-
?aV
v v.
SCHWEIER,
TEE OOISnTUTIOI-TEE TJHOl AID TEE ZITOBOEMZJT 0? TEE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XXXVII.
MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 31. 1SS3.
NO. 44.
J -::: E: ; ;
B. P.
"WITH THlTciRRicST
Barest mood ofH the year' "
Aimless, idle and ooutent:
Sky and earth and atmosphere
holly indolent.
Low and clear and pure and deep
Ripples of the river inK
W ater-ulies, half asleep,
Drowsed with listening.
Tremulous reflex of skies
Skies above and skits beow
raradise and Paradi.se
Blending even set
ltlossoms with their leaves unrolled
LauKhmgly as .hey were lip.
Cleft with ruddy beaten gold
Tongues of petal tips.
Rush and reed, and thorn and vine
Clumped with grasses lithe and tall
Ami a web of summer shine
Woven round it all.
Hack and forth and to and fro.
Flashing scale and wing as one,
Iragon tiies that ccme and go,
Shuttled by the sun.
Kairy songs and lullabies
Fine as phantasy conceives
Kt-hoes w rought of cricket cries
Silled througl the leaves.
O'er the rose, with drowsy buzz,
Hangs the liee, and stavs bis kiss.
Even as my fancy does.
Darling, over this.
Lo, let us forget all care.
And as listless as the day
Drift adown it, half aware,
An where we may.
Drift and curve and deviate.
Veer and eddy, float and flow,
"Waver, swerve and undulate,
As the bubbles go.
WOOL-F1CK1MU AXD A MUSIC.
"Good evenin', Mis' liornish."
"Why, is tliat you, Mis' Manly?
Come in, won't you? I wouldn't
a-knowed you but for your voice, seein'
as jour uounet is so rurover your face,
au' this ham a-fryiu' does make sech
lumes around my head."
"Mis' .Manly" stood in the doorway.
It was dusk. She wore a long gray
bonnet of the kind known as "Shaker,"
with a voluminous skirt that wrapped
her figure like a comfortable mantle.
it you could iiave peeped like a star
within that bonnet, you would have
seen a tired, worn face, and eyes that
looked with something like envy into
me couiiortabie kitchen where Mis'
liornish was frying bacon for "his"
supper. (In this western country the
shy matrons always sjieak of their hus
bands as "he.")
"It's so late I can't stop," said Mis'
Manly. "I just dropied round to say
1 was tryin' U git up a wool-pickiu' for
lo morrow, an' to see if you an' Deb
would come."
iebby Ilomish was busy at the
ironing-table, pressing out a white skirt
with au overskirt and three ruffles; but
she stopped a moment, pushing back
the little black rings of hair from her
rosy brow, to say:
"Why, Mis' Manly, what a pity I I'd
have helied you with all the pleasure
in lite; but there's the picnic! "What
ever iKJSsessed you to have the wool
pickin' the same day?"
"Ain't it just my luck?" cried the
widow. "You see, I've been kind o'
slack about my wool, an' yestiddy
morniu' Mr. Siuiiins said if I'd have
it ready agin Thursday, that he'd take
it in to Mulkytown and sell it for me.
It's the only chance I'll get to send it
off; and wool is up now to 50 cents in
money, and 55 in trade; so I just felt as
if 1 must get it out to-morrow, come
what might."
"How many have promised to come?".
"Well, you see, this picnic spoils
everything. I could a-got 13 or 20,
and we could a-linished it up before
noon. But everybody was plum crazy
about this picnic I ain't got the
promise of luore'u five ladies, an' you
know that ain't no show at all to pick
out the wool of 12 sheep, an' it seems
like my sheep was always the dirtiest
sheci an' the fondest o' brambles and
brier-hedges of any in the country."
Here Mis' Manly let a few tears fall;
mild as the rain of a drizzluig day, and
juite as depressing.
"It is too bad lor anything!" cried
Mrs Ilomish, with hearty sympathy,
-I'll come over, of couse; but Deb, you
know couldn't give up the picnic"
"Law no. It couldn't be exited;
I'm io werful glad to have you. " You'll
come early, won't you?"
"I'll be bound that I get over before
you have your dishes done up," said
Mrs Ilomish. with a jolly laugh.
The widow Manly took her sad face
home; the supier was dished; "he'
came in from the wheat field; and the
white dress was finished and fluted; but
somehow Debby liornish did not feel
quite happy.
"She did look so pitiful," she thought,
recalling the pinched little face under
the sun-bonnet. "I should have been
so glad to have helped her,"
In truth, the ioor, complaining little
woman needed help a good many times
in the course of the year. "He" had
been killed in a mill where he worked
some live years before, leaving to his
wife four children, a small farm, a few
sheep, and a cow; all of which she
managed as well as her load of frs,
agitations, and chills allowed. They
ail had chills, poor things; they had
given up the doctor as a vain luxury,
but they bought quinine and calomel
by the pound, and worked on dismally
between the shakes. A wool-picking
was one of the hardest "chores" of Uie
year.
Are there any of my city-bred young
folks who don't know what wool
picking is? It is a careful picking
over of the wool after it has been
sheared to free it from burrs, brambles,
hemes, Spanish-needles, dry mud, ana
dead insects that a lively sheep wUl
collect in his rambles through the world.
Further north the sheep are taken to a
Kl-iukling running stream, and weii
washed before they are clipped; but in
the stagnant, coffee-colored creeks oi
the West this would be a useless cere
mony. .
"Not half-a-dozen in the county to
help that foolish little woman," thought
Deb, wralhfully, "why couldn't she
have had her wool-pickiu' a week ago.
At any other time there would have
been no lack of neighbors to help the
... a. r...t ovorvbodv was
wu in uer uecu, ' " ' -- -.
Hi the hard-
taken up with the picnic
work-day life of these people, few pleas
ures arise; and in all the farm houses
through the six-mile and the mne-ni e
prairie this picnic had been talked about
tor a month of Sundays.
They were going in buggies, wagons,
and on foot; were to fish in 1"
creek; to gather wild roses
berries; to light a fire in the "timtar
-so they called the wooded portwus
of the fiat country and make hot coi
tr- u"uer the
iUI UJIinpr' an. . .
. , nri uie nsiti'r 1T tl ..li
powerfi.i. re WM one -vet u,ore
t.? ' young Mr- Thinjr-IIirwn
las liT "Za ? f there' Xo" lb
was lo, and to her thinking, Hiram
was an interesting youth.
for MrT'. Ver'b?lyuhad a eood word
ror Mr Thing. He had a lovely farm
to begin with. His sheep shears lo
pounds to the fleece; his wheat avag
0,hels ,M acre. He had a nice
smc, his mother's death
only his crippled little sister Jessy to
take care of it It was plain to all the
gossips in the country that he needed a
wife. And all the girls liked him.
ees, Betty Browning, who could turn
out such a loaf of hrri i. .
equalled m Perrv countv: Christ
W lcker, the shy Swiss girl; thev could
all be casting a lire in Big-Muddy and
smiling on Hiram Thing. Deb's very
existence would be forgotten-so Deu
thought unless she should be there in
the white dress with the fluted rullles.
Mie sat on the porch looking up to
the sweet silent stars and thought it
over. In the sit..iug-rooni her father
uozeu in ins chair, with
a newspaper
over his face
to keeo off th niirlit.
moths and the str.iv rlii that, u-nna
sleepily sticking to the ceiling; her
motner nodded over "His" li:iifirnni
stocking. The work for the day was
done. Nothing between Deb and her
consciene.
She sat there so lonir. ami UA4 Fji at ill
that finally her mother roused herself
to call, "Why, Debby, child! why dont
joucouieinr nave your wits gone a
wool-gatherin'?"
"lhat's just it. mother!" cried lh.
with a laugh, though she brushed
something warm from her eyes as she
spoke. "I've just about concluded to
give up the picnic and go to Ui wool
pickin'." "Debby liornish! I thourht vonr
heait was plumb set on the picnic."
So I thought myself; but it's a little
more set on heipin' Mis' Manly git her
wool out. She is such a shif 'less little
critter! An' it'll be a real misfortune
for her if she don't sell her wool for a
good price. So I'll just go along and
bear my bob with the rest of you. And
if you don't mind, mother. I'll take
over the cakes and tluugs I baked for
the picnic"
"That's a good plan, honey, for I
reckon she won't hare much of a din
ner." By "sun-UD" the next morninir Deb
and her mother were off. As they
reached Mis' Manly's gate, a buggy
whirled up in a cloud cf dust. A voice
called, "Deb! Debby Uornish!"
ell! well!" cried Mrs. Uonnsh. "if
there ain't Hiram and Jessy Thing!"
" ny ain't you on your way to the
picnic, Deb? cried the young girl in the
buggy.
'UliI you know wool-pickiu' is such
fun," said Deb, with a droll look, "I
couldn't resist conim' over and lendln'
a hand."
"Well, you girls are crazy," said Mr.
Thing, j umpin'out of the buggy; "here's
Jessy, uothiu' would do but that she
must come to the wool-picKin'."
"That s natural enough, brother. 1
never did want to go to the picnic
much. What could I do on my crutches
amongst a lot o' lively young folks. 1
should just a' been a drag on you.
But I can pick wool with anybody, so
here I am. It's different, however,
with Deb."
l'es, indeed," cried Mr. Thing,
eagerly, "and now, Miss Deb, do let
me persuade you to change your mmu.
1 ou see 1 haven x any company now
that sis has deserted me. I'll be proud
if you'll let me drive you to the picnic,
and keep company with you to-day."
Poor Deb I how handsome lie looked
as he stood there twisting his fingers in
the horse's inane. Tall and shin, his
eves as blue as his calico shirt, and
dancing with fun under his wide straw
hat. How nice, this warm day, to
drive along the waving wheat-tields,
meeting the beeze as it ruined the
young com; to nsn under tue snaue oi
a cotton-wood tree Much, much bet
ter than to sit in a stuffy room, picking
brambles out of wool.
"Do go," urged Jessy; "you know
I'm as good as two at wool-pick m"
Whether Mr. Tunic's sume was too
confident or Deb's own heart reproached
her, I know not, but at any rate she
said resolutely:
"I'll run a race wan you m wooi-
pickin', Jessy Thing, an' tliat'sall there
is of that."
In the widow Manly's House mere
wpm two rooms, cue u
dining and "company" room, with two
beds m the comer, tne otner a sieepms
room for the widow and her children.
It was here, too, that she retired to
weep over her miseries, a solace neces
sary only too often.
liv the time tney uau mmy sou w
J - " ...4.1. ..1 ... 41. a
WorK lour more were auum iu
party granamothers all tooold to care
f.-rfir-nica. "Grandma Bixby," took
the lead; she was as spry as a girl and
said she was 100 years old. Mi s. Hig
gins, noted for having survived three
congestive chills; Mrs. Harte, doubled
up with the rheumatism; and a funny
little old woman who had 13 children
and was nicknamed "Dame Thumb"
by her boys, made up the party. A
ereat heap of wool was piled up in the
middle of the floor. They sat around
it and peeped at each other over the top
of the pile as iwople do at dinner parties
over the epergue.
-I'm afraid, "adies, that my wool is
dreadful dirty," said the widow Maidy,
. Hatints!! air.
"Why, Mrs. Manly," cnea Jessy
Thing, gayly. "what would you do if
your sheep were u.e some r
other day, out in Colorado Why, in
the time of drought their fleeces get
full of dust; then the wind blows the
erass seeds into the wool, and when
the ram comes the seeds sprout, and
alter a while the sheep strut arouud
with the green grass growing on their
UAU heads turned to look at Jessy.
Noone spoke. But after a long silence
Dame Thumb said: . , - , ,
"Jessy Thing, you're jokiu', am t
y"I declare I read it," said Jessy,
twinkling her eyes at Deb.
She always was a master hand to
ioke " said Grandma Bixby. "I saw
ier born, and ner mother and her
Thwool-picking went on so vigo
rously that by dinner-time it was more
Sdone, After dinner Deb ta
sked that the widow join the cheerful
ckny, and leave her to do Uie clear
ffS; while Jessy, declaring herself so
S that she must take a "nooning,"
down to the spring to rest turner
abode of the trees. Deb bustled
around, rattling the dishes, and listen
i iee
ing to the old ladies' chirp in the next !
room. i
"Them Things is such nice folks,"
said Dame Thumb.
"Well, when all's said and done
they've got the curiousest name in the
world," sighed the Widow Manly.
"Don't you know how that came
about?" asked Grandma Bixby.
"I did know, but it's kind of slipped
my mind, owing lo so much trouble."
"Why, the gieat-grandfather o' these
young Things, he was named Bizzard.
And he had a sight o' trouble all on
account of his name. Do what he
would, the boys would call him Buz
zard an' flap their arms like wings
when he came around, and vex him
real rough. So he went to the legisla
ture praym' for bis name to be changed.
'All right,' says the legislature, 'what
name'U you have?', Ohl anything,'
says he, 'anything.' "That'll do,' says
tne judge. 'Write that name down.'
ne says to the clerk 'Anything.'
Uid uizzard. he was so struck of a
heap that he couldn't say a word.
And so in the snappin' of a bird's eye.
he was written down by the name of
Anything. The nex' gineratiou they
dropped the Any, but Thuigs they are
to tins day."
An' 1 lungs they will remain," sol
emnly said the old lady with the
rheumatism, "tul the last day. when
they'll be called up to the proper name
o' isizzara."
Well, Thing is a good name." said
Dame Thumb. "It's so handy like:
an' forget it you can't."
Debby in the next room felt her
cheeks burn. The stove was so hot!
"I'll go down to the spring and wash
the rolling-pin," she called, and catch
ing ner sunbonnet, slia walked off fan
ning herself with her apron.
The spring was shaded by willows,
and under one or tliem Jessy lay asleep.
Her crutch had fallen by her side, one
arm was rounded nuder her head, the
other, half bare, was flung out on the
grass.
"I will not wake her," thought Deb;
"poor child! how tired and warm she
looks!"
But at this instant Deb's eyes grew
wide with horror. Withiu a foot of
Jessy's bare arm was a young adder,
it's head, spreading out a little, was
reared to strike; white foam was at Its
mouth. How Deb did it she never
knew, but the next second she had
struck wildly at that evil head with the
rolling-pin, and was crying
"Wake! Jessy! Wake!"
Jessy did wake, and to a scene that
she never forgot. Deb had not dared
to raise the rolling-pin to strike again;
but pressed upon it with the energy of
despair, fastening the reptile to tbe
earth, though it squirmed and hissed,
and twisted itselt round the brave girl's
wrist.
"Get to the house, Jessy, as fast as
you can, and bring a knife."
She hobbled off, and in a time to be
counted I y seconds, was back again
with the whole party. The four old
ladies and Deb's mother were unnerved.
But Widow Manly, for once in her life
rising to the occasion, cut off the adder's
head in a masterly manner, just below
where Deb held it down with the rolling-pin.
They are used to snakes in this
broad, beautiful West of ours, so no
one tainted. JSot a great deal was
said. But Dame Thumb patted Jessy
on the head, with, "'ou had au es
cape, honey. That was a powerful
puen snake."
"1 know it," said the girl, with a
quick shudder.
The wool-picking went on; but Jessy
clung to Deb, and did not do much
more- As the sun w nt down and the
party broke up, she said, "If it hadn't
been for you, Debby, Dame Thumb
and the rest would have dressed uie
for the grave by this time; and so
Hiram would a'fouud me when he got
home."
"I'm glad I happened to have the
rollin'-piu," said Deb, practically.
Through the winter that followed, it
was observed that young Mr. Thing's
horse stopped with tolerable regularity
at the Uornish gate; and there is a
rumor that Deb will wear her white
dress early in the spring on a very im
portant occasion. Certainly the old
farm house has been painted and
papered, and Dame Thumb says,
Notliin' less than a weddin' will jes-
lify Hiram Thing in such a foolish
siendin' of his wheat money."
Tbey Drmuk Ulin l p.
Iu the neighborhood of Marseilles,
not Jong ago. was discovered an ancient
Itoman buryiiig-ground, containing.
among other interesting graves, that of
Consul Cuius Septimus, wherein a quant
ity of antique weapons and coins were
found, and, moreover, an amphora
the inscription upon which was all but
illegible ooataiuuig a small quantity
of a thick, reddish liquor. Ihe am
phora, emptied of its contents, was sub
mitted to the inspection of an eminent
archat Jog us t, who, after bestowing ex
traordinary pain on the deciphering of
the mutilated characters engraven upon
its surface, declared it to be his opinion
that they ind.catei the presence of
genome Falernian within the vessel,
adding that Cuius Septimus, a jovial
consul of considerable repute as ajudg
of good wine, had obviously ordered
that a flask ot the best vintage in his
cellar should be boned with lam.
The scientific gentleman who had dis
covered the consul's grave and taken
possession of its contents, upon learn
ing the true character of tbe liquid relic
in question, at once started for Paris
with bis Falerman in a glass decanter,
and, there anved, invited a dosen of
his friends, members of the Academy of
Inscriptions, to a dinner at one of the
leading restaurants. At desert he pro
duced the "consul's wine," carefully
poured it into four tiny liqueur glasses,
and handed it round to his guests, ex
horting them to drink it reverently and
npstauding, to the immortal memory of
Cains Septimus. The glasses had
scarcely been emptied when a telegram
was brought in by the head-waiter on a
salver, and laid before the founder of
the feast. He opened and glanced at
it, and then, letting it fall to the floor,
fled trjm the room, with a cry of ter
rible fgoDy. One of the startled
Acadeoucians picked up the message
and read it aloud. It ran as follows:
Marseilles, 7 p.m. Don't dnnk con
tents of amphora. Not Falernian at
all. Have deciphered inscription on
font, which previously escaped my
notice. Bed liquid is body of Consul
Cains, liquified by special embalming
process." Bat the friendly warning
came too late. The arohejlngist and
his Academical colleagues had drank
np the consul to his last drop.
Tne Beautiful In Hosiery.
Recent importations of fine silkst k-
wga for ladles are simpler in design
than were former fashions. Striped hoee
are gone. So also are those fancy things
which were adorned with flowers and
birds and snakes.
To a reporter a bright, clever sales
woman in a retail store said: "The
styles t.is year are I was going to say
they are just too lovely for anything,
but you newspaper men make so much
fan of that exprtssi m, I guae I won't
use it. But ludeed the new styles are
lovely. Tbey are in such exquisite
shades; will I show you some? Certain
ly. This is tbe latest shade. It's
called the electric blue. Everything's
electric blue this winter. Too pale?
l'es, I think so. too. Now, here's some
of the newest heavy ribbed goods. Did
you ever ree anything m neat an'd so
pretty and so rich? Here's a silver
lavender, and here's a turquoise, ana
here's a Bur fciun bine, and here s a jet
black, and here an oraoge, and On,
juft look here's the ashes of rose!
Isn't it perfectly beautiful? Ju my
opinion the ashes f rose here's the
ashes of rose but I beg pardon, whut
did you ssy? Can we toll by the size
of the foot whether the stocking will tit
the ankle? Oh, ye-; yon see but won't
you please excuse me here comes one of
my customers. I'll send our buyer to
you . He knows a great deal more about
hosiery than I do. Indeed he does."
"There's na trouble about the fit,"
said the buyer. "Fine silk is very
elastic It will give either in breadth
or length, if it is too broad it will be
come the right siae by palling it np
higher. See how thisstocking stretches.
It will fit the leg like a kid glove fi's the
hand. Tbe sizes range from eight-to
ten. In Baltimore the average is from
eight to eight and a half. In Boston
and Chicago it is from nine to nine and
a half, and in New York from eight and
a half to nine. It is a well known fact
among hosiery dea'.eas that the women
in Baltimore have the smallest feet in
the country. Why, there's not a day
passes without some lady asking for
seven and a half, which is a girl s sis),
I said 'asaing,' bnt that was a slip of
the tongue. They don't ask for any
particular size. Nor do we guess at
the size. We show them the different
shades, and they moke their selections
apparently without noticing tbe size.
There, are of course, exceptions to this.
but why most of the women of Baltimore
sbould be so diplomatic about baying
stockings is something 1 can t see sny
reason lor. If 1 were in i506ton or
Chicsg) or St. Louis I could readily
understand the obiezt.
lea, there are lots of high-priCid
stockings sold in Baltimore. Here s
pair worth $lo. This style is kuown as
the Czar na. Eich stocking is mad) iu
pans and then woven together after the
manner of an Indian shawl. There sra
four or five distinct colors in tuii design.
The Czarina, the sandal fronts and other
freaks of fr.cy designing, are worn in
the evening and at parties. Black stock
ings are worn at all times and are very
popular. The foot and ankle look
smaller in black than in any other color.
"The fashions in hoeurv are set by
the women themselves. When I went
to Europe this summer, I found that
the manufacturers had tx en making
striped hose. As the tendency in this
country was toward solid colors, Amen
can buyeis give orders accordingly.
The striped was immediately put aside,
and tbe manufacture of solid colors be
gun. They are now working day and
night to supply the demand. The best
silk stockings sell from ft to $15 a pair,
Silk hose for babies sell for S2.50 a
pair.
Take Ma Home.
The other day a prominent citizen of
Detroit, who has been greatly interested
in the subject of Ure-escaiies, was in
specting a building on East Woodbridge
street which had just been equipied
with balconies and ladders, and he
summed up his opinion with.
"Well, sir, there's no earthly need of
an accicent here in case of hie. All
any employe has to do is to coolly step
from a window to one of the lalconies
and descend in ierfect safety."
At 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon this
same citizen was in the same building
when some rags took fire on the fourth
floor, a smudge arose, and an alarm
was sounded for the steamers.
"Firel fire!" was echoed through the
building, and the employes rushed for
the stairs like frightened sheep.
The eminent citizen lost his legs as
soon as he heard the cry ran twice
around the room without seeing the
open door, and finally brought up at a
window. Tbe sash was hung on
weights, and yet he pushed, pulled and
tugged in vain, and finally lowered the
top sash and climbed over. As he de
scended to the second balcony he left
one coat-tail on a nail, broke his watch
chain, and took a tumble which landed
bun on his back, and he was there.
yelling "lire!" when the engines came
up. He had to be helped through a
window and down stairs, and when a
heartless wretch in the crowd asked
him how long he had practiced the
escaping" business, he replied:
"None o' your business, sir! Driver,
take me home."
Starters for Storte.
Slush, slush, slush!
I first saw the light of day
Push the eglantine aside, Hester."
It was night night in the geat city.
It was night night on the lonely
downs.
The sun was rising on a perfect day
A dull, drizzling day on the CoruutU
coast.
It was Herbert Delancey's twenty-first
birth-day.
It wai a beautiful afternoon toward
the close of August.
G olrey Marmalade had been a
bachelor for many ytais.
Jiuru of humble parents, John Urey
grew to manhood
lea, it was very hard for as all to part
with Lilita Jane; bnt
Only a Kin-uuller s daughter! A-mI
yet bow fair how woudrously fair she
was I
Ou a sultry day toward the close of
August, 18 , the heir of Jagsaurat lay
dying.
Ihe birds were twittering sweetly that
morning in lealy June, when Clara
Montmoreuct
"Na" The speaker was a fair, pale
girl of some nineteen summers.
A bngbt, glowing lire, a cheerful
room, boots everywhere what more
did Herbart Van need to be happy?
Dr. Frelize, a Brazilian, believe that
he has discovered the yellow parasites
in the blood of yellow fever patients. '
TheWorla's Wkrt Saoply.
It is not always certain that agricul
tural departments and commercial
agencies come very near, the truth In
their early estimates of the yearly crop
of wheat and other cereals in the civil
ized world. In many of the countries
of Europe and Asia which figure largely
in making up the grand total of the
yearly supply of bread-producing grains
the means of gathering accurate infor
mation in advance are very inadequate.
Much, therefore, of any advance esti
mate must be based upon conjectural
reports rather than positive know
ledge. Estimates are made, however, and if
they are even approximately correct for
the current year they are full of
encouragement for the wheat producers
of the United States. The latest
estimate of the Agricultural Depart
ment places the American crop for the
present year at 417.000.0UO bushels.
against 504,000,000 bushels last year.
This make a shrinkage of 87,000,000 of
bushels on last year's immense crop, it
is tnie, but it must be borne in mind
that 50,000,000 bushels of that crop is
carried over, giving a visible supply
for the current year of 407,000,000
bushels. AllowinK that the home con
sumption will be about the same as in
1882, when it reached -2S0,000,0O0 bush
els, there will be a surplus of J87.000,
000 bushels for exiiortation. if needed.
Will it be needed? To answer this
question reliance must be placed upon
estimates, the accuracy of which can
not be absolutely vouched for. The
lenna Congress estimates the total
crop of eighteen countnes at 930,000,
Ooo bushels, or fifteen per cent, below
the average crop, leaving a shortage of
not less than 100,000,000 bushels to be
niied by American wheat, this is a
larger amount than the average for
eign demand and can hardly fail to
keep the prices strong.
If the estimates are any where near
accurate they are very encouraging to
t lie commercial interests of this country.
The old world wants the wheat and the
new world has it to spare and nobody
else has. The ' present situation fur
nishes all tbe conditions for a proser
ous year's trade. Croaking is not in
order at this stage of the proceedings.
UMlp about (iloves.
AVe shall in time have a whole library
of the wararolje, and if every article of
apiarel finds as entertaining a chroni
cler as gloves have found in Mr. T. W
Beck, books about clothes will be
numbered among the most interesting
that nave ever issued iroiu the press.
Mr. Beck traces the history of the
glove from the primitive hand-shoe of
the earliest times down to the many
buttoned monstrosity of our day. In
clined, like all authors, to magnify his
subject, Mr. Beck claims for gloves a
descent so ancient that it is impossible
to arrive at any certain conclusion
about their age, and so noble, that at
one time they were only worn by royal
persons or royal blood, l'reliistoric
cave-men are believed to have worn
gloves; the ancient Hebrews wore
them, and they were adopted by Greeks
and liouians. The latter were believed
to have introduced them into Britain.
The early Eaglisli, according to Beo
wulf, had gloves. Before they were
regarded as a mark of royal descent the
Church claimel them as her own.
From the tune when Boniface VIII
U?W IsiiriaMl U'itli t-rlitvau u-Kitn ctllr
beautifully worked with the needle and
ornamented with a rich border studded
with ieails" to the present day, they
have figured as part of ecclesiastical
apparel. Thomas a-Becket, the Can
terbury saint, wore gloves at his inter
ment, and many another Church dig
nitary has been laid in the grave with
richly-embroidered gloves ou his folded
hands. In the inventory of Winchester
Iriiuty Church, made in 132, we read
of "j payre of red gloves with tasselles
wrought with veuis (enice) gold;"
and even long alter the Kestoration
their use was maintained. In 1078,
perhaps much against the bishops' will,
the old custom was still enforced "to
make presents of gloves to all persons
that come to the consecration dinners
and others." In Germany and France,
as well as in this country, gloves oc
cupy a place among the regalia, and as
they frequently appear in mediaeval
manuscripts we kuow that they were
white, and had wide pointed cuffs.
At first gloves were usually made of
linen, afterwards of silk. Gloves for
ordinary wear when the practical
British mmd discovered that they would
be an acquisition to our every-day garb
were made of tanned leather; such
were the gloves of Henry VI, which,
though undoubtedly useful, were far
from ornamental. Men and boys wore
gloves long before women adopted
them, and the same extravagance in
gloves which is noted among fashion-
ble ladies to-day was practiced by the
dandies of the sixteenth century. A
pair of Cjueen Elizabeth's gloves have
been preserved, which, though "of
very hue white leather, worked with
gold thread," are of a size at which our
lasluouab:e beauties would stand
hast. Good Oueen Bess, however,
had a hand that was fit to wield a
sceptre. The thumb of her glove was
3 inches long, and the palm measured
o$ inches across. Another royal glove
has. been preserved iu Ueiir yVIIIi-
'hawkes glove," in which, if the orig .
ual bears any likeness to the ill list ra
tion, a goodly number of "hawkes'
could find a comfortable resting-place.
As haw King, when by our forefathers
reduced to a science, had its own pecu
liar vocabulary, it had also its own
gloves, somatiuies, as those of King
Henry, large sed clumsily made, bu
mostly richlyembroidered, edged andti
lined, with heavy tassels to correspond.
remaps the reason why some of these
hawking gloves are really artistically
worked is that ladies likewise took part
in tbe sport of hawking. Archery was
another pastime in which they were
proficient, and many a tkl. for "shoot
ing gloves for my mistress" occurs in
the accounts of the stewards of those
times.
Mr. Beck discourses pleasantly con
cerning all manner of gloves royal,
plebeian, starting, military, judicial.
and ecclesiastical. Sometimes his zeal
carries bun a ay when he siieaks of the
white gloves of the Judge as being a
"foretaste of the millennium," but he
is generally reasonable and always
readable. Of more interest to the
glove wearers of to-day is his account
of the gloves of famous Queens. Queen
Elizabeth's gloves were of hne white
leather worked with gold thread, and
lined in the cuffs with drab silk. Mary
Queen of Scots' gloves cost 15s. with
out ornaments, tue latter costing 50s.
more. One of them, which is still pre
served, was of light buff leather, with
a gauntlet embroidered with silver wire
and various colored silk, and lined with
crimson satin. The elaborately em-!
broidered gloves of the sixteenth cen-
tury were adorned with flowers worked
in silk with such exquisite fidelity as
to render them veritable needle paint
ing. How long gloves have been in com
mon use is difficult to ascertain, but we
know that on the Continent they were
worn at the timeof Charlemagne,when in
England still "we went on .in benight
ed ignorance, careless of culture, des
titute of gloves. Saxons succeeded
Britons, the Danes came and went, and
tbe Normans came and did not go, be
fore gloves had a recognized place in
our national costume." From that time
forth thev have maintained their place,
and in the sixteenth century we find
gloves of leather and silk, the latter
often knitted. Besides describing their
historv. the author of "Gloves" ac
quaints us with their symbolical mean
ing. Gloves have been signs of faith,
security, promises; they entered into
transactions of tenure, and formed
part of mediaeval rent. But as they
part of mediaeval rent. But as they
were a token of hostility, they were
also often a peace-offering or a gift on
any special occasion, such as New
Year's and Easter Day. at betrothals,
weddings, and funerals; they were
worn as favors by chivalrous lovers,
and after going through all these stages
are now a common necessity, worn
among "all sorts and conditions of
men,"
Ljrtherod bw Beautlos,
"Next! ' said a piquant and rather pretty
girl with s towel in one dimpled hand and
a razor in the other, fcthe clanced down a
hne ot eight customers who were awaiting
their turn in the new barber shop in
Broad street, near Wail, New York. A
young man with delicate eolden hair, care
fully parted in the middle, jumped up so
quickly that he let fall his eye glass. He
dropped into the empty barbel's chair and
crossed bis feet convulsively on tbe etool.
Three barber chairs were ranged along
side this one; at two of them young ladies
were shaving 8 Lima and at the other a
pretty brunette was dyeing black tbe
moustache of a gentleman sixty-five years
old.
The young lady who had said "Next!"
in such a matter-ot-course way, as if it
were the twenty thousandth time she had
shaved some one, put one arm around the
top of the chair, at which the youn man
with hair like an autumn leaf wriggled bis
feet again. She dipped a brush into a
brand new cup and begin to pilot bis face
as it she were working on a canvas.
Then the fan- barber fcxk a tiny inatru
meat looking like a miniature curry-comb
with ouly one row of teeth left, aud drew
it gently over the young man's face, lie
encouraged the fair barber to talk, and she
rattled away about tbe new style of fall
bonnets, Oscar Wilde, the latest thing in
cloaks and the last love story. When the
shaving was finisbad the young man ling
ered to have hut hair shampooed, anl then
to have it cut, and finally to have his
mustache waxed. When all these opera
tions were through he tore himself reluc
tantly from the chair.
uankers, speculators in stocks and fash
ionable young men about t iwn came in to
get shaved or to get their hair combed.
Ibe four young ladies were neatly
dressed, intelligent and modest. They
bad formerly been dressmakers and said
tbey liked their new occupation very
much. Of tbe customers none wanted a
-quicK suave." xone naa to calch a
train. Every one was satisfied to sit
twenty minutes in his chair, and it be bad
been obliged to sit there an horn he would
have been delighted. When the girls pu'
the snow while towels around the young
gentlemen's necks, and lingered to tuck
them carefully in, when tbey tickled tbe
young customers under the chin with their
finger-tips in rubbing the lather into the
bristling beard; wheu they bent down
over the young men's faces to inspect a
micioscopic mole, the sgtition and delir
ious joy ot these youths may be more
easily imagined than decoribed. With a
profound tease ft tbe pleasure they had
taken In being shaved and shampooed,
many oi tne young men ouerea a dollar
and a half when they had put on then
overcoats and were ready to go cut. Their
astonishment was great when they learned
that ouly tbe ordinary fees were charged.
Some said it was equal Is a night at the
grand opeia, a Turkish bath and tbe Arion
ball all thrown Into one. An unbroken
stream of tbe fashion and 0ia::ce of Wall
street and the Froduce Exchange poured
into tbe shop all day. Tbe place was
handsomely htted up. The four feminine
barbers chatted wittily and incessantly
and said enough in the course or the day
to fill sn encyclopedia.
A Itwl .-,M Bill.
The $500 counterfeit note found in a
powder horn recently in a New York
pawnbroker's store, and pronounced a
counterfeit by Chief Drummond, of
the United States secret service, was
declared by that officer to be one of the
best imitations of a genuine note ever
seen. Mr. Brook, of the secret service,
stated to a Telegram reporter, that the
note was presented at one of the lead
ing city banks, and that the officials de
clared that they would accept it with
out hesitation. It was also shown to
the publishers of a bank note detector.
and they would not pronounce as to its
being spurious or not. Ihe note was
evidently in circulation for some time
and was patched. It is thought to have
been produced by Smith, a member of
the Brockway gang of counterfeiters,
who is now at liberty, and by Thomas
1. Ballard, who is now in the Albany
penitentiary serving a term of thirty
years for counterfeiting. Mistakes,
however, are sometimes made and notes
and coin which are genuine are regard
ed as counterfeits. Y esterday a Clam
bers street merchant called upon Mr.
Brook, of the secret service, and told
him that he bad two counterfeit sdver
coins passed upon him and that be con
sidered it bis duty to inform the secret
service of the fact. The coin, he stat
ed, had been refused at the elevated
iadway stations and by different others
declared to be counterfeit, one person,
after weighing, declaring them beyond
all doubt spurious. Mr. Brook viewed
the coin and then weighed them, and
astonished the Chambers street mer
chant by declaring them genuine.
The five cent pieces, gilded, so as to
look like five dollar gold coins, it has
been recently dbniovered by a man who
manufactured them as watch charms,
and there was evidently no very crimi
nal intent. To issue a gold, silver or
other coin, even of true metal and over
tbe value of legal coin, constitutes the
crime of counterfeiting, aud leaves the
person who manufactures them liable
to prosecution, the same as if the in
tention to defraud had existed. Some
time since a wealthy man in the South
issued gold coins which were worth
more than the legal ones, but this fact
did not save him from prosecution and
punishment as a counterfeiter.
Weaving Ehutie Goods.
The Glejiilale rubber works at East
Hampton. Conn., are the largest of the
kind in the country- There we were
shown the crude rubber and its various
transformations through to the finished
elastic suspender or webbing. In
South America the crude rubber is
caught from the tree on a stick shaped
like a common lath, and the lumps, as
solidified, vary in size, but are nearly all
the same shape, nearly round, avera
ging about one foot in diameter, thin
on the edge, and from two to six inches
thick in the centre. These pieces are
cut in halves through the centre to re
move the stick, then placed in a tank
of luke-warm water. After being sof
tened they are taken aud fed between a
pair of powerful corrugated rollers.
After leaving these, the junk of rubber
has changed from a hard, solid disk to
a flat, any shaiied piece, closely resemb
ling honeycomb tripe. (I suggested to
,UF KUK, it would Ibe a
j ""V1? 1 '5 ,a"f ' ffcK
,Joker-J " w.tuen ..
good sub-
some practi-
taken toother
rollers set at varying distances till the
finishing machine is reached and for
some uses the sultstance is reduced to
the thicknes of paper and about a yard
in width aud is inn on rolls to be sold
by the foot or yard, similar to cloth.
Sulphur and pumice stone are largely
used to prevent .its sticking together.
For threads used in elastic and web
bing, large drums are wound with the
sheets. Thee drums slowly revolve
against a circular knife, fed to cut the
threads fine or coarse, as required. The
feed is so arranged that the threads are
many feet in length; how many, your
readers can figure, the drum being,
say 3 feet in diameter and three feet in
length. The threads are taken to the
looms and arranged according to
whatever article is required, from the
tingle cord elastic to the wide cloth
known as shoe web.
The weaving of elastic braid and sus
penders is a marvel of inventive genius.
The looms, with the variety of colors
in silk and cotton threads suspended at
various angles and woven into these
fabrics, is an attractive sight. It is in
the manufacture of sus)eiiders that the
best work is done. The desigus are
first drawn by hand, then the patterns
are punched in sheet card-board. These
are sewn together and placed over the
looms, and these patterns are exactly
reproduced in the woven strijo, which
are wound on reels, ready for the cut
ters. Some of these patterns are beau
tiful. If the ladies were obliged to
wear suspenders, they probably would
invent some fashion to wear them out
side as an ornament. The latest design
is called the bicycle pattern, and is
niade in all colors of silk, a bicycle and
rider being woven In each suspemur
so as to come jitst below the wearer's
shoulder in front.
Great care is taken to keep these pat
terns from being stolen, and "Positive
ly No Admittance" is a conspicuous
notice on the door when the Jacquard
looms are running. It was only
through the positive assurance of our
guide, Mr. William Mayer, that we
were passably honest, aud iu no way
likely to engage iu the business, that
uie superintendent ordeied the small
boy to admit us.
The cutting, stitching, and packing
is done in a separate building. The
tewing machines are run by machi
nery. AU the stitching and binding is
done by the piece. Tlie tips are woven
so that at just the required length the
, buttonhole is formed by the loom.
Several amusing instances of the va
rious means adopted by some of the
girls to increase their figures on the
lay-roll were related to us by the sn
Ierintendent. One girl was mistrus
ted, aud a watch was kept. For sever
al days nothing could be found out.
liually the card which she returned
was found so large that the lad v who
receives the work was inquired of; she
denied having put that amount of
work ou the card, and the girl was dis
charged. In her drawer was found a
long copy ou which she had practiced
till she could exactly imitate the lady's
signature.
The town has many beautiful streets.
The removing of the front fences is
becoming quite popular. The Wiliistou
College and Free Library are, as their
names denote, mainly the gift of a sin
gle individual. The library building
contains a reauing-rooin and library,
and one wing is devoted to curiosities
and relics. The reading-room did not
seem to be as well patronized as one
would think a single occupant having
it all to himself. The college buildings
are well proportioned. A tall and
unique tower ou one of Uieni is a prom
inent object miles away. There are
about 13o students present at this term.
1 heir ball-ground is close to the build
ings, the nearest one having wire
screens over the windows, apiKirently
to protect theui trom foul balls. They
play base ball in the spring and foot
ball iu the fall. A practice game of
the latter was being played according
to the Bug by rules the first ever
witnessed and the shouts of the op
posing cuptiiins, of "Down himi"
Ihrow him down!"' "Tear his shirt
off, if you can't down him without!
led me to think tliat base ball, by com
parison, instead of being called dan
gerous, should be classed among harm
less sorts.
"ow Jay-Eye-Se Eats Sasar.
Recently Jay-Eye-See, the little black
gelding, appeared on the track at Chi
cago aud with Ed Bithers behind him
had a nice little exercise jog. Only a
few recognized the little wonder when
he made his appearance; still, he was
greeted with a certain amount of ap
plause and he started off on hisjoruney
with a knowing shake of the head, as
if he meant to say: "Well, I am not
much to look at, but I am an awfully
good one to go," and away he sped, ac
complishing his journey in thorough
bred style. In a conversation with Mr.
Case that gentleman said: "I do hope
the little horse will win iu his bout with
St. Julien, and 1 think he will. 1 have
been asked to let him trot against
Johnston for $20,000, but I do not feel
inclined to do so, as 1 think he has
trotted enough tins season. I am not
afraid of Johnston or any other borse,
but I wish to give the little fellow a
rest.
'-Did you ask if he was a pet of the
family? Well. I should remark he was.
My w lfe and three daughters pet him
and feed him with sugar, as if he was a
baby, and he is just the most affectio
nate horss you ever saw. What will
I take for him? Well, 1 would take
nothing for him, and don't you forget
it- Money cannot buy the little black
horse, and when you see hint come in
ahead iu the next race just help me to
throw up my hat."
NMV tA tiK F
Lord Coleridge's annual salary is
about $40,000.
Niagara county, X. Y., is infested
by bam burners.
Kansas expects to be the banner
com State this year.
Caterpillars are seriously damaging
Louisiana 'scotton crop.
New York city has a population of
1.300,000. There are but 01,032 per
sons who own real estate in the city.
A bridge over the Mississippi, at
New Orleans, at a cost of $13,000,000,
is talked of.
During July sixty-three sailing ves
sels and four steamers were reported
lost or missing.
A prominent violinist is said to have
purchased for $3400 the Stradivarms
once used by l'agauiuu
The fig is said to be a sure crop in
most of the Southern States. The cost
of cultivation is trilling.
It is represented that New Mesic
contains 8,01X1,000 acres of lai.d adapted
to fruit and cereal culture.
In several localities in North Wales
salmon sjieariug has become quite a
habit of late among a certain class of
fishermen.
A well-to-do maiden lady in Fat
ten, Me., worked t ut her town tax
this summer with rake and hoe on the
road.
The number of immigrants who
arrived in the United States during
August was 38,388, being 4GSS less than
during August, 1882.
Among the curiosities in the great
caves of Luray, Va, is a bird's nest con
taining three egglike pebbles rounded
by the action of water.
The authorities of the London Par
cels Post have refuse, to recognize live
lobsters as articles which can be for
warded under their control.
Statistics show that more than a
third of our "butter" exports are sworn
to be oleomargarine. Great Britain re
ceives about 8700 tons of it.
The issue of standard silver dollars
for the week ended September 8, 188;:.
was $321,tHj8, against $ U'.i,30O for the
corresponding period last year.
The Nashville people gave Mrs.
Polk, widow of the President, a hand
some bouquet, with the number 80 in
the centre, on her 80th birthday.
The Brooklyn Art Guild is here
after to be known as the Students'
Guild of the Brooklyn Art Association,
and to be managed by a Board of Con
trol. "Live" ostrich feathers reiel sand,
and the dealers test is to rub the feath
ers over loose sand, which clings to the
feathers it it be plucked trom a dead or
from a tame bird.
The Dundee fleet of 9 vessels em
ployed at the Greenland seal and whale
fisheries, captured during the season
just closed, 114 whales, 22,22 Jseals the,
total value of which is placed at JL'25,
783. A recent purchase of ground ad
joining his already large vineyard at
Vina, CaL, gives ex-Gov. Stanford,, of
that State, a single ranch of over 25,000
acres, about a fourth of which is planted
with vines.
Nearly seven hundred Mormon-
were landed at New York by the Guion
hue of steamers, some time ago. The
gang consisted of English, Swiss, Ger
mans and Scandinavians. "The Mor
mons must go."
There were more books and art
publications published iu English hist
year in Euroie than in any other lau
guage. Out of a total of 800, there
were 311 hi English, 2'VJ iu German and
237 in French.
Iu the German Empire there are
sixty manufactories of playing cards,
which produced during the last fiscal
year 3,204,34'J pucks of less than thirty
six cards each, and l,05rt,82ii packs of
more than tliirtv-six cards yich.
The numlier of coins issued by a
national mint in a centuiy is stuiieu-
dous, cousiderms the durable nature of
a coin. Between 1785 and 1882, the
mint of France sent out 851,2')4,3!0
francs in gold, and 5,510,S4t',tn francs
in silver.
In 1870, while digging on the site
of Fort Recovery, at which Geu. St.
Clair was defeated in 17'Jl, the flag
staff set up by Geu. Wayne in 1703 was
discovered, and now it lias been taken
to Columbus to be put iu the relic-room
of the Capitol.
Timothy S'uields, of Howard county,
Maryland, stands six feet two inches m
his stockings, and weighs 220 pounds.
He has four children, three ot whom
are sous, averaging six leet two laches
in height, and weighing 218, 2 ;0 and
240 pounds, res;ectively.
A pear orchard iu Thomuson
county, Ga., was sold five years ago for
$430. It was next sold for $1,800, the
$t50 having been recovered from cut
tings in the meantime. A mouth after
ward $28uo was offered for it, and now
it could not be bought for $23,000.
The Australian Government is get
ting rid of immense numbers of spur-
rows by offering Od. er dozen for their
heads. Restaurant keepers in this sec
tion are said to give a little more than
that per dozen, but they get the bodies
of the birds. The heads alone would
make very poor reed bird pie.
U1U Arras Tapestrle.
In the Chapelle du Saint-Esprit of
Touniay Cathedral there are now hung
some splendid Arras tapestries which
date back to 1402. They were manu
factured at Arras by Pierre Fere, and
were presented to the cathedral by
Canon Toussaint Priez. The Belgian
amateurs believe them to be the only
extant examples of the famous Flemish
high warp of the early Jr lfieeulh Cen
tury. There were originally seventeen
scenes representing the legend of SS.
Piat and Eleuther. but three have been
lost. The history of these tapestries is
curious. Originally they covered the
backs of the cathedral stalls. They es
caped the attention of the image break
ers iu 15iiG, but during the last century
they were removed as barbarous rub
bish, torn up, and made into rugs.
rt hen they seemed to be no longer good
enough to be tr-idden upon, they were
used to stop some holes in the roof.
They have not been restored so far as
practicable; aud, although sadly muti
lated, the scenes are still vivid and
spirited. As works of art, indeed,
Uiey are exceedingly fine. The rescued
portions cover a space of twenty-two
metres long by two metres wide.
.
r