeping,
Moving Its masses In a gentle swell.
And manj a hrawny bnsbanilman was reaping
The grain that laughed and nodded aa it fell.
Hurh-poued ia air the meadow-lark remaining.
Watched with a sigh the blooming rye laid low,
Till a dark cloud across the sun's face passing,
Kolibed the stiU-dying grain of half Its glow.
Thm up from oat his little heart came welling,
A song so full of pity and of lore.
As pierced the perfumed air of early morning, .
AKcending even to the throne of J are.
The warrior god heard with a deep compassion
The song that marked the bird's o'erwhelmtng
grief,
And rowed that he should ever wear a token.
That he had sympathized and sent relief.
He spoke. The cloud, the mighty word obeying,
rhanged to a rainbow floating in the sky,
While sunleanu all nutrammeled now come troop
ing l'p the sweet valley to the field of rye.
Ooe.tbe mortbrilliant,thro' the ripe grain banting,
mi scythe lighted for a moment's rest,
.Then upward glancing, the great Jore obeying,
Fell with warm kisses on the lark's dark breast.
And to this day the meadow-lark is wearing
The richest color that e'er greets the eye,
A merry sunbeam's radiance, tempered
Ky the rich bloom that blossoms on the rye.
NELLIE'S MISTAKE.
Nellie Graham stood leauiug against
the casement of an open window leading
oil to a sloping lawn, at whose base
flowed a sunny, rippling stream of wa
ter. Sear her, reclining on a low, easy
chair, sat a yonug girl of aliont her own
At first glance the exquisite soul-love-.
lines of her face paled in Miss Graham's
more brilliant beanty, but there was
more to love its possessor and fewer to
envv her.
Something like indignation was in her
v.iiee as she addressed her friend.
"I cannot lielieve that yon mean it,
Nellie," she said. "You have leen en
gag.sl to Carol Stanley a year, and how
can you say so carelessly that your en
gagement shall lie broken
"Beg pardon," interrupted the other,
iu low ironical toues. "I have not yet
Wu engaged to Carol Stanley twenty-
four hours. It was to Lgrd Carol Stan
lev 1 gave my pledge."
"Oh, but Nellie, because he has lost
title and estate, must he also lose the
woman of his love ? Think a minute.
Ton surely will not give him np so
easily? Tliink better of it, dear.
know von cure for him. Do not so
lightly renounce vour life's happiness.'
"Yon plead his cause eloquently, my
dear. Eeallv I did not know I possessed
a rival in my fair cousin. Perhaps a
heart caught in the rebound. You know
the rest of course , and can point the
moral."
"Nellie, you are cruel cruel ! I
But the late speaker had passed
through the own window out of hear
ing, and advanced to meet a man quick
ly approaching on the green sward,
while the young girl left behind fell
back in her chair, the great tears cours-
iu- down her cheeks, ou which the crim
son color signal flamed.
"I must leave this place. I cannot
meet him again. I must go home ! Bnt,
oh ! how ean she give him up ?"
Myra Lynue and Nellie Graham were
cousins. The girls, howsver, had been
closely nuited, more by the tie of friend
ship than cou-siuship, since the latter
was a distant liond, and Graham Court
was almost as much Myra's home as her
own.
Now, however, the plainer charms of
her own humble home were very grate
ful to her.
Here uo one could prolie the discovery
so new to herself could trace the scar
let blush which seemed so often to burn
lier e.heek. nutil she wondered that it
Yn not leave its brand.
Sbeha.1 been home six weeks, and
twice Carol Stanley had ridden over to
Wr. bnt she always denied hersell
to him on some household pretext, un
til one morning tie overtook Her in ine
road.
"So I am to find you at last, he said.
His voice sounded the same as of old,
. bright cheery tone was unchanged.
"Have yon seen Nellie lately?" she at
last found courage at ask.
"No," he answered, and then she saw
the frown gather on his brow, and an
expression of pmu come alwut uis lips.
'T x v as little of your cousin as possi
1,1.. now You know. Miss Lynne, I
am no longer a subject for congratula
tion."
"Yes I kLow." she said. "I
.TY.'t i.;tv m " lie interrupted. "I
l'u . x , &
.n't lienr that onite yet."
'T .'t.1 not mean to nitv you." she re-
1 ll 1 Oil
And then the conversation drifted into
otli.T channels.
"Oh, if Nellie had not spoken of the
heart caught in the rebound 1" she
thought, when week after week Carol
Stanley would find his way to their gar
den, or the parlor, to spend long hours
with its fair yonug mistress.
She understood so well why he came,
lNH-aii.se now mid then Nellie's name
drifted into the idle talk, and because as
he grew stronger he dared speak of her
the love he had borne her.
It was mingled pain and pleasure to
listen.
If only she had not learned her own
the twin would have been less.
But she was destined to learn it more
f,.,ll t as one nwraiug. strolling
through the woods together, the sharp
report of a hunter's gun close beside
tlim .tnrtled them both.
The nest instaut Imt ccajpaiion sank
wliito mml senseless on the tw rd reside
her; while the affrighted hunter, whose
mis-aimed charge had entered nis ,
lifiutii.l frirarrl
"Bring assistance quickly!" exclaimed
Myra, while she raised the heavy head
t.,i.. i'orr J sneak to me !" she
in I My, v. j
moaned. "Carol, Carol !"
He opened hi eyes with a half-wan
dering look, as though delirium must
have overtaken him.
At this instant tHe hunter returned
with assistance, and a half hour later the
wounded man had been borne to Myra's
home, the wound dressed, and the
knowledge given that it was merely a
flesh hurt, painful but not dangerous;
yet his recovery was a tedious affair.
He grew moody and abstracted.
It gave him more time to think of
Nellie and his loss, Myra thought, even
while she wondered why his eyea fol
lowed her with such a strange, question
ing look.
Once she entered his room with some
freshly-cut flowers in her hand.
"Where shall I put them, Mr. Stan
ley ?" she questioned.
"Mr. Stanley," he answered. "Did
not once hear you call me Carol ? Or
was it a sweet fancy wafted from dream
land?"
Don't," she said, as though he had
hurt her, and hastened from the room,
bearing with her the flowers, and it
seemed to him the light and sunshine.
Had he been blind all this time, and
was he just beginning to see ?
A grand ball was to be given at Gra
ham Court, at which Nellie insisted that
Myra should be present.
The invalid was fully recovered now,
and he too was summoned to the feast.
Miss Graham had plunged into con
stant gaiety since the breaking of her
engagement to Carol Stanley, but it had
all failed to fill the empty place in her
heart.
On the evening of her ball, she picked
np the paper sent down by the after
noon's maiL
Glancing idly over its pages, she sud
denly started at seeing the name of the
man to whom she so lately had been be
trothed. It was a published decision of the
court that, owing to some disability,
the title could not. descend to Carol
Stanley's cousin, but, together with
the estates, must remain in his posses
sion. He was, then. Lord Stanley stilL
Fool that she had been !
But the decision had been made pub
lic but a few hours.
He would never dream of the acci
dent which had In ought it to her know
ledge. To-night, while he still thought lier in
ignorance, she must win mm dock.
It was late when he entered the spa
cious drawing rooms.
I have been waiting for you, she
said, in her sweetest, lowest tones.
"You honor me too greatly, Miss Gra
ham," he replied.
'Let ns go into the conservatory,"
she added. "It is cooler there."
He offered his arm.
From a distant corner of the room,
Myra saw them.
"She need not have feared, she
thought, bitterly, only the next moment
to reproach herself with her selfishness.
"I will not begrudge him any happi
ness, she said to nerseu.
Have you forgotten the last time we
were here together, Mr. Stanley?" Nel
lie was asking at this moment.
"No " he answered, gravely, looking
quietly but surprisedly into the beauti
ful face beside him.
"Can one ever retrieve a mistake, I
she asked, "w hen one finds it out ?"
I do not know," he replied, toying
with an exquisite rose beside him, as he
continued:
"Can one causa the rose blighted in
midsummer to bloom again in the frosts
of winter ?"
An hour later Carol Stanley led Miss
Lynne to the same spot.
"I love you, Myra," he said, simply.
I thought my heart was dead when I
met you. I know now that it has
never lived. My darling, will you be
my wife ?"
'Oh tjarol, are you sure, sure oi your
self ?" . .
"I have been made sure to-night, he
answered, drawing her close to his heart,
and breaking off the splendid rose with
which he had toyed an hour befoie, to
place it in her hair.
She was too happy to question nis
words or their meaning to happy even
to let Miss Graham's congratulations
sting, when she said, scornfully :
'A heart caught in the rebound, Uid
1 not tell you so?"
Too happy even to. oe maae nappier
when she learned she was to share no
humble lot with the man she loved, but
that her wedding day made her Lady
Mvra Stanley.' '
i Ochiltree's Hat.
I was sitting in the court yard of the
r..st.i states Hotel talking wiin tee ma
nager of a New York newspaper. Colonel
Tvn" leiuiiree. tne 'cicma
walked Dast, "I will tell you a gooa
story about Ochiltree," said the newspaper
man. ' 1 Here are iuiim.
..r fnil of a small fancy hat U one of
them: the other is teiimg a uuuiuB
yarn, inducing his hearers to believe it,
.n.i Hm.ii lottinr them know it is all cam-
num. Tnere are two rival naiien
York, at everybody knows, we wuiwi
tl.om Smith and BlOWO. 1 saw a vmw
graph going the rounds oi ine press auoui
Ochiltree going into t' e St, Charles Hotel
in New Orleans wearing a very handsome
..h rm fnr.cv little embroidered smoking-
car). One of his friends asked him where
he got iu Why.'said he. one of the
prettiest and sweetest youoe ladies you
ever saw mtdc it for me.' Presently one
ti- fr;n.! n snaked o get the bat in
his hand, Mid saw printed on the inside of
it, in hig gilt letters, oiuim, ,"7"',
aenipnt that at once exploded
the pretty youcg lady story. Id ped
the paragraph out and printed it, the
man continued, "but changed
the name of the batter from Smith to
Brown, for Brown was one of our patrons
and Smith wasn't, The day after the pa-
.i. .r,n.rvt Smith rushed up to me
iTi .;bi 'How the deuce did that para
nk .hoot Oahiitree's bat happen to get
into your paper with Brown's name put
n! Why.doyou know I paid $1 a lioe
! ! .it.V Jt in the other Dapers. and
it for me ana ruineo mj
The Eagle.
The original bird chosen as the sym
bol of the United States always had a
bad reputation. Franklin said its adop
tion was a mistake. It was not a dis
tinctly American bird, to begin with.
The turkey would have been more ap
propriate, and was a product of the soil.
Andnbon always lamented the selection.
To him Franklin wrote that the bold or
American eagle was a bird of bad moral
character. "He does not get his liviDg
honesty.lamLlike those men who live by
sharping anil robbing, he is generally
poor. Besides, he is a rank coward; the
little king bird, not bigger than a spar
row, attacks him boldly and drives him
out of the district."
On the other hand, there is a distinc
tive trait of the eagle which will satisfy
and gratify those who hold that the
United States is the field in which,
woman has asserted her superity to man,
and succeeded in governing hini, even
when he does not know it. In this re
spect the American eagle is a fit emblem
of the people whose symliol he in. For
observers say that the bald American
eagle is under proper subjugation to his
spouse. "The females are even braver
and fiercer than the males," just as the
American women on both sides were du
ring the war. She also stretches her
wings to the utmost extent over
the nest, and all that the male brings to
put into it, as if she wore the sole pro
prietor of it And even the most casual
observer of American life will recognize
in this correspondence determination of
the American woman to run her house
and household largely to suit herself,
leaving to her husband the duty of pro
viding for it and paying the bills.
Considering, too, the tendency of the
American male to premature baldness,
which is universally attributed to female
supremacy, the bald eagle is an especial
ly appropriate symbol. It is true, the
naturalists say.he is white-headed rather
than bald, but the general eff x-t is the
same. And if the American eagle is cow
ardly and allows a smaller bird to bully
him, yet this is not so foreign to the
American people as might appear at
first glance. In Franklin's time it was
not so perhaps, but in these days when
a Jay Gould or a Yanderbilt, a gas com
pany or any other corporation can take
all it wants by putting on a bold front,
the ratio between any of these and the
American people, is very much the same
as that between the small bird and the
big American eagle which is able to
bully.
So that Franklin to the coutrary.those
who chose the American eagle selected
better than they knew.
The Arctic Problems.
Captain Delaney, of the Arctic mail
.teamer Kite, says : Since we left Nain,
a vast body of prodigiously heavy field
ice has swept southward from Baffin's
Bay, through Davis's Straits, extending
eastward ou tke one nana towara tne
shores of Greenland, and westward on
the other all along the coast of Labra
dor. Between Independent Harbor and
Dumpling there is a fleet of. over 400
fishing vessels literally imprisoned in icy
walls and unable to effect an escape
either in a northerly or southerly direc
tion. The Kite broke through the ice-
nip pressing against the land only after
a eontmons ramming oi tne smaner noes
during twelve successive hours. When
leaving Battle Harbor to proceed on ma
northerly course Captain Delaney ex
pressed a decided opinion that he would
not be able to advance any lunner norm
than Holton Harbor, which lies about
twenty-five miles South of Cape Harri
son. Although the Kite is an Arctic
whaling and sealing steamer she is not
fitted, even with all her enormous
strength, to cope with this terrible sea
of floe ice that is now precipitating itself
into the North Atlantic basin. Captain
Delaney describes as a continent of ice
the unbroken, pallid, congealed ocean
that stretches away eastward from that
portion of the Labrador coast where the
four hundred vessels are more complete
ly blockaded, than if they were detained
there by a hostile naval squadron at Bat
tle Harbor. The weather is described
as of absolute wintry coldness down to
the 25th ultimo. There was frost every
night sufficient to solidify congealed
water, and on several days previously
the atmosphere and water were so bit
terly and intensely cold as to obstruct
the fishermen very materially in their
fishintr operations.
Taking, then, the two reliable reports
of Captain Delaney into consideration,
tne one wniwn at uu uu puuuaa
in the Herald of the 20th of July, and
the other at Battle Harbor, separated.
too, in point of time by an interval of
some fourteen days, we cannot but rea
sonably conclude that a condition of
things almost the very opposite of that
now t escribed obtains in the region at
present being traversed by the Arctio
Amlorinir steamer Proteus. Ice and
frost are the ruling phenonema observed
down to within one bare week of the pre
sent date and as far south as the hlty
second parallel of north latitude, while
on the other hand, northward of Nain
and ImIow Cape Chudberch. ice fields
formed the exception even as early as
the first weeks ot June, and the atmos
phere was of genial summer mildness.
Taw Yellow Water Lily.
John James Audubon first discovered
the yellow water lily in Florida, and
mentioned it ; but none of the botanists
of the time could ever find it, and it was
concluded that Audubon must have been
mistaken. - A few years ago, however,
Mrs. Treat rediscovered the plant in
Florida, Since then specixeus of it
have been sent to various parts of the
world. It is, however, a rare plant, and
until this summer has never been known
to bloom away from its native home-
There is another specimen now in bloom
at the Kew Gardens, London. In shape
this rare flower resembles the well
known white water lily. It is smaller,
however. The blossom is of a bright
canary yellow, measuring nearly two
inches in diameter. The leaves are very
beautiful. They are heart-shaped and
varieeated in color. The top. is green,
flecked with purple, and the under side
is boghi purple red.
Tli em Doctors."
I had just unfolded the daily and set
tled back in the seat for a pull at the
news, when she reached over and poked
me in the neck with her yellow parasol
and called eut:
"Has them tarnal doctors killed the
President yet ?"
She was an old-fashioned, motherly
woman, nevtr traveling without a vial of
peppermint, and having a hawk's eye
for every patch of smartweed and bunch
of catnip along the hue.
"The President is able to sit up."
"I don't believe it don't believe one
end of no such story !" she said as she
left her bundles and boxes and parcels,
and came over to share my seat.
"But the papers say so."
"I don't keer two cents for no papers!
I tell you the President hasn't bin doc
tored right any of the time, an nobody
kin make me lelieve that he's gettia,
better. Young man, are you a doc
tor?" "No, ma'am."
"You needn't 'mam me, because I'm
a plain woman. It's a pity you ain't a
doctor, fur I could prove ye a humbug
in alxnit tw o miniU ! Do you -know
what is killing off so many folks in this
country ?"
"It's death, isn't it ?"
"Of course it's death death and the
doctors ! And them doctors have done
their very best to kill the President !
Do you rememlier what they done the
day he was shot ?"
"Um. Let's see ! Prolied for the
ball and gave him morphine, didn't
they?"
"They did," she replied, as she
jammed the parasol in my ribs. "That's
just what killed my nephew in the army.
He was shot by a cannon ball and them
doctors prolied and prolied and probed,
aud when they had got around to decide
that the ball had gone clean throngh
him and knocked off the roof of a barn
half a mile away, the poor boy was dead.
Morfeen ! I have saved over 100 nay
burs from the grave, and I never sot
eyes on morfeen ! How much I have
pitied the poor President, and how I
have wished I was there !"
"What for?"
"What fur? Why, to turn them tar
nal doctors out doors, and have the
President ont chopping wood in four
weeks ! It makes me biliug mad to read
their way of treating him."
"What would you have done ?"
'Don't ask me don't ask me ! I feel
like spanking the hull crojrd! Have
you read the papers every day ?"
"Yes."
"Well, have you read that they have
soaked his feet one single time since the
oay he was shot ?"
"No,"
"Of course you haven't ! Did they
put horse-radish drafts on his feet ?" .
"Not once."
"Have t.iey given him a smartweed
sweat ?"
"No."
"Or tried mustard poultices ?"
"No."
"Has he had a single cup of catnip
tea since the day he was shot
"No."
"Have they nsed any flaxseed aliout
him?"
"No."
"Haven't heard of them digging any
gingsen, sarsapanlla, wild turnip, sweet
flag, burdock or sweet sicily ?"
"No."
"No you haven't !" she exclaimed, as
she iust missed my nose with that ami'
able parasol. "All they've done is to
talk aliout his perspiration being up to
102. his normal pulse aud his temper
ature from 90 to 98. If it was me my
temperature would 1 np to 300 and I d
make things hum! It's the shame
facedest case I ever heard of, and you
just mark what I tell ye that them
tarnal doctors will snitl at looeua ana
nnmber six and turn up their noses at
mustard plasters till all of a sudden the
President will begin to sink, and even
cold tea and mutton tallow won't save
him 1"
Auiusl In War.
Men and animals are able to sustain
themselves for long distances in the
water, and would do so much oftener
were they not incapacitated, in regard
to the former at least, by sheer terror, as
well as complete ignorance of their real
powers. Webb's wonderful endurance
will never be fortrotten. But there are
other instances only less remarkable.
Some years since, the mate of a ship fell
overboard while in the act of hoisting a
sail. It was blowing fresh; the time was
nicht. and the place some miles
out in the stormy German Ocean. The
hardy fellow nevertheless managed to
gain the English coast Brock, with
dozen other pilots, was plying for fares
by Yarmouth; and as the mainsheet was
belayed, a sudden puff of wind npset the
boat when all perished except Brock
himself, who. from four in the afternoon
of an October day to one the next morn
ine swam thirteen miles before he was
able to hail a vessel at anchor in an off
ing. Animals themselves are capable
of swimming immense distances, al
though unable to rest by the way. A
dog recently swam thirty miles in order
to rejoin his master. A mule and a dog
washed overboard during a gale in the
Bay of Biscay have been known to make
their way to shore. A dog swam ashore
with a letter in his month at the Cape of
Good Hope. The crew of the ship to
which the dog belonged all perished
which they need not have done had they
ventured to tread water as the dog did.
As a certain ship was laboring heavily in
the rough of the sea, it was found need'
ful in order to lighten the vessel, to
throw some troop horses overboard,
which had been taken taken in at the
Coronna, The poor things, my infor
mant, a staff surgeon, told me, when
they found themselves abandoned, faced
round and swam for miles after the ves
sel. A man on the east coast of Lincoln'
shire saved quite a number of lives by
swimming out on horseback to vessels
in distress. He commonly rode an old
gray mare, but when the mare was not
to hand he took the first horse that was
offered.
Beware of bosom sins.
Brevity is the soul of wit
Bu-iness is the soul of life.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
Be always at leisure to do good.
At a great bargain pause awhile.
Theatrical Effects.
Many of the peculiar effects produced
upon the stage, imitating mooniigut,
sunlight, thunder, wind, rain and other
natural phenomena, are a puzzle to those
outside of the business. How such re
alistic representations of these things as
are often witnessed upon the rtage can
be made is a question that often enters
the mind of the spectator, and is seldom
answered in a satisfactory manner. It
is always the ambition of the scene paint
ers and stage carpenters, to devise un
proved methods of imitating these things,
and hence the stage may be said to try
to hold the mirror np to nature in a ma
terial, as well as moral sense. Years of
experience have tended to bring these
imitations to a high state of excellence ;
but the limits do not yet seem to be reach
ed, and new are continually appearing.
The electric light is not yet used, bnt as
its pale bluish tint would be serviceable
in particular effects, stage machinists are
now deliberating how it can be best em
ployed. All of the operations mentioned
together with some which will be de
scrilied, are classed under the general
term, "stage effects." Authors, in writ
ing plays are always on the lookout for
an opportunity to produce a telling effect
The amount of work bestowed upon
their production in a theatre is simply
astonishing to those unacquainted with
that mysterious realm known as "behind
the scenes."
Thunder is a common stae effect, and
is used with great advantage in many
plays. In former days it was produced
by shaking a large piece of sheet iron
hung immediately above the prompter's
ilesk. This contrivance produced a good
imitation of sharp, rattling thunder, bnt
failed to give the dull roar which is
always heard in torms. A contrivance
for this purpose was soon invented. A
heavy box frame is made, aud over it is
tightly drawn a calf skin. L pon this the
prompter operates with a stick, one end
of which is padded and covered with
chamois skin. A flash of lightning, pro
duced with maguesiuin, and a sharp
crack of the sheet iron, followed by a
long decreasing roll upon the "thunder
drum," produces an effect which is start-
lingly realistic. Traveling companies
are compelled to he satisfied with the
sheet iron alone ; and the tragedian who
enters a theatre provided with a com'
plete thunder apparatus always is happy
to think that his battle with the elements
"Kinj Lear" will be worth fighting,
The rain machine in large theatres is
a fixture placed high up in the "flies."
A cylinder is made of half inch wood.
It is usually five feet in circumference,
and four feet in length. Upon the in
side are placed rows of small wooden
teeth. A lot of dried peas is plaeed in
the cylinder, a rope belt is run around
one end of it and down to the prompter's
desk, and it is ready for a drenching
shower. By turning the cylinder, the
peas roll down between the teeth, and
the noise produced by them makes a
good imitation of rain falling npon a
roof. A sudden pull of the rope, accom
panied by a gust on the "wind machine,
gives the sound of the sweep of a blast
of wind during a storm. Traveling com
panies often meet theatres where there
is no wind machine. A sufficiently good
one, however, is easily produced. A
common child's hoop is obtained, and a
sheet of heavy brown paper is pasted
upon it after the manner of a circus
rider's balloon. A handful of birdshot
is placed upon the paper. The "ma
chine" is canted from one side to the
other, and the shot rolls around the pa
per, producing a fairly good rain effect
Wind is an item that is very usef ol in
heightening the effect of stage storms. It
is often dispensed with in theatres where
strict attention is not paid to details, but
not without a loss of "realism." It has,
moreover, a great influence over the
feelings of the spectators. The blind
Louise in the "Two Orphans" is much
more pitied when the audience can hear
the pitiless blasts that makeber shiver.
Hence in every large ' theatre the wind
machine plays an important part It is
not a stationary apparatus, but can be
moved to any quarter of the compass
from which it is desired that wind should
blow. In the last act of "Ours," every
time the door of the hut opens snow flies
in and a shriek of wind is heard. The
wind machine in that instance is placed
just outside the door ; and the property
man works it while his assistant amuses
himself by trying to throw his paper
snow down Lord Shendrvn s back. Ine
wind machine is constructed in this man
ner : K. heavy frame is made, in which
is set a cylinder provided with paddles
and resembling very much the stern'
wheels seen on Ohio River tow-boats.
Across the top of this cylinder is stretch
ed as tightly as possible a piece of heavy
groe-grain silk. This silk remains sta
tionary while the wheel is turned by a
crank. The rapid passage of the paddle
across the surface of the silk produces
the noise of wind. Often traveling com
paniea are in theatres where there is no
wind machine. Then the property man
groans audibly,and proceeds to do what
in theatrical parlance is called "faking
the wind. He selects a heavy piece of
gas hose, called by stage gas-men "flexi
ble," and finding a quiet corner where
there is aufficent space to swing a cat
without danger to the cat he whirls it
around his head with the greatest possi
ble rapidity. This method produces
very satisfactory results to every one
but the property man. He is a long-
suffering person ; but the extraction of
wind from "flexible causes him to find
life tedious.
Every one has heard the startling
crash that is produced when the hero
kicks the villain through a four-inch
oaken door. One would think that not
only the door but the villain must be
completely shattered. Thia noiae is pro
duced by the crash machine, one of the
oldest implements of imitation still used
on the stage. It is similar to the wind
machine in construction. A wheel with
paddles set at an angle of about forty
five degrees to the radii is the main part
of the machine. Upon the top of the
wheel one end of a stout piece of wood is
pressed down by fastening the other end
to a portion of the framework. When
the wheel is turned, the slats pasting
under the stationary piece produce a
rattling crash. The principle of the ma
chine is illustrated by the small boy who
runs a stick along a paling fence and is
gratified by introducing into the world
an additional morsel of hubbub.
There is nothing that can be so well
counterfeited on the stage as moonlight
scenery. And yet there is nothing which
requires more work. The artist begins
the task by painting a moonlight scene.
In daylight such a scene is a ghastly
sight It is done in cold grays and
greens, in which Prussian blue and
burnt "umber play an important part;
and the lights are put in with white
slightly tinged with emerald green. The
trong moonlight of the foreground is
produced by a calcium light thrown
throngh a green glass. The winter light
upon the scenery at the back of the stage
is obtained from "green mediums, a
row of argand burners with green chim
neys. These are placed upon the stage
just in front of the main scene, and are
masked in" from the view of the audi
ence by a "ground piece." A row of
them is often suspended from the'fhes,
in order to light the top of the scene.
This upper row is masked in by "sky
borders." Thus a soft green light is
thrown over the entire distance, while
its source daes not meet the view of the
spectator. A usual feature of stage moon
light scenes is water, because it affords
an opportunity for the introduction of
the "ripple" a charmingly natural stage
effect The main scene in a moonlight
view is always painted on a "drop" that
a scene made like the -curtain let
down between the acts. The position
of the moon being determined, immedi
ately under it beginning at the horrizon,
a number of small irregular holes is cut
in the drop. These are then covered on
the back with muslin and painted over
on the front to match the rest of the
water. Behind these holes is placed an
endless towel, aliont eight feet in length
running around two cylinders, one at
the top and one at the bottom. The
lower cylinder has a crank by which the
towel is turned. In this towel is cut a
nnmber of holes similar to those cut in
the drop. A strong gas burner is placed
between the two sides of the towel.
When the machine is turned the flashing
of the light from the passing holes in the
towel throngh the stationary ones in the
drop produce a fine ripple. It is always
better to turn the towel so that the holes
pass upward, as that helps to make the
manic wavelets seem to dance ap towara
the sky. Instead of a towel a large tin
cylinder has been used, but it is cumber
some and noisy. It is necessary to turn
this towel with gTeat steadiness ; other
wise the ripples will go by fits and starts
and entirely lose their natural appear
ance. Startt are easily put into the sky.
Each twinkling orb consists of a spangle
humr upon a pin bent into a double
hook. The slightest motion of the drop
causes these stars to shake and the flash
ing of the light upon them produces the
twinkle.
Major Max.
I do so pity those men on the Bod
gers, remarked Mrs. Max, passing tne
Maior the honey, which he always in
sis ted upon having with his rice cakes.
les. indeed, replied the Major, who
was a trine cynical that morning, hav
ing scalded his mouth with oonee.
"Yes, indeed, my dear, the hie of an
Arctio explorer must be hard. They
are so isolated from the world. Just
imagine, if you can, the horror of living
three years ont of the dust and wind and
fog and rain of our glorious climate ; of
not meeting all that time the man at
your club who thinks the oftener a story
is told the better it is ; of being without
the consolation afforded you by the
busted stock operator who knows you
are glad of an opportunity to lend him
a twenty ; of being where millinery and
Japanese decoration stores do not daily
entrap ones wife ; of being "
"W by. Major, how you do talk ! 1
was only thinking of the horrid things
the Rodger crew will have to do to get
their bear steaks."
"How's that ?" asked the Major, in
stantly interested over the subject of
steaks, which h holds of much greater
importance than the Irish land trou
bles. "What I know aliont it, resumed
Mrs. Max, "I read in a fashion paper,
and it ought to be true."
"It certainly onght to be, Mrs. Max,
if only on account of its age,"
Well, the article said," continued
Mrs. Max, pretending to ignore the
Major's slur on her favorite reading,
"that Arctic explorers, when they want
to kill a Polar bear, plant a big knife in
the ice with the blade t ticking np. They
danb the blade with blood, and the bear
comes along and licks it and cuts its
tongue. It is so cold that he doesn't
feel the cut ; tasting his own blood, ne
continues to lick the knife until his
tomme is all frayed, and he bleeds to
death. Isn't it dreadful ?"
"Quiet your fears, my dear, said the
Maior. when his wife had finished.
That is the way they killed the Dear
when the story was first published, bnt
in the last twenty years an improvement
has been made, which X win toil you
about, if you will kindly give me just a
drop more of coffee, with cold mftk this
time. The way the thing is done now
is as follows : When Captain Berry, of
the Bodcers. wants a Polar bear for
dinner he gives a midshipman a ooppcr
bed spring and a chunk of salt pork.
The midshipman compresses the spring
perfectly flat, wraps the pork aronnd it
tight and holds it so until it freezes
solid. Then the frozen pork, stuffed
with the bed spring, is thrown out to
the nearest iceberg, where it is prompt
ly swallowed by a Polar bear. When
the heat of the bear's stomach thaws out
the pork it release the spring, which
flies out, and the bear soon dies from a
pain in his side."
"Major," said Mrs. Max, with
warmth. "I don't believe that story is
true."
"No, my dear, and you won't, until,
in a few years, you see it in some
fashion paper, and then yon will swear
by it
Ministerial Fth Diaaera.
According to one account, in early
part of the last century, a very high tide
in the Thames broke down a portion of
the sea-wall that protected the marshes
of Essex, near the village of Dageuham.
An extensive tract of valuable land was,
in consequence of the occurrence, flood
ed and lost; and, notwithstanding vari
ous costly attempts carried on for a suc
cession of years, the breach remained in
its deplorable condition. At last, how
ever, in the year 1721, an engineer
named Perry was successful in his en
deavors to repair the wall a feat which
it is reported, made as great a sensation
at that time as the construction of the
Thames Tunnel in after years. The work,
however, was considered of such import
ance that an act of Parliament was pass
ed, appointing a body of commissioners
for its superintendence. These when
elected were mostly city gentlemen, and
they soon arranged among themselves a
dinner as a preliminary step for after
ward discussing their business. In a
short time it was discovered that the in
land lake of water, which it was found
almost impossible to drain entirely off,
produced excellent fresh water fish.
Hence, their visit came to be connected
with a dinner of fresh fish, caught and
served up in the board room, which
formed part of a building close to the
flood gates, usually known as Beach
House, and which had been purposely
erected for the accomodation of the Sup
erintendent of the works. This dinner
soon became an annual institution, "and
many of the Commissioners who had
country houses in different parts of Es
sex contributed not only wines from their
cellars, but fruit and flowers from their
gardens for depsort. Distinguished guests,
too, were invited, including the Cabinet
Ministers, the latter being conveyed
from Whiteha'l in the roayal and Admir-
ality barges. Hence, in conrce of time,
it became a kind of Ministerial whitebait
dinner; and afterward, owing to the long
journey from Westminster, the scene
was changed from Beach House, and
transferred to one of the taverns at
Greenwich. Another origin, however,
has been assigned to this annual festivi
ty, which is as curious as the preceding
one. Many years ago, on the banks of
Dageuham Reach in Essex, a merchant
named Preston, a baronet of Scotland,
and some time member of Parliament
for Dover, occupied a cottage, where he
was in the habit of seeking quietude and
relief from his Parliamentary and mer
cantile anxieties, frequently entertaining
as his guest the Right Hon. George
Rose, Secretary of the Treasury. On
one occasion Mr. Rose accidently hap
pened to intimate to his host that he was
quite sure Mr. Pitt, of whose friendship
both were proud, would much enjoy a
visit to such a charming country nook,
removed, as it was, from the bustle and
turmoil of every day life. The Premier
was accordingly invited, and so mach
enjoyed his visit that he readily accepted
an inviatation for the following year.
After being Sir Robert Preston's guest
several times, it was finally decided that,
as Dageuham Reach was a long distance
from London, and the Premier's time
was valuable, they should henceforth
dine near Westminster. Thus Green
wich was (elected, and, as this place
was more central, guests were invited to
meet the Premier, who in time included
most of the Cabinet Ministers. As, how
ever, the dinner was now no longer of a
private character, and embraced many
visit"B personally unacquainted with
Sir Robert Preston, It was decided that
he should be spared the expense; but,
as a compromise, he insisted on supply
ing a buck and the champagne. The
time for dining together was generally
after Trinity Monday a short time be
fore the close of the session. Oa the
death of Sir Robert Preston, the dinner
assumed a political character, and the
party was limited to Cabinet Mwmters.
The Weakening of Meet by Heat
Examples of the mysterious failure of
steel are not uncommon, and although
much of the mystery which used to at
tend the qualities of steel is disappear
ing before modern research.it cannot be
said that increased knowledge always
leads to be better confidence. One of
the peculiarities of spring and tool steel
which has lately been investigated by
several observers Mr. Adamson among
the number is the known liability of
steel that is very flexible when cold to
break when at the blue annealing tem
perature. It has sometimes been sup
posed that only inferior metal is subject
to this tendency; bnt the workers in
Ural iron, which is remarkably pure in
quality, have often observed the same
action. Mr. Adamson has found that
steel of this kind becomes actuaIly"pow-
dery" at a temperature of between 500
dg. and 700 dg. Fah., or the point at
at which willow twigs take fire; and he
has decided that this is the point when
the metal is at its weakest, possessing
pttle orjuo coherence. This phenome
non, if it can be substantiated as univer
sal or even frequent, is suggested as
possible explanation of a large number
of accidents, such as the breaking of
steel tires, shafts, and parts of machine
tools which may be strong enongh when
cold, but being raised to the stated tem
perature by the effect of friction, etc,,
they are not able to withstand the slight
est strain, and, in fcet, drop into pieces
by their own weight The quickness
with which broken parts of machinary
or tools would, under ordinary circum
stances, cool down, and therefore regain
their strength would naturedly lead an
ordinary observer away from the truth
which Mr. Adamson claims to have dis
covered.
She grieves
when alone.
sincerely who grieves
A new poem by Swinburne is an
nounced, to be entitled "The Statue of
Victor Hugo.
NEWS FN BRIEF.
Holland is not pleasant during the
summer months.
Yandalia was the capital of IllinoL
from 1813 until 183&
It rains three times as often in Ire
land as it does in Italy.
In England and Wales there are 440
persons to the square mile.
An autograph letter of Mozart has
been sold in Paris for $400.
An inebriate asylum for women has
been established in Chicago. .
Marion. Ga,, has been for twenty
years without a school house.
On Cape Cod there are about fifteen
hundred Portuguese fishermen.
There are 68,600 colored children
in the public schools of Virginia.
Opium kills about 160,000 persons'
annually in China, it is estimated.
Cotton has been nsed for garments
in India for three thousand years.
An eloping couple at Hartford, Ct,
were a black man of 30 and a white girl
of 15.
Mississippi county. Mo., devotes
over 4,000 acres to watermelon raising
this year.
The snow bank in Tuckerman's ra
vine in the White Mountains, is now ten
feet deep.
It is proposed to raise the Lord
Mavor of Dublin's salary from $10,000
to $20,000.
Fechter's daughter will, it is said,
marry Bosquin, tenor of the Grand
Opera at Paris.
The Municipal Council of Paris in
tend to tax telegraph and telephone
wires in sewers.
The circulation of fiction from the
Boston Public Library is only 43 per
cent of the whole.
Thirty years ago it costs Massa
chusetts J4. 81 to educate each child,
now it costs $13,55.
The average price of prime mutton
in Melbourne throughent the year is five
cents, and beef six cents.
There has been a marked increase
in eastern Europe of late years of publi
cations in the Hebrew tongue.
Lebanon county, Pa., has fifty-one
tobacco factories and over a million se
gars are manufactured annually.
A South Bend dealer advertises
"bull-dog revolvers, the kind of weapon '
with which the President was shot
Only eight United States dollars of
1804 are in existence. There is one in
the British museum which cost $800.
The English Jockey Club has bought
for $900,000 a fine estate near Newmaket.
It includes 2,500 acres, with a mansion.
A white quail was shot in Virginia,.
recently. About eighteen years ago
many white qnails were shot in the same
State.
The Federal surgeon-general's con
tingent fund last year was charged with
repairs of the value ot yj'ii on one
wagon.
General Robert Patterson has left to
his family an estate valued at $1,500,000.
He made no pnbhc or charitable be
quests.
27,430,000 tons of coal were mined
in the Authractic region of Pennsylvania
last year, an increase of 11,000,000 tons
since 1870.
The wife of the Rev. Bryan O'Mal-
ley, a Church of England divine, has ob
tained a separation because he kicked
and beat her.
The number of German emigrants
who passed through Hamburg alone to
America from the 1st of January to the
30th of June amounted to 74.633.
Major Seth Pierce, of Cornwall,
Conn., the sole remaining representative
of the class of 1806 at Yale has just died.
He was nearly a hundred years old.
Two new. wood pulp factories were
put in operation in Norway in 1880. and
eight of the nineteen old ones were en
larged. Six more are about to be built
One-fifth more siding and flooring
is needed than the nnmlier of square feet
of surface to be covered, because of the
lap in the siding and matching of the
floor.
In excavating at the Lord Lorne
Mine at Gold Hill, Nevada, at a depth
of 300 feet, there was found in a stratum
of clay live worn is about three-qnarterf
of an inch long.
Prof. Rosemlale is said to have
translated another of the inscriptions on
the ancient sword of the valiant Captain
Myles btandish, making it to read : "In
God is all might"
Denver has a population of less than
50.000, but it includes six men who are
worth from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000
each, 20 who are worth $500,000, and
200 who represent $250,000 in their own
right
The Rev. M. Forrest, a missionary.
has prepared in the Japanese language
ten little books on the Ten Command
ments, setting forth the difference be
tween Christian precepts and those of
Budhism.
There are 32,222 generals in Vene
zuela, and the present president has
been very economical in his commis
sions, too, for he has issued only 8,000.
The rest of the inhabitants are women
and children.
The crucifix which Columbus held
when he first landed in America is as
serted to be in the possession of a lady
in Colorado. Whether it be actually that
which was once owned by Columbus or
not, it is ceatainly a very ancient cruci
fix. Chiiig Tsan Yu. the new Chinese
Minister, is expected to arrive in Wash
ington in November to succeed Chin Lan
Pin. He is about 50 years oi age, and
been in the Governent service many
years. At the time oi nis appointment
he was Collector of Customs'at Tien-
Tsin.
The interior of Dr. Johnson's house
in Gough square. Fleet street, London,
has been opened to the public It was
in this house that he lived from 1749
until 1758. He wrote there his Diction
ary, his "Vanity of Human Wishes,"
and portions of "The Rambler," and
"The Idler."
Harvey, the discoverer, or rediseov-
erer of the circulation of the blood' has
now a bronze statue by Albert Bruce
Joy. The sculptor followed the por
trait by Janssens in the Royal College
of Physicians. The site for the statue
is on a favorite walk of llarvey at t olke
stone, his native place.
Captain Glazier, who has been on
an exploring expedition with a small
party in canoes, conducted by an Indian
guide, claims to have discovered the
real source of the Mississippi in a beau
tiful little lake of sparkling water three
quarters of a mile above Lake Itasca,
with which it is connected by a rapid
stream.
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