j3. F. SCHWEIER,
TIB OOIHTITUTIOI THE UH0I-1I3) TU CTTQTmnmrr or TEE LAYS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XL.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST IS, 18S6.
NO. 34.
The Wile's Kiss.
ftn't tie kiss pressed on tUa lips ot tlia
nnows when parting at nic'jt;
nrfkiof mother our sorrow. beguiled,
VaiiiE tLe ,ac chr and bright;
Tkisssostlly of girls who meet,
1 rM so b'.isslrtis'or kiss iu lieu;
sot tU k'-" ,hat ht-nJ makeslife tweet,
Is the kiss of the wife that's true.
in kiii'ls as countless as sands
Of friendship, betrayed, deceit;
kiss on the eye, the forehead aud
knd' ,11.
Tie kiss that is awkward and neat;
that's siTrii the one we steal.
The ki-s in1 awakes us all through;
Bat the ',Ir,t kis8 t,lat hps can ,eel
Is tLe kiss of the wife that's true.
Here's ths kiss of youth and the kiss of
rears,
Aid the k:s we lay in the grave;
jfr we press iu fnnsUineanil tears
The kiss fjr the brow of the brave;
Bat tie kiss that is the kiss of life,
w. whnthit rim lit runs through
5' I I Hat bnt'g surcease to au-uith and strife,
J I I . js ku-s of the wife that's true.
STOKY OF AX ENGINEER.
"This is about It," said John Scott,
tfce ei;g:neer, as the train slowly crested
a long eradual grade. "You're atop
of tie KocKy Mountains, ma'am."
Emi'.y Vaughn looked to left and to
right, aud was conscious of a feeling of
disappointment. She had pictured ths
top of the Kxky Mountains as some
thing quite di3erent from this. Here
irtre eo frowning heights or sudden
gulfs, only a iJe rollirjg plateau, some
distant peaks which did not look very
high, and far ahead a glimpse of lower
levels running down into plains. It
seemed hardly worth while to have
come so far for so little.
"HealljT' she said. "But where are
the mountains? They don't look nearly
so high as they did yesterday!"
"Naturally, ma'am," responded the
engineer, "thing's don't appear so high
wbea you're as high as they are. We're
atop you kuow."
"But there's no look-off, no wonder
ful distance, as from the top of ML
Washington. I confess I am disap
pointed." "It's kind of queer,' said John Scott,
with a dry chuckle, "how folks from
the East keep alluding to that 'ere little
hill as if it were tl.c standard of meas
urement. We don't think so much of
it this way. "Why, ma'am, yo'.e
about 2,000 feet higher this minute
than if you was at the top of that little
sbuck of a ML Washington that they
all think so much of."
Mis? Vaughn smiled, but she experi
enced a shock nevertheless. The New
England mind does not easily accustom
itSflf to hearing Us sacred mountain
thus lightly spoken against. "Have
you ever seen ML Washington?" she
asked.
"Oh, Mess yon, yes," replied John
ScotL cheerfully. -I was raised over
to Fryebnrg, and grew up alongside of
iL I thought it was a pretty big con
cern when I was a boy, but now " lie
closed tho sentence with a short, ex
pressive laugh.
Miss Vaughn changed the subject.
She was cot offended. She had grown
to like this rough, good-natured engi
neer In the course of the three days'
journey, during which, favored as a
relative of one of the directors of the
road, she hadjseveral times been privi
leged to ride, as now, in the engineer's
cab for a better view of the country.
"Have you been long on this road?"
she asked.
"Pretty near ever since it opened. I
run the third through train that came
out from Chicago, and I haven't been
off the line since, winter or summer,
except for three months when 1 was
laid up with a broken leg."
"This must look very different in
winter," said Miss Vaugh, noticing the
treeless distances, and the snows glint
ing on the higher peaks to the left.
"You may well believe it doesl The
first year, when the snow-shed wasn't
built, it was terrible. 1 was running
that train that was stuck in the snow
seven days perhaps you'll remember
about it, it was In all the papers; I
shant never forget that, not if I live to
be as old as my grandfather, and he
didn't die till he wae 90 odd."
"Tell me about it," said Miss
Vaughn, persuavely, seating herself on
the high bench of the cab, with that air
of attention which is so enticing to the
story-teller; amusements are few and
far between in the long monotony of
the overland journey to California; be
sides which, Mi-;sVaugnh dearly loved
a story.
"There ain't much to tell." said John
ScotL with something of the feeling
which prompts the young vocalist to
complain of hearseness. "I aiut any
Land at telling things, either." Then
won by Miss Vaughn's appealing eyes,
he continued:
"We ran all fair and on time till we
was about 200 miles beyond Omaha.
Then the snow began. It didn't seem
much at firsL The women-folk in the
train rather liked iL They all crowded
to the windows to see, and the children
hurrahed. Anything seemed a pleas
ant change after the sage-brush, I sup
pose. Uut as it went on coming, aud
the snow drifts grew deep, and the cars
had to run slow, the older ones began
to look serious, and I can tell you that
we who had charge of the train felt so.
"We was juit between two of the
feeding stations, and we put on all the
steam we could, hoping to push through
to where provisions could be got at in
case we had to stop. But It wasn't no
use. The snow kept comipg. I never
seen it come so. The flakes looked as
big as saucers, and the drifts piled so
quick that, when we finally stuck, in
about ten minutes no one could see out
of the windows. The train would have
been clear buried over if the brakemen
and the porters hadn't gone the entire
length over the roofs every half-hour,
and swept it off with broom and
shovels. We had a lot of shovels
aboard, by good luck, or else nothing
cculd have saved us from being bauked
np outrighL Uut it was terrible hurd
woik, I can tell you. "There wasn't
no more laughing among the passengers
by the time it come to that, and the
children stopped hurrahing."
"Oh, the poor little things! What
did they do? Were there many on
board? Was there plenty for them to
eat?"
"That was the worst of iL There
wasn't plenty for any one to eaL We
had stuck just midway or the feeding
stations, and there wasn't a great deal
of anything on board besues what the
Wingers had in their luuch baskets.
One lady she bad a tin ot condensed
milk, and they mixed that for the
babies there was 10 of ' em aud so
they got on pretty well. Uut there was
about Eve other children, not babies,
but ftuite little, and 1 don't know what
they would have done if it hadn't been
for the young lady."
"The young lady I" said Miss Vaugh,
looking up with seme surprise, for with
the words a curious tremble had come
into the engineer's voice, and a dark
flush Into his bronze face. "What
young lady was that?"
It was a moment or two before John
Scott answered the question.
"1 don't know what she was called,"
he said slowly. "I never knew. She
was the only one on the train, so we
just called her the young lady. She
was traveling alone, but her folks
had asked the conductor to look after
her. She was going out to some relative
of hew her brother, I guess, who was
sick down to Sacramento. That was
how she came to be there."
"Xo. ma'am: she was all alone, as I
told you; but she took thera under her
care from the firsL They had their
fathers and mothers along three of
them had, at least, aud the other two
had their mother and a nurse girl but
somehow no one but the young lady
seemed to be able to do anything with
them. The poor little things was half
starved, you see, and there wasn't any
thing to amuse 'em in the dark car, and
one or thera, who was sickly, fretted
all day and 'most all night, and the
mother didn't seem to have no faculty
or no backboue to her; but whenever
the young lady came around, that sick
one and all the rest would stop crying,
and seem just as chipper as If it was
summer time outdoors and the whole
train full of candy.
"I don't see how she did it," he went
on, meditatively, throwing a shovelful
of coal in at the furnace door. uSome
women is made that way, I suppose.
As soon as we seen how things were
going, and how bad they was likely to
be, that girl kind of set herself to keep
along. She had a mighty gentle way
with her, too. You'd never have
guessed she was so ilucky. l'luckyl
Uy George, I never saw anything like
her pluck."
"Was she pretty?" asked Miss
Vaughn, urgc-1 by a truly feminine
curiosity.
"Well, I don't know if you'd a
called her so or not- We didn't think
much how she looked after the first.
She was a slender-built girl, and her
face looked sort of kind and bright
both to me. Her voice was a3 soft
well, as soft as a voice can be, and it
kind of sang when she felt happy. She
looked you straight in the eyes when
she spoke. I don't believe the worst
man that ever lived could have told the
girl a lie if it had been to save his lite.
Her hair was brown. She was differ
ent from girls in general, somehow."
"I think we may say that she was
pretty," observed Miss Vaughn, with a
little smile.
"I ain't so sure of thaL There's
plenty of ladies come over the road
since that I suppose folks would say
was better looking than she was. Uut
I never see any face quite like hers.
It was still, like a lake, aud yon seemed
to feel as if there was depths in iL And
the farther you went down, the 6weeter
it goL She never made any rustling
when she walked. She wasn't that
kind."
Another pause, which Miss Vaughn
was careful not to break.
"I don't know what them children
would 'a done without her," went on
the engineer, as if talking to himself.
Then, with sudden energy; "I don't
know vhat any of us would 'a done
without her. The only trouble was
that she couldn't be everywhere at
once. There was a sick lady in the
drawing-room at the end of one of the
Pullmans. She bad weak lungs and
was going out to California for her
health. Well, the cold and the snow
brought on hemorrhage. That was the
second day after we was blockaded.
There wasn't no doctor on board, and
her husband he was mighty scared.
He came through to the front car to
Dud the conductor, looking as pale's a
2host. 'My wife's a dying, said he.
'Ain't there no medical man on the
train?' And when we said no, he just
gave a groan. 'Then she mu3t die,' he
said. 'Great heavensl why did I bring
her on this fatal journey?'
"Perhaps the young lady '11 have some
remedies," suggested one of the por
ters, for we'd all got into the way al
ready of turning to the young lady
whenever things were wrong.
"Well, I went for her, and you never
seen anyone so level-headed as she
seemed to be. She knew just what to
do; and she had the right medicine in
her bag; and in less than an hour the
poor lady wa quite comfortable, and
her husband the most relieved man that
ever was. Then the young lady came
along to where I was standing there
wasn't nothing for me to do, but I was
waiting, for I didn't know but there
might be and said she: 'Mr. Scott, I
am growing anxious about the fuel.
Do you think there is plenty to last?
Suppose we were to ba kept here a
week?'
'Xow just think of it! not one of us
dumb fools had thought of that. You
see we were expecting to ba relieved
from hour to hour, for we had tele
graphed both ways, and the snow had
stopped by that time, and none of us
bad any notion it was going to be the
job it was to dig as ouL Only the
young lady had the sense to remember
that it might take longer than we was
calculating on.
"Says L 'If we are kept here a
week, there won't be a shovelful of
caals left for any of the fires, let alone
the engine.
" 'Then don't you think,' says she.
in her soft voice, 'that it would be a
wise plan to get all the passergers to
uetner in one car, and keep a good fire
up there, and let the other stoves go
out. It's no matter if we are a little
crowded.' says she.
"We'l, of course, it was the only
thing to do, as we seen at once when it
was put into our heads. We took the
car the sick lady was in, so's she'd not
have to be disturbed, and we made up
beds for the children, and somehow all
the passengers managed to pack in,
train hands and all. It was a tight
squeeze, but that didn't matter so
much, because the weather was so
awfully cold. .
"That was the way I came to see so
much of the young lady. I hadn't any
thing to keep me about the engine, so
I kind of detailed myself off to wait on
her. She was busy all day long doing
things for the resL Its queer how
people's characters come out at such
times. We got to know all about each
other. People stopped sir-ring and
ma'aming and being poli. J
showed for what they were worth. The
selfish ones, and the shirks, and the
cowards, and the mean cusses who
wanted to blame some one besides the
Almighty for sending the weather
there want no use for any of them to
try to hide themselves anymore than
it was the other kind. The women,
as a rule, bore up better than the men.
It comes natural, I suppose, for a
woman to be kind of silent and pale and
patient when she's suffering; Uut the
young lady wasn't that sort either. She
was bright as a button all along, YoVd
hive supposed from her faca that she
was having just the bst kind of a tima.
"I can see her now, standing before
the stove roasting Jack-rabbits for the
others' supper. Some of the gentlemen
had revolvers, and when the suow gat
crusted over, so's they could walk on
it, they used to shoot 'em. And we
were glad enough of every one shot, for
provisions were so scanty. The last
two days them rabbits and snow-water
melted in a pail over the stove was all
we had to eat and drink."
"I suppose there was nothing for you
to do but wait," said Miss Vaughn.
"Xo, ma'am; there wasn't nothing
at all for me to do but help the young
lady now and then. Site let me help
her more than the rest. I used to think.
She'd come to me and tay, 'Mr. Scott,
this rabbit is for you and the conduc
tor.' She never forgot anybody ex
cept herself. Once she asked me to
hold the sick little girl while she took a
sleep. It was mighty pretty always to
see her with them children. They
never seemed to have enough of her.
All of them wanted she should put
them to bed, and sing to them, and tell
them stories. Sometimes she'd have
all live swarming over her at once. I
used to watch them."
"Well, how did it end?" said Miss
Vaughn, as the engineer's voice, which
had gradually grown lower and more
dreamy, came to a stop."
"Oh? What? Ohl" rousing himself.
"It ended when three locomotives and
a relief tram from Cheyenne broke
through to us on the eighth morning
after we were blockaded. They brought
provisions and coal, and we got on first
i ate after tba Did the sick lady die?
Xo ma'am, she was living when 1 last
heard of her, down to Santa Barbara.
Two vears ago that was."
"And what became of your young
lady?"
"She left at Sacramento. Her brother
or some one was down to meet her. I
saw him a moment. He didn't look
like her."
"And you never saw her again? You
never heard her name?"
"Xo, ma'am; I never did."
The engineer's voice sounded gruff
and husky as he said this. He shoveled
in coal with needless energy.
'Are you a married man?" asked
Miss Vaughn. The question seemed
abrupt even to herseir, but seemed rele
vant to something in her mind.
"Xo."
John Scott looked her squarely In the
face as he replied. His countenance
was grim and set, and for a moment
she feared that she had offended him.
Then, as he met her 'deprecating gaze,
he reassured her with a swift smile.
"Xo. ma'am, I ain't; and I never
shall ba as I know of," he added. "Sec
ond rate wouldn't satisfy me now, I
gucis." He pulled the cord which
bun ready to his hand, and a long
screeching whistle rang out over the'
plain, and sent the prairie-dogs scutting
into their burrows.
"This is a feeding station we're com
ing to." he explained. "Twenty
minutes hern for supper, ma'am; and it
ain't a bad supper either. 1 reckon
you'd like to have me help you down,
wouldn't you?'
Uut toil's Dinner.
Certainly Jim Dutton was a dude.
He was a dude clerk in a Texas store.
I la la a freniient visitor at the nalatlal
ii,ancii,n nf .Tmlrra l'tprhv. Tlnttnti iq
a special pet ofMrs. Peterby, and is
suspected ot Having uesigns on iue at
fectious of Miss Mollle Peterby, the
belle of Austin, who is also wealthy.
A fiur ilava aim Jim was invited to
dine at 8 o'clock at the Peterby mai.-
slon. but he heard during me morning
that a prominent sheepman would be
ur tiio otnra ahont. that time t) pur
chase a big bill of goods, so Jim had to
forego the pleasure or aining wiui me
l'eterbys.
a little after 3 Jim said to the col
ored parter, Sam Johnsing:
Sam, I want you to go to Airs.
Judge Peterby, give her my compli
ments, aud tell her I regret my In
ability to ba present at dinner."
"Yes, sah."
"And Sam. take mv dinner basket
with you, and on your way back bring
me my dinner from the restaurant on
the corner, and be quick about iL"
In due time Sim returned with the
dinner basket, which he opened and
minn,i tlia mntpnta on the table in the
office, when this conversation occurred:
"Why, what is this?" saia uuuon
in amazpment. "I told vou to bring me
an ordinary dinner, and here you
brought me a dinner ui ior a mug.
"I jess tuck what Mrs. Peterby guv
me."
"What! Mrs. Peterby put up this
dinner?"
"Yes, sah, I told her what you said."
"What did I sayr"
"Von tiri m ter tell Mrs. Fterby
dat you couldn't come ter dinner, and
for her to put your dinner in ue ooan-
et."
"Oh, my God!" said Dutton, sinking
back into his chair. It was some tim9
before he recovered. Then he solilo
quized: .
kiin Hn t re-asrahlish. mvself in
, uvn ' -
her good graces? I know how I will
manage iL Here, Dam,"
"Yes. sab."
"Take this 52 bill, go to the florist s,
buy a handsome bouquet and take it to
Mrs. Peterby, with my compliments.
Do you understand me?"
Yes, sah."
in a short time Sam returned with a
broad grin on his face.
"Did you give loose nowera io
Peterby?" m n
"Yes, sah. She tuck de flowers."
"What did she say?"
Cl. .till aVia EM flxr SO mUCll
obleeged, and she wanted ter gib me a
-..-rtw hut I tnld her ver can't come
dat game on me; dem flowers cost $2."
As Sam passed over too uac. h.-uj
Dutton got a fair shot at him but
i.,at i,im An intelligent colored
porter can get a job by applying on the
premises.
Southern countries Italy, Spain,
Greece have the largest number of
revolutions; northern countries Bus
sia, Sweden, Xorway have the least.
The heart that has passed through
the deep waters of tribulation Is the
most tender. The voice that has itself
cried with pain is the most gentle; the
hand that has suffered is the most
soothing ministrant in the chamber of
sorrow. The best sympathizer is one
who has been a partaker In the same
sufferings. ;-
TALES OP UI.ACK CATS.
They Bring Good Luck to the Home
or Business House Where
they Locate.
"Show me a man who says he don't
Ix lu-ve in any kind of superstition and
I'll show you a liar."
The speaker took an old, time-worn
buckeye out of one ocket. caressed it a
moment and put it in another.' It was
a rheumatism preventative. -
"There are dead loads of popular su
perstitionsenough to fill a big book
that are known to everybody who can
talk. There's the black caL for instance.
Xow, I wouldn't le without a black cat
any way you could fix it. There's some
thing about a bhek cat that's sure to
bring goixl luck. I never pass along
the street without looking out for 'em,
ami I'd its stxai set lire to my house as
walk in front of one. I just give it tlie
right of way and wait till it's pansed by.
You always want to make friends with
a black eat, and, anyway, you never
want to offend one. If you ever get a
bhick cat 'onto' you, just throw up your
hands, for you're 'done.' I knew a
feller who killed all the cats he could,
just to show that he didn't believe iu
the notion of seven years bad luck. He
kilUil hU of 'em. Sort of reveled in it,
and seemed to get on just as well as
though he was patron saint to ratkind.
One day he happened on to a black cat
when he was in the killing mood, and
he laid it out, Never had a day's luck
since. He was a steady, clear-headed
fellow, mid a hard worker, but every
time he put his head alove a salaried
position misfortune's sledge-hammer fell
on him, and he retired on the first whirl.
' iet a black cat to like you, though,
and you ran tackle anything on earth
and make it go. I 'II bet that the men
who have made big fortunes out of
nothing hail a black rat m the house.
Yes, sir! I knew a young fellow who
was iu love in over his head and
didn't know enough to play it easy. It
was his first offense, and he wasn't post
ed. His girl was a thousand miles
away, aud he used to write her letters
three of 'em would make a book. One
evening a black rat walked into his
office just like it owned the place, and
sized up on everybody. Then it caiiie to
my young lover and climbed tip on his
knee while he was writing, ruddled
down aud coin meneed to sing. It was
an operatic cat and sang like a prima
donna. It kind of pleased the young
fellow, and he ictted it After that it
used to come around aud sit on his kin
every evening while lie wrote to his girl,
an 1 the way tliat girl warmed up wxs
amazing. She was sort of indifferent
before, but she U-came terribly affec
tionate as soon as the black rat came
into the game. But the blamed young
clown didn't do anything for the rat bin
lt iL A cat can't live on getting its
hack stroked, so it left one day and
didn't come back. Well, the girl froze
up again and married the man wiio
figures in novels . Xother. This isa
true story. I'll swear to it. Uut rf
TOTPrc charitable you wont ask'kie how
I know it, YaiiMj I'm a little tender
about it yet.
"There's a saloon over on West
Madison street that I noticed was for
salealouta year ago. It didn't seem
to catch on a ijiiecr tiling for a saloon,
too. Anyway, it didn't prosper, and it
looked pretty dingy. Somebody Umght
it after awhile, ami it's got to lie a regu
lar mint. Why? Just pass along there
any day and you'll see a black cat
climbing around in the window over the
bottles of extra dry, or stretched out on
the cigar ra.e taking a snooze. The
1 roprietor told me that the cat walked
iu the third day he had taken the place,
and that goo 1 lin k came in with it and
just settled down on everything. He
wouldn't let g of that cat for thou
sands. Why, 1 believe that if the bar
tender triiil" to knock down an honest
dollar in tliat house the cat would give
him away. I do, by jingo!
"Whenever I see a black cat iu a
place of business I always look into the
case. The other day I saw one in a
restaurant window on Clark street. I
remembered the place when it was a
very modest institution. A few years
ago it occupied only one store-room, and
sold oyster stews for fifteen cents and a
erfect gorge for a quarter. Xow it is
an immense establishment and has a
run of patronage that is making its
owners rich. When I saw the cat I
went in and made some inquiries. Same
story. Tiie rat came into the kitchen
one day and proceeded to make itself at
home. The cook treated it well, and it
stayed. After awhile it got to loafing
around the dining-room, and would sit
on the cashier's desk by the hour. The
proprietors gave it the liest in the land.
One day it was fooling around the room
when the rush was on and one of the
waiters gave it a kick. He was imme
diately fired out and orders were issued
to treat that cat as though it were a
king. You ran see it there any day.
"But you ought to see the way gam
blers cotton to a black rat. What gam
blers don't know aUmt luck of all kinds
wouldn't fill much of a lunik. There's a
house on Clark street, lietween Wash
ington and Randolph streets, that used
to 1 one of the prosperous banks of
the town. They had a black cat. It
happened in one day noljodyever knew
liow, and tramped around over the rou
lette and hazard tables as though it
knew all about the double O and red
and black and high and low. It used to
sit on the lookout's knee at the faro
table and watch the game, and no one
ever dared to bluff t!ie dealer then, yon
can bet. The house won all the time,
and the cat was reckoned as fjood as
four aces in a 'showdown.' 1 he em
ployes wouldn't play a rent in the house
used to carry their salaries over to the
other houses and play. It stayed there
for months, and then disapieared just as
it had come. Would you believe it, the
police sailed in the next night, collared
the whole outfit aud burned it up, and
'pinched a big mob of players. The
other houses weien't touched. The
same house is running now, but it isn't
popular, and if it keeps even that's all it
does. The dealers used to look for the
cat every day they came on duty, and
when it didn't show up they knew some
thing wxs going to drop on them. Some
slid the house was going to burn down.
Others thought that Some duffer would
break the bank. Uut all expected bad
luck, and it came.
"Black cats are peculiar. You never
want to try and capture one and drag it
along witli you 'cause if you do it's no
good. They must walk hi of their own
accord if you expit 'em to bring good
luck. If they come in at the door, and
'show a disposition to settle there and be
contented, you're fixed; but if they come
In through a window your name's Deu
nis. They're awfully affectionate when
they take a notion to any one, and dou't
sc-iu to have such a terrible hankering
for back fences as other cats have.
That's what I like about 'em. They
just quietly stay at home and sing their
old song and let the other cats howl,
which is very sensible, according to my
notion of things.
"Have I got one? Of course I have.
But it isn't a simon-pure black; it's got
a few spots of white on it, and I reckon
that detracts a little from the good luck.
Oh, I've had half a dozen at one time or
another, and I've always had good luck
while they stayed with me. But they
wander away sooner or later, and it
isn't any use trying to stop one if it guts
a notion that it ought to be on the
marcli. It's got to be contented and
happy or the charm is lost. Oh, a black
cat is a sure mascot, you can bet," and
the believer in feline magic pausetl to
pick up a pin which lie spied in his path
with the point toward him, while the
reporter hurried around the corner to
see a man.
THE GRAVEYARD COUGH,
The Funny Bet Made by Two Strange
Individuals.
Old Sandy Meek had a dry cough, a
performance whioh the boys termed a
'grave yard communication.' A stran
ger hearing his sepulchral gobble would
not have bet on his living three days
longer, but men who had been lorn and
bred in Cage's Bend had heard that
cough from toddling infancy to sturdy
manhood. Sandy's ailment, indeed,
became a joke among the boys, lte
rently Sandy went to the cross roads to
attend a political meeting. He sat
down with his back against a tree and
the boys gathered round to hear him
cough and to K-t on the result.
'Bet ten dollars,' said I.ige Tliomi
son. 'that the next round kills him.'
'Put up your money,' replied young
Sam Peters.
'Boys, said an old man. 'you ought to
be asliaraed yourselves. Betting on the
result of an affliction is inhuman.'
"We are only in fun,' rejoined I.ige
Thomiwon. 'Old Sandy will outlive all
of us put together.'
The old man turned away and the
boys 'put up' the money and walked
around and enjoyed the joke.
'She's a long time coining on. Sam.'
'Yes; but we'll strike him hard pretty
soon.'
Old Sandy sat with his head resting
on his clasped hands aud with his elbows
on his knees.'
'Dou't believe he's going to 1 bought
any more, I.ige.'
'Don't 'pear like iL Keep your eyes
on the stakeholder.'
'Oh, I'm here, said the stakeholder,
and then all the boys laughed.
'Say, Sandy,' called I.ige. The old
man did not move. 'We've got a funny
bet upon you,' advancing and placing
his hand upon the old man's shoulder.
'I say great God, he's dead.'
Tile stakeholder dropped the money,
and with an air of horror gazed upon
the pallid face of the lifeless man. I.ige
and Sam were as pale as ghosts. The
old man did not rough any more.
Imitation Ground Glass.
Very many housekeepers of limited
means and a desire for making the
of things, will be very grateful for the
following. A pretty and excellent imi
tation of ground glass may U made in
the follow ing simple manner: Dissolve
two or three tablespoonfuls of Epsom
sails in a quantity of lager U-er, and
with a common paint brush apply the
mixture to the glass which is ib-sircd to
look as if it were "ground." When the
Wr is dry the glass will apiear as if
frosted, iu beautiful chrystaline forms,
imitating the real ground glass. Paint
the mixture upon the inside of the glass,
or that at least which will not require
washing, as the salts and U-er, lieing
both soluble in water, would of course
be removed at once by such a process.
"Ground glass of this ine.xeiisive
variety will be found to be useful for a
good many household purposes where
one wishes, without going to the ex
lense of the real article, to produce the
effect which it gives, and, without
shutting out the light, screen what is
Iteyond.the glass from observation. This
mixture may l applied with satisfacto
ry results to the transom above and
around hall doors, and to rear windows,
where light was required, but from
which the view was unsightly. By its
use plain glasses, goblets and IkiwIs, es
pecially when cracked and no longer
serviceable for bible use, may l con
verted into pretty recepticles for winter
lioqiiets of dried grasses and pressed
ferns, and the frlalu glass doors of book
cases be made into a handsome screen
for the folios of magazines and iamph
lets which will accumulate there. Many
other uses will suggest themselves to
any ingenious woman, wherein this
imitation will answer every purpose of
the real ghuss, with this advantage in its
favor, that when its use as a screen is
only required temporarily, the solution
is as readily removed from the glass as
it was applied to it by simply washing it
off with soap and warm water when it
is no longer needed.
A lied Baby on a Hoard.
There died at I-apwai recently an old
Indian, who was known by the "name of
George. Ho has always leen a stanch
friend of the white iieople, and trusted
by them. When Lewis and Clark first
entered this country, in July
George was a bale and wai carried lash
ed upon a board upon the back of his
mother. At the time Lewis, Clark and
party emerged from the tinilier on their
trail east to Weipe Camas prairie, in
Shoshone county, George's mother, with
other squaws and Indians, were engaged
on the prairie digging cainas. When
they first saw the white men they were
not much frightened, as they had heard
of them; but when they saw the two
negro servants of the party became
frightened and lied to the woods.
George's mother, finding that she could
not run fast enough with her babe on
her back, stood the board, with the babe
lashed to it, beside the first tree she
came to, where she tlwught it would be
easily seen, and continued her flight
with the other squaws into the timber,
aud from the cover of the timber they
watched the movements of Iewis and
Clark's party who moved across the
pr.iirie in the direction of the Clearwa
ter, at or near the mouth of what is now
called the Oro Fino Creek. After they
had gone out of sight and beyond dan
ger to the sqaws they cautiously return
ed toward the prairie from their hiding
place, and the mother of George found
him safe and unmolested as she had left
him lashed to the board beside the tree.
This circumstance took place in the
month of July, 1S04, and George was
then a board baby, and consequently he
must have been over 80 years of age
when he died.
CHARACTER IV HAXDW RTTIXG.
One of the Moat Fascinating Stud
ies One Can Find Some
of the Signs.
Graphology is the art of reading char
acter in handwriting. It is one of the
most fascinating studies one can find;
absorbing one's attention; making one
a nuisance to one's friends and acquain
tances in one's search for bits of writing.
The poorest writing is as good to study
as the best better, in facL The good
writing the writing that is still as the
writer was taught by the teacher shows
a character without any originality. But
what is graphology? Well, in brief, it
is the art of character in luuidwriting,
and enables one to study bis friend or
euemy at a distance and as friendly
letters are the least unstudied, the least
formal, they reveal more of one's char
acter. It is not necessary to read the
words; but from the manner letters are
made, how they are joined, how placed
on the line, and many points, one can
decide the character of a person wholly
unknown. There is not a bit of proph
esy about it, as in palmistry, phrenology
and other so-called arts. Simply the
moral and mental characters of the jht
son who wrote and at the time of writing.
Comparing writings of persons at dif
ferent periods, the decline or advance m
character can be told.
If I could have Maxwell's letters to
Preller, and rould have also letters writ
ten by liiin this p;ist week, I could tell
whether he has lost confidence or not.
In our druggists' windows are portraits
of two great artists, Adeliua Pattt and
Mary Anderson. Take a good 1 ok at
their signatures. There Is no equal to a
Patti, and none of the Pattis ran rom
11.1 re with Ailelina! lint it isa srracious.
graceful pride, shown by the graceful i
underlining of the name. See, too, the
old-time womanliness of the writer,
now turn to Mary Anderson. She le
longs to the new generation. Less, far
less of womanly grace or charm, more,
far more of the age. She was a born
business woman, one might say a busi
ness coquette. She could hold her own
on 'cliange among our liest aud keenest
merchants. The flourish to her name
shows she can "draw trade," and what
is more, can keep it She is a poser
posing ever and always. One who wish
es to keep in her good graces must praise
her. She is cold blooded.
Xow find if you ran the signature of
Ade'aide Xeilson. What nobleness!
What graeiousness! What jiower and
range of impression and expres-ioii ne
of the regrets of my life is in never hav
ing seen and heard her. Since I began
studying graphology I have not found a
writing so essentially noble in all ways
as is Adelaide Xeilsou's what! Pin
talikng too fast, and haven't given you
any proof of what I claim for graphology!
Well, you know that two signs of graph
ology "have passed into proverbs. The
careful person is one who always "dots
his i's and crosses his t's," who always
"minds his p's and q's." lA-t your
readers take a bundle of letters, spread
them out and look for small f's, and
thev will soon find some that are not
simply bxijied, as the writing master
taught, but are barred back of the down
stroke. That is st ubboruess. Xow look
further and find some t's that are
barred with a down slant from left to
right, making an acute instead of an ob
tuse angle on the under right-hand side.
There is the mark of an opinionated, con
trary pel-son.
IItw Horses arc Trained.
As for Uarey, the most of his business
was trickery done by locusting and load
ing. Horses are awfully fond of locusts
and carrots, and they will do almost
anything for them; but loading is the
great trick.
"What is loading?"
"Loading Is slipping aliout an ounce
weight of lead down the ears of the
horse. You slip a load, to which a
small fiece of string is attached, down
the horse's tars, no matter how vicious
the beast may 1 it becomes dazed and
stupid when the load plugs its ears.
The horse does not understand what iias
happened in the world when he cannot
hear well, and he Incomes as docile as
you could wish. When a horse is loaded
you ran yoke him or do anything w ith
himhe will not object. It is a thousand
times more merciful and far more effect
ive than the horrible plan of putting a
twitch upon the ear or iiikhi the nostril,
a practice still indulged in by some
horse cou'iers. leaden weights are
made for the puniose. Any small
weights will do, but it is better to have
one made to fiL '
The Flavor of Cuba Tobacco.
I have never heard it explained why
the cigar made in Cuba lacks its ticculiar
home flavor after having been imiwrted.
But certain it is, that after crossing the
salt water, in a few months its original
flavor h;is departed. Stranger still, it is
asserted and believed that w hen taken
back to Cuba the original flavor iu time
returns.
Sin..!, inff U ns ne.irlv universal as ihs-
sible, men, women, and children smoke.
The black women smote great long
cigars; some Culran ladies, small, deli
rate cigarettes.
All public officers in their offices
the soldiers on duty, clerks in stores,
waiters in cafes, conductors and drivers
on street and other railroails, bootblacks,
laborers on the streets, and mechanics
at work, are incessantly smoking. The
only persons whom I did not see smo
king were nuns, and they doubtless
smoke in private. That it does not kill
them, or at least injure them, is doubtless
due to the purity of the leaves, and the
mildness, for no Cuban tobacco is rank.
I can smoke twice as many cigars as at
home.
Funny Old Love Letters.
A lady was looking over a bundle of
old love letters recently and chanced
upon this one from her husband in his
halcyon days and she read it to him:
"Sweet idol of my lonely heart, if
thou wilt place thy hand in mine and
say, 'Dear love, I'll be thy bride,' we'll
fly to sunny Italy, and 'neath soft ceru
lean skies we'll bask and sing and
dream naught but love. Rich and
costly paintings by old masters shall
adorn the walls of the castle I'll give
thee. Thy bath shall be of milk. A
box at the opera shall be at thy com
mand, and royalty shall be thy daily
visitor. Sweet strains of music shall
still thee at eventide, and warbling
birds shall wake thee from thy morn
ing slumber. Dost thou accept? Say
Yes,' and fly, oh, fly with me."
"And I flew," said the wife; but if I
had been as fly as I am now I wouldn't
have flown."
The resurrection is the silver lining
to the dark cloud of death, and we
know the sun is shining beyond.
PRAIRIE CHICKEN 3.
Tbcir Habits, Haunts and the Waj
to Hunt them.
Houston boasts of quite a large num
ber of Xlmrods who go out almost daily
to hunt prairie chickensand other game.
Prairie chicken shooting has the prefer
ence over most hunting siort, for the
reason that it requires carefully trained
dogs and a sufficient practice with the
gun to "shoot upon the wing"' without
a moment's warning. The prairie
chicken is an accomodating bird, and
may be hunted ill pleasant weather; this
fact may artly account for the ardor
with which it is pursued. Chicken
shooting, however, is a f;tscinating sport
in itself, the same being very strong of
wing and, exeeediimily patatable. Day
light finds the hunters for they general
ly, like their dogs, hunt in pairs leaving
the farm-house w here they have jassed
the night. At the word of command the
dogs leap into the wagon, and a few
moments' drive brings the hunters
to a "likely field." The hunters alight,
slip a cartridge into each barrel of their
guns and turn into the field. The dogs
are eager for thesjHitt to begin, aud at
the words "Hunt 'em up" and a wave
of the hand spring out into the stubble
at full sieed, one hunter and one dog to
each side of the field. The dogs work
from the edge of the field to the center,
enss, keep on to the other edge, return
and cross again, covering tne field in
ever varying and irregularcircies. Xow
aud then one pauses and snuffs the wind
blowing down the field, or turns quickly
itside from his course and follows up for
a few yards an old scent iu the hoje of
finding it stronger.
Suddenly one of them running at full
speed iu long elastic bounils, with ear
and tail waving as he leas, falls Hat on
his belly as if paralyzed and remains
motionless as a stone. (Juick as is the
movement, the other dog h:is also
crouched and is pointing at the first
dog, backing him up"' with implicit
confidence, though the scent may not
have reached his keen nostrils. Tim
sagacious animals turn their heads and
lwok back at their masters with intelli
gent eyes, as if to say: "Hurry up; hern
they are!"' They move rapidly and noise
lessly up to the first dog. The intelli
gent animal, w ho has not moved a nius
si le, except to turn his head and look
back, rises slowly and crouchingly to his
fett, and with nose extended steals slow
ly fo: ward, intelligence and wary cau
tion expressed iu every movement of his
eloquent lody. His feet are lifted and
put down like paws of velvet, ana his
progress is noiseless and as true as tho
lieeille to the iole. The hunters follow
carefully close behind, guns cocked and
ready for use.
Down uk'3 the dog as though shot
dead, aud this time he does not dare to
look back, tremor or his body giving
warning that be can go no further with
out walking into the covey. The men
take one, two stej3 whiz, whirr, three
birds rise two to the left, one to the
right. Iking! bang! bang! The man 011
the right kills his bird, the man on the
left kills w th the first barrel and misses
with his second barrel. Xeiiher hun
ters nor dog stir a step. The left hand
man breaks his gun, draws out dischar
ged shells and slips fresh ones in their
place. While he is loading up rises a
fourth chicken, this time to the left.
The right hand man knocks it over, and
at the discharge of his gun the chickens
rise on all sides. 1 lie left hand man
gets in both barrels and knocks down
two birds. They reload, and the dog is
told to "hunt 'em up."
If the birds are plenty and thestinV
I'les in good condition, the chances are
that a covey will be in each stubble
field. Hunters often "draw a blank,"
as they term it. and sometimes two co
veys are found in one field. The coveys
vary widely in size; sometimes as many
as thirty or forty birds are found to
getlier, and sometimes an old cock Is
found alone with a field all to himself.
The chickens in different coveys also
liehave differently. At times they will
get up singly, and in such a case two
shooters will get nearly the whole covey.
At other times the whole covey will rise
together, and it requires quirk and skill
full shooting to make each of the four
barrels count. If the country and flight
of the birds allow, jt is sometimes possi
ble to "mark down'' a covey and follow
them from field to field, unless they fly
into the corn, when pursuit is hoeIess.
To a novice the sjiort is wildly exci
ting. The intelligent and admirable
working of the dogs, the intense excite
ment of the moment when the birds are
rising with the noise and speed of a sky
rocket from the stubble beneath their
very feet, and the exhileration of a suc
cessful shot give it a fascination hard to
ilescrilie to those who have not tried it.
The novice, although he may lie a gmxl
shot at other kinds of birds, is very apt
to miss his first half-dozen birds. They
rise too near him and look so large that
it does not look possible to miss a bird,
and he Is very apt to shoot without aim.
After a few misses however, he finds
that they fly like an express train, and
must be covered by the sights of the
gun, and quickly too. After that his
luck improves, and he finds tliat, like
everything else, it is e.isy when you
know how, and one of the most fxx-ina-ting
of all field sports.
The Human Family.
The human family living b-dav on
earth consists of aliout 1,4.50,0 KyW in
dividuals; not less, probably more.
These are distributed over the earth's
surface, so that now there is no consid
erable part where man is not found. In
Asia, where he was first planted, there
are now approximately about So0,On,
000 densely crowded; on an average, 120
to the square mile. In Euroiw there
are 5J20,OOU,UUO, averaging 100 to the
square mile; not so crowded, but every
where dense, and at points over-populated.
In Africa there are 21),OJ0J00.
In America, Xorth and South, there are
110,000,000, relatively thinly scattered
and recent. In the islands, large and
small, probably 10,Oi0,o00. The ex
tremes of the w hite and black are as five
to three; the reraaing 00,00o,0iiO inter
mediate brown and tawny. Of the race
0OH,t)iK),iXJO are well clothed that is,
wear garments of some kind to cover
their nakedness; 7uo,000,0UO are senii
clothed, covering inferior jiarts of the
body; 2.50,0oo,i "JO are practically naked.
Of the race .5oo,0.0,000 live in houses
juittly furnished with tlie appointments
of civilization; 700,0O0,0HO in huts or
caves with no furnishings; 2O.y.i0,0JU
have nothing tliat can be called a home,
are barbaiuiis and savage. The r.uige
is from the topuiast round the Anglo
Saxon civilization, which is the highest
known down to miked savagery. The
lioitioii of the race lying below the line
of human condition is at the very least
lluee-ftttL3 of the whole, or 'JOO.OuO.OUU.
NEWS IN BRIEF.
It is said there was boycotting la
China long, long ago.
Philadelphia has a saloon that took
In 8325,000 last year.
When a house is not rented in
Mexico it is not taxed.
Thistle green is a new tint tha
goes well with dark blue.
Miss Adele Grant wears the costly
jewelry given by V irl Cairns.
A Hamilton. O.. girl graduated
one day and married the next.
In the Island of Java there are
twenty letter-press printing offices.
An English firm has at last succeed
ed in making a colored water mark.
Burdette, tlie humorist, has a tal
ented sister who can make addresses.
Corn eight feet high is reported
from the Southern counties of Kansas.
A newspaper has been discovered at
Pekin that was started in the year 911.
San Francisco has about fifteen
Chinese carpenters; they have a union.
By the decision of a Philadelphia
Dogberry an ink-eraser is a deadly
weapon.
A Methodist missionary has been
appointed chier physician of the Chi
nese army.
Japan Is to have a national assem
bly hall modeled after the German
Keichstag.
All the railroads in Louisiana are
run at a loss so far as local traffic is
concerned.
An Athens, Ga., firm offers $4000
for the exclusive privilege to sell liquor
in the county.
The Boston I'ostolllce yields the
government an annual net revenue of
over $3,000,000.
The vein of iron ore discovered at
Xegautee, Mich., turns out to be 130
feet in thickness.
Philadelphia grave diggers, it ti re
ported, have organized a branch of the
Knights of Labor.
George Bristol, of Piano, 11L, sneez
ed so hard the other day that he frac
tured one ot hid ribs.
The Russian authorities admit that
there are 8S4 penitentiaries in the coun
try, with 94,915 occupants.
Shears with two blades and a spring
uacK were used in old ltnme lor clip
ping sheep, hair and hedges.
A Florida firm is shipping 2,500
bird-kins a month to Xewark, X. J.,
to be used as hat decorations.
There are now published in the
United States 11,100 newspapers, an
Increase of COO over last year.
Some of the Western newspapers
have been printing a cut of Lydia Pink
ham as that of Miss Folsoni of Buffalo.
Last year 19,0C7,lt"0 imierial gal
lons of beer were exported from Mu
nich, an increase over lsSl of 33 per
cenL
Tlie girls in the public schools of
Brooklyn are compelled to commit to
memory the constitution of he United
States.
Italian railroails, it is sa'd, reduce
by C5 per cent, the fares of all dog-bitten
persons who go to consult I'asteur,
at Paris.
EI Telegrama. of Guadalajura,
Mexico, is the smallest paper published
on this continent. It is five by three
inches in size.
A cargo of Norwegian ire has been
imported into Xew York; but the profit
is so small that such ventures are not
likely to increase.
A Flint, Mich., physician recently
received eighty-four bushels of horse
radish in payment for a bill for pro
fessional services.
Cincinnati policemen who served
iu the war will wear on their left sleeve
a red tape, to distinguish the soldier
element of the force.
There is a woman in Union Point,
Ga, with a beautiful beard nearly a
foot long. She is well to do and thus
e.scapes the dime museum.
The French are about to celebrate
at Montdidier, bis native town, the
centenary of Parmentier, who intro
duced the jiotato into France.
A woman by the name of Johnson
was severely bitten by a cat at Larned,
Kan. The madstoue was applied to the
wound and It adhered three times.
Measles have closed all the schools
at Brattlcborough, Vt., where about
half the pupils aud some of the teachers
have been down with the compIainL
In London last year there were
2851 alarms of fire, or an average of 8
a day. Of these 2270 were veritable
fires though only sixty resulted in seri
ous damage.
A Gale's Ferry, Conn., man killed
with his gun the otiier day five rattle
snakes, the largest of which was nearly
the size of a man s wrLst and had
eleven rattles.
Mrs. Jennie Wright, of Indianapo
lis, has brought suit to recover the
value of her sewing machine, which her
worthless husband carried to a liquor
saloon and rallied off.
- ereslavl died lately
at the given age of 117 years. The
Krevlanen reports that he had been
arranging to marry for the ninth time
shortly before his death.
Politeness could not be carried fur
ther than it is at a certain coal mine la
Belleville, where a notice warns all and
sundry in the following terms: "Please
do not fall down the shafL"
To visitors at the Edinburgh Ex
position Mr. Lloyd's exhibit of five
miles of "Xews" paper In an unbroken
web is one of the most striking exam
ples of modern paper making.
It is estimated that l.OOO.COO toaa
ot paper are manufactured ia Europe
annually. The value of the materials
used is placed at about X'20,0O0,0OQ,
and the value of the paper at JltO.OJO,-
oca'
Thousands of Britons in times of
famine during the first century after
the Xorman Conquest sold themselves
into thralldom. Children were even
sold by their parents to escape extreme
poverty.
A society has recently been formed
in Manchester for tho purpose of col
lecting and preserving material of his
torical interest relating to the town,
tte 250th asniversary of which will oc
cur m 1'."5.
-V. E. Seinntois read a paper before the
Paris Acadcmie des Sciences recently
"On Sounds produced in Vibrating
Plates by Discharges of Static Electri
city." To hear these sounds tiie metal
plate must be fixed to ti e end of a
sound conductor of ebonite, which
trust be held near the ear. The sounds
become more acute a3 the discbarges of
electricity succeed each other more
tasldlr.
V.
I